Alcest, Svalbard, Doodseskader in Helsinki
Kulttuuritalo, Helsinki, Finland, 27.11.2024
You can count on the gig being of high quality when you spot Ville Valo listening to it from a corner. Some internet users speculate that he might have known the headliner as his recent warm-up act, Icelandig post-punk-turned-fairytale Kaelan Mikla, are acquanited with Alcest (to the point of borrowing their illustrator who did the art for their record ‘Undir Köldum Norðurljósum’).
Kultuuritalo is a classic old-school performance hall (built by the famous Alvar Aalto in 1950s) that have some stands and a pit that can be for standing or seating, depending on the show. The importance of this place for extreme music has risen, because the city lost several clubs, such as Nosturi and Circus, over last few years. It is not really in the downtown, but also not that far and is reasonably accessible, though it is surrounded by the not particularily cozy streets of Alppila and the area lacks the aestetics.
The night started with Doodseskader (“death squad”) who call themselves “sonic terror”, and are characterized in reviews as a mix of metal, hardcore, hiphop, rap and some others. The sound appears to be quite avantgarde and genre-defying. From my own impression, it is not for everyone and that is probably reflected in my memory about the gig, where most people just listened without any reaction and only someone in the middle was jumping and waving hands.
Next, Svalbard – despite the name, not a Norwegian Black Metal, but an English Post-Hardcore band. After the radical presentation of Doodseskader, the sound of this band was quite easy to a metal listener. The vocalist, Serena Cherry, is responsible for all the acting on stage. Same as the previous band, they perfomed using a large projection on a backdrop and themselves and rather basic lighting.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stalkermagazinerocks/54189419598/in/album-72177720322419910
To be honest, both bands were not really resembling the style of Alcest. Neither they sounded too encompassing. Alcest, however, was a completely different experience. The stage was laid out with decoration motifs resembling the symbolism from their latest cover, drawn by the amazing contemporary pre-Rafaelite painter Yoann Lossel – bushes of reeds, two herons and a moon. Lighting is very intricate – there are incadescent lamps on the ground in front of the bandmembers, spots highlinging the bushes, the moon, and overhead lights, all working as a very sophisitated and dynamic ensemble to support the eerie music. The band is not really presenting a rock-show moves, which perhaps would be out of sync with the mood of the songs. Neige narrates the show in his soft voice, just announcing, for instance, ‘This is Améthyste’. To my taste, the live performance sounds more interesting than the record, as Alcest’s music is to be experienced in some isolation from distractions. Overall, the show was immersing and beautiful and will be among the best gigs I have seen over the year.
Alcest announced their return to Finland for Tuska Festival.
Text & photos: Askar Ibragimov
