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Gig in Rennes – Samael and others

So, sometimes we do get out of here. We'd bought tickets for a Samael gig in Rennes last Saturday - the gig also included 5 other bands we didn't even know of. As it turned out, it was well worth it.

While the Antipode [fr - site down at the moment] hall wasn't really small compared to other gigs we've been to, for example the Ubu (also in Rennes), it was definitely not gigantic. 500 people would probably fit in there, but it wasn't full either. In any case, it has been my experience so far that metal gigs are always more enjoyable in this type of settings.

The first band we saw was Six Reasons to Kill, which delivered a rather good death metal performance. Unfortunately for them, being the first band to play, the audience was rather sleepy, and the hall was still mostly empty. They were followed by Dead Shape Figure. I'm really not too fond of thrash metal, and on that point they were no exception. The live performance itself, however, was rather enjoyable. While the audience was still a little comatose, they definitely contributed to waking it up.

The next band to take the stage was Noctem. First thing we noticed about them was... Ah well, the cliché. They came on stage with (presumably fake) leather armours. Julie went as far as telling me "Look, Klingons!" Honestly, we both sort of expected basic (and annoying) black metal. Fortunately, it wasn't the case - what they delivered was a bit of a hybrid, including really brutal rhythmic guitar riffs, sometimes thrash-like, sometimes definitely more black metal-like, as well as slow and heavy melodic parts which reminded us of melodic death metal. And while I mentioned the cliché earlier, well, they exploited it quite well (singer throwing up strawberry-smelling fake blood? check!).

Then came Keep of Kalessin, who also plays a black metal-inspired kind of music (but not strictly black metal). While it is one of the bands I enjoyed the less, it was still a good show. Next, we got to see Melechesh. I would have a hard time trying to classify what they play - to me it sounded like oriental-inspired death metal with a bit of black metal thrown in. Whatever. I really, really enjoyed it, in any case. We had a good laugh as well, as one of Dead Shape Figure's guitarists was in the audience with a tray of fries, trying to feed his on-stage colleague (hint: it didn't work too well).

And finally there was Samael. We've been listening to them for a rather long time, and we'd already seen them as the opening act for Paradise Lost two years ago (and we'd enjoyed it more than the main act). They played quite a lot of tracks from the latest album, as well as a few older tracks. Not that I mind either, really - I enjoy both Good music and, unsurprisingly, good on-stage performance. The only thing I could complain about was that we were starting to be tired by then.

On the next day, my neck was sore and I was voiceless, so it was definitely a good (5h-long) gig. My only regret is that I forgot to bring my phone, hence the lack of pictures.