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We believe that the new year must be ushered in properly, and what better way to do so than with one of the most eagerly awaited black metal tours of the year: the ELLENDE tour for their current album Zerfall stopped off in Dresden on January 4, 2026, at the Chemiefabrik, and with KARG and FIRTAN as support acts, there was no question that we had to be there! In frosty temperatures, we not only embarked on a journey to another city, but were also invited on a voyage into our deepest emotional worlds thanks to the wonderful music…
We would like to take this opportunity to thank lightinmirror.de for the wonderful pictures and L.G. for giving us this evening!
Firtan
FIRTAN is a band that has been on our radar for a long time, but somehow we hadn’t had the opportunity to see them live until now. It’s kind of frustrating when you know that the music is something for you, but there’s no suitable opportunity to check it out live! In that sense, we have fulfilled a resolution for 2026 by finally seeing them live.
How could it be otherwise, it was just very good! I don’t think I’m offending any of the musicians involved when I say that everyone on this tour had what it takes to be a headliner. You don’t always get to see this much musical quality on a tour.
FIRTAN inspire with truly outstanding songwriting that carries you through many emotional levels. Although I haven’t quite figured out how the stage outfits fit in here (yet), the contrast between the harsh vocals and the very plaintive but gentle violin tones was simply incredible! The violin in particular so skillfully emphasizes the tragedy in this music and makes you hope that the moments will never end. It was a truly explosive mixture on stage, which was skillfully staged, above all, by the fact that the sound was simply perfect! The setlist was also really well chosen from start to finish: from Hrenga, which was even performed with KARG singer J.J. as a guest, to Arkanum and Amor Fati, they left us wanting for nothing!
All I can say is: see you next time! Because this was certainly not the last time we saw this band live!
Karg
Black Metal has the great advantage that you can dress up and wear makeup, but the fans won’t hold it against you if you perform your show without any adornments and, in a sense, starkly. Whether the band name KARG really has anything to do with this, I dare to doubt at this point, but the name is already programmatic here in terms of outward appearance…
But that’s perfectly fine, because what defines KARG is something else entirely: it’s the uncompromising songs that convey deep emotions in a direct way. KARG’s songs are genuine and blunt, and even if you may not understand every word due to the dialect in which they are sung, the moods come across all the more realistically. Even though it’s a visual contrast to the previous band FIRTAN, KARG manages to touch me just as deeply. It’s a classic example of how things that seem so different at first glance can be more similar than you might initially think.
Musically, it was also truly outstanding. The fact that FIRTAN violinist Klara came on stage for the second time that evening, though not the last, for her feature in the song Annapurna, made it all the more moving. In general, I’m also a big fan of the current KARG album Marodeur, which is even better than its truly brilliant predecessor Resignation. In this respect, the only conclusion I can draw is: a solid 10/10!
Ellende
At this point, I must emphasize once again how the Black Metal scene has actually evolved! Because right next to the chemical factory in Dresden there is a large church, and it didn’t burn down!
Instead, something else blazed in the concert hall, namely the fire that ELLENDE ignited in us with their music. Anyone who has heard the current album Zerfall knows that it is even more emotional and, I would also say, more profound than all previous releases. There are few bands for whom we seriously consider and ultimately undertake longer journeys, but ELLENDE have once again shown why they belong to this small group!
The opener was the song of the same name from the album, Zerfall, which struck a chord right down to the marrow. If I could have come up with the set list myself, this song would certainly have been on it, but playing it first set the tone for the evening: it’s a new era for ELLENDE, a time of new beginnings, but one that doesn’t shy away from dealing with the past. Rather, it is a case of perceiving and accepting the past as part of oneself and now beginning to live with it. In my opinion, this was also represented by the fact that more than half of the set consisted of songs from the new album.
Here, too, Klara and her violin were a real highlight, because she and her instrument enrich the song Zeitenwende Teil I in a lasting way. Musically, we were transported into a world of emotions that was as moving and genuine as it was accessible. As at the concert in October 2024, ELLENDE once again gave me a feeling that told me I was not alone with my emotions. As a society, we tend to say that everything will get better eventually and that some things aren’t so bad. But what if I need to dwell in my suffering for a moment? What if I need to feel it to know that the grief over what I’ve lost isn’t just my imagination? Far too often, we push such feelings away because we believe they make us weak. In fact, these emotions are an expression of what we had and that it really did exist! We can only be grateful to ELLENDE for addressing precisely these issues and giving us a refuge of belonging to which we can retreat when needed.
Unfortunately, it is also a peculiarity of concerts that they must come to an end. ELLENDE saved Ballade auf den Tod for the grand finale, which certainly satisfied some fans who had been eagerly awaiting this song. For us, our visit to Dresden for this concert was everything we could have wished for this year: good music, great people, wonderful conversations, and the knowledge that music connects us all. Thank you for that!
Shieldmaiden's Voice 