By Lisa Burke
September 21st 2016, The Regent, Los Angeles CA: My second venture of the week to The Regent Theater in downtown LA, which is quickly becoming a favored venue among the heavy metal community due to its perfect size and great views from any spot in the room because of the raked floor and well spaced out balcony level, happened on Wednesday September 21st 2016 for what was originally planned as a black metal show headlined by Swedish black metal band Marduk with support from Rotting Christ, Carach Angren, Necronomicon, and Nokturne. Unfortunately, due to paperwork issues becoming more complex than originally anticipated because of certain legalities, Marduk was unable to obtain access to the US for the first half of their scheduled tour. They are going to make a comeback soon enough though, so stay tuned for details on that front. Even though the lineup changed and Rotting Christ took the reigns as headliner, the crowd packed the house early on and this was still a not-to-be-missed show in the amazing and underrated genre of all things black metal.
As one of my favorite heavy metal genres which comes filled with connotations that may or may not have any baring on reality, the vibe of the crowd on this night made me feel as if I was surrounded by the right tribe upon walking in. I felt oddly at home and at peace in a black-and-white world full of darkness, chaos, betrayal, and sacrifice. Starting off the night rage was California’s own Nokturne whose early set time led me to miss almost all of their old-school black metal ways.
Traveling forward to the next band of interest, Necronomicon comes to us from Montreal, Canada and their subtle mix of melodic death featuring a talented live keyboardist who molds all the dark elements together in the best way can really bring a soft warm glow to an otherwise cold dead blackened heart. With blast beats galore, fast and brutally harsh guitar riffage, charred vocals, and bursts of hair whipping, Necronomicon really set the bar for what was to come, serving as a very appropriate fit on this blackened night. They also put extra effort into the clustered side lights they set up that sparked some interest as long as they were not on the brightest setting that could definitely cause seizures if not careful.
The last time I saw kings of horror black metal Carach Angren from the Netherlands, it was at what was most likely the most crowded Whisky show I’ve been to and Fleshgod Apocalypse was the headliner. The funny thing about black metal is that there is a diehard and very significant crowd that appears to crawl in large numbers out of the cracks in the woodworks for these shows to never be seen again till the next black metal show. The point is that it was refreshing to see them closer and at a more suitable space where you could really grasp the famed theatrics of this band specifically in costume and presence. Vocalist Seregor is a delight to watch float around the stage in his historically tailored velvet jacket that is a uniform trait of the band making them appear as lost souls returning from a battle at sea in a dark land. One of the fun aspects of black metal is that you appreciate it without taking it too seriously and often times the lyrics are difficult to understand which is the point and style of the music. Needless to say, there are moments when even the most creatively intricate lyrical phrases such as “conjuring slaughtering soldiers into sickening silhouettes” can sometimes be mistaken for sillier and simpler phrases such as ‘I put away my yogurt’ and sang in black metal style can become quite comical as happened to me for an instance on this occasion. The hilarious part of completely mistaking the lyrics is that Carach Angren is amazingly witty at the creation of such lyrics and they are very operatic in nature as they tell horror stories in a very poetic way. The other great dynamic of this band is the singer’s ability to command the audience into a mosh pit hug and head-bang followed by a full on Lord Of The Rings style battle that left no bloodshed because contrary to popular uneducated belief, black metal fans are gentle creatures, at least towards their own kind, as they are a rare breed by nature. The double bass kicks were flying and the chaos and theatrical masterminding ensued, and this was the best show from them that I have witnessed to date. Their origin was remarkably later on than most in this genre as they originated in 2008, but they are definitely making great progress especially since their latest 2015 album entitled ‘This is No Fairytale’ which again encompasses all of the theatrical storytelling magic this band is capable of.
As mentioned before, while the absence of Marduk was noticed, as soon as Rotting Christ took the stage no one had any regrets or doubts that this was still yet another brilliant line-up of black metal that without doubt would melt off everyone’s corpse paint by the end of it all. They soundchecked with Watain prior to take off and vocalist/rhythm guitarist Sakis Tolis really outdid himself with the most mind blowing badass set I’ve seen to date. This Greek extreme metal band really created the roots of black metal from that culture and have since developed and perfected their own unique style. This is not your typical black metal band, even though the old-school roots are in abundance which first saw the light of day in 1987. The language is beautiful on its own and between songs they take on a familiar flavor of black metal which utilizes the ever-popular ritual sermon ‘dance break’ for the corpselike audience to follow up with. The drumming was hard and heavy yet remained stabilized with a classy flair, and the guitar playing was unique in culture, style, and attitude. The backing track elements here work astoundingly well even though one might deem backing vocals unnecessary. It was actually a satanic blessing to see them headline a tour and pull out of it with flying colors which in black metal land only consist of black, white and red, ironically and perhaps significantly the colors of the only plaid shirt to be found in the audience at this show.
While heavy metal may in fact be heavy metal, not everyone is a fan of every genre which of course includes black metal, however if you appreciate the style as an art form and on a cultural standpoint then you can take something of value away from any heavy metal show from black metal to stoner to hardcore, whether it is your favorite style or not. The future holds high for Rotting Christ and after nearing thirty years of crushing skulls with their brand of extreme metal they deserve this successful headline tour and more where that came from. At the end of the show I was left craving more metal which of course meant the car ride home consisted of an aux cord, an abundance of black metal, and the inevitable contemplation of making of black metal pancakes for breakfast the next day in hopes that it would blacken over the emergence of daylight.
