Kulturpark, Deutzen, Germany
2nd - 4th September 2011
Nocturnal Culture Night 6 Day 1: Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, Kirlian Camera, [:SITD:], Tyske Ludder, Whispers In The Shadow, Gothminister, No More, Golden Apes, Den C.T Bug
It is always at the farthest end of the festival season in autumn when a little festival takes place that over the years has gained considerable recognition amongst dark music lovers: The Nocturnal Culture Night (NCN) festival. In 2011, it was taking place for the 6th time inside the boundaries of the picturesque landscape of the culture park in a little place called Deutzen (near Leipzig).
After the previous years festivals were rather cold and more or less rainy, we were going for a change this year… the year when all other summer festivals suffered from bad weather, summer was coming back to Deutzen where the whole festival was sunny and warm, even hot, and not a single rain cloud was in sight. Lots of people made their way again to this small venue. It’s not only the familiarity of the atmosphere that has shaped its reputation, moreover it is the vast assortment of bands the organizers come up with every year anew that differs quite a bit from the usual. That starts already with one of the headlining acts of this year’s festival, KIRLIAN CAMERA, most certainly brining a truly exceptional show to the stage, presenting new material from their forthcoming album as well.
Den C.T Bug (Small Stage)
The project came to life in December of 2002. The band produced already several club hits, amongst them being 'Nachtzug' and 'Straftäter'. So far they’ve got one album out with 'Deutschstunde'. Their band profile promises that their music “sounds like a turbulent mixture of old tracks of VNV Nation, Suicide Commando and Frozen Plasma. This variety of sounds is combined with a strong voice that reminiscents of Till Lindemann (Rammstein) or the Graf (Unheilig).” We’ll see during the show if those promises are fulfilled. The Bavarian band consists of Kim Hoffmann (vocals) and Markus Pawlikowski (keys). http://www.denctbug.de / http://www.facebook.com/pages/DCTB-official/124511594267830
Music & Performance
Being the opener of a festival is never easy, especially not when such big names will follow. Musically promising a mix of VNV NATION, SUICIDE COMMANDO and FROZEN PLASMA, I found this rather faceless electro music quite boring. Nothing I would risk a closer listening. Best of the band in my opinion was the clothing consisting of stylish suits. Anyway, singer Kim tried to warm up the audience - rather small at this early hour - with more or less funny jokes. All in all, this was nothing to remember.
Setlist
01. Elektrostadt
02. Nachtzug
03. Liebhaber
04. Straftäter
05. Kreuzzug
06. Gotteskrieger
Rating
Music: 5
Performance: 4
Sound: 6
Light: - (daylight)
Total: 5 / 10
Golden Apes (Big Stage)
THE GOLDEN APES were founded back in 1998 by Peer, Christian and Eric. The guys can already look back on seven albums by now, latest being ‘Denying the Towers Our Words Are Falling From’, released in April 2010 on their new label Echozone Records. So far, the band was playing several festivals and also supported bands like CINEMA STRANGE. THE GOLDEN APES are Peer Lebrecht (lyrics, vocals), Eric Bahrs (guitars), Christian Lebrecht (bass), Ika Mamrikishuili (keys), Dirk Wildenhues (guitars) and Joe Finck (drums). http://www.goldenapes.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/goldenapes / https://www.facebook.com/GoldenApes
Music & Performance
This band was already present at the 2008 edition of NCN, at that time opening the small stage. This year, the were opening the big stage supported by the evening sun combined with wonderful descent lights and a attentive audience being in good mood because of the wonderful summer weather. In fact, bright daylight is not the right surrounding for this calm Darkwave based on distinctive bass lines, sounding in times a bit like JOY DIVISION. Just like the music, the show of the APES is introverted, calm and singer Peer is rather tight-lipped. I recognized though that he was smoking a bit less on stage than during previous shows. The rest of the band also appeared quite cool and calm. With eight songs, the set was a rather short one. But we got anyway something from all eras, like ‘And thus he spoke’ and ‘Digging Towers’ out off the latest output ‘Denying the Towers Our Words Are Falling from’ but also a very new song called ‘Lithium’ or early ‘The Happy Losers Sweet Delusion’ out off the band’s first album ‘Stigma 3:am’ self-released in 2000 finishing the set.
