By Jason Williams
August 18th 2016, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: With nearly 24 years of history and ten albums in the books including the latest Nuclear Blast release ‘Conjuring the Dead’ (2014), Austria’s blackened death metal progeny Belphegor embarked on a North American headline tour in August 2016, bringing forth a stellar and diverse touring packag featuring death metal veterans Origin, Sweden’s Shining making their first US appearance, along with Abigail Williams as opener. It’s fantastic to witness a quality eclectic metal tour brought to the States, and last Thursday at the Whisky-A-Go-Go turned out to be a wonderful evening for the extreme metal masses.
As I was expecting with such a touring lineup, even in the fading hours of daylight still at hand, there was a fairly large amount in attendance, with the line outside the door continuously extending. Corpse paint on various faces, unable to physically count the Bathory and Mayhem patches on leather jackets, it was for sure a much larger black metal crowd than the death metal fans. Traveling from Orange County to Los Angeles during peak traffic hours can be quite tricky, and unfortunately, so I arrived at around 7 PM, in the middle of black metal local Luna Occulta. I wasn’t able to see Infirmity, the first opening band of the night, but I’m hoping everyone enjoyed their set, and I’ll do my best to see them in the near future. I never had the chance to see Luna Occulta before, but despite some improvements in the sound mix department eventually into their short set, they still didn’t do too much for me. The drumming was consistent and fairly clear, it overpowered the guitars and bass, leaving the music to be somewhat hollow. It was your standard black metal sound, somewhat thrashy riffs with a steady beat behind it. I’m truly joyful they were able to play in front of a rather early larger turnout, but Luna Occulta came across as sub-par and not able to really stand out.
As the eager audience paved its way to the venue, Abigail Williams was greeted by a modest but warm applause. Many years ago, in the first incarnation of the band, it was a mix of black metal and some deathcore elements, which was met with heavily mixed reactions at the time. I didn’t think it was so awful, and rather unique, but nothing to really write home about either. Since frontman and founder Ken Sorceron restarted the band in 2007 with a whole new sound, it falls into a much more atmospheric black metal genre that I feel works much better, and is done well. With their recently released record ‘The Accuser’ late last year, I’ve been finding myself slowly growing more and more into their mid-paced atmospheric tones and chords, and the tune ‘Out of the Outer Darkness’ off of this album truly stood out amongst their short set on this occasion. Although the crowd was still finding their bearings within the limited standing room inside the Whiskey at this time, many in attendance gave the horns and slowly nodding their heads to the shivering sounds from Abigail Williams. I enjoyed their performance once more, and can’t wait for their tours to become more frequent.
Next was the band a lot of people were most excited for on this touring lineup ever since it was announced. Twenty years together and making their first US touring appearance, Sweden’s legendary Shining were met with an immense amount of fanfare within the crowd, as chants of their name echoed in the grand halls of the Whisky. I knew the reaction for them would be nothing short of sensational, and was joyful to see it firsthand. Shining’s depressive black metal/rock sound can really be defined as original and their own. One minute it’s a groovy rock riff played with such invigorating flavor, bouncing off the amp, and the next moment, a blissfully eerie ballad accompanied by woeful depressive black metal. This blend creates everlasting music, with the whole band beaming on the stage. Of course, Shining wouldn’t even exist without the creator and singer Niklas Kvarforth, who founded the band at the age of 12, no less. Fans were reacting to every chant request and intense vocal momen when Niklas sang. Honestly, the highlight of Shining’s music has always been the vocal changes and shifts which I’ve never heard elsewhere before, enticing, terrifying screams of agony through the lyrics, like a Shakespearean actor dying on stage, and giving one last speech of the play. All I can describe from his vocals, specially on ‘Låt oss ta allt från varandra’ (Which translates to ‘Let Us Take Everything From Each Other’), arguably one of their most popular songs, I could witness the chills felt in the audience, resulting from the enduring moments of waiting for the band’s US first US tour all these years, as the performance absolutely lived up to the hype. On their live debut in Los Angeles, Shining left no stone unturned, and were the best band of the evening.
