Tau Ensemble Interview 2026

Tau Ensemble is a German- Israeli world music group feature five members. The band plays mostly short compositions of original instrumental music.  The combination of the Oud and violin are the main melodic elements with desert and middle eastern inspired themes.  The band was recently recording in my studio and I grabbed them for a few minutes to ask them a few questions.

Where are you based and how long have you been playing together?

Or- Four years.. Three of us are from Mitzpe Ramon in Israel,  the other two are originally from Germany. They are now living as nomads in a van.

Jonas- It started up 4 years ago.

Or- We started off in the south of Israel and were all living together there for 3 years. Mirjam and Jonas then went back to Europe. Since then we are meeting every summer for a tour. We mainly meet in Europe. 

It was the one year anniversary of your first release, the First Rain on May 29th. How do you feel about the record one year after and how was it received in the media and by the world in general.

Jonas- It was a long process. it was recorded in 2022. First of all, the way we played in 2022 and the way we play now has evolved a lot. When we listened to it on the release date, we were like, ok it is done but we do not feel like it represents us, because we evolved so much in the meantime. Many things like lost files, war delayed this album and it became a pain in the back part of the body.

Mirjam- Yes.. we had a good response.  We actually did not promote this album that much for the reasons that Jonas explained.  We are really excited to record a new album. 

Please tell me about the lovely artwork cover..

Mirjam- The first album cover was painted by the beautiful girlfriend of our bassist. Maja. She is using pigments from the desert to paint. She is going out to the desert where we all lived and collecting up pigments from different kinds of rocks and sand. The motive is referring to our name. Tau, in German, means morning dew. The idea behind it is a bit like what we want to bring with our music. Something refreshing, something that comes from the silence. The drop on the cover, represents us creating something moving, something alive out of the stillness. 

Jonas- Even in the desert where there is no water, there is dew! 

Nadav- An ancient way of painting. 

You are recording a new album right now.  How do you feel the new material is different or a progression from your first album?

Jonas- It is a different world completely. The first album is much more earthy and grounded, gentle, meditative, friendly and now the new material is all opposite of it that. First of all we have new instruments like didgeridoo since we have a new bass player. Also electric guitar. I think the music is more wild and daring, more exploring. For me it is nice to have people to share these realms together. 

Almog- We have more wilder parts and gave ourselves more space to explore and expand our genre. To discover new sounds for ourselves.

You are working with the well known music producer, Shahar Kaufmann. How did you meet or know him? 

Almog- Like all the rivers go to the sea, all the recommendations go to Shahar!! 

Miriam- If we look at what albums we listen to and like a lot, and the sound that we search for, who recorded it, Shahar, next album, oh Shahar.. 

Or- We have a weekly meeting on line and we asked each of us to choose 1 or 2 albums which we liked the sound and just exploring and 4 out of the 5 of us got the same, the albums were recorded by Shahar!

How has your studio experience been here in Portugal? How is it different to recording at home in Israel? 

Everyone- Very peaceful!

Or- No sirens and bombs..

Nadav- The idea came up when we were in Croatia and just practicing in this beautiful house out in the nature, this view, this setting, where to record and we start to think about doing it as a retreat. We thought about doing it in a neutral country, where none of us have any projects, etc.. We were talking to Shahar and he was thinking about this space (my studio). 

Mirjam- I think we are good at getting annoyed with each other and it is great to have a space where we can just run away and have some peace for a moment. The band is a relationship of five people. 

What inspires you to make music? 

Almog- It is individual. Music has been part of my life since I was a kid. I am kind of married to the music. I do not see myself not in a relationship with music. I really like to play in this band as it makes me create, gives me a space where I can express myself. I am inspired by the music that each one of us is bringing to the group like from Turkey, different traditions that we all come from. 

Jonas- It was always in my life somehow. There was always a guitar in the house and friends of my Mom´s were musicians. It naturally happened. Music is a kind of space where you flow. It is a little bit like a spiritual factor. To make it nice and good you have to totally not care and it can also be really bad but it is a process of logic and practice and understanding what you do but when you actually play you have to trust that it is going to happen. I like this and to kind of bring them together with music. 

Nadav- An inspiration, for me but it also connects us, is trying to explore traditions but create something that we didn´t hear before. There are parts of our music that sounds like something traditional but we are tying to do music that is a mix of a rhythm from here and instruments from there and create a new song, to bring something together. 

