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Anhedonist 6.7.13 Full Set
Now Showing! appeared first on CVLT Nation.

Five o’ clock on a Saturday afternoon is a middle ground. For some, depending on the previous night, it’s right in the middle of breakfast – the breakfast of aspirin. For others, it’s the critical time of day where socially acceptable excuses are invented to not leave your home, because dammit I’m in a committed relationship with Netflix. But for punks in the know, 5 o’ clock on June 8th was the time the Echo’s door’s opened for Nails and a slew of hardcore acts from all walks of the genre.

Nails was clearly the draw, but there were all types of hardcore to be had Saturday. If Nails’ Entombed-core wasn’t your thing, there was Power Trip’s thrashy crossover hardcore to tide you over. If you don’t remember or don’t want to remember the mid-to-late ‘80s, Xibalba’s tough guy hardcore will have you frantically flailing and punching the air in seconds. Rounding off the lineup was Palm, who play a style of music that sounds like a hardcore version of Pantera, a combination that could only come out of Japan, the band’s homeland. And finally, there was the crowd-confusing acoustic set of Harm Wülf, pushing the limits of hardcore – and this paragraph – beyond its breaking point.

Harm Wülf, the bedroom project of Blacklisted’s George Hirsch, served as the opening credits to a night of aggression and unresolved family issues. The crowd mostly hugged the walls while the room slowly filled up with more bodies, while the few devotees to the strumming guitar and soft vocals cautiously stood two feet back from the stage. The songs of loss and solitude were good, but far removed from the rest of the lineup. Had Harm Wülf been on a more appropriate bill, Hirsch’s work would have found the audience it does legitimately deserve.

Following Hirsch was Palm, a Japanese band whose music deserved far, far more positive reception than it received. The audience just refused to budge no matter how many times vocalist Toshihiko screamed circle pit. They should have. Palm’s recorded work smashes metal into hardcore in a way that’s tastefully tasty. And while it is said too often but is too true not to convey here, their live performance exceeded their recorded work to the point that they put in a strong bid for best live band of the evening, which is saying something considering what was to come.

Power Trip

HARM WULF

HARM WULF

HARM WULF

HARM WULF

HARM WULF

HARM WULF

Palm

Palm

Palm

Palm

Palm

Palm

Palm

Palm

Palm

What was to come was Xibalba, a band as divisive within hardcore as a whole as they are revered within their own subsection. But no matter how much of a tr00 punk you are, you’d be a liar if you said Xibalba wasn’t the heaviest damn thing you’ve ever heard. Xibalba bring absolutely crushing breakdowns to the table, each riff a bid to one-up the last one. It was nauseating heaviness, the kind that makes your stomach acid ripple like a puddle in Jurassic Park and the kind that sends those with no concept of personal space spinning around like Beyblades that punch.

Xibalba

Xibalba

Xibalba

Xibalba

Xibalba

Xibalba

Xibalba

Xibalba

Xibalba

But if you just couldn’t help but turn your punx nose up to Xibalba, the next band was so far removed from them that it’s a wonder how they technically occupy the same genre. Power Trip does more than just flirt with thrash metal – the two are full-blown dating and they’ve met each other’s parents – but they avoid falling into the same pit that re-thrash bands of the mid ‘00s did, and that’s because they’re not a thrash revival band. Throw away the pants and high tops and hair and you’re left with what is essentially a modern take on crossover with a 1980s appearance. The songs were quick, the mood was frantic. And nothing summed up how modern a crossover thrash band Power Trip is than the banter between songs from vocalist Riley Gale about how they were late getting to LA because they accidentally released the shit and piss valve of their van into the streets of Oakland and had to clean up their “toxic waste.” Excrement and urine? Super punk! Cleaning it up and being green? Super modern!

Power Trip

Power Trip

Power Trip

Power Trip

Power Trip

Power Trip

Power Trip

Power Trip

Power Trip

Power Trip

Power Trip

Power Trip

For the few ear drums that remained spared of a lifelong affliction with Tinnitus, that changed once Nails took the stage. Led by guitarist/singer/motivational speaker Todd Jones, Nails exploded onto the scene with their 2010 album Unsilent Death. With a thick Kurt Ballou tone, Nails spat up a new record earlier this year called Abandon All Life, a record that, save for a few tracks, pushed them even further into the realm of grindcore, OG Napalm Death enthusiasts be damned.

Nails played a set that drew from all three of the band’s releases, even throwing in “Confront Them” from Obscene Humanity for the fans that have dug deeper than the 14 minutes of Unsilent Death. Armed with an additional guitarist, the two-guitar approach to their earlier work came across as even more punishing than usual. Nails has no pity. They have no empathy. Their music lays the groundwork for that fact and their live performance builds something ugly on top of it.

