Festival report: Fluff Fest 2012, day two

Ever since the schedule for the second day surfaced on the festival's website, I knew that I would be killed by it. The list of bands was insane and it was definite that I'll have to sacrifice some bands in order to see others. Lots of tough decisions and maneuvering, but in the end it resulted in a fantastic day. Only thing that did suck was the stubborn heavy rain which greeted us from the early morning hours.  

Schedule for day two of the festival is as follows:

Main Stage:

1:25 PM: Beton

2:05 PM: Bokanovsky

2:45 PM: True Nature

3:30 PM: Run With The Hunted

4:15 PM: Titan

5:05 PM: Wolf Down

6:00 PM: Masakari

7:00 PM: Suis La Lune

8:00 PM: No Turning Back

9:00 PM: Anchor

Tent Stage:

12:30 PM: Controlled Existence

1:15 PM: Vendetta

1:55 PM: Ralph Macchio

2:35 PM: Kung-Fu Girlz

3:20 PM: Child Meadow

4:05 PM: Osawatomie

4:55 PM: Planks

5:45 PM: Boredom

6:45 PM: Aussitot Mort

7:45 PM: Vaccine

8:50 PM: Light Bearer

10:00 PM: Alpinist

While the rain was pouring down like there was no tomorrow and everyone was covering at the merch desk, "Beton" marked the beginning of the day on the main stage. A quintet from Slovakia playing some superb crust, the band unleashed a series of devastatingly fast d-beat tunes across the soaked festival field. Prior to the festival I found myself craving some more bands of this genre in my book and this act came with all the ingredients that I love, nonstop beating to the senses with speedy playing and that good old dirty crust sound. Sadly I was too far away from the stage and at one point I had to run to my tent to grab a hoodie, so I didn't enjoy the band to the fullest, but I definitely praise the very discovery of their work. Will keep an eye out on this project, attention is most deserved.

Moments later it was time to crawl from under the covers and step into the rain to see "Bokanovsky" from a closer point. Right away I have to say that this band definitely jumps up to be in my personal top five performances of this year's "Fluff Fest", no doubts about it. I know about these guys for several years now, though I kinda neglected listening to them in recent periods of time. After this performance, there is no way to ever forget about them again. The band was so powerful and emotionally impacting that they immediately resurrected the passionate love I had for them back in the day. Seeing that unbelievably well-crafted combination of beauty and serenity wrapped in heavy and unpredictable sounds oozing with emotions and passion was magnificent. This is, without any second thoughts, the first band on this festival that managed to thoroughly impress me and shake me to the core. My readers probably know how much I adore screamo hailing from France and this band is a perfect example of why I feel so much infatuation for their music scene. But wait, there is one more band from this country leaving its mark on this review, just coming up next.

Right after "Bokanovsky" finished their set, two of their string players went on into the tent to form "Child Meadow", only this time one of them was on drums and the other remained on the guitar. This band has to be the most pleasant surprise of the festival, without a doubt. These two guys managed to fill the entire tent and the audience with so much positive energy with their smiles, jokes, insanely catchy melodies and extremely pleasant attitude. There was interaction with the crowd, silly playing mistakes which created even more smiles on peoples faces and just make everyone feel like they are attending a house show. Aside of their own songs, the band did a cover of "Remek" which was actually assisted by the singer of the said band. The same happened with a "Paper Plane Crash" cover song. When you put everything together, you get a really thrilling show and a true bomb made out of positive emotions. I seriously don't recall a gig when a band managed to make me smile during the entire set. France, you should be proud.

After some hanging out around distros it was time for "Wolf Down". For various reasons I saw the band perform only briefly, but the tiny spectacle was amazing. If I remember well, I came just in time to hear "Rot" and it blew me away at how perfect it sounded. Also, I was kinda far away from the stage so I had a really nice view on what is going on there and the band really managed to move the crowd with its insane amount of energy. Jumping on stage, crowd surfing, rampage on the ground, the band itself being wild and constantly moving, just total mayhem everywhere. The sound they succeeded in creating was far more aggressive and brutal than that on the recordings, so it was quite a sight seeing them live. Definitely a band worth the note. I also did an interview with them some time ago, found here, so you should also check that out if you already haven't.

