Gig review: Vestiges, Downfall of Gaia

Ugh, this write-up definitely has a sad setting for me personally, since I departed from my better half a couple of hours ago. I’m currently in the train, going from Budapest to Belgrade, dead tired and with eyes popping out from crying and sickness. Basically everything that could attack my body did, from a sore throat and coughing to a running nose and stomach ache. Hopefully reflecting back on the time spent with these two bands and the girl will evoke some nice feelings,  but I'll keep the review short either way.

The night after the "New Noise" festival we arrived at the hostel somewhere past 2 AM, if I remember well. Dead tired and exhausted we both just dropped into bed, some signs of an upcoming sickness looming over our bodies. We already had to get up at 8 AM in hopes of grabbing breakfast and two hours later to get out of the room. The thing that worried me was actually the fact that our plan wasn't confirmed yet with the band. Namely, we were supposed to take a ride with "Vestiges" who were awesome enough to offer us their two free seats. During the festival I talked to Alex and Dan from the band, but it still wasn't sure when and where we would meetup to hit the road. Exchanging phone numbers didn't work for some reason, since we couldn't reach each other. In the end it was agreed that their driver will send me an email, which I could surprisingly check on my rusty old phone. But once the girl and me arrived at the hostel, I realized that my battery will die any time soon and I didn't have my charger with me. Damned be everything. In the end, the trusty Sony Ericsson W810i managed to pull it off just until I got to read the email, after which it died. Bless you, awesome Japanese engineers.

In the end, we all got to the meetup point on time and everything was well. The road in front of us was quite long, a six hour drive if I remember correctly. Needless to say, the journey reminded me so much of my time spent with "Downfall of Gaia" since the atmosphere was always friendly and the two outsiders were welcome as though they were long time friends. It was really fun hanging out with "Vestiges", they are a bunch of really awesome dudes. I have to say that I'm happy that I have the privilege to bump into such nice people thanks to my journeys through music, since it really manages to connect people no matter how far away they live from each other.

Technically speaking, this gig held place on 8 July 2012 in the venue named "De Onderbroek" which is located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. You can read more about this place in my review of the "Tragedy" and "Momentum" show, found here. I have to say that I was really surprised by the low amount of people that attended the show, which was really weird especially since it was a weekend gig.

“Vestiges” kicked off the evening and this time everything went smooth. "I" was superb on this occasion due to the fact that Alex was able to properly channel his rage over the destruction of our planet and human ignorance through the microphone. Their sound was truly massive, so much in fact that I don't think the venue was able to hold on properly. It seems that the band makes such an intense sound, especially with the clash of soothing and violent, that the venue really needs to be perfect in order for the tunes of "Vestiges" to come into full light. Don't get me wrong, the band was beyond amazing, but I just feel that they could be even better if the gig was in another venue. In any case, it is really intriguing how the lyrics to their songs managed to crawl inside my head and the music itself was extremely tempting to just scream the words from the top of my lungs, which doesn't happen very often. "V" and "VI" also got a chance to blow away the audience and they sure did. When the split with "Ghaust" came out, "VI" just kept rewinding itself in my music player. The band managed to go even further with their sound with that song, becoming even grimmer and heavier, and it makes me abnormally excited about hearing some new material. Naturally I was tempted to ask the band about some future plans and they say that the split with "Panopticon" is well under way, as well as something else which at the moment I can't quite recall. I'm getting old, I need to start writing stuff down seriously. Either way, the band also promised, well at least Alex did, that they will be touring Europe again next summer and that they will visit some places they missed this year, like Serbia for instance. And you guys better play on "Fluff Fest" next year, that festival seems perfect for the band. Great things are looming on the horizon for this band and I'm thrilled about everything just by thinking about it.

“Downfall Of Gaia” took the stage after a small setup break. Thanks to seeing them two days in a row I was able to better analyze their new songs on this second occasion. Apparently this new material just keeps sounding more amazing with each new listen. The atmosphere and the soundscapes which they are able to weave are breathtaking, flowing from gently eerie to shattering reality epic. Those new tunes craft amazing pictures in your head and set you into a very specific mood, which I presume will be solidified even further once we get to hear the upcoming album in its entirety. There were certain instances and song sections which really made me shiver, like one certain moment when the string players start screaming all at once and thus creating a truly shattering crescendo. Once those still unknown songs ended, both songs from the split with "In The Hearts Of Emperors" were played. It is absolute enjoyment to hear those songs at any time, but I have to say that "These Wet Feathers..." just makes my head spin at how amazing that song is. I've heard it live, and the band in general, so many times now and I just can't get bored with it, in fact always looking forward for more of their gigs. So what can I say in the end, other than that I am definitely counting days until "Suffocating In The Swarm Of Cranes" comes out. It will be worth the wait.
All in all, this was a really heartwarming gig for me. Being there with my girlfriend and surrounded by friends, both new and old, seemed more like it was a house show than a venue concert. It was awesome seeing "Downfall of Gaia" again, I really missed you guys! Great music and even some vegan cake to top it off. And oh my, both bands had such awesome merch with them that they gave me a true headache until I barely managed to decide what to buy. In the end, I would like to thank "Vestiges" once again for providing my girlfriend and me with free seats in their vehicle, additionally giving us a warm welcome and making us feel at home. It was a pleasure meeting you all and I hope our roads cross again in the future.

Festival report: New Noise 2012

As you have figured out by now, most of these reviews were written way before they got to be posted, so the dates might not match with certain show times. This here, for instance, will be a review of the “New Noise” festival which I’m writing in the train that is rushing through Hungary to get to the Czech Republic. Yes, I am again going to visit “Fluff Fest”, though this review will probably end up being posted quite some time after the said festival. I’m spending a lot of time with my girlfriend and my writing and internet time is rather scarce, so that is why the posts are so late and mixed up. All in all, this is a really epic summer trip and the number of shows I need to write about is constantly increasing. I just want to take this opportunity to say how sorry I am to all the bands that have sent me their material and everyone who is waiting to be hosted on “Natures With No Plagues”. Thank you for both the interest and the patience, I will surely dedicate my time and words to all of you. But until then, it’s time to drop by to Karlsruhe!

Here we are with yet another European music festival with a lot of tradition behind it, spanning for seven years now. Although it has a rather long life span, I have to admit that this is the first time I hear about the event. Got to say that I was really impressed by the lineup and the overall idea of the entire happening. "New Noise" took place at Ostauepark, located in the eastern section of Karlsruhe, on 7 July 2012. My woman and me were nested in a youth hostel, located a good half an hour walk from the fest, so we grabbed a chance to get to know the city a bit. Karlsruhe definitely seems like a wonderful place to live, especially thanks to that one enormous park-botanical garden located in the center. Reaching the festival was rather easy due to the signs posted by the organizers, which really made things go smooth at a certain point. "New Noise" itself consisted of two big tents where stages were set up, numerous distros and food and drink stands circling around the entire perimeter. There was also a sitting area with benches, located in the center of everything, and also a rather big grass field for laying around. Overall, it seemed really cozy and there was always room for everyone everywhere, so big thumbs up for the organizers of the event.

