Live review: Abbath + Toxic Holocaust + Hellripper @ Salamandra, Barcelona (January 9th, 2024)
Abbath brings the darkness and cold of Northern Europe with two high caliber guest artists, Toxic Holocaust and Hellripper.
Abbath is one of the great legends of the Norwegian black metal scene, one of the most important figures within the genre who has captivated thousands of followers throughout the more than three decades that he has been active since he started in music with his first band, Old Funeral (1988-1990) at the end of the eighties. His first steps into the scene would result in the birth of the iconic band Immortal in 1991, and according to some legends it was the late Euronymous of Mayhem who would supposedly attract the Norwegian musician known as Olve Eikemo to black metal. Already with the release of his first self-titled EP in 1991, he would use his pseudonym Abbath, which would later become known as Abbath Doom Oculta with the debut album Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism (Osmose Productions) in 1992.
Despite having been linked to Immortal between 1991 to 2003 and 2006 to 2015, Abbath has followed in his own footsteps over the years by forming the band Bömbers, a Motörhead tribute project in which he called himself Abbath “Killminister” alongside Tore “Fast Tore” Bratseth of Old Funeral and The Battalion on guitar and drummer Jan Terje “Pez” “Party Animal” Pedersen of Punishment Park and Jef. In 2006, the same year that Immortal reunited, Abbath himself joined forces with vocalist Demonaz (Immortal), guitarist Ice Dale (Enslaved), bassist TC King – or King Ov Hell – (Gorgoroth) and drummer Armagedda (Immortal, Demonaz) to give life to a parallel project called I that that same year would release its first and only album to date, Between Two Worlds (2006, Nuclear Blast).
Abbath quit Immortal again in 2015 and went solo releasing the single Count The Dead that same year, which would serve as a preview of his self-titled album that was released in January 2016 via Season Of Mist. Since then he has released two more albums, Outstrider (2019) and Dread Reaver (2022), both released by Season of Mist. Taking into account the impact that his music has had on the metal scene since its beginnings, it was to be expected that to present his latest album Dread Reaver again he would surround himself with great bands to accompany him on this new tour called Dread Reaver Europe 2024, choosing Toxic Holocaust and Hellripper as guest artists who will accompany him throughout the thirty-one dates in which the band will tour throughout Europe.
Barcelona was the third stop on this extensive tour that began on Saturday, January 6 at the Swiss festival Meh! Suff Winter-Festival 2024 by Dynamo. Those in charge of opening the evening were the Scottish Hellripper led by the versatile instrumentalist James McBain who is in charge of absolutely everything in the studio. The young McBain, originally from Aberdeen, has surrounded himself with great musicians such as bassist Clark Core (ex-Rats of Reality, ex-Drekavac), drummer Max Southall (Vacuous, Vaticinal Rites) and guitarist Joseph Quinlan (Desert Heretic) to defend live in the best possible way the songs that give life to his not so extensive but highly recommended studio discography.
Hellripper offered a dream concert led by their energetic black/speed metal that delighted all the attendees who had gathered early in the afternoon to enjoy one of the most solid projects of the genre in which absolutely everyone and everyone shone. each of its members. The selection of songs ranged from their three studio albums to the 2019 Black Arts & Alchemy EP, dropping a couple of pieces from their 2016 Complete And Total Fucking Mayhem compilation that brings together Hellripper‘s first compositions published between 2015 and 2016.
The audience celebrated with energy the thunderous discharge of the quartet led by McBain at all times, showing themselves in total harmony with their music while they played fast and furious songs like Hell’s Rock N’ Roll or All Hail The Goat. Hellripper exudes charisma on all sides and fully defends being one of the most interesting musical proposals of today, with its mix of black and speed that at times combines aggressiveness with the dirty rock of Motörhead as in the case of songs such as Goat Vomit Nightmare.
