In a sudden bout of spontaneity, I found myself on a train heading down to London, bound for a concert in a new venue and a rather motley lineup of punk and metal. The Purple Turtle in Camden is a cozy little venue with a bar alongside the stage and boasting a very competent sound system/team. I pitched up just as the first act, the amusingly titled The Cockrockets, were doing a soundcheck.

Vienna was shaping up to have a blast of an evening with the tour lineup that was announced. Three strong Metal acts with varying degrees of pagan leanings, all touring on recently released albums and all producing music that works great in a live atmosphere. Escape, a pub of around 200-capacity in the room downstairs itself, didn’t know what hit it. Moonsorrow and Týr were co-headliners; some may argue that they are different sounds, but, as Mitja and Ville pointed out, Pagan Metal is not governed by genre stylings but by an atmosphere, which was certainly present at this concert.

So yeah, the evening of Monday November 7^th started with a huge fuckin’ disappointment: Omnium Gatherum. Not that they didn’t play well, I just wouldn’t know. Because I fuckin’ missed them. Because I was an hour fuckin’ late at the venue, The Garage, on Highbury Corner! Why was I an hour late for the band I wanted to see that night, the band I came for in the first place? Well not because I was a sloth and looked on my watch too late before I left! It was because the Neckbreaker’s Ball tour site stated the show would kick off at 5:45 pm, while in reality the show commenced at 4:45 pm.

Yesterday marked what must have been one of the most enjoyable days in my whole fuckin’ life, I shit you not. I haven’t had such a good time in years and the smile on my face was both ridiculous and terrifying. Similarly, the ache in my upper neck muscles I’m currently experiencing is ridiculous and excruciating. All attributed to the efforts of Septic Flesh, As I Lay Dying and Amon Amarth, each in its bigger or smaller share.

“Of all the first-time-out-of-the-country concerts you could’ve gone to, you HAD to pick Brazilian Thrash in Norway”, a friend of mine exclaimed. And while it seems an odd match-up, Oslo did seem the most logical place for legendary Thrash Metallers Sepultura to close their European tour for their latest album Kairos. Norway is renowned as one of the Metal Meccas, and a band over 20 years old must pay homage every so often to the country.

[After yesterday's part 1 of the report on my night out @ The Cave in Amsterdam, now's the time for the second half, in which we discuss the band I missed, as well as the night's main act: Ingraved]

Just a week ago I posted a review of my Italian friends from Ingraved. Friday night they played a show right in fuckin’ Amsterdam, as I already mentioned in the review! Obviously I couldn’t let the chance to see these guys live pass by, so after the Friday afternoon beers at work I took a subway train and then a thirty minute walk to the venue right in the center of Amsterdam. I had left my car at home that morning, so I didn’t need to drunk-drive home after the show. Smart thinking, don’t you agree (I’m quite proud of it)?!

[Note: because I prefer to keep things readable and don’t like boring my readers to death with stories of indefinite lengths, I’ve chosen to cut this report into two pieces. The second part, featuring the Ingraved experience will follow tomorrow.]

The show was to start somewhere around half past nine, ten-ish – you know how it goes with Metalbands and starting on time – in a small Amsterdam place called the Cave. With the work beer session ending at about seven and the trip taking about an hour and a half, I paid the €5.- entrance fee and walked in at about 8:30, when there were only still a few people inside. It was a small but cozy place in a basement of a typical Amsterdam canal house on the Prinsengracht.

On Tuesday the 23^rd of November – sorry for the delay – I made a four hour trip to Darmstadt – near Frankfurt – to be a live witness of the concerts of Threat Signal, Raunchy, Sybreed, M.A.N. and In Cold Blood. With a load of luck I managed to get there in time, because the trains had some extreme delays once again.

Before you wonder: I would have happily added some proof pictures to the post, but for some fuckin’ reason my mobile’s camera decided not to function that night. I have added some videos though, including some of the actual concert – with abominable sound quality, but giving a great indication of the intensity of the shows – uploaded by other concertgoers!