The timetable for this awesome day looked like this:

First Tent
13:00-13:25 The Tidal Sleep
13:40-14:05 Nine Eleven
14:20-14:45 Tempest
15:00-15:25 Run With The Hunted
15:40-16:05 Aussitot Mort
16:20-16:45 Code Orange Kids
17:00-17:30 Sailing On
17:45-18:15 Midnight Souls
18:30-19:00 Loma Prieta
19:15-19:45 Adorno
20:00-20:30 No Turning Back
20:45-21:15 Defeater
21:45-23:00 Church of Ra Showcase

Second Tent
13:25-13:50 Unveil
14:05-14:30 June Paik
14:45-15:10 Titan
15:25-15:50 Man Vs. Humanity
16:05-16:30 Vestiges
16:45-17:10 Downfall of Gaia
17:30-18:00 Birds In Row
18:15-18:45 Former Thieves
19:00-19:30 Anchor
19:45-20:15 Brutality Will Prevail
20:30-21:00 Graf Orlock
21:15-21:45 Celeste
23:00-23:30 Raein

First band in line which we managed to see was none other than “June Paik”. I barely managed to brace myself after their previous performance and here they were again, ready to devastate me once more. To make things even crazier, their sound was far better here than on "Cry Me A River", so you can just imagine how powerful their set was this time. Their scheduled playtime was much shorter than on the previous fest however, but the strength of the impact hit they made on the audience was not crippled by time in the slightest. "I" was played again and it is wondrous what the band manages to do with that song. A true work of art, especially when created live, just a perfect composition leaving you breathless and in a very specific mood. And I will leave it at this in hopes that I don't end up sounding like a fan boy, especially after my previous review of their gig on "Cry Me A River".

The first band I watched had a little bit of a delay due to some issues regarding setting up, so I was kinda late to see the full set of “Tempest”. Of course, what I did witness was enough to show how many asses the band can kick. Attending their show for the third time now and the band keeps showing that it is always so pumped with amazing vibes and energy, so much passion and creativity. I came just on time to hear  my favorite song again, "Death Rattle", and it was absolutely enough for me. We stuck around for another number and then it was time to raid the distros. As I said before, keep an eye out for "Tempest" and try to attend a show, you'll leave with your jaw on the floor.

It was time for “Run With The Hunted”, so we were forced to somehow make our hands unglued from the awesome records present at the festival. Seriously, if my wallet was big enough I would probably spend the entire day just swimming in a sea of vinyl. Anyway, the hardcore outfit from Phoenix, Arizona delivered a really fast punch with their set. A very lively performance with excellent sound, the band quickly managed to intrigue and move the audience. I was present for only two songs on their gig, so my impressions are rather limited, but from the start they showed that they will give all they've got and that it's bound to be a fun ride. I also failed to see them on "Fluff Fest", but as much as I saw people were walking away after their gigs quite happy.

After failing to see “Aussitot Mort” when they were touring Europe with "Heaven In Her Arms", cursed be my life, I finally had the privilege to do so. The French quartet opened with "La Ride Du Lion", the first song off of their newest outlet, and those very first tones instantly blew me away. The power and intensity of their recordings were perfectly transferred to the audience live in concert and even increased beyond anything I previously imagined. With the help of the "venue" and its excellent sound, "Aussitot Mort" managed to create an amazing atmosphere and connection with the crowd, making their set really intriguing for watching and listening. They showed how and why they are one of the most important bands in that astounding post rock rock screamo crossover and that they are a project you definitely need in your book. Sadly, due to the timetables being a little messed up, I was only on a tiny bit of their performance and it was already time for another band to be grabbed.

Rushing to the second stage and grabbing a perfect first row place for “Vestiges”. Thus far, I think my readers have a great understanding of my thoughts about the band and how much attention this blog showed for the whole project. From the initial moment I heard their music and up to this point in time, my love for their work has been rapidly growing and I was happy beyond reason when I realized that I will see them live this summer. The time finally came and the band naturally opened their set in the same fashion as their record begins. My excitement was at a boiling point, but once "I" exploded their set proved to be really crippled due to insanely stubborn problems with the singer's microphone. Despite screaming and growling from the top of his lungs, Alex just couldn't be heard at all. It was really unpleasant standing there and seeing the man give his best, but get sabotaged by the equipment. I just have to give a negative shout out to the organizers for this, since they made a really tight schedule, basically forcing the bands to play, without making sure that everything technical is okay. Instead of providing stupid, worthless red lights during the day on the stage, a little more attention and care should have been paid to whether or not the equipment is working, since "Vestiges" are not the only band that had issues. Needless to say, the band managed to provide an astounding show despite the difficulties they faced, especially the singer who didn't stop for a single second, just proving that they are a true force to be reckoned with. Their music was exceedingly powerful live, giving absolute justification to their recordings and the entire concept of the project. "V" was also played and it was such a breathtaking, passionate finisher of their set, since seeing one of their guitar players putting a maximum of his heart and soul into the performance was quite a sight. I will stop here with my thoughts, since you'll be reading more about them in an upcoming review of their show with "Downfall of Gaia" in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, so stay tuned!

Once the quintet from the States ended their act, it was time for “Downfall of Gaia”. In case you follow my blog for a longer period of time then you are aware that I did a little bit of travelling with this band last year. So not only is my love for their music strong and endless, but I also consider them really good friends and it was utmost pleasure to see them again. As expected, they managed to knock me off my feet in a second. For a while now it has been known that the band is recording new material for an upcoming double LP, so this was a grand occasion to hear some of their new songs. If memory serves me well, two new songs have been performed and they left me speechless. Ever since the band formed, "Downfall of Gaia" has been in a constant cycle of evolution and their newborn is not without such a merit. Further expanding their music and putting an even higher accent on black metal and those gloomy atmospheric sections, the band hinted what they have been creating for us behind closed doors. Everything that was remarkable about "Epos" has been kind of upgraded and put on a new level with their new material, which definitely made me even more thrilled about hearing the entire album. Aside of those songs, "These Wet Feathers..." was also played, which is one of my personal favorites. Overall, an amazing performance and a wonderful preview of what is yet to come from this project. 

Short break and then coming back to the same tent to view “Birds In Row”. To be honest I haven't listened to them in a long time, the pinnacle of my attention for them being drawn way before the band got signed to "Deathwish Inc.", after which I almost forgot about them. Either way, the band swiftly brought back the memory of why I liked them in the first place. Their songs were always impacting and strong, but I never imagined the band sounding as powerful as it did live. Completely exceeded my expectations. "Among the Ashes" and "Colossus" were enough to set everyone who was present into the right mood, although the band kept beating their instruments without remorse. Definitely a wild and entertaining performance.

