Grave, one of the pioneering Swedish death metal bands, performed on Lebanese territory for the first time on October 7th along with 4 Lebanese bands at Minus 5, Mkalles.
This event took place at a venue called Minus 5, located in Mkalles area and it’s a venue that perhaps has never before explored “aggressive” music, yet the setting and atmosphere of the venue fit perfectly to host rock and metal acts; the venue gives a very underground and raw feeling to the attendees.
The night kicked off with progressive thrash metal band Eden, who happened to be releasing their debut record, Sworn Obedience, during this show, followed by Thrashers Phenomy, then Within Destruction, Weeping Willow, and finally Grave, and none of them failed in delivering a very solid performance. Eden and Phenomy tore the place apart with their thrash melodies, Within Destruction brought immense energy to the stage with their fast playing and constant breakdowns, Weeping Willow were so freakin’ tasty and eargasmic with their sheer heaviness and technical solos, and Grave played some really good riffy old school death metal.
The crowd during the show was a non-stop moshing militia expanding gradually through the night until the crowd reached its peak of around 100 people by the time Weeping Willow took the stage for the first time after a really long hiatus. And they did not fail in delivering their skull-crushing brutal music which the crowds have been longing to enjoy!
By the time Grave took the stage, a little more than half of the crowd stayed. Grave delivered an incredible set with a performance that is worth remembering. The crowd never stopped headbanging or moshing. It was a night to remember.
While the sound was decent for the spectators, enough to allow people to enjoy the music and invoke moshpits and headbanging, the bands didn’t seem to be very happy with their sound set-up. It took no genius to notice that almost all bands had an issue at one point or another during their set, whether it was the drum kit falling apart, not being able to hear themselves or other band members through the stage monitor, the setlist being cut short abruptly, band members signaling the sound guy repeatedly for whatever reason, etc.
But here’s the tea:
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This is another event by Groove Machine Entertainment, and this is the second time they face almost the same issues with the sound (we are referring to Beirut Metal festival 2017)… At least this time, the spectators weren’t driven deaf by the poor sound quality, but it was on the expense of the bands and their overall sound; not that any band delivered a bad performance. This is a very serious issue the organizers must address before their next big event.
Review by: – Bashar Hassanieh
Gallery by: – Hachem Ismail
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