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.

Review: Emperor - Emperial Live Ceremony (Live CD)

On 23 December last year, I saw an incredible Emperor tribute show at ROAR in Observatory. The stellar lineup consisted of A Walk With the Wicked (death metal), Wildernessking (black metal) and Blackcrowned (black metal). The set list that night consisted of the tracks from Emperial Live Ceremony, so when I came across the CD, I eagerly snapped up a copy.

The tracks on this CD were recorded at London Arena 2 in 1999. Sound engineer Thorbjorn Akkerhaugen captured the music well - the sound  is of a high quality. However, the guitars seemed to get a little bit lost in the mix at one point. While I was listening to this album, I could get some idea of what it would have been like to have been at LA2; the atmosphere of the performance was also captured on the album.


Curse You All Men! sets the scene with a sinister and grand mood. The melodic guitar parts contrast well with  the distorted guitar parts. The keyboards  on I Am The Black Wizards add an extra layer of drama to the the song, and enhance its mood. This was the song that first drew me to Emperor (it remains a favourite); its sheer grandiosity has not faded with multiple listens.


The crowd's necks must have been broken after With Strength I Burn - it's a high-energy, headbanger of a song. The high energy continues into Sworn, with some demoniacal blast beats. There are great guitar riffs in this number as well.


The rhythm and atmosphere of Inno A Satana make it another of my favourite Emperor tracks. Lead vocalist and guitarist Insahn does equally well in growling and clean singing. The words ''Inno A Satana'' are sung cleanly, and have a power about them that grabs me by the throat. Insahn's operatic-sounding clean vocals were well-executed throughout the set. Ye Entrancemperium is a fitting closer, with its emperial sound, good guitar work and soaring vocals from Insahn.


Emperor is known as a legend of the Norwegian black metal scene. They definitely deserve that title - melody combines perfectly with wildness to create a sound worthy of their name.