Front Row Forever

WEB @ Invicta X-MASsacre III, 2011/12/25

Pieni — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:03:26 +0000

As said in previous entries, 2011 saw the 25th anniversary of WEB. The official party/concert was at Metalpoint, which is iconic in our underground but hasn’t a stage that big. So they decided to invite their friend musicians for the annual event they help promoting, which was held at another iconic venue, at a larger scale, Hard Club.

The first four songs were the same four songs of their latest album, “Deviance”, which they played “solo”. Then the parade of stars began, crossing the same red carpet that had been at the rehearsal room

Hugo Almeida, owner of Metalpoint and drummer in too-many-to-mention bands, and Vítor Franco from HEAD:STONED joined in for “Reflections”. PG Fernandes from HOLOCAUSTO CANIBAL and Luís Lisboa and Susana Brochado, both from HACKSAW, helped in “Valley Of The Sacred Souls” – which was really interesting to listen to with Lisboa‘s death metal tone.

“Last War” wasn’t that different in terms of vocals, as everyone was already used to see EQUALEFT-Miguel Inglês jumping in. But this time it was a real duet, when usually Inglês sings and Nando just backs up in the choruses. Álvaro Fernandes and Daniel Silva from PITCH BLACK joined the strings, Nando introducing Daniel as his “twin brother” (due their long dark hair and being both bassists, when they’re headbanging and you can’t see their faces, it’s not hard to mistake them for one another ).

“Time For Revenge”, a song from the “Evil Tape” (1994), had two more members from HOLOCAUSTO CANIBAL, Zé Pedro and Diogo Pereira.

And then “The Candle”, with Vera Sá from HEAD:STONED and the famous guitar player in TARÂNTULA (the band which the original WEB line-up used to be roadie for), Paulo Barros.

The list of guests was over, but the setlist wasn’t. The band played yet “If Only There Was Light” and SLAYER‘s “Raining Blood” – which was denominated as “one big party” on the sheet of paper. This one had another kind of special guests on stage – the audience. “One big party” indeed

www.webthrashmetal.com

Click on “permalink” to see the pics in bigger resolution.

HOLOCAUSTO CANIBAL @ Invicta X-MASsacre III, 2011/12/25

Pieni — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:56:59 +0000

To say I’m not a big fan of grind/gorecore is quite an understatement. So I don’t have much to tell you about this gig. Just that the guys weren’t wearing their usual butcher aprons with blood stains, nor there were any pig heads or bowels decorating the stage. What a shame, I would have managed really cool pics with those…

I can also say that HOLOCAUSTO CANIBAL are about to release a new album, “Gorefilia”, and I know they played at least one of its songs. As the first single is now available, “Objectofilia Platónica”, I’m pretty sure that was the one.

If you’re into this kind of sound, go check them out. They’ve been around for almost 15 years. Should mean something.

www.holocaustocanibal.com

PITCH BLACK @ Invicta X-MASsacre III, 2011/12/25

Pieni — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:46:06 +0000

PITCH BLACK haven’t anything new to offer, still trying to complete their line-up and all, but X-MASsacre wouldn’t be X-MASsacre withouth the “thrash killing machine” Besides, there’s no metalhead who gets tired of letting out some steam at the sound of “Standards Of Perfection” or “Divine Not Human” or “And The Killing Ends” or… well, you got the picture

Afonso Ribeiro from GATES OF HELL and Marco Silva from BIOLENCE were the special guests behind the drums and the lead guitar. And precisely today (13th February) PITCH BLACK announced that Marco would be a permanent member of the band from now on. Is my timing good or what?

www.myspace.com/pitchblackattack

DETHMOR @ Invicta X-MASsacre III, 2011/12/25

Pieni — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:42:27 +0000

For the third edition of Invicta X-MASsacre, WEB, PITCH BLACK and HOLOCAUSTO CANIBAL invited DETHMOR, a band whose activity has been on-and-off since 1998.

It’d been a while since I’d last heard about them – so long that I didn’t even know that singer Bessa was now also the bass player, although after some googling I found out that’s happened 3 years ago… Now he can’t make all those gestures with his hands, but he sure still does the evil faces that me and my camera remember so well

Promoting the EP “Know Your Enemies”, they provided a pure death metal gig.

www.myspace.com/dethmorband

GODVLAD @ Paws & Claws Fest, 2011/12/20

Pieni — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:58:32 +0000

Last band on the bill, and also the most awaited, was GODVLAD. They’ve been causing quite a fuss in our underground with their self-titled debut album, but I believe it’s singer’s Vanessa Cabral stage presence and belly-dancer image that puts them under the spotlight. Don’t get me wrong – all musicians are quite experienced, but let’s face it: a girl dancing half-naked and singing rock songs? You don’t see that very often and different, unique things is what we need in this overflooded industry.

I can’t say I was THAT impressed with the music itself, though. Not my cup of tea. But like I said, it was cool to see something out of the usual stuff we see in these concerts, and it was definitely fun to shoot

www.godvlad.com

EQUALEFT @ Paws & Claws Fest, 2011/12/20

Pieni — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:07:27 +0000

Up next was the “noisiest” of them all, my dear friends in EQUALEFT. Not exactly their crowd, but the stage is always their element.

