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A Chronicle of the Black Flag Tattoo appeared first on CVLT Nation.

Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw called La Danza de la Realidad (“The Dance Of Reality”), Chilean cinematic trickster Alejandro Jodorowsky’s first film in 23 years, “a triumphant return, which mixes autobiography, politics, torture and fantasy to exuberant, moving effect.”

La Danza de la Realidad was shot in Jodorowsky’s hometown of Tocopilla, deep in the Chilean desert. The film, which premiered at Cannes tells the story, sort of, of the his Communist father, Jaime Jodorowsky, with whom the director obviously had a very complex relationship:

Of course, the entire story is swathed in surreal mythology, dream logic and instant day-glo legend, resembling Fellini, Tod Browning, Emir Kusturica, and many more. You can’t be sure how to extract conventional autobiography from this. Despite the title, there is more “dance” than “reality” — and that is the point. Or part of the point. For the first time, Jodorowsky is coming close to telling us how personal evasiveness has governed his film-making style; his flights of fancy are flights of pain, flights from childhood and flights from reality. And now he is using his transformative style to come to terms with and change the past and to confer on his father some of the heroism that he never attained in real life.

As a child, young Alejandro is played by Jeremias Herskowits, and as an old man by the director himself, who cuts a distinguished, Haneke-like figure with his white hair and trimmed beard. His father Jaime is played by the director’s son Brontis Jodorowsky, which lends the project an intriguingly Freudian flavour. (Until this moment, I thought the scene in Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom in which the director dropped creepy-crawlies on his son’s pillow was the roughest father-son moment in cinema. But here Jodorowsky films a scene in which Jaime is tortured by the state police, and a naked Brontis Jodorowsky has electrodes attached to his testicles in full camera view. Ouch.)

Cannes 2013: La Danza de la Realidad (The Dance Of Reality) – first look review (The Guardian)

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First Look At
ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY
New Film Now Showing! appeared first on CVLT Nation.

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Label Spotlight
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COUGH
So here I start my super sonic marathon with Cough. It was probably one of the performances that many people were most excited to see after their cancellation last year. I had the chance to see them in Copenhagen a couple of years ago, shortly after they released the brilliant Ritual Abuse. That show was rad, so my expectations were high. The set mostly included tracks from their recent split with Windhand, Reflection of the Negative, which I hadn’t time to give a spin yet so I felt a bit blindfolded, but it was cool to discover their new songs live. Kind of disappointed they didn’t leave more room for some of their bigger “hits” like “Crooked Spine” or “Killing Fields,” but the atmosphere they conveyed was definitely as obscure and suffocating as I remembered…

METH DRINKER
Meth Drinker is one of those bands that came a long way to play the fest. The trio from Wellington, NZ has made an impression on the international underground scene since 2011, with the release of their self-titled debut album, arousing the curiosity of several bloggers and magazine Terrorizer.

The show is about to start in 15 min, and already many people rush toward Dødsmaskinen, where the band is about to play. Meanwhile, the three lads are waiting peacefully by the stage, enjoying a beer, and no one has any idea what’s about to hit them. The first song starts, and immediately the air thickens and the atmosphere becomes oppressive. These guys are pulling a show of rare intensity and the crowd responds immediately. As I’m watching them, no word other than “raw” comes to my mind to describe what I hear and see. Their sound is so primitive (yet not simple) and so thick! James and Tony’s unique voices are terrifying and plunge you into a state of horror and claustrophobia. As they are playing you can see their facial expressions distort. You see pain and insanity as they become the epitome of their own sound… Damn, that’s was some dirty filthy sludge, I feel like I’ve been rolled over.

MOURNFUL CONGREGATION
Change of atmosphere – it’s time for some first class funeral doom with the charismatic Mournful Congregation. What to say about this performance… More than a simple show, it was an astounding inspiring experience that pushed me to completely abandon myself to the overwhelming flow of melancholy that the band was unfolding on the audience. Mournful Congregation is one of those few bands that manage to drain you emotionally by their virtuosity and their fascinating, infinite creativity…

GRAVES AT SEA
I don’t know a single person that wasn’t pumped to see Graves At Sea perform their first European show that night. The band started their set with one off their newest material, “Pariah,” and already the crowd was breaking their necks to the rhythm of this seismic track. By the time the quartet started playing the legendary “Red Monarch,” the audience went wild, amongst which you could see the drummers from Bell Witch and Samothrace definitely enjoying themselves! The madness peaks when they play “Praise the Witch”! At that point, beers and people were flying from all parts of the venue, sending front man Nathan out for a little walkabout. It was late, but the audience, restless, asked for an encore that the band, physically drained, couldn’t execute, but we’ll forgive them! This gig was probably one of the craziest shows of the weekend, the kind of gig that people will talk about for a long, long time…

