This is a site where I post reviews of CDs, DVDs, LPs, and concerts. I have been writing music reviews on and off since 1984. I ran a heavy metal fanzine from 1984-1988 called Metal Madness and have been a staff writer for Aural Innovations for many years. I have also contributed to Chrohinga Well (RIP), Bad Acid (RIP), Lowcut (RIP), Roadburn and a number of other zines as well. I recently moved to Portugal so please request the new address and do not send any music to Denmark anymore. Tak..
This
is a really long 7”, nearly 15mins with two really cool tracks. The title track
starts off with some spacey and strange sounds and special keyboard line that
slowly builds up as the track really goes in all sorts of weird and interesting
directions and is quite psychedelic and difficult to describe. There is a vocal
section as well that is quite strange. The 2nd track, Queen Street
Gang, features some heavy blasts of guitar to counterbalance the spaced out
keyboard sound and very unique and bizzare vocals. A very adventurous release
and I have not heard anything quite like this in a long time. Yes..that is a
good thing.. I think this is released in 800 copies and no download.
This is the first new Pretty
Things release in many years. It features a new version of an old song recorded
live at the 100 Club in London 2010 (the title track) as well as a previously
unreleased demo track from 1965 called I can never Say! The entire 7” is 4mins
and 20 seconds and pressed in 1200 copies. Honey is a straightforward blues
rock track, while the 1965 acetate starts off with a harmonica and has a much
more organic song and feel. I like the simple groove on the track. It features
a short harmonica solo instead of a guitar solo and is sadly faded out quite
quickly. I guess this will be fun for some people to own but it is not
psychedelic rock, if that is what you are looking for..
The
Italian three piece are back with their 2nd short album (33mins)
again on Nasoni records but not nearly as nice artwork as the previous record. Viscera
starts things off and is a pretty straightforward high intensity stoner rock
track. A golden Rod for this Virgin besides the lyrical content reminds me of
Sgt. Sunshine but with a lot less guitar (mainly riffing and few solos). I
really like his vocal delivery. Weasel in Poultry Pen is a 3½min track that has
that same sort of Kyuss, Colour Haze, Sgt. Sunshine sound as well. The drum
sound is really excellent on this record but not too loud, letting the riffing
speak in this melodic instrumental track (no guitar solo). Nice mix of slow and
fast parts. Ghost Station changes the dynamic of the record a lot with this
slow steady pace with a passionate vocal. It is not until the last 1:15 that
the laid back dynamic changes. Cool Song. 1991 is 6½ mins and starts off with a
reverb guitar but then a really catchy riff and vocal line kicks in and the
band goes into a different riff rock territory. This is the band going for a
more mainstream sound in some ways but a great song is a great song. Glicine,
the last track starts pretty spacey with some cool guitar as it slowly builds
up and the main Colour Haze style riff kicks in but this does not last long
before they go into a different interesting section and then back out into more
riffs and a bit more melodic in nature. There are a lot of different changes in
this mostly instrumental track that is 8 mins in length, including the acoustic
vocal section towards the end. There is basically no lead guitar on this
record, which I really miss a lot and if they did not write such cool songs,
they would not get away without a slagging from me.
The
Finnish instrumental space rock band from Finland is back with their first
release of new material in 5 years. I was lucky enough to hear some of the new
tracks last summer when I was visiting one of the guitar players in Finland.
Cycloop is a 7½ min track with a pretty cool guitar riff and a potent and spacey guitar lead that penetrates the sound and leads the way. The new synthesizer player really plays super cool stuff and vibraphone guy also adds a new dimension. Plenty of spacey sounds balancing out the heavy guitar riff. A damn cool track to give us a taster from the next full record.
This
release sees The Machine heading out into a more spacey direction with much
less intense guitar and solos but some pretty damn cool songs. This is the
bands 4th release and it starts off like a Colour Haze song and also
includes a bit of sitar in the background and a massive low end, space vocal,
massive low end riffing and not much lead guitar compared to earlier records. Oh
yeah, the song is called Moonward and probably the best one on the record. Scooch
has a similar bass guitar riff structure but a more spacey psychedelic vocal
and a cool psyched out guitar section. Grain is a short 3 min QOTSA like track,
which I did not really get the point of? D.O.G. is nearly 9 mins and the vocal
delivery and basic song is a bit like QOTSA as well, the song develops in a
more interesting way with a nice wah guitar solo (panned far to the right) as
the track floats and some more spacey sounds enter in before they return to the
starting theme. Sphere is the longest track at 12½ mins and really races out of
the gates with a heavy steady gallop and slowly the band head out into a super
cool spaced out section. A very cool track. 5&4 is a mid paced track with a
very QOTSA vocal and with an effect on it. The melody is also too much like
QOTSA. The very psyched out guitar section is really cool. A short 3 min track
called Repose closes this record. I am not really happy about the band adopting
all these ideas from QOTSA, including this last song, which sounds a lot like the
previous song in a reprise. I am sure my
friend Tom loves this one!
Hiskodetria
is a new Finnish mostly instrumental, spacey kraut, psychedelic band. This hr
long 4 track is CD damn cool. The opening 15min track called Nothing Happens,
starts quite slow and spacey for the first 5mins and then the guitar riffs kick
in and the band go into a more uptempo jamming piece. It has some intense
guitar but then mellows with some nice guitar going back and forth between the
two guitar players as the number slowly ends. Poserslave is a short melodic
uptempo piece with some spoken words and the addition of keyboards but he seems
a bit lost at times as the rest of the band plays together. I wonder what he is
talking about. Hiskodetria is a 13min track that has a sort of phasing wall of
sound guitar to start, while the bass and drums really drive the track and the
spoken-sung words get more intense like Circle but his voice is not nearly as
intense but the music is! Some spacey keyboards also filter into the track. The
guitar riff is very repetitive after the vocal section, much like circle and an
organ comes in but is mixed quite low at times. Pretty intense but it is a very
low fi recording. The end is slowed down with a kind of bluesy guitar section. The
last track, On the Road again (Canned Heat song) is 14½ mins and starts very
spaced with some low synth sounds and the guitars slowly working their way into
the track and the Canned Heat song really takes off. This is a fucking great
version and while the guitar player is not technically so amazing, he has a lot
of passion and grit and guts to make up for it as the blues groove just goes
on. A very cool band.. check them out and you can get the CD-R for a cheap
price. Support this new band.
Wow..
17 years has passed since the last St. Vitus record. This one was produced,
mixed and mastered by Tony Reed (Stone Axe) at his home studio in Port Orchard,
WA. The sound is by far the most produced and clean sounding record the band
has ever made but it still has some great songs even though it really lacks an
edge, a grit, a nastiness. The CD starts with let them Fall, a track many of
you might have heard as this was released in March and they have a video for
this. Slow, massive, heavy and an intense Wino vocal and a really psyched out
guitar solo! The Bleeding Ground is one of the longest tracks at 5½ mins and
has a very familiar guitar riff, like one you heard before on one of the earlier
Vitus records. It really speeds up at the end with a cool guitar solo. Vertigo
is a short 2½ min instrumental piece with some really nice guitar and a cool
vibe, written by Wino. Blessed Night is almost like stoner rock with the type
of groove it has. The Waste of Time is more slow and doomy and Wino’s vocal is
very intense. Dependence is 7 mins long and starts with acoustic guitar and
some spacey sounds panned back and forth. The monster riff comes in after a
minute or so and the song slowly moves forward with some intense lyrics about
drugs additction, etc.. Towards the end there is a really spaced out psych
guitar section and some weak vocalizations in the back ground before the tracks
main theme and lyrics are repeated. Withdrawl, the last track is basically just
a lot of guitar feedback and noise and it is over.. only 33 mins but pretty
intense. I dig it… Oh yeah… if you are lucky and get one of the first 1000
copies you get an extra DVD with 6 songs recorded live in Hamburg in 2010. The
sound is pretty good and it is filmed with three cameras and is all in black
and white. There is some small sections with backstage banter, etc.. as well. A
good document of this tour, which I also saw.
This
is a limited edition release from Roadburn Records. One side was recorded at
the bands performance at the Midi theatre and the B side at the bands
performance the next day at Roadburn 2011. I was only at the Midi Theatre
performance and the band was really smoking! The LP starts with the midi show
and more recent tracks, where the older songs are mainly on the other side. The
Prow is a newer song fast pace song with a cool melodic thread. Ravernous
Medicine follows and is really old school. Overreaction is a very intense and
fast song with a crazy guitar riff and Experiment as well with a really great
guitar solo, totally channelling the Piggy universe. Global Warming continues
with another fast paced one but a more melodic side at times. Side B starts
with Ripping Headaches from Roarrrrrr. Intense! Nothingface from 1990, I
believe was well received and quite a surprise to hear. Perhaps one of the
biggest surprises though was Forlorn from the Phobos record, in which Snake did
not even sing on! The final intense track is Voivod from the first album. They
start it off with the guitar intro to Nuclear war (also from the first record)
but go into voiVod. The band really loves to play Astronomy Domine and played
this at all 4 concerts at Roadburn (2010, 2012). Overall, I think the sound
production is very dry somehow, it lacks some sort of dynamic, but the band
really plays well and kicks ass. Intense stuff…
Sweden’s
longest running space rock band is back with their new release and back on
Transubstans again. I have to say, I was surprised with how much their last
album grew on me over time. This new one takes the songwriting skills that the
band developed for We came too Late and they move to a new level. The lyrics
are really excellent on this album, with a theme about the nature and state of
the planet In addition, the band has mixed in many more space sounds. Just a
fantastic album. It starts off with the
amazing title track, which is quite short only 3½ mins with acoustic guitar,
but a really nice spacey vibe and excellent lyrics and vocals. In Green heat
features Søren on vocals again and flows seamlessly after the opening track and
features some really nice spacey synth, slide guitar, organ, and violin playing
more of a role in this track with the last min slowing down and spacing out. Mörkret
is a 2min experimental space out that is quite psychedelic that leads into my favourite
track on the record, Tired Nature. This is a more uptempo space rock track and
reminds me of their Daybreak era material. They really have a great jam like section
as well with some crazy saxophone! Some Things is a nice floating take down
after the intense Tired Nature, with a slow pace, spacey synths, nice violin
countering the melodic guitar. Beautiful stuff. In a Time, features Marcus on vocals,
with a special effect and great bass lines on this 6 min melodic track. Moving
Along has a familiar guitar line and is more uptempo with a bit harder edge but
also very melodic with a good mix of all the elements that make this band
great. The CD ends with the 11 min Fista på gräsmatten. It starts with some
piano, interesting sounds as it slowly builds. “I see the end of my life”………
then an massive track grows and grows with lots of spacey synths, violin,
piano, guitar, a heavy bass line, etc.. An amazing CD. I can’t wait to get the
vinyl version.
I
did not even know this was coming out and picked it up at the merch table at Roadburn. It has been some time since Farflung
released any new material and now within a couple of months three split LPs
have been released; one with White Hills, Black Rainbows and a new band I have
never heard of called Black Land. I did not hear the Black Land Heavy Psych
rock CD from last year but this side is very cool. The Ecstasy of Awakening
(Listed as 4 parts) starts off very slow and spaced out with just cymbals and
electronics and slowly takes form. A low mixed vocal enters in as the track
builds and really cool repetitive synth line takes the lead as the guitar
slowly comes in riding on the back of the bass line. This track really develops
into an excellent space rock song. Killer stuff… Farflung starts off with Orbital Decay,
which is a pretty heavy track with screaming vocals, flying space sounds, a lot
of intensity before it drifts down into a spacey section that then comes back
strong. Tubulcain is a shorter track that sounds a lot like it could have been
on the last record. A more relaxed vocal but still that high energy punky edge.
Both tracks were recorded at Tarantula Ranch in August 2011. The band deliver
high energy punky space rock but I really hope for a bit more evolution from
the band. It is really hard to tell one song from another these days. I think
this is limited to like 300 copies but it is not even listed at the Bloodrock
records web site. Enjoy..
Blues
Pills is a USA/Sweden/French collaboration. The bass player and drummer from
radio Moscow (amazing band if you like psychedelic blues rock) join together
with Swedes Elin Larsson (vocals) and former Dead man drummer Jonas Askerlund.
They are joined by French guitarist Dorian Sorriaux. How they all came together
is a mystery and how they will stay together to make music is even more of one
but enjoy this short 4 song 10” record that was recorded in the USA earlier
this year. Side A starts off with the title track, Bliss, a blues funk track
that you might think was Radio Moscow with a female singer. Elin has a powerful
voice which really suits this band well. Nice psychy guitar by Dorian but he is
often out powered by the very loud vocal mix. Astraplane takes things down in
this slow bluesy track but with a heavy bass line and ripping guitar. Flip the
10” over and you get the hard rocking, Devil Man with some really powerful
vocal and mixed more into the music this time. It slows up at the end with a
bit of slide guitar. Little Sun mellows things out but is another great song.
Wow.. I really loved this record and was left really wanting more. Excellent
release. Catch the band when they tour Europe in July!
UK
psychedelic Drone DOOM band, BONG is back with their next record. This is the
first record the band has recorded in a proper studio. It features two long
tracks, each around 20mins each. For me it was going to be very difficult for
them to top the totally mind blowing, Beyond Ancient Space CD. This was pretty
amazing. The only thing this band can do to raise their spacey drone doom art
to the next level is for there to be more lead guitar work to add another cool
psychedelic, 70s rock feel to this or more far out space sounds.. Anyway,
Dreams of Mana-Yood.Sushaí starts off the 27min journey. It starts slow and
spacey with a guitar drone and the eastern instrument as it slowly builds. You
can’t go wrong with a spoken word piece of the great Lord Dunsany, who wrote
very cool fantasy. About 15mins into the track, there is a long quite cool lead
guitar section, which the band used to do more of in the older live recordings.
Great to see that returning a bit here.
Trees, Grass and Stones (perhaps a nod to the great Swedish psych band,
who sadly no longer exists after the death of their drummer in April 2012).
This 19 min track starts much like the previous. A bit more than half way
through a quite cool spacey guitar solo creates a nice thread of diversion from
the main drone theme as you continue to float into the ether world…
While
most of the reviews hail this as the bands masterpiece, I still have to say
that I prefer the last record. I am not so keen on the new clean production,
especially the way the drums are too present, it really takes away from the
power (just like on the new St Vitus) and rawness that is necessary for this
type of music to have it’s full effect. Still a damn cool record that I will
enjoy and listen to. It was great to hear the band perform it live at Roadburn
but sadly, they did not really extend or space it out much more than what is
presented here.
This
is a damn cool 12” and a limited press of 1500 copies. All three bands
material was recorded in Costa Mesa, California. Earthless live at a club and
the other two bands in a studio. Side A starts with the album side long,
Earthless track called Living in the Cosmic Nod. It is pretty much a high
energy guitar solo work out track like all the other long Earthless tracks.
Isaiah is a very intense guitar player for sure. You get what you expect.
Premonition 13 on the other hand is a very cool jammed track, quite different
from the record but really great. The main riff is quite dark and heavy and I
like slow stoney groove. Cool song. Radio Moscow has two tracks. The first
track, Open your Eyes, was recorded with the full band live in Costa Mesa,
California and is a really intense rocker starting with some ripping guitar
work before the standard RM funky groove kicks in. Smokin! The 2nd track
is rawer, very psychedelic and everything was recorded by band leader and sole
original member now, Zack Anderson. Great record.
Here
is yet another split LP with Farflung, the third to be released in a matter of
months. Rather than the really long songs on the other two split LPs they
released with White Hills and Black land, this features 3 shorter tracks. Black
rainbows, this is a follow up to their really good last album, also with three
tracks. Farflung start the record off with Lupine and features Jensen Bell on
psyched out lead guitar and Edmund P Monsef providing some samples in this
uptempo track forceful and catchy track. Punching Hole in the Twilight is a
even higher energy track that reminds me of Pressurhed. No Circuit is a more
dynamic track with more complex stuff going on and really spacey. This is my
favourite track on this side. Black
Rainbows starts off with Let it Shine, an uptempo stoner rock track with a good
groove and some spacey sounds mixed in here and several good guitar solo
breaks. The next track has a very long title but is a really cool spacey stoner
rock track a bit like Sgt Sunshine. The Devil and the Dream is a fast rocker
but really catchy but not as many spacey parts. A cool record side. I recommend
you check out their last full length record if you dig this one.
This
is the 2nd Hawkwind record in 3 years and the 2nd with
the most stable line up Hawkwind has had in many years. Tim Blake only plays on
a few of the tracks, while the most of the record are the stable line up Brock,
Chadwick, Dibs and Hone. The record was recorded in the bands own Earth Studio.
The LP starts with Seasons, a hard rocking number with Dibs singing. Great
lyrics. The Hills have Ears is one of the highlights of the new album and is
actually sung by Richard and features Huw Lloyd Langton on lead guitar. Mind
Cut is a Brock solo track (he plays all the instruments) featuring acoustic
guitar and spacey sounds and a deep bass in the background. His voice is
sounding a bit frail but characteristic Dave with passionate lyrics. System
Check is a strange electronic spoken word track with Tim Blake on vocal. A
reworking of Death Trap, (recorded for the third time now) is a strange
addition and I am not very fond of this low fi version with in your face vocals
by Dibs and thin drums. Southern Cross is the longest track on this 36min CD is
a Tim Blake penned spacey instrumental track with that new age tinge that all
of Tim’s stuff has these days. A very nice keyboard solo for sure. The Prophecy
only features Niall, Richard and Dave is a sort of dreamy laid back track with
a melodic thread, but not that interesting and a bit too similar synth feel to
the track before it. Electric Tears is another Brock solo track and only 1 min
long with these dreamy synths and lead guitar line. The Drive By has the same
line up as The Prophecy and a pretty cool bass line as the guitar streams out
of the last number straight into this one in a cool way in this instrumental
track. The first CD is quite a mixed bag of a few outstanding tracks, a few new
age tracks and some stuff that comes across like demos.
Computer
Cowards starts off the 2nd CD and features just Richard and Dave in
a really psychedelic track and a highly effected vocal, you would not know this
was Dave Brock. Howling Moon is another short Dave solo track with some nice
bass. Now, the reworked songs start starting with a new version of Right to
Decide, which is very close to the original with a great guitar solo but the
sound production is much worse than the original, much less balls and really
thin weak drums. Aerospace Age Inferno, features now deceased keyboard player
Jason Stuart on piano and was recorded in 2008. It has some new twists and
turns in this version. The Flowering of the Rose is like a long studio jam
track and for sure the highlight of the 2nd CD and also from 2008.
Trans Air Trucking is a short instrumental Brock and Blake number. Deep Vents
is a short electronic track that leads into the reworking of Green Finned Demon
featuring Niall, Dave and Richard. Your 2012 Hawkwind trip has just finished,
so you thought! Then comes the longest track on the entire new Onward project,
with an 8 min untitled track with Dibs on vocal, more of a spoken word
approach. I really like this track, it would have fit well in the real album
and been another more uptempo song. Hope you enjoyed it. A solid record but you
know what you are going to get these days with few surprises and still way too
much filler for my tastes. If you get the double CD deluxe version, you get
some bonus reworking of older tracks such as Aerospace Age Inferno, Right to
Decide, and Green Finned Demon. The hard bound book and great artwork is
fantastic. A really high quality package but if they had left even one of these
short 1-2min electronic pieces off it all would have fit on one CD!
I
really feel that the way Hawkwind goes about making records this way is never
going to really gain them a lot of new fans or get them the young fans that are
really into the 70s Hawkwind. If the band could make a hard space rock record
with just a couple of these new age electronic space rock tracks, they might
have a chance to get more of the younger fans. Never know….
