Metal shows have been starting pretty early lately due to all-ages restrictions in Seattle and this one was the earliest yet. Doors opened at 4:30 and the first band hit the stage shortly after 5 PM. I think everyone was able to get in by the time the first band started but since I was in right away (had to secure my position up front) I'm not sure. The show was sold out and by the time Cryptopsy started the Graceland was pretty packed.

The evening started out with Florida deathsters Diabolic. I'd never heard these guys before so I wasn't sure what to expect. This was a good thing as I was pleasantly surprised! They came off to me like a "deathier" version of Kreator or Destuction with catchy riffs and well placed blast parts. Diabolic was pretty tight and worked will together to put on the best show they could in the 30 odd minutes they were allowed. The crowd didn't seem to be too into them but that's very typical for shows in Seattle. I'd definitely see them again.

Brazil's Krisiun took the stage next. The three piece was pretty damned intense! Their set list was comprised of mostly material from "Ageless Venomous" but they did a bit of older stuff as well. Their drummer was brutal as all get out and had to have his cymbals tightened down a number of times as a result of banging them loose. The only real shortcoming of their set was that without a rhythm guitarist the leads didn't make as much sense as they do on the studio albums.

Cryptopsy was up next and they definitely rocked the house. Martin Lacroix did a MUCH better job handling the vocal duties than the last vocalist Mike DiSalvo and he had the added bonus of hair as well. Flo Mounier again proved himself to be among the elite of death metal drummers, there are very few who could keep up with him. Unfortunately their set was cut short after 4 or so songs, I'm not sure if it was an electrical issue or the venue pulled the plug on them. They didn't seem to happy about it, I hope that won't stop them from coming back to Seattle again. Hopefully they'll be headlining next time!

A couple of attractive young ladies jumped on the stage immediately before Dimmu's set. They revealed their "assets" and put on a very brief girl-girl show much to the delight of the predominantly male crowd. Norway's mighty Dimmu Borgir hit the stage shortly afterwards. They led off with a cool keyboard intro to add atmosphere and had some cool rotating spotlights to go along with it. The only thing missing was fog which, in my opinion, is a must for bands like this. Shagrath worked the crowd well in his trademark leather skirt and corpsepaint. The skirt looks a bit silly if you ask me but it's probably cooler than pants under the hot stage lights. They played a lot of stuff from "Puritanical..." and a few older tracks as well, closing the night off with "Mourning Palace" which really got the crowd going. Vortex's clean vocals were good as usual but a couple of times their seemed to be a bit of cracking in their higher notes, perhaps a sign of road wear. Out of all the bands that played Dimmu Borgir was definitely the highlight for me, they were true professionals and just kicked ass!

Full photo sets of all four bands from the show can be found in the Photo Gallery section.