Satyricon, Mhorgl @ ClubCapitol, 24/03/2009

Fri 27th Mar, 2009 in Gig Reviews

It was great to rock up to Club Capitol for a mid-week metal gig and NOT find it had been moved to the smaller Amplifier Bar round the back. Seems Perth fans were pretty keen to see some black metal from the Norwegian legends.

Opening locals Mhorgl set the tone of the night. The members of this relatively new-formed four-piece, featuring well-pedigreed musicians from Tyrant and Avantgard and the impressive drumming services of Disaster from The Furor, brought a somewhat down-tempo style of traditional black metal that instantly got the crowd’s attention. In addition to their sound, they very much looked the part – salad-shredding wrist guards, a big black spiky bass guitar, numerous tongues and grimaces aplenty – and included in their set a Slayer cover and a rendition of Venom’s classic Countess Bathory which was met with punter approval.

For the opening band, the venue could apparently only spare three red spotlights and a couple of blue fillers – one area the Amplifier certainly wins out over it’s bigger sibling is in the lighting department. But as the stage was set up for the main act the big guns came out: blinding white spotlights and side stage racks, which tipped the crowd off that they were in for a big show.

Drummer Frost – often the overshadowed half of the “official” Satyricon duo – was first out on stage, followed by supporting musicians on guitar, bass and keyboards. The supporting lineup of this band has been so changeable that the band’s Wikipedia entry includes a helpful guide in the form of a timeline. These extras stood in grim salute at the front of the stage, awaiting the entrance of the dark general Satyr.

Forgoing the traditional black metal corpse paint over the last few years, Satyr was impeccably dressed in a long sleeved black shirt, with slicked back short hair. His charismatic presence ensured he was the centre of all attention from the moment he stepped on the stage, the others on stage fading into the background after their dramatic entrance. Repined Bastard Nation kicked off the set.

This appearance marked the band’s first trip to Perth – Satyr explaining that they had been told on their previous Australian tour that Perth was “too far away”, which he found amusing since they had made the trek all the way from Norway. The crowd certainly showed appreciation at the effort made, making an almost unprecedented amount of noise for their number – the frontman seeming bemused as he had to wait for applause and cheers to die down before he could speak.

The set list focused mostly on the last three releases, those which most closely reflect the band’s current sound. The Wolf Pack, Commando, Black Crow on a Tombstone and Die By My Hand were played – representing half of the songs from Satyricon’s latest effort The Age Of Nero. From 2006’s Now, Diabolical – the band’s most commercially successful release to date – the audience was treated to K.I.N.G., The Pentagram Burns, and The Rite Of Our Cross as well as the title track. Filthgrinder, from 1999’s Rebel Extravaganza, was a rare visit to earlier material.

The first encore saw Satyr bring out a guitar for Fuel For Hatred, although this was soon abandoned. The crowd demanded yet more: the second encore included sing-along Die By My Hand and finished with another old song – Mother North from Nemesis Divina, the fans enthusiastically singing the underlying melody.

Rather than leaving the crowd with promises, Satyr gave it to them straight: there’s no point asking the band if they’ll come back – then can only come back if there is demand. So buy their albums and tell your friends: All tribes unite – Satyricon are your black metal overlords. Bow down!