31-05-2019 Monolord

Support: Kavrila
Location: Molotow, Hamburg
By: Basak Günel
Photos by: Heavy Harlequin

Hamburg was in for a nice treat on a Friday evening as the Swedish band Monolord paid a visit to Molotow to deliver the fans some fine stoner doom rock.

Our evening started with the German doom/punk act Kavrila. This was actually our second time seeing the band live as the first time was when they played in Kiel a while ago. The band has been formed in 2016 so they are relatively young but have a steady fanbase.

Overall, the whole set was a neverending energy and chaos. This was obvious from the beginning as well as the frontman’s energy; he was jumping up and down the whole time while delivering those aggressive vocals. The audience seemed to have been impressed as well and so the whole synergy was amazing! We could also see that some fans in the audience was already familiar with the band and so Kavrila didn’t have to make an effort to ‘warm up’ the audience. Comparing this to the first time we saw the band live, we can definitely say that this time was much more intense, raw and definitely better!

After all that chaos and the aggression, it was time to get heavy and slow down with Monolord. Formed in 2013 in Gothenburg, this Swedish act has become one of the gems in the fuzz/stoner doom/sludge scene. The band’s latest album “Rust” was released in 2017.

A lot of action or interaction wasn’t expected on stage as the band mesmerized the audience with the great heavy riffs, slow tempo and the vocals. The big highlight and also the strength of these guys is this interesting harmony of the bass – being in the front- and the vocals – which sound like they are coming from far away. It lured the audience in right away and kept everyone at a trance state. This was everything you could expect from a gig like that much and more!

Considering that the band has quite a few releases on their pockets, the setlist consisted of a nice variety of songs, with some highlights being “Audhumbla”, “Dear Lucifer”, “We Will Burn” and of course “Empress Rising” as the band saved the ‘best for the last’ for the passionate audience in the packed venue. The whole trance state and the passion in the audience created a great synergy between two sides. On top of this, the band gave the news of an upcoming album and an upcoming tour (dates already announced) on autumn, in which Hamburg is also included. Overall, we can’t say nothing more; it was intense, heavy, fuzzy and f*cking amazing! It was especially interesting to experience two different contrasts with these two different bands. Kudos to both Monolord and Kavrila as well as the audience for this night!

Links:

Monolord Official
Kavrila Facebook