DeicideMysticCircle

05/12/2002

The public use of these fotos (© by Stefan "absolut-evidence" Vogelaar) is strictly prohibited without written permission.

DEICIDE + MYSTIC CIRCLE + CENTINEX

at Z 7 - Pratteln (CH) - 25.11.2002

Today is another important date for the Swiss Z 7, (or a least it should be) cause Deicide Tour through Europe is finally landing here, offering the possibility to see also Mystic Circle live after the release of their bright new album "Damien", and the Swedish- Death Metallers Centinex. Everything sounds damned interesting for a person so truly interested in Death/Black (or at least it should be) and i obviously imagined to meet a kind of oceanic line of death listeners and freaks waiting for the Gods. ...Eh no, disappointing surprise! Today evening we are very far from the crowded venue seen during the No Mercy Festival where Vader , Hypocrisy and Immortal have personally called all the spirits of Hell , in order to summon them at Z7 , turning the atmosphere of this venue for a moment into that one usually reigning at Wärchhof (Luzern) where the enthusiasm for Death/Black is supported with incredible passion by a brilliant and devoted scene. No traces of all that this evening, the Z 7 seems to be half crowded and the audience seems to be enough unwilling. Where are the great Death fans of Switzerland and neighbourhood? We will see. For the moment i simply try to focalize my ideas on the two interviews i have to do, and in some minutes, Centinex will open the concerts.

CENTINEX

Centinex or the "Diabolical Hell brigade" begin their show with extreme conviction, lined up with determination, setting free their fast but also melodic Death, giving place for ferocious assaults and an implacable headbanging done by their singer. The music is good and crushing, being successfull in waking up the interest and attention of the crowd , that , on the other hand, is still lazy enough to support the band with a relentless partecipation. Anyway many seem to appreciate the great energy that Centinex put on the stage, and begin to follow the music more and more. Among them , an old man with a turban already seen on the Summer Breeze festival. What a guy! Congrats to him, he could learn some enthusiasm to the newest generations! Centinex ends their performance with well deserved applauses, their show was quality though nothing exceptional or innovative, anyway Centinex are a good live band and deserve more attention . Ok turnover time, and time for me to go ask some unholy questions to Deicide Glen Benton in person...

MYSTIC CIRCLE

Unfortunately Mystic Circle begin to play while i am still doing my interview to Glen so i cannot say anything about the way they were welcomed by the crowd, but, when i reach again my first row position, after having left Glen with all satanic regards, i can finally admire a band almost unrecognizable if compared to the Mystic Circle of one year ago! 3 members only : Beelzebub with his bass, Ezpharess on Beelzebub's right , playing souverain his guitar and then a big surprise to welcome absolutely: their drummer Necrodemon ,extremely concentrated, showcases a simply natural talent. One couldn't demand a better drummer for this band. No keyboards, no particular scenography to which we were used, no: only three musicians playing straightwards their tracks, many of them from their new album "Damien" and one notices it, cause in general the atmosphere is less melodic, more agrgressive and harder. Technically they are briliant and the audience (miracle!) remembers to be there for listening to implacable music and gather nearer and nearer to the stage, showing a renewed enthusiasm. The crowd likes these new Mystic Circle, and the band is giving surely its best , from the blastbeats till the guitar riffs. Vocals are up to the task. Their kind of Black meets well the general atmosphere of the evening, cause there are many other dark influences in their music which can be heard and appreciated by those who listen to Death too. This music is never monotonous and, though a certain valuable speed is developped, we can clearly appreciate some melodic chords. Mystic Circle: really great and above all very professional. Servants of twilight? Yes, still my fav track! Applauses and acclamations: yes! how many! Well deserved again.

setlist:

intro
666 mark of the devil
god is dead - satan arise
servants of twillight
king of the nibelungehord
medina whore of satan
intro
armaggedon war

DEICIDE

The crowd gathers now very near to the stage, there is much curiosity for Deicide . Applauses burst when Deicide appear in order to do a very quick last sound check. Many spot lights with a red filter are placed on the stage, ready to give out a diabolic red light. May the show begin! Glen with his mega deep and mighty voice wishes "good evening" ! And let's go with powerful double bass drums and fast intense rhythm with furious Death attacks. Glen plays and sings like inspired directly by an evil spirit, and, like a Rasputin, fully masters the scene. Well indeed this is the point. The other members of the band stay a little bit in the background under the shadow of Glen's charismatic personality and vocal ability . Yes, but it is really hard to electrify this crowd. And the more they play, the more some features of their songs are underlined: they sound violent but rather short, most of them with a brusque end. And i don't know why i'm thinking suddenly of Mortician... Good distorced solos and a lot of energy are not enough to let start that riot of ovations, headbanging and moshing which was offered to Vader during the No Mercy festival. Eh yes Glen , your beloved Vader triumphed and now on the contrary only some moshing in the middle of the crowd is to be seen from time to time , and though slowly the crowd becomes lively after the first songs, still there is a good part of the audience that is simply watching rather bored. Deicide are playing with class and i could even say in an imposing way, but they give more than what they receive, also because their tracks don't match perfectly the general taste of this zones, and if you add that originality is not Deicide's best virtue lately, and if you add again that slowly but implacably the tiredness seems to draw a veil over the band's performance, one can understand why this evening was not a big success. Surely there are interesting moments when Glen prises a "swiss " product that is really not the classic chocolate or cheese, or when a ghostly white light contrasts with the red spotlights giving to the song Sacraficial Suicide a sinister atmosphere. Particularly welcomed are the tracks Once upon a Cross and Deicide. The show is long enough and well structured but , unfortunately, it is also crowned by monotonous moments. The band, though behaving confidently remains rather static and Glen's obscure infernal voice doesn't save the general situation. Anyway the youngest guys among the audience seem to enjoy the show a lot , so the seed for the new generation is sown. Let's hope in the future and many satanic greetings. All in all this concert, for me, was at least good ,not excellent but good, the interviews with Deicide and Mystic Circle have been brilliant, on the contrary the crowd could be really better and behave more lively but Lucifer and Asmodeus will forgive everyone...

dalia di giacomo