Decibel Magazine Tour

The first (hopefully of many) Decibel Magazine Tour came to the City of Salt on April 18th. I had to beg coworkers to trade me shifts so that I could be there for that monumental show! With a bill boasting Neo-Occult Metal band In Solitude, witch fronted Classic Metallers The Devil's Blood, Black Metal demons Watain, and the behemoths of Black/Death Metal... Behemoth; I was not going to miss this show!

Front men and woman of In Solitude (top), Watain (left), The Devil's Blood (center), and Behemoth (right).

In Solitude

First on the stage were Sweden's In Solitude. The band seems to be mostly influenced by Mercyful Fate, and that is fine by me because they take the themes started by King Diamond and make a sound that is familiar yet completely original. For this show I was able to get right up against the stage. Since most the shows I go to are at The Complex, I've made friends with a bouncer at the venue. So much so that when people are waiting in line to get into the venue he will give me my 21+ wristband before anything is even open. One clue about The Complex is that (in my opinion) the best place to stand is in the bar area. So into the venue I march, past the huge line of people buying admission (I had pre-purchased my ticket), my friend gives me my wristband on the way in, I'm the first one to arrive at the merch booth, get my mandatory concert shirt, first one to get access to the bar area, and get an amazing spot right up against the stage (the right half of the stage was 21+, the left side was all ages). And there I stood the entire show. In Solitude came out and started playing as most the crowd were still out buying admission to the show. I always feel so bad about the terrible representation of the Metal scene in our state. These guys have come all the way from Sweden to Utah and play to a small group of one or two hundred people tops. Sometimes the amount of people that turn out to shows is amazing, like at Symphony X and Iced Earth. Then there are these times when barely anyone shows. Consistency people, please! Anyway, while the band is playing the singer keeps pointing to the ceiling and telling a roadie to turn off a big light over the stage. The roadie shrugs and shakes his head. This happens about 3 times before the singer goes to the side of the stage and tells the roadie to "Turn off that f*$#ing light!" To which the roadie yells back "That's the Sun..." you see, the light was a skylight in the ceiling and it was still 7 in the evening. It made me laugh, a real life Spinal Tap moment right in front of me. In Solitude - The World. The Flesh. The Devil.

The Devil's Blood

Up next were The Devil's Blood. Playing in the late 60's / early 70's Classic Metal style (more of a Ritchie Blackmore feel than Tony Iommi), it was a very refreshing change and showed how Decibel Magazine wanted different styles to be represented on the tour. Granted the lyrics and themes of all the bands were on the same page, but the genres of Metal they played were very different. I'm convinced that the singer was a witch ("She turned me into a newt!...I got betta"), she seemed to be putting a spell on us in the front row. While the band would be playing the instrumental parts of the songs, she would kneel in front of the drums and seem to be chanting to herself. It was a good addition of creepiness to the night. Maybe it was a spell to make people fans, 'cause it worked on me! The band was exceptionally good live, and I'd love to see them again! The Devil's Blood - The Madness Of Serpents

Watain

Watain

Third act to mount an assault on the crowd was, one of my favorite Black Metal bands, Watain. I had seen Watain in 2010 at Club Vegas. At that show the stage and venue were very small and I was right against the stage. I remember when the roadies brought out these weird spikes and placed them on the front of the stage. Shortly after that the spikes were adorned with real skinless sheep's heads... a total of six sheep's heads sat on spikes before me. Their dead eyes (still intact) gazed at me from two feet away. Having been on hunting trips and seen lifestock harvested, the imagery of the dead sheep did not bother me in the least bit. The unholy rotting flesh smell made me squirm and almost hurl. Who knows how long these heads had been on tour, most likely not refrigerated. I had heard that Club Vegas got in trouble for Watain using animal heads as part of their stage show. Whether or not this is fact I don't know. But after the first quarter of the show I could not handle the smell anymore and had to move back. So this is what was burned in my mind, two years later, as I am once again standing against the stage to see this band. The same set is being put up. Torches? Check. Gigantic metal inverted crosses (a must for any Black Metal band)? Check. Incense burning everywhere? Check. Fog machine on high? Check. Sheep's heads on spikes? Negatory. Oh good, no unbearable smell (other than the crowd). Once the band took the stage is when the craziness of the crowd took place. Everyone tried rushing the stage, leaving me and the two dudes I'd been talking to between bands to elbow and shove the people off of us as we tried desperately to keep our territory. It was a crazy battle, I got some bruises, but I prevailed in the end at retaining my spot. Black Metal shows are just so gosh darned fun! Watain - The Light That Burns The Sun

Behemoth

Nergal

Setlist, splattered with fake blood

Phoenix Rising Tour. That is what Behemoth called their first US tour since I had seen them in Denver on the Mayhem Fest tour in 2009. Why Phoenix Rising? Because shortly before they were scheduled to return to the US in 2010 their singer, Nergal, was rushed to the hospital with a terrible illness. He was diagnosed in August 2010 with advanced leukemia, initial reports stated that although chemotherapy would be tried, it seemed unlikely that he would recover. After a massive influx of Behemoth fans around the world entered the bone marrow registry, a suitable donor was found for Nergal. He underwent bone marrow replacement surgery in late December 2010. Shortly after being released he was readmitted to the hospital with an infection that seemed to point to rejection of the donated bone marrow.Behemoth - Ov Fire And The Void Luckily the tough Polish dude lived, and after making a full recovery the band released a new album and are once again touring the world. I think its cool that I saw him on his last US tour and again on his triumphant return. By the time Behemoth took the stage the crowd had grown to a huge number, a true welcome back reception to this Metal God. I suppose the crowd is better late than never, they did make me proud in the end. Standing in front of the band I was sprayed by water and fake blood that they would spit out of their mouths all the time... so gross! I left the show feeling so disgusting but it was completely worth it to see them perform such an amazing set. I was able to get a set list from the stage, and I'm currently wearing my Behemoth t-shirt proudly as I write this. Behemoth - At The Left Hand Ov God

Short hair after chemo, check out how long it was in the music videos.

Behemoth bassist Orion. Who kept spraying water out of his mouth and it always landed on us in the front row.