Live Review: Rotting Christ-Borknagar-Seth ~ 9 October: Utrecht, NL @Tivoli Pandora

Review by Commodus

After many months of anticipation, I would finally be able to see two great and historical Black Metal bands on the same billing: Rotting Christ and Borknagar. Luckily the waiting queue was not that long, so I entered the concert hall quickly and got ready to see Seth, a band not announced when I bought my ticket.

The French band with good sound quality as their ally and their simple appearance on stage, managed to win the crowd very fast. The plethora of their songs had mid-tempo, with keyboards that fitted carefully with the structure of the songs, which was the highlight for me. As the end of their setlist was near, they became more active on the stage, and their songs became fiercer, leading the crowd to merciless headbanging. By closing, Seth surely won more fans that night, and I would like to see them as headliners in a future concert.

The waiting for Borknagar was not long, and they started with some issues with Lars‘s microphone, which was fixed after two songs(Nordic Anthem sadly lost a piece of its magic due to that). However, the band seemed determined to impress the crowd, with Vortex to be in a very good mood. He proved why he is one of the most talented vocalists in the genre, either by singing old-time classics (by impressing us with Colossus and the old-school Dauden), or their latest masterpieces (Up North and The Rhymes of the Mountain). The fans were over-satisfied with their performance(9) and were screaming their lyrics. The only complaint that I have, is that they did not play any song from The Archaic Course.

It would be the fourth time that I would see Rotting Christ, but the feeling was the same as the one I had when I was 16. That feeling became a deja vu, as they started with the same song as that night: Aealo. The crowd immediately started to sing, and the excitement had just started, with Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy creating the first moshpit of the night. The band was having fun, playing songs from their last 14 years, and I could say that they could feel like they were back in 1993. And that was the perfect moment for The Sign of Evil Existence and Non-Serviam, which satisfied their old-school fans with an extra treat: Societas Satanas, a cover from Thou Art Lord (Sakis side project with Magus).

The remaining setlist was based again on their last 14 years, with The Sign of Prime Creation to be the highlight at the encore, with the crowd hailing the band as Metal messiahs. Lastly, the only complaint that I have, is that they did not play any song from their 1996 -1999 era.

So when the lights were open, everyone was over-satisfied with the concert. I would gladly see all of them again and pay for the same lineup repeatedly.