The Frontline - Gent - Belgium
(15 March 2003)
Second band on stage was the Belgian death metal band Suhrim. Groovy yet very brutal and heavy, with distant references to Six Feet Under and Cannibal Corpse, this band managed to please a lot of the audience (some 40 people). They played a mixture of some older songs and the new songs that will be featured on their soon to be released mCD. They gave their best and the crowd liked it. What I will certainly remember from this gig are the breaks in between the songs, when the singer announced "next song will be ... but first we'll have a drink"; after which all band members accordingly put their bottles to their lips.
After a short break, during which the atmosphere of the Frontline changed enormously, red coloured flags, carrying the Insanity Reigns Supreme logo, were attached to the walls around the stage and most of the lights went off. After a short intro, the band started their set with an oldie, 'Dark From the Soul', taken from their second demo and maybe to be re-recorded for their second album. What followed in the next hour was a set of 13 songs in total, of which 6 new ones. The setlist was as follows:
Intro (The Prophecy)
Dark From the Soul
The Bitter Kiss of Death
Prophecy of Doom
The Fallen
Trauma Paradise
Burn the Flame of Sadness
Forever Damned
Blasphemy
La Tristesse Eternelle
Invocation
Apocalypse
Encores:
Dark From the Soul
The Pain Eternal
The band has undergone a lot of changes since the last time I saw them - and since their last album. Compared to the album, 2 members have been replaced: guitar player Roel and bass guitar player Burt are new (replaced Kristof and Omer) and this was only Burt's second gig. It is nice to see that he learned to play both the existing songs and the new ones so quickly. Even 'The Pain Eternal', which had not been rehearsed prior to the gig, was played with the same ease as if they had always played together.
Some comments about the new songs then. Most of them sounded like the typical blend of death and doom metal that can be expected from this band. Those who know the first album '...and Darkness Drowned the Land Divine...' will not be overly surprised. Generally speaking, the songs have the same mix of brutal death parts with softer, slower, dual guitar melody parts. Singing is mixed with grunting. Doom for headbangers. A totally slow and long doom track like 'Finsternis' won't be found on the new album, rather there will be some songs going in the other direction: even more brutal.
Despite the small crowd, this gig was a nice one both for the band as for the people who watched it. And it certainly was a nice showcase for what they have in mind for the upcoming show at the Belgian Doom Night.
- Heiko Isselee
(13 April 2003)
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