Mirjam- I feel music, for people like us who deal with music all the time, it is like a mirror of life, everything. When you play you see how you deal with life. If you manage to stay in the moment. If you manage to enjoy what there is and share it with the world. There are a lot of lessons to be learned and I choose to learn them thru music. Also, to use music as a connection between people. We like instrumental music so people can take the music how they want. I am also trying with music to bring the change that I want to see in the world. I know it is a big expectation but we are at least trying. What is the change that we want to see, all five of us, what is the shared thing we can all put our energy into that we could wish future generations to live in this world. That inspires me. 

Or- I came from a family where everyone is playing an instrument, not necessarily musicians. When we play, we can communicate, it is like a clean channel, my thoughts, political views, are forgotten, it is just pure. All the stuff that and mess that is happening around, this is one of the only places I can find this pure communication, is in music. 

https://tauensembl3.bandcamp.com/album/the-first-rain

Jam in the Castle Festival, Öregtölgy, Pusztazámor Hungary Sept 4-5th, 2026

Last time I was in Hungary was 1998!! A long time ago… I hardly remember anything about it except it was very nice.  Bence from Psychedelic Source Records, is my host and I stayed in their small two bedroom house outside of Budapest.

Festival has a great line up of international and local talents.  3 bands from Italy (da Captain Trips, Gioba and Supernaughty), two from Poland (Spaceslug, Weedpecker), The Spacelords (DE), Yuri Gagarin (SE), one from Romania (Roadkillsoda), Bulgaria (Obsidian Sea) and 5 from Hungary.  

Travel was ok today with the drive, train (15mins late), plane (10mins late).  Landed 15mins early and all went smooth. Was very warm outside, at least 22C when I got outside of the airport.  Bence picked me up 10mins later. 

30min drive to Páty (Pag-e) where he lives in his grandmothers old house that they have rebuilt into a more modern house.  Houses are a kind of run down a lot like in Portugal but a different style, more brick and not granite.  Lots of trees in and around Budapest.  Slept ok but am tired.

Sept 3rd

We were up at 730 and out of the house at 9 to go pick up the gear, backline, drums, etc. for the festival. It was in 3 different places. They have a small rehearsal studio in one of the small out buildings. She lives in the old family house out in the forest. He lives in the same town area that he grew up and his kids will go to the same school that he did. 

Nice weather, but warming up. Soon lunch time… and then we take the gear to the concert venue. What an amazing place this is. A large land with very old trees, huge oak is like 400 yrs old. Huge house, small lake. Wow. impressive. We unloaded all the gear into a old horse stable and tried to secure the door, as there was no lock.  There was a wedding going on so we could not do more for the festival set up until tomorrow morning but we have to be there at 7!! 

We came back after stopping at the store to get some sausages to grill and some veggies to eat. Hung out and played with the kids, had a BBQ, some beers and a few of Bence´s friends were there, who were going to help. I think there are 17 volunteers to help with the stage setup, etc..  I crashed out about 930, I was really tired. 

Sept 4th

Bence got me up at 615 and I had a quick shower and we were out the door. Had to make a couple of small stops, breakfast stuff, pick up another volunteer, etc… The huge lorry with the stage, lighting rig and PA speakers was already being loaded into smaller vans to take down the main festival side down by the small lake in the forest.  I did no heavy lifting and just helped with small stuff here and there and chilled out. It is a totally amazing place for a festival.  Unreal..  

Slowly we moved the merch tables into place, set up the merch for the festival shirts, stickers and our own stuff. The PA and backline was all ready for the stage inside the bit room in the house. a bit hard sound but not bad once the people were inside. It was LOUD in there though.  The Spacelords guys arrived early so I spent a lot of time talking with them, Just super nice guys. Really enjoyed our time… 

There was no food for the bands or volunteers until 16. I was very hungry and weak as I only had two sandwich rolls and two apples the entire day.  Finally they had the pizza ready about 1615 so I could eat. I had set up my gear on the stage so when I finished the pizza I ran down to the soundcheck. It all went well.  Had some time to talk with the Yuri Gagarin guys. So great to meet them again. Lovely people. 

