As always, the weekend went by really fast, and Saturday, February 10th,2024 at Tapper offered yet more interesting bands. The evening began with the young guys from SOERD, a local band that just released their first EP last year after an earlier demo. It shows the enthusiasm of the new generation of Estonian black metallers, and it’s very nice for them to have such a festival as a platform for their music.
The venue felt particularly full today, which one can notice immediately from the lack of sitting space in the bar area, the queue at the bar itself, as well as the difficulty to move around in that narrow space, but it’s not much of a price to pay for the atmosphere of this event. So, we proceed with ASTRAL SILENCE, the Swiss project breaks this edition’s prevalent pattern of low-key red backlights with some more appropriate setup, befitting of their ambient black metal, which fills the hall of Tapper with a more ethereal sound of cosmic nature (the nods to DARKSPACE are evident). For being their very first live appearance, they did leave a good impression.
A project born from the creative mind of Gionata “Omega” Potenti (DARVAZA, DEATHROW, FROSTMOON ECLIPSE, and a heap of other current and former bands), NUBIVAGANT felt exactly like what was needed at this moment of the evening. The combination of the almost hypnotic riffs and clean vocals was refreshing, and the rhythm of this atmospheric black metal made in Italy could easily get stuck in your head for days (which it did).
The most showy band of the festival was clearly ARSGOATIA. The Austrians seem to be also among the most social media-savvy, in contrast to some other bands with little to no online presence, and they had put some thought into their live show, with their frontman walking on stage holding a tiki torch and spitting gasoline to make a big flame. Their gig was, in a word, entertaining. Lively and energetic, and with their vocalist sharing a past in BELPHEGOR, their well-paced tempo and stage presence certainly offer more to the eye for those who are not just here for the music.
Occult black metal is instead PROSTERNATUR‘s bread and butter, although, for a band that offers very little information on themselves, their members are very easily recognizable. Still, they deliver a killer show with their haunting as much as disturbing melodies, rich sound, and eerie atmosphere. At times more reflective, at times hitting you in the face like a shovel, this gig perfectly carried the audience towards the grand finale of this eleventh Howls of Winter.
DARVAZA simply slayed it out there. From the start – or at least after the intro with the buzzing fly leading to the beginning of the show – until its conclusion, they charged forth with an almost overwhelming intensity that took over their fans and ignited even more the already hot climate inside the venue. It’s really nice to see how the Italo-Norwegian band is still such a strong live act, and they delivered exactly what was expected with their uncompromising black metal, really managing to bring out the best of their offering on their live show, having little to nothing to envy to some of the more seasoned names out there.
This was an excellent conclusion to yet another great weekend of darkness and black metal magick, in what has become a regular appointment on our annual calendars, and something to look forward to each year. This is all thanks to the tireless effort of a much dedicated and passionate crew, bringing together like-minded black metal aficionados from all over. And now the countdown to HoW XII has begun.
P.S. A small but nice additional touch this year was in the new wristbands, sponsored by the German Undergrounded horde. Well done!
SOERD
ASTRAL SILENCE
NUBIVAGANT
ARSGOATIA
PROSTERNATUR
DARVAZA
Photos by Marco Manzi
