MARDUK Gig Review Support Acts: Immolation /De Profundis/ Heaving Earth/Forsaken World & Sinate

London Underworld, Saturday the 29th of September 2012

Review by Yiannis (John) Stefanis

Photos by Fabiola Santini

These past few weeks have been relentless for me – so, I was looking forward to relieving some stress during the Marduk and Immolation gig on Saturday the 29th of September at the London Underworld – a gig that is part of their European tour.

The doors had opened quite early on the day since, apart from the two veterans, the bill included four more bands, namely De Profundis, Heaving Earth, Forsaken World and Sinate – all of which I managed to lose as a result of a combination of Interview responsibilities, admitted lack of interest and sheer tiredness. After I finished a long and truly interesting chat with Marduk’s mainman Morgan “Evil” Steinmeyer Håkansson, and with my levels of energy running at an all-time low, I decided to find myself a quiet spot in order to watch as much of Immolation’s set as possible.

Even though I have been a massive fan of Immolation’s debut release “Dawn Of Possession” since it was first released back in 1991, I somehow never managed to synch with any of their following releases and so I approached tonight’s performance with both skepticism and muted anticipation. It did not take long for Ross Dolan (bass vocals) and co to win over both me and the vast majority of the crowd through a performance that was both technically precise and full of passion.

A palpable exchange of energy between the band and its fans prompted Dylan to say ‘this is what we were craving for’ when introducing “Majesty And Decay”. Classics, such as “Into Everlasting Fire” were welcomed with open arms by the fans who, by this stage, had turned the pit area into a battlefield and, following repeated calls, they were rewarded with a killer rendition of “No Jesus, No Beast”, following which the four US Deathsters took their bows and left the stage.

The relatively short period between the two bands was cleverly filled with the sounds of sermons and dark chants which added to our anticipation and excitement and as a result of the ten o’ clock curfew, Marduk stormed the stage with both energy and urgency. The main purpose of this tour is to help the band promote its 12th studio offering “Serpent Sermon” so it was not a great surprise to find the Swedes kicking off their set with the same-titled composition.

During my interview with him, Morgan had mentioned that the night’s short set would feature songs from as many Marduk albums as possible and, true to his word, he continued his aural assault through a combination of old and new classics, such as “The Levelling Dust” and “The Black Torment Of Satan”. It’s been a while since Mortuus first became my favourite Black Metal frontman and his contribution to tonight’s performance was once more impressive, to say the least!

Giving his mike stand a truly royal beating during “Nowhere, No-one, Nothing”, he head-banged like there was no tomorrow during the rhythmically immense “On Darkened Wings” and “Slay The Nazarene” and, with Morgan’s help, kept the crowd engaged throughout the show. “Baptism Of Fire” was greeted with a massive roar while the first crowd-surfer of the show appeared during “Deme Quaden Tyrane”. “Souls For Belial”, the album’s first single, successfully closed the band’s main set and, following a couple of minutes of break, Morgan and co returned on stage to finish us off with two impressive renditions of “With Satan And Victorious Weapons” and “Wolves”.

I’ve seen Marduk perform a great live show before, but tonight’s gig was even more special as Immolation managed to step up to their game, becoming a crowd-pleasing and genre-crossing band that is both aggressive and technically lethal on stage. When I finally left the Underworld for home, I did so feeling emotionally content, physically relaxed and somewhat wanting more. Is attending an extreme Metal show the real cure for stress? You know it’s true!

Marduk Set List:

Main Set:

1. “Serpent Sermon”

2. “Nowhere, No-one, Nothing”

3. “The Levelling Dust”

4. “The Black Torment Of Satan”

5. “On Darkened Wings”

6. “Slay The Nazarene”

7. “Temple Of Decay”

8. “Throne Of Rats”

9. “Deme Quaden Tyrane”

10. “Within The Abyss”

11. “Baptism By Fire”

12. “Souls For Belial”

Encore:

1. “With Satan And Victorious Weapons”

2. “Wolves”

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