Last night the Invaluable Darkness Tour hit the 013 in Tilburg (NL). Since Dimmu Borgir was going to be there I had to be there as well. Aside from Dimmu Borgir Amon Amarth and Engel (instead of Hatesphere) were performing as well.
Before I go and rant on the performance I ought to say that the person responsible for the sound in the 013 ought to be taken out and shot. Most of the critique I have stems from the fact that the sound setup was so screwed up you could often not even hear the singer from Engel or Vortex. The chords of Mustis had a hard time being heard. Big thumbs down on part of the sound crew.
In contrast what I’ve been hearing from others I thought Engel was doing pretty good. Unfortunately due to sound fuckups mentioned before their performance seemed rather poor. Regardless they jammed nicely on stage with lots of energy.
Amon Amarth on the other hand does not need a sound set-up; they will make sure they are heard. With Johan Hegg giving his vocal chords a run for their money and the brutal sounds from their axes any Viking ought to be proud of they send the crowd in a bloodthristy frenzy. To be honest I have never heard any of their stuff before last night but their performance sure sparked my interest.
Dimmu Borgir has good but not quite as good as I have seen them.
Hellhammer (drums) is currently not with them due to an affliction that leaves his right arm numb and Tony Laureano had to stand in. Unfortunately Laureano did not seem to be up to the challenge as he had a hard time keeping up with the standard Nick Barker and Hellhammer had set. Never was this so obvious as with “Puritania” (one of my personal favorites) which was so horribly butchered. It seemed however that Laureano needed some time to get upto speed; after a few songs he seemed to be holding his own. By the time “The Serpentine Offering” was performed the act was upto full speed.
The crowd was pretty wild too. I was right behind the mosh pit and I’ve seen at least a few people getting some nasty injuries. Of course I personally do not participate when people with spikes as long as my index finger go in. Other than a few skirmishes the crowd was pretty cool.
All in all I’d say it was a great experience. I am definitely glad I went. Just one thing left to say:
Hellhammer, get well soon.