On Wednesday, May 4th, 2022, Norwegian fathers of true black metal, TAAKE – with the supporting bands KAMPFAR and HELLERUIN – hit Hype Park in Krakow as part of their Northern Alliance pt.1 Tour. The show was organized by the local booking agency KnockOut Productions and was set to start at 19:00.
HELLERUIN was the first band to kick off the show. They are a black metal band from the Netherlands, led by multi-instrumentalist Carchost, who plays raw but still quite melodic black metal. There were a lot of catchy parts in the songs, but HELLERUIN spreads a very cold and sinister atmosphere nevertheless. Carchost was pouring his soul out on the stage. They performed tracks from their full-length album, “War Upon Man” and “Invincible,” closing the set with “Mijn ziel aan de duivel.”
KAMPFAR was next. Hailing from Norway and founded by Dolk in 1994, the band mixes black metal with mythology and folk, which makes its sound unique and proves that Norse black metal still has something to offer. The band kicked off with new material, offering tracks from newer albums like “Profanum” and “Ofidians Manifest.” KAMPFAR has triumphed in their music – it was heavy, technically blasting, and energetically draining, with great vocals and powerful playing. The second part of the set consisted of older material, which the crowd accepted with more enthusiasm. Dolk was energetic, aggressive, and theatrical. By the end of the set, he waved a flag that read Morte and spoke about death and life.
TAAKE the almighty was next: the headliners and one of the representatives of the second wave of true Norwegian black metal. Hailing from the foggy Bergen, TAAKE (which means fog in Norwegian) praises the genuine Norsk spirit of its music and lyrics. Out they stepped in full corpse paint, and immediately ripped into their set with “Nordbundet/Du ville ville Vestland.” Hoest, of course, was the highlight, engaged with the audience, full of energy, dressed in a long, ripped robe with a Norwegian flag stitched on the inner side, and the iconic white lenses that gave him a sinister, hollow stare. Very clearly, he was loving every moment of this experience, and so did the crowd. The whole set felt like a theatrical piece. The highlight song was “Helvetesmakt” and the closing track was “Myr” – an authentic song itself, having a banjo solo, which made it sound unusual for black metal.
Overall, the show felt very sinister and gave the audience a taste of true Norsk black metal. The technical and visual part was good, with the exception of one technician that casually made an appearance on stage, ruining the mood. Other than that, the show was organized in a truly high-quality manner.
Helleruin
Kampfar
Taake
Photos by Alexandra Aim
