Sometimes German, sometimes English. • The title of this blog used to change from time to time. • Interested in me reviewing your music? Please read this! • I'm also a writer for VeilOfSound.com. • Please like and follow Audiovisual Ohlsen Overkill on Facebook!

2016-12-17

OATHBREAKER und WIFE live im Hafenklang, Hamburg (16.12.2016)

Oathbreaker

Auf die belgische Band Oathbreaker bin ich kürzlich auf zweierlei Weise aufmerksam geworden. Zum einen habe ich festgestellt, dass in mehreren Beste-Alben-2016-Listen, die meinem Jahresrückblick mit Nennungen wie z.B. Cult Of Luna + Julie Christmas, Alcest, Subrosa, Mono oder Virus ähnlich sehen, auch immer wieder ihr aktuelles Werk "Rheia" auftaucht.
Zum anderen liefen sie mir beim Stöbern in den Audio Tree Sessions mit einem hervorragenden Radiokonzert über den Weg. Von da an wusste ich, dass ich sie mir bei nächster Gelegenheit live anschauen würde. Und diese Gelegenheit war zum Glück nur ein paar Wochen entfernt.

So ähnlich wie mir erging es wohl vielen, denn das Konzert im Hafenklang war proppevoll ausverkauft.

Wife

Als "Vorband" trat ein Typ mit Elektrogedöns auf, der sein Projekt Wife  nennt. Logisch. Aber sehr schön. Viel Sequenzergeloope, knackige Sounds und harte Stop-and-go-Stolperbeats, dazu hin und wieder diffuser Shoegazegesang. In der Klangpalette hat mich einiges an die "Volk"- und "Kunst der Fuge"-Phase von Laibach erinnert.
Die Zutaten waren also einwandfrei. Nur strukturell war es mir manchmal etwas zu beliebig, in dem Sinne, dass dem großen dramatischen Bogen im Songwriting vielleicht mehr Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt werden könnte. Anderseits macht gerade dies die Musik auch weniger berechenbar.

Auch wenn der Headliner ja schon eher etwas für aufgeschlossene Headbanger war, hat Wife als vollkommener stilistischer Querschläger es noch geschafft, Teile des Publikums ganz weit aus ihrer Komfortzone zu kegeln. Gut gemacht!

Oathbreaker

Oathbreaker-Sängerin Caro Tanghe besteht auf der Bühne scheinbar nur aus Robe, welligen Haaren - und einer herausragenden versatilen Stimme, die zwischen feen- und alptraumhaft ein breites Spektrum von Emotionen evoziert. Zunächst einmal beginnt sie das Konzert ganz alleine, sanft und entrückt. Doch als dann die Musik wie ein Orkan losbricht, gibt es auch für die Stimmbänder der Frontfrau keine Grenzen.
Das alles hat mal ein bisschen was von den mystischen Qualitäten Myrkurs, vor allem durch ihren Ausdruck im Klargesang aber auch jede Menge von der eingangs schon erwähnten Julie Christmas.

Tatsächlich vereinen Oathbreaker auch den exzentrischen, wilden Post-Hardcore von Christmas' alter Band Made Out Of Babies mit einer Menge infernalisch geblastetem Black Metal. Dazu fahren die Belgier noch ruhige Ambient-Passagen und hypnotische Post-Metal-Midtempostampfereien auf, die beide oft an Cult Of Luna und Konsorten denken lassen. Dass man es als Fan von "Mariner" mit Oathbreaker ziemlich leicht hat, kommt also nicht von ungefähr.
Die spezielle Art, wie die Belgier diese Bestandteile mischen, ist aber ein ganz eigenes Ding und kann jedem genannten Vergleich das Wasser reichen.

Und wie war das Konzert nun? - Atemberaubend gut!

Großartige Musik, tadellos abgeliefert, dazu ein gerade für so blackmetallastige Musik sensationell guter Sound! Wie sagte es ein Mitzuschauer direkt danach so treffend: "Ich war gerade richtig geflasht." Yup, ging mir genauso.

