We haven't really had any great concerts here in Linköping since Entombed in December which meant that I was very happy when I heard that Construcdead and Dismember were to visit our city in a sunny April. The temperature is rising, love is in the air, the flowers are starting to blossom but we were here for one thing and one thing only - metal.

As usual you feel sorry that it is not a sold out show because there are definitely enough Dismember fans in Linköping and surroundings to fill the venue called Skylten which is more or less a youth center where a lot of bands rehearse. That means no alcohol whatsoever. That wasn't so bad this time though as it is the final Easter holiday and the next morning most visitors were either going to school or work.

The opening band Construcdead was to enter the stage at 20.00 but, as usual again, it was pushed forward close to an hour. That's a nice little trick to get people there on time (metal fans are sometimes a bit lazy you know) but when you are already there it gets a little annoying. However, after spending some times talking to friends Construcdead were finally making some noise on stage. It was time for adrenalin to flow.

Construcdead is a second generation melodic death / thrash metal band from Stockholm that formed in 1999. They have had a stable line-up since with one exception as they have had difficulties filling the vocalist position on a permanent basis. Since 2002 we can find former Ebony Tears bassist Peter Tuthill behind the microphone. He did a nice job live and is able to do both growling and clean vocals relatively well although he doesn't rank as one of the finest vocalists the genre has to offer.

One thing that Peter was making clear on several occasions was that he was not very happy with the audience who were mostly standing in the back of the area before the stage with a few, better not spoken of, exceptional people who were living their own lives in front of him. Perhaps he was not used to that as they have been on tour in Japan with Soilwork where the audience may be wilder than here. After all, what does he expect from a bunch of Swedes on a Monday after Easter without alcohol in their blood?

Construcdead were nonetheless doing a good show and, as I have said so many times before, this kind of adrenalin driven music is doing itself most justice on a stage where the built up energy can be felt for real. Unfortunately the band's set was rather short but they have only released two albums so far and, to be honest, the crowd didn't give them much reason to stay around for more. However, most people seemed to enjoy their somewhat unoriginal but very well executed melodic death / thrash metal. They didn't do my favorite song "I've Come To Rule" from their debut album but it was still a nice live experience.

After some more waiting it was time for the band that most people had come to see. Dismember have been one of the most important bands responsible for forming the early Stockholm death metal scene together with other great names such as Grave, Entombed and Merciless. Six full-length albums, three mini albums and sixteen years into their career they are still maintaining the grip and their latest album "Where Ironcrosses Grow" is one of the most impressive death metal albums to leave Swedish ground in the new millenium.

Vocalist Matti Kärki, who has a very powerful growl even at his age and despite smoking Menthol cigarettes once in a while, is a stronger front figure than Peter Tuthill. He even managed to scare off a vising photographer when he just wanted to do a grinning face for the camera. It became apparent very early in their set that they are much more experienced as a live band than Construcdead. They changed places on stage, did poses and were all in all a very pleasing band for photographers.

This was the first time I had the chance to catch Dismember live but I was not disappointed, far from it. Instead it was one of the best death metal bands I have seen live and even though their music is not as energetic as that of Construcdead they perform very well on the stage. It's a shame they were not promoted harder by Nuclear Blast but I guess they put all their money on their best selling acts. Now that they are working with Karmageddon Media from Holland more people will hopefully have the chance to see them on the road because they sure deserve it.

A guy from their new record company has apparently told them that they smile to much on stage. That was not a problem this time but to be honest I don't think most fans mind that. Dismember will always be Dismember to them no matter what. In fact, they were mostly focused on what they were doing on stage even though a few smiles did escape from their faces. Dismember have always been true to themselves and they finished off the evening in a very nice manner despite one of the better not mentioned persons running around on stage in one of the songs. A great evening, big thanks to both bands and also Hobbe at Sound Pollution and Skylten for taking care of things!