The second day of the fest was taking place at the famous Ungdomshuset, the headquarters of the punk/hardcore/crust scene. This unique venue disposes of two stages. A small stage, Dödsmaskinen, was decorated for the occasion in the spirit of Baba Yaga, with pines and tree branches and a bigger stage, where the artwork of the different artists invited were also displayed. I was really stoked about the second day, because there were quite a lot of bands I was dying to see.

Pilgrim

The first band in my program was Pilgrim. I had actually heard a lot about these guys, but never get the chance to listen to them, so seeing their show was a bit of an experiment for me. The young Rhode Island trio hits the main stage and starts playing – it’s quite traditional doom metal with a vintage touch in the spirit of Saint Vitus and Black Sabbath. Nothing original there, but they got the basics right for a band that only has been around for barely two years. The riffs are slow and pounding, the vocals are haunting, and it really does the trick. Unfortunately, I only got to see half of their set, because Aguirre was about the play at Dödsmaskinen, but this is definitely a band I will keep an eye on, and I am curious to see which direction the band is gonna take in the next few years.

Full review after the jump…












Aguirre

It is now 8pm, and Aguirre is gonna take the stage. I was really looking forward to seeing my fellow countrymen play as their two full-lengths, especially “Fatalitas,” which really seduced me. The band starts to play in front of a room filled to a medium capacity, with barely any light. I got a bit stressed out, because it meant taking pics was gonna be a challenge. Despite that issue, I started enjoying myself as soon as they started. The band played with a lot of energy, despite a crowd that was a bit dumbfounded. At that point, I was thinking, this is what I came here for – to see some pissed-off and dirty acts, and Aguirre really answered my expectations. Their riffs are fat and punishing, and Matthieu’s harsh voice really gives it that dirty sludge touch. After a while, the room is filling up and the band started to own the stage, throwing beer at each other. Then came their song “Besse,” absolutely killer, which probably seduced more than one audience member. A few songs left and it’s already the end of the set. I wish they played a little longer, but that show was a real slap in the face, I’m glad I didn’t miss out on it and Aguirre is definitely a band I’m looking forward to see again!

Devil

Right after that, no break to collect myself, I’m heading to the main stage to see Devil play. Damn, I’ve been longing to see this band since they realized their demo “Magister Mundi Xum.” After skipping their set at Roadburn, there was no way I was gonna miss them again.
The band starts with a couple of songs from their full-length, which I am not too familiar with, but after a while, some enthusiasts asked the band to play the songs from their demo. That’s when the beast was unleashed! It was inevitable; I mean, songs like “Time to Repent,” “Spirit of the Cult” or “I made a Pact” are really made for sing-alongs. There is nothing truly original about Devil’s sound, but what makes it work is their ability to make a connection with their audience and their sincerity when they play. All in all, a very good show and good atmosphere – I think these Norwegian dudes should visit Denmark more often!

Jex Thoth

Shortly after, it was time to let Jex Thoth enter the stage. I took my precautions in order to get a good spot, as I knew many people were looking forward to seeing her, despite Sleep playing the same night in another venue. As I was waiting for the show to start, I realized I was standing between a bunch of real fans, and the Swedish girl next to me confessed she was about to see them for the 17th time! Even though I never got the chance to see the band live, there was no doubt it was gonna be a good show and a delight to photograph. What to say really, except that Jex is a hell of a showwoman. The band starts with the occult track “The Banishment,” and coming last on stage, she imposes her presence right away, putting a spell on her public. The atmosphere is very retro 70’s occult rock, with a hint of psychedelic here and there. The whole performance is very theatrical, and stagecraft is definitely a key element in Jex’s universe. She really dominates the show and you can’t be anything but seduced by her flawless voice and her incredible charisma, if you decide to play the game. Songs go by, and we even got to appreciate the now famous “Seperated at Birth” or “Son of Yule.” After an brief encore, you could see a lots of happy faces leaving the room. A must-see.

