Il portale della musica Heavy Metal

Rotten Sound + Trap Them + Gaza + The Kandidate + Haust - 4/24/2011 - Nosturi - Helsinki

On today’s agenda was yet another dreaded five-band evening. As I’ve previously said, it’s just too much to take in for one evening. Entering Nosturi, however, I noticed that the schedule was very tight; only 30 minutes of playtime per band and the switches were supposed to be done in 15 minutes. Sounds optimal for these kinds of bands, but will it be possible?
It was Easter, so there was pretty much no one at the venue when Haust began their set. They are a strange act from Norway, who combine sludge, grind, black metal and some hardcore into a interesting whole. Also peculiar was the band, the vocalist had a blond afro, and the rest of the guys looked like they couldn’t decide whether to go for a BM or punk dress-code for the evening. The music was surprisingly slow, but really raw and catchy on a very bizarre way. The speaks were completely inaudible, and the vocals were just a mess, but the band left an incredibly sympathetic feeling, they were really doing it for the music. I recommend to check these guys out, at least live, if you get the chance.

Next up was a thrashy band from Denmark, The Kandidate. This band also kept it raw and straight-forward. The thrash beat and blast-beat which took front stage worked well. The vocalist was nice and energetic, jumping all around and getting the few-headed crowd a bit to warm up. They combined some progressive melodic and rhythmic elements to their otherwise generic output and the result was positive.

There were still under fifty people present when the American Gaza started their set. They play their own blend of melodic, brutal and technical sludge/grind. The first thing that caught my attention was the interesting tapping parts in a couple of the songs, a rare feature in this type of music. The tall and skinny vocalist looked like he was in intense pain most of the time and their music conveyed the emotion also to the crowd. The drummer had some problems with his kit and the mikes, so the band had to hold more pauses than they otherwise would have, which kinda screwed up the flow of the gig. The band still gave it their all, and left a positive impression even with the unfortunate technical problems.

The evening’s other American band, Trap Them, has received some positive media coverage and for many it was the best foreign band of the evening, based on the conversations I had. I just don’t quite get why, since the band didn’t leave any kind of impression on me. The gruesome-looking vocalist spent most of the gig in the moat in front of the stage, so he could shout straight in the face of the now a bit bigger crowd. The first pits of the evening gathered some stray punks, but the overall energy of the band left me cold. The music and performance were just so forgettable, that there’s not much more to be said of these guys.

Time for the main act of the evening, our local pride, Rotten Sound. This was the final stop in a month-long tour, so they were understandably glad to be back in front of a home crowd. They might have been tired of the road, but it didn’t show, since they played a furious gig, with face-melting tempos and full-on aggression. I haven’t seen them live since when Kai Hahto was still playing with them, so it was nice to see that the group still had what it takes to kick ass and take names. As a fan of their record “Exit” and earlier work, I was pleased to hear the classics “Void”, “Targets” and “Western Cancer” once again live. Altogether an awesome gig, which was luckily kept short.
I survived yet a five band evening, and I’ve got to say that it actually worked really well. The schedule held except for the slight 15 minute delay of Rotten Sound. All of the bands except the main act were unfamiliar to me before-hand, so I was truly surprised how well the whole evening worked. Evidently this type of gig can work as long as the bands keep their sets short and there’s not too much time in between where one could get bored.

Report a cura di Markus Karppinen