“Loma Prieta”, strike three. Much like "June Paik", they had far better sound quality on "New Noise" than on the previous festival and it resulted in a really intriguing performance. Continuously energetic and fierce, the San Francisco four-piece dropped a chaos bomb into the venue yet again. In contrast to their past gigs that I attended, vocals had a really high volume and it was both a surprise and a pleasure to hear them under the spotlight. The crowd was also quite responsive to their tunes with dancing and even some stage diving. Their performance went wild and boiling until the last song, that being "Trilogy 6 "Forgetting"", when Michele from "Raein" sat behind the drum kit while Val was picked up by the audience along with other parts of the set and so he played like that in mid air. Definitely a really epic and crazy finisher which no one could expect!

Once the chaos from the previous band went silent, it was time for “Adorno” to take the stage. This would be my second time watching them live, since previously I saw them way back in 2010, an experience about which you can read here. As much as the previous show made me smile and enjoy, so did this one leave a purely positive impression on me. Their melodies have an uncanny ability to instantly put a smile on your face and just wash you over with so much nice energy. Songs from "Said And Unsaid" were played, as well as from their split with "The Black Heart Rebellion", making their setlist a really amazing one. The band also kept their friendly ways of talking to the audience, so overall this looked more like a house show than a festival gig, which is a huge plus in my head. Extremely happy I got to see them live again and I am definitely hoping that they will have more activity in the future.

Okay, this is where things get downright serious. Thus far this review was really easy to write down, but now I'm sitting here with absolutely no knowledge where to start. “Celeste”, the well known four-piece from France, has a special place in my heart. They bear members from "Mihai Edrisch", a band which I love inexplicably and hold dear beyond this world, and that alone was always enough for me to  be infatuated with them. Their music is, without a doubt, a story for itself. Numerous times I found myself trying to somehow properly categorize their sound in a specific genre and always failed. The unstoppable and devastating impulse going under the name of "Celeste" has been a thing so unique that it can't be placed or tamed into a tag. But without further ado, let me get back to writing about the show. Darkness fell into the tent and only four red dim lights were hovering on stage, illuminating from tiny lamps placed on the heads of the band members. Smoke crawled around the stage and the audience, mystifying the setting for what is yet to come. And when the beast came, it couldn't be tamed until it was killed by lack of time. I won't even say which songs were played, because their set was simply an unstoppable, violent behemoth with only second long breaks for a single breath. I have never in my life witnessed four people creating such a destructive wall of sound, so powerful that I thought the ground will break under our feet. Everything seemed to crash down onto the audience, the crowd also deciding to give its violent outburst in response to the band's apocalyptic rhythms. I was simply stunned beyond words. All I can say is that this is absolutely one of the best shows I attended this year. The repertoire of bands I saw in 2012 seemed like it will be hard to pick out my favorites, but "Celeste" made their place as number one without a doubt. I am sure they won't be taken down from the throne in the upcoming months, this is something that you experience once in a lifetime. My entire experience was definitely sealed and made complete with talking and shaking hands with Johan, singer of both "Celeste" and "Mihai Edrisch" and a man I consider truly as a one of a kind artist. I will stop my review of their set here and just say that if you can go to their show, just go. If you haven't heard about them, take a listen and stop missing out.

“Church Of Ra” was the name that closed the day for me. The act with the longest scheduled playtime, a band consisted of members from "AmenRa", "Oathbreaker", "Hessian" and "Syndrome", picked as something that can bring an epic ending to this year's "New Noise" festival. I am probably playing with fire here, but I have to keep my honesty on a high level and just say that I was sincerely bored. Maybe it was due to the fact that there was and is so much talk and hype about this collective that I pumped up my expectations to high. The band members on stage kept switching during the set and each time that would happen I was hoping for something intriguing to happen, but it never did. At times all members would be on stage, I can't really recall was it eight or nine of them, and they would play at the same time which would create a truly massive sound. Even that failed to actually impress me. My personal opinion is that any band making that much noise after "Celeste" is doing just that, making noise. Definitely a lot of factors played their part so that I ended up not liking the band, though I absolutely saw that they had a massive crowd, so I am probably just a drop bouncing off from the ocean. To each his own, though I do feel real regret that my sacrifice of seeing "Raein" in the other tent was in vain. Pity.

As you can see, this has been a fantastic day. Lots of amazing bands, great distros and a really interesting place to hold a festival. Like I already mentioned, my only complaint goes out to issues regarding equipment, since that managed to mess up the timetable a fair bit. Otherwise, "New Noise" proved to be a really intriguing festival and I hope that its tradition will be kept alive in many years to come. Special praise goes to my girlfriend, who managed to keep up the game with me despite me being really dumb at times. That's love for you!

Downfall of Gaia & Vestiges - Winter 2011/2012 USA Tour

Yes, these two amazing bands are gonna be conquering the States this winter! The whole tour is pretty much sorted out as much as I see, so this is here just to give you a heads up in case you didn't know that they will be playing in your area. Be sure not to miss out on a gig if you have a chance to attend!

27.12. MA/NY - TBA
28.12. Baltimore, MD - The Compound
29.12. Washington, DC - TBA
30.12. Richmond, VA - Strange Matter (w/Balaclava)
31.12. Rock Hill, SC - The Courtroom
01.01. Asheville, NC - The Get Down (w/Autarch)
02.01. Baton Rouge, LA - Here Today Gone Tomorow (w/THOU)
03.01. Austin, TX - The Scoot Inn (w/ Dead to a Dying World)
04.01. Denton, TX - TBA (w/ Dead to a Dying World)
05.01. Nashville, TN - Little Hamilton Collective (w/ Dead to a Dying World, Sky Burial)
06.01. Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Roboto Project (w/Complete Failure)
07.01. NY/NJ - TBA*
08.01. Philadelphia, PA - TBA*
*only Vestiges

Recently I traveled with "Downfall of Gaia" on their Eastern European tour, so check out my reviews of those gigs h e r e, just to prepare your mind to be blown away if you go to a show. Also, I did interviews with both "Vestiges" and "Downfall of Gaia", which you can check out here and here. 

Gig review: Downfall of Gaia Eastern European Tour 2011, day four

20 October, day four - Sofia, Bulgaria

Here we are at the final day of my tagging along to the tour of "Downfall of Gaia" and it revolved in not a really glorious fashion, for me personally at least. I had high expectation for the gig itself, which was scheduled in the capital city of Bulgaria and luckily everything happened as I thought it would, though there were some problems along the way, both personal and technical, resulting in me attending the gig in an overall bad mood.

