| Doors: 7.30 pm | Show: 8 pm | Tickets: 19.50 / 22 Euro |

SEPTICFLESH is crushing force live on stage, proven umpteen times. With a steady regularity they release stunning records. And it seems, with every new masterpiece they excel themselves. Same, of course, goes for the most recent album, Codex Omega, released in fall 2017 and now supported by a headliner tour. A must-be-there concert.

Since the SEPTICFLESH show near my town collided with not less than 5 other shows (I decided for Arch Enemy that day) I took rainy roads to the next country, the Netherlands. To Nijmegen to be exactly and attended the show at :: Doornroosje ::. Gosh! Last time I was there was in 2003 to see The Gathering (with Anneke still fronting the band). Was it the same location? Hm, don’t know… However, great to be back ;)

:: pics :: ODIOUS ::

The venue filled slowly. There was still much room left when opening band :: ODIOUS :: got on stage. I never heard of this band before and it seemed that went for the Dutch audience as well. Ok, Egypt bands don’t cross my desk that often, although especially the band’s “exotic” bonus should help them to become more and more popular over here.
ODIOUS play a mélange of symphonic Black Metal with oriental tunes. Think of Dimmu Borgir for example. Unfortunately, all symphonic parts, choirs and Egyptian folk tunes came out of the laptop. Too quietly mixed and sounding rather inhomogeneous. I’m sure it sounds much better on CD (confirmed!). The voice of Bassem Fakhri surprisingly reminded me of Samael’s Vorph, and also some of the staccato rhythm hinted at them. Anyway, the music wasn’t as odious as the band name would imply ;)
ODIOUS had 30 minutes to present themselves, playing songs taken from their sophomore Skin Age, already released in 2015. I haven’t read any news yet about a new album in process. The band played with much delight and passion but was treated like a typical opener. Lights were really bad and the sound unbalanced. Not a breathtaking but a quite interesting show. I would love to see such kind of exotic bands on the billing of local festivals.

Setlist: Dungeon Keys, A Picture Of Dead Art, New Mystery, Crystal Clear, AlZar, Hot Blood Fumes

Hm. And now, what to do with :: INQUISITION ::? Due to their dubious past, back then and most recently, INQUISITION are not considered in this mag. A recent interview with Jason “Dagon” Weirbach for Decible magazine was too bumpy and scattered and didn’t convince me, added by some statements from shows during the last years. So, I have no idea if they really follow right-winged ideologies or not, flirt with them or are just stupid Americans that want to provoke. I gonna leave it at this and the band remains unconsidered.

:: pics :: SEPTICFLESH ::

A thundering intro and tons of smoke introduced :: SEPTICFLESH ::. “My friends are you ready?” Yes, we were and the Greek titans got off the grid with Portrait Of A Headless Man, to me the perfect opener for a SEPTICFLESH. Enthusiastic fans in the first row downright freaked out, while the rest of the crowd rather enjoyed the show instead of clapping hands or moshing. Frontman and bassplayer Seth did his best to animate the fans but this Wednesday evening wasn’t made to paint the town red.
Symphonic backdrop and atmosphere worked much better than with the first band. SEPTICFLESH played with enormous power and vehemence, as we know it from them. An atmosphere of creeping darkness and evil was built. The sound was powerful, accompanied by CO2 jets and a nice lightshow. Admittedly, the stage acting was routinely, not to say choreographed.
What confused me was the fact that SEPTICFLESH went behind the stage after almost every song. Don’t know what was wrong there, it was odd to see them doing so anyway.
Of course, the band focused on Codex Omega, framed with songs from the last two records. That was a pretty cool show, very intensive, once again.
Since Inquisition played a 60 minutes set, I expected even more from SEPTICFLESH. But no, wtf, they barely played an hour. This was way too short for a headliner show, especially for a SEPTICFLESH headliner show. That was really disappointing. Seems, I have to catch them again anywhere around with a longer set ;)

Setlist: Portrait Of A Headless Man, The Vampire From Nazareth, Martyr, Prototype, Pyramid God, Enemy Of Truth, Communion, Dante's Inferno, Anubis, Dark Art

story & pics © Dajana & Dajana Winkel • Photography