Setlist
01. Devil
02. Leaving Ground
03. Ferryman
04. And thus he spoke
05. Lithium
06. Digging Towers
07. Satin Garden
08. The Happy Losers Sweet Delusion
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 7 (+ daylight)
Total: 7.3 / 10
No More (Small Stage)
This band, formed in 1979 in Kiel (North Germany), is responsible for the 1981 minimal wave hit ‘Suicide Commando’ after which Johan van Roy named his project. Their first release was the 7” EP ‘Too Late’ and the first mini album came out with ‘A Rose is a Rose’ in 1982 after which the band went for a change in its musical style. The band called it quits in 1986 after finishing the album ‘Hysteria’. In the course of working on an album with updated song versions ‘Remake/Remodel’ it was announced that a new album is in the making. That album, titled 'Midnight People & Lo-Life Stars' has been released on 12th March 2010 and the next one is already in the pipeline with 'The Great Masturbator'. NO MORE is Andy A. Schwarz and Tina Sanudakura. http://www.no-more-remake-remodel.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/nomoreremakeremodel / https://www.facebook.com/official.no.more
Music & Performance
Second band on the small stage took us on a journey to minimalist electronic music. Anyone probably knows their hit ‘Suicide Commando’ being played during the set of course, but the two Germans had more to offer than just that one. Like usually, Andy was just armed with the guitar bringing out warm Wave sounds while Tina was caring for the colder electronics. I was especially impressed by the sounds she brought out of the Theremin that was part of her equipment. The show was leading from dark Wave tunes to minimal Electro to more experimental or poppier stuff - it wasn't always as electronic as you might guess, but their material was still quite excellent. No big show was needed for their music, but they had a special “light show” since the evening sun was shining through the curtains covering the sides of the stage. Pretty nice effect! Sound-wise, the bass felt a bit too booming, but that did not distract people from enjoying the show.
Setlist
01. The Kores Of Stockholm
02. Dim The Lights
03. Midnight People & Lo-Life Stars
04. French Kisses
05. In A White Room
06. Something Grows Up
07. Suicide Commando
08. Sunday Mitternacht
09. Teenage Years
10. Schwarzen Mann Geseh'n
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11. Caged Heat
12. A Rose Is A Rose
13. Maybe Some Day
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 6
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 7 / 10
Gothminister (Big Stage)
Bjørn Alexander Brem, a lawyer in real life founded GOTHMINISTER as his solo project in 1999 and already the debut album ‘Gothic Electronic Anthems’(2003) gained overwhelming critics by both the national and international critics. With the second album ‘Empire of Dark Salvation’(2005) continued on the path of success and was the first Gothic Industrial act ever to hit the road for a night liner tour through the big cities. Meanwhile the project is grown to a real band and brings us the third album ‘Happiness in Darkness’ in 2008. It should take 3 years for the follow-up 'Anima Inferna' to be released. GOTHMINISTER is Gothminister (Bjørn Alexander Brem - lead vocals and Performance), Chris Dead (Christian Svendsen - drums), Icarus (Glenn Nilsen - guitars) and Turbo Natas (Ketil Eggum - (guitars). http://www.gothminister.com/ / http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gothminister/19461103368 / http://www.myspace.com/gothminister
Music & Performance
Having seen GOTHMINISTER just a few weeks before at M’era Luna nearly in darkness with just a lot of pyrotechnics, having the band now in daylight seeing a lot of details was something for a change. This time, there was no big stage decoration and the big smoking bombs from M’era Luna were rather small this time (“fired” i.e. by Bruno Kramm from DAS ICH) creating quite some smoke during the intro leading over to ‘The Beast’ and ‘Stonehenge’. GOTHMINISTER were rocking and their mix of Goth Metal with electronic elements with floating and danceable sound including orchestral parts was well appreciated by the audience. As usually, the show was pretty well acted by Björn, who was performing the songs partly from a speaker’s desk and wore his trademark make-up. Song-wise, we got of course songs from the latest album ‘Anima Inferna’, like the title track, but also older ones like ‘Happiness in Darkness’ from the homonymous album.
