Vomitory was the second band up at Gruenspan this evening, and it was with some trepidation from our side, as our mutual track record hasn’t exactly been stellar so far. Would the band redeem itself, or would we be better off with a prolonged bar and toilet break..?

“How you doing, you doing alright? You want some more Swedish death metal?!”
- Erik Rundqvist (vocals/bass)

After a calm and spooky intro, there was a genuine roar from the crowd as the band walked on. At least the band was better known and more popular here than they had been in Denmark, and that promised well for them.
Already from the start, Vomitory had a noticeably increased energy about them. There was some proper headbanging going on, and Urban Gustafsson was attentive of the crowd at times as he peaked out from the curtain of hair otherwise hiding his face. Even Erik Rundqvist was looking more alive, moved around more when possible, and spoke more to the audience.

This of course paid off, as the Hamburg crowd applauded and shouted the band along, and when the music filled Gruenspan, several necks were bopping along cheerfully. Ok, maybe cheerfully isn’t the right word for brutal death metal, but you get the picture.
Ok, so Vomitory still had long patches of just standing still playing the shoegazer pose, but getting the second spot of the evening seemed to suit them just as well as getting the first spot seemed to hurt Vreid. Interesting, makes me wonder if this was the case all through the tour. Either way, Vomitory didn’t make me a fan just yet, but it was without a doubt the best gig we’ve seen with them so far.

Setlist:

Revelation Nausea
Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize
For Gore And Country
Rage Of Honour
All Heads Are Gonna Roll
Wrath Unbound
Regorge In The Morgue
Chaos Fury