Little Mountains We Move...

...or how elated I am about seeing the blog alive again! This post is here just to give you a brief end/start-of-the-month update on what is coming up, since there are some additions to the blog that I'm excited about.

The first thing I definitely feel the need to talk about are the physical submissions which I have received way back from when the blog was fully active in 2011/2012. As mentioned in the introduction of the "Enemies" review, I've already went ahead and sorted out the box of submissions. Most of those have been completed and posted, yet some still remain untouched. I know it has been years since these were sent to me, but I feel fully committed to reviewing all of that material. Sadly, the majority of those bands/projects have disbanded, but I would like to honor their trust in me, even if it was from back then and even if none of those people might care about it anymore. Somehow it's the least I can do.

Another point worth mentioning are all the unanswered e-mails that are in the NWNP inbox. It contains literally hundreds of unread messages, all from bands wanting to be covered here. I have already started to slowly reply to some of those, some I am getting replies to and some are, again sadly, not active projects anymore and nobody seems to monitor those addresses or might not care to respond. Whatever the case, if a reply comes back to me, I will surely do reviews, but it's just a matter of getting confirmation that they are still interested and me having overall approval to host their material.

One of the things that got me super excited when I wrote the comeback post was the inclusion of other music genres (aka whatever the hell music I enjoy) on here. This gave birth to an idea of how to actually go and cover those projects. I'll include a new kind of post tag called "Showcase" where I will write a potentially long article about a specific artist and their full discography, somehow trying to deconstruct and analyze their music. This kind of post will especially be tied to an idea to also do interviews with said artists, so a showcase would be a sort of prelude to an actual interview. I actually have a confirmed interview and I want to do a showcase for it, both scheduled to be up in the upcoming month. The artist in question was mentioned previously on the blog on one occasion, but was never fully covered. I'm both excited and afraid of writing such a deep, analytical text, but I hope it will be something that I'll manage to pull off, so we'll see how this pans out.

I had some more updates that I wanted to share with you, but realized along the way that there's no way I'll manage to cram all of those into October. For now, these points are enough and they are a good road for me to focus on. I have a ton of ideas at present, but I don't want to make promises I can't keep. It is slow progress, but eventually it will be in full swing again and so far I'm happy how everything is shaping up. This is also in part thanks to a steady influx of readers which is an enormous motivational force for me. Thank you for the continued interest, it is good to be back.

Gig review: Mgła, Martwa Aura

It is always a curiosity for me to see a band name appear twice on the main page and I think the last time that this happened was when I was riding along with "Vestiges" back in 2012. That adventure was pre-planned however, but this one came as an unexpected surprise.

Gig took place on September 18th in "Dom Omladine" ("Youth Center") in Belgrade. Truth be told, I haven't been there since 2017 when I saw "Alcest" play, something that I completely failed to review which is actually bad because their concert was excellent. In the back of my mind I'm thinking about doing a late review of all those shows I didn't talk about, but we'll see, that's a topic for another occasion. In any case, this is one of those cult-status venues that never lets you down and I absolutely adore it due to its sheer spaciousness and the fact that it always has superb sound quality.

Worth mentioning is that the information which I saw regarding this gig was that it was completely sold out. I caught this the day after the show and it made me insanely happy, especially when you could see literally everyone going out of the venue with amazement on their faces. Warms my heart to know that so many people love "Mgła" in Belgrade.

Right off the bat, I was somewhat late to the gig and I completely missed the opening band "Dagorath". This fact sucks and is sad, but what can you do. I talked a little bit about them with a friend who also attended and she seemed extremely pleased, so it might be a good idea to do some homework and listen to their recordings.

The first band that I did see live that night was "Martwa Aura" and I'll give my Slavic-speaking readers one try to guess what the name means. For those not fluent, it means "dead aura" and for some reason I find that name to be extremely evocative. Truth be told, I was not familiar with the Polish quintet, but after their performance I definitely got the wish to check out what they offer on recordings. The funeral black metal band from Poznan kicked it off instantly. No talking, no theatrics, minimal movement on stage. The main focus definitely falls on the singer who is a truly imposing figure, drawing attention with his slow, hulking movement and a commanding aura, if you will.

