OK, a bit late, but I decided to write about the concert I've been to on Wednesday in Kraków. After really liking The Great Cold Distance, instantly LOVING The Night is the New Day and also really liking some older songs, I was really looking forward to it. It turned out there were two opening bands - Long Distance Calling and Swallow The Sun, and since I already know it's always worth to see everything, I was there on time.
And I was proved right once again. The first band,
Long Distance Calling, was entirely instrumental, and pretty hard to categorize for me (last.fm claims "post-rock" and "progressive rock" - well, let it be). They sounded heavier live than what I hear on the album, and I greatly enjoyed it since I first heard them. They keep a nice balance between atmosphere and technicality, with some heavier and calmer moments, and sound different than anything else I've ever heard. I decided to buy their new album, called Avoid The Light, and got to meet the band after Swallow the Sun ended playing. They were really nice and signed the CD.
Will be giving it more listens soon, and definitely recommended for everyone.
The second band was one I had heard of before, but never heard myself -
Swallow the Sun. The first impression wasn't really good, since the first song felt a bit schematic and "loud but not heavy" for me, but later... it was FAR better. The second song was already better, and the third was what I love - some experimentation (a bit reminding me of later Samael), and HEAVY riffs, with real doom feeling to it. They had a very nice balance of softer and heavier moments (and also clean singing/growls), ranging from nearly Anathema-influenced parts to some really heavy death doom, and the last song was definitely my favourite - called Swallow, apparently from their first album, and definitely the heaviest and most doom-ish. I definitely enjoyed their set and they very nicely warmed up the crowd. And btw, I really liked their behaviour - the whole band was moving and headbanging, while the vocalist. Was. Really. Doom. I mean, he was nice and thanked the audience after every song, but he was really saying. It. With. A. Doooooom. Voice. It cracked me up.
---
And then, after around 25 minutes (after like 15 I was getting so impatient I thought I'm going to faint or something), a sort of epic intro with something sounding like movie samples, and 5 mysterious characters entered the stage, welcomed by great cheering of everyone (myself included). The intro ended, they turned around towards the crowd... tnnn-tnnn-tnnn... FORSAKER. Damn it, this song is a total KILLER live, the riff sounds even more amazing than on the album, and the chorus is just pure sing-along. After 30 seconds I was already in a bit of a different world, they can create an incredible atmosphere, and the sound and performance was simply BRILLIANT. There's absolutely nothing, no matter how difficult, they got wrong (instrumentally and vocally - I had been afraid Jonas may not be able to pull off some parts live, he did better than I could have expected), and also the sound was nearly perfect, everything sounded clean, but the guitars had this amazing, crunchy sound I love. After Forsaker they played Liberation, which I also really like, and also proved a great song. Then there was the "crowd favourite but I don't worship it"
type of song - My Twin. I won't describe all songs in detail, as ALL worked great, including the older ones I hadn't known, but I have to make some exceptions.
The first, and greatest one, which was hands down one of the most amazing live experiences of my life... I had heard it on Live Consternation, and knew what to expect. So, Jonas announced it like always: "This is another song from the Viva Emptiness record - this one is called GHOST..."
[immediately joined by me] ...OF THE SUN!!!
"TOTAL KILLER" is an understatement for this song. The opening riff is one of the most amazing live things ever, and the chorus beats every other powerful sing-along chorus on this side of the galaxy. It was like 5 minutes of total positive insanity. I don't remember anything comparable.
The second one is a song I had been waiting for, and finally... "time for another song from The Great Cold Distance - this one is... RUSTED!". Well, my reaction was fairly obvious. Like expected, it was completely incredible, since the calm guitar at the beginning, through the killer heavy part, to the ending. And third... it was the second and last encore. (It was also the worst thing happening to my throat in a few months.
) "So, let's see if you recognize this song..." I needed one second. LEADERS! I was singing along louder than EVER, and I absolutely loved what they did to the after-chorus part - instead of the "DO YOU" screams, Jonas just did a sort of dramatic singing (the only good comparison I have is the ending of Riverside's "Parasomnia" - something like this) instead, and with the riffs it sounded amazing. It's one of these weird cases when an album opener is an excellent live closer, and seriously at one point I thought I lost my voice or something...
And that was the end. 1:40h passed like 30 minutes. I wondered if there's a chance to meet them afterwards, but it seemed there isn't...
One more thing - the audience was absolutely amazing, to the point Jonas said at one point that they're on tour for one month... but we're definitely the best, and repeated it later. I have no comparison obviously
, but they certainly had a point...
So, this was hands down one of the most amazing live shows I've even been to. I don't know what happened when those who claim they're a poor live band have seen them, but probably something weird. Amazing atmosphere, perfect performance, excellent contact with the audience, killer setlist. When they come to Poland - or anywhere close - again, I'm going even if it's 700 kilometres away, and nothing will stop me...
Topic: Katatonia (Read 83654 times)