Next up, "Boredom". Maybe it is quite cheezy to say, but they instantly annihilated any possible presence of actual boredom in the tent. Precisely as on their recordings, the amusing clash between raspy, thrashy crust and almost rock and roll type melodies managed to impress me beyond measure, changing my mood from calm to nigh hyperactive. Ever since I first heard their split with "Rivers Run Dry", courtesy of good friend Botond from "Itai Itai Records", I've found their sound so unique and intriguing, thus this being an absolute honor to attend their show. Similarly to when I listened to them at home for the first time, they just swept me off my feet when they started playing on stage and my mind blown state was present until their sound died. "Lap Dance of Rats" and "The Poverty Lawyer" punched me in the gut so hard that I really don't know how I restrained myself from killing someone in the dancing area in front of the stage. What this band can do to you with their music is insane, that's for sure. They have less than 500 listeners on last.fm and that is something that is not tolerable at all. Seriously people, what's wrong with you? Check this band out, I promise you won't regret it!

It is sad to say that this is the point where the schedule became extremely tight and squeezed for me, with too many good bands entwined with one another. I really wish that "Fluff Fest" starts doing what "Ieperfest" does with its schedule, although this will have to wait until I write the review of my stay in Belgium. Until then I'll stick to what happened in Rokycany. "Masakari" was next and due to seeing "Boredom" I couldn't attend to their whole set. Although I only witnessed a part of the gig it was definitely enough to stomp me entirely. Approaching the show I realized how enormous their sound is, not only because of the fact that they were on the main stage, but also because it was, plainly put, the sound of "Masakari". There was just so much anger and energy hurling from the stage, so much that I felt completely battered, in a positive way of course, despite the fact that I was rather far from the source of sound. If I recall well, I arrived just in time to hear "X. Pain Conceived As A Tool", the song which is featured on the benefit split with "Tempest", and the band just killed everything with the sheer massiveness of their music. I've always been in love with "Masakari", but I never imagined them being that good in concert, just stunning. I feel insanely sorry that I didn't see their whole act, so I hope they come back to Europe one day to wreck havoc on everything. 

One more occasion to see "Aussitot Mort" and yet again I wasn't able to view their entire set, because I needed to catch another band. Sigh. "Fluff" you are killing me. Anyway, if I remember well the band once again opened their act with "La Ride Du Lion" which is just a superb opener and mood-setter. The band simply excels at lashing out their amazing atmospheric sound in a single swipe and it definitely doesn't leave you unshaken. I only saw that first song being played and I already had to run to the main stage, but it was absolutely worth it. I still hate myself due to the fact I missed their show with "Heaven In Her Arms", especially now since I have a chance to see them properly but always fail to see the entire set. The band hates me probably, that's why. I due love them, however. 

Rushing to the main stage earlier I managed to secure a first row place for the next act. "Suis La Lune",  legendary screamo band from Sweden and a long time favorite band of yours truly, was getting ready and just about to start. I was quite anxious about this performance due to the fact that, prior to the festival, I heard that they weren't really entertaining live and I honestly had some level of fear about what was going to happen. Additionally, for various reasons, they kind of drifted away from my liking and this show was definitely a sort of a test for the band in my eyes. Saying it right away, the band swept me off my feet entirely. And they would sweep me even easier if I wasn't stupid enough to neglect listening to their newest album called "Riala". The majority of the performed songs were from that album and, although I watched with awe and utter pleasure, it just isn't the same when you actually know the songs, if you know what I mean. Needless to say, "Cornea", "Remorse", "All That Meant Something" and all other new pieces managed to resurrect the old love I had for the band. Mixed with those were "With Wings Of Feathers And Glue" and "September Gave Us...", while the ending came in a beautiful combination of "Utter Silence Is Fragile" and "A Letter A Void". In all the years that I followed this band fervently, I always imagined that they would be so blissful and wonderfully gentle and there they were, proving and justifying all my previous thoughts. I have always dreaded about writing things concerning my favorite bands, among which is definitely this one, and this amount of text is enough to make me shudder, thus I will stop here. Astonishing performance, worth the wait all these years. 