PSR Jam, we were the first band on the main stage at 17 and would play two 40min sets with a break to change musicians halfway thru. Different bass, drummer and guitar. so more of the PSR collective could play.  Each set had two guitar, bass, drums and myself.  I had issues with not getting the right delay on the mellotron, so I hardly used it the first set. It was heavy and fun but I was still getting used to the guys and stage sound, etc.. This set had jews harp! Only about 20 people were there to see us. Maybe 30 for the 2nd set, which was a bit disappointing but maybe people were not off work yet.  This was really fun. The next band Roadkillsoda, were supposed to be on the mainstage next but they moved them inside and this gave more time for the Spacelords to set up. 

I managed to catch a little bit of Endre, a young three piece lead by a female vocalist/guitarist. It was very simple doom sound. Soft voice.. No guitar solos, so I did not find them that interesting. They did do a small hint of NIB by Sabbath. They had a small following and sold a cassette.   

Endre

Set List: Buciloop, Bucinmaci, Pingpong, Temeto>NIB, Sulikezdès, Korn

I only saw a bit of Band in the Pit (HU) on the small stage in the house as I had been busy with the two jams and now I am going to play with Yuri Gagarin! These guys were quite heavy, intense but very monotonous, a lot of the same riff over and over, quite hypnotic and you could get lost it in. Hard to describe actually….  The bass player in the band is also in PSR. 

The Spacelords were next and now there was maybe 100 people??  I had not seen the guys since we played together in Germany back in 2018?? Super friendly and a great 5 song set. One new song was played. Love the way the guitar and bass work together in this band and the drummer just holds it all down. The audience really liked it and the sound was great although the snare was a bit dry and loud for my taste.  They played about 50mins.. Awesome. Great band..

Set List: Brand-new song, still untitled, Spaceship Breakdown (from Liquid Sun album, 2016), Uranus Omnibus Sanctus (Uranus Omnibus Sanctus album), Endorphine High (Nectar Of The Gods album, 2023), Plasma Thruster (Water Planet album 2017)

Yuri Gagarin, first gig in over 2 years!!  Exciting. They have a new rhythm guitar player but because the drummer injured his foot he played synth and the new guy played drums! He plays drums in another band, so we was good.  Band was in a great mood and had drank the right amount and were ready to fly. It was all new songs except one from the first album, Sonic Invasion.  It was so LOUD on the stage. Christians guitar was screaming loud and synths…. A very spaced out dense wall of space rock unlike this world has ever heard. We had a great time and people loved it.  I had so much fun…. Love these guys…

Set List: Gäng, Nu, Gammel Nu, Sonic Invasion, P. Maiden

I did not get to see any of Spaceslug (PL), Roadkillsoda (RO) or Madmess (PT). Acid Sitter cancelled. So busy with the gigs. 

I had played 3 gigs this day and was very tired as we arrived at the festival at 7 this morning so I went back to the hotel and missed my friends in Madmess but heard they were really great and people loved them. 

Day 2 (Sept 5th)

Hotel was about 3min drive from the castle site.  I had a room with the guys from Bulgaria, Obsidian Sea. Super friendly and nice guys.  Nothing to eat at this place only a coffee machine and tea, so that is what we had. I ate a granola bar. We then went to the local store and I got a muffin, croissant, juice, nuts, and we went back to the hotel and made some sandwiches and ate and chatted.  Bence came and picked me up about 11.  PSR Jam start the day at 1330. We play like yesterday 2 sets with different people. Bence only will play the first set.

Not many people watching PSR Jam

Had a nice long chat with two of the guys who used to play in Weedpecker and are filling in for this gig. Super cool guys and they love their weed!! IT rained a little but not much. Set up and soundcheck for PSR went well and I felt more in the zone today and the sets were only one guitar player today so I did more solos stuff and found some new patches and sounds which was fun. Again, we played for like 15 people the first set and maybe 25 for the 2nd. It was different not have the 2 guitars but I think we had a lot of interesting jams. I really liked the guitar player David on the 2nd set. He plays on some of the PSR releases but also Diviner Blues Session, .  Not many people around and It took people a long time to start to show up today. I think the first set was about 38mins and 2nd about the same. Very fun and great musicians to play with!! 

Supernaughty (IT) were the first band in the house and a cool quartet playing pretty straight up California style stoner rock with a melodic vocal and phrasing. People were grooving and they sounded great but not that original!  ´

Set List: Poseidon, Black Witch Mountain, Hell Boar, Weird Science, Amsterdamed, Inoculation, The Way I wish to Die, Apocalypso, Queen of Babylon

Mr Bison (IT), were a band I have been wanting to see for some years and they were very good live. Really nice interaction between the two guitar players and the bass player who sings the lead vocals was excellent.  Powerful singer with a great voice…  I think they played 7-8 songs. I did not like the album from 2025 all that much and not heard the new one yet but love some of their other records. It was a very good concert. Talked with the guys and super nice people..

