After half-in-half watching their show the day before in Stockholm, we were quite interested in getting a better look at Finland’s Profane Omen, as they were once again supporting Amon Amarth, now here in Gothenburg.

”Gothenburg, are you ready? Let’s do this!”
- Jules Näveri (vocals)

Profane Omen began their career somewhere around the start of the century, and released their first out of so far three albums in 2006, the latest in 2011. They deliver, on album as well as live, a lethal dose of groove metal with some parts reminding me of Pantera (which more or less all groove metal does) but still with a personal touch. In a live setting, this can most easily be found in the near punk-like delivery, where balls and attitude count for much more than artistic virtuosity. Or in other words, the notes might have been flawed at times, but the band kicked up such a shit-storm on stage no one cared!
It would be easy for me to point my finger at guitarist Antti Kokkonen (a.k.a. Andy J. Bonfire) as being the most active of the bunch simply because he was the one I was standing the closest to and thus had the best view of, but the truth is the whole band rocked supreme without exception. I would however like to point out drummer Samuli Mikkonen (no known relation to Amon Amarth’s Olavi Mikkonen) as being especially wild, if not for the band, then at least for his position as drummer – never before have I seen a drummer headbang as much and as wildly as Mikkonen did, and he was smiling from ear to ear throughout the show as well! This activity was given clear and visible evidence in the big, round sweat spot on his ass as he got up after the gig...

Profane Omen had a bit of trouble getting the crowd in on the fun however, probably mostly because there weren’t a whole lot of them present yet, and also that they are, as of yet, relatively unknown in this long country of ours.
Näveri did mention that this was the bands first ever concert in Gothenburg, and at the name of their hometown, the audience gave a few spread howls of appreciation, and as the songs came out one after the other, the assembled people began warming up to the Finns and showed them some love mainly in the form of applause and encouraging shouts.
Näveri built upon this and began dedicating songs left and right; the first one was Superpowertrip which went out to the audience, and shortly after this Amon Amarth and their crew were up for the honour with Disconnected. Hell, even the great Arnold Schwarzenegger got his own personal dedication. I can’t with certainty recall which one this was, but my guess would be Predator...

Profane Omen’s show was an energy discharge going in all directions, and even though I won’t run out and buy their albums after this (mainly because the style isn’t really me), I would never refrain from going to a show with them again if I was given the chance.
My first thought after they were done was that even though the style dictates a different approach, Amon Amarth would have a hard time outdoing these Finns performance-ways.
And most importantly of all, Profane Omen made me smile.

Setlist:

Wastehead
Gunshot/Mindset
Superpowertrip
Disconnected
Bound To Strive
Feed On The Wasted
Predator
Base
Left To Disintegrate
Painbox