On Sunday, March 13th, 2022, booking agency Galicja Productions organized a charity concert, “Krakow dla Ukrainy,” with a line-up of KILLSORROW, ORNETTE, DECAPITATED, CHUPACABRAS, and PUDELSI in Klub Kwadrat. The venue opened its doors at 17:00.
KILLSORROW is a band formed in 2008 and were changing their lineup and experimenting with style ever since, before coming to their current final form: melodic groove metal from a post-apocalyptic wasteland. They blended heavy melodic riffs and grooves with powerful, clear vocals and fry screams. The visual style was fascinating, as each band member looked like they just came from the Fury Road. Lyrically, they explore themes like war, nuclear crisis, and the consequences of those, topics very in-line with current events. They closed the set with the track “Killsorrow” – a very interesting band that should be checked out, especially for HELLOWEEN enjoyers.
ORNETTE is a rock ‘n’ roll band founded by the legend of the Polish music scene, Grzegorz “Ornette” Stępień in 2013. They were the essence of rock and roll and gave the audience a booster shot of energy during their 30-minute set. Their tracks were entirely in Polish, but the raw emotions they expressed through their music made the language barrier nonexistent.
DECAPITATED was clearly the most anticipated band, as the venue got packed in an instant. After a brief intro, they opened with a brand new track, “Cancer Culture,” from their upcoming album to be released in May. Rafał “Rasta” Piotrowski masterfully complimented the music and was in top form as he spitted lyrics at high volume with drawn-out screams, which captivated the crowd. Penetrating riffs and ferocious shredding came from guitarist and founder, Waclaw “Vogg” Kieltyka. The audience entered into a wild whirlpool of moshing, the temperature went up to scourging levels, and the AC wasn’t helping. The setlist consisted of twelve tracks from more recent albums like “Carnival Is Forever,” “Anticult,” “Blood Mantra,” and two early icon tracks from albums “Winds of Creation” and “Nihility.” Interestingly, Rasta had a small patch with a Ukrainian flag attached to his sleeve. They closed the show with “Kill the Cult” and distributed custom guitar picks among the fans.
Overall the show was well prepared, the hosts entertained the crowd well during the intermissions, the cause was noble, and the organizers raised plenty of money for donations. The only complaint I had was the chaotic and jarring lights during the DECAPITATED show. Other than that, everything was great.
Killsorrow
Ornette
Decapitated