After soothing melodies and emotions, it was time for pissed off straight edge powerviolence. That sounds gnarly, wouldn't you say? "Vaccine", a band hailing from Massachusetts and featuring members of acts such as "Orchid", "Ampere", "Glue", "Failures" and "Think I Care", just got on stage and basically kicked everyone in the face, over and over again. This came as an enormous shock to the senses after the previous band, but damn, it was worth it. Their entire set was just a violent ball of rending, heavy guitar riffs, choking drums, harsh bass and angry to the core vocals to top it off. I was simply flabbergasted at how awesome this band is, especially since I never heard about them before. I did, however, get a second chance at seeing them on "Ieperfest" where I managed to pay more attention to what is going on amid the chaos they created. Seeing this band twice shows that I'm really lucky that I didn't get a heart-attack. This day just didn't fail to continuously impress.

Once the truly maddening set was over, I had just enough time to go to my tent and put on my "Vestiges" shirt for the next band, just for fun. By the time I got back, the tent stage was overcrowded and bursting with expectations for "Light Bearer". I managed somehow to squeeze inside, despite my initial wishes to be in the very front row. The band opened with their newest song, that from the split with "Northless", called "Celestium Apocrypha: Book Of Watchers", which I have to say surprised me a bit. Although it is a truly astounding piece, I think it is a really bad choice for a short festival performance due to its length and slowness. Needless to say, the band somehow pulled it off and mesmerized the crowd with their great sound and ambiance. After a sluggish start came "Prelapsus", which literally exploded inside the tent, the mass of people erupting into a conjoined choir of screams at the cataclysmic ending of the song. From then on it was continual stage diving and dancing on the part of the audience, while the band continued with "Lapsus" and, if memory serves well, "Primum Movens". The strength of the sounds radiating from the small stage kept being increased to unbelievable levels, completely justifying the epic concept the band is enveloped in. I had my doubts about how the performance will come out in the tent stage, but so much energy and power packed in such a tight spot proved to be magnificent. My only complaint would be the pick of the opening song, since I presume that "Armoury Choir" would be a far better decision, but this stays in the boundaries of personal choice. Additionally, for a score of reasons, I really didn't approve of words spoken by the band during breaks, some of them addressing the whole situation with "Defeater". I just find it a lot better when people mind their own business and think about what they are saying before they actually say it. Otherwise, a great performance.

"Alpinist" gets one word as an opener. Wow. I wasn't pleased at all with their performance on "Cry Me A River" and I came to this gig to give them a second chance. Wow, again. The very first millisecond the band started playing, the crowd erupted like an eons old volcano. Instant stage diving, jumping, crowd surfing, screaming, pushing, everyone became so squeezed together from the sheer amount of people which hurled into the tent to participate in the sea of limbs and sore throats. The band seemed to play in such a violent fashion, when compared to the last time I saw them, and it doesn't come as a surprise that the audience replied in such a fashion. Their sound became exceedingly heavy, pounding and fast, so much that even though you were trying to stay alive in the whirlwind of bodies your mind was well aware of the sounds rushing towards the ears. There was minimal time for pauses or speeches, although they were present, and it was just nonstop insanity until the end of their set. The band just didn't stop beating their instruments until the crowd started feeling fatigue approaching. The only downside to the entire thing was that a girl got seriously injured, if the information is correct she got a fractured skull, during the set. Although it was really fun and adrenaline rushing, people should be a little bit more careful with really hurting someone, especially since at the beginning of the show a lot of tinier people were in front. I got separated from my girlfriend during the course of a couple of songs and I can't say that I wasn't worried for her. Also a similarly lame thing happened to me on "Light Bearer" while I was crowd surfing and was dropped to the ground at one point, without people actually trying to get me up but going along with their business. Just a little bit more concert etiquette is needed I presume. But aside of that, this is by far the wildest and most intense concert I've attended in a long, long while. "Alpinist", I applaud you, this was a show to remember. 

Festival report: Cry Me A River 2012, day one

Writing these reviews has really outstretched across a number of days and it’s rather intriguing that the places they are written on are insanely amusing. As this is being put on digital paper, my girlfriend and I are currently riding in the van of “Vestiges” on route from “New Noise" festival to their show with “Downfall of Gaia” in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The dudes from the band were awesome enough to take us in and offer us their two free seats in the vehicle, everything being quite friendly and nice. I’ll be writing more about that in the upcoming festival and show reviews, so stick around if you are interested.

