Photos by Mitch Kline
The Scene: Amidst the drunkenness of LoDo following Denver’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, Enslaved, Yob, and Ecstatic Vision treated a sparse but dedicated crowd at Summit Music Hall.
Opener: Ecstatic Vision. Philadelphia-based Ecstatic Vision, recently signed to Relapse Records, made their Denver debut with a psychedelic set of originals based around trance inducing bass riffs, tribal percussion rhythms, and soaring guitar solos from frontman Doug Sabolick. This is a band I’ll be keeping my eye on in the future!
Yob: I’m not going to lie, I was here specifically to see Eugene, OR doom trio Yob, who’s latest album, Clearing the Path to Ascend made it into my top five albums of 2014. They stole this show with their three-song forty-five minute set, covering three out of the four songs from Clearing the Path to Ascend. The only disappointment was that their set wasn’t twice as long as it was.
Enslaved: Norwegian metal stalwarts Enslaved have a deep and rich catalog, stretching back to 1991, and they tapped much of it during their hour and a half set Saturday night at Summit Music Hall. It was no surprise, if not expected, that “Thurisaz Dreaming,” the punch-you-in-the-mouth first track from their excellent new studio release In Times (released last week on Nuclear Blast), opened the set. What was surprising is that they only played two other songs from In Times. Frontman Grutl Kjellson stomped and stalked the stage, engaging his bandmates and the crowd throughout the set. I was a bit disappointed by the light turnout for this show, but that didn’t seem to affect any of these bands, including Enslaved, who treated their long time fans with an energetic set that felt like much more than a promotion for their latest studio effort.
Energy: B
Musicianship: B+
Sound: B
Stage Presence: B
Lights: C
Overall: B
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