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. 

Interview:Light Bearer

After some talks and discussion, my good friend (whom you can find on last.fm under the name necastivi) and myself decided to do some collaboration work in the form of several interviews. This is the first in the series and it went great, hopefully we will continue doing work in the future. We both have ideas for a label, so we will most likely expand further in that direction as well.

Without further ado, we proudly present Light Bearer, a highly expected and awaited band. We were very happy that Alex accepted to do this interview, so here are the fruits of our work.

1. First of all, I would like to thank you for taking your time to do this interview and for the overall interest in this blog. Please introduce yourself and the rest of the band.

Hi, we are Light Bearer, there are six members - Lee creates soundscapes and atmospherics, Tom plays bass and sings, Liam plays drums, Duncan also plays guitar and vocals and Matthew plays guitar. We also have a guest viola /cellist called Ella who will join us in our recordings. My name is Alex, I am the vocalist and artist/lyricist in the band.

2. What is the story behind the formation of the band?

After my last band ended, I realised how important being part of a shared experience was. I had advertised a few times trying to drum up interest in a new band but to little or no avail. One of my oldest and dearest friends Lee agreed to be involved from the start, he has been in a number of noise bands over the years. We started working on a few little ideas and then eventually Matthew approached me about playing guitar.He and Liam and Duncan had played in a hardcore band called Dungeons for many years and had also started a doom band called R'lyeh, which had fallen apart shortly after its inception, and Matt had written quite a lot for that. We spent an afternoon drinking tea and playing riffs and it flowed really well. Matt asked Liam to play drums, which he agreed to, which was really important as we needed a drummer who was technically very good. Liam does a lot of session work so has become a very competent drummer. We also asked some other friends to join and went through a few line up changes and eventually Duncan, Liams brother joined on guitar which was a welcome addition. Last but not least Tom on bass, who will bring clean vocals to the music. I guess the most important factor is we all get on really well. Musically we all share a common interest, but have quite disparate interests as well, from 90's emo, screamo, hip hop, noise, black, doom and drone metal and indie, drum and bass etc. It became quite fluid very quickly, which probably stems from many of us having playing together before.

3. Tell me more about the concept around which "Light Bearer" rotates.

Light Bearer is the literal translation of "Lucifer" and in context is the story of the birth of intelligence and free will, and the passing on of knowledge, in the shadow of religious oppression. The story follows a number of story arcs, the first is the formation of the Authority , the false god. The second, the casting out of the innocent lucifer, the third, the tale of Eve and the dawn of self awareness and the forging of a knife as a weapon against that authority. The concept borrows mainly from paradise Lost by John Milton, but also from His dark materials by Philip Pullman, which is a book loved by many members of Light Bearer. The concept will flow over all our releases, we plan to keep the main story to four records, but we also have a number of side stories which will permeate splits and ep's. Its a strong narrative which will be reflected in the music and artwork. The music has been written specifically to mirror the words, with melodies representing characters and songs incorporating mood and a sense of place. When we were writing our first album, it was more about writing songs that have melodies that invoke emotions, creating highs and lows. We can be pretty heavy, but also very minimalistic.

4. How did the process of establishing that idea go?

We originally planned for the concept to follow the idea of Eve, the personification of the innocent learning the idea of self and identity, but then the story evolved and became more about Lucifer. I started reading about different versions of the first fall - why Lucifer was thrown from heaven. Liam and Duncan's uncle writes a great deal on the occult and the mythology of Lucifer so this was an interesting source of information pertaining to this, but we wanted to turn the story on its head and have Lucifer as the protagonist, the innocent. When we started writing the song "primum movens" - Matt was deliberately writing the structure to mirror the confrontation between god (the authority) and Lucifer and we decided that this was more important. Why would a benevolent god condemn his own kin for refusing to bow before anyone but himself? The idea of bowing before a graven image is a sin in itself. It was a sign of great arrogance and hypocrisy. It was this act that gave away his true form. We are all atheist or anti-theist in this band, but all enjoy the rich mythology that surrounds abrahamic religion. Its with this we play out that story, but also pay homage to the authors that took that original concept and made it their own.

5. Did you manage to entwine the concept with your real life ideologies and in which measure?

Yes, in fact they are very obvious from the beginning of the album. We were aware that sometimes certain key ideologies are lost in translation, especially considering much of the lyrics in the first half are focused entirely on the point of view of Lucifer, who loved god so much he could not comprehend his condemnation. The lyrics are exalting the authority. Our second album, Silver tongue, will be a little more obvious in out intent - like all bands before and possibly after, lyrically we all condemn religion.

