Combichrist / Extize / Crimson Veil / Esoterik live gallery & review Still Making Monsters tour from Whelans Dublin 29.05.2025

With a move of venue into the more intimate room of Whelans main room form the original advertised venue Opium, this was always going to be an intense show but with the move it was sure to be even more so and that it was.

As people started arriving and the room getting steadily full you could feel the tension and anticipation building and then the first act of four hit the stage and boom Darkwave/Pagan Synth act Esoterik split that tension in two with an electrifying set.

Things took a turn away from the electric element for awhile as the next act Crimson Veil were up on stage with their only what can be described as fantastic set combing elements of rock, metal and film music from four very talented band members. Their blend of dark Alternative Metal and the use of electric harp/cello & violin was what this soul need after covering the Kalandra gig the night before.

Then it was party time in the venue as two guys from Heidelberg, Germany took the stage that being Extize, i wasnt to sure what to expect once i saw the decks table being pulled out on the stage, ummm was i in the mood for a DJ set after Crimson Veil, but how wrong was I!. These guys rocked the place with their blend of Cybergoth electronic and had everybody in the venue letting loose and getting down with the electro disco vibe.

Then it came the main act hit the stage with a vengeance, the force that are Combichrist blow any little bit of dust that was left on the stage, which wasnt very much but they done it.

I had said to my self as standing in the front row and ‘Get Your Body Beat’ being third on the set list, Im going to die, but unfortanatly for some I survived lol as the place was mayhem which you’d expect and want at a Combichrist gig.
After the third song I moved back and watched as both the band and crowd turn the venue into a frenzy of bodies as the bands industrial sounds took over.
Like i said at the beginning this was always going to be an intense show and thats what it was, well it wouldn’t be Combichrist otherwise.

Esoterik photos:

Crimson Veil:

Extize photos:

Combichrist photos & set-list:

Set-list:
All Pain Is Gone
Throat Full of Glass
Get Your Body Beat
Just Like Me
Compliance
Follow the Trail of Blood
Children of Violence
Can’t Control
Electrohead
Sonic Witch
Modern Demon
Violence Solves Everything, Pt I
Violence Solves Everything Part II (The End of a Dream)
Encore:
Never Surrender

Photos & words – Ian Mc Donnell @mcgigmusic