Moon
of Ostara is a solo project by Fred Laird from Earthling Society. This is a
limited edition CD in only 200 copies. Only 8 pounds. Anyway, this is basically
one long spaced out Ash Ra Tempel style synthesizer, drone, space piece broken
up into 4 pieces. Fred plays some really cool guitar and some lines like stuff
you would hear on the Earthling Society records but this is more multilayers
and relaxed but also quite psychedelic with spoken word layers, lots of
different kinds of keyboard to fill in the space. It flows in phases where
there is a drum track and then the drums goes away and strange stuff happens
and Fred leads you off in another direction and these don’t necessarily correspond
with the track marks! A long section has this repetitive analog synth loop that
a lot of things develop over the top of it. In the last section some of it
reminds me of Jean Michael Jarre playing the soundtrack to Evita! A really nice
musical journey. Great work Fred…
This
is a very limited live record from the Melkweg club in Amsterdam, Holland on
Nov 28th, 1992. It is pressed in only 300 numbered copies. It is a
pretty good sounding recording but someone forgot to get a test pressing and
check it out as it runs too slow! Wino’s voice is quite raw and rough on this
recording and he plays much more lose and jamming at times like on Street side,
which is not on the Köln record. Side B ends with Hidden Mask, another song
that is not on the Köln release. A pretty cool concert but it runs slow, making
Wino sound a bit weird. It will be a collectors item now for sure but hard to
really enjoy this LP, get the Köln one.
OBSESSED, THE- LIVE MUSIC HALL KÖLN 1992
(Roadburn Records 025)
This is another live limited vinyl
recording from the Obsessed’s European tour from late 1992. The band was
tighter, the sound is better, Wino’s voice was much better and they had changed
the set some from the other live recording from Amsterdam that was also just
released (that runs too slow). This record is pressed in 1000 copies but only
the first 300 come with the extra 7” record, which includes a really cool
version of the Motorhead classic, Iron Horse (Born to Lose). If you are a fan
of the band you will for sure dig this as these rough and ready biker rock
songs come across now, just as potent as they did 20 years ago. It has to be
cranked up though, otherwise it makes no sense…
Play it LOUD.
The creative people at Ugndomshuset have been putting on some really cool festival events over the past few years focusing on Death metal and punk rock but this was musically something a bit new, even though these style of bands have been booked and played at Ungdomshust for years. It was a 4 day event spread over 4 different venues in town (Stengade 30, Ungdomshuset, Månefisker, and Loppen). It also included cool art displays by the 13th Sign Collective (Berlin), Glyn Scrawled (Northern Ireland), Jane Lives (Ireland), Cuero de Cuerno (US/Spain) and David D’Andrea (USA). The t-shirts and posters have a really cool design and all artists got free shirts and posters, which is really cool. I think the booklet was also really informative and I wish Roadburn would go back to a booklet more like this with a short description of the bands and useful information. The festival sold out and this was great for the event. There are quite a few non-Danes, mainly from Sweden and Germany. First off, I have to give a huge congrats to the daring organizers of this event, who really pulled off a killer weekend, with people traveling from Sweden, Finland, Norway, Holland, Germany and probably a few other countries as well. It was all very professional, inexpensive by Danish standards, all ran on time, sound people did a great job providing loud but excellent sound, and the artwork was so cool. Great work people.
Day 1 (Stengade 30)
Cauchenor bass player
21:00 Silvana and I left on the metro train. We will arrive to late to see the Swedish band Suma, but I have seen them before. Heavy stuff…
21:45 We met my friends Magnus, Lasse, Tom and others out front. Had a chat with the guys in the Wounded Kings, who recognized me from Roadburn. Far out…. It was pretty crowded but not too bad.
23:00 Just saw the French Canadian band, Cauchenor, a four piece NWOBHM inspired band with a female vocalist. They had a really good energy and the bass player and singer were really into it. I did not think she was a particularly interesting singer in anyway but a super cool person as I spoke to her a few times during the evening. The guitar player was very average and did not even play any guitar solos except in one song and the cover song. People enjoyed them and the energy they had.
Set List: Les Aíles de La Mort, Magie Rouge, D’encre et de sang, Tête de Mort, Le gardien de la Terre, Rites Lunaires, Valse Funébre, Sous le Chêne, L’appel, Le voice D’Isis
Burning Saviours
01:30 The Swedish Pentagram inspired, Burning Saviours were next and played a solid show but I missed some of the diversity on the one LP (Nymphs and Weavers) and 7” that I had heard. In fact, they did not play any of these songs at all. I have never heard the ones they were selling at the show. Anyway, I got into them and quite enjoyed it but a bit too many of the songs were quite a like at times. It was fun to see this band who rarely plays live and this was the first time in Denmark, I think. The song they sung in Swedish was one of the best of the set.
