Mark the date on your calendar, October 20, 2006, the first date on the Nocturnal Mourning Fall Tour, featuring the gothic metal sounds of Portugal’s Moonspell, the gloom stylings of Sweden’s Katatonia, and the doom metal of North Carolina’s Daylight Dies. The date is special, not only for the start of a new tour (I usually see the last date), but for it being Katatonia’s first show ever in North America. Considering the large and dedicated group of fans that had assembled, it was a long time coming. Before we could get to them, we first had the bottom end of the bill, which was loaded with local acts.
I arrived at The Chance Theater Complex around 8:40. I got in line for the show in the complex’s The Loft. This building is broken into a few clubs and theaters, The Loft being the one I least like 
for a metal show, but what are you going to do if a band you like is playing there? The place is rather small and shaped like a J, yes a J. The ceilings are about 10 feet high, and the stage is up about 2.5 feet, so forget about jumping, besides the fact that the floor shakes with just about any movement, if the band wants to jump, they will easily hit their heads. Plus, the shape is not conducive to sound, there is nowhere for it to go. When you climb the steps, the left side has the small part of the J with a bar and a couple of tables, on the right is the long side of the J with the stage catty-corner in the J’s hook. The one thing this venue gets you is intimacy -- there is nothing between you and the band. I took up a space right next to the stage, put in my earplugs (a must these days), and started in.
By the time I got inside, the first band was halfway through their set. The band was Cytheran Theory, and while I only caught two and a half songs, I was impressed. They played a style of progressive black metal, I guess, I am awful with genre labels, but that is what I would call it. They were heavy and technically very precise. There were a couple of people right in the front, clearly fans, with their heads banging and their horns in the air. This the first local act I have seen that falls under the black metal label, not sure if it is because there are so few, or that I just hadn’t seen any yet. The riffs were thick and the leads nice, but it is their combination with the vocals that sells the band. They are a perfect match of evil melody and raw throated vocal emissions. They are definitely an act to keep an eye on.
Article comments
1 - Triniman
Hopefully the promoters will find a better venue. I may veryw ell check these bands out if any of them play my neck of the woods. Nice review, I felt as is I was there.