Il portale della musica Heavy Metal

At The Gates + Rotten Sound - 11/22/2014 - Nosturi - Helsinki

What would be a better way to celebrate the second day of winter and snow than venturing out to Nosturi for some intense metal. Rotten Sound has lost most of the immense appeal it used to have for me with the years, but they still know how to grind like few others.




The highlights of the setlist were unsurprisingly from "Murderworks" and "Exit", with a sorely missed "Western Cancer" not making the cut. Also, no matter how well the “new” drummer (Sami Latva, in the band since 2006) plays, he is no Kai Hahto, whose playing was true drum porn for aficionados. Rotten Sound was, however, a real warmup act, with lots of encouragement to mosh and pit and generally work up a sweat for the main act, whom they thanked several times for the opportunity to join their Finnish tour.



I remember catching At the Gates twice in 2008, during their “final tour ever”, both in Ruisrock and in Stockholm, and wishing for something more. It simply couldn’t end like this for such a magnificent band. Then they returned in 2011 but it wasn’t quite the same somehow, and with a new record out after 19 years of silence, one might wonder if they are still a relevant band in this day and age. All of the doubts I might’ve had were blown away in seconds, because their first club gig ever in Helsinki was so intense it reminded me why I loved the band so.



The setlist was very well crafted, juxtaposing old classics with new songs, giving the new material much needed context. They also hadn’t only taken songs from "Slaughter of the Soul", i.e. the easy route, but had classics like "Kingdom Come" and "Windows" from their debut full-length, and a personal favorite off "With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness": "Raped by the Light of Christ".



One thing I noted was how all of their albums have vastly different soundscapes, with varying guitar distortions and such, but with the songs played live they form a whole, with transitions from old songs to new ones and back being quite seamless. There were a few low points, like a few botched guitar solos and Tompa waaay overusing vocal echo for effect on most songs, but they were meaningless in comparison to the spectacle they provided us with. The strength of the aggression combined with amazing melodies is still as strong as ever, and should most definitely be witnessed live.




Setlist At The Gates:
Intro: El altar del Dios desconocido
1. Death and the Labyrinth
2. Slaughter of the Soul
3. Cold
4. At War with Reality
5. Terminal Spirit Disease
6. Raped by the Light of Christ
7. The Circular Ruins
8. Under a Serpent Sun
9. Windows
10. City of Mirrors
11. Suicide Nation
12. Heroes and Tombs
13. Nausea
14. World of Lies
15. The Burning Darkness
16. The Book of Sand
17. Blinded by Fear
18. Kingdom Gone
19. The Night Eternal

Report a cura di Markus Karppinen, photos by Nikky Holmes