Yeeees folks, there’s a certain rust on me from not scribbling down a piece for such a long time :) Anyway, I’m hoping we’ll shake it off, get over it somehow — here’s hoping :). Alright then, let’s ease into this slowly.

Once again, I had that excitement of hitting the road to Ankara coursing through me. Two days have passed, yet the ringing in my ears and the rattling in my bones still haven’t gone away. We hit the road yet again for a gig that was exhausting but just as enjoyable (this song goes out to the ODTÜ gentleman who doesn’t like Bulutsuzluk Özlemi)… The whole concert thing came together completely spontaneously; I was scrolling through Instagram and thought, “man,” the gig’s on May 2nd, there are two days left and it’s a holiday... So I started hunting for bus tickets thinking, “Yeah man, this one’s worth going to.” Then I figured I’d check flight tickets too and said, “Damn, the flying’s cheaper, lock it in,” and immediately grabbed a flight ticket... I had never flown to Ankara on such an empty plane in my life. I stretched out, headphones on, and had an incredibly smooth flight. Speaking of headphones, I couldn’t not squeeze this in here: do you people like Çağrı Sinci? I’ve always had a thing for rap; there are certain artists whose work I genuinely follow and appreciate, and ÇS is one of them. His latest album, Klasik, is phenomenal — if any of you are into rap, don’t sleep on it. Fueled by that album, I landed on Ankara soil in one breath and headed straight to my dear friend’s place. May my heart dry up if I ever forget those delicious breakfasts of theirs, bless those hands. We rested, filled our stomachs, and it was time to hit the road for the concert.

And hit the road we did — good thing too, because our asses froze off and we forgot all about it. Apparently there’s this famous place in Ankara called Kıtır. This was one of its old locations apparently; an absolutely perfect spot for beer, fish, chicken, kokoreç — the kind of place worth stuffing yourself in and spinning endless conversations. I loved it! Waiting for us there was former Pogrorn/Infernal Carnage guitarist Taylan abi, of course. The man had come all the way from Zonguldak for the concert, same as me. Anyway, the banter somehow drifted toward the Turkish rock music scene; people were talking about Bulutsuzluk Özlemi and such. Then this 47-year-old gentleman behind me, claiming to be from ODTÜ, started mouthing off about master Nejat. After a brief verbal clash, he got properly put in his place and turned his back around... So yeah, that’s where the Bulutsuzluk Özlemi reference at the beginning comes from — don’t ask me later “what was that about?” :). While we were deep in our own conversation, Utku abi (the master himself) joined in. He talked about his memories from Norway, added color to our chat — bless him. If things line up, it seems like he might end up on our team; I’m sure you’ve missed his headbang writings, so let’s see if he’ll scribble something down for us too :). Between the banter and the conversations, we realized concert time had arrived and headed straight to the venue.

When we got there, the usual pre-show doorway chatter was flowing nonstop, just like at every concert. Then we realized our asses were starting to freeze off again from the cold, so we decided to head downstairs. At the entrance downstairs were Eren abi (GD), Çağatay abi (Persecutory), and the rest; after all the conversations, hugs, and clinking beer bottles with members of every band, we finally went inside. The venue was a place where theatre productions called Kült are staged. Wherever Ateş found it, however he convinced them and arranged everything — hats off to him. When Gore Dimension’s Efe sent a photo of the venue through Instagram, it immediately reminded me of the old Moda incident; I joked, “Dude, we’re not going through that a second time, right? Hope it doesn’t collapse on top of us later” :). Dead House Ozan had arranged the stage equipment; I personally witnessed him and Kerem doing everything they could regarding the sound. They did a damn fine job too — at least from the audience side of things, I can’t speak for backstage :).

The first band on stage was Archaic Vanity. They had a minor issue with the monitors before the set, which inevitably caused a delay. But apparently that problem didn’t throw them off at all, because Yalaz, Kerem, Oğuzhan, and Doğa played like absolute fire. One of the best aspects of this concert was getting to hear new songs from AV. I think the direction they’re heading in now suits them much better — the young lads are crafting material much closer to the mindset of Serpent of Old. Then again, most of them also play there, so that might have something to do with it. The year Serpent’s album came out, it nailed me to the spot; if you haven’t heard it, you absolutely should. They’ve got concerts coming up too — don’t miss them.

The second band of the night was Gore Dimension. Man, the new lineup is incredible! As you know, they used to be a trio; now they’ve brought in Eren (Pamuk) on bass and Efe has taken over Ozan’s place on vocals. Efe’s vocals fit GD way better in my opinion — the way his voice meshes with the guitars sounds fantastic. Of course, another major factor in that improvement is having Eren on bass; they’ve unquestionably elevated their sound. Ateş was already making that guitar scream, folks — he played with insane intensity, and that energy reached all the way to us. Like I said earlier, GD unfortunately became the band that suffered the most from the cursed monitors, and they had to cut two songs from the set. But I have to say, they made up for it beautifully; what they pulled off earned massive respect from me. Massive props to all of them.

And folks, during the last song Efe invited Ozan up to the mic and the two of them performed it together. I got immense joy out of seeing and hearing them on stage together. I owe them all my thanks — that move was pure class, gentlemen; credit where credit is due!

And now we come to the headliner of the night: Persecutory. Eight years — yes, a full eight years later — they returned to Ankara, and the fact that I got to witness that moment as a listener was flawless in itself.

Naturally, the Persecutory standing before us was one sharpened to a razor’s edge by utterly ridiculous circumstances. Those unfortunate events only added even more force to their savage, hate-fueled sound. I can honestly say they played those five songs like they were setting the stage on fire. I did get one surprise in the lineup though, and I can’t skip over it. They brought in Emre (Bingöl) on guitar... I was genuinely blown away when I saw him on stage. Emre is one of the names I genuinely respect in the scene; I’ve always appreciated the work he’s done. A truly good dude, through and through. Whether his path with Persecutory is temporary or permanent, I don’t know — but I’m definitely keeping an eye on it. After a performance that started at 21:30 and stretched all the way to 01:00, my batteries were completely drained and I had no option left but to run home.

Much love and respect to everyone who put in the effort to give us such a great night, folks… But does it ever end? Hüs’ suffering never ends... Then came the time to return to Antalya. And what a return it was; they should confiscate electric cars altogether, what a nightmare charging is. We got caught in a blizzard, got stranded on the road, couldn’t even turn the heater on because we had to preserve battery. A five-hour trip turned into eleven hours. Anyway, what happened on the road can remain material for another piece. Love you all, sending my regards. Stay safe, and keep following us.

HÜS