THULCANDRA IN MEXICO: A UNIQUE JOURNEY THROUGH MELODIC BLACK METAL

By Eric Novelo

Photography: Tania Velasco

Last Thursday, March 27, 2025, Thulcandra played live in Mexico City for the first time, in an event produced by Banshee Agency. The German melodic black metal jewel, commanded by Steffen Kummerer (Obscura), delighted a small yet passionate crowd at HDX Circus Bar.

I, not being a fan of black metal and curious about the “melodic” quality of this band, ventured into the concert with the highest expectations. Let me tell you a little about what I experienced a few days ago in this intimate and powerful show.

Steffen Kummerer (left) and Carsten Schorn (right), guitarist and bassist in Thulcandra.

MEXICAN TALENT

Before Thulcandra hit the stage, we were presented with three distinct extreme metal bands from Mexico. Bastayer (black metal), Through Torment (blackened death metal), and Fumes (black metal) performed 30 min each a combo of trepidant riffs and dark lyrics.

Fumes, black metal band from Mexico

What I really enjoyed about this prelude was that every band had a unique sense of heaviness and obscurity, which also blended with some memorable melodies. Also, you know how opening acts tend to sound awful? Well, not in this case. Kudos to the sound engineer!

Through Torment’s singer, Jorge González

THULCANDRA

It was 10:30 pm when the lights went out and Thulcandra started their performance. Immediately, the atmosphere changed. We could all tell how experimented and confident the musicians felt on stage.

Thulcandra’s music is not especially easy-listening, but it does not push away like the typical black metal band that’s all low-fi blast beats and satanic screams. You can find the atmospheric component more profoundly, and you can discern melodies in the conversations between the two guitarists. Even more so, growls help to build a tangible sensation that is hard to find in -sometimes- humorous shrieks (once again, I’m not a true fan of traditional black metal).

Processed with Rookie Cam
Steffen Kummerer, singer, rythm and lead guitarist in Thulcandra

THE MUSICAL JOURNEY

There were a couple of Thulcandra songs that transported me to a different setting. I’ve always thought that live music is about traveling to different realities, forgetting for a moment that you are surrounded by a bunch of sweaty people who keep drinking beer and shouting nonsense, and rather make a journey into another level of existence.

With “A Shining Abyss”, a song included in A Dying Wish record, I felt this for the first time in the show. The curious thing is that it all happened in the middle of the track, when a calm guitar arpeggio leads the way and contrasts with all the frantic riffs of the beginning.

Carsten Schorn, Thulcandra’s bass player

Then, with “Spirit of the Night”, I was elevated even more intensely to this alternative plane. One riff during the interlude made me feel I was in a very primitive, hollow, and deserted land, with this sensation similar to what most people describe as the “uncanny valley”, though in a different context.

Mariano Delastik, lead guitarist in Thulcandra

Besides these two songs, I found the rest of the audience to be particularly immersed in “Fallen Angel’s Dominion” and “Aeon of Darkness”, a couple of the band’s classics.

VERDICT

If music was made to create sensations and find rejoicing, then Thulcandra’s performance has definitely passed the test. I realized that having a melodic component in black metal means thinking a bit out of the box to approach a different audience, like me.

After this show, have I been converted into a blacker? No way! Would I attend a Thulcandra concert again? Hell yeah!

If you want to know more about Thulcandra’s songwriter and leader, check this interview we had with Steffen Kummerer:

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