CONCERT REVIEW: Hiraes - Damnation Defaced Live at Logo - Ghost Cult MagazineGhost Cult Magazine

It was a hard choice – this show (only two bands, neither of which I knew) or Russian Circles plus a few other bands, with whom I was more familiar. Something pulled me to this show even though, logistically, the other would have made more sense. A small club, Logo was only a few minutes’ walk from my hotel room (which felt like a luxury). Unassuming outside and in, Logo couldn’t have held more than 400 people, had a very low stage (with a pole front and center), and had some odd diagonal fixtures in the middle of the floor with stools. But it was casual and reminded me of a few familiar clubs back home.

Damnation Defaced was up first, with what ended up being an hour-long set. Without knowing anything at all about the local five piece, I was excited to see what they would add to the night. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t really get to find out. The vocals were loud, the drums were loud, and the rest of the band was muffled to the point where they may as well have not been there. People without earplugs seem to enjoy what they heard, but even with a few adjustments from the soundboard I couldn’t hear much else. The band was jamming, some of the crowd was moving, but ultimately it was an incomplete performance that I can’t really say anything else about.

I can say that it made me worried for Hiraes’ upcoming set. The guy next to me, wearing what looked like business attire with a bright pink Distant hoodie, made a few comments (in English) about some of the photos I had taken, and we started talking about brutal death metal before I asked what he knew of Hiraes. To me, they sounded like a Symphonic Metal band decided to go Death Metal, but he assured me they were more complex than that. The vocalist, Britta Görtz, was an accomplished singer and voice coach according to my new friend, and the band was “pretty heavy but not only heavy.” My new friend assured me that I’d enjoy the show, especially after learning more about bands I regularly listen to.

He was not wrong about the band and I did not have to be worried about the sound. Hiraes came out and delivered a heavy and well-constructed assault of metal, play to and for the crowd that was at terrific audio levels for the venue. Görtz weaved in and out of the crowd much of the night, stopping once to throw the horns up for my camera before screaming into the night. The rest of the band (Lukas Kerk, Oliver Kirchner, Christian Wösten and Mathias Blässe) were all from their previous band, Dawn of Disease and played like a veteran arrangement of musicians (apparently Dawn of Diseased disbanded around 2007, giving them around two decades together).

About 90 minutes later, Hiraes played their encore and thanked the crowd before seamlessly mingling with it. The crowd, as it turned out, was at least 25% local musicians (as is often the case), who reflected on the progress Hiraes had made since each patron (respectively) had seen them last. It was a good night of melodic death performed by a band who clearly enjoys playing live shows.