Obsidian Sea (BG), were a classic 70s- doom rock trio with really good songs, solos, lead and backing vocals and I really liked them. It is hard to fit into this genre where it has all been done already and pull it off enough to keep me interested but I really liked them. I saw about 2/3 of their set and filmed one song. Very nice band.. Very good songs..

Giobia took a long time to set up so the entire schedule was off now and there was more overlap on the house stage. Anyway, I had not seen them since 2019 at Sonic Blast and wow.. This was the first gig with their new drummer- They were fucking great.. Almost all instrumental with vocals only on two songs plus the encore of Silver Machine. I filmed the one track where he played the sitar.  I just loved this set. Really space rock stuff with great riffs, grooves, transitions. They really like that Neu groove the drums and bass. Especially the bass player (he also wore a Neu short!) was playing this hypnotic bass riff line a lot.  Awesome.  A highlight of the day! 

Set List: 1976, Fractal Haze, Moonstone, Vers Le Terrer, Karmabomb, Lentarente, This World, Sun Spectre, Silver Machine

Da Captain Trips (IT), a band I have enjoyed for some years. IT was really nice to chat with the guys but sadly, I did not see their whole set. They were playing already when Giobia ended. Not a lot of people there when I arrived, maybe 15...  This is the only band that I would call Prog really. Some really interesting music and great guitar and keyboards.  I wish I had seen more. 

Dalbrovo Granje (Croatia) were recommended by my friend Lone. They were a five piece band, two guitar, bass drums, and trumpet. The music was all instrumental and I am not sure how to describe it.  The trumpet player was brand new (Valdamar) and really good so it sort of sets the sound in a way. Mostly it was pretty relaxed music but sometimes it grew in intensity.  Not really jazz.. They were interesting.. 

Set List: Intro, Sejica, Zadnji dan ne Mora, Ponocni Precec, Koka Kolo, Restiranje uma Gevezom, Propuh, Zen Kauboj, (not sure if they played Mehan but it was on the list like an encore.

Alas! (HU) were next in the small room. They were a heavy spaced out trio. The drummer also did the vocals and at first, strange dark incomprehensible stuff but later he really sang.  They had this sort of intensity about them. They had some cool guitar parts but then super intense at times. 

Weedpecker (PL) were next on the main stage and now the audience had grown a bit. They started a little late so only played like 35mins.. IT was like 6 songs but the first was a long 10 min space jam, that was just awesome. For me it all sort of went down hill after that. They try a bit too hard to sound like 2015-1017 Elder now with songs like Ash.  Still a solid good band but a bit too mainstream melodic sound now and not as powerful..  People liked them a lot. 

Azutmaga (HU) super heavy stoner duo. I was so tired at this point, I did not film them at all as there was almost no light in the house..  People were into though…

The Qualitons (HU), it was a five piece band and they played an improvised set in 3 pieces, about 45mins. Started very slow and spacey and then really started to take off. This is when I started to film.  That video is the of the last part of the first jam. The 2nd and last were even better. One of the highlights of the festival.  Great band. They just released a new album on this day also an mostly improvised set recorded last year.  

Speck (AU), I have heard their albums but never seen them. They played two long 20mins jams and that was it…. They play a sort of heavy space rock. I think they started as a trio but they now have a synth guy, who also used a modular synth and moog grandmother! Sadly, you could not really hear him at all in the PA, where I was standing or outside.  I filmed the most of the first jam.  Cool stuff. 

