The Posters of Gigs Past - part 1

I've been collecting gig posters since 2011. Most of them were simply nicked when no-one was looking, because I figured they'd be thrown away or recycled.


 Festa Kiboko was hosted by an entity known as Basement Radio in December 2011, at Frieda's on Bree Street. The previous Basement Radio party was called Kiboko FM (Hippo FM). The music (world music, and some fusions between folk and modern music) and the vibe were fantastic, and I had interesting conversations with interesting people. The braaied mielies and fresh bananas were yummy.

 Thanks to an Emperor tribute in December 2011, I checked out more of Emperor's material, and subsequently became an Emperor fan. I wanted to recognise the songs played on the night (I'd heard only I Am the Black Wizards at that point), so I checked out the albums In the Nightside Eclipse and Anthems to the Welikin at Dusk, and maybe one other album. Thank you Blackcrowned, Wildernessking and A Walk with the Wicked for sparking my interest in Emperor!

Rock The River 2011/2012 was my first music festival. I went with my sister, and two friends. I enjoyed myself immensely, and saw some great performances from various bands. (I didn't enjoy being in the dubstep section of the camp though.)  I was at the metal stage for almost the entire festival. I bought my first international band t-shirt (Megadeth Rust in Peace album artwork with black and white back patch), as well as my first two metal CDs (AGRO's Rewriting History and Emperor's Emperial Live Ceremony). I saw in the new year at the metal stage with Crow Black Sky, who put on one of the most spectacular local metal performances I've seen. The band wore custom-made armour, there were skulls scattered on the stage and there were cool pyrotechnics. RTR 2011/2012 was a great introduction to music festivals.

Crow Black Sky- Pantheion Review

Death metal, black metal and progressive metal are combined to bring to life epic tales of long-ago battles and faded gods. Crow Black Sky is a hard-working band who put on a spectacular show at last year’s Rock The River festival in Cape Town. The stage was decorated with skulls, pyrotechnics exploded at the front, and the band members were adorned in armour and black warpaint. Pantheion is the band's debut album, and is available for free download on their Facebook page.

Vita Satus builds the anticipation. The rousing track Dissention follows. The slow verses boil with a sense of impending threat, until exploding into fast choruses full of indomitable spirit. Ear-catching riffs abound in this song, and in the next track, The Opressor’s Fortune. A great clean solo appears on the latter, and on tracks like Pantheion, Retribution and Our Path Disdained.

The fourth track is an instrumental number called A Shadow Consumes The Desert. The echoing guitars bring the open spaces of a desert to life. The end of the song continues into the title track, but the slight break between songs felt like a bump in the road. Pantheion is a misanthropy-filled powerhouse of a song. The Spanish guitar interlude adds interest, while the spooky ending gives an impression of gods who are unseen, yet seeing.

Retribution has an Amon Amarth feel, with its galloping pace and war-themed lyrics. The chorus is catchy, and the fast guitar solo is powerful. This song makes me want to get off my arse and do something meaningful. Things switch to the Opeth side on Our Path Disdained, an excellent piece of songwriting (and one of the best tracks on the album, in my opinion). The guitars are full of feeling, and carry the song. The changes in tempo add interesting texture. None of the different musical elements sound out of place, which is the song’s biggest strength.

Two more instrumental tracks finish off the album. The beautiful piano on Exodus reminds me of the piano work on Opeth’s album Heritage. Acoustic and electric guitar play a haunting duet on Home. The four instrumentals of Pantheion don’t sound like filler at all, thus preventing breaking up the flow of the album.

The level of excellence displayed on Pantheion - from the songwriting to the instrumental proficiency - is a good indication that Crow Black Sky will  continue to soar in the future. Besides minor gripes with the production, I found it hard to fault this gem of an African metal release.