The capacity of the Whisky could barely hold the audience in place, with the venue essentially a sell-out for this show, and Origin were next to continue forth their two-decade brutal onslaught of technical death metal. I’ve seen almost every incarnation of the band and my first ever death metal show in 2002 featured an incredible lineup including Origin, slaying the masses then and continuing to do so today, ever so consistently. As a live performner, guitarist, backing vocalist and founder Paul Ryan can only be described as a living embodiment of six-string brutality. Ultra-high speeds, death metal breakdowns and leads that the eye can barely keep up to. Plus, his backing vocals are absolutely essential in their trademark sound, and would be quite compromised if not present, even to the extent of a Van Halen without Michael Anthony. In a set that featured crowd favorite ‘The Aftermath’ and the track ‘Portal’ off of their 2002 magmum opus ‘Informis Infinitas Inhumanitas’, the enraging mosh pit throughout their 40-minute set was growing constantly and rapidly. Now five years as lead vocalist for Origin, Jason Keyser, famous for his many years in New York’s own Skinless, continues to improve and become a key staple for Origin’s demanding and exhausting growling and screaming duties, which considering former Origin vocalist James Lee was able to do with ease in his time with the band, is a remarkable sight to behold. His abilities to engage the crowd and increase the level of excitement in the air is amongst the best when talking of frontmen in death metal, especially when he performs songs from their latest Origin record ‘Omnipresent’. And despite our spoiled we are here in Los Angeles/Orange County in terms of getting to witness fantastic musicianship in all variants of metal, to this very day I still consider bassist Mike Flores to be the greatest bassist I’ve ever seen. Witnessing his progressive and breathtaking technique simply boggles the mind and sends goosebumps through the body and soul. Drumming extraordinare John Longstreth blasted through each song as if waiting for his mail to arrive at home, and overall, the level of tightness and composition in Origin’s livid tunes cannot be ignored. Alongside Shining, Origin was the other greatest act of the night, leaving the crowd devastatingly tired in their wake and craving a headlining tour from them.
With the show just soaring amazingly high, Belphegor would have to step up their already elite game to close the show accordingly, and although their start time of 11 PM was slightly delayed with technical difficulties, the show continued forth 15 minutes later, to a still engaged crowd that was attempting to recover from the onslaught Origin just gave to them. This would be my sixth Belphegor show since my first time witnessing their live performance all the way back in 2006 with Unleashed, and I’ve noticed how important their stage sound is, as in having to be close to perfect to truly appreciate them. Unfortunately, tonight wasn’t one of them, until much later into the evening. The musicianship for the band has been stellar since day one, but with the drum mix seemingly too high, the guitars were very difficult to hear. For any fan of Belphegor who knows them as I do, their epic harmonizing and riffs full of enriching character are their absolute trademark, such as in tunes like ‘Gasmask Terror’ and ‘Hell’s Ambassador’, which were played tonight. That characteristic of the band is mindfully instrumental in why they’ve been very successful internationally, and especially the US, considering the type of extreme metal they play. Leader, guitarist and vocalist Helmuth, who recovered not too long ago from a typhoid fever from touring, because of which the band was inactive for well over a year, gave his nod of approval to the crowd, making an effort in every note and in every abysmally haunting growl. Although his screams are much more frequent in their studio albums, I’m sure it’s difficult to get the vocal chords to that register now, due to the surgery he sustained. By the time ‘Lucifer Incestus’ came on, the sound was more balanced and the guitars were much more in the mix. The crowd’s energy level at this point was slightly less than Shining and Origin, but by no means disinterested. With mosh pits and lots of head-banging greatly occurring, and also cheers from the older Belphegor fans, the band ended the set with ‘Bleeding Salvation’ from their stellar 2005 release ‘Goatreich – Fleshcult’. Belphegor are famous for their nifty harmonic pitches that honestly put Zakk Wylde into a cold sweat, and the verse riff in this song got the crowd going for one last time, the atmosphere in the air filled with metal-induced ecstasy. Not one of Belphegor’s better sets due to the sound not being up to par, but certainly not a letdown by any stretch.
Even on a Thursday, Southern California showed up in a grand declaration of unity and metal brotherhood. A truly electric evening, and definitely one of the best shows of the year, thus far.
Belphegor set list:
01. In Blood – Devour This Sanctity
02. Gasmask Terror
03. Belphegor – Hell’s Ambassador
04. Rex Tremendae Majestatis
05. Lucifer Incestus
06. Pest and Terror
07. Conjuring The Dead/Pactum in Aeternum
08. Bondage Goat Zombie
09. Totenkult – Exegesis Of Deterioration
10. Bleeding Salvation
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Remaining Tour Dates:
08/20/2016 – Portland, OR @ Star Theater
08/21/2016 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
08/22/2016 – Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
08/23/2016 – Billings, MT @ Pub Station #
08/24/2016 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock
08/25/2016 – Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room
08/26/2016 – Cave-in-Rock, IL @ Full Terror Assault
08/27/2016 – Dayton, OH @ Oddbody’s
08/28/2016 – Chicago, IL @ Reggies
08/29/2016 – Kent, OH @ The Outpost ^
08/30/2016 – Quebec City, QC @ Salle Multi
08/31/2016 – New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre
09/01/2016 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar *
09/02/2016 – Nashville, TN @ Exit/Inn *
09/03/2016 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre *
09/04/2016 – Ft Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room *
09/06/2016 – Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Tavern ^
09/08/2016 – Omaha, NE @ Lookout Lounge ^
09/09/2016 – Denver, CO @ Roxy Theater ^
09/10/2016 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Bar ^
* = No Shining
^ = Abigail Williams only
# = No Belphegor