Just an awesome festival. I met so many nice and cool people. Had really nice chats with Speck, Gioba, Yuri gagarin, Spacelords, Weedpecker, and Obsidian Sea.  Met a guy Danny from the US but lives in Mexico. Sounds like he travels to Europe a few times a year to see bands and festivals. Also another American who flew in from Tennessee just for this festival.  The sound was very good for both stages. Thanks to the sound guys (both named Atilla!) Artistically it was awesome and very well done by the organiser (Kutya) and the team of volunteers. Incredible experience for all who attended. It will go down as a legendary festival as it will not happen again. This was a one time event, a sort of goodbye from the music business for Kutya. Maybe someone else will try to organise another Jam in the Castle, but as there was only about 120 people (including all the volunteers and bands, I doubt anyone will take the risk. A lot of money was lost. For those that were here, we will never forget it. What an amazing place and festival. 

http://jaminthecastle.com  

Nawty Pharmas- Canta Cafe, São Sebastião da Feira Portugal Aug 21st, 2026

Nawty Pharmas are a footstomping country, folk with stand up bass (he also plays Banjo), and two acoustic guitars, male lead and female backing vocals.  First time I saw them they also had a drummer but not longer.  Anyway, they play all original songs with the occassional cover. The lyrics are quite political and but also a sense of humour as well.  A wife variety of tracks were played in their 70mins set on this lovely summers evening. About 40 people were there. I got the feeling only about half the people came for the music and the rest just because it is a nice place to hang out and have some drinks, food, etc… They have a new digital album, just what the doctor ordered out now. 

Set List: Time to Get it on, Smartphones, Get a Grip, Last Chance Saloon, Sometimes I Wonder, Wake up train, Cripple Creek, Never Again, Just what the doctor ordered, There is a Time, Space Saga, Freight Train, Aces & ?, Darkside, Lets move Around, Nawty Pharmas, Salty Dog

You can find them on you tube, spotify, etc.. not on bandcamp.. 

https://www.youtube.com/@paulward3148

Tranquonauts- III (Kozmik Artifactz)

This is the 3rd album by the collaboration of folks from Seedy Jeezus, Isasaih from Earthless and Tony Reed. I have to say it might be my fave of the records they have made. Side A starts with some pre.recorded space stuff and into a real rockers. That is followed by an amazing cover of Space Child from UFO (Phenomenon Record). .They do it really justice and extend it out nicely with great guitar work. Side 2 is a more more moody with the laid back Sigurnova closing out the record. Actually only 2 songs on each side. Very cool record especially for those that like long guitar workouts with lots of melody, feeling but also rocking out at times.. Great stuff..

https://seedyjeezus.bandcamp.com/album/tranquonauts-2

http://kozmik-artifactz.com 

 Sonic Blast- Vila praia de Âncora, Portugal Aug 5-8th, 2026

I think this is my 8th Sonic Blast Festival. Been coming every year since I arrived in Portugal in 2017. Always a fun festival but musically the line up is moving further away from my core music tastes that last years. A bit like Roadburn has.  

Due to the fire risks in our area and not wanting to leave my wife for so many days, I missed the warm up, which had some pretty cool acts like Master Wizard and Bongzilla.  I heard that it was really packed, maybe the most people ever for the warm up.  Tom said he had a fun DJ set. 

I arrived about 1215 to the same quiet place where i have been parking the last few years since I got the camper van. Great spot, about 20mins walk from the entrance.   I had lunch, a little rest and headed down to get my press pass and wristband, in plenty of time to talk with Elephant Tree guys, Claire from France, Ricardo (organizer), the sound and light guys who are so cool, etc..  

Free Ride (Madrid, ES) were up first and as soon as they started playing the tent was full with Spanish people. The band played mostly track from their album recorded in 2022.  They really have the Fu Manchu (vocal style) mixed with the riffs of Eddy from Nebula, down well. They could easily do a tribute band. A bit to unoriginal for me. Their best songs were the instrumental ones and the slower bluesy ones that had some form of them not just copying their heroes. A guest vocalist came out and sun a song called Outsider. That was a fun addition. They rocked for their 40 mins but should focus more on creating their own sound. 

Set List: Steamroller, Blackout, Down the Line, Sativa>Vice, Nowhere East, Outside, Rolling the Wheel, Nazare

Elephant Tree (UK) switched times with Clamm, who had airport delays. ET had their own tragedy though as their lead singer and guitarist had an epileptic seizure and as in the hospital so they had to perform as a 3 piece. Bass Player had to sing the parts and he was quite unsure of himself. It was not really my kind of heavy music but they did a good job. Guitar player had a hell of tone but was not a lead player at all so he really struggled to play anything interesting in the solo parts that were missing.  Singer from Ritual King came out and sang one song, which was cool. Crowd dug them and appreciated what they had to deal with, not easy.. Super nice people in this band. I would talk with them a lot over the days. 

