Report: Mgla + Martwa Aura + Above Aurora @ RCA Club

The fierce winds that Lisbon faced during the day didn’t affect the excitement and expectation that followers and fans of MGLA had to see the most recent cult brought by their new album “Age Of Excuse”. Judging by the amount of headbangers standing outside the venue, if the concert wasn’t sold out the day before, you can be sure that, on this day, it was. Outside and before the official time to open the doors, all the conversations were like “what do you think about this new album”, or “what to expect from their performance today”, and even discussing the lyrical content over some beers.

Around 7:30 p.m., the venue officially opened doors and the most trve fans could now enter and save the best place to enjoy the show prepared by all the bands.

But before the headliners, and most anticipated, MGLA, could actually start, it was time for Above Aurora to try to gather all the rest of the fans still on the street and somehow resilient to enter the venue. The band from Poznan brought in their luggage the latest EP from 2018 “Path to Ruin”, launched after their debut album “Onwards Desolation”. Above Aurora states that they’re influenced by distinct kinds of metal genders like black, doom and/or even death metal. They made their debut in Portugal entering strong and showing that they weren’t there only to enjoy the Portuguese warm and sunny weather. They transpired powerful alignment and strong cohesion between all three members. The entire EP was played, yet leaving some space for some older songs to be presented to the audience.

After a good performance from Above Aurora, it was time for another band to make its debut in Portugal. This one, we were somehow more anxious to see, because we didn’t really know what to expect of their performance. A very low light ambiance, based on red spotlights, increased our curiosity about what would come on stage and what kind of performance Martwa Aura could deliver.
The raw black metal presented by the band along the show matched the atmosphere. The performance felt very static, leaving the audience involved in some sort of lethargy, not so normal for this kind of black metal concerts. Besides that, Martwa Aura presented a competent set based on their new album “Credo in Mortem” (2019) which also included older songs from previous records.

The fans were eager for another band coming from Poland and, as soon as the first notes came out of the room, a lot of the people standing outside came inside the RCA venue, although they realized that it was only the line check of all instruments.

Everyone was excited and anxious to see what MGLA would deliver on this new appearance in Portugal, after a three-year hiatus and the awesome show back then. The first notes coming out from “Exercises in Futility I” indicated that the wait was over… the room felt the energy and just reacted positively to the calling.
At this time the venue was completely full and a sold out RCA had its attention focused on what Mikołaj Żentara and Maciej Kowalski were about to do. Despite this tour is based on the latest full-length released this year “Age of Excuse”, the Portuguese audience witnessed a setlist focused in the “Exercises in Futility” album. “Exercises in Futility II” and its initial crazy drum break got the fans completely energetic and showing that we could have reached the pinnacle of the concert at an early stage.
MGLA also included some surprises during the show like “Mdłości II” or “With Hearts Toward None VII” receiving a very positive reaction. The performance felt somewhat short, based on the reactions from the audience after reaching the end of “Exercises in Futility V” and the whole band just left the stage not giving any openings for an anticipated encore.

Technically, it was a close-to-perfect show at RCA Club and the only regret that everyone probably had was that the sound was quite low (more than normal for this kind of gigs). That caused the performance to not having the expected impact of MGLA show.

In overall terms, no one seemed disappointed about what the Polish black metal legion presented in Lisbon.

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