Set List: The Offering, Out of Sight, Spirit of the Woods, Doomus Maximus, Mitttro, Dark Lady, The Nightmare, Into the Abyss, Midnight, Förbannelsen, Lilly Marion
Moonless singer
02:15 Moonless crushed the place. They cranked the volume up and really let it loose. Singer, was amazing and they really played well and the crowd really dug it. The singer in Cauchemar was blown away by them. Silvana also liked them very much. Due to things running a bit late they played only about 40mins. Great stuff but again, a few of their songs sound nearly exactly the same, the guitar riffs… I wish they would just jam things out a bit as they are such a great band but they play it exactly like the record.. One of Denmark’s coolest bands playing this genre of music. Great way to end day 1…
Day 2
Sinister Creation
17:40 Silvana and I leave for the show on the metro and bus. Looks like it will rain..
19:30 Sinister Creation really played a good set with several new songs I had not heard. The first one was a bit like electric Wizard (180 Skulls) and I really liked it. This is a band that just gets better every time. I really liked the opening set. Martin is a really great front man and band is really coming together in a great way. They had a really good reception and for sure played for some new faces.
Set List: 180 Skulls, Hyborea, Coven of 42nd Street, Red Night, Bibo Lucifero, Head of a Snake, Traitor of your ?, Robeburns
20.30 Pilgrim from the USA are on the big stage. They mostly play slow, heavy stuff with no guitar solos, inspired by St. Vitus a lot. They did a few more uptempo tracks at the end of the set. A decent crowd. A lot of band members everywhere, which is cool. Spent some time talking with Christian from Lord Vicar. Super nice and down to earth guy.
21:00 Devil, from Norway, are very formulated, NWOBHW style hard rock. All the songs are 3-4 mins, minimal guitar solo, melodic. The crowd seem to give them a decent response but I was bored after 20mins.
22:45 BRUTUS, also from Norway, delivered a killer 60min set of boogie, heavy 70s rock and roll and were really great. They played 4 new songs and they even dedicated one to me! The front singer is just so funny and he must have drank 6 beers during their set. He really spices things up for sure. The best band of the day so far.
Jex Thoth was already playing when Brutus finished and the main hall was totally packed and she captivated the audience with her magical performance. She is really into it with 100% of her heart and soul and sings really fantastic. The audience really loved it as well. The band plays a dual guitar lead melodic but often quite heavy rock music.
Jex Thoth
Profetus
Profetus, from Finland, were in the small hall playing funeral doom stuff with two guitars, keyboard and drums. I watched 3 long songs and it was not like anything I would normally listen to at all. Very slow, patient stuff with a growl like vocal but not too much. It was a small dedicated crowd.
The Wounded Kings from England also filled up the big hall at the start and played a much better concert than I expected. Their records are ok but they sound too much the same all the songs. It was a bit different live, as the lead guitar player played some solos, never very long, but some solos that spiced things up, as these are also quite rare on the records. They ran all their songs together into one set, never really stopping until the end of their 45-50min set. I really liked the dynamics that their great drummer brought into the music as he really help to build up the endings of the songs. Pretty powerful stuff. Really nice people as well.
The Wounded Kings
We decided to leave and not see Jes and the Ancient ones at 01:30…. Pretty cool day and the people were all in a great mood, the place was set up really cool. A great festival so far. Saw lots of friends and spoke a lot with the Wounded Kings folk, Brutus, Christian of Lord Vicar, etc.. all were really enjoying the vibe of the place and the festival.
Day 3
We arrived a bit before 17 so we could see Black Oath but they had moved the schedule around since Purson cancelled, so Skogen Brinner (The Burning Forest), a young Swedish band started. They were pretty cool, a bit like November or Svarte Pan, singing all in Swedish and short focused songs. They only played 6 songs, about 28mins and stopped. They said they had no more songs. I bought their 7” record. Apparently, they have also released a cassette tape but they were not selling it.
