Miserere Luminis, 09/24/10

I was slightly put off when I first got to Théâtre Plaza on St-Hubert Street in Montreal simply because I was counting only a mere dozen attendees waiting in line for Miserere Luminis' last show, minutes before the doors got to open at 7:30 PM. I was also questioning the choice of the venue but once inside Théâtre Plaza, it all sort of made sense as to why the concert was happening there simply due to the architecture and decor which I guessed were, in my opinion, very fitting for Miserere Luminis' music. Still, it took nearly an hour before the attendance got to exceed 50 or so, which is more or less when Wendess took the stage to open this special concert night.

I must admit that I was not very familiar with Quebec City's Wendess, who play a “Skagos/Falls of Rauros” type black metal, as I only heard their demo for the first time a few days prior to the concert. Their live performance was ordinary, nothing over the top here. It seems like it took some time to build momentum and take off. And as soon as they managed that, they then left the stage after a short 30-minute set. One has to bear in mind that these three young guys don't have much experience playing live (their first show was in Quebec City on September 18), so let's give them the credit for doing what they did. I personally enjoyed what seemed to be an almost integral live performance of their 2010 demo and I'm definitely looking foreword to see/hear more from this young band.

thisquietarmy got to play next, and in front of an increasing number of people. Quite frankly, I didn’t know what to expect from this Montreal guitarist and his project as I was totally ignorant of what it was all about. And this ambient/shoegaze/experimental drone-like music proved to be an interesting experience for me. thisquietarmy's performance on the first segment of his set featured Eric Quach, his guitar, a multitude of pedal effects, and all were in sync with a video projected on a large screen in the background which added much to the music and vice versa. During the black and white video of this first segment, the set consisted of live versions of "Battlefield Arkestrah" and " Warchitects" from the album "Unconquered". An improv/medley of tracks from his latest album "Aftermath" were performed during the middle part, when the colors on the film backdrop appeared. Riveting. The second segment featured an unreleased track taken from his "Vessels" upcoming album. No video in the background for this one. Nevertheless, just looking at Eric control and shape the sound of his guitar as he did was impressive enough and the whole set proved to be quite the surprise for me. So much that I went on meeting with Eric at the end of the show to buy a few albums from him. I then found out that he is involved in several other projects including Destroyalldreamers and Parallel Lines, and he also recorded an EP with Aidan Baker (of Nadja), among other things. Highly recommended for fans of the genre. Between, thank you Eric for revealing the content of your set.

Falls of Rauros took the stage next. I was really looking forward to see them live, especially because I enjoy their music and also because this was their first gig in Montreal and in Canada. They opened up performing “In Waves of Golden Light” and “And Never Shall There Be”. And then things did not run so smoothly for them and their set was abruptly stopped when their guitarist/frontman broke a string right in the middle of “Of Stone and Stars in the Sky”. Professionally enough, their lead guitarist apologized for the short delay in a very well spoken French much to the surprise of everyone. That aside, they gave a very solid performance and they closed their set by playing “To Witness Existence” which was one of the songs I really wanted to hear. I don’t think that the majority of people knew who they were which is a bit of a downer to me. But I strongly believe that some of them discovered their music and hopefully we will get to see them again and soon in Montreal. This band is criminally underrated and truly deserves more recognition and exposure.

We were all warmed up now. And the stage was set for Miserere Luminis. The very reason why after all so many people crowded Théâtre Plaza. The band had promised something special on their last concert and they delivered. Miserere Luminis are known for wearing masks, costumes, and grayish body paint on their skin and in addition to their mysterious and mystical stage presence, props were scattered across the stage. The lighting was in sync with the emotions evoked by each song, the sound was great, and all these elements contributed in making this concert an intense experience for the senses. They opened their gig with “Cineris” and their setlist included in no particular order “Miserere Luminis”, “Le Mal des Siècles”, “The Mist”, the amazing and hard hitting instrumental “IV”, “Birth of New Ages”, “Senectus”, “Ciel Tragique” and “Exulcerare”. And we even got to hear their version of Dissection’s “Where Dead Angels Lie”. Overall, this was an amazing last performance which also coincided with the end of an amazing collaboration between Icare and Neptune from Gris, and Annatar from Sombres Forêts under Miserere Luminis. The band immediately walked off stage. No encore. There was no need for one. The guys from Miserere Luminis are now turning the page on this chapter to fully focus on writing a third album for their respective projects. And that alone, is something to look forward to.