An absolutely incredible return to Latvian metal music – the debut (!) album of the doom death metal band Procession, formed three decades ago. Available on bandcamp, probably now on Spotify and other streaming services, but most importantly, also available on CD with lyrics and everything else, as it should be! On the other hand, it can be heard – this Friday, August 18, “Procession” will perform at the ancient history and music festival “Bandava” in Kazdanga parish – their time to go on stage is set at 9:15 p.m.
The group “Procession” was founded in 1993 in the then capital of Latvian metal music, Cēsis. About the life of the “metalists” of this small town of Vidzeme in those days and the influence on the alternative music culture of the rest of Latvia, a much thicker book could be written than “Jelgava ’94”, only the people of Cēsis themselves should do that, because in their circles they let it go reluctantly, but outside of Cēsis, people spread about them legends, the truth of which would be difficult to prove or dispute now. The walking creators of these legends also gave birth to “Procession”, whose starting line-up included Gundars Vīksna aka Zāgis (guitar), Aigars Kalniņš aka Sers (guitar), Uldis Voitkevičs aka Zombie (bass), Māris Bērziņš aka Suķis (drums) and Gatis Brengmanis aka Maggie (vocals).
In the beginning, the most active work was on learning to play their instruments (who knew how to play well in the early 90s?!) and also creating songs. Unable to combine rehearsals with work, Zombis left the group for a while, and was replaced by Jānis Aizkalns – currently the legendary guitarist of the monumental “Sanctimony”. In this composition, “Procession” performed at the famous Cēsis alternative music festival “Night without stars”, as well as gave several concerts in “Dampis”, a club popular with young people in Cēsis. Zombis soon returned, more active concerts began, and the people from Cēsis were also noticed on the Latvian scale, appearing on the stages of such cult places as “Mad Mix” and “Robinsons”. “We had already accumulated quite a lot of songs to be able to release an album, but the lack of sponsors and our own financial situation did not allow us to do it,” the musicians themselves remember. It must be admitted that “Procession” did not really manage to break into the first ranks, where “Huskvarn”, “Remains”, “Heaven Grey” etc. dominated at that time. flashes.
In 1996, Zāgis left the group and was replaced by old comrade Aizkalns – this time on guitar. “Procession” continued to perform both in their native Cēsis and elsewhere. After a year, Sāgis returned, but Megis left, whose place at the microphone was taken by Sandis Korps. Jānis Aizkalns got involved
in the newly formed Cēsi group “Dementia Praecox”, and in 1999 “Procession” came to an end.
The reanimation of the group basically happened because of a very sad event: in 2022, Zāgis, known as the legend of Latvian heavy music, died due to his fanatical devotion to the ideals of metal music and also, what to hide, his hectic lifestyle. In order to commemorate him, as well as Suķi and Megi, who had already died, a memorial event called “Zāģis” was organized in Vaivė, in the residence of Zombja’s country house (this year, this festival, which quickly gained public recognition, was held for the second time), within the framework of which, under the banner of “Procession” Uldis Voitkevičs, Aigars Kalniņš, Jānis Aizkalns and Sandis Korps joined together (by the way, at the turn of the century he was also a vocalist in another legendary Cēsis metal band “Brute Chant”, but later appeared in “Collide”), while Kristiāns Voitkevičs from the band “Mindesign” sat on the drums “. The listeners were reminded of the band’s best songs, which were also released on the album. “The guys fulfilled the dream of their youth days, while commemorating their departed comrades,” sum up the musicians. So, here is the short biographical story about these 11 compositions collected in the album.
ABOUT. “The Side Of The River” is like a nostalgic entry into a time capsule – from the very first bars, thoughts and feelings return to the 90s, when the grass was greener (not better – beer was in the top at that time) and only the sky was bluer (not sexual minorities), when every concert at “Robinsons”, “Mad Mix” and anywhere else was an event, when “Baltic Metal March” at Vagonrūpnīcas Stadium or “Metal Revolution” in Biķernieki gathered thousands of hairy listeners, etc., etc. Strangely enough, at the time, “Procession” was not particularly enthralled by reviewers, which, when listening to their songs with the experience of that time, is truly surprising – the people from Cešinia resemble the “Heaven Grey” top heavy brigade of that time. Although – in the band’s sound you can find practically anything from the best examples of Latvian “death metal” of the 90s, in addition, Gints Lundbergs has polished the sound of the songs to a technical level, which should not be ashamed of even in the 21st century.
About the sound material included in the album. The reviewer has given five stars out of five to such songs as “Visions In The Strange Temple”, “Anima Mundi”, “The End” and the title song at the end of it, “Nadir”, “Night Of Embers Haze” have also been ticked off as recommended by others. and “Graveyard Symphony”. “Procession” stands out with rich rhythm changes, everything is without exaggerations and ostentatiousness, but the most pleasing thing is that the group does not follow the principle “the faster, the harder, the better”, but tries to put some deeper meaning into each song. Sandis Korps “groulo” to no end, everything is fine with the rhythm section, and if the composition includes such a great master as
Aizkalns, then it is quite clear that the guitar solos will also be at the highest level. Excellent album. Or at least a very good one.
AGAINST. If you have to be “attached” to something, then the order of the songs or their arrangement creates doubts – the first two pieces included in the album, which should be the most attractive, do not seem like that at all. But in general, criticizing the work of “Procession” should be undertaken by the younger generation of metallers, who will probably miss “folk”, “pagan”, “viking”, “symphonic”, “power”, “sludge”, “stone”, “metalcore”, “electronic” and knows some more modern metal impurity, because this is really the old, good, “old-fashioned” metal.
2023-08-17 19:57:22
#RECENZIJA #Procession #Side #River
