Kikagaku Moyo and Moon Mountain- Loppen, Christiania May 28th, 2015

This was the first visit by the fairly new Japanese band, Kikagaku Moyo, to Europe and I was so happy they were coming to Denmark. I own all three of their records and really like the chilled stoney, sitar, 60’s vibe with some Japanese influences. Sue and I arrived early and there was not a lot of people but by the time Moon Mountain started, the people were streaming in at a steady rate. They started at like 9:40 and played about 40mins, I think. They are a trio with a female vocalist who also played a small drum kit and other percussion items. She had a cool voice and used some different effects at times. The young bald man in the middle seem to run the show with sampled beats and effects but also playing some lead and regular synths as well. On the far right was the guitar player who I though was not very adventurous most of the time but sometimes he showed some flair and even did some live looped guitar. Sometimes the reminded me a bit of an old Danish band called Alive with Worms, Sue also though Cocteau Twins (I never heard them). The two techno songs were the least interesting but the ones the crowd was most into! A very young crowd…  The band had an 12” EP for sale. According to their set list Back Door and That’s Right were new songs.

Set List: Back Door, Down to the Wire, happy Child, Breaker, That’s Right, Find the Sun, Reach You.

Kikagaku Moyo started off with a short 4min piece with two guitars and sitar all sitting on the stage or chairs (see video) and then the drummer and bass player came out for the rest of the show. There were some songs that I did not recognize so they might be new. They played half of the record Forest of Lost Children and it was heavier live than on the studio album. The concert was cool and I loved the vibe they have with the drummer and Tomo doing a lot of vocals together (the drummer, I think is the one that has the more feminine voice). The only played maybe 55mins and left the stage but the people were not going to let them go and they did two encore songs. That I did not expect. Cool concert…

Set List: 3x, Tree Smoke, Street Of Balovtta, Kodama, Smoke and Mirrors, Guy, Dawn, Two encore songs: ? ?

Gov't Mule- Fabrik, Hamburg, DE May 14th, 2015

          It had been 3-4 years since I last saw Gov’t Mule live. They have only played three times in Scandinavia (Sweden Rock, Finland and Copenhagen). We had a rough trip to Hamburg due to a 5 hr cue for the ferry in Denmark so Sabine and I barely made it to the show on time. It was 21:02 and as we walked in the band had just started playing Bad Little Doogie. This was a really cool place and it took us a song or two to find the right place but we squeezed ourselves just to the left of Warren about 5 people from the front. The sound was really awesome and I could see they had the old soundman back again. I did not have time to record this show unfortunately, one of the few times I have ever seen the band and not recorded..

 

I was surprised to hear so many old tracks but that was awesome. Warren really ripped it up on Mother Earth blues, which I had not heard them play since 1996! Two songs later was Temporary Saint also from the first album. The highlight of the first set for me was the jammed out Devil likes it Slow. Jörgen was killing it on the bass. He is really great when he plays with his fingers compared to using his pick.. Anyway, Drivin’ Rain, was also a rare track to hear live. I had never heard them play that one, which James Hetfield played on originally.

First Set: Bad Little Doggie, Perfect Shelter, Mother earth, Which way way do we Run, Temporary Saint, Scared to Live, No Reward, Devil likes it slow, Drivin’ Rain

There was a 20min break and we got a beer. Soulshine was a real surprise as the opener of the 2^nd set and Maybe I’m a leo was just fantastic!  I was surprised to hear I’ll be the One and I shall Return, which was a pretty mellow 20mins before I think you know what I mean. Get behind the Mule was really cool and Danny even played the Trombone… Cool concert as always and the entire band played awesome and Warren was in top form..

2^nd Set:

Soulshine > Maybe I'm A Leo, I'll Be The One with Blue Sky tease, Hottentot >Drums >

Hottentot, I Shall Return with Drift Away, I Think You Know What I Mean >When The Levee Breaks >I Think You Know What I Mean, Slackjaw Jezebel with Hush tease

ENCORE: Get Behind The Mule

Tuliterä- Tulikaste (Plug Music Production PLUG4)

Tuliterä is a very cool Finnish band. I have been following them for a few years and the two main members stayed at my apartment last year and played me the rough demos for this record and I was pretty impressed but damn, this record really blows me away. It features 9 very intense tracks spread over an hour of instrumental metallic space rock. Percolator starts off with a lot of cool space sounds and some programed drums-percussion and a really beautiful melodic guitar line before the “big bang” and the heavy stuff begins and the super intense like death metal double bass drums just blast you and a very heavy riff kicks in. Wow.. Alpha Blade will remind you of a more metallic version of Farflung. Some great lead guitar on this track that melds together into some really psychedelic stuff. Jagat speeds things up further but here the synths play a stronger role in the sound at first and later the guitars as the space metal rockets forward.. Firedew starts off with a minute long synth part before the heavy guitars, bass and drums kick in. The entire track maintains this very melodic synth for the first part and then a dramatic break takes over at 1½ mins with some really beautiful melodic but spacey lead guitar with nice harmonies. Mindblowing sound on this one and very psychedelic and it ends with the synths the way it began but more dreamy. Cetus starts with a very repetitive part before the lead guitar kicks in and drives the track but it is a short, almost incomplete track that leads into Voidborn, which is primarily keyboard driven to start. It has beautiful guitar harmonies on this slow building track that repeats a lot of the parts but then layers on another synth or guitar so it just gets more psychedelic and includes Jaire on sitar. Star Rodeo kicks up the pace to near speed metal with some intense heavy metal but with the space synthesizers layer in such a way they really penetrate your brain. All Seeing Delierum starts off very heavy and intense and then there is a break at 3mins before the really intense metallic space craft takes off and the track just gets faster and more intense. There is a short very mellow bluesy part with some beautiful guitar after 12mins and then the heavy returns before the track ends at 14mins! Menticide ends the 67min heavy psychedelic space trip. Phew…. If you can sit down and hear this entire album, you are brave, patient and adventurous . Awesome stuff..

          I really dig this band. Check out the record on bandcamp. The Vinyl version will be released later this year on the Space Rock Productions label in a double gatefold in only 300 copies with an extra track. You can buy the CD from the band now though.

http://tulitera.bandcamp.com

THE SEVENTH RING OF SATURN- ORMYTHOLOGY CD (US 2015)

TSROS is a band from Massachussetts in the USA. They have appeared on a number of Fruits de Mer tribute albums with covers of the Beatles, Hollies, and others as well as original songs. The band has made one full length record released on Nusrat in 2007. This CD-EP is all new material (2 original songs) both songs and instrumentals but also includes on cover song of Hurdy Gurdy (an old Danish band) and two others. The CD comes in a very simple thick white cardboard sleeve with two printed stamps on it. Inside is a sleeve with the CD and a white paper with all the details. There are specific notes of how plays what for all 8 of the tracks. The CD starts off with Burning a Hole. This is a happy song sung by Ted (who plays bass on all track) and he also does the guitar solo. I would say the track is inspired by the likes of the Bevis Frond and 60s bands… Teli Teli Teli is an instrumental track with a bit of an eastern feel to it and includes Joe and Ted on sitar guitar. Time to Fly is another good rockin’ 60s inspired track with a the guitar solo mixed well up front (nice..). Karli Daglar is another instrumental track (just bass, drums and guitar). Faces is a more moody track with a cool bass line and nice wah guitar by Jacob Brown. Yedikule is another instrumental again with this eastern feel but not sitar guitar this time.  Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim is another instrumental and features the sitar guitar briefly (does not list it but sure sounds like it) and Jacob returns on lead guitar. The last track is a cool cover of the track Spaceman from the Danish band Hurdy Gurdy! If you are a fan of the band, you will like this for sure… I have put a link below to a great interview with the main man form the band Ted.

http://www.tsros.com                http://www.goldminemag.com/news/artist-news/studying-ormithology-seventh-ring-saturn

Electric Moon- Theory of Mind (Sulatron st1506)

Electric Moon is back with a new double vinyl or CD release. The album was recorded in Heildeberg and mixed by Sula. It features one song per album side and starts off with the 16min Hypnotika. This starts slowly with some synthesizers and slowly builds up into the EM wall of hypnotic sound and HEAVY spaced out guitar…. A cool jam but a lot like many other pieces you have heard by them. Next up is the 19min title track. It starts off more floating and noodling and slowly the synth becomes more prominent in the sound. As the synths disappeared into the ether, this slowly builds up with a long and melodic slow stoney wah solo by Sula. As is pretty standard for EM, it slowly gets more and more heavy phased out guitar as the bass and drums just keep it steady… Totally far out guitar effects and torture at the end… The Picture starts off side 3 with a very heavy bass line and guitar riff, some of the most doomy stuff the band has done. Eventually Sula totally loses control of his guitar as the track spins out of control……… but the hypnosis is still in full effect. Aerosoul is the last track at 14½ mins long and more spacey and something a bit different, which I like a lot.  The band deliver what the fans, I guess expect of them these days, heavy hypnotic music with freakout guitar.... Enjoy...

http://www.electricmoon.de http://www.sulatron.com

SECRET SAUCER- PHASE FIVE (SFS006)