Clamm (Australia), were a three piece simple punk band. It was all about the energy. Female bass player had to stage presence, almost stage fright maybe and pretty much just played the E string. They had a certain intensity in the vocal guitar combination but really did not thing for me and by far the weakest act of the day in my mind.. 

Think Trash (Los Angeles) were just insane. A great performance act but musically they brought nothing. Few of their songs broke 2mins and many under a min. Almost no point really. Singer was nuts and spent most of his time out in front in the pit. I think he talked as much as they played music.  Musically, think about old DRI and COC era 1985-86… The audience loved it and it was crazy and fucked up. 

Midnight (Ohio, US), three piece old school thrash like early Venom, Sodom and crazy fuckers. He said really funny stuff inbetween songs and they had funny black metal lyrics, wore hoods and all this metal and spiikes and chains. Full on intense HM show for sure. Great performance and crowd was into it..  I have heard it all before so not really giving anything new. Sounded and looked just liked they did when I saw them a Psycho Las Vegas back in 2015.. Fun..

Frankie and the Witch Fingers (Los Angeles), this was the 3rd time for them to play Sonic Blast and maybe the best. They blew me away and by far the coolest band of the day. I was totally into their high intensity MC5- Stoogies- energy.  Played a lot of new songs, I bought the new CD! Pity they couldn’t play longer!!  Awesome.

Deafheaven (US), were insanely loud (105-107 db) at the desk!!   Sound so much like Amanra type vibe. The audience was into this sort of wall of sound, with pounding double bass drums (way too loud), screaming vocals and this intense like post rock strumming guitar mixed with heavy chords. It really did nothing for me and besides a few breaks, it all sounded nearly the same. The singer wanted them to sing a long but it was so loud no way he would have ever heard anything.  

Chat Pile (US). I forced myself to check these guys out and was disappointed. Another band that musically really just was not interesting at all. A lot of energy, a quirky singer, strange noise guitar like Sonic youth mixed with punk rock and spoken word vocals. Nothing new here and no songs people are going to remember, etc.. just powerful, intense.. this is what people will remember. I was tired and my ears had enough after 9hrs of over 100db almost constantly..

Some possibly great acts followed: Snapped Ankles (US industrial synth duo- most of my friends said they hated it and left since they had seen Bonzilla, who was next the night before), Mephistopeles, Madmess.

Day 2

Up around 930, typed up my thoughts about the festival and had breakfast and walked down to the ocean for a swim about 1030. That was awesome. Back at 12 and had lunch and a rest and headed back to the festival about 245.. Jesus the Snake were still soundchecking. Said hello.  These guys were awesome, sadly, I forgot my recorded in the van so was not able to record their great show. I did video of the opening 10 min spacey track. They played stuff from their album and then closed with an abridged version of Echoes by Pink Floyd. Was great but a lot of people probably did not even notice!!  Great start of the day.  I bought their album. Later the guitar player gave me a shirt. Cool guys..

Hög from Portland, Oregon laid down a set up short intense hard rock (like Pentagram or Sir Cloudsley Shovell), mixed with more punky and metallic attitude. Intense vocal.  A lot of their stuff sounded a like but it it was a different sound from anyone so far at the festival, which was nice.. It took a while to get into them but I dug it. 

Dead Meadow cancelled due to a medical emergency (whole rest of the tour cancelled) and were replaced with Clamm, who played yesterday. I did  not like them at all so I went and had some food and looked around for the Voivod guys as I really wanted to meet Away..

VOIVOD, one of the bands I most looked forward to see. I saw them 40 years ago on the Rrrroooaarrr tour in Arizona and interviewed and hung out with the band at the hotel after the show.  Great memories.  Anyway, the lead singer Snake was no on this tour so Away was the only original member today. The band were awesome. A few recent songs started the show and then it was all songs from the 80s and early 90s, including Ripping Headaches and Nuclear War. Wow..  One hr went by fast.. A very unique band and people had fun. Mosh pit, Cool….

What can you say about CONAN and 50,000 watt PA.. It is going to rip your head off. The band make extremely good use of the 2-3 chords that make up nearly all the pulverising tracks.  Mostly they are slow, heavy and crushing. Screaming agonising vocals.  It is not my thing but those that were nice and stoned and high, could just float away on the heavy vibrations and sound.. Incredible but not my kind of music. The last song was a short thrashy, trashy number that created the largest mosh pit I had ever seen at Sonic Blast. Wow..  See video..

