Traditionally people go to church on Sunday. Fortunately, Baroeg came up with a better way to spend the afternoon on such a dull day and offered the unbelievers the Swedish black metal band Shining supported by the Norse Koldbrann and Sarkom.
Sarkom was a newcomer to me, even though they were formed back in 2002. In order to not be completely blank during the gig, I listened a couple of times to their latest full length Bestial Supremacy which wasn't that bad at all, besides the lousy production, and so I had good expectations. However, Sarkom opened their show with a song that was a bit low tempo, so they made it hard for themselves to catch the attention of the crowd. The same applied to me; it was hard to keep my concentration on the show that was happening on stage. Fortunately, Sarkom stepped up during the rest of their gig and I was amazed by the energy of especially vocalist Unsgaard with his raw throat. Songs like 'Inferior Bleeding' and 'Symbolic Revulsion' were played and overall I must say that this Norse black metal band was a worthy opener of the bands to come.
When the stage filled up with smoke, I knew it was time for Koldbrann. Seriously, it was hard to distinguish one person from another on that stage, but when 'Alt Er Befengt' started playing I knew for sure that it indeed was the band I came to see. Although I better use the verb to hear instead of to see, because of those damn fumes! In all honesty, the concert of Koldbrann at the Azijnfabriek in Roermond last year was better when focussing on the sound, but on the other hand the unpredictable character of the gig at the Baroeg was in its way impressive as well, mainly because it compliments the band's ethos. The audience sure was pampered by the tracks of the various releases Koldbrann has on its name, ranging from work from Nekrotisk Inkvisition to work from Stigma: Pa Kant Med Livet. Many other tracks from my personal favourite Moribund were played as well, such as 'Djevelens Treskeverk , 'Steinet Til Jorden' and the final song 'Bestial Swarm'. The gig wasn't exactly perfect, but sometimes imperfection can be way more interesting than something clean and proper.
It was time for a taste of Sweden. Shining made its appearance on stage and I knew it was time for the band which, for most of the audience, was reason to be present. Of course, there were some girls standing in front of the stage, probably hoping to get a taste of Niklas his blood or a nice cigarette put out on their skin. They were probably disappointed, because the only blood seen on that stage at that particular moment was fake. Anyway, I wasn't disappointed at all! It's always good to see a band focussing on their music instead of their theatre, especially when it means Shining plays most of the V - Halmstad album and lets that atmosphere loose on you like a warm blanket. 'Claws of Perdition' and 'Submit to Selfdestruction' were played along with some new songs of the upcoming VI - Klagopsalmer album, which all three sounded very promising. As far as I can judge it on basis of those songs, I think we can expect an album comparable to IV - The Eerie Cold and V - Halmstad. Whatever it will be, the live versions of the new work were a good teaser to make me bloody curious for more where that came from!