Went to see the first show of the Black Twilight Circle's mainland tour yesterday. And I have to say, this was an experience all itself. I felt as if I were witnessing an ancient Aztec ritual of some sort, the ambience was just dark, raw and utterly mysterious. They compiled Dolorvotre, Arizmenda, Blue Hummingbird On The Left and Volahn for this night (I think they are switching through bands as the tour progresses?), and it was quite the perfect lineup for the evening, I would have to say.
I hadn't heard much of Dolorvotre previously as I have just recently been going through the entire Circle's discography as of late, as I had only really dived into Arizmenda, Shataan, Axeman and Volahn. Thrashy and raw and they therefore compose themselves on the side of the more 'traditional' raw black metal sound in the Circle. Eduardo 'Volahn' Ramírez himself is on vocal duties and distorts himself through all sorts of ritual incantations with vocal pedals and through the mask he's wearing. They were loud and chaotic (but that speaks for itself here in this case), and they pitched off the night perfectly. They were great, but I did not find them to be the most admirable name in the group. Either way, their final track 'Worship Black Twilight' pretty much made the night already.
Next up were Arizmenda and they were my favourite performance of the night. Juan 'Murdunbad' Cabello is a sick, wailing monster and I just cannot describe his possessed screams and howls and it literally felt as if I stood on the edge of hell here. The entire ambience changed from Dolorvotre, and I have to commend these musicians of being capable of setting such a different tone with different bands mostly compiled of the same musicians. If you are in need of a psychedelic and unhinged black metal trip, choose an album by Arizmenda to listen to, it will surely do the trick — just know that the experience is only complete when seeing them live as they are much more derailed and frenzied on stage. They only played for half an hour and somewhere I wished they and Volahn exchanged positions, but seeing as Volahn is the Circle's main entity, it is understandable that they receive the most stage time.
Blue Hummingbird On The Left place themselves in quite a different setting with the usage of traditional South-American instruments replicating the sounds of animals calling throughout. Cuauh Youalli (Eagle Night) for instance is supported by an instrument that imitates the sound of an eagle in flight, and a pletora of flutes are also used. I am uncertain if they changed vocalists or if the vocalist simply cut his hair, either way, if this was Tlacaelel I could not quite recognise him by looks alone. I had only listened to BHL's EP 'Bloodflower' quickly before departing for the night, but if it were him, he sounded a lot heavier live. He looked genuinely haunted, barking away with bulging eyes and temples throbbing and the term 'bestial war metal' isn't far off when it comes to describing them, relying heavily on themes around Mexican history and the gods of war (Blue Hummingbird On The Left is a direct translation of Huitzilopochtli, Aztec god of human sacrifice and warfare). Unfortunately the sound system failed them and somewhere their sound was less distinct than the previous two groups, but I blame this purely on the sound technicians as everyone was complaining about it. Either way, they were unexpectedly my second favourite act.
Somewhat delayed, Volahn entered the stage a few moments later than planned and therefore the night lasted longer (not that I could complain, though!). This is Eduardo's primary entity and the Circle's main focus, and everyone can see why. Their entire appearance is a little more polished and every riff sounds a little cleaner. They were the only group who played for an hour but they didn't drag, which was quite the pleasant surprise. What is also surprising is that for being the main act, they don't carry the most specific sound and are more in league with Dolorvotre here (same vocalist, go figure), but they pack a punch with whatever they deliver, which is pretty much blast beat heaven. They were obviously a great closer for the night and I went home very satisfied. Let's hope they'll do this again in the future.
I'm hoping to add some more (professional) pictures later if they are added on Facebook somewhere, as I didn't take any myself. I didn't bring much cash so I only bought a t-shirt, I figured if I wanted to collect things by this movement the best way to approach is Discogs or Bandcamp, their releases aren't as extremely underground and difficult to find as I thought.