Todd punctuated clusters of hardcore carnage with a slew of topics between tracks. There was the obligatory you-can-be-anything-you-want-fuck-everyone hardcore speech. There was the don’t-talk-shit-online-if-you-won’t-in-person discussion, a toast to hxc etiquette in the computer age. And finally, there was some brief exploration of the value of athletics when, while Todd stressed being yourself and not someone else’s caricature of you, someone shouted out “fuck sports!” Todd mellowly deflected, saying “I don’t know about that…they’re not for me but if someone’s into sports then whatever.” These explorations of the social and political issues of our time had found a suitable home in between songs about God’s cold hands and wide open wounds.

Nails were, of course, the final nail in the coffin of a show that was essentially a hardcore showcase. They, assisted by their openers, left a definitive stamp on the healthy state of the genre now and what should be a grim yet satisfying future to come.

NAILS

NAILS

NAILS

NAILS

NAILS

NAILS

NAILS

NAILS

NAILS

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NAILS – Power Trip – Xibalba – Palm – Harm Wülf appeared first on CVLT Nation.

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NEUROSIS Live In Paris 5/25/13
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Things got pretty trippy at Seattle’s Chop Suey Tuesday night. Lazer/Wulf, White Hills, Blood Ceremony, and almighty sludgers Kylesa absolutely destroyed. Before Tuesday I wasn’t too familiar with the mathy, progressive metal of Atlanta’s Lazer/Wulf but they kicked off the show with a loud, thrashy set. A good sign. Next up, NY’s White Hills killed. Their fuzzy, psyched-out, space rock put the crowd in a trance. It was no doubt one of my favorite sets of late. Wicked occult rockers Blood Ceremony have been on my must-see list for some time, so I was stoked to see their name on the bill when Sean first asked if I’d be interested in shooting this show. The resurgence of witch-cult female-fronted occult rock bands (Sabbath Assembly, Jex Thoth, Blood Ceremony, Purson) is a welcome trend. More 1972 than 2013, Alia O’Brien’s soulful vox, jazzy flute, and psychedelic organ captivate and meld well with the the fuzzed-out doom of her bandmates (think Sabbath-meets-Tull).

By the time Kylesa took the stage the venue was packed…big surprise. Paying little attention to how quickly the place was filling up, I slammed my tallboy and pushed my way to the front, squeezing between a few punks, heshers, older psych rock dads, a couple young ladies and a photographer or two – a fairly eclectic crowd proving just how far-reaching Kylesa’s tunes are – where I managed to establish a solid, eardrum-pummeling vantage point. I’m going to say now that Ultraviolet will certainly be at the top of my best of 2013 list and I was stoked to finally hear a number of the sonically adventurous tracks live. To be honest, I don’t really know what I can write about this band’s live show to truly do them justice. Their seamless blend of punk, crust, psych, prog, all-out southern sludge and even a little goth rock is unstoppable…not to mention the thundering dual drummers and Phillip’s theremin-skateboard guitar contraption! My ears were ringing well into the following afternoon. Anyway, pick your poison, throw on some heavy jams, tune out for a bit, and let the pictures be your guide to the madness.

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KYLESA – Blood Ceremony – White Hills – Lazer/Wulf
SEATTLE Photo Essay appeared first on CVLT Nation.

Bolt Thrower

While lasting contributions from Baltimore could be as simple as The Wire and John Waters, let’s go ahead and toss Maryland Deathfest in there as well. Sure there’s a brimming scene of bands, but Baltimore’s real musical pedigree comes in the form of North America’s largest extreme music festival which operates right in downtown Baltimore (somewhere in between the municipal buildings and strung out vagrants).

Abigail

Without a doubt there were two names that attracted me to MDF XI; Infest and Bolt Thrower. Both were phenomenal, and showed that their ages hadn’t left a negative mark. Thursday was an okay night, I missed the first three bands and while I enjoyed Abigail‘s set, it just went on a  bit too long (no thrash band should play longer than 30 mins). Cobalt, a main draw for many, really worked up the crowd and hit the stage with the tenacity and vibe that might belong to a 90′s hardcore band more than a black metal band; of course, this all paled in comparison to Bolt Thrower.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Bolt Thrower. That’s not to say I dislike them – far from it- I just never spent too much time with anything else besides In Battle There is no Law and Realm of Chaos. With that said, it should be a pretty huge argument in their case that I was absolutely floored with their performance. Easily one of the best bands of MDF XI, Bolt Thrower immersed the crowd in their brand of mid-paced groove laden death metal that never gets old. Singer Karl Willett and his long mane of grey hair carried the performance atop the band’s tank tread groove and some of the event’s best sound. Unfortunately cut short by Baltimore’s strict curfew, no other blemishes existed for the legendary UK act (besides the absurd humidity and the can of sardines tent we were all packed into-but hey, it’s a festival, who isn’t going to lose 10lbs in sweat and gain 15 in other’s sweat?).

