Thy Disease, Hate, Vader
YO-Talo, Tampere, Finland
5th September 2022
I may have said this before, but it feels awesome to be able to attend a live show without having to worry about any of the pandemic restrictions. There’s something special about a physical concert that you just can’t recreate with a live-stream, no matter how good the production quality might be. This time I opted for a night of Polish death metal. I’ve been a fan of Vader ever since I was a teenager. The blackened death metal band Hate was one of the last bands I went to see in early 2020 just before the coronavirus pandemic began. So needless to say I was looking forward to seeing them live again.
I arrived at the venue just as the opening act Takalaiton were playing their final song. I can’t comment much on their performance other than that sounded like fairly decent Finnish thrash metal. So not a bad start to the night.
Next up was an American melodic black metal band called The Noctambulant. They may not have had the biggest crowd, but their music was definitely my kind of atmospheric black metal. I enjoyed their show, particularly their cover of Sisters of Mercy’s ‘Lucretia My Reflection’.
Industrial death metal isn’t my favorite genre, but I have to admit that Thy Disease were good at what they do. They managed to attract a sizable crowd and keep everyone entertained. It was an energetic show, which was fun to watch even if the music isn’t exactly my style.
The first time that I saw Hate live two years ago, they were one of the support bands and their performance lasted only half an hour. This time they were one of the main acts, so I really got my money’s worth. This was a terrific show filled with bleak blackened death metal tunes both old and new ones from their latest album ‘Rugia’. They really know how to agitate the crowd too. It didn’t take long before I was head-banging along with the others.
Then it was time for the main act, my favorites Vader. They managed to get a mosh-pit going at the start of the second song, and it was full steam ahead from that point onward. It’s great to see how much energy their front-man Peter still has, even after thirty years in the death metal scene. Their guitarist Spider did a fantastic job too. They played many of the hits including: my personal favorite ‘Carnal’, ‘Black To The Blind’, ‘Chaos’, ‘Silent Empire’ and many others.
In summary, it was a very entertaining way to spend a Monday night, head-banging to my favorite death metal bands. I’m glad that I finally got to see a full performance by Hate. I made a new discovery with The Noctumblant. Let’s hope that there will be more memorable live shows this year.
Valkyrian Music 