Cancelled show

Sadly, due to a certain amount of reasons, the "Deuil" and "Paramnesia" gig had to be cancelled. It was a last minute decision, but it had to happen, since May Day is a really bad time for a show here. I'll leave the gig announcement post just for archive's sake.

Gig announcement: Deuil, Paramnesia CANCELLED

This is an unexpected gig announcement post, but it came to be here in an extremely subtle manner. Recently I was contacted by "Deuil" regarding a potential record review and, as we were discussing things, they mentioned that they also have a show in Belgrade. As it turns out, a day later I realize that this gig is booked by "Resetor bookings & promotion", so here we are now.

"Deuil", a quartet hailing from Belgium, already started dragging their brooding black metal imbued sludge/doom across Europe with this eight day tour. Along them will be "Paramnesia", a raw black metal project coming from dark parts of France. You can check these two bands out, if you dare, on the following links here and here.

These two bands plan on unleashing a grim performance in Belgrade on 1 May 2013 in "Club Fest", starting at 9:30 PM. At the moment, there is a tiny possibility that "Resetor" will manage to add  some local support, but this is yet to be announced. Entry fee into the void will be a mere 2 euros. Don't miss out on this! In case you do, expect a gig review and, later on, a review of a record released by "Deuil".

Interview: Agrimonia

As I promised yesterday, here is an interview making way for a more regularly updated blog and what an opener it is! "Agrimonia", one of the unstoppable beasts holding the throne of the doom/epic crust genre, recently emerged from a period of silence with a new album and they are ready to send ripples through the underground scene across the globe. Scroll down below and read about "Rites of Separation", the band's past experiences and what the future holds.

1. Hey there! First of all, I'd like to thank you for taking your time and doing this interview! Please, introduce yourself and the rest of the band.

Pontus: Hi! I'm Pontus, playing guitar and doing backing vocals. In addition to myself we also have Björn on drums, Christina on vocals and keys, Magnus on guitar and Martin on bass. 

2. The band is together for a fine number of years now, so please give us a brief history of how it all looked like at the beginning.

Pontus: We started out in early 2005 something, and the plan was simply to do something heavy. I'm also a sucker for melodies and dynamics, so that found its way into the music as well.  We spent that year finding our sound really, writing, re-writing until we had our first song that we were really happy with.  That's "The Decay" from our first album. We also didn't get a steady bass player until 2006. We did our first live show, found a new drummer in Björn and then recorded the first album in 2007. After that we've done a couple tours, released more records, Martin joined the band on bass. Now were having our 3rd album "Rites of Separation" coming out on Southern Lord records this April.

  

3. In one interview I read with Christina, she explained the meaning of the word "Agrimonia" which is actually a plant. How did you pick out that name and how well do you think it describes your music?

Christina: A friend of ours came up with the name. I like the name cause it is a bit dark and mysterious and I think that fits with the music we play.

  

4. Your self-titled release from 2008 came out having a very interesting mixture of genres. What managed to inspire you the most to formulate your sound in such a way?

Pontus: I think it's just a mix of the stuff you like yourself. It was never our goal to mix genres or anything I think our songs and ideas flow together though, with a connecting vibe through it all. So it all came very naturally as soon as we started getting our songs together.

  

5. "Host of the Winged" was yet another powerful assault to the scene and again you succeeded to bring out something unique. How do you feel about the advancement of your sound over those two records? Do you think it is a natural evolution or do you actually try to add something new to each release?

 

Pontus: It's very much a natural evolution. We never think too much about what we're gonna do. I guess the songs were becoming a bit more elaborate with "Host of the Winged", I had a lot of ideas with the music. But we didn't want to take it further in that direction, we don't want the music to be too technical or complex. There should still be a groove and flow. For this new album, I think we scaled down a little bit of that, letting ideas go on for a little longer. That might have been a somewhat conscious decision actually. But it's no difference in our mindset or approach to making music.

  

6. After that release you went to tour in Mexico and the USA. Tell me something more about that experience.

Pontus: That was my first time going on tour in North America. We had a great time, played with great bands and met great people! We just went for 2 weeks, playing the US west coast and also one show in Mexico. We wanna go back this year and play our new stuff, and stay for longer this time! 

7. After a brief tour over Germany in 2011 the band went into hibernation of sorts. I was even scared you broke up! What exactly happened to the band in that period between the said tour and entering the studio yet again?

