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On Wednesday, 26 April, Orto bar (Ljubljana, Slovenia) - within its annual ORTO Fest - served with a bouquet of doom. Of course, the bouquet was already arranged for the Swallow The Sun - Moonflowers Tour 2023, first shown on 2 April in Oslo, Norway. Although, in the middle of the tour, one dark flower, Draconian, got replaced with another, Avatarium.
We arrived at half past six because we had an interview with Swallow The Sun's vocalist Mikko Kotamäki, which you may expect on Terra Relicta dark music web magazine in about two weeks. We had a lovely-melancholic conversation, and beer, of course, while some musicians (from all three bands) were having dinner just outside in the pleasant spring sun.
After the interview, we had time to kill since the tour-opener Shores Of Null was scheduled at 19.30 [CEST]. The Italian melodic black/doom metallers started on time and put on an intensive show. Of eight tracks, six belonged to their recently released full-length The Loss Of Beauty ("Destination Woe", "Nothing Left To Burn", "The Last Flower", "A Nature In Disguise", "Darkness Won't Take Me", and "My Darkest Years"). The other two were album-titled tracks from the band's first two albums. And there went by 40 minutes - too fast, but it's how it usually is when having a great time. HERE is the interview with Shores Of Null - in case you've missed it.
At 20.20 already, Sweden-based doom metal/rock outfit Avatarium took the stage. It was the band's fourth gig of the tour, which it opened with its hometown-titled track, "Stockholm", from its latest album, Death, Where Is Your Sting, released in October 2022. Then "Rubicon" and "Porcelain Skull (Candlemass cover)" from the previous album, The Fire I Long For, followed, and a little later album-titled track. The band's 2017s release, Hurricanes And Halos, didn't have a representative, while The Girl With The Raven Mask (2015) had two, "Girl With The Raven Mask" and "Pearls And Coffins", which I particularly enjoyed. If some wished for Avatarium to play mostly tracks from Death, Where Is Your Sting, they only got two more, "God Is Silent" and "Nocturne". As for me, I was perfectly fine with the playlist, including the band's first released track, "Moonhorse", for the finish. Avatarium once again delivered a devoted doom metal performance with a specific 70s psych-rock vibe and the most interaction with the public of all three performing bands. By the way, miss not again the interview with Avatarium - still HERE.
Then - heavy melancholic metal from the darkest corners of Finland: Swallow The Sun with its Moonflowers. We already received something from MOON (Avatarium - Moonhorse) and a FLOWER (Shores Of Null - The Last Flower) - was it a coincidence?
Swallow The Sun started with Moonflowers' "Enemy", and of eleven tracks played three more ("Keep Your Heart Safe From Me", "Woven Into Sorrow", and "This House Has No Home") from the same album. "10 Silver Bullets" followed "Enemy", and then "Falling World" from New Moon (2009). "Firelights" and my beloved "Stone Wings" from When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light (2019) bittersweet deepened the atmosphere. "New Moon" concluded the "official" part, although "Descending Winters" came without the band even "descending" the stage. And one more for the farewell - "Swallow (Horror, Part 1)". As we had to swallow the fact we were done with good live music for the day or days, we were happy we got to be there. This time even the sound system proved OK for Orto bar, which wasn't the case with Uada and Afsky about a month ago. The microphone sometimes squeaked, but it wasn't a big deal (well, perhaps it was for the vocalists), and, "summa summarum", it was a perfectly spent evening. Cheers to more of such!
All of you who still have a chance to attend one of the five remained gigs of Moonflowers Tour 2023 (Prague, Berlin, Gdansk, Wroclaw, Leipzig), do so (or you will regret it - by the way, this is not a threat ;)).
Report by Jerneja
Photos/video by Tomaz
Avatarium - Nocturne
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