Carach Angren concluded their first-ever North American headlining tour at New York City’s Gramercy Theatre on October 28th. This night was an evening full of debuts as it was also Mors Principium Est and Wolfheart’s first trek across the United States. The run was dubbed Pitch Black Horror Over North America Tour as they held down that name when we were there on the final night.
Wolfheart
Whether it was from their 70000tons of Metal appearance earlier this year, their fourth studio album/Napalm Records debut with Constellation of the Black Light, or their first NYC show; the venue was crowded from the get-go as many were excited to see Wolfheart. These Finnish melodic death metallers provided a stunning performance, which equates to their latest effort. Musically, the wolfpack managed to successfully unite an assortment of styles and arrangements consisting of doom, black and added distortions, which they delivered flawlessly. The band’s mastermind Tuomas Saukkonen led the fleet as they bled through songs such as “Everlasting Fall,” “Aeon of Cold,” “Zero Gravity,” “The Hunt,” “Breakwater,” and “Routa Pt. 2.”
Mors Principium Est
The lights set the mood just right for each act as they went from a moon-lit stage for Wolfheart to dark crimson for Mors Principium Est. These Finnish/UK melodic death metallers executed a different level of ferocity as their devoted fans were relieved to see them live for the first time. The group continued to support their latest effort, Embers of a Dying World, which was released in February 2017 via AFM Records. Frontman Ville Viljanen thanked the house that night as he expressed his gratitude for the band’s NYC live debut. The group consistently headbanged and blasted through songs such as “The Genesis,” “Reclaim the Sun,” “Life in Black,” “Monster in Me,” “Sinner Defeat,” “I Will Return,” “Pure,” “Apprentice of Death,” and “Birth of the Starchild.”
Carach Angren
After a short break, the platform turned into a horror show as the Dutch symphonic black metal outfit Carach Angren concluded the night. Their performance was ideal for those who enjoy disarray of emotion between entertaining torment and terror. Looking as though they came straight from a horror film, Carach Angren brought 2017’s Dance and Laugh Amongst the Rotten via Season of Mist to life or back from the dead, depending on how you look at it. This group is unstoppable at what they do, and hopefully, we will see more from them in the future. Their set included songs “Charlie,” “General Nightmare,” “When Crows Tick on Windows,” “The Carriage Wheel Murder,” “Spectral Infantry Battalions,” “In da naam van de deuivel,” “Sir John,” “Blood Queen,” “The Sighting is a Portent of Doom,” “Pitch Black Box,” “Lingering in an Imprint Haunting,” “The Funerary Dirge of a Violinist,” “Bitte Tötet Mich,” and “Bloodstains on the Captain’s Log”
Carach Angren gave New York City a haunting that eerie places such as the abandoned Psychiatric Center in Kings Park, Long Island or one of NYC’s oldest bars the Ear Inn would beg to discover. While we wish to see these horror metallers return sometime soon, they are on their way to terrify South America for the first-time-ever next month.