Secret Saucer are back with their 6^th release. Dave Hess and Steve Hayes are the core of the band with various other members coming and going. This is the first SS release without my friend Greg Kozlowski from Arc Met featured on at least a few songs. Ted Boburka plays percussion and drums on most tracks and Bill Spear most of the bass. Dan Schnell, John Pack and Steve Bemand handle basically all the guitars. This album actually is very synthesizer oriented and much less guitar than any of the bands previous records and start off with Blue Star, which is only synths and some percussion with a vocal or sample way in the back to give it this sort of spaced out tribal feel. Spin Drift is an uptempo happy track that reminds me of some weird late 70’s commercial film soundtrack. The Visible Light is more like 70s Tangerine Dream but with some fiddle here and there. The Alderson Point is the first track with a more hard rock guitar and heavy bass line. John Pack plays the lead guitar on this one. Three Days of Darkness starts is made of 3 parts and starts off with a slow doomy part with a lot of cool synths and great soloing by Steve Bemand. Great 8½ min track. The Quencher starts with a repetitive synth loop and then the drums come and then the bass and then the guitar and off we go for another track that has a really happy feeling to it but still very spacey. Space Walking has these really cool long synths space drones (make voice like sounds later) while the other synth plays the lead line. Mr natural is the most experimental and out there tracks to start as the synth line slowly fades up and the track takes off. Features Greg Klucher on Flute and James Dunn on drums and has a sort of jazzy feel to it. The final track is called Nova Star to end a really cool album and for sure the most melodic and sort of mainstream one the band has made. Great stuff.

Http://secretsaucer.bandcamp.com

Ole Lukkoye- Dyatly (Trail Records 016)

I have been waiting for years for this new record to come out. It was recorded nearly completely live in the studio on two different dates in 2013 and then they spent the next years doing some studio wizardry and a few overdubs. The CD is made up of five long tracks spread over 67mins. Two of the original members of the band (the leader Boris) and long time bassoon player, Frol but all the rest are new players with Boris and Ness on vocals. The music has that feel of the early albums and you slowly get totally sucked into it.. Kommuna-Ra starts things off with a wolf like howl but the programmed drums and sounds kick in as the hand drumming is layered on and the hypnotic vocals and then the bass line starts to drive the track. The keyboard line that is quite common in some OL tracks precedes the vocal of Boris. He wrote the lyrics but the female vocal singing is mostly improvised. Very hypnotic. I love that sound when Frol kicks in with the bassoon. Dyatly (Woodpeckers) is the longest track at 17½ mins. His tracks starts off with most vocal improvs and percussion and drums before the bass line joins in and then some guitar. It slowly builds and you get transported away into the OL world as more layers of sounds come and go as do the vocals. Bela Dama begins with a harp like instrument and some layers of synths and sounds and then the vocal comes as the drum (kick) and then the rest of the programmed drums as you slowly glide like on a sea of sound. Very dreamy and trippy this track but also one of the more uptempo ones. Just Wind features a real drum kit and has some trippy manipulated voices and sounds at the beginning before the track heads into the same territory as the previous tracks but is more electronic in nature. Veni, Vidi, Vici is a short 4 min track that ends the CD as if you have been dreaming the whole time you heard the record… I have always loved the music of this band and this is going back to more of their early sounds but still a lot of programming on some of the songs and maybe a bit too much of the same after a while by the time you get to track 4. Still… a cool return.

http://www.trailrecords.us http://www.olelukkoye.ru

Vidunder- Oracles and Prophets (Crusher Records CDCD028)

Vidunder is a fairly new Swedish band from Malmö. I had previously reviewed their first 7” and full length records here on my blog and I had seen them live once or twice as well. Since their first releases the band has added Johannes on the organ and this has made a huge change in the sound and dynamics of the band. I was pretty disappointed with the last release, as I felt it lacked much originality and the band was trying too hard to sound like Graveyard and Witchcraft. This album shows a major growth from these guys from Malmö.  The album starts off with Gone with Dawn (See the very cool video below) an mid paced track that sets the sound and sound plan for most of the record; heavy rock with a lot of organ and catchy songs and some nice lead guitar. Son of Every Lie is also an uptempo rocker but with more focus on the guitar than the organ. You slowly get used to Martin’s vocal style which is quite special. This track is very much like Graveyard but with an organ. Phoenix Cluster has a happy feeling to it and maintains a mid-pace. It reminds me a bit of a more commercial Big Elf but not so bombastic! Martin’s guitar playing has really improved as this band has played and toured a lot. The mid-section of this long song has some spoken word over under the long solo and spacey organ sounds. Great song. Kalhygge is a short instrumental track focusing on the organ playing of Johannes. The Owl has a familiar sounding riff to start the track. The vocals is a bit like the Big Elf singer to start but then it changes as the track gets heavier and more dynamic. In and out of Mind is a really great rock number with some intense guitar. Twisted Faces is a pretty straight and more mainstream radio friendly track but it does have a short guitar solo and the chorus repeated many times over and over. Soon Gone is a proper ballad and slows down the pace of the record. The title track ends the record with another uptempo track. If I have a complaint about the record it would be the organ is nearly the same on all the songs and always plays exactly what your mind would tell you, not very exploring or pushing any boundaries, and always playing it very safe.  Fan of organ driven revival of the 70s sound from Sweden should enjoy this record.

