Dark Funeral
10th September 2019
Whammy! Bar, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Andy Kim. Photography by Doug Peters.
On the eve of September 11th, a date in recent history synonymous with infamous tragic events, Auckland’s extreme metal fans gathered at Whammy! to acknowledge and dwell upon the horrific capabilities of the human species at its very core alongside Swedish black metallers Dark Funeral.
Local acts Sciolism and Oblivion Dawn had the privileged task of warming up the masses, Sciolism taking to the stage first. Categorising their music as blackened death metal, the band put in a solid effort playing a handful of songs, with each subsequent tune introducing a new element in their song writing. The first track was quite a straight-forward chord driven one, while the second brought a welcomed and dynamic change to clean melodies in the latter half.
The band continued to introduce more styles such as intricate riffing and tremolo picking as their set progressed, and while nothing came across as out of the ordinary from the genre of their self-described sound, their precise musicianship certainly deserved recognition; especially with drummer Steven Bernstein, who did not miss a beat with his double bass work as well as his blast beats to keep the tempo at an energetic and frenzied pace. During the second half of their set however, Bernstein ran into a problem with his kick pedal which took a moment or two to fix, but both the band and crowd remained relaxed about the slight inconvenience; guitarist Daniel Bernstein taking the opportunity to fill the void with lush Opeth-like arpeggios laden with mellow yet dissonant tonalities. Hearing this left me wanting for more of this style to be integrated into their music that followed, but once the equipment issue was amended, they returned back to more variations of their core sound.
Oblivion Dawn followed up with a mysterious visual concept, walking onto the stage in matching black hooded robes with red lining which instantly reminded me of Sunn O))). Their sound revolved around droning doom metal just like Sunn O))) in this regard too, but with more traditional song writing and vocal structures. I often found myself closing my eyes because their style of playing seemed to invite the listener to digest their material in this manner and I enjoyed the experience more; the music conjuring vast arid soundscapes within my mind. Lead vocalist Jae Hulbert took care of the majority of both the low and high screams, but when they were performed in conjunction with one of the guitarists who also provided backing vocals during some of the higher octaves, it caught my attention due to its visceral nature. The band of course kept engagement with the crowd to a bare minimum in keeping with their image, save for Hulbert occasionally raising his arms as if conducting a religious ceremony. As soon as they completed their satisfyingly concise set, the band left just as suddenly as they had appeared.
After a few minutes delay courtesy of troubling guitar signals, Dark Funeral marched onto the stage with all the classic black metal prerequisites: ungodly costumes – check; sharp, pointy and evil looking guitars – check; and of course, corpse paint – check. The show which followed; an immersive and authentic black metal experience in blasphemous Satanic worship.
Sonically, while Dark Funeral were purely black metal through and through, it was also visually mesmerising to witness such a prominent band of their respective genre perform within an intimate setting. While the rest of the group focused on delivering the music, only acknowledging members of the crowd with brief eye contact and small hand gestures, vocalist Heljarmadr interacted with the baying hordes in his signature mannerism. He had a solemn elegance and grace to his movements that were captivating to watch, such as gently wavering back and forth, his eyes closed against the world. This was of course in stark contrast to his relentless vocal performance that he strikingly kept up throughout the entire set; occasionally delivering them from against the barricade, almost embracing the audience, but mostly while standing a respectful distance away. As Dark Funeral began to play ‘Where Shadows Forever Reign’, Heljarmadr held an upside-down cross towards the audience to emphasise not only the band’s core theme but also to signal that this was indeed their final song and that the end was upon us all.
Overall, I was slightly let down from the lack of more exploratory guitar work from all three bands; in part because each group had fleeting moments where they showed a willingness to incorporate some lead lines and other harmonies in order to add more layers to their sound. I was hoping to hear more of this spread throughout each of their sets, but alas I was left wanting.
Overlooking this minor criticism however, the show served as a testament, proving yet again that New Zealand live music attendees have a distinct advantage. The opportunity to see top class bands play in intimate venues such as Whammy! not one that should be taken lightly. Case in point, Dark Funeral’s most recent gig prior to heading down under was at the famous Wacken festival in Germany, which most definitely hosted a slightly bigger crowd than New Zealand could ever hope to.
Were you there at Whammy! Bar for this Swedish black metal ritual? Or have you seen Dark Funeral perform live somewhere else? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Unchain My Soul
- The Arrival Of Satans Empire
- Temple Of Ahriman
- The Secrets Of The Black Arts
- Hail Murder
- Goddess Of Sodomy
- As I Ascend
- Open The Gates
- My Funeral
- Nail Them To The Cross [encore]
- Atrum Regina [encore]
- Where Shadows Forever Reign [encore]
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