The Darkest Night – 16 May 2015

 

Hosts: InkBlack Visual Art & The Red Door 

Venue: The Red Door, Pietermaritzburg

Theme: The Darkest Night

Bands: 

• The Overmind

• Carnage Carnival

• Desolation

• Theatre Runs Red

• Bile of Man

• Adorned in Ash

 

When I was asked by Jamie (owner of The Red Door) to organize a metal show it was initially going to be a small show consisting of 3 local bands. But later on in a phone call to Jamie I found out that this would be the last metal show that The Red Door would see before it had to close down.  I immediately knew that we needed to make this event bigger, an hour later I phoned Jamie back with my proposal of 6 bands, a braai and an earlier opening time.

 

Once news of The Red Door’s closing went live, social media was ablaze with shares and invites to The Darkest Night. As any events organizer will tell you, never trust Facebook… we were wrong in this case. The Red Door was packed, according to KZN standards. Probably the biggest KZN crowd we had seen in years. The atmosphere was alive with excitement and there were people there we had not seen in months, even some non-metal heads interested to see what all the hype was about.

 

Starting off the evening was The Overmind, who has yet again proven that they are not a bunch of pansies. These guys bring it every single time I see them. Their sound is a complete sensory onslaught of brutal proportions. Wojtek’s Vocals will turn any man’s belly to water. They seemed to make an impact on the crowd as their merch sales were the highest of the night.

 

Next up, Carnage Carnival, with another energetic performance. As always they do not play us their music, they perform it, making for a highly entertaining show. Their Groove and melodies quickly got the crowd moving. 

 

Being part of Desolation I can give you a first hand experience of what goes on, on stage.  We were up next and had a fun last show at The Red Door. It has always been our favourite place to play, as the sound is always perfect! Matthew Howes, our local Sound Tech, and Jamie’s experience in the industry always promises a perfect sound. It was also great to see a pit form during a portion of our set.

 

Before we knew it KZN favourite, Theatre Runs Red, were on stage. Anyone who has ever seen this band will tell you that their sets are highly entertaining and their sound very unique and powerful. This Blackened Death Metal band clearly had the hearts of everyone there. The front of the stage was packed with die-hard TRR fans.

 

Adorned in Ash were up next for their first and last show at The Red Door. Many Red Door Folk have never seen the likes of this band. Robyn shreds like a mean machine and on top of that she has a voice like a banshee. Their Melodic sound got people moving and they definitely grew their fan base as their merch started moving as soon as their set was over. Many people would not believe you if you told them that this is a Christian band.

 

More brutal than a death scene from Game of Thrones, we ended the night with Bile of Man. This band never fails to disappoint, and this last show at Red Door was no exception. Their fast riffs, insane drum patterns and aggressive vocals leave a wake of terror as they “Seal off all the Exits and let none escape.” 

 

We would like to thank Bile of Man and Adorned in Ash for driving down for this event.

 

Saturday night proved once again, that KZN still has many metal fans. It’s just unfortunate that the closing of The Red Door had to bring them all out of the woodwork. I truly hope that we will get the same if not more support at the Aborted Show on 16 July at Live The Venue.

 

Witten by: Aldine Venter