6. You were a member of a band with a strong concept flowing around the book "Watership Down". I presume you aquired a lot of experience which you can also implement into "Light Bearer"?

Perhaps, its just something I really enjoy. Lyrically my last band had many flaws, so I am happy to start this project from the beginning with a specific goal. I guess this is just what I like doing and of course people will say it is unoriginal to do another book band, but this is actually the fourth book related band I have been part of so its just how I roll. Writing the concepts isn't unique to me in this band. Matt, Liam and Duncan were in a band based around the tales of HP Lovecraft. Books are there to be read, and enjoyed, and I guess we enjoy taking ideas and giving them a new dimension. I have been a comic writer and author for many years, and for me, being in a band, having a strong lyrical direction is important. What we are trying to do is create something all encompassing and enjoyable to build upon. Its hugely rewarding and after 10 months of practicing, we finally have something to be proud of.

7. Can you tell me about the very sound of "Light Bearer"? What type of sound can we expect?

Musically, there is no set style, when we sat down to start writing, we just wrote -there was a big focus on melodies and melodies representing characters. On our first record there is a specific melody, we call "Lucifers monody" which is repeated in three of the songs, to accompany this we wrote other melodies that represent other key characters which play alone or alongside lucifers monody. Each melody will gain significance over the four records, and its fun already planning how these will work in future releases. The whole thing has to be listened to like a story, so we will have to be forgiven for repeated phrases - like characters in a story they will come and go throughout the project. The album builds and falls in interesting ways, creating audio landscapes to mirror the events in the story. Its a challenge that the boys took to really well, it can be rather frantic, but we all worship the riff so there are plenty of crushingly heavy parts that really add weight to everything. It has been a lot of fun seeing things fall into place. I guess you could call it a mix of really melodic post rock, doom, post hardcore, post metal, beats and huge soundscapes. We invoke bands like Envy, Red Sparrowes, Sigur Ros, Neurosis, early Baroness, Circle Takes The Square, Mastodon, 65 days of static, Mouth of the Architect and Cult of Luna.

8. In one of your myspace blog entries you wrote: "We plan for this band to be as much about the art as it is the music." Do you plan on doing something special for the releases?

We have grand plans for artwork, the music and the story are so intertwined, we had to make sure the artwork was similarly complex. Money is the only prohibiting factor because we do not want our releases to be too expensive. I guess we shall have to wait and see, but expect a lot of screen printing, die cutting, each record will link to the last. I've been working on the LP artwork for some time and its a challenge making it open ended, so like the music, the artwork will flow from release to the next.

9. Short euro tours were also mentioned. Are those being planed already or are they just an idea for now? And do you plan to be an actively touring band?

Light Bearer will tour as much as we can, some of us have full time jobs, so this is always going to be difficult, I think people expect bands to be able to drop everything, but if you work a 9 to 5, you only have a few weeks a year to tour and to spend time with you loved ones. We shall do our best to tour as much as possible.

10.Any chance of touring Serbia with "Light Bearer"?

We will try not to miss anywhere out! This band is as much about seeing the world as it is about playing shows!

11.You are working with labels you have worked with before, was this a conscious decision?

Working with Timo at Alerta Antifascista and Cory at Halo of Flies was something important to me, I think I threw myself at them! I've personally worked with both of them for years and I think they're used to the control freak in me! They both work so hard and have a great work ethic, I consider them both friends and both share a love of awesome music, be that the best doom metal or awful pop music! Its an honour to work with those guys. But we will also be working with three new labels, TOKY JUPITER out of Japan, MOMENT OF COLLAPSE, who are an awesome label out of Germany, and FUCK HAPPY ENDINGS, which is run by our good friend Rory. We hope to build awesome friendships with all these new labels and work to create something awesome.

12. Do Light Bearer members have some side projects at the moment?

Yes, we all have numerous small side projects and other bands - Lee plays in The Mylar Blackout and Cliff Bastard incredible atmos/noise, he also plays in The Nepalese Temple ball, heavy noise/post metal. Liam, Duncan, Tom , Matthew and I play in a melodic hardcore band called Momentum, which we hope to record soon.

In the end, a little announcement of Light Bearer's future plans. Near the end of February their first album along with a single song LP will come out under the name of "Beyond the Infinite; The Assembly of God". The release will be followed by a short Euro tour in March. Stay tuned, we are in for a great new year.