06-01-2017 Nation in Despair & Instant

[schema type=”event” evtype=”Event” name=”06-01-2017 Nation in Despair & Instant” street=”Bar Rock Bear” city=”Vantaa” country=”FI” ]

Text by: Reija Myllynen
Photos by: Juho Karila

It was a dark night in Vantaa, the neighboring city for Helsinki, and the midwinter coldness only fitted to the scene as we ventured into the venue that looked almost like a warehouse turned into a bar. Pretty perfect for some death metal.

21:00 Nation in Despair

NiD opened the death-orientated night with a full-blown energetic crushing, as it’s meant to be in the genre. Their technical playing is delivered really skillfully and you can’t tell they were opening the night.
On the stage, they embrace the presence pretty easily, or at least make it seem like that, and I was getting little confused when I looked at people starting up a pit during the second song, which is a pretty rare treat in a club this small with very small audience. The crowd is clearly in the focus of the whole band and it’s nice listening to relaxed speeches.

There are still some rough edges to be polished but the intensity is hard and I can say that I was entertained.

Pros: Contact with the crowd, technique, rumbling energy.

Cons: If I have to mention something, the band was a little bit more stationary than what I’ve got used to see from NiD at previous gigs.

Setlist: Messengers of Dismay, Ambivalence, Immersion, Utopia, Isomer, Conversion, Masquerade

22:00 Instant

Trio continues the heavy night pretty convincingly, despite the initial tension which luckily seems to be fading but leaves me longing for more contact with the audience as well as speaks. Even if it’s harder with fewer band members, they still got work to do in the terms of stage-presence. Playing is really skillful and fast, leaving barely anything to complain about their techniques.

Pros: Skills are quite good.

Cons: The lack of contact with the audience.

Setlist: Use, Dozens of Humans from the Mist, Left Headless in the Swamp, Entombment of Mental Balance, Fathomless Darkness, Achieve Madness, Wrathful Vengeance, World’s Last Breath, Kill Your Mother, Rape Your Dog (Dying Fetus cover), Mutation, Submerge, Longing for Grief, Swarm