Setlist
01. Intro
02. The Beast
03. Stonehenge
04. Beauty After Midnight
05. Dusk Till Dawn
06. The Possession
07. Devil
08. Anima Inferna
09. Liar
10. Monsters
11. Darkside
12. Open the Gates
13. Happiness in Darkness
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 9
Sound: 7
Light: 8
Total: 8 / 10
Whispers In The Shadow (Small Stage)
The Austrian formation WHISPERS IN THE SHADOW - the name was inspired by the H.P. Lovecraft tale “The Whisperer in Darkness” - was founded in 1996 by Ashley Dayour as a solo project, but soon a real band would grow out of the project and expanded to a trio; the first album ‘Laudanum’ was released within 1997. Until 2001, when their - for a certain time - last regular album ‘Permanent Illusions’ came out. The WHISPERS IN THE SHADOW had become an acclaimed live band with regular slots at the famous Wave-Gotik-Treffen and had toured with the likes of GARDEN OF DELIGHT. It was not before 2008, when the next studio album ‘Into the Arms of Chaos’ should see the light to be followed by a remix and rarities album ‘Borrowed Nightmares & Forgotten Dreams’ in 2009. The new album, titled 'The Eternal Arcane', second part of the cycle, was released in April 2010, followed by the EP 'Lightbringer' this year. WHISPERS IN THE SHADOW is Ashley Dayour (vocals, guitars, E-bow), Fork (bass), Martin Acid (keyboards, piano), Reinhard Schwarzinger (drums) and Lazy Schulz (guitars). http://www.noizeart.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/whispersintheshadow
Music & Performance
From the Metal-ish guitar music now to the calmer one in good old Goth-Rock and Darkwave style remembering from time to time a bit of THE CURE - not only when it comes to the optical appearance of the band. WHISPERS IN THE SHADOW were entering the small stage and there was a lot of shadow with little light but not so many whispers since Ashley was putting a lot of energy into his singing. The set opened with ‘Rites of Passage’ and ‘The Arrival’ and got you moving right away. Following ‘If Uriel Falls’ was a sinister ode to what happens when order vanishes all of a sudden. Rushing ‘The Lost Souls’ continued from there on and brought straight Goth rock to the people. Utilization of gestures became a big part in the performance of hypnotizing ‘Neither:Neither’ whose rhythmic diversion alone sets it apart from typical Goth stuff while blistering ‘Damned Nation’ hit the crowd with powerful drums. With ‘Babylon Rising Part 1 and 2’, a fantastic show ended. Surely one of the day’s highlights.
Setlist
01. Rites Of Passage
02. The Arrival
03. If Uriel Falls
04. The Lost Souls
05. Neither:Neither
06. The Lightbringer
07. Damned Nation
08. Amenta Descending
09. Blood, Sweat & Tears
10. Babylon Rising Part 1
11. Babylon Rising Part 2
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 7.5 / 10
Tyske Ludder (Big Stage)
TYSKE LUDDER formed at the beginning of the 1990s. The phrase TYSKE LUDDER means German whore in Danish and Norwegian. Until the mid 90s, they pulled out the three albums ‘Bombt die Mörder’, ‘Creutzfeld’ and ‘Dalmarnock’ complemented by scarce live performances as the third leg of the TYSKE LUDDER concept. At the dawn of the new millennium, the project entered a silent period due to various artistic differences on the further development of the concept. In 2004, they started to work on new material coinciding with their live comeback in the same year. The new album ‘Sojus’ eventually was released beginning of 2006 followed by a re-release of the first three albums with additional bonus material in autumn. The album ‘Diaspora' is their most recent release which came out in 2011. TYSKE LUDDER is Claus Ålbers (vocals, performance), Ølåf Å. Reimers (synths) and Rålf Homann (percussions, shouts). http://www.tyske-ludder.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/tyskeludder / https://www.facebook.com/tyskeludder
Music & Performance
Radical change from Goth Rock to heavy electronics now and lot of provocation, with hot topics in their lyrics as well as with their performance and two artificial bombs being mounted on the sides of the stage. Right for the second song ‘Tempelberg’, singer Claus came with a Israeli flag onto stage, what was the deeper meaning of this is probably only known to the band. The “Sugar Goths” (how the audience was called by the band) had quite some hard lyrics to swallow, but probably most of the audience was not caring for lyrics but for the heavy electronic beats that made anyone moving. ‘EUGENIX’ from the current album came next, being followed by several more songs having the headline: “Dance!”. ‘Canossa’ had a few more melodies in stock for us, whilst vocalist Albert kept on stomping over the stage to hype up the sweating crowd before they just moved on with hard-hitting ‘Shokkz’ and then rolling over the crowd with ‘Panzer’. With ‘March’ and ‘Merciless’, TYSKE even had two encores in stock. Quite good impression the band made. 
