Reviewed by Max
Photo by Michael
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City: Stockholm, Sweden
Venue: Kolingsborg
Date: 30 Dec. 2005
Behemoth set length: 60 Minutes
Dissection set length: 80 minutes

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All pictures are © Michael Finnermark.
Please contact him and ask for permission before using any of the pictures.
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Behemoth

Behemoth was given the honour to open a very special show, Dissection's "A farewell to the old albums" show. The show was sold out and the venue, Kolingsborg, was packed. Behemoth entered the stage at 22.15 and opened with the first track of their latest album, Demigod. Per usual, they were dressed in their scene clothes and played in corpse paint.

Their set was intense, there weren't many breaks and the songs were played with lots of energy. Although Behemoth's sound has changed a lot over the years, they played old tunes like From the Pagan Vastlands, Satan's Sword and the furious closer Pure Evil and Hate. The mix was excellent and they had the time to play most of the essentials. Apart from the opening track, they also played, to no one's surprise, Slaves Shall Serve and Conquer All as well as the title track Demigod. I think no one's surprised when I say that it were Slaves Shall Serve and Conquer All that were appreciated the most by the audience either.

It seemed as if a big part of the crowd came for Behemoth, it wasn't only the band that was full of energy, but the crowd as well. They banged along to hits like Decade of Therion, Christians To The Lions and Antichristian Phenomenon. Only two songs were played from the band's previous album, Zos Kia Cultus, one of them was of course As Above So Below (with the intro to Horns of Baphomet), the other one, a personal favourite, the fast and catchy No Sympathy for Fools.

As I've stated before, the show was intense and Nergal urged the crowd to scream stuff like "Fuck Yeah" and "Hell Yeah". He kept the crowd in his hand and never lost the grip, and with the help of an outstanding sound engineer, Behemoth gave one hell of a show.

8 chalices of 10

(Sorry, no setlist)

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Dissection

When Dissection are doing an "A farewell to the old albums" show it's bound to be fantastic, with such an inhuman, but small discography they have the ability to grab the audience by the neck. In a most pleasant way.

As I stood waiting in anticipation At the Fathomless Depths started playing and soon the band came on, kicking their set off with Frozen full of energy. I reckoned this show would be a lot like the first Rebirth of Dissection in Stockholm I attended in 2004, but better because they've been on the road a lot since. The biggest difference from that show is the sound, and a slight change in the line-up, this was the first gig with Erik Danielsson (vocals and bass in Watain). The sound was fantastic, even better than on Behemoth.

The setlist was very much like the Rebirth show, but thankfully, they excluded Maha Kali. There was no new joker to drag down the impression. This was really a show for the old material, they even played Son ov Mourning and Shadows Over a Lost Kingdom. The crowd was really into it and sang along to the catchy lyrics.

There's not much to complain about when a band of Dissection's class are playing all their old stuff in a great manner. Hits such as Night's Blood, Where Dead Angels Lie and The Somberlain come to their fullest in live action. The highlight (and closer) of the evening was Thorns of Crimson Death, a mesmerizing and simply stunning piece of music. It's possibly Dissection's finest song, but Jon should have sung the chorus by himself, not letting the crowd do it. Not that crowd interaction is wrong, but when the song is so fantastic with his vocals they should remain there.

With Thorns of Crimson Death, Dissection put an end to an era, but what a finale! This show was much better than the Rebirth and it's a relief to see Dissection this strong. Maybe, just maybe, there's still some hope for Reinkaos (Dissection's upcoming full-length album).

9 chalices of 10

(Sorry, no setlist)

Related links:
www.dissection.nu
www.behemoth.pl