Pedro Afonso from GATES OF HELL has been giving them a hand (both, actually ) with the guitar ever since Maglor left. But this would be his last show with EQUALEFT, as they’ve already found a permanent replacement. In fact, the two last songs – “Cynical Plague” and “Amnesia” – were played by the new guy, Bernardo. Welcome aboard, kid

And for the first time in 2 years, I managed a picture of the WHOLE band! WOW! Miracles do happen at Christmas time

The only “member” missing was Equal. A benefit concert for animals and the moose mascot fails. Tss tss

www.myspace.com/equaleft

RAVEN SOUL @ Paws & Claws Fest, 2011/12/20

Pieni — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:25:55 +0000

Benefit concert for stray/abandoned cats and dogs, promoted by Saquetas de Rua e Esperança Animal.

RAVEN SOUL, a somewhat-gothic rock band from Leiria, was the first of the three bands. Room 2 of Hard Club wasn’t exactly crowded, but since it was a cold week night, so close to Christmas (everybody was practically broke by then), I think the people involved can’t really complain.

In 7 years they’ve released one album, “100 Bleeding Hearts”, signed with the American label Arctic Music Group and won a few music contests. Not bad.

www.myspace.com/ravensoulportugal

WEB’s rehearsal, 2011/12/14

Pieni — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:54:30 +0000

“The rehearsal was like this… The concert will be much more!”

As said in my previous post, WEB celebrated 25 years in 2011. The official anniversary concert was that one, at Metalpoint, but every gig they played that month was a “b-day party”. And they saved the best for last – on December 25th, at X-Massacre (an event they helped create 3 years ago), they would have a list of guests on stage with them.

It was all a secret until a few days before the concert, but Victor happened to mention it to me, on the day they would have the last rehearsal for it. I asked if he/they wanted me to take a few shots of it, but I honestly thought he would say no – being a secret and all. But he was thrilled with the idea of keeping “digital memories” of the rehearsal – I just couldn’t post the pics online until they announced the names of the guests on their website. Fine with me!

They only had some of the guests with them that night, but I was still wondering how they would all fit in the small room – they had a schedule, that’s how.

First in was Vítor from HEAD:STONED, to rehearse “Reflections”. Then came Vera, also from HEAD:STONED, and TARÂNTULA-Paulo Barros for “The Candle”. Third, Lisboa (HACKSAW) for “Valley Of The Sacred Souls”. And last but not least in any way, Daniel and Álvaro from PITCH BLACK and Inglês from EQUALEFT for “Last War”.

All good friends, it was a professional but very funny rehearsal. And in-between songs, there was time for a little goof-around with the beginning of QUEEN‘s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and a spontaneous full cover of Ben E. King‘s “Stand By Me”, death metal style. That rehearsal should have been recorded, not just photographed

Click on “permalink” to see the pics in a somewhat bigger resolution and read the captions:

WEB’s 25th anniversary @ Metalpoint, 2011/12/10

Pieni — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:23:34 +0000

First time I’ve ever seen WEB was in 1996, when they (and HEAVENWOOD) opened for CRADLE OF FILTH at Palha D’Aço, Porto. Little did I know back then that I would become such a fan and a great friend

So there I was that night, happy and proud.

Before the gig, a short documentary about those 25 years was played on the venue’s tv, produced by Ricardo Cacildo. Then they started to play – each of them in a different WEB t-shirt – one of the really old songs, “A NewEvil Kingdom”, from the “Evil Tape” (1994 demo), which I believe guitarist Filipe was playing for the first time ever. Maybe even drummer Pedro.

As usual, EQUALEFT-Miguel joined them on stage to sing “Last War”, although it seems it wasn’t previously arranged.

I lose balance easily, since I broke my knee in 2007, so I had climbed on stage to avoid the moshers. When I read they were going to play SLAYER‘s “Raining Blood”, a cover they used to end their gigs with some time ago, I was definitely not going to step down And then they played the song they now use as wrap-it-up theme, “If Only There Was Light”, but that night was far from over. 5 more songs, starting with my favourite from “Deviance”, “Life Aggression”, and finishing with “Beautiful Obsession”

Singer/bassist Nando‘s wife, Sandra, made a delicious cake with the original logo on it. And a dedicated fan, Sérgio, forged the new one in a plate of steel, as well as only the “W” to decorate Pedro‘s bass drum.

CRUSHING SUN also gave them a piece of art: the artwork of their album “TAO”, in a frame.

After singing “happy birthday” to the band, Nando asked for a special applause to guitarist Victor, the only remaining original member, for hanging on through these 25 years.

Months before, WEB had been contacting photographers, asking them for a few of their best/favourite pics of the band, so they would make a small exhibit at Metalpoint that night. I was one of them, obviously

Also, the photo I gave them a couple of years ago, of the good-luck ritual they perform before every single concert, was brought from the rehearsal room into the venue.

It’s honestly a pleasure and an honour to make part of these 25 years

www.webthrashmetal.com

CRUSHING SUN @ Metalpoint, 2011/12/10

Pieni — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:37:08 +0000

CRUSHING SUN haven’t been around as long as WEB or BURIED ALIVE, but they also didn’t start out yesterday. 7 remarkable years earned them the right to be there that night, plus the friendship with WEB and the fact that guitarist Paulo Lopes produced WEB‘s latest album, “Deviance”

Still promoting their debut full-length “TAO” (2010), only when singer Bruno asked if anyone saw “Desperate Housewives” and said something about Teri Hatcher being everyone’s favourite, did I realize why I’ve always thought the songtitle “T’Hatcher” was weird but yet quite familiar…