In yet another year that was absolutely crammed to bursting with top-tier music, perhaps one of the most surprising releases was Loss, the fourth full-length from Portuguese sort-of-post-black-metal troupe Gaerea. It’s not like the signs of them moving in more accessible directions weren’t there already but from the moment first single ‘Submerged’ dropped, the black metal vanguard were out in force to claim it was the most blasphemous thing to happen since Sunbather, meaning that their return to Glasgow could go one of two ways – the embrace of a new audience, or an attempt at winning over the old heads. It all sounds so simple but as with everything relating to this shadowy outfit, they always manage to surprise.
One good thing about their increased stature is that they can bring along even bigger bands on tour, in this case the mighty Conjurer. It’s been a year since they dropped Unself, a massive if natural evolution in their sound and range, and it hasn’t just given the crowd time to familiarise themselves with it but also to form an emotional connection with the material, a fitting bond given just how huge these songs sound tonight. ‘All Apart’ opens the set hard, a roller-coaster of a song that traverses soaring beauty and crushing heaviness, Noah See’s drumming especially noteworthy given the range of speed and power that he traverses with practised ease.
Brady Deeprose and Dani Nightingale pour their all into the performance, trading vocal barbs and sizzling riffage like men possessed, but on cuts like ‘Hang Them In Their Head’ there is a sense of vulnerability, a willingness not just to pummel but to console (even if it still prompts some headbanging, albeit with slightly less bystander hair finding its way into your mouth as you sing along). A dedication of ‘Let Us Live’ to the trans community cements this sense of shared humanity further, a spot of reflection that reminds us of metal’s ability to provide community and shelter.
There’s a heavy focus on Unself, with only ‘Hollow’ and ‘It Dwells’ harking any further back but with the latter closing out the set, it hammers home how far this lot have come. Their music is emotional and cerebral, precise yet executed with enough fluidity and drive for each shift to barely register, so there’s little surprise that when they put down their instruments there’s a rush straight to the merch table.
Gaerea’s entrance onto the stage brings with it a sense of transformation; the erection of a walkway across the stage and the masked figures entering single file before taking their posts like soldiers standing sentry bringing a sense of theatre that black metal excels at. Leading with ‘Luminary’ it’s not just the start of a set that will see Loss played in its entirety, but also a great example of the record’s dual strengths in general; moments of crowd-uniting anthemics broken up by a streamlined kind of brutality that stresses emotion over mere aggression.
The band have both of these sides honed to a razor’s edge by now; XI’s drumming blessed with a natural, fluid sense of groove yet not afraid to be utterly punishing when the need arises. With André Fernandes now joining Delta on guitar duties, there is a fullness to their sound that accentuates those gorgeous melodies, with ‘Hellbound’s massive chorus bordering on stadium-rock levels of grandiosity.
Still, it’s impossible to downplay the importance of Alpha to Gaerea’s current live sound, both as vocalist and as ringmaster. Despite his masked visage, he stands as one of the most expressive performers in recent years through his vocal range and his body movement. There is rarely a moment where he is stationary, and his every gesture and flourish feels deliberate, staged in just the right way to catch the light and render himself iconic; yet he flows naturally with the violent twists and turns of these songs, a physical extension of the music’s turbulent, heartfelt nature.
The band leave the stage and only Delta returns for ‘LBRNTH’, her voice high and unwavering as she reduces the room to a hushed silence; but her comrades’ return for ‘Nomad’ prompts one of the crowds most approving roars, as well as another mass singalong. There are a couple of nods to the past with ‘Hope Shatters’ and ‘Laude’, both giving the quintet a chance to fully let themselves go, a focus on volume and aggression sparking a flurry of enthusiastic pitting, but it’s ‘Stardust’ that brings the evening to a close, Alpha operating at his most vulnerable and fully committing himself to the role of tortured troubadour.
Whether or not this was the kind of performance that would make naysayers eat their words is doubtful, but honestly, who cares? Gaerea have become one of the most exciting bands in a cluttered post-black metal landscape, and tonight they demonstrated that they could give every aspect of Loss all the fire and vigour it so rightly deserves.