Their set was fast, aggressive and at times exceptionally melodic. The drums were a joy to focus on, since some songs featured interesting changes of rhythm, all the while the string section was shredding without a break. What I found to be unique about their sound was the addition of clean vocal singing. It seemed so well placed, especially during intense moments when the instrumental section was chaotic yet the singing added a contrast which was almost soothing.
"Martwa Aura" was definitely a pleasant surprise of the evening. Be sure to check them out, you can do so on their bandcamp page here or get in touch with them via facebook page here.

I would never manage to guess that I'll be seeing "Mgła" play twice, let alone in such a short time span and even less in my hometown. As I was listening to their new, recently released album called "Age Of Excuse" and then also re-listening their older material prior to this show, I came to realize that I was still under extreme impression from their previous concert. That entire journey to Szalki-Sziget along with the time spent on the festival and finally "Mgła" itself (about all of which you can read here) was an endeavor drenched in passion and I jumped into it without much thought, heart first. I was entirely consumed by various emotions for those two days that the entire thing somehow resonated within me even after so much time. This time around however, I decided to reset and cool down, so that I could experience the show clearheaded and with a bit more technical approach.

This plan turned out to be impossible, since this band doesn't care what your current state of mind is. The chilled out attitude was immediately crushed the second they got up on stage. The seemingly familiar beast was in front of me again and it shattered me without hesitation once again. They do this within the first chord and it is unbelievable how their sound induces some kind of entranced state of mind where time is irrelevant and you completely forget about your surroundings, your complete focus is on their music. I experienced this only with a handful of bands and it is a merit worthy of coronation. 

There's just something utterly fascinating about watching them play live, this time directly from the front row. I was staring at their guitar player who was just a few steps away from me and I couldn't help but notice how he reminded me of a sculpture by Antoni Pujol (this one) and then realizing that this menacing figure is performing a song about nihilism, civilizational spread of rot, death and the bleakness of existence... and there is just something entrancing and grotesque about the entire scene.
And what to say about the sound of the hooded quartet other that it is a force to be reckoned with, simple as that. Their signature was as strong as ever, a remorseless and relentlessly thrilling tempo that doesn't stop for a second. It's impressive to notice the amount of precision and quality that they show while creating such a raw and violent sound, since they truly sounded as good as on their recorded material. I have to say that the overall quality was so much better than the previous time when I saw them play, especially regarding the clearness of the vocals. This is largely in part because of the venue. The acoustics of the space superbly supported this audible onslaught and the band was free to unleash whatever kind of destruction they deemed fitting. Some tunes I've heard before, others were new to my ears. "Exercises in Futility I", "Age of Excuse II", "Mdłości II", "With Hearts Towards None VII", these are just some of the songs that echoed in Belgrade that night (you can see the full setlist on the trophy I managed to get after the gig). The previous "Mgła" gig review which I wrote ended with the lines from "Exercises in Futility V", one of my absolute favorite tracks of the band. Back then in Hungary they didn't perform the said song, but it was somehow fitting to end the review with those lines since I personally felt rather exalted that I finally managed to see them play live. However, this time around they did and my entire being was exhilarated to witness this. Like with my review, ending the show with that song seemed perfect in some way, the last sounds dying even after the band itself left the stage minutes ago.

It is difficult writing reviews for bands like this. Even if I go around the fact that I love "Mgła" with a passion and the fact that I might be biased because of these emotions, it is an exhausting task to pick right words because I feel they will hardly do the band justice. In fact, I think this review is a chaotic piece of nonsense and that it is too short to express everything on my mind. But I find it okay to post, since I'm also under the impression that senseless texts without any proper structure speak volumes by themselves. It might simply be another form of being "stunned", "speechless" or "mind blown". Maybe it's too soon to write a review, because all these  chaotic thoughts haven't matured in my mind yet. Or maybe this is just proof of "Mgła" being one of those bands which can't be confined by words. Maybe...

"Acknowledge healthy confusion..."

Enemies - Framing Choices To Silence Our Voices (2012)

After my previous post I became fully committed to writing on here again and one of the first things I did once that blog entry went live was checking out the big box I used for the storage of physical submissions that were sent to me. Lots of work ahead!

