Photo: Lena Schlømer S. Angioni
Death Island Studio

Concert kicked off in time with Mercenary hitting the stage at 21:00.
Last time I saw the band live, I have to admit, it was some time ago, with a totally different line-up... different bass player, different singer, a keyboard player. On stage they looked like a totally different band. Luckily they didn't loose that symphonic touch, and new singer/bass player, René Pedersen, fills well the void left by “Kral” Andersen and Mikkel Sandager. Actually I felt that the voice of René melted better in the band's sound. His added rawness to the ultra clean lines of former singer Mikkel makes the older songs heavier and ‘in your face’. And even if he's both singing and playing bass lines, nothing stops him in getting the audience moving and interacting with the band on stage; in the instrumental parts you can see René running around keeping the banging and the energy alive. New drummer Morten Løwe performed well and without glitches. From the guitar point of view, both Martin and Jacob deliver their usual rhythm tightness and well balanced shredding. I think we have to give these two guys a medal for the courage they showed in keeping Mercenary alive. After listening to them, last night, I felt like they deserve to get at least as high as they were a couple of years ago! Some minor technical problems (easily handled by René's sense of humour) didn't jeopardise a well performed set. [5/6]

SETLIST:
INTRO
BLOODRED SHADES
MEMORIA
THROUGHT THE EYES
RIVER MADNESS
ENDLESS FALL
BLACK BRIGADE
EDGE OF SANITY
THE FOLLOWER
FIRESOUL


Metal veterans Artillery, brought some cold-war energy at Studenterhuset. For me, being an old metal fart like I am, seeing Artillery live was a warming feeling! There was no rehearsed stage-move, no eye-pleasing fancy music apparel or gizmo to catch the eye of the young audience; just music as it was- and sometimes should still be-. Even the Artillery banner put in front of the drum-set, tied up to the cymbal-stands was a vintage touch that brought back some of my early metal concert memories. Maybe that's why it took two songs for getting the audience really moving. Once realizing that what the band was delivering was pure thrashing energy, the audience had no choice other than to heavily head-bang! Last time I heard from the band it was 1990, with their By Inheritance album. Then, maybe because later on I changed a bit interests, I forgot about this band. It was then again in 2009 that, with the release of When Death Comes, I regained interest in them. It was a pleasure to see them live. And I was impressed also by their “young” singer: the right voice for the right band. Sometimes sounding like D. D. Verni and sometimes remembering me of an early Phil Anselmo. The set list is a mix of new and old material; showing how cohesive all the songs are, even if composed in a 20 years spread between each other. The boys still have a very good idea of what they are doing! All in all, the band performed really well giving the audience something to remember; only some minor (not easy to hear) mistakes could be felt in some of the songs. [5/6]

SETLIST:
INTRO
MONSTER
WHEN DEATH COMES
MI SANGRE
BY INHERITANCE
THE CHALLENGE
10.000 DEVILS
KHOMANIAC
TERROR SQUAD


And it's time for HateSphere. There is something about this band that I always liked; they don't mask the fact that they really enjoy what they're doing: they smile constantly! Maybe this is why they kick so much ass on stage. Not only the performance is top notch, but the attitude and the ability to get the audience involved in the band's own performance is incredible. You can't stay still... if they can see you are not moving, they force you to personally! Be it big stages (I saw them at Roskilde in 2007), be it small club scenes, they have the same energy and the same vibe; no compromise. And the band doesn't compromise neither on the sound nor the technical performance. The sound was very good and the tightness of the band was incredible. I can still remember “To The Nines”, every razor sharp riff played with perfection and without any compassion... but with a smile! Yes, the alchemy within HateSphere works really great. And in the end, Jonathan got a 3x2 from the promoter! They could play three more songs instead of two. With a new album soon to hit the stores, Hatesphere put one of the new numbers (“Smell Of Death”) in the set list, proving that they still have the chops for killer songs. [6/6]


SETLIST:
INTRO
LIES AND DECEIT
500 DEAD PEOPLE
HATE
SMELL OF DEATH
ONLY THE STRONGEST
THE COMING OF CHAOS
TO THE NINES
DRINKING WITH THE KING OF THE DEAD
FOREVER WAR
VENOM
FLOATING
SICKNESS WITHIN


So all in all a very good evening at the ‘Studenterhuset’. Every band performed very well. There was a good amount of beer thrown at the ceiling, people enjoyed all three shows and I believe many of them went home with a sore neck!

* Special Thanks goes to Anders Wind & Kasper Molin.