http://www.crusherrecords.com http://vidunderband.com

Zone Six- Love Monster (Sulatron st1504)

Zone Six is another group currently lead by Sula Bassana, who is the only member left from the original and older line up of the band. This is the group’s first studio album in 11 years and Sula plays the drums (he has always played bass and synths on all the other studio albums). Lulu, lays down the bass, Rainer (Pancakes) the guitar and another musical buddy of Sula, Modulfix on synths. Love Monster starts the record off and features some cool guitar playing by Rainer who mixes heavy riffing ala Electric Moon with more lead guitar. This early section of this track sounds a lot like EM. Martin is mixed pretty low and you often don’t really recognize his presence unless you really listen closely. The Insights starts with some spacey sounds as the bass and guitar slowly start a hypnotic riff over which the synths are layered. It has a nice melody as it slowly builds up. It gets heavier later but Martin plays a bigger role in this track and keeps it spacey. Acidic has about the same pace and again could be an EM song with the way the guitar freaks out and the bass line is very steady. Rainer comes up with some nice melodic guitar at the end and some synths can also be heard as it fades away. Cosmogyral is the longest track at 15mins. This features some really cool tortured and freaked out lead guitar while the synths lay this really spacey foundation. The end slows everything down and is spaced out.. Cool instrumental improvised freak rock….

http://www.sulatron.com http://www.zonesix.de

Space Debris- Live at Finkenbach 2012 (Green Brain SDFID415CD)

Six years ago the band released a live CD and DVD from Burg Herzberg. Since that time the band have released quite a few records and have a new keyboard player and bass player. Tommy (guitar) and Christian (drums) is still the mainstay of the band. He also has another band that has recently released an album. This CD features new songs and nothing that was on that previous live record and starts off with the great song Sunny Freaks.

A slow heavy burning 70s blues rocker with nice organ and great guitar playing. The whole band have a great feel to the way they play like the Allman Brothers in a single drummer, single guitar version.  Just great playing and jamming from all players. Finkimountain is next at weighs in at 19mins. This has a monster Hendrix inspired guitar riff that starts the song off. After Tommy does a solo Winnie does a great solo and then they trade back and forth each taking cool solos and then back to the heavy riff every now and again. Great stuff. Woodways is the next track that last 17mins and is broken into two pieces. It starts with a wah delay guitar and some piano as it slowly grows. When the track comes down and Winnie is playing the organ by himself, the 1^st part comes to an end and they off on another jam with a bit of an eastern flavour to it. Winnie later changes to a Rhodes piano like sound with a cool effect on it. Out of the Sun ends the live concert and includes a short drum solo. I love the riff , the tension on this track. The very last track is a sort of bonus track called Demons and was recorded in Koblenz by Andreas in 2014. This track is very synthesizer oriented track with some intense drumming at the end. This track is cool but feels a bit less together than the other jams. Another great album and you can see some of the concert at the video below. 

http://www.green-brain-krautrock.de http://www.spacedebrisprojekt.de

MUGSTAR AND DAMO SUZUKI- START FROM ZERO LP (Important Records IMPREC393)

As many bands in the past, Mugstar has also performed with legend Damo Suzuki. This concert was recorded back in 2012 in Liverpool but only recently released on Important Records. It features three tracks on with a collage of live pictures from the show. Waken to the Night is a long track and starts things off with a Damo vocal improve as the rest of the band kick into an uptempo track with wah guitar. The middle of this track has some really cool super effected guitar and is really psyched out Peter plays some synths. The end is very intense. Very cool song. Subway Sound is a short 3-4min or so dreamy piece that moves directly into Innanewah which has a far out synth line that goes straight into your brain the way it is mixed as the band are pretty noisy while the drums and bass maintain the groove and neil does his guitar thing.. Cool stuff.  You can actually tell that Damo is singing mostly in English on this set of songs. While some bands allow Damo to really push the band into a totally different direction, the band seem to do the Mugstar thing and Damo just has to sing along the best he can to what appear as “real” mugstar instrumental songs. I know it is not that way actually, that is is all more or less improvised. The long B side is more of a jam though called Zero Coda and it lasts like 25mins and has a massive freakout and psychedelic section with no singing by Damo.. If you like Mugstar and Damo, you can’t go wrong with this one. There is a teaser below and if you search you tube there is a short video from the actual concert but the audio is quite distorted. Enjoy.

