Nasum - The final show.

My ears are ringing, my throat and body are sore. Last night I witnessed the last show ever with the grindcore legends Nasum!

I discovered Nasum when they released the "Helvete" album and I've been a huge fan ever since. Collecting more or less everything the band has released, and I was probably the only one last night wearing the first ever shirt they released, a pink shirt with the "Blind World" artwork on it. It was only released in six copies. Another blog post about my Nasum collection is coming up later.

This year they celebrated 20 years as a band, but what is special is that they haven't played together for eight years as their singer and guitarist Mieszko Talarczyk died in the tsunami disaster in 2004.

They called it quits immediately. Last year though they announced that they would spend 2012 doing a farewewell tour. On this tour they have covered more or less the entire world. From Örebro (where the band originates from) to Thailand to the US...

Last night they played in Stockholm and it was the final date ever! And it was full on from the start to finish. The band wasn't gonna end with a decent show that was for sure. They really gave it everything they had left after two weeks of constant touring.

They covered every record of theirs, but I don't think they played any of their non-album songs? I was able to spot more or less every song from the set-list but there were maybe two or three I can't remember.

Nasum is such a special band and they have something special that makes their grindcore possible to listen to for hours. They play their grindcore with such finesse that you never feel fed up with it, as might be the case with some other grindcore bands. This became evident once more last night.

During the show there was also an emotional undertone as this was the final show and the obvious fact that Mieszko wasn't there in person (but in spirit?). It was really great to see the love between the band members up on the stage with hugs throughout the show. And seeing Jon in tears by the end was really strong. It must have been a really special occasion for him, as well as the other members of course.

I couldn't have wished for a better way to celebrate the career of Nasum and it was the perfect way to end this trip.

Thank you Nasum for all the great music and experiences you haven given us over the years!

Now for some lousy pictures. It's not easy taking picture in the mosh pit, hehe.

They started the show in typical Nasum style with mr. and mrs. Gasmask and their wedding party(?).

Grindcore!

Jesper and Urban rocking.

Farewell!

Leaders of the extreme

On the front cover of Napalm Death's new album there's a sticker that says what the title of this blog post is.

ND have been around for nearly 30 years playing extreme music. They started out as a grindcore band and, except for some weird stuff in the 90's, that's what they've been since.

This record "Utilitarian" is their 15th full length! They sound as vital as ever. ND have in later years had a great mix of death metal and grindcore and this record builds on the same recipe. There are also a few surprises. How about a saxophone solo on a grindcore record!? Never thought I'd see that...

There's a great story about how this extremely influential band got back to their roots of playing grindcore again. That is one of when Shane Embury (ND's bass player since the 80's and competing with The Melvin's Buzz Osborne with the coolest hair do in music business) heard the debut album of a Swedish grindcore band Nasum. This really is a "build up" to a future blog about my Nasum collection...