Original Portuguese version on World of Metal.
It was weird sitting at the wheel of my car and, for a brief moment, not recalling the way to Metalpoint (last time I’d driven there had been August 2019, to see MOONSHADE); but even weirder was, after so many sold-out gigs in this venue, where you almost couldn’t breathe given the body heat, watching yet another sold-out gig with so much empty space, thanks to the social distance this damned pandemic is forcing upon us. But as I keep saying about all events I’ve seen under these circumstances, THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone making them happen and offering us that live music we’re missing so badly.
It’s been more than a year since “Forward We March” saw the light of day (2020/06/08), but just like pretty much all 2020 releases, its live presentation had to be postponed to 2021. GODARK‘s elation for finally being able to do it was stamped on all their faces – even guest guitarist Carlos Preto, as Rui Fernandes “was away” and couldn’t be there. With the masks on, we couldn’t see the look on the faces of those “on this side”, but the loud responses to every song left no doubt that the thrill was mutual. The record (debut. after the 2015 EP “Reborn From Chaos”) was performed in full, in the same running order as the studio version, but I dare saying with more grit, more intensely – as only live performances can deliver. It’s easy to understand why both band and album made it to the top of so many, when it comes to Portuguese melodic death metal.
One of the people Vítor Costa thanked was the fan Satan, for being “at every gig and every festival” (to which Caminhos Metálicos–Carlos Guimarães added Satan‘s wife, who was always by his side), but I don’t think it was him who, towards the end, started chanting “GOOO-DARK! GOOO-DARK!” and, finding himself alone, screamed at us “SING!”. The high spirits were constant, from the first song by COSMIC WOLVES to the last by GODARK. Which wasn’t “Forbidden Words” – the crowd asked so much for one more that managed to win an encore (some had already left – after all, the “family photo” had already been taken), once again in the form of “Repealing Silence”. As for me, I had already put my camera in the bag and didn’t take it out again – it was headbanging all the way to the very end.
Front Row Forever 