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Rockfabrik, Ludwigsburg, Germany
1st April 2007
Moonsorrow, Swallow The Sun, Debauchery, Tyr

This Sunday evening, the Rockfabrik Ludwigsburg had once again invited to a very special night for all the metal heads out there. The menu served to the visitors was to be the following: At first, they should get some Viking/Folk Metal from the Faroe Islands with TYR, followed by Death Metal from the German band DEBAUCHERY; after that, the Doom/Death Metal group SWALLOW THE SUN from Finland would be on parade, and the evening's crowning completion were to be MOONSORROW, also from Finland, and their Melodic Pagan Metal. As one could expect, the small Club 2 of the Rockfabrik Ludwigsburg was well-filled, and after about half an hour waiting time the first band entered the stage.
http://www.rockfabrik-ludwigsburg.de/  


TYR

The Faroe Islands' most famous Metal band TYR - Tyr is the name of a Norse war god - has been founded in Copenhagen (the Faroe Islands are an autonomous region of  the Kingdom of Denmark) by vocalist/guitarist Heri Joensen and drummer Kári Streymoy in the year 1998; two years later, their first demo appeared, which contained own compositions as well as musical versions of traditional texts like the ballad ‘Ormurin langi’ which is very famous in their home country. The line-up changed in their early days, and today the band consists beside Heri and Kári of Gunnar H. Thomsen (bass) and Terji Skibenaes (guitars). During the following years they released two albums via Tutl (‘How far to Asgaard’, 2002, and ‘Eric the Red’, 2003); last year they changed to Napalm Records. Their latest release is the full-length album ‘Ragnarok’ (2006). http://www.tyr.net/



Music
TYR for sure are the best known Metal band from the tiny Faroe Islands. They play some sort of rather slow Folk/Viking Metal, rooted in old-school Heavy Metal - Joensen names the NWoBHM as one of his influences, but also constantly using elements from traditional Faroese music/ballads. Singer and songwriter Heri Joensen, who is a studied etymologist, uses the Faroese tongue for the vocals as well as the English one, the latter mainly for the purpose of reaching a broader audience.
 


Thematically especially the Norse mythology and history are addressed. The songs are mostly slow-going, and in their structure often reminding of folkloristic epics or hymns, like the well-known ‘Hail to the Hammer’ - which naturally was adequately celebrated this evening.  


 
Performance
The four musicians from the far North delivered a down-to-earth Metal show - powerful and enthusiastic, and managed to very well prepare the visitors for the things to come. Mjolnir, Thor's hammer could be seen everywhere, and looking at the band on stage, you easily got the impression these guys have come from ancient times to bring us their melodic, old and strong Metal pieces.   

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 7.2






DEBAUCHERY

The Death Metal band or - as vocalist and songwriter Thomas states on their official website - one-man-project DEBAUCHERY from Stuttgart has been existing since 2001. Over the years, Thomas has gathered a frequently changing group of musicians around him, who support him on stage and when recording the albums; this so-called Kill Team at the moment consists of Joshi and Simon on the guitars, bassist Marc and Oli (Ex-REVENGE OF INSANITY) behind the drums. The first regular DEBAUCHERY album was ‘Kill Maim Burn’, published in 2003 and followed by a very successful tour with NAPALM DEATH. This year, their fourth studio album, ‘Back In Blood’, appeared as a double-CD (regular album plus remixes - among others GENESIS' ‘I Can't Dance’, MANOWAR's ‘Kings of Metal’ and SIX FEET UNDER's well-known ‘War Is Coming’) via AFM records. http://www.debauchery.de/



Music
DEBAUCHERY from Stuttgart have often been compared to the legendary Death Metal band from Florida/USA, SIX FEET UNDER, and there are surely worse bands to be compared to. Nevertheless such comparisons can become very frustrating for musicians as one can imagine. However, DEBAUCHERY do not seem to care too much about such a talking, and have on the contrary delivered their critics new ammunition - the title track of their new album, ‘Back In Blood’, is not accidentally similar to AC/DC's ‘Back in Black’, a song SFU have also covered already.



The five guys' sound can be denoted fast Death Metal. I like their stuff on CD, but they managed to even more impress me on stage. Thomas' very deep growls and pervasive screeching delivered the sick and often not very serious vocals to their unbelievably energetic instrumental sound, altogether blowing away the exalted audience. DEBAUCHERY may not be the most innovative band in Death Metal, and their lyrics (check out ‘Chainsaw Masturbation’) may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you don't take them too serious they can be really fun, especially when experiencing them live on stage. 



Performance
DEBAUCHERY as always came on stage with plenty of artificial blood on. They had fantastic light, and so the shocking red of their blood paintings fully came into their own. Their show was absolutely energetic and convincing, though always with an eye wink - the mere power they were able to cast over the visitors was simply fascinating. And the audience rewarded this with enthusiastic head banging and screaming the lyrics alongside Thomas, who delivered a very impressive performance. All in all a quite entertaining concert, and though DEBAUCHERY did not really match the other bands when it comes to their music and lyrics also, I was glad they played this evening.