Once the warm-up show was finished and the venue was clean, it was finally time to grab some much desired sleep. Although I was sleeping on the floor and there were a lot of people still awake and talking in the room, I fell into deep slumber almost instantly and didn’t wake up until morning. I was one of the first to wake up that day and Vuk was quick to follow, so soon we were up and getting ready. The plan was to meet up with my tumblr friend Ina who was supposed to guide us to our ride. But until then, a hunt for a supermarket ensued, which we managed to find all the way back from where we arrived in Munster. Yes, apparently food stores are not so common in the city, or we were just blind and retarded, so the only place to grab supplies was at the train station. After a longish walk, killing some time and getting to the meeting place on time, we were settled in the car and on our way.

To put it shortly, the ride to Versmold was extremely fun and entertaining, but in the end we were late, so much in fact that we ended up missing the first two bands. At one point we were lost on the road, since we couldn’t find the correct turn and it costed us almost an hour of lost time. Once we got there we were all kind of drained and frustrated, so we took a little breather before setting up our tents. The second we arrived I (love you, added by my better half sitting next to me, review contributor) saw dear friend Stephan, the dude behind the “Automatic Suicide Machine” blog, so a big hello to him!

Seeing as how this was my first time at the festival, I guess that some venue descriptions are in order. Located in the beautiful countryside in Versmold, Germany, the entire “venue” is surrounded by blissful fields, huge trees and an overall lack of human intrusion in the land. I say “venue”, since this isn’t exactly a gig venue per se, because it is placed inside a restaurant/hotel/motel. The entire event occured on the ground floor of the building, which is composed of a huge stage room, a kitchen where people could go and grab their breakfast, a nice section dedicated to distros and band merch and also a back way out. “Out” is the above mentioned countryside, which was occupied by tents during the festival. It was absolutely awesome to spend the time between bands outside and just enjoy the greenery and the nature around the venue. The stage room was just a plain big room with no special design or layout, which actually turned out as perfect for such an event since it manages to house all the people attending the fest and give enough space for dancing and one more big table in the back that was occupied with merch.

For those of you who don’t know, the first day of “Cry Me A River” consisted of the following bands:

17:15 Crocus

18:00 Mio

18:45 Lentic Waters

19:30 Resurrectionists

20:15 Tempest

21:00 Lich

21:45 Titan

22:30 Alpinist

23:15 La Quiete

When I was finally inside the venue, I realized that we didn‘t miss seeing “Crocus”, but that the band actually cancelled the performance for some reason. “Mio”, however, already finished their set, so my entrance was followed by the sound of “Lentic Waters” who were already somewhere in the middle of their act. Honestly, I haven’t listened to this band prior to the festival, but the bit that I saw live was quite amusing. Their sound was very unique, something that could be freely described as a weird amalgam of screamo and blackened hardcore. Massive, heavy riffs were abundant, everything being quite chaotic, but at the same time really technical. Somehow, amid the mayhem they created, the band succeeded in executing outstandingly precise melodies and that managed to leave the biggest impression on me. Sadly I was still quite disoriented from the car ride, so I wasn’t concentrated enough to pay much more attention to the performance. Needless to say, this is a band you should definitely check out and you can do so on their bandcamp page found here.

One other sad fact of festival day one was that I missed “Resurrectionists”, purely because I just needed a break to regain my strenght. Thus, I spent my time with Vuk outside, if I remember well, drinking an energy drink and just chilling out. Lucky for me that I already saw “Resurrectionists” twice thus far... which doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t like to see them again. Some other day.

“Tempest” was next and I went to see them just so that I could respect Vuk’s flabbergasted state of mind concerning the band. I have to say that I am really happy that I got to see this band more than once. This performance definitely proved to me that the band can be unique and awesome on each of their sets. Much like on the warm-up show, they were radiating energy and passion, backed once again by insanely driving tunes. Each step of the way they were more and more intriguing, especially since this venue seemed to be far more capable of sustaining the enormous sound “Tempest” managed to create. I’m kind of pissed off at myself since I forgot to write down their set list and a lot of time passed now so I can’t remember it, but if memory serves me well they changed the list of songs they played when compared to the previous show. This little feature I really find cool, since most touring bands just stick to one setlist for the entire tour, which can prove to be a bit dull if you end up seeing a band more than once. So again I have to say, this is a project that always manages to impress and if my previous reviews about "Tempest" didn’t make you want to check them out, then this review definitely should.

