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South of
Heaven Festival, at Betong in Oslo
I am
coming as planned at 7 p.m. at Betong, near Majorstua, meeting Sigurd Thune,
backbone of South of Heaven Oslo Festival. I really have to say that Sigurd and
all the people I meet who are working on this event are dedicated to the metal
cause and really nice: the positive attitude.
In brief
with Sigurd Thune:
Philippe: South of Heaven
celebrates its 10 years jubilee. Can you introduce the festival to encourage
metal freaks who do not know it to come next year...
Sigurd:
If there is a festival next year, we will see. Det Norske Studentersamfund (The
Norwegian Student Society) has arranged many metal concerts during 10 years
under the label South of Heaven in Oslo, and we wanted to do something special
for this jubilee, a real festival, and booked bands we wanted for ourselves to
see and which have not played a lot in Norway: Coroner will have tonight its
first gig in Norway; Svartidauği for the first time in Oslo; Dragged into
Sunlight, first time in Norway; Slough Feg, second time in Norway. We have also
arranged the Norwegian Iron Maiden quizz championship. We have vinyls and CDs
stands and Djs.
Philippe: What is your role
here.
Sigurd: I
actually started South of Heaven ten years ago. I arrange, book, organize, but
only for this jubilee festival.
Philippe: How was it possible
to get Coroner for the first time in Norway?
Sigurd:
By paying (laughs). We could have booked a bit cheaper band. But as I said we
wanted to have something exclusive, and to get Coroner here for the first time
is very special. I was two years old when Coroner started...
Philippe: Did you discover
Coroner with the band's reunion or did you know them before?
Sigurd: I
knew them before, through their records. Therefore I wanted them rather than any
new band. We are really happy they are here. That will be fun.
Sigurd
and friends have also done a wonderful job by booking bands with very different
styles on the same bill. The metal fans Mitch and Russell from Tulsa, Oklahoma,
knew what they did when they stopped in Oslo at the end of their European trip.
Let us
start this Saturday night fever with SLOUGH FEG (US) who delivers a sincere hard
rock, sweating happiness, with guitar harmonies that could suit Thin Lizzy fans.
We are
now moving to another concert room, smaller, and the atmosphere is also changing
radically with DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT (UK) and its sludge-death-black-doom,
extremely tortured and nihilist, where the standing members of the band show us
their back, to be in communion with the drummer: why not.
Do you
like Destruction and their German way to thrash? Then the locals NOCTURNAL BREED
are definitely here for you. No gimmick, just “let's have some fun” and that is
what my friend Kåre Gustav and I get.
Then
comes the black plague, SVARTIDAUĞI from Iceland, for sick and tormented black
metal enthusiasts. Efficient.
If you
read the interview I did with Marky at Wacken last year, and some reviews I
wrote when I referred to the band, who know how much CORONER means to me. I had
a kid wish for this Norwegian show and I sent it by e-mail to my own private
Santa Claus, my friend Marky Edelmann: to be on the side stage during the gig.
He comes for a short soundcheck and immediately offers me to choose where I want
to enjoy the show. I am sitting just next Tommy, one of my guitar gods, and not
far from Marky and Ron: a waking dream!
Marky had
a bad cold the day before and the concert rehearsal was tough for him. Luckily,
he has fully recovered and the die-hard fans in the audience get this unique
drummer, who combines the rage of extreme metal and the jazz finesse. I have to
admit I am generally much more interested in music than in lyrics, but Marky's
are as simple as they are brilliant.
Ron
Broder seems to have a quiet, almost introverted personality, but Dr Jekyll
becomes Mr Hyde on stage, a kind of evil Geddy Lee. I can serve you the good old
cliché about the Swiss precision for his bass playing, but not only: Ron's bass
sings. A second guitarist for rhythm would have been a heresy in Coroner!
Tommy
Vetterli is a guitar hero, in the noble sense of the term, showing the
difference between a virtuoso and a shredder. Very few guitarists can vie with
him for the inspiration, the musicality or the magic touch.
These
three soloists have joined their talent to create an inimitable trio, composing
music out of time, therefore never dated.
I got
only 9 songs at Wacken last year, this evening 14. Is it enough for me? Of
course not! But that's all right. The track listing is covering their whole
discography. Even the Death Cult Demo (1986) is represented with “The
Invincible”. There is no weak moment during the show because Coroner has no weak
songs, it is that simple. A waking dream, I told you!
01.
Golden Cashmere Sleeper, Part 1
02. Internal Conflicts
03. Serpent Moves
04. Masked Jackal
05. Status: Still Thinking
06. Metamorphosis
07. Die by My Hand
08. Son of Lilith
09. Semtex Revolution
10. Gliding Above While Being Below
11. Divine Step (Conspectu Mortis)
12. Grin (Nails Hurt)
13. The Invincible
14. Reborn Through Hate
The show
is now finished. It is almost 3 a.m. Marky and I decide to postpone the
interview. He is inviting me for a beer in the artist room, together with Daniel
Stoessel (Guest musician for keyboards and backing vocals), Ron, Tommy and last
but definitely not the least, Coroner's crew:”We are the road crew!”
(Motörhead). I am not an amateur metal journalist at this moment of the night,
just a music fan with great musicians and cool people, a bit tired but so happy.
I will do
very soon an interview with Marky on Skype, a kind of debriefing for the one we
did at Wacken last year (www.powerofmetal.dk/interviews12/coroner_interview.html).
Stay
connected. Be seeing you. Philippe. |