Ganz klar ein Konzert, welches ich für meine Jahres-Best-Of-Liste in Erwägung ziehen würde, wenn diese denn nicht schon geschrieben wäre.
Dies gilt umso mehr für das Album "Rheia", welches ich zusammen mit der zwölfzölligen EP von Wife am Merchandising-Gabentisch abgeweihnachtet habe.


Ziehen wir mal ein haarsträubend stures und fruchtloses "Gespräch" zum Thema "Bands, die angeblich für Diktatoren spielen", die erfolglose Suche nach einem kostenfreien Parkplatz am Fischmarkt (überall Weihnachtsfeiern und Taxis) und die Tatsache, dass ich nachher noch tanken musste ab, war dieser Abend ein äußerst gelungenes, persönliches Livemusikfinale für 2016.

Wobei das Tanken durchaus noch einen gewissen Erlebniswert hatte, denn einen solch riesigen Booze/Kippen/RedBull-Einkauf am Nachtschalter wie direkt vor mir, habe ich auch noch nie beobachten dürfen. Für das Geld könnte man auch locker noch die beiden letzten Konzerte der Oathbreaker-Tour besuchen. 



Wife:




Oathbreaker: 













2016-12-10

MUSIC 2016: top EPs, live recordings and various other stuff



I've already covered my favorite albums and live shows of this year. But what about EPs, split releases, live recordings? Those - as well as some other categories - follow here in the second part of my music retrospect 2016:


EP TOP 5:



  1. ZEAL AND ARDOR - Devil Is Fine
    Chain gang gospel and blues meets black metal meets electronica and - hold your breath! - musical clock, as the African slaves in North America rebel in the name of Satan. So the riverbed runs red with the blood of the saints and the blood of the holy. Sounds as reasonable as a film plot by The Asylum? Well, it really works on this EP, which joyfully bends and tears down all genre boundaries.
  2. VOIVOD - Post Society
    Snake, Chewy, Rocky and Away at the top of their game. More than half of this CD is also featured on their split singles with At The Gates, Napalm Death and Entombed A.D., but that doesn't make this EP obsolete. These four songs (plus the Hawkwind cover "Silver Machine") truly belong to the best material the Canadians have ever recorded.
  3. MYRKUR - Mausoleum
    Myrkur interprets songs from her black metal debut album plus some new material including a Bathory cover in one of the most sensitive live settings imaginable. Inside the Emanuel Vigeland Mausoleum, where every cough in the small audience could destroy the recording, her mystical voice is only accompanied by piano, acoustic guitar and a handful singers of the Norwegian Girls Choir. A magical record, fair and beautiful.
  4. WATCHTOWER - Concepts Of Math: Book One
    Remember the wait for Guns'n'Roses' infamous "Chinese Democracy"? Fans of late 80s prog metal pioneers Watchtower could only laugh bitterly about those in the end only fifteen years. But now they have finally released an EP with new material and it's a highly diverting mindfuck fest of ultra-technical borderline-insane prog thrash. Hopefully "Book Two" comes earlier than 2043!
  5. DER BLUTHARSCH AND THE INFINITE CHURCH OF THE LEADING HAND - Sucht & Ordung
    These three untitled tracks, recorded live in the studio while rehearsing for actual shows, really capture the intoxicating psychedelic pull of Der Blutharsch And The Ridiculously Long Name, as I had witnessed it at this year's Roadburn, each putting its own twist on the genre and not shying away from some surprisingly harsh parts.







TOP 7": 

 


CHELSEA WOLFE - Hypnos / Flame
The queen of the new goth church follows last year's album "Abbys" with a seven inch of two rather quiet non-album tracks from the same sessions. The packaging includes a lyric sheet and as a bonus you get the digital version with three demo versions of familiar songs. Value for money - and oh so mesmerizing.




TOP 10":

 



WANG WEN - In Course Of The Miraculous
Well, there are no other 10" records in the race this year. But this amazing package (including a photo book, four records and a DVD of a unique free ambient performance on a flooded film set) surely deserves to be featured here. My most luxurious - and probably also music-nerdiest - purchase of the year.




