In what at first seemed like a very odd choice, the British band Hell was the opener of this evening of grinding death, followed by Carcass and headlined by Amon Amarth.
What was most odd about the match was that Hell was far, far away from the brutality showcased by the other two, playing NWOBHM with a nice lean towards theatrics the like of King Diamond. Hell actually began back in the day when the genre was just getting a foothold in the world, but except for some demos and a single single they never really got anywhere, and broke apart after the suicide of their original vocalist.
Possibly feeling that the time was right, the band reformed, with some personnel changes obviously, in 2008 to finally get that debut album done. Well, that one had to wait until 2011, and more personnel changes, to see the light of day, but after this things have really begun moving for the band, and now they were here in Copenhagen to deliver a classic dose of blasphemy to get the party started.

”Our sermon this evening must be short, will you raise your voices with us?”
- David Bower (vocals)

Seeing how Hell was the first band of the evening, I was impressed to see how much of their own gear they were allowed – there was of course a huge backdrop, and also a couple of stage banners, but most surprising of all was the fact that they had their own drumkit! This was made obvious by the decorated bass-drum skins which didn’t anyone else on the bill. Having the drums placed in the back, instead of having them pushed to the front of the stage like we’ve seen with so many other support bands, this provided Hell with a lot of space to move about on the stage. Now the question was only, would they use it?
That question was answered quickly, as the band quickly took the stage after the bombastic intro known as Gehennae Incendiis and just as on their latest record, Curse & Chapter, they dived straight into The Age Of Nefarious.
My first impression was of the stylised gothic clothing worn by all the members of the group, and of course the blazing red eyes of vocalist Bowen and the crown of thorns on his head. Bowen also made use of a hands-free microphone, and the performance he delivered soon explained why this was necessary – being a professional stage and TV actor, he was certainly no stranger to delivering a dramatic performance. The show saw him flagellate himself whilst praying to Satan, but also enact more typical stage behaviour such as getting out on the edge of the stage to watch the closest fans square in the eye.
Bowes wasn’t alone in this though, the entire band proved to be a surprisingly active group who managed to articulate their music perfectly in sonic deliverance as well as body language and expression. Some might feel that this sort of larger than life performance is way over the top, but that’s just the way I like it!

“Will you open your hymn books to page 666?”
- Bower (vocals)

With all this in mind, it wasn’t as surprising as it could have been to see that the large hall of Vega was already well populated, but if all the Danes who were present really knew Hell from before, they surely weren’t showing it.
The front row was of course waving their fists in the air and banging their heads like people standing there always does regardless of who or what is playing, but the rest of the crowd took things a bit easier, settling for watching the show calmly and cheering a bit between songs. Copenhagen opened up a bit more to the band as time went on and the heat of the room rose like the flames of, well, Hell, but things never got chaotic or out of hand, that much is certain.
This was most probably due to the strange combination of styles for the evening which I touched upon above, because it was certainly not due to any kind of lack in the bands delivery!
As such, I’m not sure how much I would listen to this band at home, I’m just not really in that place right now, but after what I saw this night I will surely never hesitate again to see them on stage!

Setlist:

Gehennae Incendiis
The Age Of Nefarious
On Earth As It Is In Hell
Blasphemy And The Master
Something Wicked This Way Comes
The Quest
Save Us From Those Who Would Save Us