If people celebrate their birthdays every year, why should bands celebrate their anniversaries just every 5 years? That’s Promethevs line of thought and having turned 9, they put up a 9th anniversary concert party. Guest bands were Sollust, Hills Have Eyes and Web, the hosts playing the second slot, but there wasn’t really an opening act and a headliner, as all bands played the same amount of time – one full hour.
Which in SOLLUST’s case might have been a little too much. They’re a good band, no doubt about it, but their progressive/alternative sound didn’t seem to captivate the majority of the crowd, clearly into heavier and more vigorous things. A group of fans kept the ovations loud between songs, but even they weren’t close enough to the stage, leaving an uncomfortable void up front. A flawless but underestimated performance of tracks from their debut album “The Last Bird Song” and some new material.
PROMETHEVS, the anniversary boys came next. The audience was still somewhat shy, although more interested, but then it only took a couple of songs for the mosh to break out – even before Machine Head’s “Davidian”, meaning they don’t need famous covers as a decoy; their originals do the trick. Promethevs also took the chance to introduce three new songs – “Runaway”, “It’s All Theirs” and “A Thousand Lives As One” – so hopefully, the successor of the 2013 EP “In The Land Of Lucifer” is in the making. The powerful “Strength To Fight” finished the set.
Promethevs had literally warmed up the crowd, but it was HILLS HAVE EYES that made them sweaty-hot. Mostly to songs from the latest “Antebellum”, the headbanging, crowdsurfing and singing-along were non-stop. Even the ballad “Make It Right” – a song singer Fábio hoped would “bring some comfort” to everyone who had lost someone after a hard relationship – provided quite an electrifying feedback. When saying that “Anyway It’s Gone” was about being in a band, Fábio took the chance to remind us that it was the passion for music that mattered, not the genre – whether that was metalcore, thrash or even Justin Bieber. Earlier, he’d already passed along another message, just as important, which was about supporting local/national bands and keep the underground alive.
WEB went on stage at the time they were scheduled to get off it – 2 a.m. – but the crowd wasn’t less restless to welcome these metal veterans. They’re also in anniversary mode, to the beautiful number 30, so they decided to re-release their first tapes (yes, as in cassettes), “Evil Tape” and “Promo Tape” in just one pack. The last song of the night, “Strong Winds, Strong Waves”, was taken from there, although it’s also featured in the band’s debut album “World Wild Web”. More recent songs such as “Vendetta”, “Death My Enemy” or “Leaving Scars” – the latter featuring Equaleft-Miguel Inglês, whom singer Nando amusingly introduced as “a rookie, not at all used to these things” – as well as the mandatory “Mortal Soul” were some of the titles that drove people into a metal bliss and carved that night in everybody’s good memories.
Words and Photos by: Renata Lino
Special thanks to Promethevs
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