Split TOP 3:

 


  1. CAMEL DRIVER / MOEWN - Rites Of Passage /  Aestus
    Northern german instrumental music rules supreme on this advanced lesson in how to do a split release. Conceptually held together by the mirrored cover artwork and matching intros / outros the progressive desert rock of Camel Driver from Kiel and the sludgy post metal of Hamburg's Moewn work together perfectly.
  2.  BONE MAN / BURN PILOT - Psychedelic Sellout
    Double win for Pink Tank Records in this category. The cover artwork / concept (and especially the packaging of the "Heavy Cash Rock Edition") of this strictly commercial stoner rock split is totally hilarious. With six heterogeneous tracks including Bone Man covering Burn Pilot and the other way around you can't complain about the music either.

  3. CULT OF LUNA / THE OLD WIND - Råångest
    Swedish double pack of sludgy post metal (which yes is a term I just used a few lines above for Moewn - hey, I can't make up something new for everything), including the Amebix cover "Last Will And Testament". This beautiful 12" could be a little bit longer, but all in all it's a well rounded release.




TOP soundtrack / film score:



ENNIO MORRICONE / VARIOUS - The Hateful Eight
Well, another case of a category, where I don't have that much contestants. But let me ignore this and the weak points in the manufacturing of this vinyl edition, because this first full original Morricone score for a Tarantino movie can't be ignored here. Such a perfect horror soundtrack! An Oscar well deserved.




Live recording TOP 3:

 


  1. AYREON - The Theater Equation
    Ayreon's "The Human Equation" is probably my favorite rock opera concept album of all time, and I wish I could have been there, when Arjen Lucassen's masterpiece was brought to life in a dutch theater with a shitload of musicians, choir and original singers like James LaBrie and Devon Graves (or stellar replacements like Anneke Van Giersbergen). Luckily there is this document of the event. Even though the filming of the video isn't by far as professional as it should be, "The Theater Equation" is still highly entertaining. The audio recording (and thus the included CD version) is absolutely flawless.
  2. KATE BUSH - Before The Dawn
    Another theater-related live release is this huge album in three acts, which has been recorded 2014 during the three week Hammersmith Apollo residency of Kate Bush in London. The performance, which interweaved her classics and newer songs with acting passages surprisingly isn't available on DVD, but is rather presented as a kind of radio play with the audience mostly muted. A good decision, allowing the whole magic to breathe properly.
  3. AGUSA - Katarsis
    Psychedelic retroprog masterclass with Agusa, who perform just two songs, one a regular and the other a bonus track from their debut "Högtid". The jam is strong in these instrumentals, so the live versions are six and fourteen minutes longer than the studio recordings. As always the Swedish band's music is nothing but pure blissful  joy.




TOP download (digital only):

 


LISERSTILLE - Midnight Wave
The adventurous avant-garde Liserstille are still my favorite band from Denmark, in fact even more so after this live recording, which would also be in my live TOP 3, if I hadn't outsourced it to this "download" category. It is only available in digital form and can also be viewed in its full glory of almost two hours on Youtube.




TOP Tape:




Honestly I still haven't freed the tape from its meteor rubber shell. Luckily it came with a download. Only three tracks, but the astro sludge of Menhir kills!

I only bought two new cassettes this year, so let there also be a shoutout to their fellow Dutchmen Dead Neanderthals, who released their great and hilarious free jazz excess "Live At Roadburn 2016" (which almost made it both into my TOP festival concerts and TOP live recordings) on tape!