http://www.damosuzuki.com http://www.mugstar.com http://importantrecords.com

Daily Thompson/Mos Generator Split 7” (h42 records, H42-012)

As with many of the H42 label 7”s, there are many different colours and options to buy this music and one deluxe version on Silver vinyl that also comes with a cassette with two unreleased Mos Generator tracks and two extra Daily Thompson tracks, not unreleased.  Mos Generator starts off the A side with a track called Vol IV. I wish it was Black Sabbath Vol 4 like but it is not. It is however a very raw nasty sound on an melodic hard rock song by the band that starts to really groove at the end and gets better and better. Flip the 7” over for Spit out the Crap! This is an uptempo stoner rock track with a lot more energy than the A side. It has a cool intense wah guitar section before going back to the main form of the track. A short blast of a track.

The cassette comes with three bonus tracks by each band. The Mos Generator tracks include Vol. IV, a demo of a track called Slow/moody which is just like the title says but I quite like the mood but then an average hard rock guitar riff comes in for the middle section and then back to the slow dark theme.  The live version of Early Mourning from the Freak Valley Festival shows that band really kicking ass. The Daily Thompson side has Spit out the Crap and next is a track called Lifetime. This is quite a catchy track with a groove like QOSTA but luckily he does not try to sing like Josh but then the track becomes very repetitive as the same heavy riff is repeated over and over. Moothman is the last track and slower and more stoned with a FuManchu like vocal. A cool release.

http://www.h42records.com

Heavy Days in Doomtown IV- The Final Edition 2015

Heavy days in Doomtown (HDDT) has competed the cycle of four amazing events dedicated to do it yourself (DIY) production bringing together amazing bands and artists from all around the world. It has been a huge success but also an amazing amount of work for the volunteer staff that pulls this together for 4 years in a row. There are more artists than ever invited this year with nearly as much space in the booklet for the artists as the bands. The list of the artists includes: Cuero De Cuerno (Spain), Manuel Tinnemans (Germany), The 13^th Sign (Germany- they make the cool posters and logos for the festival), David S. Herrerias (Sweden/Mexico), Johanna Engdahl (Sweden), Marald van Haasteren (Holland), Stiv (Germany), Kati Knox (US), Mattias Frisk (Sweden), Chris Alliston (UK), Jane Lives (Ireland). Not all were displayed on the first night.

I arrived at Loppen in Christiania about 20 and there was a lot of people outside drinking and smoking and mostly dressed in black (I wore purple..).. After saying hello to Rune and some others I know I went inside to see the art that was being displayed. There were about 40 people inside and I ran into the Gas Giant guys, a band that I played with from 2001-2004. They have reunited with two of the original members and have started to play again.

Martin..DJ

Martin Mordor played amazing selections of 70s rock to start and then later switched to metal. Cool to see him and hang out. I also spoke a lot with Elizabeth, the singer from the SF band, Castle. She is really cool and a very interesting person. Making cool drawings in her book…. Nice people..

21:30 Gas Giant hit the stage and this was their real gig in Denmark with the new line up and also their first at Loppen since 2001… They opened for Nebula and Unida back in 1999 here. Anyway, the band opened with a brand new and very heavy track called Ancient Trails. The people really liked it and it slowly got more and more crowded. The sound man was not that good. Guitar was too low and the vocal way to dry…He did add some effect to the voice eventually which was good but never fixed the guitar issue.  Anyway, they played mostly tracks from their Mana record and their single Mama Cool. The sound is a bit different now than 15 years ago as they have stripped away the big muff for a more focused and less massive sound and there is no jamming anymore. Jesper is still a great front man and these great songs still sound cool today.. They put in Back on the Headless Track after Moonshake which was not on the set list.. They ended their 40min set with the classic song, Too Stoned. I will release their debut record from 2000 on Space Rock productions on vinyl next month… A great return and you can hear the show below... 

Set List: Ancient Trails, There’s One, Moonshake, Back on the Headless track, Mama Cool, Never Leave this Way, Too Stoned.

http://www.archive.org/details/GG2015-04-30.FLAC

Jesper- Gas Giant

22:45 It took a little extra time to switch the stage around for the Swedish band, The New Keepers of the Water Towers.  I had never heard them but the description sounded pretty cool. They were quite different from Gas Giant and played only 2½ tracks in their 40min set and the band said it was all new material from the next record called The Cosmic Child? It was all pretty spacey music with synthesizer, two guitars, bass, drums and Taurus pedals. A cool sound the band had and both guitar players did interesting parts when they were not playing the more hypnotic spacey stuff. I wish they would have soloed more though as sometimes I was waiting for more to happen. I filmed a short doomy part, maybe 7mins long.  Prog rock, doom, post rock???

