The thing is, I've been trying to see this band live since summer 2014. That year I assisted to Wacken, the biggest metal festival on earth. There I made some italian friends who couldn't stop raving about a little known death metal band from their home country. That band was going to play at the last day of the festival. Sadly, it was at the same time as the show from Avantasia, an all-out excess power metal superband led by the ubiquitous Tobias Sammet. Being my first Wacken, I chose the biggest band over the little known band.
In hindsight, I chose badly
After that summer I started listening to Fleshgod Apocalypse. It sounds absolutely owerwhelming, a crescendo of brutality and technical excelence sweetened by a soprano chorus singer and an hiperactive piano player. Their videos are visually quite amazing. All the band members are dressed as romantic decadent figures from the XVIII century, with darkened eyes and dusty outfits. They have style to match their musical excellence
The problem? It is still a small band. The don't play in Barcelona as often as on would like. Thankfully, I got the chance to see them at last. It was on tuesday, on a very small venue. Being working tuesday, not a lot of people went to see the first 2 bands of the night, which was disheartening. I hoped that it would improve with the main event. I wasn't wrong
The scenery was decorated in barroque motives, the guitars and bass were decorated like stradivarius instruments and Fleshgod Apocalypse unleashed an incredibly show. Special mention to the battery, Francesco Paoli, AKA Octopi, or as my Wacken italian friends would say, the Kracken
This man is an absolute master in his trade. He is also an example for anybody who loves his own work. Later in the show we learned that he was playing with an injured back, so the show would have to be a bit shorter than usual. In any case, he wanted to perform even if there were not a lot of people watching the show, giving his best and risking his back and the future shows the band had to play. I can only applaud his decission. I was fortunate to see them at last, a very close call given that the Barcelona show was the last they played in the tour due to Francesco's back not recovering enough.
So, the moral of the post is: love your job, give your best always and don't miss opportunities even if they seem small. You might be surprised
Here are a few videos from FA for your enjoyment
