A very rainy December night provides the appropriately gloomy setting for the visit of two giants of extreme metal.
Triptykon’s frontman needs no further introduction, Tom G. Warrior wrote metal history with his two former bands Hellhammer and Celtic Frost and continues to produce fantastic albums with his current project.
At the Gates on the other hand pioneered the melodic Gothenburg death metal sound in the 90s and are experiencing a second high in their career, after being on hiatus for a long while in the last decade.
Morbus Chron tackle the enormous task of opening for two such heavyweights very well, even though the (intentional) lack of stage announcements or generally interaction with the audience does not help to get people warmed up.
The musical offerings of the five-piece and their progressive death metal are well received though, a shame they had to start their set about five minutes after doors, meaning their first few songs resounded in a more or less empty venue.
This of course changed when Tom G. Warrior and his band enter the stage and start their set with the (almost) catchy ‘Goetia’ from the first Triptykon album, Eparistera Daimonis.
Warrior has not lost an ounce of his charisma and ability to conduct a crowd, he embodies extreme metal as well as being clearly a gentleman and a mysterious, intellectual figure.
Highlight of a frustratingly short set is for most fans of course the obligatory Celtic Frost hit ‘Circle of the Tyrants’, but that is not to say that the band has to rely solely on former glory, it would be simply unthinkable to not hear Tom G. Warrior bark at least one of the old evergreens at you.
At the Gates are in every sense of the word headliner, from the very enthusiastic and almost ecstatic crowd to the stage banners and lightshow.
The Swedes also enjoy a 90-minute set length, which they use both to advertise new material, like the new video track ‘Heroes and Tombs’ and of course to celebrate the fan favorites like ‘Kingdom Gone’ from 1992.
A very powerful sound and a tight and wholly convincing performance justify the crowd’s enthusiasm, even though the LED lightshow seems somewhat questionable.
The very bright strobe lights blind more than they add to the stage show, but maybe the unsettling and dazzling effect was intended.
Overall an impressive display of two older bands, each founding members of metal subgenres ten years apart from each other, still going strong and one promising younger band offering a new take on an oversaturated genre, next time Triptykon need more than 40-minutes though.
Words: Ansgar Hastenpflug
