On Sunday, March 15, 2026, I headed back to Brno, specifically to the SONO Music Club, for a concert of Heaven Shall Burn with special guest The Halo Effect and support of The Black Dahlia Murder and Frozen Soul. Although the concert wasn't completely sold out, there were still enough people to fill the club and create a lively atmosphere.
Texas-based Frozen Soul traveled a long way to kick off the concert with a true death metal vibe. It’s not really my style, but the crowd responded well. A mosh pit even formed—albeit a very small one, with just a few people.
The Black Dahlia Murder byla další americkou vystupující kapelou, ale již s trochu delší historií a větší popularitou. Jejich melodičtější hudba už mě bavila o něco málo více. Především skladby z posledního alba „Servitude“ mi přišli zajímavější. V publiku bylo vidět už více lidí, kteří si „zpívali“ společně s kapelou a i moshpit se postupně zvětšoval.
But my highlight of the evening for me was the next band from Sweden, The Halo Effect. This band, made up of former members of In Flames and fronted by Mikaelem Stanne, returned to Brno almost exactly a year later, playing at the exact same club. Their set was evenly split between tracks from both of their albums, and their melodies and energy filled the entire venue. The crowd went absolutely wild, and the mosh pit had grown quite large. The band members smiled and made eye contact with everyone in the room, and it was clear they were enjoying the overall atmosphere, including the audience’s enthusiastic chanting.
The main stars of the entire tour and of this evening were Heaven Shall Burn, a metalcore band from Germany. They set out on a European tour to promote their latest album, “Heimat”. They played a total of four songs from it, spread out throughout the entire set. The rest of the set was then filled with other popular tracks. Complete madness broke out in front of the stage—not only were people running around in a large area and in decent numbers, but some fearless individuals also started swimming through the crowd all the way to the stage, up onto it, and back again. Although I agree with some of the ideas hidden in the lyrics and the band’s mission to “spread goodness” is quite appealing to me, musically they didn’t captivate me that much. The new album, however, is better live than just on the recording.
Even though I didn’t stay for the whole set and we left early, you could see the excitement on the faces of the people in the hall. Everyone was enjoying the music in their own way, and together it created a supportive atmosphere for all the performers. It’s good for me, too, to experience a slightly different genre at a live event every once in a while.
Were you there too? What did you think of it? Who did you enjoy watching the most that evening?
Photos by Vasilis Tiropolis (you can find more on website: https://www.xp-spot.com/index.php/gallery)
Report by Kerry Lynx