24:00 Castle hit the stage and just rocked like a mother fucker and hit us like a freight train! This was the band’s first gig on their 4^th European tour.  They are a three piece metal band fronted by a female singer who also plays a mean bass. The guitar player on the first track really reminded me of Piggy of Voi Vod.. This guy is also a riff master…. Not a lot of straight up guitar solos but tons of changing riffs and small solo parts all the time. Intense…   I could see they had 3 CDs and a couple of vinyls and 7” records, which is cool.. I liked the slower numbers the best at the end of the set when they played Black Lands and Evil Ways. They got an encore as well. People dug it but they had the fewest people but still 200 or so to play for.

Set List: Descent, Temple, Corpse, Be my Ghost, Killing Pace, Powersigns, Total Betrayal, Black lands, Dying, Evil Ways, ??

Castle (SF USA)

The metro was not running so I had to wait for a damn metro bus to get home but it was a great first night..

Day 2

14:30 I left the house for the metro and Ungdomshuset so I could check out the artwork in the library adgacent to the venue and hope to catch Katie Knox doing some solo art music performance on the main stage at 16. Weather is clouding up with some very dark clouds and it looking quite ominous.. They said there could be some heavy rain and hail today..

15:15 I arrived with the bus and they have a new entrance this year which is much easier. A German guy who I met getting out of the bus and I went straight up to the art gallery on the 3^rd floor of the library. A lot of super cool art was on display and most of the artists were actually there at this time. I took some pictures. Kati Knox, had a video instillation and was to perform an acoustic set at 16, so I just hung out and spoke to some beautiful long blonde haired girl from California, who was living in Wyoming. Rad chick, man..

Kati started a little late and opened with a track where she stomped her foot to make a rhythm and then played some finger picking guitar and sang. I filmed this track but it was clear she was just getting in the mood and she would sing much better later. She did a couple of cover songs, Sweet Dreams by Roky Erikson and Play with Fire by the Rolling Stones, the rest were originals from what I understand. I liked the one called tiny Flowers. I think people liked it. They were mostly sitting on the floor..

Set List: Poem- Reveal the Truth, I am the Chaos, Conception, Goodbye Sweet Dreams, Meditation, Men who Seek, tiny Flowers, Play with Fire, This is a Story.

At 17 Black Cobra hit the main stage and this was pretty packed. There was for sure more people than ever this year. Both rooms were always packed so you needed to plan a head. This US duo are damn heavy riffing, pounding drums and screaming angry vocals. No guitar solo but massive intense guitar riffs and power tracks. I was pretty blown away after 5 songs and went outside. They did a few slower numbers but it was mostly just hard and fast all the time. People loved it. It was now cold outside. Mostly sunny though and it had only rained a little earlier in the day.

Black Cobra

Set List: Five days, Chronosphere, Avalanche, Red Tide, messenger, Corrosion, Bestial, Storm Shade, Abyss, Obliteration, Swords

I managed to quickly dash out and get some food at a close by new Pakistani place and that was great. A bit of naan bread and a hot lamb curry and a drink for 80kr…

WEAK

18 A Danish band WEAK were up in the Dødsmaskinen room. This was a three piece that also was super loud and intense. The room was packed and they had a guitar player that was a bit mad and made some wild tortured guitar at times and the music had this sludge meets a real punky edge… Phew… very intense…

19 Acid Witch from Detroit were in the big room. This place was totally packed. They had some really awesome looking album covers and cool shirts at their merch stand. I found a good place close to the front for the first 6 songs or so and then I moved further to the back. This was a really cool band mixing a doomy sound with a bit of Italian horror music. The singer was very theatrical and totally into it and also played a small KORG synth sometimes. The bass player introduced a lot of the songs and made funny introductions. The lead guitar player came across as a fan of Victor Griffin but played more shredder style guitar solos.. Fucking excellent set…

20 Evil Spirit from Germany were next up in the small room. This place was always insanely packed. If you don’t get there early, forget it as it is impossible to get past the bar part. You can hear the music great from just outside the door but can see nothing. These guys were also very intense trio with a drummer that sang the vocals. They started off mostly pretty doomy but it slowly became more and more heavy metal but no guitar solos, just riffing like mad. They had a special intensity with the five string bass, not sure what it was.. Powerful band.

21 Horisont had the main hall totally packed and I think people were ready for something really different and they loved it. They had a great reception from the audience and played an excellent concert for nearly one hour. They played two brand new songs, one I think was called Bad News, which I filmed. They play all the same old songs nearly every time I seem them with only one song sung in Swedish and others like Nightrider that people recognize. Tom Sutton is now a permanent member of the band and does great to drive the other guitar to solo like a maniac. He does most of the solos and Tom most of the rhythm guitar but they do a lot of harmonies on the newer stuff and both get solos as well. Fantastic show and just want I wanted!

