While Vreid and Vomitory changed positions during the tour, Abbath and Hypocrisy kept their position - not surprisingly of course, as this was a Hypocrisy led tour. Judging from the amount of fans in the hall however, Abbath was not to be shunned either. Counting shirts, I was actually beginning to wonder exactly which band Hamburg had shown up for…

Even though Abbath didn’t surprise us with a headlining show, they did surprise us with shaking the bag when it came to their setlist, kicking tonight’s gig off with To War!
Later, we would also encounter several Immortal covers, something that had been surprisingly absent in Copenhagen earlier in the tour. Classics like In My Kingdom Cold and Tyrants were instant fan favourites on the floor, and later we would even get a bit of One By One and The Sun No Longer Rises. How’s that for a mix-up?

More importantly than this however, was how the band would perform. Abbath and his band of merry gentlemen are known to have a spectacularly fun show packed and ready to go, but in Copenhagen, the whole thing had been a few degrees of off.
Well, not so in Hamburg, let me tell you. Already from the beginning, we could see that Andreas Fosse Salbu was vastly more engaged and engaging, at several times connecting with the audience and even leading them into rhythmic applause during Dream Cull. Ukri Suvilehto was kicking ass behind the drums, and several times got up off his stool between songs to get a better stare at the crowd. Ole André Farstad was getting a bit more into a rocking attitude, but he was still a good bit behind what we’ve seen from him in the past, and I never saw him make direct contact with the audience sadly.
Abbath himself, well, he’s just Abbath, right? He was in a right good mood, spoke a lot (although not something I was able to decipher), and had a few funny gimmicks thrown in along the way, although nowhere near what we saw as recent as Copenhell last year. If it was the smaller stage, or whatever else I cannot say, but there was no classic crabwalk, there was no fire breathing, not outfit change. But he was having fun, and that in itself infected the whole affair with fun.

As mentioned, Abbath had a lot of fans in the crowd this evening, and things were certainly loosening up by now. Headbanging increased, there was if not an outright moshpit, then at least more activity on the floor, and the crowd was shouting out with appreciation between songs.
Even so, the band didn’t have too much time for a proper goodbye after the show was done. A few quick pick throws, and they were off. Well, everyone except Suvilehto that is; he hung around after everyone else had left, and took an extra lap where he handed out his last drumsticks - well, last for this show, of course.
All in all, Abbath showed a vast improvement over the previous gig we had seen on this tour, and while it was still not up to classic Abbath standard, it was good to see them enjoying themselves more again.

Setlist:

To War!
Hecate
Acid Haze
Dream Cull
In My Kingdom Cold (Immortal cover)
Tyrants (Immortal cover)
Ashes Of The Damned
The Artifex
Count The Dead / One By One (Immortal cover)
Winterbane
The Sun No Longer Rises (Immortal cover)