ABORT Magazine™

Live Review: Enslaved w/ Guests, Feb 12th, 2013 – The Biltmore Cabaret, Vancouver B.C.

(CLICK TO ENLARGE | Photos – Sarah Whitlam)

Live Review: Enslaved w/ Pallbearer, Royal Thunder, Ancient Wisdom
Tuesday, February 12th 2013
The Biltmore Cabaret

They came, they saw, they conquered. The extreme metal Vikings from Norway’s Enslaved stormed into Vancouver’s Biltmore cabaret Wednesday night in support of their 12th studio album, 2012’s critically acclaimed RIITIIR, bringing with them a number of up-and-coming American bands to aid them on their quest.

Hailing from Austin, Texas, Ancient VVisdom delivered a short opening set of blasphemous folk-rock, playing songs from both A Godlike Inferno and the just recently released Deathlike. As they wrapped their set up with the stand-out single “The Opposition” they received a hearty applause from the sparse crowd.

The Biltmore had started filling up when Atlanta`s Royal Thunder hit the stage and started pummeling the audience with their gloomy ‘70s jam-rock. Though they appeared to be one member short, the trio’s sound was still solid as a rock, blending ambient interludes into their blistering riffs. Front-woman Mlny Parsonz brilliantly handled vocals and bass, sounding like a blend of Ann Wilson and Courtney Love as she wailed for all she was worth. They closed out the set with the latest single off of CVI, the catchy as hell and solo heavy “Blue”.

By the time the curtains parted for Arkansas’s doom-metal heavyweights Pallbearer, the floor was packed. Having received universal acclaim for the quartet’s debut record, Sorrow and Extinction, it was no surprise that every head in the house was banging when they kicked into the melancholic dirge of the album’s opener, “Foreigner”. After a quick guitar-string fix they churned into the lead-anvil-heavy second track “Devoid of Redemption” and after some friendly banter with the crowd, ended up playing the albums third track “The Legend” by audience request. The songs being as long as they are, there was only time for one more which frontman Brett Campbell announced was a new song, and it was just as crushing and beautiful as the rest.

With the weeknight crowd thinning as the night marched on, Enslaved were greeted by a few less people, but those that remained were clearly all die-hards as they cheered and raised horns for the Norwegian progressive-black-metal legends. They opened with “RIITIIR”, effectively whipping the crowd into frenzy. They followed with the title track of ‘06’s Ruun before frontman and founding member Grutle Kjellson greeted the crowd, raising a drink and then continuing into “The Watcher” from Vertebrae. It was exhilarating to see a band that is probably more accustomed to larger audiences in Europe performing as hard as they could for a small crowd in an intimate venue, and that is exactly what they did. Sticking mostly to their newer catalogue throughout the set, they closed it with a surprising and punishing cover of the Led Zeppelin classic “Immigrant Song” before returning for an encore of “Isa”.
It was a diverse collection of bands from the genre that made for a killer night of heavy metal all around.

By: Coleman Ingram

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One Response to “Live Review: Enslaved w/ Guests, Feb 12th, 2013 – The Biltmore Cabaret, Vancouver B.C.”

1. Enslaved with Pallbearer, Royal Thunder and Ancient VVisdom – Biltmore, Vancouver, BC – Feb. 12, 2013 |, on February 17th, 2013 at 5:34 pm Said:

   [...] a very intimate venue. What could possibly be better? Check out the review I did for ABORT Magazine HERE, and sample some tasty jams [...]