Night of the Black Attack 3.0 / Forbrændingen, Copenhagen 17.11.2018 (LIVE REVIEW)

By Xenia Kromann
All photos by Xenia Kromann

Saturday evening heavymetal.dk dug through the darkest and most evil bands in the Danish underground scene and for the third time, Night of the Black Attack was held at Forbrændingen in Albertslund, Denmark. Many people showed up this cold evening to support the Danish underground scene. Nevertheless, did the audience really give their all?

Parentes0Parentes
The first act for the night was Danish progressive black metal band Parentes0Parentes. The stage was ready for these five members to appear and so everyone but the frontman did. After a little instrumental intro, he turned up in a very tight blouse, some hippie-like wide pants, big boots, and his long greasy hair. Last time we had the opportunity to see them was earlier this year at Royal Metal Fest for their debut show, where they had quite another show that was more intense and interesting for people to see. Then, they had a whole other deal with a psychedelic light show that really set the mood for what was to come. This evening there was no such thing. During the show, the bassist engaged in the vocals during every high scream, which gave an impressive characteristic feeling for those screams. There were minimal movements from the stage and they were very stiff in their performance. Aside from the few times, the frontman was down on his knees,  the bassist was the only one who really interacted with the crowd and had a positive and great attraction with his every move or contact with the crowd. This really had an effect on peoples focus on the other members, so much that he was the only one that really was in focus for almost the entireshow, until the drummer was ready to show himself more with him standing up screaming with his hands in the air. This evening, they caught me more than my last experience with them, however, I was disappointed that they did not have their light show with them this time. There was not enough energy from the stage and the crowd was definitely one of the reasons why. Sadly, there was not much energy from that part. The singer's energy was not completely haunting and he seemed very busy in a closed manner. After all, they gave us 45 minutes with some amazing songs, a starring bassist and it was a great start for the evening.  

Parentes0Parentes receives 2/6 


SUNKEN 
…something beautiful, something atmospheric and something filled with sadness was about to be witnessed at the stage. Next up was the atmospheric black metal band Sunken from Aarhus, Denmark. This night we were witness to some of their new material live. As the show started, you were put in this very special mood, with the cold blue lightning, the gloomy heavy mist and these strong ambient elements that just takes your mind out of this world. The long melodies were just in the right mind for the audience to be attached to this other world, and the way they played together did the final touch of making their music and live performance just that much better. This evening there were some technical problems with the vocals, not just for this show but the entire night. Nonetheless, was the vocals out of focus and very low at times. This did not seem that bad for this kind of genre since you cannot hear everything that is coming out of the vocalist. Martin Thomasen the vocalist, was after all in his very best self with his rasping voice and these harmonic screams that fits perfectly with their atmospheric sound. In this genre these high-pitched screams do everything for the music and it is absolutely how you connect with it, to make you feel something. The audience was focused and you could feel that they liked it with every long song they presented. For these five members in their patent leather shoes and their different band shirts, the show was a success. If you are a fan of this kind of black metal, you should definitely catch a show with them when you get the chance.


Sunken receives 5/6


AFSKY
Last time I attended a show of theirs, I was not that convinced. It was definitely not something that made me addicted, but I really wished it were. I am a fan of Afsky's debut album that came out earlier this year “Sorg” and it is definitely one of the best Danish black metal albums this year in my opinion. When the torches were lit and the heavy mist was spread beyond the audience, the music spread too. This music is so passionate and personal, which you can definitely feel in their live performance especially from the vocalist Ole Luk. This evening they showed us strong evocative melodies that have their strong emotions on them, some disturbing and some beautiful. The band is filled with great musicians who are also amazing performers, but this evening there was something missing. The audience was not that caught, they seemed to enjoy it but in a way, they were not so interested. After my last time seeing them I had the exact same feeling from the crowd, so I must say they have to come up with some way to get the crowd under their spell. Again, the technical issues were upon, this time worse. At times, there was no vocal sound and it was even at these moody hoarse screams, that are otherwise so crucial to the performance. This did really bother me because it ruined so much of the mood for their show, but the fault was not upon them. The spirit from the stage was marvelous and the sound (besides the vocals at times) was definitely exceptional. This is a band I would very much recommend seeing if you got the chance.  

Afsky receives 4/6


HORNED ALMIGHTY
Last time I saw them was three years ago at Copenhell. This band got sixteen years of experience and five full-length albums. It has been four years since their last album, but that was also one hell of a release. To end this black attack of a night, Horned Almighty took the stage. Four members presented us with corpse paint and bone belts. Their opening ritual was just what we needed, to be lifted from those heavy mists from the previous shows. Something faster, more extreme and brutal did the audience also need to get them back on track. We were definitely not there to stand still we were there to have one hell of a show. The audience when berserk in the front row from the very beginning until the end, there were so much hatred and evil upon the stage that made the crowd go nuts and the energy from them gave their performance such a satisfying power. The vocalist Simon Petersen (Smerte) was in his finest self and very out there for the crowd to feel every single raw scream of his. Halfway through the set, he dedicated their song “Necrospirituals” to their friends from another Danish black metal band Genfærd, two of them were in the front row this evening banging their heads for full power. For some reason, there were not that many technical vocal problems this time, but instead, for the guitarist there was. At the end of their show, the guitarist had some technical guitar challenges and it kept happening at first until there was no guitar sound, the guitarist stopped the song and declared the last song for the evening. It was great seeing them again and I cannot wait for what there is to come in the future from the band. 

Horned Almighty receives 3/6

Forbrændingen, Albertslund website: https://forbraendingen.dk/
Forbrændingen, Albertslund facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forbraendingen/
Parentes0Parentes facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parentes0parentes/

Sunken facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SunkenDenmark/
Afsky facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afskymusic/
Horned Almighty facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hornedalmighty/

Photo album: https://www.facebook.com/pg/metal.to.go.dk/nightoftheblackattack3.0