Belphegor & Wiegedood
9th May 2018
Valhalla, Wellington, New Zealand
Review by Steve Francis. Photography by Bruce Mackay.
I’m old. I remember a time when we would get 1-2 international metal bands per year venturing to the land of the long white cloud; how things have changed. Thanks to promoters like Valhalla touring we are now getting a steady stream of seasoned bands adding NZ to their schedule. Due to scheduling Australia usually get the prime gig nights of Friday/Saturday with NZ picking up more of the mid-week shows which can make it rather difficult to pull in the punters; so I was impressed with the crowd turnout at Valhalla as I raced straight from band practice to the show. Regrettably I missed show openers Scaphist and only caught the last song of Hollywood Fun Downstairs who seemed to be doing a good job of warming up the crowd. Most punters were in the venue watching rather than hanging in the Valhalla alley of doom, always a good sign when you’re playing to someone else’s crowd.
Onto the first of the internationals, Belgium’s Wiegedood; a three piece consisting of members from Oathbreaker, Hessian and Amenra who – along with Wiegedood themselves – are bands who are all part of the Church of Ra collective. After taking a long while to line check they finally launched into a pulverising opener of a track that was around seven minutes of constant blasting with subtle riff changes which built the song to a climax. No bells and whistles (or triggers) for these guys. Just a great heavy guitar tone with the drummers blasts hitting the rim creating an atmospheric feel. Wiegedood is made up of two guitarists and a drummer, the lack of bass adding to the vibe with a real early nineties Black Metal feel with not much bottom end.
There was no talking between songs, instead ambient sounds played out until they ripped back into the next tune. They are not a band who likes to move about the stage either but this matters none as vocalist/guitarist Levy Seynaeve still has immense stage presence, all grimace as he spits his vocals which blend in perfectly with the harsh guitar tones. The slow Deafheaven like passages added yet another element to the set and helped enhance the next blasting section they would enviably launch back into. A relentless macerating set and they have a new fan in me.
After a quick thanks they were done and we awaited the entrance of Austrian headliners Belphegor. After a lengthy intro they marched on fists in the air ready to slay their first ever New Zealand crowd. We were off and while the guitars, bass and vocals sounded loud and clear the triggered bass drums were dominating the sound way too loud in the mix which unfortunately had the effect of sounding like a type writer coming through the PA. The rest of the drum kit however sounded magnificent. I understand why drummers (especially fulltime touring drummers) use triggers. It gives you guaranteed clarity and the opportunity to dial your sound in at any venue. However to me it really detracted from the ruthlessness and brutality of the bands material. That major gripe aside however and the band were what you would expect from one that has been pounding it out since 1993; tight as fuck and flawless showmen.
The vocal interplay of frontman/guitarist Helmuth Lehner and bassist Serpenth was a particular highlight with the high/low combo adding an impressive component and combining together on some sections to great effect. They would start to build good momentum especially on some of the slow instrumental tracks but sadly a few technical mishaps would grind things to a halt. Stand out tracks were ‘Lucifer Incestus’ and ‘Gasmask Terror’ which both had excellent dynamics and clearly illustrated the bands real strength and song writing skills.
Overall the local crowd were a bit subdued as Helmuth did his best to get them going, “You’re too quiet, come on New Zealand! Hail, hail, hail!” And while it did get things moving for a bit the set (for whatever reason) would lose momentum again. Upon conclusion of their set Helmuth summed up his feelings by telling the crowd to “Fuck off”.
Belphegor will have to bring their A game tonight to Whammy Bar otherwise Wiegedood may once again steal the show.
Belphegor:
Wiegedood:
Were you there at Valhalla to witness this Black Metal magnificence? Or have you seen Belphegor or Weigedood perform somewhere else? Tell me about it in the comments below!
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