Hate Eternal were on tour once again; now that isn’t usually a trigger for me to head to the Baroeg especially not with this flu I have right now, but this time they were supported by none less than Spawn of Possession. Probably one of the most technical death metal bands around currently. That’s a pretty good reason to go.

Anyway, before that there was a Polish band I had never heard of before: Shadowslands. Now I do know why, they are pretty aweful. The guitarist annex singer was trying to enthuse the crowd but to no avail. Lack of originality, lack of skills and lack of creativity are the main problems here; and they weren’t helped by a weak sound and a mic standard that couldn’t keep itself upright. Well, after 20 minutes it was over.

Quite a contrast with the next band, Spawn of Possession. They took their time to setup the stage properly, before they started with a new song. These guys really pull off some of most complex and odd riffs at high speed and unlike many of these so-called technical death metal bands, they write them into strong and memorable songs. The band continued with a mixture of older songs off their debut “Cabinet” with new songs of their forthcoming “Noctambulant”. One of the problems that I have though with this kind of music is that you really have to know the songs to enjoy them; there is just to much going on to. Nevertheless I trust that the new album will be great as well, considering what I have heard. In summa, a good set and a strong performance and definitively made the trip to Baroeg worth it.

Then it was Hate Eternal time. Having seen them a few times before, I knew what to expect: high speed semi-technical death metal. Largely based on blast-beats, Eric Rutan and co worked their way through an hour-long set with enthusiasm, which with similar enthusiasm by the crowd. Apparently, most people did come for Hate Eternal. I was becoming bored after a couple of songs. The lack of second guitarist didn’t help either, leaving a very empty sound during guitar solos. So I went home after the regular set, not waiting for the encores.