Christina: I got really sick after an operation that went wrong in 2011. I was in the hospital for months and they tried to fix me up, I was really in a bad state. My stomach muscles were cut and I had to leave the hospital with what they call an "open stomach". They didn´t want to close me up cause of infection risks and other reasons. They transferred skin from my thigh and put it over the hole in the stomach and then just left it like that for a year to heal. It was difficult for me to use my stomach muscles and I really need them for singing. We had to cancel lots of shows and other plans during this time. I was sometimes too sick to do anything and lots of operations followed. But now I am as good as I am gonna get and happy it is all over.

  

8. In the meantime, you signed with "Southern Lord", so I'm curious how did this collaboration come to pass?

Pontus: My other band "Martyrdöd" got a deal with Southern Lord in 2011. So I simply approached them and asked if they wanted to work with "Agrimonia" as well!

  

9. You've been in the studio working on a new album since September 2012 and there is already a song being streamed on the "Pitchfork" website. How did the proces of creating this new record go? Any interesting behind-the-scene stories about it?

Pontus: When we did our 2nd album, "Host of the Winged", we didn't really rehearse the songs. It was very much a studio creation. This had much to do with that I lived pretty far away from everyone else during that period, in Bergen, Norway. This time we wanted to actually rehearse the songs. So most of the album was written by Summer 2012, then we just rehearsed the songs for a couple of months. I think rehearsing can be a bit redundant, but I think you can really tell it did a lot of good for this album. We recorded the drums in two November days in Welfare Sounds in Gothenburg, then spent the rest of the year recording the rest at our rehearsal space. Then early 2013 we mixed it at Studio Fredman. It's definately the best sounding record we've done.

  

10. In a narrative and lyrical sense, what is the story that "Rites of Separation" will tell the listener?

Christina: Like all other "Agrimonia" albums, lyrically this album is about our daily life and the good and the bad sides of it. About problems we are facing as individuals and as a group. The lyrics are a way for me to tell a story in a poetic way but still take a stand.

  

11. Musically, what type of sound can we expect on the new release? Are you holding on to your roots or are you trying something new?

Pontus: We're not really trying anything new, it's very much an "Agrimonia" album. Although I feel this is our hardest album so far. Also in my opinion Christina's vocal performance is her best ever!

  

12. Any solid plans about what you will be doing after the album is out in April? Touring perhaps?

Pontus: No solid plans yet. We have a few shows booked, but no tour. We really want to do something this fall though, so let's see what happens.

  

13. Who or what is the main driving force of "Agrimonia", both individually and as a band? What makes you tick and what motivates you to create music?

Christina: For me it is my friends and the people around me that makes music and try to tell a story and fight for a better way of life. They motivate me. I also really get inspired by fierce and awesome women making music and other art forms and not caring about what anyone tells them they can and can not do.

Pontus: The music is a personal outlet initially. Then when more people take part, and when people appreciate it, it grows bigger. It's a very rewarding experience. That said, I'd probably still write those riffs even if I didn't have a band to use them in.

  

14. Which song from "Agrimonia" means the most to you? And, if you were only a fan, which album would be your favorite?

Christina: Lyrically for me it is "The Battle Fought" from "Rites of Separation".

Pontus: I can't pick one song. For me it's more about some parts, some riffs or melodies. I can recall where and when I wrote it and always get reminded about that place in life when I hear that certain melody again. As a fan, well I can't really say anything else than our new album!

  

15. Time for you to ask a question! 

Stefan, what made you start a blog? And how is life and the underground scene is Serbia?

I've always been passionate about music and there was a constant wish to get involved with it somehow. Sadly, I was never lucky enough to have a band, aside of a few short lived projects, so making a blog was a solid second step, especially since writing is also a huge passion of mine.

Life is quite hard in Serbia, especially when you see how the people in the rest of Europe live. My girlfriend lives in the Netherlands, so when you compare the ways of living in these two countries you come to a horrid result. I think this really reflects on the underground scene, so the bands we have here tend to be quite grim with their lyrics and mood. Not a lot of them manage to go beyond the borders of the country and overall I feel like the scene is not as tightly knit as it should be. Serbia needs to do a lot of work to be able to match the diy spirit of the rest of the world. Still, foreign bands tend to pass through and they seem to love it here!