Set List: Break the Limit, Diamonds in Orbit, Bad News, Crusaders of Death, Time Warrior, The Unseen, Nightstalker, Writing on the Wall, She Cried Wolf, Visa Vägen, Just Ain't Right, Nightrider Ice of the Fog

Mantar, another German band was in the small room and it was so insanely packed I could not even get my head into the room so I could not even get a picture.. Sorry… they sounded like a more classic doomy band..

23 Acid King were up.. I had been looking around for them but had not seen them. Seems they just came in from Spain or something. Anyway, the place was totally packed and the room smelled of weed as people wanted to be stoned for this band that plays very stoned music that often take you on the same trip for every song. They opened with something new I think that had some pre-recorded stuff and then Lori had them turn it off. Anyway, they sounded awesome but exactly the same as when I saw them 8 years ago… Just pure simple stoned guitar riffs and heavy steady drums and bass and then her occasional spaced out vocals. Not sure what new songs they played as I could not find a set list. They played just about an hour. I dug it.. Missed my friend Nils for this set though..

ACID KING

 Set List: Intro, Red River, Silent Pictures, Infinite Skies, Laser Headlights, 2 Wheel Nation

Sunshine and Sorrow, Electric Machine, Coming Down from Outer Space, Outro, War of the Mind

24 Night Viper, another band that Tom Sutton plays with were up in the small room and I managed to sneak in and get a spot up in the front right just in time for the first song and they were really intense. They are a five piece heavy metal band that has elements of Metallica (Kill em All era), Slayer (Show no Mercy) and Iron Maiden… Wow.. the short powerful Asian female singer can really belt it out as well as they just had the place headbanging and crowd surfing. Tom is the true lead guitar player in this band and was ripping and banging and having a great time. They killed it.

Set List: Warrrior Woman, Faces in the …, The Hammer, Curse of a…, Night Viper, Run for Cover, Enslaved, Dagger, Wolverine.

01 By this time, there were lot of drunk and wasted people lying about as Dopethrone hit the mainstage to the smell of marijuana. This was very intense, Electric Wizard inspired dope doom with an intense vocal. Some great riffs and powerful stoned stuff from this three piece. The singer said their 2^nd song was about your friend stealing and smoking up all your stash. Asshole… the crowd had thinned a little but still a lot of people for an intense set. Band was smoking onstage and people were crowdsurfing. Far out concert and very intense.. I was pretty blasted and headed home. A great first day.. Wow…

Dopethrone

Day 3

16:30  I was running a little behind today and I missed the Danish band Reefer who played a short 35mins set. I walked from the bus to the club with the guys from Serpent Throne. Super cool people..

17 Guevnna are from Japan. They opened the main stage and played a intense set of doomy Iron monkey-Bongzilla riff rock. The drummer really hit the drums super hard and broke two sticks in their set. The singer used one of these old 50s microphones so had a very special sound. I thought the guitar player had a monster sound. They were pretty intense but sometimes I would have liked a bit more groove and a guitar solo here and there please. Till People seem to dig it but the room was not too packed at this early time and the weather outside was glorious.. Sunny..but cold if you were in the shade.

Set List: Conspiracy, Confession, Lengthy Therapy, This mortal Grave, Deathbed

18 Saturnine is an all female doom-death band from Italy. This was really intense and a bit scary. They had a lot of candles on the stage a huge amount of incense was burning that it nearly burned your throat. These were intense, heavily tattooed lady with a lot of make up and far out hairdo (some of them). They had the look for sure and when they started to play it was pretty cool. The small female vocalist who was crouching down low at the front of the stage to start you could hardly see but when she put her mouth the microphone it was like someone from the depths of hell had just entered the room. What a fucking voice!!!!! Holy shit! I have never heard a female voice like that. The music was pretty cool melodic doom most of the time and the guitar player on the left could rip some good solos. I had to get out of their though as I was choking on the smoke from the cigs and incense..

Saturine

Set List: Escape, Moloch, Empire, Abyd, Bathory. Fangs, Bones, Orgy

19 Here there was two choices, Mirror of Deception from Germany in the main hall or a psychedelic folk band called Ill Wicker in the library where the gallery was. I went for Mirror but after 15mins I left. I really was quite disappointed. The singer who also played rhythm guitar played more or less the same guitar riff on every song and he other guitar played quite few solos so I was already getting bored. 

Set List: Vanishing, The Riven Tree, Ghost, Mirthless, Magnets, The Ship of Fools, Entgleiten, Sojourner, Student

I ran to the library and was blow away but Ill Wicker. This was a young band that sounded a lot like Comus with male and female vocals, fiddle, stand up bass, hand drums, guitar, another like 8 string guitar like instrument and some keyboards some times. The songs were strange, the vocals different but cool and just amazing stuff. My friend Stojs, did the amazing oil bubble and other proijections. Very cool.. I loved this and stayed until nearly the end but left during what must have been the last song as I really wanted to see Epitaph and was a afraid I would not get in the small hall.