Stay tuned for Heavy Days in Doom Town Day Three…

After the release of our second album “Destroyer|Borderlines” we wanted to release a 7″ EP again. Somewhere around this time Dave Heck of Get This Right Records asked us if we’d be interested in doing a split with the mighty FULL OF HELL, just in time for their first European tour. Of course we were. After we had written enough songs, two bands we’re friends with, CURBBITE from Bremen and JUGGERNAUT from Vienna, asked us as well if we’d like to do split 7“s with them. And shortly after that, LIGHTBEARER, a short-lived project from Essen asked us, too. So it happened we spent 2011 writing and recording songs for four split 7“s. The split with LIGHTBEARER actually never happened, because we totally lost contact with the band and I think they’re not active anymore. But that gave us the chance to put those two songs on the split 7″ with our friends in DEATHRITE.

Besides the digital compilation there’s also a very limited cassette tape, which was released late 2011 via Family Business Records.

Of course, “Soir” shouldn’t be considered as a conceptualized record like a proper full length album. It’s really a compilation of songs from different releases. One should really keep that in mind while listening to “Soir”.

Stream:
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]Full download:
Download the Soir compilation for free by clicking this link.

Read what the band has to say about each song:

Entrails
I don’t remember anything about this song, obviously it’s more an intro kind of thing, a bit melodic. I really wonder why we haven’t played it as intro at shows lately.

Parasitic Dysfunction
A wicked song. The weird riff during the blast-beat passage still kills me.

Ruine
We packed so many things into that song, like, a guitar played with a hairdryer (…). Or Children of the Grave‘ish drum overdubs. Or a really, really slow finalé. One of my favourites to play live.

L(i)ars
Oh Black Sabbath again. Probably my fault. Maybe it’s a little bit “Nightmare on Elmstreet”, too. Quite an unusual song for GOLDUST, because of the intro and that there’s no fast part in it. But I totally dig the athmosphere it creates.

Chimes & Rhymes
Our bass player is the biggest Baroness fan I know. You can totally hear that in this riff. You can hear as well that we ran out of time for turning this into a “real” song. So it became sort of an interlude. A good one though.

Blue Smoke
Mosh, groove, blast-beats, chanting, noisy ending. It’s all there and all good.

World Gaeze
Insane ending – I think we used a violin bow to gain some extra noise.

Gray Haze/Twilight Years
I totally dig the percussions at the beginning. A brutally fast song, sick „solo“ in the middle, Slayer’ish, groovy ending. There’s nothing wrong with that!

(Quotes on the songs by guitarist Chris)

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What have you been doing since the last recording. I read somewhere that some members of the band had started a label?

We’ve just been playing gigs. We did a couple of full European tours, which included playing shows in Spain, Italy, Norway etc. and Greece, for the very first time, and did a couple of gigs in the US, our first shows there since ’94, but lately we’ve scaled it down to just a handful of gigs and festivals here and there. It’s more about quality than quantity these days.

And no, we didn’t start a label, we’re still signed to Metal Blade, but it is something we all would love to do if the opportunity came up, so you never know what might happen in the future.

You have roots in the diy punk/hardcore scene with Gavin playing with The Varukers on a tour. Would you still have an interest in the underground diy punk scene, or have you caught any of the gigs by the reformed Discharge, Amebix or Antisect? what type of music / influence do you have these days, be it books, movies or music?

We all met when we were punks, when me and Gav were sharing a house with The Varukers. My taste in music hasn’t changed that much since those days, and the last gigs I went to were UK Subs, Discharge, The Specials & The Damned! It’s always a gamble to see these reunion bands though, I’ve been very disappointed but also pleasantly surprised, so I’m still a bit sceptical about it. I didn’t know that Antisect had reformed, never got to see them live back in the day as they didn’t turn up the night I went to see them, so they do owe me!

