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Did someone here say “double trouble”? No? Oh… well… ANYWAY! The trouble is still there, because today we continue with the second part of the report on the Black Metal Howling on February 8th at Hellraiser Leipzig. As you know, all good things come in threes, so here are the remaining three bands NAXEN, GROZA and NARGAROTH for you. In retrospect, this mixture couldn’t be more different, even though all three play Black Metal… Once again you can see that you shouldn’t always compare apples to oranges. But enough preface and on to the concert review!
First of all, thanks again to Philipp Seiler for the invitation and the organization and also to lightinmirror.de for the photographic work!
NAXEN
In preparation for the day or rather the evening, I also listened to NAXEN briefly and thought it was good, but I wasn’t expecting any big surprises. It’s just classic Black Metal, so what’s to come? Oh man, how wrong I was! It was just the perfect mix of brutal and catchy and it blew me away!
It’s so incredibly refreshing that there are bands that are able to stay true to the roots and quintessence of Black Metal and still make the leap into the 21st century! Modern feel and classic Black Metal are not mutually exclusive and NAXEN proved just that.
It was simply a pleasure to witness so much passion for such brutal music and even though I was standing at the very back, it still reached me as if I had been standing right in front of the stage. In this respect, NAXEN were actually the surprise par excellence for me that evening, because I hadn’t expected that at all! It was like a German version of a mixture of UADA and MGLA with a touch of Scandinavian black metal a la DISSECTION. All in all, an absolutely brutal and explosive mixture! I’d love more of this!
GROZA
If you want a balanced Black Metal lineup, you have to dig deep into the Post Black Metal box too. If you do that, there’s a good chance you’ll find GROZA. No matter how many times I see this band live, I just can’t get enough of their unique energy!
They opened the set with Asbest, the German song from their latest album Nadir, which was the main focus of the evening. As the album was one of the top releases for me in 2024, I couldn’t be happier about it!
There may be people who dismiss GROZA’s music as “intellectual caped Black Metal”, but Black Metal as a genre has always dealt with nihilistic themes. Now they just add a more melodic guitar every now and then, and why not? Beauty comes from these contrasts and just because we’re in a life-denying style doesn’t mean that everything has to sound evil! In this respect, GROZA were exactly the right choice for this evening and their popularity within the genre was also evident on this evening.
For me, sets like this are always an opportunity to evaluate my own emotional world a little and every GROZA performance leaves me with the same turmoil. On the one hand, there are these feelings of sadness, fear and loneliness, but on the other hand, every beat, every chord, every single note makes me realize that I’m not alone with those feelings. The perpetual search for community and belonging takes a break for at least an hour and I can use this time to emerge stronger, albeit emotionally touched. And if that isn’t enormously valuable, then I don’t know what is!
NARGAROTH
But black metal is not just nihilism or emotionality. Black Metal ist Krieg! (See what I did there…?) No matter how good an evening is or how much fun it is, at some point it unfortunately comes to an end. The legendary NARGAROTH concluded the Black Metal Howling.
As far as I can tell, their appearances are rare and so it was hardly surprising that the Hellraiser was so full. With the shows of the previous bands, the atmosphere was also heavily fueled so that NARGAROTH could really take the stage at the peak of the evening. I have to be honest and say that I didn’t have any great expectations because I just didn’t like the music when I heard it and it was a bit too “over the top” for me.
In the end, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the music works live! Sure, you have to know songs like Karmageddon and Black Metal ist Krieg, but the set was also really exciting beyond that. Anyone who devotes themselves to music in this way creates an electrifying, albeit brutal atmosphere, which was somehow also extremely hypnotic. The guitarists in particular were able to impress with their skillful solos, which I hadn’t expected!
Of course, you always have to consider whether this exaggerated theatricality of 90s black metal is really for you. I didn’t go home that night as a NARGAROTH fan either. But it has to be said that the show was simply good! It’s precisely this exaggerated display of your own “TRVENESS” that not only attracts people, but also inspires them. So if that’s exactly your thing, then you can’t go wrong with a ticket for a NARGAROTH show!
And that brings us back to the end. As exhausting as the day at Black Metal Howling was, I’m glad we were there. Above all, I was thrilled that we had a one-day festival for a special kind of music in our area. Of course, you can’t always know every band, let alone like them, but I left with new impressions and inspiration for future articles. Who knows which of the bands from this event will appear here again soon? I’ve definitely already got my eye on one or two of them! It was also a lot of fun and that’s the most important thing! So I sincerely hope that there will be a repeat next year. Maybe until then!
Shieldmaiden's Voice 