01-06-2018 Death Alley

[schema type=”event” evtype=”MusicEvent” name=”Death Alley – Superbia Tour ” description=”Support: The Moth” sdate=”2018-06-01″ street=”LOGO” city=”Hamburg” country=”DE” ]

Dutch/Swedish formation Death Alley released their latest record “Superbia” a while ago and they have been on tour ever since. One of the stops was Hamburg’s ‘sauna’ venue LOGO;  a sticky and warm weather and eager fans welcomed the band on a Friday evening. Support act was German sludge/doom metal band The Moth.

The Moth started the evening with a slow and doomy atmosphere, which was quite the nice contrast to Death Alley’s sound. This formation hailing from Hamburg has been around since 2012 and they have a few releases on their pocket as well as various live shows. They stepped in last minute to support Death Alley and ‘warmed up’ the crowd with slow riffs and the doom vocals performed by the guitarist/vocalist and the bassist. Speaking of the bass, it was impossible not to ignore the awesome energy of the (female) bassist! Her style and her vocals definitely added a different dimension to the show. 

Overall, the show consisted of down-tempo songs and I could tell that a few people were there for them, headbanging slowly and cheering along whereas the rest was just enjoying the moment. The bass was definitely in the spotlight (at least for me!) whereas the riffs and drumming rather accompanied that element. Not what you would expect as a ‘warm-up’ act for Death Alley but the band kicked some ass nevertheless and delivered us a fine mix of sludge and doom metal!

After the warm-up, it was time to sweat a bit more and rock’n’roll! “We are Death Alley and we are from where you want us to be!” were their words and the band did not wait any longer to kick it off and started the set with “Black Magick Boogieland” from the previous record. Such a nice and fast start! Formed in 2013, the band has a few releases so far and those who know their music know that the band incorporates elements from psych, proto-metal, punk and rock’n’roll pretty well. It wasn’t generally the same tempo or the beat; at times, we found ourselves dancing and headbanging and at other times, we enjoyed a rather long guitar solo. So in this context, the band has an experimental and colorful set and they know how to change the mood and the atmosphere. 

Since this was the promo tour of the band, they also focused on the new gems such as “Feeding The Lions”, “The Chain”, “Headlights in the Dark” and “Shake the Coil”. With each song, the atmosphere got even more sincere and warmer. I could also tell that the band was in a good mood; the vocalist was singing along with the audience and playing the tambourine at times! My personal favorites were “Supernatural Predator” and “Headlights in the Dark”.

There was also a highlight of the show. You normally wouldn’t expect a fire show from a band like Death Alley but they surprised the audience in the middle of the set; the vocalist had a drumstick in one hand where he beat the fire, and the tambourine in his other hand where he ‘added’ another flavor to the songs.

Just when we thought the show was over, the band came back on request (and after many cheers and applause) to play a few more songs! Especially the last moments were more psych-oriented with long guitar solos. With a lot of sweat and a big smile in everyone’s face, they said their goodbyes and thanked the crowd for an amazing evening! I personally wouldn’t have hoped for a better performance! It was all worth the trip to the death alley!

Text: Basak Günel
Photos: Heavy Harlequin

Links:
Death Alley Facebook
THE MOTH Facebook