The caterpillar mode managed to fail me during the night, since my cocoon was constantly penetrated by the freezing air floating around the room, thus my sleeping hours were cut short. As a result I was at least looking forward to a revitalizing warm shower in the home of our host, though the splash of the cold water from the seemingly full water boiler managed to make me regret ever entering the bathroom. Spending one millisecond in the wretched tub, packing my stuff and the rest of the guys getting ready as well, we went to "Bingo" once again to pack the equipment in the van, during which the band received a massive amount of cash from last night's show, a glorious sum formed out of one digit...glorious in contrast to the three digit of euros needed to enter the country in the first place. Complete fail. In the process of filling the van, we found out that "Rosa Parks" have also confirmed that they will play and I was so excited about that, since I missed their shows a couple of times when they played in Serbia. Packing up everything and running away from the venue as fast as we could, Lucas, Bjorn and I went to the supermarket in search for some food, though we quickly decided that we should in fact nom the pizza once again. After I managed to randomly impress and cause laughter from a bunch of passerby girls with my English skills, we hunted down the pizza and met up with the rest of the group and hit the road. Soon enough we set our roots onto a gas station yet again and devoured the food and once more being approached by several insects, though no screaming and panic this time.

The road through Macedonia toward the Bulgarian border was fast and smooth, accompanied by listening to some tunes in the van and looking at the outside scenery. At the border there was no big trouble, but still I needed to act with my Serbian speaking skills. For some reason I feared that they might not let me enter the country, but to my surprise the border patrol was actually....happy and surprised in a positive fashion that a dude from Serbia is travelling with a bunch of Germans. Thanks to the fun factor the time on the border crossing was minimal and painless, so we were on the open road again very soon, once again enjoying the lovely landscape found in Bulgaria. Due to the outside entertainment provided by nature, the ride seemed short and we arrived to the venue quite quickly. But once we arrived, the curse of Kumanovo struck once again, this time attacking the van itself in the form of the back door being stuck closed and unable to be opened. The fact making the whole situation worse was that the show would start a bit earlier, due to three bands playing and a sound check was scheduled prior to the gig as well. Time was short and the door was stubborn. The van's insurance company was called and it took first one dude, then two dudes and two hours to fix the stupid lock. In the meantime, the seats inside the vehicle were butchered so that the massive equipment would be dragged out. Add to that a "minor" incident where a box of records was almost run down by one idiot driving by in a car and you have the whole scenario for a frustrating pre-show catastrophe. During all these trials, I hanged out with my travelling companions from this Summer's trips, the dudes from "Tigersuit" zine, as well as meeting some more people who happen to accidentally know about my blog and enjoy it!

The gig took place in club "The Box", quite a modern and neat little place. Going through narrow and low ceiling staircase, you enter a sort of balcony which hangs above a big gig room where a small stage is set, in front of which there is a dance floor of sorts and to the right a raised up platform with tables and chairs. There is not a lot of light present and the overall ambient is quite nice and comfortable. Despite the problems which occurred, the gig started on time and all was well. "Rosa Parks" played first and they absolutely blew me away in a completely unexpected fashion. Back in the day when I was still involved with the previous music blog, I posted their EP which was filled with mellow, dreamy post rock melodies sculpted into long tracks. The storm of sound that was unleashed from their instruments in "The Box" caught me by surprise since it proved to be like nothing I expected to hear. Extremely fast songs bursting with unexpected spasm like riffs, exploding track sections and occasional screaming without the use of microphones, all enveloped with in epic proportions associated with post rock, managed to leave me completely speechless. There was just a nonstop pounding on their instruments and an amazing display of dancing and body movement on stage, going so well with the speeding music that was flooding the room. The impact hit of the sound was really inspiring, making your body feel the desire to just jump around and go with the flow of the music. Sadly, the band played only half of their usual set because of the lack of time, but they succeeded in leaving the biggest of positive marks on me and putting an impressed look on my face. I don't know which songs were performed, since I only listened to the above mentioned EP and it was actually hazy in my memory even on that night. After their set I just had to approach one of the members and just congratulate on a wonderful show. We talked a bit and I even had the guts to ask them whether they would be interested in doing an interview, the bravery spewing from the fact that they also know about my blog! What is wrong with you people?!?! (serious ego boosts for me) In any case, they seemed overtly surprised with the offer and I guess we should definitely talk more over email, so maybe one day you get to read about them here. All in all, a flawless performance and I really hope that I will grab a chance and see them once again in the future.

After "Rosa Parks", a local Bulgarian band named "Expectations" got up on stage. I have heard a lot about them previously, though I never got a chance to take a listen. In any case, what I saw that night in Sofia was really impressive and entertaining. A melodic, emotionally charged hardcore swinging between mid and fast tempo, at times having some slightly metallic riffs, the band had quite a turbulent performance. I'll be honest and say that their music isn't one hundred percent my cup of tea, since I don't enjoy those slower hardcore sections a lot, but their overall performance was extremely high quality and their tunes carry strong potential. Those violent outbursts really throw a nasty punch and the crowd seemed to constantly respond in a similar fashion. The funny thing was that, despite me being generally impressed by the band, the locals and the band itself stated that this was definitely not their top show and that they weren't quite happy with the performance, which definitely sparked a wish in me to see them again. Worth the note was that Hannes was extremely impressed with "Expectations", which he told me during the show in a very infatuated way.

"Downfall of Gaia" was the last to conquer the stage that night of course and finally they got a chance to shine after the gig last night. The Sofia show was on par with the one from Novi Sad, though the latter one I personally enjoyed more. They had an ultimately clean sound provided by the venue, so the entire tale they told through the performed melded songs flowed in a magnificent fashion. Gentle, soothing and highly melancholic in the slower sections, yet world shattering and emotionally powerful during the aggressive moments, the crowd got to see and hear the band in all its beauty. The audience was weird a bit to me, since I somehow find moshing to "Downfall of Gaia"...unnecessary to say the least. From my standing point as a listener, their music manages to hit and play an extremely deep personal chord in the bottom of one's being, which results in just experiencing the tunes in your own mind and emotion, rather than expressing it outright through body movement. Still, those are just my demented thoughts and as I said the crowd had a different way to show their amazement and enjoyment. An absolutely stunning and perfect performance, plus I was really glad that the band itself was happy with the audience and everything happening that night.

