Mörkaste Småland: Slaktmånad Part. II - DAY 1 (FESTIVAL REVIEW)

By Metal To Go


Going for the first time to this well-spoken about festival, we arrived a couple of hours before heading to the venue to attend the slaughter buffet that really just turned out to be a waste of money with nothing slaughter about it. Probably one of the only times during this fest we had that festival atmosphere was at this buffet when the whole thing was about to start.

The festival location was interesting as it was in this small town with around 5000 people that had a hotel. While driving there we caught our eye at the old location that now was just a dilapidated building. Sad to see cause we wonder how that could have been...

Myronath
The opening act was the new Swedish black metallers Myronath who turned out to give us the best presentation of the first day. It was new and no one had really head what they were going to play besides we knew it was the new album of course since it was their debut show and launch of their debut album. A massive opening soundscape got our spirits up and everyone thought the energy would just rush out of the instruments in seconds, but it was way too hyped and started out total opposite. Looking through that moment the rest of the show was impressive and the album was brought to life while the set took us through their debut album Into the Qliphoth. Wearing outfits that is quite typical within this type of music the front-singer was the only one who completely stood out with his white contact lenses and mighty fine live energy that was fresh within the band. Vocalist Vargblod pulled one characteristic harsh vocal out after another and as a whole, it was the drums that often was the focus that gave the songs a bare life.

We will definitely see them again and we recommend everyone to do the same!

Myronath get 5/6


After Myronath the sound sucked extremely the rest of the festival which ended up with the audience helping the sound guy by the sound table, turning up the bass and other from time to time. To kill the mood, even more... during the band's performances except for the second day's last three acts the light was on in the entire room which was good for the photographers but really a killer for a black metal fest.

Raven Throne
After a small break... all the way from Belarus these pagan black metallers came on stage, at the last stop of their Autumn Tour. Their loudness had that typical Eastern European black metal noise we need to hear more from on Scandinavian soil. We could not overlook the extremely high vocalist who was dressed rather gothic while the rest carried the same style with black caps. Standing a few meters from the stage we could feel the many sparks emanating from the highly engaging drummer who gave his all kicking his drums with everything he got, he caught our attention while the rest of the audience was completely unengaging at the same time as each song became monotonously tiring.

We would rather have watched them earlier in the tour since we could tell they were done for this time!

Raven Throne get 2/6
Zornheym
It was a shocking moment when these guys came on stage, as they made it seem like a mistaken booking. The front-man was everywhere all the time which seemed to be too much of a try-hard combined with his mix of clean vocals and high notes that just sucked the air out of us, it was as we were introduced to Cradle of Filth the cover band. He was cheerful on stage and tried to get everyone on the same page while saluting the crowd with his waterfilled beer bottle. As the show went on it went from a desolated crowd to an effervescent one, once again. A second vocalist turned up and they gave us their best song/show which was a Metallica cover of Creeping Death. It is unfortunate that a cover song gets the crowd going and not their own music.

Zornheym get 1/6


Grá
Being over 10 minutes late, we were finally able to catch Grá in action. Upfront of the stage was well packed with people who had been there waiting for good chat time and for the first time this evening the audience really showed themselves. Bringing us a set filled with treasures as the entire Helfärd trilogy among others the sound started out with a significant improvement, but through Helfärd Pt. II, taken from the Necrology of the Witch EP a small hope of better sound was once again ruined by the sound guy. We could immediately tell why people were here tonight and the sound wasn't going to ruin that. The small stage was turned into quite a theatrical experience, brought to life by the candles and their near-horror inspired background soundscapes that suddenly appeared under the tracks even though there was nothing really theatrical about the overall performance.

We would like to see these guys again but in other circumstances.
Grá get 4/6

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