Bands: Downfall of Gaia – Implore – Ewig.Endlich
Date: 06/03/20
Location: Rockpalast (Bochum)
Promoter: Black Harbour Entertainment
After being on a Top 3 Spot on my 2019 list, it was a no-brainer that I would see Downfall of Gaia when they would tour a place near me. The fact that Implore would be with them was just the icing on the cake.
The evening was opened by Ewig.Endlich. a German Post-Black Metal band from Dortmund. I didn‘t know them beforehand, but was pleasently surprised to put it mildly. German Black Metal with a great sense for atmospheric songs. They played songs from their debut Auf Grund (which you should definitely check out) and even a new song from their upcoming album Mosaik. A song that stuck with me was „Schwarz und Stern“ which contains a sample of a poem by Else Lasker Schüler (if you don‘t know her, feel free to educate yourself). The climax of this song is one of the best endings I heard in this genre for a long time.
Implore were up next. Although the crowd was not in the mood for moving, the set was blistering either way. With Alienated Despair they released a great album last year and were a great addition to this touring package. They tore through the set, that included a great mixture of all Implore releases. It still amazes me that a four-piece band can sound so huge and hard hitting. Hard hitting can be taken literally in this case: the last three songs were sung with a bloody face resulting from a microphone hit to the forehead (voluntarily).
Then Downfall of Gaia took the stage. After the intro song – „Grotesque Illusion of Being“ opened the set that consisted of songs off Ethic of Radical Finitude, Aeon Unveils the Throne of Decay and Atrophy. The choice of songs showed quite well how Downfall of Gaia progressed from a songwriting and melodic point of view. I also like the earlier albums, but Atrophy and Ethic of Radical Finitude are my personal favourites by far and the main reasons for that are the dynamic drumming and the great melodies. The show closed with „Guided Through a Starless Night“ which faded seemlessly into „Of Withering Violet Leaves“, which sounded even better with Dominik taking over the part of the clean singing (he didn‘t actually sing, but it was great either way).
It was a great night with every band delivering a set that surely made some new fans and satisfied the old ones.
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