Lineup: Kvelertak/Torche/Wild Throne
Venue: The Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA
Date: April 17th, 2016
Wild Throne: Wild Throne is a band that I'd been meaning to check out since I first heard about them in late 2014, but for whatever reason, I just never got around to it. I'd heard a number of people compare them to early Mastodon, which really intrigued me as Leviathan and Blood Mountain are two of my favorite albums of all-time. While I found the Mastodon comparisons to be completely inaccurate, Wild Throne still put on a really good show. The blend of sludge instrumentation and high-pitched prog metal vocals worked surprisingly well and just about every song they played was filled with quality riffing and impressive, varied drumming. I'll definitely be giving both of their releases a spin in the very near future.
Torche: Torche has picked up a cult following since they arrived on the scene in 2005 thanks to their unusual blend of stoner/sludge metal and alternative rock. However, the stuff I've heard from them hasn't left much of an impression on me and their live show didn't do anything to change my mind. They certainly have talent and about half of the songs they played had some really dope riffs, but the vocals are really mediocre and a majority of their songs were repetitive to the point where I became almost completely disengaged from their set. Torche is an efficient live act whose appeal I can completely understand, I just can't get into their stuff for the life of me.
Kvelertak: This marked the third time I've had the pleasure of seeing these crazy Norwegian bastards and it was quite possibly the best performance I've seen from them to-date. No matter how times time you've seen Kvelertak live, nothing will prepare you for the tornado of destruction that ensues when they hit they stage. Their live show is a unique combination of punk energy, death metal intensity and arena rock goofiness. I know that sounds like a bizarre combination that would never work on paper, but it makes for a special and extremely fun atmosphere that's unlike any other extreme metal band on the planet right.
Vocalist Erlend Hjelvik serves as the facilitator for Kvelertak's special brand of chaos. He's an absolute psycho on stage that only stands still when he's addressing the crowd in between songs. Whether it be stage diving, sprinting around the stage like the The Flash or simply amping the crowd up during an instrumental portion of a song, Hjelvik is a commanding, incendiary presence that was practically born to be the frontman of a metal band.
Further adding to the quality of Kvelertak's performance was the damn near perfect setlist selection. They played a vast majority of the standout tracks from both their 2010 self-titled debut record and 2013's Meir. While their was a plethora of standout songs sprinkled throughout the set, the crushing "Offernatt" and rousing "Evig Vandrar" stood out as the clear highlights due to the particularly electric audience reception they generated and how hard-hitting the instrumentation were in a live setting.
The lone downside to their set is that based on the songs they played, I'm pretty worried about the quality of their new record Nattesferd. The five songs they played from it weren't terrible by any means, they just largely lacked the live wire energy and onslaught of quality riffs that has made their previous two records so memorable. Kvelertak puts on one of the most intense and straight-up fun shows on the planet and if you haven't gotten the chance to experience them live, I strongly urge to you rectify that as soon as humanly possible.
Scores:
Wild Throne 7.5/10
Torche 6/10
Kvelertak 9.5/10
Setlist:
Kvelertak:
Dendrofil For Yggdrasil
1985
Mjød
Nekroskop
Bruane Brenn
Månelyst
Berserkr
Evig Vandrar
Ulvetid
Offernatt
Ondskapens Galakse
Ordsmedar av rang
Spring fra livet
Fossegrim
Blodtørst
Encore:
Heksebrann
Kvelertak
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