PERFORMANCE OF 2018 : BAEST
Baest
Kino Šiška | Ljubljana, Slovenia
September 9, 2018
There has been many great shows that I’ve attended in the year that’s about to end. I’ve seen several bigger, established bands in the metal scene, such as Hammerfall, Ensiferum and Alestorm, which all delivered unforgettable and stunning performances. However, since that’s something that’s more or less expected of them as they are veterans of the scene, I want to talk about a smaller, up-and-coming band today - and that’s Baest.
Baest is a very young death metal band (having formed only in 2015) hailing from Denmark’s second largest town of Aarhus. They have released their first full-length album called Danse Macabre in August and have impressed many with their old school sound, which could be described as reminiscent of early Bloodbath, when the Swedish surpergroup was still fronted by the outstanding Mikael Åkerfeldt.
The only reason my friend and I actually decided to go to a show this September evening was because we hadn’t been to one since May. The event in Ljubljana’s Kino Šiška was headlined by the ex-Immortal frontman Abbath and supported by the aforementioned Danes and the local black metal band Kholn. With both of us being largely unfamiliar with the bands, we went to the show just for the experience and a fun night out.
When Baest ran onto the stage, the energy of the band was one that could be felt by the entire crowd. The Danish quintet descended into the opening song of the evening - “Vortex” - and they looked absolutely thrilled to be brutalizing the Slovenian crowd with the ferocity of their particular take on death metal. A special mention has to go the drummer Sebastian Abildsten, who was smashing his drum kit furiously and astonishingly well. It was extremely fun to see how much he enjoyed playing for us as he made sure to entertain the crowd with some grimaces throughout the set.
As their show proceeded, the band’s energy didn’t waver, spear-headed by the frontman Simon Olsen. Alongside him were the double guitar threat of Svend Karlsson and Lasse Revsbech and the bass of Mattias Melchiorsen, who all ran and jumped around the stage as the crowd headbanged along with them. All in all, Baest’s on stage energy is clearly that of a young, excited band living their dreams,and I love to see people doing whatever they do with joy.
Baest is undoubtedly one of the bands the metal scene should be looking out for and, if their career follows in the footsteps of their debut album, it will surely be one of length and success - especially combined with their electrifying live show. If you do get a chance to see them in your town I’d highly advise it, even if you may not be exactly a fan of old school death metal.
