Tilburg. 013 Poppodium. unholy trinity has invited itself to a venue. promising a night worthy of an ancient rite to happen. summoning demons all around, black crows bearing ugly truths but also tons of black metallers ready to acknowledge the rise of the masters of the night. legions are ready, united together against the evil forces of them believers. blessed thy be.

once again, a sold out show to attend, meaning the lines are absurdly long. fans are marching in reverse laughing nervously, because they are probably not gonna make it to the first rows due to the forever long waiting.
step after step, patience slowly getting thinner, we're ready to enter. the venue is huge, bold and organised perfectly. merch booth already bursting with people. obviously so, considering the bands playing tonight. and there will be choices to make, cause merch is astonishing. going from signed vynils to tour specials hoodies. anyway, a gig is quite an investment nowadays. 

the room is crowded, and a solid 11 th row is secured... for now. 
greeks in rotting christ are the first to play. 10 minutes later than scheduled but who freaking cares. 666 is playing as overture. starting hard, summoning already. their shows are solid, and their sound is powerful, ancient . if only attending a greek course could be this fun... the set list is quite perfect, allowing everyone to headbang from the start to finish. adding the possibility to mosh from time to time. it's not strange that they gather as much people as tonight. their presence is on point. and their sound is literally to die for. bass player and his master degree in head banging is stunning to see and also contagious. never cease to amaze show after show. 

securing the 4 th row is an upgrade, thanks to mosh pits. great. Satyricon is next. banner of black crows and ancient runes are part of the setting. Norwegian paganism ready to be perpetrated. entering one at a time slowly, leaving satyr for last, flag free this time. wearing  their new (amazing) red long sleeve. now, diabolical is first and that is each time a blast. they are legendary, their black metal is iconic and let our spirits wander freely. their shows are simple but well studied. their setlist include each of their greatest successes, except for deep calleth upon deep, that was unfairly left apart. black crow on a tombstone aswell as k.i.n.g. bring the masses to mayhem. definetely a damn good show, ending with frost as always inciting the crowd to shout in rhythm with his feet tapping the floor. hand on heart, their mass is over. 

finally, starting late aswell, the crowd is waiting impatiently for the headliner. behemoth. white banner, hiding discreetly the set up of the show. we can still see the shape of nergal's microphone. they are the shadow elite and no need to explain. entering the stage as usual all prepped up for the black mass to begin. the scene is an altar, from lightning, to fire work, it has really everything to impress. each song has different outfit to go with. musicians have their places all studied. sometimes directly on stage next to nergal, sometimes on top of build up stairs. many things happening all together. torches lit, flames, melting our faces off, and showing how it could be to go in hell soon. or later. the mass is complex, full, powerful. from a costume to another. spitting fake blood on the audience. chanting words to summoning Bartzabel. well, all is a scene. made to impress. and even when another white banner covers the band while projecting images on it, hiding all of their movements, we just have to admit that even without seeing them, they communicate perfectly through their music. a show to see at least once in a lifetime. and, being booked to most of festivals this summer, let's rejoice because it would be a delight to see them once again, especially with their new record coming up. 
ora pro nobis !