Baking in the heat of a lingering southern summer, this black metal show with some European blood transformed Siberia into a brutally cold place.
The show began with a bang provided by the local black metallers Mehenet. Corpse-painted and be-leathered, Mehenet created a black mass atmosphere with their fierce brand of killer rock n’ roll. The stage lights burned blood red, and frontman Algol viciously snarled and growled out his lyrics like a caged animal as the guitar and bass churned out horrifying riffs thanks to Nehushtan and Phlegethon, respectively, and the drums by Tzphardeah kept pounding out a march that led right to the fiery gates of hell.
Dynfari, who hails from Iceland, completely changed the dynamic of the show as they opted for cool, soothing blue lights and lit some incense to cleanse us from the evil we had just endured. Their brand of black metal is a softer, more ethereal type of music; it was thoughtful and spacey. The listeners here were more inclined to light up a joint and groove with it, letting the music take them along for the ride rather than rock out to it.
Straight out of Dracula’s territory, Romania’s Negura Bunget yet again brought back the serious intensity; their band name is in fact representative of a murky fog in the forest, mysterious, foreboding, and natural. They have been recognized for years as one of the best metal bands in the world by various reputable organizations. And I finally found out why. Negura Bunget combines the darkness and force of metal with some traditional, folkier elements; they use folklore from their home in their music as well as showing a fanatic reverence for nature. Tibor Kati and Oq had a really interesting contrast with their guitars: as one held down a grungy, distorted line, the other would play clean, soaring notes. I feel as though their songs could take you to a frozen forest if you would just allow it to.