Setlist
01. Horrors Of War
02. Baptise This World In Blood
03. Blood For The Blood God
04. Lords Of Battle
05. Torture Pit
06. Chainsaw Masturbation
07. Butcherman

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 8






SWALLOW THE SUN

In autumn 2000, Juha Raivio (guitars/songwriting) has founded the Doom/Death Metal formation SWALLOW THE SUN. Two years later, after having gathered some other musicians (Miko Kotamäki - vocals, Markus Jämsen - guitars, Matti Honkonen - bass, Aleksi Munter - keyboards and Pasi Pasanen - drums) around him, a first demo was recorded. In 2003 they got signed by Firebox Records, who published their first regular album, ‘The Morning Never Came’ (2003) and especially the successful follow-up ‘Ghosts Of Loss’ (2005). In the meantime, they have changed to Spinefarm and since this year' beginning their third studio album ‘Hope’ is available to the audience. http://swallowthesun.net/



Music
During the SWALLOW THE SUN set, gloomy gravity and endless sadness reigned on the small stage of the Rockfabrik. The six guys from Finland play rather aggressive Doom Metal with varying times. Their partly relatively long compositions come up with complexity and profundity and are able to create a special dark and dismal atmosphere. Though I must admit that the band members surely are masters of their trade, this music is something I cannot always listen to, I must be in the mood for it. And this particular evening I wasn't, so the songs with their abyssal guitars and their hauling, sometimes monotonous heaviness began to get annoying after some time. However, I found their stuff much better live on stage than out of my speakers at home, and in the right spirit they surely are the perfect soundtrack to your feelings.  



Performance
The main theme from David Lynch's ingenious TV series ‘Twin Peaks’ announced the Finnish Doom Metal band. SWALLOW THE SUN offered quite a contrast to their forerunners, the blood-dripping DEBAUCHERY, on stage. Their performance was simpler and more down-to-earth, but surely didn't lack energy and especially their passion for what they were doing there in front of the audience was clearly palpable.
 


What I very much like about this band are their wonderful, poetic and soulful lyrics. Lights had been dimmed and the scarce remnants perfectly fitted the sound of the band, though this didn't really make it easier to take some photographs. The picture I still have in mind here is the one of all the band members standing there on stage, banging with their heads down, and so did the audience.



Setlist
01. Through Her Silvery Body
02. These Hours Of Despair
03. Out Of This Gloomy Light
04. Don't Fall Asleep
05. Too Cold For Tears
06. Doomed To Walk On Earth
07. Swallow

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 6
Sound: 7
Light: 3
Total: 6.1




MOONSORROW

The Finnish band MOONSORROW has become quite famous during the last years, at least among the fans of Pagan/Folk Metal. It has been founded in 1995 by the brothers Ville and Henri Sorvali, the latter also being keyboarder for FINNTROLL. Their intention was to bring together Finnish folkloristic sound with Metal. After their first demo ‘Thorns Of Ice’ has disappeared, nowadays their second demo ‘Metsä’ (=Forest, 1997) is seen as their first publication. Their debut full-length album ‘Suden Uni’ (=Dream Of A Wolf) appeared in 2001 via Plasmatica Records, and was re-released in 2003 after the band had changed to Spinefarm. Their greatest success up to now is the fantastic 2003 album ‘Kivenkantaja’. Their latest output is the two-song masterpiece ‘Viides Luku-Hävitetty’ (=Chapter Five: Destroyed, 2007). http://www.moonsorrow.com/



Music
Finally the Finnish guys from MOONSORROW entered the stage, and I am always a little stunned to see just five normal musicians there in front of me behind their instruments - as their music is far away from being ordinary. Their work  has been described once as being more like a soundtrack than like usual songs, and this is not far from the truth.



Generally labelled Melodic Pagan Metal with progressive approaches, the MOONSORROW songs, often reaching a length of twenty minutes or more, manage to build up strange and at the same time quite close worlds before the listener's inner eye. Not sticking to ordinary song structures, and often working with symphonic elements, various noises or unusual instruments, they are able to create a unique atmosphere. Lyrically the band treats mystical topics like the end of the world in their latest album, and the vocals are Finish without exception. Of course it is nearly impossible to bring their complex compositions on stage adequately. But in my opinion they made the best of it.



Performance
The small Rockfabrik stage didn't offer much room for the five musicians, but they nevertheless managed to bring their enthused audience a performance full of energy and masterly played songs, which was honoured by their numerous fans with banging and frenetic applause. MOONSORROW managed to bring the atmosphere their songs can create on stage, at least in part, and once again showed that you don't need a bombastic show to enthral your audience, but only a few guys knowing their trade masterly and playing their music with a lot of passion.

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 5
Total: 7.4



All pictures by Ruth Gräbeldinger
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