After the show it was sadly time to say farewell to my four day family, since I was about to depart on my own path, so after a group hug and goodbyes I left the club. I have to admit that I felt completely mellow in those last moments, since I really felt bonded with all of them, simply because they are all unbelievably nice people and I am proud to call each of them a friend. I'd like to thank them all for accepting an outsider into their van and home, in the process making me feel like we already know each other for years and not experiencing a single moment of awkwardness. Thanks for all the shared food, toothpaste, all the scheisse and fun times, cool talks and retarded yet amazing humor, just everything. Hope to see you all once again some day, junge, but until then.....macheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Gig review: Downfall of Gaia Eastern European Tour 2011, day three

19 October, day three - Kumanovo, Macedonia

Oh boy...so here we come to the black sheep of the tour, or at least of the four days which I have spent next to the band. There are so many things that went wrong on this day that in the end there was nothing else to do other then make as much jokes about it as possible and somehow cloud and scare away the unbelievable amount of crap. Scheisse junge, but for now we will take it one step at a time...
The day started in a perfect fashion, getting up early to Bjorn's lovely wake up message, realizing that my hair looks insane due to falling asleep while it was wet from the shower (not so perfect), having a lovely breakfast in the courtyard of "CK13" and packing up everything on time. After we said our goodbyes to our great hosts of the day/night, the road was well under our tires. The path led us through a part of my hometown, so I tried to be entertaining and offered some random facts about Belgrade as we drove by. Our drive through Serbia seemed quite fast and easy, despite it actually demanding quite a lot of time to reach Kumanovo, simply put just smooth sailing.
But then troubles flew in on the wings of a wasp! ("OH MY GOD!") Jokes aside, the following event could be considered a funny introduction to the real issues of the day. So, while nomming some food on yet another parking lot of a gas station, a small swarm of wasps started creeping up on our ajvar. Once the numbers started reaching critical mass and several people began running away, we entered the van...yet one of Gaia's little flying fiends followed us inside. Thus que some screaming and more laughing tears from yours truly thanks to Hannes and the upper quote hailing from him. The wasp felt overtly not amused and flew away, thus the bold travelers continued their journey.
And then came the border. At first, we were just held there and pinned down in the van, since the border control was busy raping the brains and nerves of the vehicle owner in front of us, so it seemed that some troubles will be looming ahead. The wait took extremely long, yet your dear writer was struck by a more internal problematic, that being the vast sea of pee rising inside of my body and reaching alarming levels quite fast. While my struggle took epic proportions, the others sat there and waited patiently, except for Lucas who went to check the green card or whatever the name of that thing is. A lightning bolt struck the van in the moment when he returned and told us the price of the damned piece of paper, the number bearing three digits of euros! Once the money was vomited out of the pockets, the border patrol took notice of us. Of course, the morons didn't speak a word of English and decided not to use their manners, if they have them at all, and insult us on their native language, not knowing yet that a person from Serbia is travelling with the Germans. Macedonian and Serbian are quite similar, so one of the "junkies" understood what they were saying. They didn't bug us that much, so we were granted passage quickly, only to get to another border crossing. This time I had to jump out and use my verbal skills and clear the way, luckily I was successful.
Soon enough we were in Kumanovo, receiving a text message that the organizer will be late to meet up with us. I was preoccupied with just finding a place to relieve my body of the ever increasing liquids, so I didn't pay much notice to the text. Once I calmed down, three of us decided to hunt for some food, though we were faced with a hard task of finding something vegetarian in the nearby area. Close to the parking lot there was a pizza place, with corpses on them, so it took all my talking skills to explain that we want some food without meat on it. Shortly after, the giant 5 euro pizza was ours!
Que some more waiting for the organizer to show up and once he finally arrived, we got to the venue, which was basically around the corner from where we were parked. In a nutshell, the place is awful. If you remember my description of the "Bigz" venue in Belgrade, found here, something similar could be applied here...just, minus the cool horror factor and plus the place looking like a crack house. Completely dirty and crumbling interior, a sexy "backstage" filled with garbage and lack of lights to provide some surprise rape. Yes, total fail. The backstage held a treasury with some food provided by our host, noodles with noodles, and at that specific moment I wished that god exists so that I can thank him for blessing my gut with the previously devoured pizza. After that lovely welcome, our dealings with the host were cut, since he crawled to the other room and decided to take a nap on the floor... The entire experience left all of us baffled and it managed to invoke a certain rage inside of me, much like the one shown in the above linked review concerning the host. It seemed that the dude simply forgot that he booked a show (genius) or that he just didn't care. In any case, we decided to fill our time with watching a funny dubbed episode of "Star Trek" and just ponder about what to do if no one shows up. At a certain point around 10 PM only a guy and a girl were present and it seemed that they would be the audience for the night. Luckily some more people showed up later, so the gig started a few minutes after 11 PM to still a low number of people, slightly more than in Backa Topola.
The sound of the venue was awful and unbelievable amounts of crunchiness and chaotic crackles managed to stick to the sound of "Downfall of Gaia". Despite the sabotage, they succeeded in pulling out a good show, yet not as powerful as they could otherwise and this gig made me really appreciate the fact that the band's recordings have such a superb sound quality. There isn't much that could be said about this gig, since I already saw a better performance by them and the overall bad day left a stronger mark in my brain. As I said, despite playing in a horrible environment, their set was good and powerful, although the venue itself took away a large part of the enjoyment. The slower song parts were amazing in the standard fashion of the band, but once aggressive sections took the stage the point and impact would be weaker since you are left with just a huge wall of sound crashing over your head, not having that emotion wrenching merit. If I haven't seen them before, I would definitely be mind blown though. That being said, the crowd was happy and satisfied, actually being the first audience which I didn't have to inspire for an encore ovation.
Once the show was over and we packed the equipment, the group was taken to the organizers home for rest, though the curse of the day extended to night as well for me, resulting in not so abundant sleep time. 

