*Photography: Sharon ShapiraThe Wunderbar has a notable tall ceiling that bares a somewhat majestic, even theatrical feeling; the place is crazy lit with red and blue. For a small venue it's more than satisfying for local shows and I'd dare to say even top performers could rock a hell of a night there. Shit, there's even a disco ball. Anyway, It proudly hosted a prime annual festival taking place in Haifa, Summer Storm 2015. The bands invited are sharp pieces forming the wide Israeli metal spectrum and the audience was presented with performances presenting everything between black, heavy, and grind metal.
Unfortunately SINNERY had to cancel and the first act was TALPA.
TALPA is led by a ferociously sounding female vocalist, helping to shape an overall sound that resembles a strange mix echoing the likes of GUANO APES and ARCH ENEMY. Kind of like the two had sex and gave birth to this very intense and angry band coming to blast and pierce and they deliver an excellent show; one that's very fitted to open a mini festival of this sort.
At times, the vocalist shrieks her lungs out, synching in to the groovy song structure. While well executed, her deep and fierce singing is more dominant in most of the songs and flatter her performance much more. The guitars shred and deliver fast and 'Twingly riffs that awake memories of the canonic Gothenburg melodic-scene back at it's prime. The guitar leads complete the sound and help paint textures over the songs that actually deliver really well live. Overall they pulled a very live and energetic performance; the material TALPA already has in its fresh repertoire is very solid and it's obvious they have great potential and are eventually bound to explore new territories. It was extremely unfortunate that sound failed and the club had to stop a few times.
ABNEGATED were up next and gave a hell of a show. The crowd seemed to know quite a bit of the material and the guys played like they practice the shit out of their stuff. They sound real tight and precise, and carry a glow that accompanies their strong stage presence as well.
ABNEGATED will immediately evoke feelings of the last time you listened to ENSIFERIUM, COB, NORTHER (and pretty much anything else of the sort from Scandinavia) and frankly, everyone knows how fun these shows usually are if executed properly. The crowd formed a mosh-pit a number of times during their set and interacted excellently.
After having at least one or two more glitches during the set - it seemed like Wunderbar's sound finally got sorted out and on came
SEPARATION ANXIETY.
I have to admit that this is the one band the surprised me most that evening. They Grind and tear and please any ear that's sensitive to early CARCASS-like riffs and melody. The guitars break, groove and smash on notes that sound off-scale to create brutal harmonies; their tunes could easily fill soundtracks for gore or monsters films. Really, bullshit aside, these are tracks extremely suitable for terror and filth-filled atmosphere. Kind of like an ABORTED video along with touches of ARCH ENEMY vibes. Their overall sound is creepy and edgy and fast and quirky and it definitely works.
They're absolute maniacs live and massive kudos go to the bassist for going off stage and into the crowd to pound on his bass forehead-to-forehead with the fans. The crowd was highly enthusiastic and notably exhilarated to SEPARATION ANXIETY's great set and I'd dare say they're one of Israel's most promising acts.
On came the exhilarating SWITCHBLADE, the local answer to IRON MAIDEN, ICED EARTH, and such. They've already gained somewhat of a following in Israel and they're definitely well worth it. The crowd sang along to a few of the bands roaring hits, and hunting choruses; it was especially heartwarming to witness Metalheads ask for the favored hit "Metalista" (which they absolutely kill, once played live). They were later rewarded with two new tracks as well, and it seems their next-to-come album will include more hits in the classic and heavy approach the band orthodoxly follows. Hell, it works. Their guidelines for writing music are by the formulaic Heavy thrashy metal and live these songs just pump the crowd full of energy.
The vocals go way beyond average when it comes to the Israeli scene and the band present excellent musicianship. The guitar work is especially virtuosic and each riff or solo has something of a delight to offer the listeners. It's a real shame there's barely any representation to such a classic and vital genre in the local scene. It's a void once filled by CROSSFIRE (more than ten years ago) and now mostly dominated by SWITCHBLADE, DESERT, and that's pretty much it. Anyway we should all be so fortunate to see these beasts again.
Next were SHIVER, that deliver a very coherent feel in the sense of "let's fuck things up and break 'em". Well, kind of. Anyway, it's pumpy and phunky and goes somewhere between ABORTED and SOULFLY. Real easy to get in touch with during a mini-festival of the sorts, and I'd say SHIVER almost create a beat, that keeps the fans devil horning, moshing, and jumping all along the show. Many breaks texture their songs and the sheer heaviness is prominent in every guitar riff and bass line. The vocals roar at midrange mostly, and the singer really knows how to work a crowd. At times, I could swear I thought I was at an ABORTED concert.
KATASTROF were up next and opened by saying how they're excited to be going on tour in Europe soon. The local metalheads that attented were well pleased to hear so and it's obvious they've already gathered a following in Israel. So they pretty much echo what we've already heard sooner this evening by the promising ABNEGATED; meaning, these guys sound like CHILDREN OF BODOM too. So they're playing fast and rich, heavily layered by the intermeeting instruments, coalescing to form that wondrous noise we know and love. They sound real tidy, fun, and mature, but the song structures are more than normal and it's hard to say they offer the listeners anything new or fundamentally exciting. Nevertheless, it was a great show and they obviously know their war around a stage.
Then we got FERIUM, and were reminded again by the massive influence grind and death (well, CARCASS more specifically) had on the global scene; with Israel included, of course. FERIUM seem like a very modern incarnation of the English necro-monsters; And they're one of the best bands around Israel these days, if not the best. They're real pros on stage and perform in a very brutally and vivid manner. Their song writing is absolutely smart, mature and well crafted, and the local scene in Haifa seems to adore them. No doubt that once they break out – they've the potential to be big.
Sadly, the evening closers were the well famed and notorious AZAZEL. They write fast and sharp black metal, that's been very popular among young bands during Israel's early 90's and 2000's. Not many active bands from that era remained, and seeing AZAZEL live is a real gem since they perform the kind of Black Metal that's so easily loved; very raw, fast, and evil sounding tunes that seem as if they were spat in the depths of hell by Lucifer himself.
It was a real shame to see the club almost going half empty by the time
AZAZEL had the stage, it was apparent that many sound problems and overall lateness tired the bigger part of the crowd by that point.
AZAZEL remained true to the fans and performed like the room was filled with fellow maniacs and delivered some of their ever most favored classics.
Overall it was a great mini festival and the Wunderbar should definitely host more of these. It seems like the metal scene in Haifa always had the potential of growing and embracing the local acts and it's about time these event should become more common.
