Relaxing Brutality

Conan, Downfall Of Gaia, Hark, High Fighter

Roadtrip To Outta Space, Arena Kleine Halle, Vienna, Austria 2017-03-15

It is quite early in the evening, when the first guests arrive at the Arena. But it is for a good reason, because four bands will get the small hall rocking heavily.

For the beginning, the German Sludge and Stoner Doom band  High Fighter plays a massive show. As they are saying about themselves, they got a lot of influences. So you can hear Black Sabbath, Motörhead or even Stone Sour in their set. Their enthusiasm ends in a great barnstorming final, after that they make place for the incredible Hark from the UK. During their show the audience grows and the temperature increases. The groove of these guys is enormous, the riffing remarkable, and the show in general is full of energy.

The next band first slows down the pace a bit, before they speed it up again: Downfall Of Gaia. These changes of velocity from very slow doom parts to fast black metal pieces are characteristic for their set. If you know how to relax to this brutality in their music, you don’t need yoga or something, this can be heaven on earth.

The easing effect also fits for the final act of the evening: Conan play finest heavy Doom and Sludge music. That mostly slow, distorted and intense sound floats live through the room and bodies, and gets the heads banging. Also the songs from their latest album “Revengeance”, released through the Austrian label Napalm Records, work awesome in concert.

Headbanging next to the guys from High Fighter, you can see how much they are into this music, and the mood of the whole audience is great anyway. Because after those four hard rocking and hammering gigs, no wishes are left open.