TOP top categories you hopefully don't miss:

 

  • top 12" singles
    I only bought one, and there will be enough reason to write about Dool  in 2017 anyway.
  • top flexi discs
    Flexis don't stand for quality. And my copy of Subrosa's "Key Of The Eidolon" is just too bad, so I prefer to stream the song.
  • biggest rediscovery
    Had this category in previous end-of-year reviews, but can't think of someth... well, actually there's Laibach's "Kapital", which I finally bought in all versions. --> See on my tumblr.
  • top re-issues / represses
    Even though I don't do all those gigantic 20 LP luxury box-sets which are blocking the pressing plants, there are certainly some records worth to be mentioned, like Spock's Beard "Snow", Cirith Ungol's "Paradise Lost", some jazz classics or just recently Tori Amos and Dead Can Dance.
  •  top flea market / second hand record
    That could actually be interesting. Maybe next year or as a general standalone post.
  • most cringy second hand trash
    I mean, like this shit. Same as above. 
  • best packaging, most beautiful cover etc.
    No, I just can't decide...
  • anything not strictly music-related
    This was 2016. Didn't everything out of music suck balls as fuck? 

 

 

 

DISAPPOINTMENTS 2016:


Clashes!

I sold my ticket for King Crimson, because the doom lord granted me the wish of Subrosa touring with Sinistro on the very same day. I don't regret my decision, but the clash still annoys me.

I've been complaining for years now about the almighty Voivod not visiting Northern Germany on their tours. And now they finally came to Hamburg again, but only as support of Entombed A.D. - and also on the same day as the possibly strongest tour package of the year with Mono, Alcest and pg.lost. So I had to pass. Don't regret that one either.

And then there was the Hell Over Hammaburg Festival with Sulphur Aeon, †, Ram and Skepicism, which I couldn't visit, because I couldn't bring myself to sell my first row ticket for Dream Theater. My bad.

Which brings me to the overblown "The Astonishing" album, which I reviewed pretty mildly back in February. And I still think that most songs on each own are good or have at least potential. But the size of it all and the cringeworthy story have detained me from listening to it for half a year now. I won't be at the "Images & Words" anniversary tour (too expensive and a seated concert again), but I sincerely hope Dream Theater will recover in the process.





ANTICIPATIONS / HOPES 2017:

Well, there are several things I'm already really excited about and looking forwards to. Only I feel like I don't want to jinx any of them now, so there's no outlook here this time.

But one thing in general, 2017: Please, don't be an asshole like 2016! Just think for one moment that most of the people born in this millenium probably already think that all this bullshit everywhere is normal! This is not normal!

Also, take less music legends for fuck's sake! Goes for actors and the last decent politicians as well. You can't reap all the good ones, while the fate of all mankind I see is in the hands of fools.

Disagree? Then fuck you already, 2017!


2016-12-09

MUSIC 2016: top albums and concerts



Comparability just isn't one of music's greatest strenghts.

Yes, if you have three bands trying to sound like Slayer you probably can match them against each other. But other than that the moods, intentions and overall experiences of most works or concerts are just too vastly different. Which is good. But it makes "best of" lists a pain in the ass and me always feeling like unfairly dismissing a shitload of artists. If you could see my whole TOP 40+ albums here, I'd possibly have almost the same love for rank 35 as I do for rank 15.

As always the postulate for every recording to possibly appear here is that I have to own it in physical form. I don't need to stress that all this is super highly subjective, right?

Ok, here we go:



ALBUM TOP 22:



  1. DAVID BOWIE - Blackstar
    Yes, I'm going with the obvious choice here. A decidedly challenging, exciting, bold and daring album for an artist so late in his career. Love the jazz ensemble! That was my main impression from the start, a few days before that fateful Monday. Would "Blackstar" also be in the top spot, if Bowie was still alive and well? - The question is obsolete, because without his passing this unsparing album dedicated to farewell and death simply wouldn't have happened.
  2. SWANS - The Glowing Man
    "The Seer", "To Be Kind" and now "The Glowing Man". Michael Gira finishes a singular album trilogy of enormous scope and depth with the probably most epic incarnation of the Swans. Subsequently this form of the band is being laid to rest now. Luckily this gigantic album remains for eternity.
  3. SUBROSA - For This We Fought The Battle Of Ages
    Blunt, bleak and breathtakingly beautiful. Crushing riffs and raging violins paint a dystopian masterpiece. Even though every song is a monument in its own right the closing track "Troubled Cells" stands out as especially heart-breaking. Especially given the technical problems at their show in Hamburg I can't wait for the complete performance of the album at Roadburn 2017.
  4. COSTIN CHIOREANO - The Quest For A Morning Star
    Costin Chioreano is best known in the metal scene as a very busy cover and poster artist. Indeed in this very list there are two more albums (7&8) featuring his work. But this is him as a musical solo artist. Probably the most obscure album here, this collection of dark ambient soundscapes with black metal influences just keeps moving me on a profound level. It's not wholly within the realm of the explainable, but "The Quest For A Morning Star" already feels like a timeless classic.
  5. VEKTOR - Terminal Redux
    How about an epic sci-fi space story told through an enormous concept album of brilliant brutal blackened thrash metal? With "Terminal Redux" the canadian Voivod / Death / Slayer worshippers released nothing less than one of the greatest thrash records of all time.
    If you dig this album and also lean towards ultra-technical death metal with strong classic Cynic influences, I highly recommend Obscura's "Acróasis" as well.
  6.  THANK YOU SCIENTIST - Stranger Heads Prevail
    Support of Haken (whose crazy 80s trip "Affinity" also deserves a more than honorable mention here) on their US tour, Thank You Scientist share and even improve their positivity. With a funky brass section and true soul singer Salvatore Sarrano this seven-headed party monster establishes an all-over-the-place, yet highly accessible and addictive brand of prog metal jazz fusion.
  7. SEVEN IMPALE - Contrapasso
    What a creative, explosive advantgarde metal prog rock psychedelic jazz fusion extravaganza! Weird, wild, captivating, dark, saxophony and fun. Just how I like my prog. Yes, the description in parts reads similar to Thank You Scientist. This stuff is totally different though, but I guess you could view both albums as good or evil twin of each other.  
  8. OCEANS OF SLUMBER- Winter
    Blues. Blast beats. Emotions. Virtuosity. Doom. "Nights In White Satin". Piano. Death Metal. More blast beats... On "Winter" anything can happen at any given time. An album which broadens the spectrum of prog metal with almost every song, yet somehow manages to stay consistent. The icing on the cake is stunning singer Cammie Gilbert. 
  9. NEW KEEPERS OF THE WATER TOWERS - Infernal Machine
    Carrying the hypnotic darkness and bold experimental spirit of Pink Floyd "live in Pompeji" into the everyday-is-doomsday present of fucked up 2016, the swedish masters of cramming every square centimeter of club stages with effects and instruments on "Infernal Machine" suck you into an ever flowing maelstrom of pumping, menacing psychedelic rock.
  10.  BLUES PILLS - Lady In Gold
    Elin Larsson is a fireball of energy. And the Blues Pills know how to make use of this more than ever. Knowing their shit about music history the sound of the band is infused with some serious 60s and 70s soul and gospel influences. Organ and mellotron are other welcome additions to the sound of the retro rock shooting stars. (The vinyl quality however is *meh* as fuck, so better buy the CD version including a live DVD!) 
  11. MOTORPSYCHO- Here Be Monsters
    Motorpsycho just being their legendary selfs once again. From the pop harmony of "Spin, Spin, Spin" to the "Big Black Dog" devouring everything, this is a masterpiece and lesson in dynamics. What a shame (but fully understandable) that drummer extraordinaire Kenneth Kapstad has left the band later this year to fully devote his attention to Spidergawd, whose third album "III" is also a must-listen for Psychonauts.
