DEATH HOLY DEATH TOUR

Much was the expectation for the arrival of the "Death Holy Death Tour" that united two of the most controversial groups in Black Metal: Watain and Shining. Such has been the eagerness that some European media have made reports entitled "Blood Brothers", "Wolves Among Sheeps" and phrases of a similar nature. And it is not for less, talking about them goes beyond their music but their staging and way of life. Courts, rituals, blood, ... words that describe everything that surrounds these groups.

With the doors opening very early and the French Aosoth opening the evening at 8pm, the server did not arrive in time to see them. Despite being an unknown group, days prior to the event the forums were filled with positive comments regarding the musical quality of the French. From what several assistants told me, the group in the studio has nothing to do with the live show since they were at the wrong time, the drummer is new to the group and has not yet mastered the songs… come on, a bit of a disaster.

Minutes before the start of Shining, the room was packed. The bets between friends gave as the winner the option that Niklas Kvarforth would offer us a morbid show with cuts included despite all the rumors that he was in rehab.

They started the performance with “Besvikelsens Dystra Monotoni” in a rather demure way. The bad thing about these bad rock stars (although in this case there are behind beliefs, let's call them, spiritual) is that when they offer controversy and then decide to do without it, people hate their live shows. As a little battle, two years ago at Party San they performed both they and another of Niklas's projects, Den Saakaldte, and with the latter, people only went to see if Niklas would offer the same show as with Shining. Niklas is really putting self-mutilation behind him, he's been in therapy and has stopped several of the drugs he was taking. Then the rumor runs that he is with a woman of Christian beliefs and that she is leading him on the right path ... I do not know the latter, but now he wears crosses and virgins on his t-shirts as they appear in the new merchandising designs of the group. Their 60 minutes of performance were preceded by "Plågoande O'helga Plågoande", "Neka Morgondagen", "Ohm - Sommar Med Siv" with just a bit of controversy for kissing the bassist and spitting something that pretended to be blood at the audience. She tried to liven up the atmosphere by presenting a song from what will be her next album, but not even for those, so in the middle of “Submit to Self-Destruction” she decided to leave the stage and reappear with bloody arms (servant believes that with fake blood). With “Låt Oss Ta Allt Från Varandra” in the middle of the song he stopped, we all thought he was pissed off and really what he did was ask us if we liked that riff (he saw us very encouraged) to continue with more enthusiasm.

The truth is that of the several times I have seen them, this is the one that I have enjoyed the most, even the concert was short. Okay yes, Niklas no longer masturbates and hardly kisses with the rest of his classmates, he is taking medication (hence the weight gain) and he no longer insults or cuts himself, he simply chooses to use coloring in his performances, but from there To make the concert seem boring, there is a stretch. And we enter into another of the never ending disputes, what is more important music or show? Can the two go hand in hand? There are opinions for everything and more in this case when the group has become known for all the controversies of the singer, of which he is now "denying", but I think the attitude of people to say that the concert has not been worth the shame simply for not being morbid. Even if the show is left behind, the music shown by the Swedes is still of quality and I do not think that four missed arm cuts are sufficient justification to deny it.

We come to the turn of one of the strongest Black Metal groups in recent years, their album 'Lawless Darkness' being considered one of the best of 2010 by endless means. Personally, I do not see it that much, because, as a friend says, they are the "Dark Funeral 2.0" but hey, someone has to continue in the wake of old school music and, put to compare, Watain are a good solution . The last time I saw them live they disappointed me a lot, more than their performance, their whole attitude. I saw them at the Brutal Assault summer festival, and if you spend 25 minutes of 45 minutes of performance adorning the stage with absurd candles that don't light due to the wind, it's better to stop the nonsense and offer the fans some music. We all know that Watain has their ritual before, during and after their performance, but we go, from there to waste all the time they have to take it to the table, it seems excessive to me. Anyway, let's focus on Eric Danielsson's guys: clothing, corpse painting, chains, bones, blood, fire, ... (do these people really shower? If so, they take care of dirtying the clothes they wear in their live shows every day ) characters from the ultratombs who basically dedicated themselves to presenting their latest album with songs like “Death's Cold Dark”, “Reaping Death”, “Wolves Curse”, “Malfeitor”, “Total Funeral”, from their previous album “ Sworn To The Dark ”,“ Storm Of The Antichrist ”,“ The Serpent's Chalice ”and older works like“ My Fists Are Him ”. This time his performance was epic, with Eric as a crazy frontman, scary with those eyes he has and all those flames behind him, out of hell itself. They may have won a Grammy but they are still the same bad boys that they have claimed to be during this time. The public went crazy with them and they enjoyed a great performance and better staging.

And the expectation ends here. The one who wanted a show had it with Watain and as for Shining, we will never know what goes through Niklas's mind or if the fact of not offering so much morbid will end up harming the group in the long run. I would like to think that people know how to value what is behind the character but this will be the time that dictates it. Despite this, it was a magnificent evening, with the correct sound to be Mephisto (it was noted that the technicians of both groups reached out) and leaving the curiosity of the fans clear and satiated regarding the controversies that always surround these groups.

Xènia Senserrich