To be honest I don’t follow the newer scene that much, sometime someone will say ‘check these out’ and I’m sure I’m missing out on a lot of cool bands, but I think in my head I’m still that 15 year old punk girl listening to the same old records in my bedroom!

Do you think with roots in the diy underground scene it has influenced your business dealings as band with regard to contracts etc? How do you view the music industry these days?

Yes definitely, much to the annoyance of anyone in the business who has to deal with us! We’ve been managing ourselves for 20 years or so now, and maybe we haven’t always made the right decisions but it’s very satisfying knowing that we’ve always done things on our own terms.

The music industry has changed massively since we started out. It’s much more ‘disposable’ these days, which is a shame. I always liked having the vinyl in my hands and scrutinising the sleeve for days on end. But I also love the fact I can check out a band, download their music, or even find out what gigs are on in a matter of minutes. Pros and cons I guess.

Your sound is very much it’s own and has influenced so many bands. Was it a very conscious thing to play something different from when you started rather than thrash or grind?

We’ve never consciously thought about our music style at all. When we started we just wanted to make extreme music, but we just weren’t very good musicians so the result was this unidentifiable noise. I don’t think our music has changed that much over the years, we’ve just got better at it that’s all. It’s just been a natural progression. I guess the main change was that we lost the blast beats, but that’s just ‘cos we didn’t think it came across well live and we wanted the music to be more ‘controlled’. I still don’t think we fit in any category comfortably, it’s easier to say “we’re just Bolt Thrower”.

I notice Andy Faulkner has co-produced your last two albums. Was it a conscious decision to stick with him? How many songs do you have normally when going into the studio? Do you drop many, or do you go in knowing what will be the first track, the last track etc?

Yeah, Andy’s a friend of ours. We rehearse at his place and he also comes out on the road with us, so he’s obviously well aware of the sound we want. A lot of songs get dropped before we enter the studio, so we usually go in to record the 9 or 10 songs that will actually be on the album. But the writing process goes on well into the actual recording as we’re constantly changing and tweaking them, so the songs are only properly finished when the mix starts.

We usually have a rough idea of the song order, like opener, ending, etc. but that also is only 100% decided when the songs have all been recorded.

As a band you are supporters of the ‘Poppy Appeal’ to help disabled or bereaved Armed Forces families through inquest with free, independent legal advice and assistance. Do you think lyrically singing about war that it might influence peoples opinion? Do you reckon the next big war will by the Americans and Iran, as they have a lot of oil.

Yes, we’re supporters of the ‘Poppy Appeal’, and have been since we were all kids, when it was mainly helping out veterans and their families from WWI and WWII.

We’re a non-political band, and the lyrical theme of Bolt Thrower mainly focuses on the effects of war, mentally, physically, etc. We’re not here to influence people’s opinion about whether they should support a particular war or not. But wars have been around since the beginning of time and it would be very naive of us to think that they will ever stop. I don’t know what the ‘next big war’ will be, but yeah, I guess politics, oil and money play a much bigger part in wars today compared to those in the past.

What are your plans in the next while, are you working on any new recordings at present?

We’ve just confirmed a few festivals for 2012, and of course there is ‘Boltfest’, our birthday bash in London which we’re all really looking forward too. We’re not working on any new songs at the
moment, we’re just gonna go with the flow and see what happens, as always..

Cheers for the interview.
Jo

This is our tour mixtape. It was compiled on our Euro tour last January. It’s a good mix of what we listened to in the van that tour. There is lots of shit we can’t listen to while driving, as it just sounds crappy on the van speakers & crap sounding stuff makes everyone cranky.

Stream Sonic Cathedrals Vol. LIV Curated by Bacchus
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

DOWNLOAD Sonic Cathedrals Vol. LIV Curated by Bacchus HERE!