SHADOW OF THE TORTURER
Due to some last minute change in the program, Shadow of the Torturer was set to play last at Dødsmaskinen. Unfortunately, after Graves At Sea, most festivalgoers left and the trio from Seattle didn’t get the crowd they should have had. But some people were still in the mood for some ugly misanthropic doom and decided to stay. To sum up the band, Shadow Of The Torturer is definitely not for your dear auntie. Their distortions are enough to turn your guts upside down and their rumbling drumming just crushes you at a mind-blowing slow pace. Definitely a good reason to stay and a perfect way to end the night…

DAY FOUR
This is the last day of the festival and it shows! After yesterday’s madness, tiredness can be read on people’s face and the venue is much less crowded. In the air floats a certain atmosphere of return to the state of calm…

DARK BUDDHA RISING
The general peaceful state of mind was perfect to welcome the gloomy and mystique Dark Buddha Rising. I was very impressed by their act last year at Roadburn, and was really excited to renew the experience. The band takes the stage and delivers a long introduction before making space for the singer. As with last year, I’m still fascinated by their ability to create that distinctive cold and ritualistic atmosphere. Like an offering, the singer, stripped to waist, is drinking from a chalice and pouring blood on himself, cramping, throwing out some of the darkest and unearthliest howls I’ve ever heard, making the audience uncomfortable. Behind that very theatrical performance, four very talented dudes are building an impressive soundscape, punctuated by long passages of black psychedelia and drone. Sunday, gloomy Sunday…

MOSS
“Heavy Days, Horrible Night”. This could be the next motto of HDDT, and not the least when it comes from Moss’s frontman, referring to their latest opus Horrible Night as the band is about to begin the closing show of the festival. As I imagined, the Southampton band delivered a solid show, which was mainly was based on their newest materials and largely acclaimed by the audience. A closing with style for an event that many now consider to be the best European festival – Heavy Days in Doomtown.

Special thanks to: Karin and Natalia for the great opportunity, as well as all the other volunteers who worked their asses off to provide the best experience possible during this killer weekend!

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Days Three and Four appeared first on CVLT Nation.

Whip Hand

Whip Hand

Stoic Violence

Stoic Violence

Stoic Violence

Stoic Violence

Stoic Violence

Youth Code

Youth Code

Youth Code

Youth Code

Youth Code

Children of God

Children of God

Children of God

Seven Sisters of Sleep

Seven Sisters of Sleep

Seven Sisters of Sleep

Seven Sisters of Sleep

Seven Sisters of Sleep

Gehenna

Gehenna

Gehenna

Gehenna

Gehenna

Gehenna

Gehenna

Gehenna

Gehenna

Gehenna

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Maggot

Cleptoparasitic Bee

A head lice clinging to a human hair

A wasp’s head

Embryonic Zebrafish

Caterpillar

Hydrothermal worm

Eyelash mite

Mosquito eye

Water Bear

Swollen tick

Marine worm

Ant face

Marine worm

Water mite

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@BLOODMILK
http://instagram.com/bloodmilk

@OVATE
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@ARNOLD_DANIEL
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TREHA SEKTORI
“AH ESTEREH KOMH DERAH”
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On this sunny beginning of May started the second edition of Heavy Days in Doomtown in Copenhagen, Denmark. The four days DIY sludge/doom/stoner fest who made a massive impression last year is back again, with an incredible line up (five bands performed their first European show ever), bringing fans of “all things slow and heavy” from all over Europe and beyond. For those who are unfamiliar with the festival (?!), HDDT is an event organized by the “Undergrundsmusikkens Fremme” (Underground music Promotion) who has been organizing for several years the now notorious “Kill-town Death Fest”. The concept, which makes this festival so unique, is to bring the DIY principles to the doom/stoner/sludge/psych scenes that are rarely exposed to these ethics and create music and culture without having any profit involved.

Huge congrats to the organizing crew for topping last year’s event, for the top-notch organization and for making this weekend absolutely amazing. With this edition, HDDT really proved that it can compete with other renewed European festivals – so if you haven’t attended yet, this is definitely not the fest you want to miss next year!

DAY ONE
The first day started off very well at Stengade, with a sold out warm-up show enabling the public to visit the art gallery placed on the first floor of the venue. For this edition, HDDT continued in line of last year, adding even more artists to the bill. The artistic dimension is to me a great addition that provides a very unique atmosphere to this festival and showcases artists who also contribute in making the scene something more than “just” music but a culture of its own. For this day, you were able to admire the incredible works of The 13th Sign Collective (D), responsible for the fest’s artwork, Manuel Tinnemans (NL), Timo Ketola (SWE), Sami Hynninen (FIN) and assist to a book reading by Ulrike Serowy, narrated by Mat McNervey from Hexvessel.

