A Confluence Of Rather Unfortunate Events.....
So I went to see The Haunted @ The Cockpit in Leeds the other night a gig that I'd been looking forward to for some time since I found out I would actually be able to go and not be stuck at work for the night, unfortunately as usual for any sort of social outing I attempt things didn't exactly go to plan. One of the people I was going with had a blazing arguement with his girlfriend and missed his train and had to wait over half an hour for the next one which meant he got there over an hour later than our arranged meet up time. To add to this rather unfortunate happening the girl I had invited and counted as a friend decided not to show up at all but didn't bother to actually let me know she wasn't going so as I had the tickets and she and her friend wouldn't be able to get in without them I was just stood around waiting for over an hour before I finally gave up hope by this point I had already missed both the support bands and some of The Haunted's set too, I don't know what it is but everytime I try to organise things they go horribly wrong. Suffice to say I had a bit of a shit night out from then on and I'm now out of pocket for the tickets I got for her and her friend who was supposed to be coming with her. I was in such a foul mood that I just wanted to go home and forget the whole night ever happened reallly. I think I have really bad judgement when it comes to friend selection or something and to think people ask me why I don't go out much. As shitty as things went I have to say that what I did see of The Haunted was excellent with "The Guilt Trip", "The Reflection" and a vicious rendition of "No Compromise" standing out the most. Despite how tiny the stage is at The Cockpit I have to give credit to front man Peter Dolving and the rest of the band for not just standing there like statues like so many other bands do when in small venues, Dolving seemed to switch between spitting out lyrics like a high calibre assault weapon and telling amusing tales of dodgy kebabs at the flick of a switch and despite the bands brutal line in sonic weaponry Dolving doesn't have a problem with coming across as a nice guy as opposed to all those singers out there that seem to think it's not "cool" to actually talk to their fans and interact.
Fight Night
While I was killing time time hanging around in Leeds waiting for my "friends" to turn up I had the pleasure of witnessing a fullscale brawl between a horde of pissed up football fans. One minute I was talking to someone on my phone the next there were 6 police vans and 3 police cars screeching down the road. Next thing I saw was about 30 cops legging it down the street in body armour carrying those fuckoff nightstick things looking like they were in the mood for some full on brutality action, then they closed the road off.
Oh Brother Where Art Thou?
So my brother is now in Canada he told me where he was going but I'm not sure whether he said Ontario or Vancouver is one of them near the coast/border 'cause I'm sure he mentioned that. My sense of Geography is appaling quite frankly so I'm not surprised that I can't remember which one it is.
New Music
Front Line Assembly - Fall Out
The new album from the FLA fold is a far more dancefloor oriented affair being primarily a remix album of previous "back to form" release Artificial Soldier with some new material as an added bonus. The first track "Unleashed Mindless Mix" by Sebastian R. Komor is a pretty good statement of intent for the album as a whole coming out with a style of focussed beats that will satisfy any fan of Funker Vogt's more up tempo numbers. "Buried Alive Acucrack Mix" by Jason Novak has a nice drum 'n' bass feel running throughout. Other notable tracks include "Beneath The Rubble Combichrist Mix" which is exactly what you've come to expect from the Combichrist name. "Armageddon" is a new track with a nice crunchy riff worked into a tight dance beat to superior effect. "Social Enemy Anti- Social Mix" by Jeremy Inkel is probably the most intense mix of the collection with a stomping beat and some nice trancey flourishes that would no doubt pack out the dance floor in any club. In stark contrast "Lowlife Remix" by Portion Control slows things right down with a far more chilled beat and distorted effects. I highly recommend the collection to anyone with an interest in darkwave.
Funker Vogt - Aviator
Much like Slayer and James Bond films there's something reliable and familiar about all Funker Vogt's releases and new collection "Aviator" is no different in that respect, this is in no way meant in a derogatory manner in fact there is something admirable in sticking to the "If it ain't broke don't fix it" ethos so favoured by KMFDM. My personal picks are "Child Soldier", "City Of Darkness", "My Fortune" & "Thanataphobia" which has a nice stomp to it and will no doubt turn up in the playlist of a few DJ's that want to try something new out. One of the things that has changed during the evolution of the groups style is the aggressive vocal stylings of earlier releases have been phased out and replaced with a more "normal" vocal style which will no doubt annoy fans of old classic tunes like "BlackHole" but personally I think both styles are suited to groups material.
Laibach - Jesus Christ Superstars
Laibach have always been a somewhat odd bunch it has to be said but I have to say I really like this album which includes a rather amusing cover of "Jesus Christ Superstar" by Andrew Loyd Webber & Tim Rice and "The Cross" by Prince but anyone familiar with the rather esoteric delights of Laibach will already know they as well known for their "new originals" as they are for their own material. The best thing about this album is it's unapologetically crunchy riffs listen to the likes of "Message From The Black Star" and you get impression that they could teach Till Lindemann's crew a few things about teutonic riffs, other stand out tracks include the goth opera of "God Is God" and the quirky time changes of "Kingdom Of God" with a crunching riff that literally comes out of nowhere to knock you senseless like a particularly stealthy mugger on a dark street somewhere.