Setlist
01. Intro
02. Tempelberg
03. EUGENIX
04. Wie der Stahl gehärtet wurde
05. For their glory
06. Androgyner Held
07. Bastard
08. Pädophil
09. Canossa
10. Shokkz
11. Panzer
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12. March
13. Merciless
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7.3 / 10
[:SITD:] (Small Stage)
In 2002, a new star arose on the firmament of the club landscape and its name was [:SITD:] which is short for “Shadows in the Dark” and a metaphorical expression for the music and lyrical content of the band. The band existed since 1996 though, but the big breakthrough came with the ‘Snuff EP’ with the hit track ‘Snuff Machinery’ which, from there on, couldn’t be missed out on any DJ Playlist and is now a real classic. The first album ‘Stronghold’ continued the path of combining club orientated beats with hymnal melodies and dark vocals and was the most successful band album in 2003. With ‘Coded Message:12’, [:SITD:] released their second album showing the band’s sound matured, containing several new club hits like the preceding single ‘Richtfest’ and the German-tongued ‘Wegweiser’. The third album had to wait until 2007 aptly titled ‘Bestie:Mensch’; the album shed some light on the deepest abysms of the human soul, even more than that the band opened their sound to new influences such as the break beats on the instrumental track ‘Floating’. With a new album ‘ROT’, the trio soon unleashed its next strike on the clubs in October 2009. [:SITD:] is Carsten Jacek (vocals and lyrics), Thomas “Tom” Lesczenski (keyboards, programming, sampling and backing vocals) and Francesco “Frank” D'Angelo (keyboards and backing vocals). http://www.sitd.de / http://www.myspace.com/xsitdx / https://www.facebook.com/pages/SITD-Official/137657076710
Music & Performance
For their 15th band anniversary, the band has a few surprises in stock for their fans, some of them are still secret. But now, they were playing in Deutzen and a big crowd had gathered in front of the small stage to see them. In fact, the band probably had also filled the area in front of the big stage. With a lot of smoke and red lights, Carsten, Tom and Frank entered the stage for ‘Rot’ (Red) followed by ‘Catharsis’, both from the latest long player. With ‘Rose-Coloured Skies’ we got a more classic song, featuring Tom on microphone as well. He later changed places with Carsten once more for wonderful ballad ‘Suffering in Solitude’. The rest of the set contained several classics and fan favourites, such as ‘Laughingstock’ or ‘Lebensborn’ taking care for a lot of movement in front of the stage. Anyone seemed to enjoy the show, not only on front of stage, but also on stage. Of course, the first and probably biggest hit of the band, ‘Snuff Machinery’, could not be missed either and as some kind of tradition it was presented at the very end of the set. Cool show guys and we are already curious about your anniversary concerts in November and the guests you will present there. 
Setlist
01. Rot
02. Catharsis (Heal Me, Control Me)
03. Rose-Coloured Skies
04. Kreuzgang
05. Herbsterwachen
06. Suffering in Solitude
07. Laughingstock
08. Lebensborn
09. Richtfest
10. Snuff Machinery
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 7.5 / 10
Kirlian Camera (Big Stage)
Italian band KIRLIAN CAMERA, founded by Angelo Bergamini as far back as 1980, is one of the most controversial bands of the dark scene. In the past they were often accused of promoting right-wing aesthetics and ideologies. Which is, frankly, utter nonsense. KIRLIAN CAMERA surely created their very own sonic world, ranging from cold minimalist beats to acoustic Neo Folk ballads to Dance songs with the luring voice of singer Elena Fossi. KIRLIAN CAMERA combine danceable and tranquil moments, poppy and experimental tracks. The music sounds very spacious and clear and contains a great deal of moody electronics with a very clear sound. Experimental structures, yet pleasant to listen to. Darkness is a very prominent feature in the atmosphere of their sound, in fact I would regard KIRLIAN CAMERA as one of the most apocalyptical and gloomy acts on the scene. But it’s no hollow attitude, all this darkness inherits a certain kind of graveness and seriousness. Lyrically they also touch the darker sides of existence most of the time, and they obviously have a certain interest in apocalyptic visions, paranormal phenomena and psychology. Over the last few years, KIRLIAN CAMERA's sound has become somewhat lighter and dancier, perhaps as a result of Elena Fossi's work with all-female Pop project SPECTRA*PARIS. The new album ‘Nightglory’ will be out later this year. KIRLIAN CAMERA live in Deutzen was Angelo Bergamini (vocals, synths), Elena Fossi (vocals), Kyoo Nam Rossi (guitars), Andrea Artusi (bass guitar) and Andreas Liese (synths). http://www.kirliancamera.com / http://www.myspace.com/kirliancamerafront / https://www.facebook.com/kirlian.camera
Music & Performance
Finally it was time for the first day’s headliner, KIRLIAN CAMERA, who were welcomed loudly by the audience when entering the stage during ‘Black Tiger Rising’. The line-up was a little surprise, this time having five people on stage whereof we had even a guitar and a bass player. Those instruments took care for a rougher sound, even though the bass seemed to be a little too loud, at least in the beginning. With the second song presented, the band probably wins an award for the longest song title ever: ‘Winged Child Sitting on a Bench Watching Obscure Clouds Get Closer While People are Looking for a Shelter’. Besides a lot of great old classics like ‘K-Pax’, ‘Heldenplatz’ or ‘Eclipse’, with ‘Nightglory’ also a new song was presented. Furthermore, we got also a reworked song of Elena’s solo project SPECTRA*PARIS, ‘Size Zero’, and the ULTRAVOX cover ‘Hymn’. A lot of the older song were reworked for the show as well. A certain pop and dance feeling entered the world of KIRLIAN CAMERA, but still there is this artistic ambition shown though the whole set. Of course, every eye was on front woman Elena Fossi, who exactly knows how to play with the audience and use her sex appeal. Beats combined with sweet melodies and gloomy lyrics and Elena’s dark erotic appearance create a mixture now one could escape from. 
