14^th November 2011 was the day when the tank PanzerVader666 once again bombarded everything in its way and, as they say, took no prisoners. The veteran death metal band left London leaving just the reek of death (…and alcohol). However, Vader was not the only band on the battlefield; Gorgoroth, the co-headliner, put on a bestial show and might have succeeded in resurrecting the devil, while the support Valkyrja and The Sickening gave the initial call for battle. As the show started earlier than scheduled, I have unfortunately missed The Sickening’s entire set (and their last on this tour) – also due to certain bus delays but that’s another story. However, from what I have heard they put on their best and most were pleased. For this reason I will post a video of theirs and you may view pictures courtesy of Ivy right here.

Valkyrja put on a great show of Swedish melodic black metal – just the way I like it. Yeah, that type of black metal which you can actually headbang to, ladies and gentlemen. The vocals provided by A.L. were not the usual screechy and raw vocals of this genre which Gorgoroth would demonstrate at the end of the night. All the instruments were audible and it could be seen straight away that all band members were giving out their 100%. Passion in what they were doing was right there on stage. Hopefully they will come back sometime soon and show us again what they’ve got.

If Valkyrja gave out their 100% then Vader gave out their 1 million percent. Experience, precision and high quality death metal is a way to describe the show Vader put on. Last time I saw Peter and his band was a few years ago in the same venue; the only difference was that the members were different: Mauser (who I bumped into after the gig), Novy and Daray. Although top-class metal musicians have left Vader, Peter managed to find and replace them with other members of the same quality. And what quality was it when he entered the stage and started off with “Return to the Morbid Reich” off the brand new album Welcome to the Morbid Reich. Other tracks off that album included “Come and See My Sacrifice” and “I am Who Feasts Upon Your Soul”.

The set was a great balance of new, old and classic. The crowd went crazy with “Sothis” and “Helleluyah!!! (God is Dead)”. I was really glad to witness two tracks from one of my favourite albums Litany – also the first album of this band that I’ve listened to. Those tracks were “Wings” and “Cold Demons” which saw some extreme headbanging on my behalf causing my neck to hurt the whole next day. I was a bit disappointed, however, as they cut off the last part of “Wings” and went straight on to play another classic “Carnal”. The latter was not part of the disappointment but the fact that I did not hear my favourite part of “Wings”: the one with pinch harmonics at the end. The biggest surprise was to hear a track off their very first demo Necrolust which was released in 1989 (well, second if you also include Live in Decay). So… more extreme headbanging took place during the track “The Wrath”.  Have in mind, however, that Vader formed in 1983… before many other death metal bands who receive much more recognition. Nevertheless, the veterans gave out an encore with their tribute to the other veterans of the extreme metal scene Slayer, with their own interpretation of “Raining Blood” (following “This is the War”) which, in my humble opinion, is much better than the original. Maybe because Peter knows how to make better use of guitar effects?!

Throughout the 50 minutes, the energy of the band was reflected in the fans who gave out more and more passionate headbanging and moshing with every next song. It would be preferred, however, if some drunkards were not present in the pit… All that is left to say is: NAPIERDALAĆ!!! And dziękujemy!

Playing right after a band like Vader is a difficult task to complete I must say. Gorgoroth unfortunately could not out-play the death metal veterans and everything they did on stage had a negative impact on me. Even though I went with positive thoughts about this band as I wanted to give them a chance, all I was left with was disappointment. All right, there were a few tracks which I somehow enjoyed and could headbang to, like “Incipit Satan” for example, however, most of the time I was looking at my watch waiting for the show to end. Filling the club with smoke and making a “Satan will appear soon” atmosphere did not float my boat. Neither did the repetitive track structures and the same frikin’ drum beat introducing every single song. I feel bad I have to write such words about this band and for this reason I will stop here, after all many people seemed to be enjoying the satanic show.

Next time Gorgoroth tours with the death metal act from Olsztyn the latter should be the last one on the bill. Stay Vaderized!!!

For a full photo report click here.

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