Review by Lisa Burke, photos by Karina Diane
September 25th 2015, Complex, Glendale CA: Complex in Glendale has a growing reputation for putting on great live shows primarily of the metal variety run by promoters Church Of The 8th Day. Last Friday September 25 2015 was a big night for Complex as they brought Russian pagan/folk metal band Arkona to the scene as the headlining act. When the tour bus is almost bigger than the venue you know it’s bound to be a good night. Also, due to this being a sold-out show, Complex quickly turned into some sort of metal-infused swampland. Support acts for Arkona were Heidevolk, The Dread Crew Of Oddwood, and Helsott.
I had a last-minute craving to attend this show mostly because I was a bit hesitant about how bands of this size and caliber could fit in the modest stage at Complex, therefore I arrived for the start of Heidevolk and unfortunately missed the previous two acts. While I can’t speak specifically of the two openers’ performance I can say that Helsott is a local pagan metal band that mixes death, thrash, and folk, and I have enjoyed viewing this band in past encounters.
Helsott photo gallery:
As for The Dread Crew Of Oddwood, the name alone suggests an entertaining time for all, and with the trickling out of pirates from the venue as I arrived, I can only imagine what fun I must have missed. Rumor has it they were the odd ball out for sure, since they use all acoustics in their pirate-themed folk metal.
The Dread Crew Of Oddwood photo gallery:
Heidevolk is a six-piece pagan folk metal band from the Netherlands whose lyrics are all sung in Dutch. Their fast and brutal moments with dual vocals implementing great harmonies make these guys stand out among the masses. I was impressed by the heaviness of this band with the contradiction of clean vocals with fantastic harmonizing between the two singers. Some of their older songs are more lighthearted and less brutal in lyrics and melodies and develop from such simple subjects as beer. If you’ve been to Complex you know that it is a feat to fit six people on this stage, and of course leave it to the Europeans to figure out how to most successfully accomplish this. I absolutely could not get enough of these guys, and if it wasn’t an inferno inside I could have braved another few songs at least. For Arkona being as powerful an entity as they are, Heidevolk still may have stolen this show for me.
Heidevolk photo gallery:
Finally, Russian Pagan/folk metal band Arkona takes the stage and plays right up till 2 AM, drenched in their own sweat from their Russian garb. Complex is the only place I know where this late playing happens, and it’s a pretty wonderful concept for the nocturnal. The most dynamic and unique part of this band is the vocal style switch up of Masha Scream. She can go from super clean melodies to a satanic scream in a heartbeat, and pull it off in such a way that all you can do is stare with your mouth open. It’s as if she’s been possessed by a demon all of a sudden, and then after the exorcism she sings melodically again. Another notable trait of this band is the variety of styles they can throw out there where their range of songs possess elements found in bands such as Pink Floyd, James Brown and Death.
There are also times where the mosh pit turns from a bro love pit, to a Russian rave, to an in-your-face fight from direct brutality, and then of course they hug it out. The folk elements come into play here with the use of various flutes and bagpipes, and mixed in with the screams it becomes such a wonderful dichotomy. The dedication of Masha and her troops was inspirational and commendable and it was pretty amazing to see them on such a small stage in a small venue. There were five on stage for this act, and once again they made good use of the tight space. This band definitely has a cult fan-following that is not easily missed, and only at this kind of show will you find audience members drinking alcohol out of horns after blowing in them previously for the start of the show. Hail to Arkona, Heidevolk, and Church of The 8th Day for putting on an amazing show that I’m really glad I didn’t miss out on.
More Arkona photos:
