Report from final gig of Draconian and Harakiri for the sky co-headline tour

The final concert of Draconian and Harakiri for the sky co-headline The Sovereign Arsonists Tour, featuring Sojourner as a special guest, was held on February 2. The show took place in Vienna, the hometown of the Austrian post-black metallers Harakiri for the sky. Noizr Zine’s team visited the gig and is ready to share its impressions of the past event.

We entered the Szene club, where the event took place, under the melodic, but final chords of Sojourner’s set. As it turned out, already the opening act managed to gather almost full hall of people, so the group was escorted from the stage to loud applause from numerous viewers.

Sojourner’s setlist:

Winter's Slumber
Aeons of Valor
An Oath Sworn in Sorrow
Homeward
Titan

Our team spent a break between sets, buying merchandise — and there really was a lot to choose from! In addition to the traditional CDs, hoodies and T-shirts, fans could also purchase vinyl and deluxe versions of the album "Arson" — the latest release of Harakiri for the sky. The deluxe edition included exclusive souvenirs: a flag, a badge and a lighter with the band’s logo. In addition, we were lucky enough to buy the last bottle of Harakiri’s branded beer, the release of which was timed to The Sovereign Arsonists Tour.

After a short break, Draconian appeared on the scene. It seemed to me that vocalist Heike Langhans needed a couple of songs to warm up properly, but after that her voice began to sound unusually charming, contrasting nicely with Anders Jacobsson’s growling. While singing, the vocalist kept throwing up his hands with crooked fingers — this gesture was readily repeated by the people in the crowd, at the same time trying to sing along with Jacobsson.

Most of the played songs were taken from Draconian’s latest album "Sovran" ("Stellar Tombs", "The Wretched Tide", "Pale Tortured Blue", "Heavy Lies the Crown", and "The Marriage of Attaris"), but the band also pleased their fans by performing such imperishable classics as "Bloodflower", "A Phantom Dissonance", "A Scenery of Loss", and "The Last Hour of Ancient Sunlight".

At the end of the set, the visitors began to insist on the continuation and as a result Langhans came on the stage, perfectly performing the new song of the group "Burial" to the backing track. Honestly, seeing Draconian's performance for the first time, I was completely delighted with it.

Earlier, I saw Harakiri for the sky’s live show at the Brutal Assault, where they played a short festival set which lasted just 40 minutes. This time the musicians had a full-fledged concert program, which lasted just over an hour, during which they played tracks from all their albums.

Harakiri for the sky opened their performance with the upbeat track "Heroin Waltz" from the newest album "Arson". The musicians started the set so vigorously that one of Draconian’s guitarists ran out and started to headbanging next to his Austrian fellows.

Secretly, I was hoping to hear more material from the band’s latest LP, but only a few songs were performed from this record. To my luck, one of them was an indisputable hit of the album — the song "You Are the Scars", which the public met with great enthusiasm.

It’s worth noting that the audience actively supported the musicians throughout the concert, reacting to what was happening on the stage with applause, showing sign of the horns, and headbanging. And the musicians themselves seemed to feel very comfortable, performing at home in front of a familiar audience. After the end of the set, the musicians, encouraged by the crowd went out for an encore, performing the song "Calling the Rain".

Harakiri for the sky:

Heroin Waltz
Funeral Dreams
69 Dead Birds for Utoya
You Are the Scars
My Bones to the Sea
The Graves We've Dug
Calling the Rain

In general, the concert left a pleasant impression and I hope I’ll be lucky enough to see all the above-mentioned bands live again. At least with Harakiri for the sky it will happen pretty soon at the Metal East festival.

Report by Anastezia G.
Photos by Olya Abrisad
Noizr Zine thanks AOP Records for the accreditation