Enemies - Framing Choices To Silence Our Voices (bandcamp page)

On today's repertoire we have "Enemies", a 5-piece hailing from Tampere, Finland. The band formed way back in 2011, "Framing Choices To Silence Our Voices" being their first recorded material in the following year. When I was introduced to the band I was told that they play "metallic hardcore" with other influences ranging from sludge, black metal and even grind.

Right off the bat, the band wastes no time on gentle introductions. The first track "Collar" grabs you with a choking start-stop rhythm which gives hints of something dystopian looming ahead. It tricks you with an impression that it will be a moody mid tempo song with a gradual buildup, but instead it takes an extreme turn that dramatically increases the speed. The rushing sounds hit you so hard and you instantly find yourself with increased blood pressure. I was hooked to their sound and I ended up listening to the opening track at least ten times before I finally moved to the rest of the album. This was going to be a great ride.

The following two songs keep you in this rushing vortex of angry sound. During all this I noticed how the instruments and the vocals compliment each other, since all the while it seemed to me like the screaming is just the perfect pitch and somehow overflows the instrumental section and ties it all together. This harmony changes a bit with "Set Back", the track stopping the previously mentioned rush and introduces a more sluggish, atmospheric tone where the vocals seem to be literally set back into the distance. It changes from an angry scream into a wail of sorts. The instrumental ambiance evolves and it paints a completely different kind of image in your head.

This whole release continually bounces between these two states, being superbly aggressive and fast, yet at other times brooding and ambiental. They manage to do an excellent job at both these incarnations and I like the fact that they manage to paint a clear picture of what they are about in the first half of the record. Even the dystopian elements previously mentioned turned out to be correct, since the band tackles some pretty bleak themes of the human condition in their lyrics. With all this in mind I completely let go and enjoyed the rest of the ride until the final tones of "In Ruins" died. That song is an utterly great finisher as it perfectly summarizes the entirety of the record, as if it compressed everything you heard previously into one epic 8 minute beast which trails off in the end and leaves you wanting more.

In terms of production, the album has a perfect combination of being both technical and raw, not too clean and not too dirty. "Framing Choices..." came out on CD and, aside of the awesome cover, the insert features more excellent artwork (all done by one of the band members, Veli) which sets an appropriate mood before you press play.

The years following this release saw "Enemies" put out several other recordings. I gave them a brief listen just to get an idea what is going on with their sound and you can almost instantly hear evolution in the way they play. I will definitely be checking out the rest of their discography and I would recommend the same to you. You can also get in touch with them via their Facebook page found here.

Last but not least, I'd like to thank Vesa and the rest of "Enemies" for being kind enough to send their CD towards me and for initially expressing interest in being featured on this blog. Sorry for the wait, but I hope you enjoyed the read!

The Shape of Blog To Come

   The moment I sat down to write tonight I felt like this kind of post has actually been a long time coming. I've always injected a dose of "personal" on here and somehow I've been compelled to share bits of myself with the readers, now especially for some reason. Seems like this will be a long one, so strap yourself in, we're going on an emotional roller coaster!

   Whoever was here from the beginning (2010, holy crap!) knows what kind of approach I had to this blog. Back then I was some random young dude (in my early twenties) in love with a music genre that was entirely nonexistent in my surroundings and without material means to travel around and go to countries where the gigs were happening. The vast internet space filled with bands and an active blogging community were my window into the music world and I was absolutely captivated by it. I lived and breathed screamo ever since I first downloaded a "Saetia" song (think it was "Endymion") on my horrible 56k internet connection. Numerous bands later, I was so fascinated by the genre that I wanted to give it a special place of my very own, a sort of altar if you will. I was never lucky (or good enough of a bass player actually) to have my own band, so the written word was what I had left. And I behaved accordingly while on here, I wrote with reverence, passion, honesty and without much thinking, it simply flowed out of me. And, to be quite frank, I ended up being proud of myself and thinking that this creative process will be unstoppable.

   Alas, things are not always going according to plan. It's easy to notice on the blog roll that my output started moving to a grinding halt in 2013. The year before slowly started throwing me curve balls which I wasn't ready to catch. During that entire period, I was faced with numerous losses, of friends, of love and, several times, even of life. The reality of my existence within the boundaries of my family was rapidly crumbling. Through some escape routes which I desperately clinged to I managed to additionally fill my life with abuse, depression and even more tragedy. No matter how much I struggled to stay on solid ground I was, in fact, nowhere. Physically I was present (and deteriorating), but mentally and emotionally I was completely drifting away.