Gig review: Downfall of Gaia Eastern European Tour 2011, day two

18 October, day two - Novi Sad, Serbia

Being wrapped in sheets like a caterpillar and near the core of the source of warmth provided a really good night sleep. "Panta Rhei" was an excellent place to crash and in the morning it managed to get everyone up and running quickly. Morning rituals were done, some of us even washing their hair with cold water despite the existence of a warm batch ("C" is "H" and "H" is "C", isn't that obvious, backwards universe?) and pretty soon we started packing up the equipment into the van. I was given the task to help with packing the merch and I succeeded in not breaking/burning/destroying anything in the process. Once everything was done and we said our goodbyes to the owner of the club and the cuddliest dog on the planet, we went to hit the road.
There was a quick stop at a nearby supermarket and when the first gas station was in sight the parking lot was ours! What followed was a beautiful vegan feast on the sunny concrete and more proof of how much sharing food with people can be astonishingly bonding. After lots of coffee, bread, ajvar and all sorts of delicious food, the open road was hit again...though only for a short while, since the van was stopped by the forces of law and chaos. Of course the high IQ policemen had no knowledge of English, thus I had to quickly jump out of the van and try to save the day. Luckily, they weren't being overtly hostile, so after a confession from one of them that "he can understand everything, except a nose piercing", we were free to continue the journey to Novi Sad. Largely uneventful, except for an instance when I laughed so hard that I started crying (you sexy Bjorn you) the trip was fast and short, thus we pretty much arrived to the venue earlier than expected. We were greeted by Aleksandar, drummer of "Reflections of Internal Rain" and my look-alike brother from another mother, a running joke connected to us in the Novi Sad scene. I was quite surprised and happy to see him, finally being able to talk in person a bit and spend some time together, so the van was closed fast and we set off to guide our German guests through the city.
After a long walk toward the Petrovaradin fortress and surrounding area, we returned to the heart of the city to grab some delicious food from Dule, singer of "Reflections of Internal Rain" who had a perfect fitting job of feeding the travelers. He pretty much managed to make me want to eat the plate itself due to the inexpressibly delicious food, so a quick note to all worldwide bands: if you have a tour over Europe, drop by to Novi Sad if only just to taste Dule's dishes! The band and the rest of the tour companions seemed to be tired and sleepy, so I took the task of washing the dishes and give them a chance to chill out a bit. Later, equipment was set and a sound check performed at around 7 PM, which I had the privilege to attend and offer my ear skills.
Some notes concerning the venue, since I now realized that I haven't mentioned it so far. The hanging out, eating, sleeping and the gig itself took place in "CK13", the famous Youth Center in Novi Sad. I have talked about this venue in some previous gig reviews, but it has been a while since my last visit and as much as I saw the venue changed a lot, in the most positive of ways. Even in the past, this gig space was one of my favorites in Serbia and I was extremely glad to see it evolve even further. This time I got to see the "backstage", as well as the small library connected to the gig room, which is filled with some alternative/underground books and zines, the kitchen and the sleeping quarters/offices which are nested a floor higher. The entire venue provides a really comfortable feel to the visitor, since it is somehow secluded from the rest of the city, despite it being in the heart of it and literally offers you with everything you need. As for the actual gig room, it managed to impress me a lot, radiating with the most clean and excellent sound during the show.
In any case, prior to the concert and during the show, I had the chance to meet up and talk to some friends from Novi Sad, as well as meeting the good friend and colleague on the blog, Luka, with whom I haven't talked in person for more than a year. I also grabbed the chance to get to know some new nice people along the way, especially the youngsters of the scene. Haha, it was so funny when dear old friend Vuk addressed me as "the screamo god of Serbia" and promoting my blog in the process. In any case, I was extremely glad to see new faces, especially younger ones, being interested into the whole underground music, since in Belgrade it is somewhat stagnant and dying.
So, after a lot of social mingling and just having a good time, the gig started, "Reflections of Internal Rain" breaking the murmur of the audience, since sadly "Furtive Forest" couldn't play that night. Most of you know by now that this band is one of the most loved Serbian acts by yours truly and it was a real pleasure seeing them live once again. They recently returned from a tour with "Birds In Row" and I was amazed with how much energy and strength they managed to bring back. The stage was constantly bursting with movement and jumping and dancing around, their music even driving the audience maximally, which was quite cool since I remember the Novi Sad crowd being not much into expressing body movement before. Their set featured the majority of tracks from their latest release, "Answers" and some older songs such as "Resurrection", "My Promise" and "Sunset of the End". I'll be honest here, of course, and repeat myself that the new songs didn't manage to completely impress me, as much as the "Last Flood" material did. Those songs are absolutely top notch and make me really proud that the band hails from these parts, though they didn't grab my attention that much. I really settled down to this band being a bit depressive and with a slightly melancholic, yet aggressive and direct tone, which somewhat changed on the new recordings. "Answers" provides a lot of experimental sounds and extreme amounts of melodic and twisted tones, which I am not yet used to hear under their name. Guess I just need more time, right? All in all, their set was excellent to behold, most importantly because of the amount of passion which materialized in front of your eyes while you look at them and it is really beautiful to see the band being so alive and kicking after all these years.
"Downfall of Gaia" came up next and managed to blow my brains away. I thought that the Backa Topola show was astounding, but this gig just left me stunned and shaking. The venue and its clear sound and acoustic came to aid the band, morphing their tunes into a incredibly strong thunderstorm of tones and emotion. Songs which were performed were the same as on the previous gig, but the sheer experience was increased a tenfold in the most positive of ways. Every drop of emotion that could have possibly been present when the songs were written was transferred to the crowd in the purest of forms, an impact hit that simply can't be forgotten. From the very opening sound and all until the end, I was standing as if on needles from the intensity of the music wrapping around me. The switch between "Prolog" and "Odium" was so powerful for instance, that it made me literally confused at what to do with myself at the given time, creating a wish to just meld myself with the sound and somehow aid it. Their entire set was such a pleasure to watch and it was definitely the best show for me in the duration of these four days. I was so happy with the reaction of the audience as well, everyone just sticking around and being entranced with the soundscape, releasing the deserved ovations toward the band after each song. In the end, the crowd cheered, but went silent quickly and it was so funny how after my initial screaming of the word "more" the audience rippled with more claps and yells, resulting in us getting one additional song.
All around, this was an amazing show, both for the audience and the band. I was really happy that the band was satisfied with everything and it is so nice that they went away with a great experience in their hearts. After the gig, we hanged out around the venue, grabbed the chance to talk to some more friends of mine and FINALLY grasped the chance to get a "Reflections of Internal Rain" shirt and once again being faced with the joke of Aleksandar and me being twins. The funniest thing was that Toni from "Downfall of Gaia" reminds me of Aleksandar, who also agreed on the fact when I told him, so now we are actually triplets! Later, the weary travelers went upstairs into the resting quarters where the possibility to finally take a shower emerged. Caterpillar mode again ensued and a night filled with rest.

Gig review: Downfall of Gaia Eastern European Tour 2011, day one

This Friday night I returned home from four days spent with "Downfall of Gaia", who were on their two week long tour over Eastern Europe. I actually don't know how detailed (or not) this review will be, since this is the first time I followed a band for a number of consecutive days and not only did a lot of things happen, but also there are quite a few personal elements that occurred. Spending several days with the same bunch of amazing people, sharing food, laughter, mischief, sleepless nights and everything in between really manages to bind a group of individuals. So I'll just go with the flow of my own thoughts and write what first comes to mind.