  

16. 2012 is far behind us, but I am curious to hear your favorite band releases of that year? Any recommendations for the readers?

Christina: "Black September" - "Into the darkness into the void", "Martyrdöd - "Paranoia", "Vicious Irene" - "Distorted state of mind", "Embers"- "Shadows" and all the re-releases of the "Bolt Thrower" records.

Pontus: "Dinosaur Jr" - "I Bet on Sky", "Om" – "Advaitic songs" and "Kent" - "Jag är inte rädd för mörkret".

  

17. Aside of playing in "Agrimonia", are band members involved with some other music projects?

Christina: I am in "Contorture", Magnus and Björn are in "Radiation", Pontus and Björn are in "Miasmal", Pontus is in "Martyrdöd" and Martin is in "At the Gates", "Vrak" and "Skitsystem".

18. Similar question to the previous one, do you have any hobbies outside the boundries of music?

Christina: Im really into photography and gardening.

Pontus: Reading, movies and bus rides between Oslo and Gothenburg.

  

19. That wraps it up! In the end, I have to thank you again for this lengthy interview, it was a pleasure. Any final message for the blog?

Pontus: Thanks to you! All the best for the future! Check out "Rites of Separation" when it comes out. Cheers!

The last time we talked

I was away from the blog for some time due to taking a short break from life, so things have been slow here. During the break however, I received a bunch of really cool submissions which I'm looking forward to sharing with you, so you all have something to look forward to. 

From tomorrow on there will be more regular updates on the blog, grandly opening with an interview which I have been dying to receive for a while now. Definitely check back tomorrow evening, stay tuned!

The Canyon Observer - Chapter II: These Binds Will Set You Free (2012)

The reason for my longish absence is the fact that I've been preparing a number of interviews for the blog and I was pretty much expecting them to be finished rather fast. Alas, the questions ended up being sent in times when the interviewees were rather busy, so I am still waiting for their replies. This ended up being a bad decision on my part, waiting for so long without doing anything else on here, but it makes me content knowing that the said interviews will be an interesting read for all of you. Hopefully in the mean time you didn't forget about this blog in the first place!

"The Canyon Observer" takes the stage here today. This is a band you previously had the chance to read about way back in November 2011 when I reviewed the first chapter of their record series. The Slovenian quintet is still pulsing with energy, slamming us yet again with a very powerful release. Ever since their previous outlet, the band has been quite active as far as concerts go, playing an impressive number of gigs throughout various countries in Europe. One might say that this project is definitely a force that can't be stopped.

In case you missed my previous write-up regarding this band, you can check it out here. It is surely worth a peek, due to the fact that "The Canyon Observer" went through a whole lot of growing when compared to their last outlet. Their sound remained within the boundaries of the post metal/post rock/sludge genre, but they somehow matured and solidified their own style.

Their previous "chapter" was adorned with excellent execution and was very characteristic with having quite a bit of resemblance to "Isis". That trait was surely not considered as a flaw, especially given that the mentioned band ceased to exist and the Slovenians were a top ranking project worthy of the abandoned throne. I liked that release very much and have considered it a form with which the band displayed its talents and capabilities. 

Fast forward one year later and witness this beast being unleashed. What is transferred onto this new chapter is definitely the band's technical aspect, but all else shines under a different light. In one year time, the band managed to shape an excellent stylistic form which absolutely nullifies your chances to  blatantly compare them with another band. 

Their new style of composition, and above all mood, is dirtier, yet at the same time that much elegant. The atmosphere became darker with slow and tormenting buildups followed by epic, world-shattering, crescendos. Instrumental sections lay low and eerie, just massing up tension until they explode into your ears with incredible detonating power. Vocals ceased to have their previous calming and soothing tone, now being replaced with trance-like wailing and maddening shrieks. 

As you can see with just a brief summary, the overall shape of the music is different than what they previously made, but staying close to their parent genre. It is enough for the listener to just hear the first song, "Part I: As We Surrender To Lust", and you can immediately sense what I'm talking about. Add to that the fact that the opening song consumes your attention entirely and the rest of the record simply doesn't let you walk away until it is done spinning. Or well, a couple of spins. 

