It’s already been a while since Evoken released their latest opus Atra Mors, but it wasn’t until now that they were doing a tour to support it in Europe albeit a short one. And this was the only date in the Netherlands. They brought two support slots but there were different guests on every gig, usually a local band.

The Spanish Evadne had the honour to open the gig. I had heard of them but not really had the chance to hear them. Well, this is doom death with some gothic, romantic touches in the more traditional vein of early Anathema and Katatonia. That means not very original really, but quite listenable, except for the vocals; especially the clean vocals were pretty terrible.

The second band is the mighty Ophis who play a stripped down, cold, in-your-face kind of doom metal, sometimes slowing down to funereal speed. The overall sound seemed a bit thin, but that doesn’t matter. They opened with the Mirthless off their split with Officium Triste, followed by one of their faster songs Dead Inside, for which the singer excused them for “exceeding the speed limit”. After the Halo Of Worms of their second album they concluded the set with a new songs called Amongst the Fallen Stones. This one sounds quite promising for the new album they were writing with a somewhat faster overall feel. Splendid gig.

Faal were next, and they said they would also play some new songs. But they managed to start off with a older one. The newer songs seemed to incorporate more of the effects and electronics than their current albums and much less riff driven. I’m not sure I like that much. It probably has something to do with the new members in the band. Anyway not bad, but they played longer than they should which got in the way of the headlining Evoken. Something which the venue should organise better.

The new Evoken album is a return to form after the somewhat disappointing A Caress of the Void. The clean guitar sound was drenched in reverb and effects which sounds a bit odd ( I guess that comes from the Disembowelment influences). The set list drags us  back and forth through most of their catalogue. Although the much faster and stylistically different Towers of Frozen Dusk  seemed a bit out of place. The excellent melody of Descent Into Chaotic Dream     however made up for that largely, altho the ending went off . Nevertheless a grand show that ended with a song of perhaps their greatest album Quietus.

•  Atra Mors
•  Grim Eloquence
•  A Caress of the Void
• Descent Into Chaotic Dream
• Towers of Frozen Dusk
• Tending the Dire Hatred