17 October, day one - Backa Topola, Serbia

My journey began with a three and a half hour drive by train to the town of Backa Topola, located in the far northern regions of Serbia. The train arrived somewhere around five o'clock to the town, which meant that I was destined to wander around alone and kill several hours prior to meeting the guys from the band and actually have some company. Since I never went to Backa Topola before, I armed myself with a map and once I arrived, a trek to find the venue ensued. The town, with its low population and generally countryside feel, was quite eerie due to the fact that while I was walking to the show space I haven't encountered a single person, nor was any store open or light turned on in the surrounding houses. A distant echo of barking dogs followed my wake and the overall weather which was really gloomy made this whole experience like that out of a horror movie. After a good half an hour of walking in the cold scenery I finally reached the venue, hanging out a bit outside with a dude from Subotica whom I met in front of the place and soon the owner let us in.
The venue in question is called "Panta Rhei" and from the moment I saw the exterior it grabbed my interest completely. On first glance the red brick-made building seems like a combination of a medieval house, mountain home and a church, with walls decorated with stone columns of sorts and windows which seem to be erect from the house, making it have a peculiar looking shape. The interior extends the medieval feel, with tight, dark corridors, high walls and a lot of woodwork. There are several wooden benches and tables inside, as well as a brick bar, a small stage which was used only for the drum set and even an inside balcony looking down from the upper floors. I had a lot of time to analyze the design of the place, since I spent my time in the company of people who were speaking in Hungarian, the town being so close to the border with Hungary that the languages meld with one another. Aside of the design, my attention was focused to the unbelievably cute dog of the owner, which was just sitting next to me and demanding to be played with. The moment you I would retract my hand from petting her, she would immediately push her snout under my hand and desire more attention. Animals > humans.
Eventually, "Downfall of Gaia" arrived, along with their driver, Lucas, who is actually the bass player of the German band "Finisterre" and Bjorn, one more friend of theirs, the self proclaimed "useless tour guy". (hope I spelled your names right guys!) In any case, I searched for Dominik and/or Peter first, since they are the ones with whom I exchanged most of my mails. After some mingling with them, getting introduced and me generally being completely retarded and not being able to speak English correctly due to shyness and excitement (fanboy alert!), I was asked to join them for diner and a round of drinks. It was totally amazing how nicely I was accepted by the entire group, especially since no one except Peter and Dominik knew I would be joining them in the days to come. Through those first couple of conversations prior to the gig and me finding out that this little blog of mine is actually way more popular than I thought it was, I realized how we all click well together and how overtly nice these people are. These four days were bound to be great.
After some cynical jokes, serious discussions and getting to know each other better, the gig was about to start. There was an extremely low number of people, somewhere around seven not counting the three of us following the band on tour, due to both this being a small town and the fact that the gig was on a working day. Luckily the organizer "warned" the band that this will likely be the case, so it was not a bad surprise for them. The venue got quiet while the band was setting up and soon the silence was broken with the sound of “Prolog”, the intro song of “Epos”. The eerie tone crept around the people present in the darkness filled, cold complex, building up with the chilling guitar playing and finally exploding when the tunes melded with the song “Odium”. That tone metamorphosis between the songs is brilliant when witnessed live, thanks to the soundscape which constantly increases with tension and strength. What was once just a creepy, yet gentle tune in front of you now stands as a massive, unstopable behemoth eager to pick you up and continually smash you to the ground. I never reviewed “Epos” and will be completely honest here and say that prior to the tour my liking of the said release was not that strong. The demo recordings were an amazing neocrust creation packed with aggressive beats clashing with melancholic sections, an overall great release. By chance I failed to listen to their “Tour EP”, so the transition from short bursting songs of the demo to the brooding and epic tunes on “Epos” was quite a shift for me. There was a seeming lack of violent chrescendoes and the slower sections appeared to be too long on the latter album which made me not really like it that much at first. Witnessing “Epos” being performed live changed my feelings for it, literally skyrocketing and sealing my love for it. My initial dislike was probably due to my loved neocrust band being turned into an epic, dark post-rockish project all of a sudden, but thinking about it now that metamorphosis is simply magnificent. “Downfall of Gaia” managed to break out of its ordinary crust coocoon and come out as an astounding and unique band which offers a superb story to tell. The amount of passion and emotions they succeeded in transfering toward me through their music for the duration of the tour is something that I will seriously never forget.
In any case, after the amazing “Odium”, which in the course of the tour turned out to be one of my favorite songs by the band, “Zerfall” continued to attack the venue. Once the ten minute monster was finished, the two songs from the split with “In The Hearts Of Emperors” were played. It was so enjoyable to see and hear the band play songs which always meld into one another, giving you the feeling that the tracks are actually crafted into one gigantic song. As the band continually radiated with tunes, the “crowd” offered some movement, though it was overtly...strange, to say the least. There was some dancing around, one girl even trampling over Peter’s mircophone and not giving a fuck about it in the process, yet the audience was generally silent when a particular song would end, which left the venue filled with some awkward silence. The end of the set was the stupidest thing ever, since the band started leaving their instruments and everyone in the venue was just standing there, Bjorn and me exchanging some confused stares and offering claps, me yelling “more” and trying to flame up some thanks from the people present. Luckily, we woke up the crowd and a bonus song was played, that being “Silere”.
After the excellent set, the gig was over and we moved to a table and shared some more drinks and talks about some pretty interesting stuff. It was cool to see the guys, especially Toni and Lucas, being intrigued by some problems and general situation in Serbia, talking about Fascism, Nazism and all those retarded extreme social movements and other idiotic problems plaguing the system, plus having Hannes telling the epic tale of how he chose art over social activity. Deep in the night, we moved into the sleeping quarters. I set off completely hardcore on the trip and not bringing a sleeping bag, which I soon realized I couldn’t do without, yet luckily the owner of the venue was prepared even for tards like me and provided me with a warm matress and sheets. Crawling inside the room designed for sleeping and huddling around the heater, dreams followed soon, ending my first day of the tour.

Downfall of Gaia Eastern European Tour (2011)

Yes, next Friday is the start of a fifteen day long tour of "Downfall of Gaia", the amazing epic crust band from Germany. This is here in case you haven't heard anything about the tour thus far, so hopefully they are playing in your town or close by and you can attend a show. I'll have the pleasure of travelling with them for four dates, so maybe I get to see some of you on the road!
 In case you missed it, I did an interview with "Downfall of Gaia" some months ago which you can check out here. For all your other needs, check out the band's website found here.

Interview:Downfall of Gaia

No need for introductions here, because if you don't know about this band you have probably been living under a rock for the past few years. Very proud for having this on the blog, since I consider "Downfall of Gaia" to be under a huge spotlight in my book. Hope you all enjoy reading this interview as much as I enjoyed writing questions for it.


1. Up front I want to thank you for taking a chunk of your time and doing this interview. Please, introduce yourself and the rest of the band.

Thank you as well for this interview. We are "Downfall of Gaia", a four piece band. There is Peter who does guitar and vocals, Toni who plays bass and sings aswell and the both of us are Dominik (guitar and vocals) and Hannes (drums).


2. I remember that "Downfall of Gaia" appeared like thunder from the clear sky, so to speak, quite a surprise back then. What is the story behind the formation of the band?