So I went to see The Haunted @ The Cockpit in Leeds the other night a gig that I'd been looking forward to for some time since I found out I would actually be able to go and not be stuck at work for the night, unfortunately as usual for any sort of social outing I attempt things didn't exactly go to plan. One of the people I was going with had a blazing arguement with his girlfriend and missed his train and had to wait over half an hour for the next one which meant he got there over an hour later than our arranged meet up time. To add to this rather unfortunate happening the girl I had invited and counted as a friend decided not to show up at all but didn't bother to actually let me know she wasn't going so as I had the tickets and she and her friend wouldn't be able to get in without them I was just stood around waiting for over an hour before I finally gave up hope by this point I had already missed both the support bands and some of The Haunted's set too, I don't know what it is but everytime I try to organise things they go horribly wrong. Suffice to say I had a bit of a shit night out from then on and I'm now out of pocket for the tickets I got for her and her friend who was supposed to be coming with her. I was in such a foul mood that I just wanted to go home and forget the whole night ever happened reallly. I think I have really bad judgement when it comes to friend selection or something and to think people ask me why I don't go out much. As shitty as things went I have to say that what I did see of The Haunted was excellent with "The Guilt Trip", "The Reflection" and a vicious rendition of "No Compromise" standing out the most. Despite how tiny the stage is at The Cockpit I have to give credit to front man Peter Dolving and the rest of the band for not just standing there like statues like so many other bands do when in small venues, Dolving seemed to switch between spitting out lyrics like a high calibre assault weapon and telling amusing tales of dodgy kebabs at the flick of a switch and despite the bands brutal line in sonic weaponry Dolving doesn't have a problem with coming across as a nice guy as opposed to all those singers out there that seem to think it's not "cool" to actually talk to their fans and interact.
Fight Night
While I was killing time time hanging around in Leeds waiting for my "friends" to turn up I had the pleasure of witnessing a fullscale brawl between a horde of pissed up football fans. One minute I was talking to someone on my phone the next there were 6 police vans and 3 police cars screeching down the road. Next thing I saw was about 30 cops legging it down the street in body armour carrying those fuckoff nightstick things looking like they were in the mood for some full on brutality action, then they closed the road off.
Oh Brother Where Art Thou?
So my brother is now in Canada he told me where he was going but I'm not sure whether he said Ontario or Vancouver is one of them near the coast/border 'cause I'm sure he mentioned that. My sense of Geography is appaling quite frankly so I'm not surprised that I can't remember which one it is.
New Music
Front Line Assembly - Fall Out
The new album from the FLA fold is a far more dancefloor oriented affair being primarily a remix album of previous "back to form" release Artificial Soldier with some new material as an added bonus. The first track "Unleashed Mindless Mix" by Sebastian R. Komor is a pretty good statement of intent for the album as a whole coming out with a style of focussed beats that will satisfy any fan of Funker Vogt's more up tempo numbers. "Buried Alive Acucrack Mix" by Jason Novak has a nice drum 'n' bass feel running throughout. Other notable tracks include "Beneath The Rubble Combichrist Mix" which is exactly what you've come to expect from the Combichrist name. "Armageddon" is a new track with a nice crunchy riff worked into a tight dance beat to superior effect. "Social Enemy Anti- Social Mix" by Jeremy Inkel is probably the most intense mix of the collection with a stomping beat and some nice trancey flourishes that would no doubt pack out the dance floor in any club. In stark contrast "Lowlife Remix" by Portion Control slows things right down with a far more chilled beat and distorted effects. I highly recommend the collection to anyone with an interest in darkwave.
Funker Vogt - Aviator
Much like Slayer and James Bond films there's something reliable and familiar about all Funker Vogt's releases and new collection "Aviator" is no different in that respect, this is in no way meant in a derogatory manner in fact there is something admirable in sticking to the "If it ain't broke don't fix it" ethos so favoured by KMFDM. My personal picks are "Child Soldier", "City Of Darkness", "My Fortune" & "Thanataphobia" which has a nice stomp to it and will no doubt turn up in the playlist of a few DJ's that want to try something new out. One of the things that has changed during the evolution of the groups style is the aggressive vocal stylings of earlier releases have been phased out and replaced with a more "normal" vocal style which will no doubt annoy fans of old classic tunes like "BlackHole" but personally I think both styles are suited to groups material.
Laibach - Jesus Christ Superstars
Laibach have always been a somewhat odd bunch it has to be said but I have to say I really like this album which includes a rather amusing cover of "Jesus Christ Superstar" by Andrew Loyd Webber & Tim Rice and "The Cross" by Prince but anyone familiar with the rather esoteric delights of Laibach will already know they as well known for their "new originals" as they are for their own material. The best thing about this album is it's unapologetically crunchy riffs listen to the likes of "Message From The Black Star" and you get impression that they could teach Till Lindemann's crew a few things about teutonic riffs, other stand out tracks include the goth opera of "God Is God" and the quirky time changes of "Kingdom Of God" with a crunching riff that literally comes out of nowhere to knock you senseless like a particularly stealthy mugger on a dark street somewhere.
VIEW 6 of 6 COMMENTS
rael:
Ye, i'd read the blog; where's the police car photos! Girls - they never tell you the truth do they, i mean they try to avoid being open at all costs.
rael:
Soz mate; i see them now, i thought they were the scufflers!