"Chapter II" comes in CD format. Same as its predecessor, this release has a minimalist design although quite dark and corresponding well with the overall mood of the music. "Kapa Records" was once again the label with which the band collaborated. Thus far, there have been three other reviews discussing releases from this record label, so it seems that we are building up a really nice relationship. Either way, you can grab this release on the "Kapa Records" bandcamp page, found here. Don't be scared to check out other bands hosted there, you won't regret it.

I definitely have to say that "The Canyon Observer" displayed an impressive fit of audio growth and evolution, making this release a huge step forward for the project. An outlet of this caliber makes me wonder what kind of monster they are brewing for the future. I truly hope the band stays active as much as it has been thus far, since at this pace they will surely never disappoint. Check them out and I hope you enjoyed the read!

Gig announcement: Coma Stereo, Kriške

A somewhat late gig announcement, but better late than never! "Resetor booking & promotions" once again rolled up their sleeves and decided to host an awesome evening. This event is scheduled for 17 March 2013 in "Club Fest", Belgrade.

This time the Belgrade crowd needs to get prepared for an exciting cosmic voyage with "Coma Stereo", a space rock/experimental quartet from Slovenia. Last year in April you had the chance to read a review I did for this band, sharing my thoughts about their album called "1000 Mest" which came out earlier that year in February. In case you missed that write-up, head on over here to check it out!

Local support will come in the form of "Kriške", or "slices" in Serbian, hailing from Belgrade. This four-year old project brings a whole spectrum of sounds, mixing indie, no-wave, noise and rock (and roll) into their wall of sound. Get ready and check them out on their facebook page found here.

Doors are open at 9pm with an entry fee of 4 euros. For more information about the event, check out the following page here. See you there!

Kabul Golf Club - Le Bal Du Rat Mort (2012)

Finally sat down, grabbed a submission and mustered enough strength to do a proper review. Between preparing a fine amount of interviews for the blog and some rather bad and insane personal happenings, doing this write-up has been a tough ordeal. Still, the fact that this is posted now just shows that I still have some fuel left to run on.

Today will be washed in weird noises, wailing guitars and maniacal melodies. "Kabul Golf Club", a four-piece haling from Limburg, Belgium, brings forth the shredding sounds of noise-imbued mathrock. Formed in 2010, the quartet slowly worked on their material, eventually releasing an EP called "Le Bal Du Rat Mort", a fourteen minute monster born in February 2012. While this record was being brewed, the band members also played and contributed to other projects, some of them being "The Rott Childs", "The Powerkrauts", "Enemy Of The Sun" and "Kindred".

What we find inside this release is a wave of disturbing and eerie tunes, attacking us through five songs. The very first sounds you get to hear instantly drag you into the madness of "Kabul Golf Club", coming in the form of a track named "Bits of Freedom". The introduction song, as well as the very number of the tracks and their duration, immediately signal that this will be an extremely fast experience. And indeed, the entire record is a rushing and furious ride, the band being continuously remorseless. Most of the tunes are at a truly fast pace and they just fly through your head. At other moments, however, the speed drops a little, but the overall chaos, noise and high-pitched sounds make up for the lack of tempo.
Don't be fooled though, those slower sections just carry an unexpected surprise for you on the next corner. One second you are entranced by a horrific melody slowly creeping up on you, but already the coming moment is upon you, bursting with a loud detonation of screeching guitars and crashing drums. The vocals fit exceptionally well in these song sections, since they resemble a sort of raspy shriek which definitely adds to the eeriness of the entire experience. This is something I really liked about "Kabul Golf Club". There is a fine dose of ambience on this record and the band has great skill in portraying a certain type of mood around the listener. Overall, I find their music to be quite eerie and lunacy invoking, which is something that not a lot of projects manage to do successfully.

The EP has been released in collaboration with a label named "Uproar For Veneration", which is also a booking agency and a fanzine. Distribution of this release has been handled by "Rough Trade". This  Dutch distributor has been focused on the countries of the Benelux and has been doing an awesome job for quite a while now. Production, mixing and mastering has been done by Micha Volders who has previously worked with other bands such as "Fence", "The Rott Childs", "Little Trouble Kids" and "The Sore Losers". "Le Bal Du Rat Mort" comes in CD format, housed in a nice gatefold package adorned with gloomy and dark imagery. The overall design is rather simple and straightforward, quite fitting to the tunes in general. You can order the CD, and get connected with the band, on their official website, found here.

