A regular topic for my musical musing is the rich vein of variation and diversity that you can find in modern metal. Tonight’s double-header at Rebellion is case in point. Both MØL and Countless Skies exist fervently within our world, but neither are what we would describe as traditionally metal. Countless Skies version of melodic death is a distinctly luxurious and sumptuous one. It's very much the difference between drinking own-brand instant and gorging on a pot of freshly ground small-batch roasted designer coffee. They have taken a template used and abused by many and added a level of luscious decadence. 

Because more is definitely more, on this tour they have added well-regarded classical cellist Arianna Mahsayeh to the mix. Though to be honest in the current climate it seems a metal band is not a metal band unless they've got a bit of cello in their lives. Arianna's deep and dark refrains give an additional depth to what already is a widescreen and cavernous version of Melo-death. Countless Skies are all about pristine production and lavish sound quality, which is why it's rather a shame that for the first track everything coming through the speakers is a bit muddy and muted. It takes almost the length of opening number ‘Moon’ for stuff to sort itself out, but when it does it is blindingly obvious why they are held in such high regard.

The vocal juxtaposition between the gruff delivery of Ross King and the near-operatic opulence of Phil Romeo is both exquisite and audacious. You can’t throw a stick for hitting a symphonic metal band that has played with contrasting vocal styles, but there is something so different and so bold about what Countless Skies are trying to do, that makes it stand defiantly out from the crowd. Listening to Phil Romeo reverberate is like being submerged in a bath of rich decadent chocolate. His notes are so defiant and well-formed that they hang in the air long long after he has uttered them.

But Countless Skies are not just about great sets of lungs, there is also a virtuoso musicality at play here putting them well out of the mundane. Melodic death metal has always been about adding a level of complexity to a fairly simplistic art form, but what Countless Skies are doing is quantum-level brain surgery compared to their peers. ‘Summit’ and ‘Glow’ twist and turn like epic piece of poetry, full of distinct passages and discombobulating changes in time signature and pace. By the time we reach the latter track, all those initial sound issues are just a vague memory, and we stand as one, stupefied by the sheer breadth and depth of the sonic magnitude that Countless Skies are producing.

The addition of Arianna is seamless and the biggest compliment to make is that it feels like she's always been there, adding her baritone resonation to their sound. For all her classical highbrow hu-ha it is obvious that she is a metalhead at heart and she bangs her head with vigorous intent during closer ‘Tempest’ (she is also later spied firmly in ensconced in the pit for MØL). As Chumbawamba once refrained "there's never been a song that has been sung”, yet Countless Skies seem to inexplicably have found a new innovative way of invigorating a rather stagnant subgenre. Bombastic and lavish, it still contains a level of coarse heaviness that stops it all from sliding into ludicrous self-parody. The amount of Countless Skies merch on show, and the fact that a number of people call it a night straight after their set shows that I'm not alone in believing that there is something very very special indeed going on here.

To the casual listener, MØL must be rather confusing a proposition. You see vocally they are distinctly Black Metal, Kim Song Sternkopf’s delivery is the archetypal screech of a goblin being castrated with a couple of house bricks. However, below his harsh impenetrable inflections, there abodes a musicality which is far far from Black Metal's jagged structures. There is something spiritually uplifting about the euphoric waves that come coursing off the stage. This is Black Metal deconstructed and reimagined as a transcendental meditation aid. 

That tension between vocal and musical styles makes MØL an engaging and enriching live proposition. Kim Song is one of the most dynamic and inventive front people currently operating in our world. He lives every strangulated lyric and stares menacingly into the individual eyes of the audience in front of him. He is like an energy vampire, feeding off the throng in front of him. It is therefore obvious that the initial chasm between band and attendees shakes his very core. Track after track he urges people forward, but it is only after the fifth song, ‘Itinerari’ that the restraining order is banished and the void at the front of the stage is filled.

This is their first-ever UK headline tour and MØL have embraced their elongated status with gusto. They have gone all out in the lighting department and Kim has his own private strobe which he controls to devastating effect during the set. The additional time that being top of the running order gives them, means that the songs have more time to breathe. Everything feels less rushed and frenzied than their previous visit here last year supporting Crippled Black Phoenix. Their approach is still devastatingly efficient (we are all done and dusted by 10 PM) but ‘Ligament’, ‘Serf’ and ‘Photophobic’ unfurl at their own pace, as opposed to being dispatched in a machine gun like fashion.

Jord closes the main set but there is a vociferous demand for more. Kim laments that no matter the accolades that we pour on his band, it is actually all about us. And with that he joins us, taking his mike stand deep into the standing area. As he flies into ‘Bruma’ he urges us to sing along if we know the words. He is circled by a battalion of devotees all entranced by this communal entrenchment. It is one of those deeply evocative moments that makes you realise that the divide between band and fan is just a construct and that astute front people, like Kim, understand that actually we are just one. That bubble of reciprocated worship is only broken when he climbs back on the stage for the song’s conclusion. There are final fist bumps and thank you’s and then they are gone. An absolutely stunning ending to an absolutely stunning show.

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
MØL, Countless Skies