Skogen Brinner
Black Oath
17:50 Black Oath, from Italy were still setting up their incense, etc.. in the big hall and the main people had painted faces and a lot of tattoos. The hall was never more than half full as people were much slower to show up this day, after a late party the night before. Black Oath were pretty heavy, they reminded me a lot of Candlemass. The lead guitar player (did very few solos), did most of the lead vocals, but they had another guy who came out and sang one songs and then took over his guitar later, so that the guitar player could just sing. The bass player did the main vocal on one song as well. I heard that on their records they had a lot of keyboards but they had none today here.
Griftsgård
Pyramido from Sweden had the small hall packed but I don’t really like them so I was hanging out with the guys in Brutus and having a good time. I gave them a copy of the show from the last night that I recorded.
Griftsgård, from Sweden was next in the big hall and people were really into this. The singer stood in front of like a preacher’s pulpit with a cross on it. He was a large singer who also a huge, powerful voice as well. This is really slow, melodic doom stuff and you have to allow yourself to get sucked in. If you don’t you will get bored. They played a very good set but I left after 30mins as I wanted to see Ocean Chief who were overlapping with them. Glad I did.
Ocean Chief, played only 3 long songs and they had a new member who played keyboards, but not very much, which added a very cool element to their more slow, spacey intense DOOM. They were really good and the best band of the day so far. The room was pretty filled up with people. They had played in Copenhagen some years back and were really good. I enjoyed the set a lot, especially the last song…
Solstice
Lord Vicar
We did not have much of a break before Solstice started in the big hall. The singer said this was the first time they had played in Denmark in 18 years and there was only like 10 people last time that did not care at all. The audience big today and into it, with people singing the words, etc.. Band seemed in a good mood, even though the rumor has it that the rhythm guitar player had been complaining about everything about the festival. Oh well, they rocked and people liked it a lot. IT was more rocking than anything else today so a good contrast to the slow doom of Ocean Chief. Sound was great as well. A solid set of almost an hour.
Bottom Feeder was making a lot of noise in the small hall so I hung out side with the Brutus guys waiting for Lord Vicar. This was the most packed the hall had been since Jex Thoth. They were the loudest band I heard at the festival. Wow.. it was loud… The band was totally into it and so was the audience. They played a really good but too short set and I was totally absorbed into their Pentagram vibe that they have. They a really good at writing these type of songs but no one would say they have an original sound, as what they play and how they sound has already been done. I really liked it a lot. One of the best bands of the festival.
Day 4
14 Showed up out at Christiania with my bike filled with my synths and Lynched, a group of 3 Irish guys, heavily tattooed and one Danish female (fiddle) were soundchecking for their set of tunes. A good and diverse crowd was arranged at the tables. The weather was really nice with mostly sun but the clouds would drift in front of the sun occasionally and then it was quite cold.
15:45 Lynched played a long set of original and traditional Irish folk songs with pipes, two violin and an acoustic guitar. They also sang some tunes with our instruments. Now the Øresund Doom Collective will set up.
18:00 The Øresund (Doom) Space Collecrtive (my band), we played about 100mins to a really cool crowd. It was heavier than normal set for us and Rune did very well after a nervous first start. A lot of people and I had a lot of fun. Good response and a great way for me to end this great festival. I did not go to Loppen on this night to see the last 4 bands…
I did not think that I
was going to go to this show but my friend Daniel was visiting and really
wanted to go. I was glad that I did. Steven Wilson, is the creative mind behind
Porcupine Tree and this is a totally new band that he has assembled to play the
music on his solo records, including a brand new song called Luminol, which was probably the best song of the night. I am guessing the set is more or less the same every night as besides
the opening jam and closing part of the set, it was all performed to different
cool films. First with the screen on the front of the stage for like 25mins and
then it came down and the rest on the back screen. Steven was clearly having a
really good time, sort of orchestrating the band a bit like Frank Zappa at
times. The set list starts with some more of the mainstream pop prog stuff he
does and then became much more musical adventurous and cool. All the players in
his band were amazing. I really like the keyboard player a lot. Steven did not
play that much guitar, probably about the same as keyboards. Theo Travis played
different flutes and saxes that really augmented the tracks well. The show was
a bit less than 2hrs and nearly sold out with amazing sound.