From their latest album, one of the best of 2023 for our editorial staff, they only dropped the aforementioned Goat Vomit Nightmare and the fast and dark The Nuckelavee, focusing their repertoire on songs like Bastard Of Hell, From Hell and Demdike (In League With The Devil) from their debut album Coagulating Darkness from 2017, closing on a high note with the powerful Headless Angels from the interesting Black Arts & Alchemy EP from 2019.
It was the turn of the Americans Toxic Holocaust led by the charismatic Joel Grind, a band that the public really wanted to enjoy live judging by the number of vests loaded with thrash metal patches and the handful of Toxic Holocaust t-shirts who walked around the room. With six studio albums behind them, much to my regret they decided to leave out of their repertoire any song that is part of their latest and excellent album Primal Future: 2019 (2019, eOne). I can’t fault anything about this decision since the band delivered an outstanding performance.
The American trio formed by drummer Tyler Becker (Weresquatch) and guitarist Rob Gray (ToxicDose) was in charge of spreading their furious thrash with shades of speed and black metal for a mere forty minutes, somewhat less compared to the three quarters of an hour in which Hellripper had previously played, but which the public undoubtedly celebrated with joy and with a lot of attitude. The circle pits dominated the evening at all times, driven by Grind from the first bars of the night while real anthems like Gravelord or Acid Fuzz were falling, starting their performance in a spectacular way with the rabid Bitch.
Although the audience was dancing and tasting from the first minute that Toxic Holocaust began their show, no one could resist the frenetic Nuke The Cross that arrived during the last bars of the night, after having delighted us with songs like Wild Dogs or War Is Hell. It seemed like the room was about to collapse when Nuke The Cross started to play, something that was even more accentuated with The Lord Of The Wasteland. The room became an immense circle pit in which a large part of the attendees joined in a total celebration of thrash metal that few bands have managed to raise in recent years. This will be a very memorable evening for all of us who attended this tremendous show.
After a change of almost half an hour it was time to welcome the messiah of Norwegian black metal, Abbath. Surrounded by a deep whitish fog that invaded the room in a matter of minutes, the one that everyone had come to see jumped onto the stage with an imposing presence that only those who have seen him live can express in words. Abbath was accompanied by drummer Ukri Suvilehto (IA, Suvilehto, Tuliterä), guitarist Ole André Farstad (Ilti Milta, ex-Barrio, ex-Combo Candombe) and bassist Andreas Fosse Salbu (Cockroach Agenda, Reptilian) to offer a recital of darkness with a somber atmosphere for just over an hour and a half.
As in Abbath‘s previous concerts, they did not focus solely on the albums he has released alone but alternated songs from Immortal and his other project, I. This gives the show a dynamism that would probably be lost if they only focused on on Abbath‘s solo material. It should also be noted that many people attend his concerts to enjoy the anthems he recorded with Immortal more than for his songs as Abbath, so it is probably difficult for them to focus only on his solo songs in the future since the public demands Immortal‘s material judging by the number of t-shirts the public wore that night.
The setlist itself was quite balanced and subtly alternated the songs that are part of Dread Reaver (2022), Outstrider (2019) and Abbath (2016) with the versions of Immortal and I, where songs like Acid Haze or The Artifex, without leaving aside the powerful Winterbane which is Abbath‘s best solo song by far. The band was up to the task at all times and lived up to expectations despite having offered a somewhat monotonous and at times uninteresting show. This was contrasted with the Immortal songs that were celebrated by the attendees, demonstrating once again what the public wanted to see.
It is clear that Abbath is not Immortal since both bands are very different and are included within quite different genres within black metal itself, this is the biggest problem that one encounters during a live performance by the band since they are two worlds that coexist. in the same environment at the same time. That does not mean that one cannot enjoy songs like Triumph or Tyrants properly, on the contrary, they are moments in which their leader takes the opportunity to release all his energy since the public is more receptive. I’m looking forward to seeing what Abbath can offer by going through an entire Immortal setlist this summer at Brutal Assault 2024, that could be a historic event.