Ahumado Granujo brought out the best in the crowd

Friday brought damp and frigid weather that constantly threatened rain and a bad time. There was a strong Czech grind contingent at MDF that started with Ahumado Granujo‘s goofy brand of gore-soaked and death metal infused grind (complete with disco beat interludes and fans throwing glow sticks everywhere) and ended with Gride‘s offbeat and complex brand of grind on Sunday. Sandwiched in between the two were Ingrowing, the most straight ahead of the 3. All 3 were excellent and nice additions to the heavily death and doom metal bill of this year.

Sete Star Sept

Friday also saw Japanese noisegrinders Sete Star Sept literally fall to pieces as they blasted and smashed their way through a painful 20 minute set of nonsensical noise. Repulsion, a band I grew to love through seeing them live, were great; although a bit too tight this time around (their best a bit sloppy). Scott Carlson’s stage banter was spot on and worth their set alone as he would introduce a song by saying “this one’s off our latest album…Horrified, from ’86″ and other knocks at the band’s own expense.

Repulsion

Friday’s highlight were Righteous Pigs, an unfortunately little known band best remembered for being Mitch Harris’s band before he joined Napalm Death. Their brand of groove laden, stomp frenzied metal that could be argued to be grindcore came out perfectly live. Singer Caper was a real blast to hear live as well as hear his banter about wanting to drink and party with everyone, and even meet their girlfriends (you fill in why). Favorites from Stress Related were played with vigor and precision and had me going wild.

Righteous Pigs

Carcass‘s attention to their melodic dad rock had me scouring the grounds for some food and beer which was a bit disappointing. Ending the night on a high note were hardcore stalwarts Tragedy as they played a ferocious set that thankfully drew a hefty group. Overall Friday’s highest point came during Righteous Pigs, a band more people should know about.

Tragedy

Keep your eyes peeled for part two where I’ll cover Saturday and Sunday.

Photos courtesy of Return to the Pit.

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Thursday and Friday appeared first on CVLT Nation.

First run, place orders by 06.06.13.
After that, we’ll see.

All proceeds to whatever Jeff Hanneman would have wanted, TBD. Suggestions welcome. #SouthOfHanneman

Artists: Justin Bartlett, French, Mark Riddick, Farron Loathing, Antichrist Kramer

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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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2nd Anniversary Photo Essay appeared first on CVLT Nation.

Howdy, Lo! here checking in from Europe. We’re 12 shows into the tour and currently driving to Rome, Italy for our show tonight. Here’s a bit of a breakdown of the last few days and our journey through to this point.

Day 1.
We arrive in Zurich after that fun flight from Sydney, got through customs and were met by a chap from the van company to give us our van for the next month and all our backline. We then jumped in the van and headed off to La Chaux De Fond where we’re setting up for the next couple of days to rehearse and catch up before we start playing. Driving on the wrong side of the road in a manual definitely took a bit of time to get used to. Four hours later and a nice drive through some snowy areas and we’re there. We’re staying with a couple of the guys from The Ocean so we headed back to theirs and crashed for the night. We toured with The Ocean in Australia in 2012 and it was great to see the guys.

Day 2.
First day rehearsing today and we’ve kindly been given the guys from Coilguns studio space to set up for the next couple of days. Carl and me played through some Emperor cabinets and almost lost it on how great they sounded.

Awesome day of practice and working out the set lists for the upcoming 25 shows. Our sets vary between 30-45 minutes depending on where the shows are so we sort a couple of options of songs we can pull in and drop out as we choose.

Jamie also practiced some punk jumps and some crabcore crotch bend moves. It all looked good.

Day 3.
1st show of the tour. We started the day with a couple more hours of rehearsal and then started pulling our stuff apart to pack the van and head over to the venue. As we went outside lo and behold, it started snowing. We were like little children running around in the snow. The swiss people weren’t as excited as us.

Gig tonight was at a venue called Bikini Test and we play with The Ocean and a black metal band called Rorcle. Rorcle opened and almost gave the crowd a group seizure with the amount of strobes they had going. It was incredible. We played next and it was quite an intense and amazing feeling hitting that first note on European soil. We played a solid set and were well received. The Ocean were up next and played their new album start to finish to a very excited home crowd for them. It was a pleasure to watch and great to know we get to see them play another 20+ times on the tour.

