Primordial, MGLA, Urfaust – Dublin, Ireland
The Academy, 27.02.2016
Dublin is basically always worth a visit; the rest of Ireland certainly as well, but for a short trip it is enough to see the capital of redheads. When you also get to see Primordial live, as a fan of sophisticated pagan metal and dark beer and / or cider you should not let this occasion pass by. A flight from Frankfurt Hahn, when booked timely is pretty cheap – 50 €, Thursday out, Sunday back.
Thursday evening we 6 went to Fibber McGee’s, one of the most famous Metalpubs in Dublin. That evening Open Stage was announced, but the bands were not really my cup of tea – with one exception. During the period we spent there we got to see 3 bands, stoner Rock, when I remember right. The inner yard was interesting, shared with other pubs in the same block, it turned into a large, partly roofed yard pub. Very cool location!
On Friday after the full Irish breakfast we went by train to Howth and in the evening to the legendary the Foggy Dew. Food and drinks in Ireland are significantly more expensive than in Germany, a pint of Guinness (or a cider) costs in Pubs about 5, – €. On Saturday we went to the Guinness Storehouse, something ot to miss as a tourist, you might think! I for one found it not nearly as interesting as I had imagined, ultimately it was just one damn expensive Guinness. Maybe a hangover and an overcrowded top floor contributed to the fact I did not really enjoy the visit.
Because of the double program in the Academy, the concert begins at 18.00. Since we all don’t really like Urfaust, we decide to check out the Merch and take our treasures back to the hotel, where we enjoy one or the other drink too. For the last song of Urfaust we were back again; well – what can I say? I liked the two pictures that I took of Urfaust better than their music, and apparently I was not the only one. The break is short, just enough to grab a beer and go smoke a cigarette. MGLA – the currently hottest newcomers start in their set. The Polish band seemingly wants to reduce the performance to the max, in order not to distract from the music. The faces are – like Midnight – covered with black masks, hooded sweater and black leather jacket seem like a uniform. This also fits that the tracklist of their new album “Exercises in Futility”, reduced to Roman numerals. The sometimes frantic, sometimes slow, often repetitive Black Metal is appreciated by the Dublin crowd. Artistically, with their new album MGLA have certainly risen to the top league of Black Metal.
Watching Primordial in Dublin is somehow different, just like in 2014 at Redemption Festival it was already tough, but here you get even more gooseflesh. Naturally Primordial start the set with the title song of their new album “Where greater men have fallen”. Alan Averill captivates the audience right from the start, his stage outfit resembles something between shaman, preacher and ghoul.
With the slogan “The Wolf in Man needs to be exercised, not exorcised!” they announce the following “Lain with the Wolf” from the Redemption album, right before “Graven Idol”, a track that has not played for a long time. As for the audience, I’m almost a little disappointed today, somehow the last time there was more movement – surely lotsa cheers and applause after each song, but it could have been a bit more excessive. Moreover, during the set there was exactly one crowd surfer, received by Averill with a handshake shortly before reaching the pit. With “Babels Tower”, “No Grave Deep enough”, “Gods to the Godless” and “Mouth of Judas” the dramatic sound continues. It is precisely this drama that Alan Averill is capable to invoke in such a haunting, theatrical way, which is one of the main pillars of Primordial’s success. It seems that every second person sings along, and perfectly. “Seeds of the Tyrant” is then dedicated to lying politicians and clergymen, one day before elections in Ireland. “Oh … one bullet for each of them, just give me a gun. I’ll do it!”
“Coffin Ships”, can not be missed at a Primordial concert and it is of course celebrated accordingly by the audience, and everybody seems to know the lyrics. With “Glorious Dawn”, a song they had not played in over ten years, this concert nears its end. “Traitors Gate” is dedicated by Nemtheanga to all the fans who have come from another country, and just in the ground floor of the Academy certainly one third of the people raise their hands. “Death of the Gods” as well as the previous “Glorious Dawn” are unknown to me, the final “Empire Falls” gets the complete Academy singing again – and all the body hair on my arms and neck stands up. Dublin is always worth a trip, and even more when Primordial perform in town.
Photos in Flickr gallery by Björn Schmiterlöw
Setlist Primordial:
-Where Greater Men have fallen
-Lain with the Wolf
-Graven Idol
-Babels Tower
-No Grave deep enough
-the Calling
-The Mouth of Judas
-Gods to the Godless
-Seed of the Tyrants
-Coffin Ships
-Glorious Dawn
-As Rome burns
-Traitors Gate
-Death of the Gods
-Empire falls