Bands playing at Bergsbron in Norrköping on a Friday usually doesn't mean a lot of people but this time it was different. An outside arranger, Madhouse Productions and very nice people, had taken care of everything which resulted in better bands, more people and a much nicer atmosphere than usual. Gone were all the neon lighted techno people and everything was about metal and nothing else. Everyone was there and it was by far the best organized live show at Bergsbron that I've been to.

I heard Legion's demo "Bloodaeons" a few years back and then I was not impressed at all with what I heard. Now my eyes (or ears perhaps) have been opened though and when I heard a track from their debut full-length album some months ago I could not believe that it was the same band I first heard a few years ago. The progression was amazing and I now consider Legion to be one of the most promising young black metal bands in Sweden. Their music is highly technical, intense and there is enough variation not to bore the listener to death after a couple of songs.

Make-up is of course mandatory for a band like Legion and even though I don't go for that nowadays maybe the girls do? Anyway, something that makes Legion stand out even more from the competition is the man behind the drums. Here we have no other than Emil Dragutinovic, now brought to fame through his inclusion in the Marduk horde. He is one of the fastest hard-hitting drummers in the black metal genre and just watching him in work is an experience well worth the modest entrance fee. The rest of the band were also putting on a nice show but unfortunately the acoustics at Bergsbron aren't very well suited for their music.

Next up for slaughter (sorry, I was still in Legion mode) were the Slayer worshippers Corporation 187 from my home town Linköping. Unlike Legion their music doesn't suffer too much from the sound quality at Bergsbron and the thrashing tunes did get the crowd going on more than one occasion. It was not the first time I had seen them live so I knew pretty much what to expect from their performance. I was not disappointed nor was I surprised. They did what they do best and it was a set filled with energy and Bay Area thrash mixed with a modern touch of anger, power and aggression.

Unfortunately we did not get any photos of Corporation 187 for unknown, mysterious and undisclosed reasons (don't blame the photographers, some things just happen). Believe me, they are all beautiful young boys in their prime. Back to serious reality then. Two albums into their career it is nice to see that the band still possess the energy of a newly born orchestra and if you want intensity on stage at a Friday night then Corporation 187 is the way to go. They have been shredding European stages a couple of times already and if they are in your area again be sure to be there.

Closing off the evening we had another band to whom I was no newcomer. Mörk Gryning played at a small metal festival in my home town late last year and, unfortunately for them and everyone else, it was not a great success as people failed to show up. After their successful debut album "Tusen År Har Gått" from 1995 the band released two albums that were definitely not bad but didn't push the band forward in their career. Perhaps they decided that it was time to do something radical with their latest and fourth album "Pieces Of Primal Expressionism" from last year. This was a very avantgardistic piece of extreme metal that was interesting indeed but I don't think the band reached quite as far as they probably hoped for. The task may be accomplished next time though.

Something that Mörk Gryning does have today is a live line-up consisting of some very professional and highly skilled musicians. Even though Goth Gorgon is the only original member left from the 1993 version of the band the rest of his crew have blended in extremely well with him and they did an excellent performance just like the last time I saw them. To be honest the music of Mörk Gryning isn't the best suited to round off an evening with and they also suffered a little from the, in this article too often mentioned, Bergsbron sound. Still, it was a nice set and most people were kind enough to stick around although they didn't feel much like jumping around in front of the stage.

A very pleasant Friday indeed this was and I hope that there will be more events like this one taking place at Bergsbron because that is exactly what we need around here.

Big thanks to Leena Weideborg and Petri Pöllönen for the photos. Please don't use them yourself without expressed permission. Thanks a lot also to Jenny and Jonas from Madhouse Productions for making everything work!