People were overexcited by this show and demanded several encores. At the very end, ‘Nightglory’ was played even a second time. If you ask me, KIRLIAN CAMERA was a great headliner of this first day!
Setlist
01. Intro: Black Tiger Rising
02. Winged Child Sitting on a Bench Watching Obscure Clouds Get Closer While People are Looking for a Shelter
03. Nightglory
04. I’m not sorry
05. Hymn (Ultravox cover)
06. Save me Lord (from killing them all)
07. Immortal
08. After Winter
09. Size Zero (SPECTRA*paris song version 2.0 / rearranged by Blank + Kirlian Camera)
10. K-Pax (version 2.0)
11. Edges (shadow mission version)
12. Blue Room (eurotech vision)
13. Eclipse (anniversary version 2.0)
14. Odyssey Europa
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15. Comfortably Numb
16. Heldenplatz (Mission Walhalla I)
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17. In the endless Rain (version 5.0)
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18. Erinnerung
19. Nightglory
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 9 / 10
Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio (Small Stage)
ORDO ROSARIUS EQUILIBRIO [ORE] is an aesthetic constellation situated somewhere on the illusive boundary between the impending apocalypse & the orgies of ancient Rome, besides that it’s the sonic outlet of Tomas Petterson, who founded the project in 1993 after his former project ARCHON SATANI had ceased to exist and ORE is his way to canalize his remaining creativity “…through the aesthetic portrayal of the undivided spiritual and intellectual kinship between Light and Dark, Life and Death, Male and Female, Love and Hate, Beauty and Depravity, War and Peace”. With all of its works starting with the debut ‘Reaping the Fallen, The First Harvest’ from 1995 the project meanwhile grown to a duo enchanted his listener’s every time anew. ORE is Tomas Pettersson (music, lyrics, vocals) and Rose-Marie Larsen (vocals) supported by Ronnie Bäck (guitar, backing vocals), Fredrik Leijström (bass) and Axel Menzer (percussions). http://www.ordo-rosarius-equilibrio.net/ / http://www.myspace.com/ordorosariusequilibrio / https://www.facebook.com/ordorosariusequilibrio
Music & Performance
With ORE as midnight special, the first festival day found a calm and sonic end. The wonderful sounds of ‘Do Angels Never Cry And Heaven Never Fall’ and ‘Which Words Confines The Truth’ started the late concert in dimmed cosy lights. At this late hour, the room in front of stage was not packed, but still quite full. People were listening to the compositions that rarely leave the mid-tempo but immersed the audience with their rich assortment of instruments. The lyrical embellishments and elaborations are soaking in passion, stirred up with a sense of erotica and like that cover the indeed serene compositions. Compositions of soft electronics, yearning choirs, acoustic elements vitreous sounding piano sounds, thick string textures as well as powerful acoustic guitars made the audience go into dream land. The end of this dreamscape was marked by Song 4 Hate & Devotion’ and said farewell to the audience.
Setlist
01. Do Angels Never Cry And Heaven Never Fall
02. Which Words Confines The Truth
03. Reaping The Fallen
04. Sheep For A Lifetime Or Lion For A Day?
05. I Glorify Myself, the Perplexity of Hybris
06. Seduced By the Kisses of Cinnabar Sweet
07. Hell Is Where The Heart Is
08. A World Not So Beautiful
09. In High Heels Through Nights Of Broken Glass
10. Imbecile, My Idiot Lover
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11. Three Is An Orgy, Four is Forever
12. A Song 4 Hate & Devotion
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 7.2 / 10
After ORE had finished, there either was time for bed or for party… We decided for our nice hotel room and the bed since the upcoming day would be a very long one.
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.black-cat-net.de/ / www.myspace.com/vorndranphotography / www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
Written by Daniela Vorndran & Sebastian Huhn (Band Intros)
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