TRACKLIST
balaclava – this city
the sword – freya
Men in Search of the Perfect Weapon – Fall For Your Creation
repeater- collision repair specialist
celeste – (s)
celeste – Un Miroir Pur Qui Te Rend Misérable
aesop rock – coffee
omega massif – ursus arctos
Griever – the forgetter
perth express – du und wie viele deiner iphones
GDP – someday when things are good
masakari – the obscene underbelly
offspring – nitro
melvins – civilised worm
propagandi – rock for sustainable capatalism
combat wombat – quest

BACCHUS Tour dates:
5/10 Brooklyn, NY @ The Acheron
5/11 New Haven, CT @ Dagget St
5/12 Boston, MA @ Wacky Kastle
5/13 Oneonta, NY @ Black Oak Tavern
5/14 Buffalo, NY @ The Vault
5/15 Toledo, OH @ The O Tavern
5/16 Pittsburgh, PA @ The Roboto Project
5/17 Columbus, OH @ 15th House
5/18 Nashville, TN @ Hymen House
5/19 Tallahassee, FL @ The Shark Tank
5/20 Atlanta, GA @ The Garden
5/21 Athens, GA @ Little Kings Shuffle Club
5/22 Rock Hill, SC @ The Courtroom
5/23 Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter
5/24 Washington DC @ Casa Fiesta
5/25 Philadelphia, PA @ Cloud City

Kelly from Embers interviews Leila from Vastum

How long have you been playing music?

I started playing piano at age 6. I had one piano lesson and realized I hated lessons and started trying to figure out music myself. My dad had a grand piano where I would sit for hours and teach myself various chord progressions. I was also a band geek through out all of my schooling. I played flute and trumpet throughout middle school, mostly in the jazz and classical genres. I did a lot of sheet reading. I picked up the guitar at age 13, and am self-taught. It was sort of a self-rebellion against all of the formal music training I had previously. Although I don’t consciously fully use this knowledge for writing with guitar, The foundation I have in music theory gives me solid ground for composing music in a way that makes sense using scales, modes, tones, transpositions. It’s all useful.

What bands were you in before your move to San Francisco?

Oh where do I start with that? I grew up in New Jersey. I was in various punk and hardcore bands in my teens and early 20s. Most of them weren’t very good. When I was in high school I was in a punk band called Horse Shoes and Hand Grenades. We actually played CBGBs but were pretty bad. In college, I was in a heavy indie band called Novice Brown. That band was actually pretty good. It sounded like a mix of Sonic Youth and Unwound. When I moved to graduate school in the late 90s, I started a band called Sutek Conspiracy. That was kind of like a melodic, grindy metal tinged hardcore band. That project transitioned me into playing metal. Then I started playing in the Ohio band Memento Mori, which had me living in Columbus very briefly. I think that band was around for like a year. It was a metallic crust band, and not really tight enough to be a metal band, though some of the riffs shown through. Smitty from the band Deadsea who was a fan of Memento Mori was instrumental in showing me proper metal guitar playing techniques. To this day, I don’t think I’ve met a more well-rounded musician than him. That guy can play anything. He introduced me to the metronome. Ha ha! That time period in my life was when I saw the most improvement in my guitar playing.

Photo by Autumn Wind Photography

What brought you out to the Bay Area?

I was in graduate school at Purdue in Indiana from the latter 90s to the early 2000s but after doing a lot of touring I had gotten really into playing music. I really wanted to focus on doing music at that point and left graduate school where I was pursing speech language pathology. I decided my calling life was more artistic and less academic. I spent a year and a half couch surfing after I dropped out of school. I was playing with various musicians in different cities. It was a very lost period where I was trying to figure out where to set down my roots. I ended up in Montreal for a few months but that didn’t work out. While I was there, I received a phone call from Tim Scammell, my good friend from Rutgers University, where we both went to school in the mid 90s. We talked about putting a band together in San Francisco where he was already living for a couple years. I told him I’d be there in a month. Ha ha! He rented me a room in his apartment really cheaply; that was how it was able to work out. Tim became the bass player for Saros. We found the other members (Sam and Ben) on Craigslist. Saros was around for 6 years.

What happened to Saros?