In the end, "Kabul Golf Club" gave us an interesting ride. The album picks you up in a wild manner, utterly fast and unstoppable, so you end up listening to it multiple times in a row. At this point the band has several concerts lined up, as you can see on their facebook page found here, so they are pretty much alive. Definitely keep an eye out for them and any potentially new material that might crawl out from under their hood, since it would be a true loss if you would miss out on these guys. Hope you enjoyed the read!

Gig review: Eaglehaslanded, Deer In The Headlights

First proper post of 2013 and it gets to be a show review. As you can see on the poster, I'm rather late with writing about the gig. At times, if I'd end up being so slow with my words, I'd entirely skip doing a review. But this time I'm really tempted to have the show stamped on the blog, simply because a couple of friends and acquaintances are a part of both these bands. I will, however, keep this write-up short because it really has been a while since the show happened and hopefully you will be reading more about these bands in the future.

So the gig took place on Friday, 18 January 2013, in a venue called "Panic Room Zica" in Belgrade. If memory serves well, I never wrote about this place before which is strange since I love it. Truth be told, I haven't been a regular visitor of shows in my town for quite a while now, but it's hard to believe that I didn't visit this venue in the past three years. Time does fly and I'm getting old.
Either way, the show space, also shortly know as "Zica" which means "string" or "wire" in Serbian, is located in the heart of Belgrade. Half way between the main train station and a big public transportation route knot, the venue can be found easily. Although it is one of the smallest venues in the city, it is definitely one of the coziest. When you step inside, a narrow staircase takes you a floor higher where you are greeted by a tiny room. In front is a small corner where merch is usually set up, while the left is occupied by the nonexistent stage and some space for dancing. Additionally, in the center of the room is one long table and some chairs for breaks and such. The room is extended through a hallway of sorts which features a big bar and a way towards the restrooms. Light is dim and moody, so overall the ambient is really nice and comfortable. 

First to kick it off that evening were my dear friends, "Eaglehaslanded". The band has already been mentioned a while back when I posted news about their tour with "Expectations" last September. Although they have a long list of shows behind them, this is actually the first time I see them live without counting a few of their rehearsals which I had the privilege to attended. It is definitely safe to say that I regret missing all their previous shows, since they pretty much managed to nail it on this one.

Previously I blatantly mentioned that they play neocrust, when in fact their music carries so much more.  Throughout their set you can hear a score of genres and melodies ranging from savage d-beating, insane mathcore spasms, layers of really grim hardcore and even moody screamo sections. Yes, everything is tightly packed into one strong shock-therapy. Their sound was remarkably massive and I have to say that the venue didn't manage to keep up. Everything seemed to be chaotic and the sound was muffled at times, but in the end who even cares, it's all punk! The band was stomping everything into a pulp with excessive amounts of dancing, screaming and their huge wall of sound.
Every band member of this trio is admirable, but I have to give special praises to Nemanja, their drummer. For the majority of their gig my eyes were glued to his set and the amount of beating it received from the person holding the sticks. He was completely remorseless, precise and, above all, quite passionate. And oh yeah, did I mention that he is in his mid-teens? Insanity.

After a small break it was time for "Deer In The Headlights". Crusty, thrashy hardcore five-piece hailing from Banja Luka, Bosnia. There's a high chance that some of you previously heard about this band and maybe even saw them live, since they did a rather long European tour back in 2011. Similarly to "Eaglehaslanded", they had a number of shows in Serbia before but somehow I always managed to miss out.

Needless to say, the band kicked off their set with aggression and it stayed that way until the very end. With minimal breaks and nigh constant beating, this show was a one-breather. Despite all the rushing, dark tunes, they manage to keep a fine dose of melodic sections in their music. The overall music was far less chaotic and massive than that of the previous band, thus the venue was more content with carrying out the tunes properly. Still, "Deer In The Headlights" is a tough cookie and has quite a lot to offer to the listener. It was really cool how you can sense, at times, a strong influence of a band like "Battle of Wolf 359", which is definitely a plus.
Overall, it was a fun show and I'm happy that I finally managed to see these bands live. It took a while, but it was absolutely worth it. Too bad that I took a long pause from the blog, which definitely reflects on this review via lack of words. Hopefully you enjoyed the read regardless, stay tuned for more!