  12. MONO - Requiem For Hell
    Here be another monster! I seriously have no idea whether Mono have just kept their stellar quality or outdone themselves with "Requiem For Hell". But one thing is for sure: in their field of dramatic instrumental post rock the japanese band is unrivaled. The eighteen minute title track is one of the mightiest musical behemoths unleashed this year.
  13. KHEMMIS - Hunted
    Five epic hymns of heavy doom metal with majestic mournful lead vocals and royal Iron Maiden style twin guitars. Add some growling, sludge and dirty rock'n'roll here. Add some funeral doom and post metal there. Write some thrilling lyrics and wrap it all in a super badass cover artwork. There you have it: a masterpiece!
  14. CULT OF LUNA and JULIE CHRISTMAS - Mariner
    Years after "The Bad Wife" here's finally a new vital sign from the excentric and versatile Ex-Made Out Of Babies singer Julie Christmas, a collaborative album with Sweden's post metal force Cult Of Luna! You get everything you could wish for from both involved parties.
  15. THE NEAL MORSE BAND - The Similitude Of A Dream
    Wow, more prog in this list than I would have expected! While I put some others above this one for bringing more fresh twists to the genre in their overall approach, there's no way to ignore the sheer quality, creativity and joy of the traditional symphonic prog on The Neal Morse Band's giant concept album. Often reminiscent of Spock's Beard's "Snow" this is a fantastic - or dare I say truly *cough* astonishing? *wink* - work. 
  16. SINISTRO - Semente
    Originally an instrumental quartet playing a mixture of post rock, doom and ambient film score music, Sinistro have since partnered with singer / theater actress Patricia Andrade, who is now fully incorporated into the band. Her dramatic portuguese vocals leave a huge imprint on this heavy, mesmerizing record. The hauntingly beautiful "Relíquia" is a composition for the ages.
  17. THE CLAYPOOL LENNON DELIRIUM
    - Monolith Of Phobos
    Does it take any convincing to love an album which ends with an autobiographical(!) song about Michael Jackson's chimpanzee Bubbles, followed by an instrumental called "There's No Underwear In Space?" Well, that's just a small taste of all the craziness and greatness on this collaboration between Primus mastermind Les Claypool and Yoko Ono's son Sean Lennon, who both played every single instrument (and also did the artwork) of this record.
  18. ALCEST - Kodama
    Cloud-caressing shoegaze dreams meet piercing post black metal screams. Otherworldly beauty merges with harsh intensity. No matter how you put it, this Japanese influenced work of the French duo Alcest wasn't made to be described in  inadequate mortal terms, but rather to be experienced. Feel the stream and float in its transcendency!
  19.  WANG WEN - Sweet Home, Go!
    Mono's spiritual brothers from China strike and enlighten us with this beautifully packed double LP. (Kudos Pelagic Records for always implementing such unusual visual ideas!) This time almost fully instrumental, Wang Wen sound as big, wide, poetic and colourful as a Zhang Yimou movie, without trying to copy their previous masterpiece "Eight Horses". A phenomenal band.
  20. VIRUS - Memento Collider
    Ever imagined Captain Beefheart covering Voivod's "Nothingface"? I hope so, because that's really the closest description of the sound of Virus I can give you. There's just nothing like this unique, slightly disharmonic brand of weirdadelic progressive rock, which always seems to be laid back and hyperactive at the same time. Fabulous stuff!
  21. THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN - Dissociation
    The world isn't worthy of The Dillinger Escape Plan. So fuck the world! But of course the mathcore pioneers don't leave us without fustigating our weak little minds through one last sonic and emotional excess of brutalization. As Greg Puciato channels his inner Mike Patton again, "Dissociation" combines all the strenghts of the band's history with some welcome surprises.
  22. KANDODO / MCBAIN - Lost Chants / Last Chance
    And here I am already feeling bad for not including enough psych rock jams in this list. So let there at least be a shout-out to the great works of Monarch, Sula Bassana and Causa Sui, before I conclude with this outstanding "double double album", which is meant to be played at 33 or 45 rpm. And its trippy magic works in both speeds!