They had some great films running as well. Looks  alot like what they showed last time, I think. My ears were already tired, non-stop high volume for 4hrs so far. I feel bad for those without ear protection.

The Casualties from the USA, played a mixture of hardcore UK style punk with some more catchy sing along tracks like Fuck Trump, etc..  People were tired after CONAN but good crowd and audience as these guys gave 100%.. Great performers.  Musically, nothing new but people had fun, so that is what matters really. 

Kylesa, a US band that I might have seen at Roadburn many years ago, are back again and touring. It is a four piece with a female vocalist who plays the lead guitar parts. The other guitar player also does vocals. It was a mix of heavy downtuned stuff like Conan (not as brutally heavy) and more melodic parts. Most of the vocals were in the angry department and the music over all did not speak to me at all. She played some really cool solo parts, not what you would expect and I liked that but over all no my kind of music. 

I did not want to wait another 90ms to see Turbonegro (Seen them way back in the early 2000s) as I was not enjoying this. I really like Deathchant but they were not on until almost 0100, so I left. Still Goya dn N8NOFACE after that..  

Day 3

I guess I should have stayed for Turbonegro! Several people said they had the best sound and it was a super fun concert.  Nici said Deathchant were not as good as usual and no idea about the last bands. Had another swim and that was great and felt pretty fresh when I arrived for the Porto band, Summer of Hate (replacing Levitation Room). They have signed to Tee Pee Records so it was also cool to hang out with Kenny and his lady friend and talk about stuff.  Anyway, Summer of Hate played for only a few hundred people not many but started off with two slow dream psych pop type stuff. They have three guitar players and sometimes they are doing all different things and sometimes quite similar.  It gives this thick sound. Their set really built over time and the end was quite intense and cool. The female singer is dressed very interesting and sings in this very quiet style, all the time. I wish she had more range or diversity. Anyway. they did well. 

Primitive Ring (US), featured the keyboard player from Frankie and the Witchfingers on drums and they played a set of like classic 70s high energy rock and roll. Guitar player had a nice vintage firebird and did some ripping solos.  Some songs did not have solos at all, like the one I filmed. They really picked it up and rocked in the end. They did not have any records to sell. No one sounded like either of these band so far at the festival which was good. 

Margarita Witch Cult (UK) were back and did their set up stoner doom rock with a lot of influence from the heavier side of Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats.  I wish they had a dedicated lead guitar player, it would lift the band and the tunes up to another level somehow. Very competent and the crowd totally dug it. Ryanair, misplaced their gear so they had to borrow guitars and bass from the the Madmess guys (who were standing on the stage side rocking out).  They got an encore and did about 10 black sabbath songs in 3mins!. Impressive.. all instrumental parts. Fun..

Necrot (Oakland, CA) played super intense technical death metal, I guess you would say. I am always so impressed with these drummers. Much be so hard to play that fast and keep the time. Guitar player has strange chords and was also intense. THe bass player was the singer (not really singing.. death vocals).. Not my thing but very intense..

1000 Mods (Greece), back for a 4th time, perhaps at Sonic Blast. Pretty sure they played the same set as I saw last weekend at Krach am Bach festival. They seem to play the same songs every time I see them with maybe 1-2 from a new album. I feel they need a huge change in the set list. Be bold, play the entire new record, something different. Always too much the same.  Still a great band and nice people. 

Teen Mortgage (Wash DC), were a intense duo. Concert started 10 mins late as the guitar player could not get his fuzz pedal to work and was trying to work around that. Anyway, he had a very intense and interesting use of pedals as well as a bizarre guitar playing style. They were basically a punk band with great messages and playing intensity. Very cool guitar playing. 

ELDER… what can I say. They were so awesome. They mostly played new stuff and ended the show with Sanctuary.  75mins set. Longest of the festival so far.  Amazing sound and so cool to hear them with Favio on Keyboards. To play the new stuff, you have to have a synth player. He was great.  Just loved it and the local guy did great lights. Fantastic end of the festival. 

I did not stay to see High on Fire (seen them plenty of times),  Adult, Early Moods or Ungraven. Too late for me.  Met lots of cool people and generally had a fun time but it was way too LOUD, louder than ever, which is dangerous for the hearing of the audience, 10hrs over 105-110 db… not good….   Less variety this year than ever.. Too much metal and punk for my tastes but always a great experience. Ricardo said they would try to get some of the African bands back again. Awesome festival... but please turn down the volume.