   Naturally, somewhere along the way it became almost tormenting to write about anything or to come up with decent, creative material, since I clearly didn't have a peace of mind. It wasn't passion anymore, it was a chore and a part of a now broken, chaotic routine. In the back of my head I kept telling myself all sorts of excuses, that this was (at least, partially) caused by the blogging community dispersing and screamo itself slowly dying, so there was no point to write since nobody will read. In reality, life simply managed to crush something in me.

   Some sparks of my old flame persevered, showing up from time to time. There were signs of life and yet, there still looms a post from 2013 on the front page of this blog. Undeniably I have endured and to me these scattered embers represent my climb out of the sinkhole. My existence is much healthier now, I am still healing and even though the scars are still there and some wounds are fresh, I'm getting out.

   The culmination of everything is that I've also been struggling with the identity of this blog for a while, in terms of what it was, what it currently is and what I want it to be in the future. This place was born out of my infatuation with screamo and my wish to give something back to a community that had my utmost admiration. I wasn't completely lying to myself before, these two things are not what they were before, but they are far from dead. Fact is that there isn't AS MUCH material to write about as there was in previous years and some of those vacant spaces have been filled with other genres and other names. Because of this, I was scared whether or not those "others" deserved a place here or should I simply create a new blog for them. It somehow felt like I would taint the screamo altar which I built. Even though there already are some other genres on here, moving away from the DIY scene seemed to invoke dread of not being true to what this place was. Which is an utter shame, since because of this way of thinking the blog was denied so many good things... I've seen concerts from "Tool", "The Smashing Pumpkins", "Deftones", "The Cure", "Dead Can Dance", "King Dude" and so many other amazing artists who left a mind blowing impression on me which absolutely deserved to be written about. I discovered scores of talented electronic projects, some of which completely annihilated my anxiety with their tunes and whose names should be spread around. Tons and tons of possible album reviews and interviews have been ignored and cancelled, because of my own doubts, lack of direction, peer pressure and constant thinking about whether a thing is "true" enough or not.
   Looking back at all this, part of me gets angry and another one gets sad, yet I can't hide a chuckle as well, since I realize how limiting and crippling that way of thinking was. I have evolved and I think that this blog also deserves a part of this evolution. Nothing will ever be tainted, as long as I remain like I always was, passionate and honest.
   So what does all this gibberish mean? It means that, as long as I am alive and kicking I want to keep this blog active because it still means a lot to me and it always will. All these words might seem silly or overblown to you, but I came to realize that writing here indeed means so much to me. Natures With No Plagues has always been my safe haven (unintentionally, the name turned out quite self-explanatory in a way) and a significant part of my life and who I am and who I am becoming. It has been a catalyst of many real life adventures, fond memories and strong friendships that last to this day (you know who you are!). Ultimately, music saved me many times, as I am sure it will do so in the future as well, and this is my praise and recognition of it.

   Moving forward, I'll do my best to write about the music I deem worthy, regardless of the shackles of genre. Screamo will forever hold an immense part of my musical being, but there are others worthy of standing side by side with it. Even though it might take some time to start doing interviews and collaborations again, rest assured that I will certainly head in that direction. There is much to do on here and I plan on taking it slowly, this post being the first small step. In those regards, one recent noteworthy change is the small section on the left, a list of gigs where you might encounter me. If you happen to be on any of those gigs, feel free to get in touch, would love to hang out with you all.

   Last, but absolutely not the least... thank you. Yes, you. Thank you for reading this and for being with me on this journey. I am sincerely grateful to all of you, for all your time spent on here and for all the comments left to me. To all the people who bumped into me on gigs and said hi or who had an opinion (positive or negative) regarding my work. To anyone who ever donated. To every band who ever showed any kind of interest in being hosted here. To the things and people who tried to break me, but who ended up making me stronger. To anyone and everyone. Thank you. This isn't for you.

TL;DR: Emotional wall of text. Life can be horrible, but music and passion can heal all wounds. Old/current blog content going through clean-up, new content (screamo+other various genres) coming. Thank you (!!!) to everyone who has ever supported me on here. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND NEVER LET THE BASTARDS GET YOU DOWN.