HUATA
First time on the Danish soil for the French doomsters and not the last! I’ve had the chance to see these guys quite a few times by now and I can say that this was probably their best set I’ve seen. The Breton quartet certainly warmed up the audience in due form – a warning for the three following days of madness ahead. Huata came with no fuss, bringing their massive sound and bottle of chouchen that the singer Ronan, dressed up like a satanic priest, was using to “bless” the audience. The band played mostly tracks from the heavy “Atavist of Mann” such as the catchy “Lord of the flames” and their brilliant cover of “Black Sabbath” from Coven. Definitely a stoner/doom delivered in perfect manner. Great job Huata!

HEXVESSEL
Last performance of the night is the fine Finish quintet Hexvessel. After another success at Roadburn, it was long due for them to step on Danish soil. It was with no surprise that the band completely blew away the audience with an inspiring and mesmerizing performance. A perfect set list mixing beautifully songs from the two first albums and their latest EP with highlights such as the fabulous and heady cover of “Woman of Salem” from Yoko Ono, “Unseen Sun” and “Woods to Conjure”.

The band seemed much more comfortable than the first time I saw them, their fusion was stronger and you could read on their faces they were enjoying themselves. A superb way to start the fest that left me under the moon for a while…

DAY TWO
A new day at HDDT which is taking place for the rest of the weekend at Ungdomshuset. The sun is shining, the people and the bands seem psyched to be here.

Today the rest of the artists invited to the fest show their work in various locations of the venue. The canvases used are diverse, from screen printing, to drawing, to metal and photography. Whether it’s a coincidence or not, I’m glad to see so many female artists on the bill, such as Aminah Slor (US), Bronwyn Pandemon (D/US), Maija Lathinen (FIN), Kristiina Letho (FIN) and Frida Hulthén (SWE).

TONER LOW
I was thrilled when I heard the Dutch three piece was going to perform at this year’s fest, a great addition as the band is the epitome of what is slow and heavy. After being underrated for quite a while, the band finally gets the recognition it deserves and is now on its 15th year of activity with a third album recently released! Toner Low is a one of a kind band, they do drone/stoner but with a psychedelic twist to it. They played in the dark (not to accommodate me) with an hallucinogenic patterned illuminated on the bass drum. A very heavy and groovy and loud set that surely warmed me up for Bell Witch!

BELL WITCH
First show in Europe for the Seattle duet, a very awaited performance after they released the phenomenon “Longing,” which is a pure doom jewel. The band starts the first track and BOOM! Now we’re talking! Their sound is massive and haunting. But Bell Witch is more than a band who just spits that super sonic weight in your face, they prove their excellent musicianship: Dylan’s bass work is impressive, consisting of two hands fretting and out chord changes – a delight to watch. Adrian’s drumming is impeccable, hitting the skins very hard, like his goal was to crumble the whole place. They pulled off an amazing epic and actually quite emotional set, I would say. This drum and bass duet is probably one of the thickest of the current doom scene. Europe, catch them on tour!

CONAN
Unfortunately I caught Conan too late and arrived in front of a packed house! Nevertheless, no need to be up front though to realize how unreasonably loud the band is. It’s heavy, fuzzy it’s more of a monster machine than a band: disgustingly good!

BELZEBONG
Another band I was nicely surprised to see appear on this edition of HDDT. That night they played Dødsmaskinen and the room was filling up quickly. I make my way to the front row and the smoking machine is already in full swing! By the time the Polish quartet enters the stage, the room has transformed into a giant aquarium full of blur and other illicit substances: perfect scenery for a ritual to the bong and weedy riffs! The band begins the ceremony… Damn these dudes are already far, far out and they take us with them within a few seconds. It seems that their sound is even slower than on the album, which added to the heaviness of their set that made us bounce and bend under the heavy weights of their mighty riffs. After that rollercoaster, I left the venue a bit fuzzy…

SAMOTHRACE
The night ends up with Samothrace playing the main stage. It is no secret that CVLT Nation is a huge fan of the band and therefore I had to witness their first show ever in Europe. After being hooked by their debut album “Life’s a trade” and overly impressed by their recent opus “Reverence to Stone,” I have to say it was one of the shows I was looking the most forward to. That night, the quartet definitely exceeded my expectations and completely blew my mind away. They opened with “A Horse of Our Own,” grandiose on the album but the true power of that masterpiece only reveals itself live. Man, Renata and Brian definitely know how to hit your sensitive spot while Dylan works his magic with his bass and Joe’s drumming builds an overwhelming vibe with devastating cymbals crashes. The band surely tore my heart apart and gave me chills during the rest of the set, which consisted of “Awkward Hearts” from their debut album and the other part of their EP “When We Emerged”. What a band!

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Days One and Two
Mammoth Photo Essay! appeared first on CVLT Nation.