GREEN LUNG + UNTO OTHERS + SATAN'S SATYRS At Lisboa Live

When the "Heathen Neverlands Tour" was announced in Lisbon with the participation of two of today's most celebrated bands, the British band Green Lung and the American band Unto Others, the anticipation was already at the highest possible level as I've been following closely what these two bands have been delivering, especially on their most recent albums. The tour also featured another North American band, Satan's Satyrs. Check out the full review below.

SATAN'S SATYRS

I confess that I knew little or nothing about Satan's Satyrs, only that it was the band fronted by Clayton Burgess, ex-bassist of Electric Wizard. And the Virginia quartet responsible for opening the festivities and warming up the cold night last Friday, February 28, surprised from the start.

With little time to captivate the audience, the band presented a very cohesive blend of doom and psychedelia with a lot of weight, intensity and a certain raw sound that began with "Full Moon And Empty Veins" and "Pulp Star" which, although aggressive, were somewhat hampered by the sound that was still a bit muddled, confused and only began to improve from the middle to the end of the concert. The audience, which was already in good numbers, never got carried away, but they were there from the start, enjoying songs like "Show Me Your Skull" and the closing track "Alucard".

UNTO OTHERS

I first met the American band UNTO OTHERS in 2022, when they opened for Carcass, Behemoth and Arch Enemy, and I was immediately struck by their identity and their well-crafted blend of the gothic atmosphere of the 80s and heavy metal. The band led by the talented vocalist and guitarist Gabriel Franco returns to Portugal, but precisely to Lisbon to present their latest album, released in September 2024, "Never, Neverland".

The quartet from Portland, Oregon got the party started with room 2 of Lisboa ao vivo packed to capacity and immediately unleashed songs from their new album "Butterfly" and "Momma Likes the Door Closed". The band would also perform other songs from this work, defending very well this which is only Unto Others' third album.

With little time to perform, the quartet wasted no time in presenting the true anthems of a band that has only been around for five years under the name Unto Others, since they were previously known as Idle Hands, but when they heard tracks like "Nightfall" and "Jackie" from their first album Mana, they got a great response from the audience. By this time, even those who didn't know the band that well had already been captivated by the modern blend of The Mission and Type O Negative that Unto Others manage to imprint in an exquisite way. The most celebrated and sung tracks were undoubtedly "Suicide Today" , "Raigeki" , "Can You Hear the Rain" from the beautiful EP Don't Waste Your Time when they were still Idle Hands. There was also time for a more than special cover of the Ramones' "Pet Sematary", which I'm sure everyone there sang at the top of their lungs and which they recorded on "Never, Neverland".

In the end, to close this second visit to Lisbon, the band went back to their roots and unleashed two petardos ""Dragon, Why Do You Cry" followed by "Give Me To The Night" which finally captivated the vast majority who left for a cigarette break with positive comments about the quartet who delivered everything and more on this incredible night.

GREEN LUNG

The best was yet to come, when Green Lung took to the stage at Lisboa Live the house was completely full and anticipation was at an all-time high to see the Brits make their debut on Portuguese soil and, my friends, what was going to happen here on Friday, February 28 was going to be something memorable.

Since their debut in 2017, the quintet has been winning over audiences and critics, especially with the albums "Woodland Rites" (2019), "Black Harvest" (2021) and "This Heathen Land" (2023), a work of ants and resilience that has consolidated the band as one of the most celebrated today and those who have had the privilege of checking out the power of the guys in loco know it well. When the first riffs of "Templar Dawn" rang out, the atmosphere changed as if we were starting a ritual, with Ooser's head watching us and frontman Tom Templar, who is simply astonishing, what he can do with his vocal range is frightening, his stage presence is brilliant and reminds us of theatrical vocalists like Dio and Alice Cooper, it's almost hypnotic.

This was followed by mind-blowing blasts such as "Mountain Throne", "Reaper's Scythe" and "Lady Lucifer", which set the crowd on fire as they began headbanging for the first time all night, heavy, brutal and with killer riffs, it was easy to be swallowed up by Green Lung's sound. When "Song Of The Stones" began, the atmosphere calmed down and served as a momentary respite that turned into hypnotic admiration for the control that the quintet is able to display. Few times have I seen a band so prepared and self-assured in such a short space of time. After this deeper moment, those who were able to rest rested and those who couldn't soon drew energy for the aggressive "Woodland Rites" followed by true gems such as "Maxine (Witch Queen)" and "Graveyard Sun", by which time the quintet had the Portuguese audience in their hands.

After a brief pause, the band returned to the audience to close the show with "Old Gods", "Let The Devil In" and "One for Sorrow", making clear their competence in captivating everyone present. I have little doubt that the next time they come to Portugal, room 2 of Lisboa ao vivo will be small, for Green Lung, who are consolidating more and more with each passing day, a growth that we can see with our eyes and ears open.