Text & Photos by Adam Murray
Lightning Swords of Death, Ritual Combat at Black Castle
Looking forward to this show for a while, and especially curious to see the new incarnation of Valdur, I showed up late and missed Valdur. I also missed Sein Und Zeit and Maledict. Sorry guys! I did catch Ritual Combat and of course headliners/local renaissance men Lightning Swords Of Death.
The Black Castle is always a little or a lot different every time I go. This time, a pair of gogo cages had been erected, although they were missing something (the something is gogo dancers). Also, there was a bar… inside? Upon realizing this, I harkened back to the days of the backyard beer trailer. Sure, the unofficial Budweiser Uhaul caused much unnecessary human congestion – so bad that one could easily miss three or four songs of a band’s set just trying to ford the fjord of bodies after buying a beer – but still, it was one of many factors that gave the Castle that certain… I don’t know what. Now we must line up and buy our beer indoors like regular jerkoffs.
Anyway, Ritual Combat rollicked through a set of ripping blackened war metal, impressive as per usual. I was inspired by the drummer having the chuff to sport sunglasses indoors at night while wearing a Ritual Combat tshirt, seated directly in front of a matching Ritual Combat banner. Ritual Combat.
Lightning Swords Of Death came on next, giving us a swirling foggy room feel with trodding ancient drum patterns and pulsating guitar licks. Menno the bass man doing the lucky finger dance up and down the fretboard, Inverted Chris handling the chirps, squeals and noodles, Roskva deep stage left as captain of the riff ship, and Farron literally bending over backwards to let the hypnotic belchy chanting tumble from his chasm. It should be noted that LSOD has acquired a new skin pounder, and he performed splendidly, blasting his way through a demanding set of USBM. All in all, a fun night!
Ritual Combat
Lightning Swords of Death
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