Thulcandra started as tribute band to the Swedish blackened death metal band Dissection. They even covered The Somberlain on their debut album. And although they remained close in style they found a niche of their own. Even though never as good as Dissection, still an interesting band. And as they are a side project of Obscura they don’t tour that much.

Opening band of the evening was the Dutch Nephylim. They play melodic death metal. Very light death metal in general with a strong focus on melody. Almost radio friendly even. Some of lead guitar work was quite interesting. Most of the riffing was quite uninteresting though.

Then Thulcandra from Germany. After a Dissection like intro – off their debut album – they kick off with a song of their third album. The few times I saw Obscura that band was quite sloppy, however this sounded quite tight alright. It does still sounds quite alike the Swedish blackened death metal band, such as Unanimated. The songwriting is never as good as the original bands, but the songs are interesting enough. The never material sounds fresher, the older material is more a tribute. The set was a mixture of both even though they only played two songs of their latest album. Quite a good gig.

Then Sacramentum were about to play. But their drummer got sick and they couldn’t play. Bummer.