“Great heat, mon cher”, would’ve been the words of Mr. Caragiale if he would’ve been out on a stroll on Sunday.
Aching for a beer, a bit of shade and some music too, and since at “La Pirati’’, Dynfari & Apa Simbetii were announcing a big concert, we decided it would be best to walk out way over there.
It was our first time going to “La Pirati’’. This ‘baby brother’ of the same named club in Constanta already had quite a reputation and it’s a pretty welcoming place where you can pleasantly spend a rock night with friends. And the pirates from here didn’t steal from us one bit. The prices at the bar are more than acceptable, the atmosphere is simple and pleasant and the sweetest thing is that everyone is smiling at you.
If on the terrace it was somewhat cool, but when the concert started and we got down in the room, the atmosphere heated up bigtime. Try to imagine that you’re inviting in your own living room a band, 50 friends and the windows aren’t opened. The result is a sauna…in which we’ve all had a great time and in which most heroically put up with the heat until the very end. I for one being a bit more sensitive to the heat, didn’t have all that much choice at some point close to the end of the Icelanders from Dynfari, to sneak at the bar and listen to the rest of the concert from there. If in the room the sound was to say the least ok, up in the bar it was actually very audible so I didn’t miss out excepting the rockers’ vibrant atmosphere as they were swooshing their long hair on heavy beats and (some who had a good singing voice) were vocalizing every now and then.
If I didn’t withstand the heat, the bands on the other hand put up with it really well and performed powerfully, as if the continuously escalating temperature wasn’t felt by any of them, not one bit. The guys from Dynfari actually mentioned at some point that here it’s extremely hot compared to what they’re used to in Iceland. Yet they pulled through, singing and putting together a show I’d love to see again on a bigger stage.
Locks of hair in the air swooshing (like a fan), growling voice and strong beats. Dynfari brought all the way from Icelandic lands a hot breeze of North European black metal, which heated to the max the atmosphere on Sunday night.
Said to be one of the most original and courageous young extreme metal bands from the northern side of Europe, put together initially as a duo by Johann Örn and Jon Emil , and presently reaching in full throttle the perfect five instrumentalist combo, they’ve brought long and difficult instrumental pieces, a dense atmosphere filled with emotions and beats which progressively build themselves up to be more and more complex and seem to fade out sonly after. The fluctuations and rollercoaster-like modulations are, I believe, their key to success, as they are something quite different from what I’ve usually been listening to.
This primary European tour brings with it a re-release of the “Sem skugginn” album .
As I’ve mentioned before, the heat made me flee from the front of the little stage and sent me to listen to the final part of the concert from a cooler area. Luckily the room had decent acoustics and the sound technician (Dima Gabriel from Negative CORE Project) made it all in such a way so that everyone could hear the music clearly no matter where we were. Honestly for an underground concert, in a room that small, the sound was flawless.
The guys really put up quite a show, performing “godlike”, if I may say, especially since the growls aren’t exactly heavenly sounds, but they did communicate really well with the audience.
Setlist: Svartir Himnar, Myrkrasalir, Sandkorn, Hafsjór, Óreiða, Sem Skugginn, Vegferð I – Ab Terra, Vonleysi
Invited as opening act for the Dynfari concert in Bucharest was Apa Simbetii band.
From Smoke and Ash to Apa Simbetii, from doom-death metal to blackened death metal, from a mixed band to an all-men band with raw power and loud, rough beats.
There was music and headbanging both on stage and in the room, a short yet strongly-voiced vocalist with a strong set of vocal skills twice as powerful as one might consider, then there were the deep back-up vocals from guitarist Mihai Dinca, and then there were fast paced guitars and an excellent sound.
If the sound technician was good, then there are no more to say for the lighting. The two spotlights in the room were successfully handled but were also times when the light technician was close to breaking at least his fingers in all the switches for all the necessary tweaks for a proper lighting (he was pretty high up the wall too). Yet as a good colleague and supporter of the “band”, Flip Brunet (Negative CORE Project) made sure that his friends would always be in the spotlights and the lights themselves added more flavor to the atmosphere. Thank you for the initiative Flip, it was an interesting idea.
There wasn’t an encore but we can’t get mad for two explicit reasons: the first would be the heat in which they’ve been all shaking up nonstop and the second would be the fact that Mihai Dinca (guitar and vocal), was sitting his admittance exam at the Politehnica University. Hopefully this concert acted as a charm.
Setlist: Paleocosmos, Intimidare, What the Moon Brings , The Dream of a Mad Arab , Primitive Future, Demiurgul cel Rau , Perpetual Black Second (Meshuggah cover)
As Titus accustomed us to, there was the raffle of the night, with prizes from the club as well, big prizes for loud rockers.
After the concert we got to hang out for a beer with the guys from Dynfari who got to tell us just how thrilled they feel on Romanian lands. We could also buy the t-shirts specifically made for this tour but also for the “Sem skugginn” album.
We have all felt excellent. Although we were few, pretty much the same rock lovers going to underground concerts (which is pleasant at a certain point because you get to know almost everybody and pretty much becomes a night among friends), but we had a great time and listened to some really good tunes.
Warm thanks to Titus Constantinescu for yet another wonderful night. Thank you pentru La Pirati for the hosting and last but certainly not least, warmest of thanks to Dynfari and Apa Simbetii for the awesome concerts you’ve had so far.
TRANSLATE: TEODORA SERDAN