Next band in line was highly expected by yours truly. Not only does “Lich” share members with “Battle Of Wolf 359“, but their recordings have been impressing me day after day ever since I heard about them. They managed to utterly live up to my expectations in concert and even successfully surpassing the quality of the recorded material. The entire set was just a wild unleashed beast, stomping and grinding everything in its path. A lot of people try to compare the two projects mentioned above and thus find flaws in “Lich”, but I seriously have to disagree. This band has an overtly different style when it comes to both its music construction and the flavor of energy and mood which is oozed during their performance. If people would just stop linking the two bands they would find out how both of them are truly amazing in their own regards. Overall, their set was highly entertaining and driving, which definitely signals a really awesome future ahead of “Lich”, seeing as how they have to offer a lot at the moment and also showing enough space for an inevitable growth.

Then came “Titan”, one of my personal black sheeps of the festival so to speak. I didn’t listen to them a lot prior to the fest and thus I went to see them live without an opinion, but from the very first tones they made I just couldn’t find enjoyment. It’s not that they sounded bad, but it just seemed I couldn’t find anything special in their performance and it ended up not being my cup of tea. Something similar happened to me with “Alpinist", despite the fact that I really love them on recordings at home. Maybe it was me being tired or distracted, but after a couple of songs I was tempted to go out of the venue. Luckily, both bands play on the upcoming “Fluff Fest”, so I’ll give them another chance to amaze me live.

The end of the evening was definitely reserved for the most, personally, expected and loved band. None other than “La Quiete”, screamo legends from Italy were planned as the closing act of the first day of the festival and just seeing their name on the timetable made me become completely assured that it will be a gig to remember. And to be completely honest, I find myself at a total lack of words to express my thoughts about their performance simply because it was truly mind-blowing. Witnessing songs such as “La Fine Non è La Fine”, “Raid Aereo Sul Paese Delle Farfalle” and “Metempsicosi Del Fine Ultimo: Nevrastenica Oscillazione Fra Poli Estremi”, yeah the guys love long song names, was an experience beyond perfection for my ears. One thing definitely has to be mentioned here and that is the fact that the band had some serious technical difficulties during their set. As much as I remember, there were occasional troubles with one of the guitars and with the microphone. But despite those mishaps, “La Quiete” endured and provided an absolutely astounding performance. It was amazing to see how the band stood strong against the unexpected obstacles, lashing out their very best at the audience and not losing an ounce of quality or amount of radiated passion in the process. My mind was just blown away. All those songs that I really love and which manage to make me shiver when I listen to them at home succeeded in doing the same thing live in concert, although increased a thousandfold. And there is really not much else I can say, other than show my endless thanks to the band for doing what they are doing all these years and for traveling from Italy to Germany to give us such a spectacle.

And in the end, regarding the “La Quiete” show, I have to give a truly negative shout toward certain members of the crowd, who proved to be the only bad thing that happened during the mentioned band’s set. Just standing randomly on the stage in front of the singer and following him around is not cool. At all.

Once the venue went quiet, Vuk and me hanged out a bit outside in hopes of sparking some kind of conversation with other people. Since we failed miserably, it was soon decided to just hit the tent and sleep. It was an awesome day and more was yet to come. Hope you enjoyed this write-up and stay tuned for my review of the second day on “Cry Me A River” fest!

Things I missed and a report

While I wait for the interview answers from Vestiges (so excited about that!), I thought I upload some recent stuff that I missed reviewing due to interviews and what not. Probably all of you have these releases already, but just in case I wanted to have them on the blog.

I just want to inform you all that the buttons are long gone, packaged and sent, now it's up to the post-office to do the rest. There will probably be more buttons made in the future, but we will see about that. Currently, I'm planing many things that I need to set up that diy workshop at my place, I really hope that it will bare fruit in time. I managed to find an online writing job and it's slowly starting to consume my time, but if nothing else some of the money will definitely go on that project. Have a bunch of stuff I need to review and post, but the job kinda kills the blog writing mood, so please be patient with all of those.

Before we move onto the download links, I just want to draw your attention onto a band that was hosted here a while ago. Jakuzi's Attempt is the band and they recently recorded a sequence shot video. Check it out here.

Alpinist - Lichtlærm (2010)

Downfall of Gaia - Epos (2010)

Envy - Recitation (2010) *

Sed Non Satiata - Self Titled (2010)

The Saddest Landscape - You Will Not Survive (2010)

My oh my, 2010 is a good year.

*Big thanks to Behemoth Skin blog for the link, I have shitty net for uploading stuff bigger than 100mb.