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Do you still remember your first time? Your first concert? The excitement, the euphoria, the uncertainty… What must it be like for a band performing in front of an audience for the very first time? Since I don’t have an answer to this question either, it was time to get to the bottom of it. No sooner said than done: We promptly hooked up with ABYSS OF HEL and drove with them to Heimburg for the Heimburger Metalnacht. It was a long but wonderful day, which was not without its difficulties. But more about that in detail further down in the article.
Many thanks to lightinmirror.de for the cool pictures! Check!
The early bird
You know that anyone who can get me to get up early voluntarily is emotionally close to me! But ABYSS OF HEL and frontman Daniel have already done it for the second time and I’m starting to wonder which of us is actually influencing whom…
On July 26th we first went to the band’s rehearsal room, from where we started our journey to the Harz Mountains. At this point, I didn’t really realize what kind of day awaited us, but the mood was good and was only enhanced by the outstanding playlist I had created. (Yes, yes, self-praise stinks, but the playlist was really good).
On the 45-minute drive, despite all the anticipation, there was also a certain amount of tension. How would people react? Would there even be people in front of the stage? What if you messed up or forgot the lyrics? All these questions are essential for artists, but logically you can’t lose yourself in them. On arrival in Heimburg, it was therefore necessary to work through the endlessly long to-do list. Checking in with the organizer, organizing wristbands, unpacking cars, placing merch, playing in, etc…
Even though the atmosphere was really good and everyone was looking forward to stage time, the tension was almost palpable.
When you’re at a festival, you’re always in such a strange space-time relationship. Time passes both incredibly quickly and incredibly slowly. If you had more than three hours until the changeover when you arrived, you’re suddenly confronted with the fact that you’ll be on stage in half an hour!
Here’s a little tip from me: If you’re also in a band that paints a lot, then match your clothes to the colors. As you can see in the pictures, ABYSS OF HEL uses a lot of white paint and I only wear black. After the video shoot, I had already learned this and was initially very proud of myself for not having covered myself in paint. Then guitarist Robin came and said “It’s really good that you haven’t got the paint on you yet!”. It came as it had to: I promptly splattered myself with white paint! Many thanks for that, Robin!!!
Stage Time
Preparation is everything! For this reason, it is important that bands send riders with instructions and requirements for lighting and sound to the organizers or technicians. ABYSS OF HEL did just that. The fact that sound man Martin called the sound technician two weeks before the gig and was fobbed off on site with the words “If you discuss a problem with me on the phone, I won’t look at the rider any more!” was something I found very strange… The same with the lighting! With 5 minutes until the show, Daniel was asked what he had in mind for the lighting! That just doesn’t work! You don’t discuss something like that so shortly before the performance! I hope that things will go better next time and that the organizers of the Heimburger Metalnacht will take a closer look at the contractors they’ve hired!
Apart from this organizational chaos through no fault of their own, the atmosphere was really tense and the step out of the rehearsal room into the real world is a big one with a particularly significant drop.
At some point, however, the time did come and a number of people stood excitedly in front of the stage waiting for ABYSS OF HEL, who were only the second band on the day.
The set opened with Devolution, a song that we had already followed in its development and which was particularly impressive due to its driving power. Unfortunately, the poor technical support was noticeable here: The guitars were coming out of the wrong speaker each time. And don’t even get me started on the mishaps with the in-ear…
After this shock, we first had a little local round, which we had prepared in the backstage. Licorice liqueur at 16:45? It’s on!
As far as the timing is concerned, you can only take your hat off here, because just as all the schnapps were distributed, the second song, Ancient Fears, continued. Anyone who recognizes a pattern at this point can pack up their tin foil hat again, because I can confirm it: Yes, ABYSS OF HEL played their first album in full length and in sequence. Never change a winning system and all that!
The audience was obviously enthusiastic and so there was an almost continuous pit and enormous encouragement from the audience. The highlight for me in terms of atmosphere was the song Into The Abyss. I love this song and I had a lot of like-minded people in the audience.
The gig ended with Slaves and a lot of applause, unfortunately there was no time for an encore due to the technical problems… But the main set fit in perfectly!
All in all, there was a group on stage consisting of very talented individual musicians. You could really tell that they had spent many hours in the rehearsal room. Whether it’s the dynamic drumming of Rustam, the clear-as-a-bell backing vocals of keytarist Diana or the fast guitars of Robin and Sebastian, these are simply professionals in their own right on stage. Daniel is also perfectly suited to the role of frontman and singer. In my opinion, the only thing missing for this band is the relevant stage experience. This allows a certain composure to grow on stage, which is currently still lacking. The only thing that needs to be reconsidered for future stage appearances is the line-up of the band members. For me personally, Diana stood so far away and hidden that she seemed superfluous…
As you can see from the pictures, numerous accessories were used, which were ultimately rounded off by the use of fake blood. I can see the idea behind it (key phrase: “I come on to you”), but in the brevity of the performance it was a bit too much at once for me. Due to the accumulation of these things in the program, they lose their effect and radiance in individual cases. This will certainly also be a question for the future, when we have more performances and know how to use the utensils in a more targeted way. It might also be an idea to change the general sequence and time of use.
After the performance, the mood was correspondingly relaxed. I think a huge weight was lifted off everyone’s shoulders. But metal isn’t metal if you’re not immediately confronted with something again: How do you actually get all the corpse paint off again if there are no showers? Unless ABYSS OF HEL land a sponsorship deal with make-up remover manufacturers, that’s going to be a costly question in the long run! But the faces were quickly cleared and we were able to move on to the relaxed part. There were a few cool conversations, lots of photos and meetings at the merch stand. There was even a fan who had found his way to Heimburg specifically for ABYSS OF HEL!
All in all, I can say that a first time is quite a challenge! But the second time is definitely a lot more fun! On that note, see you at the second ABYSS OF HEL gig!
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