Death Wolf, The Foreshadowing, Inquisition, Moonspell, and Marduk play at the Gramercy Theater

By Quadalupe Carmona

The long awaited announcement of the voices of Dark Tour was very mixed. Death Wolf was the opening act in support of their highly awaited album release “II: Black Armored Death.” Since they feature members from Marduk this was a great opportunity to gain more support for their upcoming album.

One surprising aspect of this band is that they fall far from Marduk’s black metal sound, to a more thrash/heavy metal onslaught. The overall theme of this concert was variety of sound.

The Foreshadowing, an Italian band, is also touring in support of their newest album entitled “Second World.” It is filled with gloomy, melancholic lyrics and very gothic/doom sound. Their lyrics are deeper than most other bands and fit well with their gloomy sound. They surely are something new and worth checking out.

For a complete 360, Inquisition was one of the most anticipated bands on this bill. Though they do not have a new album, they were highly awaited here in NYC, since their last tour with Septicflesh. The crowd swelled during this segment of the show and they were not disappointed. It is always interesting to see such wild support for a two-piece band. Inquisition appeased their fans with their signature black metal style.

Inquisition has been around for a while now. Even though they are not new to the metal tour scene, they have a loyal following and are surely a delicacy for the black metal die hard crowd every time they tour. Not to take any credit from the headliners, but surely the crowd seemed to enjoy Inquisition the most.

Following Inquisition, the co-headliners, from Portugal, Moonspell and from Sweden, Marduk, took the stage. Moonspell has returned to the states after almost 4 years. It’s fair to say that they still have a huge following in NYC. There were also many proud Portuguese fans waving their flag up high during their set. They were supporting their 2012 release “Alpha Noir,” yet their set list contained more of the old and best Moonspell songs, which made for a very solid performance from this gothic band.

For a few minutes the venue was hectic as there a rush to begin the Marduk performance to avoid colliding with an event scheduled later that night. Marduk wound up starting late which led to a few songs being cut from their set list. Despite all the pressure to get their set done in a timely manner, they delivered an onslaught of sound with heavy drum blasts and a furious atmosphere that left no member of the crowd without the raw feeling of true black metal.

Overall this was a great concert. With varied sounds and a mix from many bands, there was something for everyone in the metal genre of music.