Well it kind of just lost momentum. Towards the end of it, Tim and Sam, our drummer, started a new band called Hollow Mirrors. They got burnt out on writing metal and we decided to call a hiatus. Then I started playing in Vastum in late 2009, which wasn’t originally meant to be a serious band, but it just kind of took off.

What are your current projects?

Vastum, Hammers of Misfortune and Amber Asylum are the main bands. I’ve also been working on a few recording projects. One is an industrial/death project with Andy Butler and Mark Pistel of Hercules and Love Affair and Meat Beat Manifesto. I’ve also recently collaborated with Per Åhlund, a dark ambient/experimental artist from Stockholm, Sweden, known for his solo project Diskrepant. I’ve also got some ambient/electronic solo pieces in the works.

Photo by Autumn Wind Photography

What is the extent of your involvement with these projects?

Amber Asylum is the now band I’ve been in the longest. It is Kris Force’s brainchild but I contribute a good amount to the songwriting. I’m not playing live with them at the moment but we are working on a new album. Hammers of Misfortune I joined in 2010. I don’t write songs for this band, since it is John Cobbett’s brainchild; I pretty much just show up and play. Out of any of my bands, Vastum is the one where I have the biggest leadership role.

Do you have any tours coming up?

Hammers just played at Roadburn Festival in Holland, which was a blast. Next tour for me is in July with Vastum; we will be supporting Autopsy and Black Breath at Revelations of Death Fest in Portland. There is talk of an east coast tour with Hammers this summer too, and more touring with Vastum later in the year.

Which of your projects have lead to the most growth for you as a musician?

I’d say they all have in their own ways. They all contribute something unique to my life. The beauty of doing multiple projects is that it keeps each one fresh so I never get too burned out on any particular genre that I play.

How do you find the time?

I’ve minimized my hours at my day job so I can focus on music. But it’s challenging living in San Francisco on a part time job.

Photo by Per Åhlund

How has being a woman in a male-dominated music scene been challenging to you? I’ve been asked that question a lot and my response is that I don’t judge myself any different than my male counterparts…

Right! I don’t notice anything until people have a problem with something. It’s really other people that draw attention to the fact that I’m a woman. I’ve created a world for myself where everyone is equal. I only think about it when weird stories come up. For example at the most recent Hammers show with Death Angel at Slims, Sigrid and I were at the merch table and a guy walks up, points to the Hammers cd and asked us, “So who are these guys?” and Sigrid said, “Oh we’re Hammers Of Misfortune” and he responded with, “Oh what are they like?” He kept asking questions and referring to the band in the 3rd person and Sigrid kept correcting him. He couldn’t understand that we were actually in the band. It was very strange. Sometimes at shows like these it seems that unless we are on stage playing no one assumes we are in the band. Depending on the sub genre, it is either more or less likely to see women in metal bands. We’re fortunate to have a very insular scene in San Francisco that is more female-dominated. You don’t see that in the main stream. We’re trying to do something a little more unique.

What are your future goals as a musician?

My goal is to start a solo project and be more self-sufficient, self-engineered and self-produced. That’s a long term goal. That can involve any variety of genres. I want to learn more software. It would be nice to have a self-sufficient recording project that will always be there no matter how able bodied I am. I’ll get there. What gets in the way is that I’m such a collab-addict that all of the stuff I write on my own inevitably ends up getting used in another project. It’s a challenge to hold back and say no, I’m going to do this myself. In the meantime, I plan on doing a lot of touring while I’m still young.