Day 4.
Monster travel day. Huge drive across Switzerland and France then a ferry over to the UK to spend the night with some friends and family in London. London show tomorrow night with The Ocean, Bossk, Empress and Shapes.

Day 5.
2nd show. Had a pretty disturbing message from Robin from The Ocean this morning. Their van had broken down somewhere in France with the engine completely fried. He said they were unsure they were going to actually make the show. We said we’d keep in contact over the rest of the day and see how they went. The show tonight was at a venue called Borderline in Soho where they hold quite a lot of metal and hardcore shows. We got there at about 2pm to load in after stopping at a Soho pub for a couple of pints. Robin was still checking and they’d picked up a replacement van and were rushing as fast as they could to get to Calais to try and get the ferry. The show was due to start at 5pm, and the last ferry across was at 4pm. All the other bands got to the venue and waited on the news. We were also all meant to be using the Ocean’s cabs for the shows. They also had all our merch in the back of their trailer so we had nothing for the show. It was all a bit of a stress. Then we got the call that the guys had missed the last ferry by 15 minutes, which was heartbreaking. A call was made to carry on and go ahead with the show with the remaining bands.

All bands played really well and even though The Ocean weren’t there the place was packed and the crowd was on fire. Check out Empress, Bossk and Shapes here.

Day 4.
3rd show. We got up early this morning and heading back towards the white cliffs of Dover to jump on the ferry back to France. The show tonight was in La Havre, which is a small town near Normandy on the coast. We join back up with the Ocean and two local French bands for the show at a great venue at the bottom of a pub. The stage is on the floor, which we love. Show was great and a really good response from the French crowd. We stayed with The Ocean at a Formula 1 hotel and indulged in quite a few drinks to end off the night.

Day 5 and 6.
We said goodbye to The Ocean in the morning and got on the road for a loooooong drive over two days from La Havre, France all the way up to Gothenberg in Sweden. We split it up by staying in a little town at Hambhuren, which is near Hannover in Germany. Robin from the Ocean’s parents live there so we were luckily invited to spend the night.

Day 7.
4th show. Tonight we start the run of shows with Cult of Luna, which is extremely exciting and extremely daunting. Tonight’s show is at a venue called Pustervik and it is only Cult of Luna and Lo! on the bill. We get to the venue to load in and meet the COL guys and their crew. As we walk into the massive venue we realize how large this tour and what we’re due to expect over the next three weeks. There were close to 500 presales for the show, and realistically about 800 came through the door. We played a pretty solid set and hopefully turned a couple of the Swedes into Lo! fans. Cult of Luna hit the stage and played one of the most brutal sets over the next hour and a half. It was incredible to watch and we feel like the luckiest band in the world, not only to play every night with these guys, but also to be able to watch them every night. We left the venue about 1am and headed back to our hostel for the night.

Day 8.
5th show. Only a short drive of about three hours to Copenhagen in Denmark for tonight’s show. We’re staying with a friend of ours Michelle, who has very nicely offered up some beds for us to spend the night. Again tonight’s show is just Cult of Luna and Lo! at a venue called Lilli Vega. We loaded in and heard COL soundcheck. Amazing. Such a show with both sound control and lighting. It is a thrill to be able to watch. Show started a little later tonight and there was maybe three hundred people there when we started our set. We played a really great set again, and I think very much starting to find our groove for the performances. Cult of Luna absolutely destroyed the place again tonight and it was an incredible thing to watch. Tomorrow we have another huge drive all the way back to Tilburg, The Netherlands to play the ridiculously amazing Roadburn Festival.

Day 9.
6th show. This was a serious day of driving. It was about a nine hour drive from Copenhagen to Tilburg. Three of us have been sharing the driving but it’s pretty taxing on the energy and the body. We finally pull in to Tilburg around 4pm. From the moment we drive through to the backstage entry we are in awe. Roadburn is a pretty exclusive festival. They only sell around 3,000 tickets and the festival runs for three days. The only thing that sucks about today, is that we play at the same time as High on Fire who were one of the bands I really wanted to watch! We go into reception and are given our passes and escorted down to our room that we’re sharing with Cult of Luna and The Ocean. We played a great set and the room was packed when we hit our first notes. Great festival and I would definitely go back as a punter in the years to come. We stayed in a hotel that Roadburn put us up in for the night and got some well needed rest.

