Art

Heavy Days in Doom Town
Day 4

Published

May 24, 2012

Text and photos by Astrid Tonella

Kongh

It’s already the last day of Heavy Days in Doom Town, and for the occasion bands get to play at Loppen, one of the best venues in town. Tiredness starts to show up on many faces, and unfortunately the show kicks off at 10pm. The first band I wanted to see was Kongh. Their sound is thick and massive and their performance is equally solid on their album and live, and led them to tour with Yob and Cough . “Voice of the Below,” the song they started up with, is very representative of their music, waving between high energy riffs and darker passages. Despite a few technical issues, the band stayed true to itself, delivering a flawless set.

Aldebaran

A little after, it was Aldebaran’s turn on stage, for their first time on European soil. After listening a few of their tracks beforehand, my expectations were high and I have to say I wasn’t disappointed. Splendid set, mixing beautifully hypnotic riffs and crushing funeral doom passages. The band paralyzed me for a while, but unfortunately I couldn’t ignore the clock ticking in my head as it was already late. A band I would really like to see again in other circumstances.

Coffins

It’s 1:45 am and the closing act is Coffins. Hell yeah, some dirty death doom to finish the fest beautifully! Unfortunately, many people had already left the place due to the very late hour, but the souvenir of their crushing performance at Roadburn last year really kept me going. The vocalist did an amazing job and seemed very comfortable with the public. A faultless and very energetic set, composed of killer titles such as “Altared in Gore,” “Under the Stench” and “Till Dawn of the Doomsday” amongst others. A really cool way to end four days of crushing doom.

For a premiere, we can say that HDDT was a real success, probably beyond what the organizers had expected. I think we can give big thumbs up to Daniel, Rose, Natalia, Karin, Nikolaj and Emma, the volunteers and the bands who agreed to take part in this experiment, giving us the chance to experience a festival in an unconventional way. I am really looking forward to seeing how this event is going to evolve, hoping that more and more artists will sign up for it, thus continuing to spread its influence and keep the underground culture alive for years to come.