It’s been a few weeks since the last Roadburn, and the after-festival is always a bit nostalgic. However, this year the nostalgia didn’t last long, with the brand new fest “Heavy Days in Doomtown” coming to darken the streets of Copenhagen, Denmark. Yet another “doom/sludge” festival you would say, but actually, this event is so much more than that. First of all, HDDT is organized and managed under the DIY principles, which means that the festival is run by volunteers only and as “payment” for their performance, bands get food, accommodation and transportation fixed for them. Besides, everyone is treated equally – it actually felt during the fest that the barrier between artists/volunteers/organizing crew/festival goers was almost nonexistent. For instance, the roster doesn’t have any headliners, despite the presence of big names such as Noothgrush (performing for the first time in Europe), Jex Thoth or Coffins, but it gives the chance for local bands to perform in front of an international audience. Other unique aspect of the fest is its strong artistic dimension. Not only does HDDT focus on the music, but also on the culture and aesthetic surrounding it. Therefore, all along the fest we were able to admire the extraordinary work of David D’Andrea, Glyn “Scrawled” Smyth, Samantha Mancino, 13th Sign Collective and Benjamin Sillanpaa, creating a whole new level of experience.

Full review after the jump…

Suma

Starting at 9PM at Stengade, Suma was the first act to open the hostilities. A good choice to inaugurate the fest, since the trio, hailing from Malmö, Sweden, exemplify the DIY values that HDDT is trying to highlight, as the band records their albums through their own label and tour via their own booking agency. I have to admit, I had never had the chance to see them play before, but with a split with Unearthly Trance and a recent apparition at Desert Fest, I was really looking forward to see what the band was made of.

What is really appealing about Suma, and probably their strongest asset, is their long instrumental parts fed by powerful dronish guitars, dirty riffs, alternating very slow and heavy passage with more up-tempo parts. During their set, titles like “Justice” or “Headwound” were very effective, reminding me a bit of the early Zoroaster, but with a Swedish touch. Paradoxically, despite the musical chaos going on on stage, the audience didn’t seem too enthusiastic, which limited the experience, and I thought Suma deserved a bit more attention than they actually got, even though the performance itself slightly lacked energy. As a result, the set went on short and it left me wanting more from them. But I was agreeably surprised by those Swedes, and I really hope to get to see them again.

After Suma, I decided to head towards the first floor of the venue where the artworks of David D’Andrea and Glyn Scrawled and the 13th Sign Collective were exhibited. I was really excited to get to see D’Andrea’s work once again and the amazing series of posters he made for the previous Roadburn edition. Today, his artwork is probably one of the most symbolic and distinctive of the sludge/doom/stoner scene. On the other hand, Glyn Scrawled has made his own path and we can today appreciate his artwork through the album covers of Cough, Unearthly Trance or Subrosa. I really like the symbolism element and the recurrent feminin theme in his work which we don’t usually see in the metal art in general. The 13th Sign Collective who are behind the visual of HDDT, was disaplying a very inspiring poster series with a zodiac signs thematic. I never heard of those two artists before but they made a tremendous job and really contributed in revealing the personality of HDDT.

Stay tuned for HDDT Day Two…

Annabeth is a mere three songs, but each packs a wallop that is never under five minutes in length. The music is equal in its rage and thoughtfulness. This is no mere amalgam of screams and heavy riffs, this is a damn special piece of work. Annabeth has a knack for dazzling with tender melodies and delicate string work, only to take you off guard by dropping the sonic equivalent of a meteor on you. “Heaven/Plagues” is aptly titled. A beautiful, feminine chorus opens the song and is allowed to continue for almost a minute before guitar and drums all but destroy any notion of tranquility. “In heaven everything is fine” is roared like a sorrowful curse, letting us know that everything is not so fine here on this gangrene earth. The second track, “Gold Tongue II” makes use of its status as the EP’s longest track by opening with some excellent doom passages before switching speed into deep-tuned hardcore. Roughly the last minute of “Gold Tongue II” borders on shoegaze as its riffs dance circles between thunder claps. “The Devil” opens up on a much gentler note and slowly builds itself with dueling riffs that trudge and wail. Following a wisely inserted quote from The Devil’s Rejects, Annabeth opens its floodgates to drown us in one last maelstrom.

With Annabeth being a product of skillful artists, Tiger Lily is worth keeping both eyes on and I look forward to seeing what else they have in store for us.