DARK TRANQUILLITY, KATAKLYSM, NAILED TO OBSCURITY, HINAYANA – Austin, Texas, U.S.A. 2022

DARK TRANQUILLITY, KATAKLYSM, NAILED TO OBSCURITY, HINAYANA – Come and Take It Live, Austin, Texas, U.S.A. February 23, 2022

DARK TRANQUILLITY released their last album, “Moment” back in November of 2020. Usually a tour follows an album release, but that recording came out during a time of major COVID-19 restrictions. At the time, Sweden’s borders may not have been open. International tours were definitely not happening at the time. So here we are a year in a half later and the legendary Swedish melodic death metal group have finally made their way to the States to promote said album. Canadian death metal veterans, KATAKLYSM and the gloom and death/doom sounds of Germany’s NAILED TO OBSCURITY came along with the tour. Austin’s own HINAYANA opened the show.

Normally, the first band of the night at Come and Take It Live is a local group. HINAYANA are local as in being from the area, but the group is internally recognized. Their latest EP, “Death of The Cosmic” was released via Napalm Records. The band received glaring reviews for said EP, which songs were on display tonight along with other tracks from their Black Lion Records full-length debut “Order Divine.” HINAYANA were a fitting opener for the European-heavy line-up, and would have fit in quite well on this tour. Their sounds has more in common with the frozen fjords of Finland than the arid hills of Central Texas. Keyboards and deliberate paces provide a gloomy, mournful atmosphere. Casey Hurd’s growls are deep, but not too guttural so his words are fairly easy to understand.

They were supposed to start their set at 7:30 PM, but it was moved back to 7:15. Due to an accident and icy roads, I missed a couple of songs. I was surprised at the size of the crowd so early in the evening. Fans of dark, melodic music were certainly familiar with the group, and those who weren’t, most likely became new fans. One fan bought merch and told them he just started listening to the band that night. They must have made quite an impression. Although still warming up, the crowd response was quite good. The European metal sound is not that well represented by American bands, especially in this area of Central Texas. It will be interesting to see these guys go on a U.S. tour. In the fall, HINAYANA will embark upon a huge European tour with MY DYING BRIDE, MOONSPELL, WOLFHEART and BORKNAGAR. Clink the link to their Facebook page at the end of the article to view those dates.

Hailing from Germany, NAILED TO OBSCURITY formed in 2005. They made waves with their last album, “Black Forest,” being released on Nuclear Blast in 2019. NAILED TO OBSCURITY were an ideal band to follow HINAYANA. While there is no mistaking the two bands, they both play their own brand of melodic doom/death metal. Their set was shrouded in darkness, both literally and metaphorically. They were drenched in blue stage lighting and the stage was quite dark—very fitting for this band. Some of their music was comparable to PARADISE LOST, while some of their other songs reminded me of OPETH. I had read the OPETH comparisons, so this was what I expected, but it was really in only small doses. Raimund Ennenga mostly growled but there were scant clean vocals. His voice was low in the mix, though, and it seemed like he had to push his voice to be heard well. I enjoyed the melodic guitar leads, but the consistent down tempo did make their set drag a bit.

This is the second show review I’ve written for MetalCentre about KATAKLYSM. In 2019, they came to this very same venue as the headliner with EXHORDER, KRISIUN and HATCHET. KATAKLYSM are one of the longest running and most successful Canadian death metal groups. Some attendees told me they came specifically to see this group. It’s easy to see why; their set was very energetic, as it was when I last saw them. Like NAILED TO OBSCURITY, KATAKLYSM also calls Nuclear Blast home, which includes their last album “Unconquered,” released in 2020. Albums released two or three years ago was the norm for these bands were finally able to tour in support of these records.

KATAKLSM were the heaviest and fastest band of the night and this showed in the crowd. The first pit of the night broke out that I noticed. KATAKLYSM began their career with a brutal, grinding death metal sound that transitioned into more of a melodic death metal sound. Their more recent material seems more groove-oriented, which was what I noticed most about their set. Many of their songs consisted of concrete-textured, chopping grooves. I did notice some of the melodic death fretwork coming into play, though. Texas loves its death metal and KATAKLSYM made their mark on the night.

The last time I remember seeing DARK TRANQUILLITY was in 2005 when they toured with OPETH and DEVILDRIVER. DARK TRANQUILLITY have released several albums since then, and have undergone many line-up changes. The most notable change was the departure of original guitarist Niklas Sundin in 2020. In 2020, DT brought in Johan Reinholdz and ex-ARCH ENEMY guitarist Christopher Amott. Now sporting short, spiking hair, Amott looked quite different from the last time I saw him play with ARCH ENEMY in 2008. While Lars Martin Brändström has been the keyboardist since 1999, Mikael Stanne is the only remaining original member.

I was in for a treat since this was the first time I saw DARK TRANQUILLITY in a headlining role. I didn’t check how long their set lasted, but it was scheduled for an hour and a half and they played most of that length. While heavy with songs from their last album, “Moment,” DT played a set featuring songs throughout their career. It was interesting to see how they changed throughout their career of being a poster band for Gothenburg death metal riffs to something more atmospheric. With a movie screen casting imagery in the background, the group opened with the atmospheric “Phantom Days” from their “Moment” album. “Transient” and “Identical to None” were other choice cuts from that album, while “Encircled” was a welcomed song to their set from the more-recent album “Atoma.”

While I enjoyed the atmosphere of the keys on newer material, it was the signature Gothenburg-style guitar riffs that got my head banging. One such track was “Lost to Apathy” from the “Character” album. “The New Build” was a rare live track, which was also taken from the “Character” album. The drums on this track were the fastest of the night.

Every time I’ve seen DT, the oldest song they played was “Punish My Heaven” from “The Gallery” album. This track is a prime example of early ‘90s Gothenburg melodic death metal in it’s Iron-Maiden-on-crack guitar play. Stanne preceded this track with a touching speech about former member Fredrik Johansson who recently passed away from Cancer. Johansson played with the group throughout most of their classic ‘90s output. Johansson replaced Stanne on guitar, so Mikael could concentrate on sing. “The Gallery” was the first song he and Stanne wrote together.

DT performed with incredible energy. One could tell they were happy to be back on the road again. Even though he aggressively growled much of his vocals, Mikael Stanne was all smiles on stage. While I saw some wear in his voice, especially during long screams like those on “Punish My Heaven,” he an undeniably large stage presence. At times I could have sworn I was at a European metal concert when the crowd clapped their hands. Stanne is tremendous lyric writer and vocal melody maker, which showed on tracks like “TherIn” which the crowd infectiously sang the line, “I starve myself for energy.” While it wasn’t the same without Niklas Sundin, it was fun watching Swedish legend Amott deliver heavy riffs and rich, melodic notes. The movie screen imagery and keyboard atmospherics were also a great experience. Check the remaining dates to see if they’re coming to your town.

February 25 – Houston, TX – Scout Bar
February 26 – Baton Rouge, LA – Chelsea’s Live
February 28 – Winter Park, FL – The Haven
March 1 – West Palm Beach, FL – Respectable Street
March 2 – Tampa, FL – The Orpheum
March 3 – Atlanta, GA – Heaven at The Masquerade
March 4 – Greensboro, NC – The Blind Tiger
March 5 – Columbus, OH – The King of Clubs
March 6 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
March 7 – Rochester, NY – Montage Music Hall
March 8 – Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage
March 9 – Pittsburgh, PA – Crafthouse Stage & Grill
March 11 – Richmond, VA – The Canal Club
March 12 – New York, NY – The Gramercy Theatre