DAY THREE
The third day was probably one of the heaviest of the fest. The place is packed, it’s Saturday, and something heavy’s cooking!

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…

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On April 26th it all went down at our 2nd Anniversary show that featured some of the most amazing bands in California. Honestly, the event was a huge success with truck loads of positive energy. All of the bands performed to the highest levels of gnarlyness and you could hear their passion in every note! Just as important as the bands that took the stage, CVLT Nation would like to salute everyone who came out and showed support. We would like to shout out Gehenna, Seven Sisters of Sleep, Youth Code, Children of God, Stoic Violence, Whip Hand and Unit B for an awesome fucking night. The night’s festivities were caught on film by our comrade in photography Adam Murray – good looking out homie! Without Crash the Clubs and Lace Pickups we would not have been able to pull this off, thank you for you support and hard work. It was cool to be able to connect with people outside of the internet. That being said, we really appreciate everyone who makes this webzine a destination every day! Now it’s time for the pictures to do the talking – check out these unreal flicks from CVLT Nation’s 2nd Anniversary and SSOS record release party (they fucking killed it – make sure to check them out on their upcoming tour with Full of Hell).

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In Grade Five, we watched a documentary about microscopic bugs that live with and on the human body. The one I remember most vividly and with the most horror are the “eyelash worms” that curl up all snug n’ cozy in our eyelash follicles. My mom told me that I had made it up, but in fact Demodex parasitic mites do indeed inhabit our faces. It’s kind of creepy to think about what creatures live on us, in our pores and mouths, and that we suck in with each breath. After that elementary school day of awakening, I never looked at my mite-infested pillow the same again. Each night I rested my face on it, I thought of the millions of hungry little bugs munching away on my sloughing skin. Pretty fucking nasty, and Nature thought of it! Everything has its use. And then there are the “cute” little insects – the ants and caterpillars – that seem so tiny and harmless and fuzzy; when you look at any of these things face to face, blown up by a microscope, you see it’s true ghastly visage. I think my favorite one is the maggot’s face, it looks just like what I would imagine these fat, dumb white worms to look like, with a kind of “duh” expression. Check out a bunch of little monsters below…

Maggot

We have been doing CVLT Nation’s Favorite Tumblrs for a while now, and it only makes sense that since I spend too much time trolling Instagram that I start a CVLT Nation’s Favorite Instagrammers feature! We don’t follow too many people because I like my feed to be quality over quantity, so today I am giving you my top 3 so far – NYC iPhone photographer Daniel Arnold, Montreal’s Ovate clothing and Philadelphia’s Bloodmilk Jewelry. These three consistently post photos that I have an emotional response to, whether it be to their latest creation, a stunning, haunting scene or a moment of hilarity. I am simply in love with whatever Bloodmilk and Ovate make, so it makes sense that I follow them to see what new items they have that I can dream about owning one day that I am not living on a tight-to-nonexistent budget. Bloodmilk often features work by other talented artists as well as curiosities and oddities which inspire my posts and makes me feel good about the endless well of creativity in the world. Ovate posts her own stunning clothes as well as beautiful shots of Montreal, her studio/loft space and recently old photos of her Quebecois family. Daniel Arnold captures the complexities and eccentricities of New York City in his candid street and subway shots. His photos make me laugh with humanity rather than at it, and there is often a deeper message underlying his images that was completely unintentional by his subjects. Check out some shots from my favorite Instagrammers below…

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Text and photos: Astrid Tonella

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.

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No matter how old I get, certain memories will never leave my brain. One such memorable night cost me two dollars, with a fog machine blinding me as my head nodded to a drum machine: when I saw The Sisters of Mercy on their first ever show in Los Angeles. Andrew & Wayne were on point at this gig and I knew I was watching something special. This band was a part of my brooding teenage years and I still enjoy them to this very day. This is why Fuck Yeah The Sisters of Mercy is our favorite tumblr right now! Once you check out this page you will not be leaving for a while, because it’s full of epic pictures and stellar videos…First and Last and Always, The Sisters of Mercy RULE! Peep the image gallery and more!

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All photos by Keegan Gibbs
Except were noted.

A few weeks ago, I got to see and hear history in person and it was fucking awesome! EXCEL played their first gig in 15 years and it was fucking way beyond off the hook. The room had this crazy buzz in it and the band was on point! EXCEL did not disappoint the packed place. What was also cool is that there was a good mix of old heads and youngsters, and everyone there waved the PMA flag high while EXCEL ripped shit. Personally, I could not help but feel a huge amount of joy. Keegan Gibbs took amazing photos for RVCA, the host of this kick ass event. Today CVLT Nation wants to celebrate our homies’ gnarly return to creating music together…All HAIL EXCEL & Venice honor…Make sure to check out their fully stocked web store for some radical merch!

Two very interesting heavy bands just wrapped up their Northwest tour. I’m speaking of Eight Bells and Subrosa. Their Vancouver show was captured on film by our comrade Ted Reckoning, who brought his amazing skills to the photos. When I look at these pictures, I can see two bands that put all of their passion into the music they create. I’m looking forward to seeing both Eight Bells and Subrosa in the very near future. In the meantime, I will gaze at these flicks and imagine how special their live shows are…excuse me while I day dream!

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Today I want to celebrate a really special person, and someone I was lucky enough to call a friend: Shawn Mortensen. Not only was he an unreal photographer, he was an all-around cool fucking human. I’m pretty sure it would be hard to find anyone that would have a negative thing to say about him. His passion for life was infectious, but it was his constant whirlwind of creative energy I will always remember him for. Many people reading this may never have met Shawn, but I bet you have seen some of his work. He shot some of the most iconic pictures of Sonic Youth, Tupac, Biggie Smalls, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog, Henry Rollins and many more. His non-industry work also left a mark on this world – Shawn’s pictures of the Zapatistas are moving and thought-provoking. Then there are the flicks he took in Ethiopia and Jamaica, that actually make you feel like you are there. His kind aura allowed him to make the people his was shooting feel completely comfortable and natural while he was taking a picture of them. More than anything, Shawn was a giver of art, & a giver to those that were in need on any level. The best way for him to be remembered is through all of his awesome photos – make sure to check out his new website that his family has set up HERE! Big hugs to Shawn Mortensen!

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Whatever Ghost BC is doing, they seem to be excelling at it. I can’t say I’m a fan, but this show was sold out weeks in advance. The venue, not small by any means, was packed full of smiling fans singing along. The merch line was no less than 90 people long until everyone had a thirty dollar shirt and an LP in their hands. Those LPs sold out not more than a week or so into tour. I’m sure the dildos will sell out too, if they haven’t already. Now, I could attempt to delve into the Ghost spectacle, hypothesize the mystery, who/why and so on, but I think there’s been enough of that circulating already so I won’t bore you with more of it here. On with the show…

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