20 Epitaph, are an Italian band with some members of the now legendary 80’s doom rock band called Black Hole. They released some really cool demo tapes in the 80s that I received when I was putting out my metal madness magazine. They had a cool stage set up with lots of candles, a skull on a pedestal at the front of the stage, a huge caldron in front of the kick drum and a hooded lady who would come and bring different props out. The singer was very funny and theatrical and gave an amazing performance for the crowd who really liked it. The music was a bit dated sometimes but in this context was it just cool. During the Black Hole Medley (I think), the singer from Carpilla Adiente, joined on additional guitar. It was a great show and I saw the whole thing. Fun..

Set List: Beyond the Mirror, Ancient Rite, Sacred and Prophane, The Battle of Inside, Black Hole Medley, Daughters of Lot, Necronomicon, Confuse the Light

21 Serpent Throne, is a US band from Philly and this was the first show ever in Europe. The band has released 4 records, I think and they were so happy to be here. I had met them on the bus coming to the venue today. Anyway, they had a few sound issues at first as the guitar player on the right was just way too loud and blasting everyone so you could nothing but him and the sound guy was really struggling.. I told the sound guy to tell him to turn down otherwise the show could have been destroyed.. He did and it sounded so much better.  They were totally awesome. Lots of harmony guitars, heavy riffing and on Backstabbath, a huge 73 Scorpions influence. I thought it was really funny the way he introduced the song and said this one was about my neighbors fighting with swords in the street.. This one is about if there was a car crash and one car was listening to Still in love with you by Led Zeppelin and the other car was listening to Pagan Alter.. that is what this sound would sound like and it did!!!

Set List: Ride Satan Ride, Wheels of Satan, Rock Formation, Good Night Humanity, Backstabbath, Battle of old Crow, Introduction to Satan, White summer Black Winter, Satan will guide us, LSD

22 I had seen a lot of music the last hours and needed a bit of a rest so I did not see any of Head of the Demon from Sweden. I just rested outside and talked with mostly Swedish folks and a cool guy from Austria.

23 It was time to get our heads totally blasted with fucking CONAN! This band plays so fucking loud and intense it just steamrolls your body and mid with the intensity. Tonight the band played the most uptempo show I had ever heard. Last time they were quite slow and pummelling but the speed of the bulldozer had been turned up quite a lot. Dave Perry, a local boy for the last few years was back in the line-up for this show. The drummer is also a monster in the band and just kicking ass with such intensity. It was just as loud as last time up in the front where I was. Damn, knocked me out nearly… this is a band I can’t listen to at home but the live experience is something to behold…   Heavy fucking shit….

CONAN with guest vocalist

24 I was totally blasted by Conan and hearing Profetus from Finland play ultra slow Funeral Doom was perfect.  Keyboard, three guitars and drums, slow, heavy, melodic at time. I felt like people were in a trance in the room, with eyes closed and just a slow slight sway in the head and body for not to fall asleep as you drift off to lay down in your coffin and bid this world fairwell…..

0100 Bongzilla was running a bit behind but the mood was crazy and people were getting really drunk and were totally stoned now. The place was really filled up with a lot stoned looking and smelling people. Mike, the lead singer and guitar player for Bongzilla was smoking his pipe all the time on the stage as they were getting ready and passing it to the bass player who also sings and plays bass in Weedeater! Not many bands were smoking on the stage but these guys and Dopethrone did.. Anyway, the started the real set about 0115 and played like one hour of very heavy stuff. The drummer was really leading the material and kicked ass, while the guitar players seem to just play small variations of the same super stoned heavy doomy guitar riff as mike screamed out strange stuff about who knows what. What a crazy fucking band but people loved it and were going totally mad in the front so I had to leave from my great position in the middle about 15 feet away. Sounds was totally massive… I was pretty blown away as were my ears after that and Conan…

Mike- Bongzilla

Wow… well, that was the end of my Heavy Days in Doomtown IV.. Sadly, for health and work reasons I missed the last day but I heard it was great and featured such band as Bell Witch, The order of Israfel, Abysmal Grief, Hooded Menace, King Dude, Capilla Ardiente, Hoopsnake, Night Profound and The Hyle.  I had attended all four and played at three and this was for sure a one of a kind festival with some of the most brutal and intense music that is being made on this planet and highlighting the talents of so many amazing artists that support the scene with killer artwork... Highly successful and Daniel (and his girlfriend Mikhaila, who also works hard) should be proud as this festival will live on in name and hopefully inspire others to try to do the same or even better! We will miss this festival. 

http://www.heavydaysindoomtown.com