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Dimmu Borgir, Necronomicon, Krisun, Ontos On

Well, first off if you are looking to the full review of the entire day leading up to the gig, understand that this day was a bit different than Amon Amarth. I had to work until 12:30, and I had to be back the next day. So the long hours of shopping and debauchery just didn’t have the opportunity to happen.

But what did happen was, I got hope at about 12:45, hammered out a few posts here on the board, and then took off for Gary’s house. It was a bit annoying on the highway due to it being Flatlander season, and I swear if it even looks like it might be snowing somewhere on the planet, they drive 20 mph slower than the posted speed limit. But once I got off the highway and into Burlington, I calmed down a bit. I met Gary and his friend Becky at Gary’s house. I gave Gary a burned CD of my fave “best of” Dimmu Borgir songs. The three of us loaded up into Gary’s car and headed north.

When we got to the border, I was ready to be screwed with since our schedule was so tight now (Gary had been running late and as a result we had maybe 15 minutes flex time between us and the concert). But much to my amazement, the guard said, “have a nice night” and the entire thing too about 20 seconds.

We flew across the Canadian countryside trying to make up time, and I decided to sleep. I crashed out until finally the music stopped and Gary said, “We’re here”. Man, was it COLD! I mean the wind was whipping and the wind chill was brutal. But rather than stand in line for 30 minutes for the coat check, we decided to just go in out t-shirts the 2 blocks it took to walk from the parking lot to the Medley.

The doors to the gig had just opened, so we cut the line and were one of the first 20 people inside. I thought that was kind of funny, actually. This was my first gig at the Medley so I took some time to walk around and check it out. That place is big, but very cool. The crowd was a mix of the underground, but I did not see a single punk rocker type there. I like Montreal Metal gigs…Metalheads go to them. And a LOT of them went to this gig; the place was packed with evil, grim and necro looking Black Metal warriors. Funny thing about Montreal gigs…the air is always filled with smoke, but I’d say only 1 out of every 3 cigarettes is made of tobacco. People really enjoy smoking pot up there.

The first band was Ontos On. They are a local Montreal band. That is the only nice thing I have to say about them.

Next up was Krisiun. I’ll say up front that before I went to the gig, I had not heard one song by them. I can see myself buying their stuff this summer now. Fast, aggressive, and incredible. The drummer does pinwheels while sustaining a 3 minute long hyper-fast blastbeats! Krisiun is 100% pure Metal, and they play for the sake of metal. My only complaint about Krisiun is that so desperately need a 2nd guitarist. The solos sounded hollow, and it kind of ruined the “heavy” sound. But overall, I liked them. I met the bassist/singer for a minute after the gig, and he seems like a pretty cool guy. I’ll get some Krisiun when Death Metal season arrives.

Right after Krisiun, we ran into our metalhead friends Etienne and Méliza. This was very cool; as I was hoping to hand out with them but there was such a massive sea of people I had given up looking for them after. Turns out they had been standing about 20 feet away from us all night. We talked a lot, and things might work out that they are going to meet us in VT and then come with us to MA for the Metalfest in April. That would kick ass. If nothing else, we’ll see them again this month, as there are 2 local concerts in March that Gary and I might go to.

The next band was Necronomicon, one of the most revered bands from Montreal today. Something important must have been going on for them since there was a big production with them being introduced by the gig promoters, and there was a bit of a speech with much roaring and cheering in the pauses. It occurred to me at that point that maybe I might want to check into conversational French, as I’m missing out on a LOT of stuff.

Necronomicon played a heavy set, and I knew before going to the gig that I liked them as I have a lot of their stuff on a burned CD. Necronomicon plays a thrashy and very heavy Death sound that reminds one of Morbid Angel and Nile. Not a copycat sound, but the reference can be made with some accuracy. I like them.

But Ontos On, Krisiun, and Necronomicon were not whey I attended this concert. Had it just been these three, chances are I would have stayed home on a work night. No, dear reader, the reason I went to Montreal on a Wednesday night was the see a flux in the Black Metal time/space continuum. I went to see the past, present, and future converge in one place. I went to see Dimmu Borgir.

The lights went out, and there was a deep rumbling of a keyboard. Smoke billowed from the stage to the point that it was impossible to see anything. Strobes flashed here and there, giving the impression of lightning from the distant horizon. Shapes moved within the dissipating smoke, and then with a flashing of light and explosion of sound, Dimmu Borgir emerged from the smoke and dominated the attention of every person in that place. The opening song was one I had not heard before, but it was very heavy. Something interesting happened here. I doubt many of you remember a day when “moshing” meant dancing in one spot with a bunch of other people doing the same thing, kind of like really heavy headbanging and twisting in place (it’s hard to explain) but when Dimmu started, almost the entire crowd was infected with the need to move, to dance, to bang. It was a very powerful sight, a sea of heads banging and bodies writing but not like slam dancing… this reminded me of gigs from long days past. I really got into this and totally went off. Gary and I were just insane, and Dimmu totally connected with the crowd. They are showmen, for sure, but their Metal is no less pure for me.

Dimmu Borgir played for well over an hour, hitting their entire discography. I really enjoyed them a lot. Their last song of the night was “Mourning Palace” and you could feel the entire place shake from the hundreds of stomping feet. I had a very good time at this concert. Dimmu Borgir kicked ass.

When Dimmu Borgir was done, I made a mad dash to the concessions table and bought Necronomicon “Pharaoh Of Gods” and a “Brave Words-Bloody Knuckles” (the company that does almost all the Montreal metal shows) tanktop. From there it was goodbyes with Etienne and Méliza, and another dash through the seeming sub-zero temperatures. No time to stay and play tonight, all three of us had to get to work the next day.

The roads on the way back were brutal, it was snowing very hard and the wind was blowing everywhere. It took us over 3 hours to get back, and another hour and a half for me to drive home from Burlington. Needless to say, Thursday was a sucky day at work but it was worth it. I’d do it again without hesitation.

Final word on this tour, if you get a chance to see it, go. It’s worth your time, for sure.

Original post- 03/03/02 By Skalk