Satyricon, O2 Institute 2, Birmingham
Another town, another place. Yep, two days after the late finish at Bristol for Venom Inc and Suffocation I found myself in the Second City on a Sunday night for some Norwegian Black Metal. With the venue changed from the O2 Academy, finding the Institute was slightly more of a challenge as many of the roads were closed off due to the St Patrick’s Day Parade (yeah, I thought it was 17th March as well!). With people everywhere and a large police presence, we parked up and headed for the venue slightly confused.
This became greater when we saw a huge queue of clearly non-metal fans in the main snaking down the street from the entrance. A check with the bouncer confirmed we had to join the end of the queue, so thankful that it wasn’t raining, we took in the glorious sight of heavily corpse painted metal heads standing next to young guys and girls who were off to see the Misch. Who he? Well, having confirmed with the young lads next to us in the queue that they weren’t off to see Satyricon, we found out that Tom Misch is a 21-year-old singer, songwriter and DJ. Useless factoid of the day but he could certainly fill out the main venue. Another reason to be grateful for not going with the mainstream.
Having got into the venue with plenty of time, opening act Suicidal Angels (6) kicked off the proceedings in the smaller venue with a healthy crowd already filling the room. After a promising start, the Greek thrashers repetitive metal by number routine began to wear a little thin. Lots of air punching and cajoling the crowd was all well and good, but at times you just want the band to shut the fuck up and destroy me with the quality of their music.
Despite having listened to them a good bit before the gig, their generic Kreator-lite thrash did little, not helped by a bass which was way too high in the mix, resulting in a distorted sound with little guitar cutting through the muddy sound. By the time that lead singer Nick Melissourgos had completed the obligatory demands for the most “violent circle pit Birmingham has ever seen”, a wall of death and to bang ‘til death, it had worn just a little thin. Concentrate on the music guys, you might earn a few more fans that way.
21:05 and the atmosphere turned black. The room was now rammed as Satyricon (9) hit the stage. With Satyr’s legendary microphone stand centre stage and Frost’s enormous kit sinister and imposing in the corner, the band kicked off hard with Midnight Serpent, Our World, It Rumbles Tonight and an absolute blistering Black Crow On A Tombstone. With the temperature immediately elevated by about five degrees, and long-time live members Steinar ‘Azark’ Gundersen (guitar), the imposing Anders ‘Neddo’ Odden on bass and Anders Hunstad adding the operatic undertones, Satyricon hit the accelerator and didn’t stop until the final strains of K.I.N.G. over 90 minutes later. Satyricon live take no prisoners, and with a responsive and engaged crowd urging them on, it was a set of sheer intensity.
Little movement on the stage, save for the wind milling of the guitarists, but Satyr still manages to command the attention, his tight leather jacket adding to the rock star cool which he exudes without arrogance. His striking presence as he commanded the centre stage was impressive whilst Frost, hidden behind his kit hammered away in his usual incredible style. An impressive set list contained four tracks from last year’s Deep Calleth Upon Deep album, whilst The Wolfpack, a roaring Now, Diabolical preceded Walk The Path Of Sorrow from Dark Medieval Times and two from Nemesis Divina, including set closer Mother North. The inevitable battering encore concluded with K.I.N.G. and the end of a stunning evening. Satyricon may not play the UK that often, but god, when they do, they are immense.
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