2012 blog retrospective

To keep the tradition going, here is my personal recollection of the previous year when it comes to music and this blog. It was quite an exciting year with a lot of content and various happenings. I always find it rather fun when I look back at what was behind us in the music world, which releases gave us anxiousness and excitement and which concerts made us go berserk. 

I'm much more late with posting this retrospective, simply because it was way too hard to pick out the favorites, especially when it comes to concerts. If you cast but a tiny glance on the archive, you will notice a fine number of festivals and concerts which I covered in 2012 and it was abnormally difficult to make a top ten, let alone a top five. "June Paik", "Bokanovsky", "La Quiete", "Circle Takes The Square", "Kylesa", "7 Seconds", "Hellbastard", "Vestiges", "The Black Dahlia Murder", "Grinding Halt", "Russian Circles", "Light Bearer", etc. These are just some of the names that had amazing shows in the previous year, yet had to be left out even with the expanded runner-ups section. Making this list was quite frustrating and mind-bending, to say the least.

Interviews weren't very common in the past year, counting as low as only three of them, thus the list below is just for archive's sake. Needless to say, I am planning to do a lot more interviews until the next retrospective and I already have seven of them lined up. I'll try out some new things in that department, hopefully making the process of reading those much more interesting.

Similarly to reviews, not many releases were covered on the blog this year due to the high number of concert and festival reports I had to write about. I suspect that 2013 will see me writing more about 2012 releases, because of the innumerable submission that await, so I definitely need to step up my game when it comes to writing those.

Although my post count was fairly low, the amount of words I wrote was tremendously higher than before. I've choked you all with vast walls of text throughout the year and it brings me unimaginable pleasure that you boys and girls are still visiting the page on a regular basis, even when I am not writing regularly, and even commenting on my writing and involvement. Thank you all for all the support and attention throughout the past year and I hope that you will find more reasons to stick around in the days to come.

So without any further ado, here are my personal picks of moments and releases which made 2012 as awesome as it was. Not in that particular order, unless stated otherwise. Definitely feel free to post your favorites in the comment section below, I'm always curious about the opinions of my readers! 

Top releases of 2012:

- Circle Takes The Square - Decompositions: Volume Number One

- Downfall of Gaia - Suffocating In The Swarm Of Cranes

- Kowloon Walled City - Container Ships

- Northless & Lightbearer

- Year of No Light & Altar of Plagues 

Runner-ups:

- Black Sheep Wall - No Matter Where It Ends

- In The Hearts of Emperors & Reka

- Momentum - Herbivore

Top releases of 2012 featured on NWNP:

- Black Hole of Calcutta - S/T #2

- Coma Stereo - 1000 Mest

- Masakari & Tempest 

Top performances of 2012:

- Battle Of Wolf 359 (at Cry Me A River fest)

- Celeste (at New Noise Festival)

- Crowbar (at Ieperfest)

- Deafheaven (Amsterdam)

- Tragedy (Nijmegen)

Runner-ups:

- Alpinist (at Fluff Fest)

- Cattle Decapitation (at Ieperfest)

- Eyehategod (at Ieperfest)

- Thou (Essen)

- Wolves In The Throne Room (Utrecht)

Interviews of 2012:
- God Is An Astronaut
- Momentum
- Wolf Down

Most visited posts of 2012 (in order):

- Gig review: Wolves In The Throne Room, Dodenkrocht

- Interview: Wolf Down

- Gig review: Deafheaven, Hierophant, Fire Walk With Us

- Interview: God Is An Astronaut

- Gig review: Russian Circles, Deafheaven

Vivre

This is just a tiny post to wish all of my readers happy holidays and a happy new year. I sincerely hope that all of you will have a great upcoming year with a lot of success and memorable moments.

I've been quite absent from here due to a number of reasons. First, I fell really ill for a number of days, so I was pretty much stuck in my bed with zero motivation for anything except for sleep. Afterwards I finally had my thesis defense scheduled which needed some dose of preparation. And on top of that, my girlfriend finally came over to visit, so pretty much all my attention is consumed with spending as much time as I can with her. 

Needless to say, I'll be continuing with regular updates quite soon, first post being focused on a small retrospective of the previous year. I have a lot of things to do around here, so hopefully you stick around to check all of that out. Thanks for the patience, see you soon!