Day 10.
7th show. We headed into France today to play another festival called Impetus Festival in a town called Audincourt. The festival had been going for a few days already, with bands like Bohemoth playing earlier on. We opened the show to a really good response from the French. We then got our stuff off stage and headed backstage for an amazing dinner the promoter put on for us. It’s one of the best things about touring over here. The meals that you’re fed at all the venues. Feel like we’re getting spoiled! Cult of Luna and The Ocean destroyed the place tonight too. Bit of a drive tonight after the show as we headed back into Switzerland and spent the night back at Luc the drummer from The Ocean’s house in La Chaux Da Fond. We got there about 3.30am and crashed.

Day 11.
8th show. Fribourg, Switzerland. This was probably one of the most amazing drives we’ve done yet as far as scenery goes. We crossed through the Swiss Alps and were blown away by what we were seeing. So much so that we had to pull over into one of the small towns and get some touristy shots. Fribourg is a really pretty town and actually the home of our sound engineer Christoff. We loaded in, had something to eat and a few of us went for a bit of an explore before sound check. Show was really killer tonight with lots of people and a generally well received set. My power source to my pedals decided to completely stop working tonight which was boring. Had to get some batteries and borrow some adaptors to power up. Christoff gave us the key to his apartment so we could crash on the floor for the night. Tomorrow into Italy for show 9!

Day 12.
9th show. Long drive today to get to Mezzago, Italy. As soon as we crossed the border into Italy the roads deteriorated to a bumpy mess. Not much more possibility of sleep! Mezzago is about 45mins out of Milan and the venue was a pretty awesome space. Cult of Luna were sound checking when we rolled in and the room sounded pretty massive. The Italian promoter put on a big stew for dinner tonight. Bloody delicious! We played a pretty killer show tonight and the Italians went nuts for it. COL’s merch guy hooked us up with one of his friends who said we could stay on his floor in Milan, So after load out at 2am we jumped in the car and drove over to Milan. Turns out when we got to his apartment we couldn’t wake him up to let us in! Pretty brutal at 3am in the morning. Ended up finding a cheap hotel just around the corner and crashed out for a couple of hours. Griff and Jamie slept in the van and looked pretty haggard in the morning. Woke up to missed calls and texts from the Italian guy saying he’s slept through the phone and missed all our calls and messages. He felt terrible, but we sorted it out so no problem.

Day 13.
10th show. Feel like we’re starting to become a driving, playing, eating, drinking machine now. Long drives every day and a general tiredness falling over the band. We had another long drive today to Rome. As soon as we get to the outskirts of Rome we hit some big traffic which slows us down a fair bit. The venue today is a bit smaller then Mezzago, but I think it will be a good one. We unloaded our gear and then Turtle and I did a mission to a music store to see if I could find a new power source for my pedal board. Music store didn’t have one, but eventually we found an electronics store and I bought a couple of power sources to run pedals individually. Got back and get on stage for sound check. Now my OCD pedal has died! I’m dropping pedals like crazy. So I repatch and have one less distortion level which will still work. It was an early show tonight which is kinda weird for Italy as everyone goes out late. Doors were 8.30. We went on at 8.45 and started playing to about 5 people! By the end of the set the room was pretty full but this was the smallest show we’ve played so far. After load out, Robin and Chris from The Ocean decided they would stay with us as we were going to go into Rome and do a bit of sight seeing for the morning. Jamie decided he wanted to jump on the tour bus with COL and The Ocean so we left him and headed off to a hostel in Rome where we had a couple of late night whiskeys.

Day 14.
11th show. Got up pretty early and we headed towards The Coliseum. What an amazing place to visit and see. We didn’t go in but walked around the outside and then headed up towards the Italian parliament to see the other ruins along the promenade. Amazing! We had a delicious lunch of pizza and calzone and then jumped in the van to head over to Ravenna for the show tonight. Show was packed out from our first note on stage and the people got really into it. Jamie had a few issues with his voice tonight and ended up dropping quite a few lines. 11 shows down and a shit load to still go so he did get a bit of a fright. Hoping he’ll come right for the next couple of shows. We put a note on our merch desk and did a shout out asking for a floor to stay on. The Italian promoter offered up his place so after the show we headed over to his place a couple of towns over. We had to leave pretty early so after about 4 hours we woke up to get back on the road.

Day 15.
12th show. The start to each one of these days seems to be the same thing. A long drive today! We headed towards Switzerland for our final Swiss show. We’re playing in a town called Winterthur on the other side of the Alps so the drive was really beautiful through the snow. Venue tonight is huge and they’re expecting a big crowd. We’re also spending the night at the venue, which is great so no driving after the show. We played well but it was definitely the most exhausted we’ve been on stage. They have a free flowing beer tap back stage, which is cause for some nasty hangovers tomorrow!

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Lo! Tour Diary appeared first on CVLT Nation.

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.