Vader; Anger; Noctambula; Your illness
When talking about the death/black scene, Poland has always had one of the strongest extreme metal scenes for over 30 years. Everyone can name the Behemoth from Poland, but it cannot be avoided and ignored Vader. The legendary death metal band has been active since 1984 and created an established name and club in the early stages of their career in the underground catacombs. Vader has always enjoyed loyal and strong support in Finland for decades.
The package of five bands, which included Takalaiton, The Noctambulant, Thy Disease, Hate and of course Vader as the headliner, rushed over the Baltic countries and Finland. Organizing metal gigs on Sunday night is both challenging and risky, as everyone is preparing for the upcoming week and tasks. After all, the On The Rocks club was pretty full.
The opening act was a completely unknown thrash metal band from Finland called Takalaiton. Roughly translating the band’s name is a bit difficult, as its meaning is related to the Finnish baseball term. The four-piece was an odd choice for the list, as the other bands were death/black metal, while the Takalaiton group handled crossover thrash metal with a tongue-in-cheek approach. They have a lot of killer riffs and ideas in the songs, and ideas for sure. But the dress code was really pointless and hilarious, old tennis plug, damn small and tight shorts. It’s incomprehensible why Finnish thrashers always have to be clowns and have a weird band name and look like a dude. All of these bands certainly have the ability to create and deliver something great. Check out the older thrash band as they look like a killer serious metal band.
The second band on the list was another unknown band from Florida called NOCTAMBULANT. The masked four-piece combined eerie-sounding dark metal with a black metal approach. The material started to sound better during the gig. Noctambulan’s dark blackish metal sounded hypnotic and imposing. The approach had a melodic European black metal feel and elements. The band’s dress code was quite different from the look of the opening band. The singer’s long black suit and hats gave the impression that the band had something against fundamentalist Mormon groups.
The purpose of the tour is to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Polish extreme metal scene. The chronology is a bit strange, but Thy Disease as the third band on stage introduced a newer generation, even though it was founded in 1999. Thy Disease’s approach could be described as a mixture of death metal and industrial atmosphere. Thy Disease sounded a bit like old school brutal death metal and used these industrial elements to color the sounds of the songs. Thy Disease received polite feedback from the Finnish audience, but did not receive wild feedback.
Hate is one of the longest-running death metal bands on the Polish scene. The band has released a bunch of albums over the years that have been damn good, frankly. Hate’s set was pure hate killing approach. The band hammers every song without any unnecessary talk. A five-minute break only interrupted the set. Hate sounded tight and Ad Sinner has been guiding the band for years and has accumulated a lot of experience, although there have been more than a few changes in the line-up over the years. The four-piece group Hate sounded great and technical, but still brutal. Frankly Hate definitely deserve more success and name as their stuff is superior and appeals to extreme metal freaks.
The headliner and headliner and undisputed king of the Polish death/extreme metal scene (sorry Behemoth fans), Vader closed the night with an hour long set of the entire death metal blitzkrieg. Vader was simply a killer, so to speak. Peter’s simple, stripped down stage dress code was reminiscent of the old thrash metal days; ripped jeans, a worn out Slayer shirt… while the bassist was armed to the teeth with spikes and leather. The Polish four-piece unleashed a packed set consisting of songs from several albums. The gig was opened by “Vicious Circle” and was immediately followed by Triumph Of Death. The 13-song set was a perfect balance between old and new. Although some shouted for “Morbid Reich” but it was not played. The band performed and played like a well-trained killing machine. The audience paid homage to Vader’s death metal by organizing another insane looking gig, but with extreme headbanging.
Whenever you go to witness Vader, it is a well-known fact that there is never a weak moment in the set and performance. They don’t have to rely on gimmicks or anything, they have a pure headbanging and sweaty show. Their gig in Helsinki was a pure authentic metal gig.