Firsttime I’ve ever heard about Casa do Artista Amador (Home of The Amateur Artist), in Famalicão, was back in 2015 when, along with Ecos Culturais do Louro, they promoted the Laurus Nobilis festival (see here). Can’t remember if that first edition already had the intent to raise funds for a new base of Casa do Artista, but it became so at some point. A setback here, a pandemic there… but it’s finally up and running! It turned out so fancy and cozy, with a couple of couches and a few tables near the bar, that I fell in love with the place the minute I walked in. The lights over the stage were pretty good too, which, for the photographer in me, is also a plus.
This wasn’t the first concert of the venue, not even the first metal concert to take place there, but it was my maiden voyage, as Wrath Sins and Equaleft are way much more my cup of tea than the previous gigs. It had been a while since I’d last seen Wrath Sins – precisely at Laurus Nobilis Music Festival, in 2019 – but I don’t remember singer/guitarist Miguel Silva being so amusing. “So, you want one or two more? No, three can’t do – I’ve been fighting a flu this past week, two is the most I can offer” or “The next one asks for movement. Who’s going to open the circle? You, right? (pointing to a guy in the front) Come on, you know you want it!”. If he wanted it or not, he couldn’t deny a direct request from the frontman and so a 3-person mosh pit took place during “Fear Of The Unseen”. On a more serious note, among the songs off “Contempt Over The Stormfall” and “The Wakening”, they also performed “Origins”, a track which will be featured on the upcoming third album.
https://www.facebook.com/Wrathsins
When my generation was in their teens, there used to be a lot of underground gigs in the afternoon, like this one; one of the first things Equaleft-Miguel Inglês mentioned when he got on stage was how playing at that hour brought back such wonderful memories of those matinées “back in the day”. From the crowd, Captain Aguiar – the main man behind this venture – promised many more to come.
Songs from both their full-length albums “Adapt & Survive” and “We Defy”, plus the most recent track “And It Will Thrive” made everybody happy, but “Tremble” (“a song we haven’t played in a while”) and “Maniac” stirred a special feeling over the oldest fans, as Nuno “Veggy” Cramês, co-founder and former guitarist, joined them on stage. He was more than a guest, he’s family, but still he thought the current members should be the ones under the spotlight and remained humbly behind them.
When “Strive” wrapped up the gig, the cookies – that are already Equaleft’s trademark – were given away.
https://www.facebook.com/equaleft
by Renata “Pieni” Lino
As I’ve mentioned before (read 
From a national popularity point of view, it didn’t make much sense to see the legendary Web get on stage next, but Analepsy had to drive about 200 miles to get to the venue – and Web just don’t care about that playing-first BS. Singer/bassist Nando was mourning a relative, who had passed just two days before, but no one could tell – he was his usual self, giving it all, and joking about Filipe’s white guitar and how the cookies Equaleft had brought were all gone by now, eaten in the backstage, so if that was why we were there, then we could go home. He also didn’t flinch when introducing the new song, ironically called “A Grave To Be Dug”. An awesome new song, by the way, bearing a sound you easily recognize as theirs. The chorus to “Mortal Sound” and “(In)Sanity” were sung along by pretty much everybody in the room.
Brutal death metal Analepsy, living up to the “brutal” part. Hair running in all directions on stage, while bodies did more or less the same on the floor. And that’s pretty much all I can say about it – as usual – and trust me, it is NOT a derogative report on their performance. I hate writing something as basic as “it was a great show” but in this case it will have to do. At some point there was a kind of a joke involving a rock band who was actually playing next door but it’s a Portuguese thing that even I can’t explain the fun in it, so… nope, nothing more to add.
Equaleft’s second full length album was featured in my expectations for 2018 but its release was held for a couple of months more and here it is, in the beginning of 2019. It’s okay, as the waiting was more than worthy (read the review 
Valkyrian Music 