Dominik: Toni and me started this band back in 2006. In the beginning it took us a while 'till we found our style of music. We had more d-beat/crust - stuff that we played back then. In 2008 Peter joined the band and everything was now arranged with a second guitar. After we split from our former drummer, Sven a good friend of ours took the part of the drummer. Due to private circumstances Sven left Downfall of Gaia and with Hannes we hopefully found our final lineup. Our music developed over the years towards our recent sound, since the new members brought in their different influences and we grew as a band in our musical experience.


3. Could you give me your thoughts about your local music scene? Is there a strong diy presence? Germany gave birth to a large number of quite impressive projects.

Dominik: Germany has got a big and really active diy scene and I think we are all spoiled with good concerts and great bands. There are a lot of people who arrange concerts and keep this scene alive.

Hannes: I guess most people just don't realize how huge this movement in Germany is. We really have a big presence of the DIY spirit. As Dominik said we are spoiled with a lot of good concerts here and people got used to it. So still everyone seems to complain about nothing is going on. I think Germany has a lot of good bands that do everything on their own and this became something as a standart nowadays.


4. And your thoughts about the rest of the world when it comes to this kind of music?

Hannes: I think that the whole scene got bigger and bigger during the last years. A lot of new bands came up and the genres got more specialized. The internet took its part in this, so you don't have a problem finding the perfect fitting band for your taste of music. It's awesome that you can find a lot of very qualitative bands that care for deep and atmospheric sounds and have a serious message as well.


5. "Epos" brought a change of style in contrast to your first recordings, songs became more epic and darker. Are you satisfied with your evolution or do you want to continue it?

Dominik: I think we are all very satisfied with our evolution but of course we still want to continue and go on. I wouldn't feel comfortable if every record would sound the same. We are getting older and we are collecting more and more influences, so our sound is growing and growing. We don't want to set ourselves a musical limit which means we don't want to be trapped in a musical genre.
The Epos had more Doom and Post-Rock influences than our earlier stuff. This is a sound which we feel very comfortable with. Since Hannes is involved in our songwriting we also added some atmospheric black metal parts for example.


6. Which projects do you find to be your biggest musical influence?

Dominik: We all like to listen to a lot of different genres. We enjoy music from pop to electro to indie but related to our music our biggest influences are bands like Cult of Luna, Rosetta, Altar of Plagues, Neurosis or Mono for example...


7. I'm studying the German language, but it is still a bit rusty. For all of us who are not that much versed in your language, could you explain some of the themes you touch through your lyrics?

Dominik: Our lyrics are based on private or political circumstances, daily issues and so called life. Epos was a real personal release. So I think every song has got it's own story and there is enough space for everyone to read something into and create your own song meaning. But for lyrics + song explanations you can check out our myspace-page.

Hannes: Our split lp that is gonna be released in February deals with our world that is ruled by hate, egoism, corruption and violence and it tells the story how the humankind destroys nature and itself with its own hands.


8. What are your plans for the future?

Dominik: There will be a new record and of course we try to play as much shows as possible. In February we will release a 12" split Lp with our friends from Sweden - In the Hearts of Emperors. Hopefully we are able to hit the studio at the end of 2011 to record a new 12". Also we will hit the road in October for a "bigger" European tour. One goal for 2011 was to play the States in October but due to some private circumstances we are not able to do this tour. So we will tour Europe in October.


9. Do/Did some of the band members participate in other side projects?

Hannes: I'm the only one that plays in other bands at the moment.
I founded a Hardcore band back in 2006 called "In A Blind Fury". We are a band with political and social lyrics, but we as well got songs that express personal topics. After a Demo and EP we are writing our first full length album right now.
I as well got a modern death/black-metal band that is called "Grievous Burden". We mix our sound with genres like sludge and post-rock. We formed out of our old band "Beneath A Steel Sky" and finished our first EP that is gonna be published soon.



10. Care to share your favorite releases of 2010? And overall favorites?

Hannes: 2010 was a great year for music in my opinion.
My favorite records this year would be:
Eluvium - Similes
Jonsi - Go Do
Behemoth - Evangelion
God is an astronaut - Age of the fifth sun
Escapado - Montgomery Mundtot
Rosetta - A Determinism of Morality

Dominik: Hmmm...nice question. To be honest - I think I can't answer it because there are so many good records out there and I would forget the half of it.
"A Determinism of Morality" from Rosetta was an impressive release in 2010. All time favorites - let me think - Neurosis - "The eye of every storm". That's a masterpiece of music!
One of my all time favorites is also "Untrue" from Burial. Really great and atmospheric dubstep from the UK.


11. Do you guys have some hobbies outside of music?

Dominik: Of course! I think we are all into vegan cooking, traveling, photography / art and all that stuff.


12. Time for you to ask something!

Hannes: I'm interested in what you do besides this blog and how much time you're investing for Natures With No Plagues?

I'm a student on my final year of studies, with three exams left to finish my education. A lot of my time is dedicated to writing, both here and for other sites, as well as writing some short stories and other fiction work. As for time invested in this blog, it really depends. When people ask me this question I always remember the band "Melete". I never actually planned to write about them, but once I heard their 7'' release it blew me away and I just had to share my thoughts about their music. I guess that is why this blog has a more personal tone, since I try to present my actual momentary feelings about the music. Other times, bands send me their releases and ask to be reviewed, which I find to be very pleasurable and fun, especially since I discovered a lot of excellent bands that way.

Dominik: Do you make music on your own?

Actually yes, since I play bass, but I must admit that my projects never actually came to the phase of recording due to various factors. Most notable was an experimental nintendo band, but a lack of initiative from members killed it. Recently I started playing with my brother and for now this seems to be the most stable project, since we are very eager to create something together and we have a relatively fixed idea where we want to go. We play occult inspired crust/sludge. For now it is just the two of us (guitar, bass and vocals), but once we form the basic structure we will be adding a drummer as well.


13. Thanks so much for doing this interview, very happy to have you on the blog. Do you have some final message for the blog, "fans", friends, bands, the world?

Dominik: Thank you for doing this interview with us! It really means a lot! We are very honored that people care about what we are doing!

Hannes: I must admit I'm not spending a lot of time reading blogs for usual. But I really enjoyed yours and spent some hours reading it, its very nice to see someone putting that much heart into it! So thanks a lot for this great interview, it was really fun. And be sure to have one new person that checks you blog now quiet often.

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.

Endless howling III

While I'm searching for new stuff to post I guess I'll throw you a bunch of old links again, since writing these past few reviews really took it out of me. Some great stuff featured in this post though.

Daitro - Laissez Vivre Les Squelettes (2006)

Daitro - Y (2009)

Das Plague - ST (2006)

Dawn Treader - Deconstructing the coffin (2006)

Ding Dong Dead - Nie Wieder Morgen! (2009)

Document of Forgotten Smiles - Demo cdr (2009)

Downfall of Gaia - Tour Ep (2009)

Duna - In-motions (2007)