Many more artist would have deserved to be mentioned here (like Kayo Dot, King Dude, Kendrick Lamar, Conan, A Dead Forest Index etc.) and of course there are countless more, who I would hold dear if I only knew them, or whose albums I should finally cross off my consideration / wish list and purchase. (I'm talking about you, Oranssi Pazuzu. Still not sure about Metallica.)

And then there's this late arrival:
  • DISHARMONIC ORCHESTRA - Fear Of Angst
    After fourteen years of absence the Austrian Virus of Death Metal return with a crisp riff-heavy record which concentrates (almost) all the strengths of their discography to nine irresistible bastards of old school death metal, Coroner grooves and all that unmistakable, unique disharmonic stuff. I included the album here, because this is very likely TOP 22 stuff, but it's just too early to tell, and I want to publish this post now. 





SOLO/CLUB SHOW TOP 11:



  1. LAIBACH - Krizanke, Ljubljana
    Even though it felt strange to be so far away from the stage, this is the unrivaled number one here, because... come on: Laibach! In Ljubljana! With an orchestra! *checks lifetime experience*
  2. MAGMA - Markthalle, Hamburg
    Magma is Magma is Magma. And there is nothing else like Magma. Unbelievable!
  3. MONO + ALCEST + PG.LOST
    - Uebel & Gefährlich, Hamburg

    The triumvirate of the transcendent. An escapist dream ride. Best tour package of the year!
  4. SWANS + ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF
    - Kampnagel, Hamburg
    All good things go by threes. The final Kampnagel show of this Swans incarnation, with a truly congenius support act.
  5. BOHREN UND DER CLUB OF GORE
    - Kampnagel, Hamburg
    Smooth slow moving waves of doom jazz.
  6. LAIBACH - Knust, Hamburg
    "The Sound Of Music" tour. Not the ideal location for their grandiosity, but Laibach always deliver.
  7. RADARE - MS Stubnitz, Hamburg
    The whole night with Toby Driver and Nick Hudson was a special experience, but the concert of these german Bohren worshippers rose to the most out-of-body magical heights.
  8. SUNN O))) + BIG|BRAVE - Feierwerk, München
    Damn travelling day through Germany! Or was it the small location? Anyway, I didn't survive the whole drone experience in the first row this time. And another show with a perfect support act.
  9. KAMASI WASHINGTON - Grünspan, Hamburg
    No open air jazz session as expected, but much funkier than the last time.
  10. LUCIFER - Hafenklang, Hamburg
    The addition of a second guitar player and the integration of more background vocals elevate the timeless doom rock of Lucifer to a new level.
  11. ARCHIVE - Docks, Hamburg
    The new album is subpar to their previous releases, but luckily I had bought the ticket for the nonetheless  amazing show long before I heard it.
 


FESTIVAL SHOW TOP 11:


Tau Cross

  1. TAU CROSS - Roadburn
    Rob "The Baron" Miller + Michel "Away" Langevin = absolutely legendary
  2. LA MUERTE - Roadburn
    Kustom Kar Kompetition Kult!
  3. SINISTRO - Roadburn
    Epic cinema from the Euro Champs (Portugal, you know...) of doom.
  4. NEW KEEPERS OF THE WATER TOWERS - Roadburn
    So many great "Man, I was there!" performances on the tiny Cul de Sac club stage this year, and the New Keepers stood out among those.
  5. TRIPTYKON - Wacken
    With death, doom and gloom and a set of Celtic Frost classics and Triptykon epics Thomas Gabriel Fischer ruled Wacken supreme.
  6. KING DUDE - Wacken
    Blacker than most artists in Wacken, yet a slightly different kind of black.
  7. DOOL - Roadburn
    With the release of their debut in February Dool will soon explode in popularity, that's for sure. Their combination of gothic rock and The Devil's Blood metal is just too damn good.
  8. IRON MAIDEN - Wacken
    Promising up-and-coming heavy metal band. Worth checking out.
  9. MYRKUR - Wacken
    Fairy and banshee in one, Myrkur evoked a truly otherworldy magic Wacken isn't used to. A performance that exceeded my high expectations.
  10. MINISTRY - Wacken
    The mind is a terrible psalm of rape and honey. Halleluhjah!
  11. HILLS - Roadburn
    The higher the Hills, the trippier the trip.



My favorite EPs, live recordings and other formats as well as my 2016 disappointments can be found... -->  HERE!

2016-12-08

#HdD - X-Mas Brownies

Hach damals...


als ich zur Adventszeit noch losgezogen bin, um vernünftige Weihnachtsfotos zu knipsen.

Kodak Brownie Hawkeye, November und Dezember 2006.