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introSandstone Cave Langenstein, Halberstadt, Germany
15th & 16th April 2016
Kasematten Festival 2016 Day 2 with Hidden Place, Autodafeh, Dive, Spiritual Front, Klangstabil, Frozen Plasma, Covenant

The second day of the festival promised a lot of cool music acts and despite an unexpected change in the line-up, the rest came as planned and as crowd near the stage was gradually getting bigger it was just the time to start the event.


Hidden Place

The second festival day started with some upbeat electro waves presented by Italian formation HIDDEN PLACE. For the beginning it was really great, yet sometimes the compositions became a bit monotonous, although the beautiful vocals were making the sound more colourful without ruing its harmony. In general everything sounded well-balanced and expressive in its own way. It felt that the band was not afraid of music experiments and at the same time was keeping loyal to the roots of the genre. As a result the audience could enjoy a good concert and be prepared to what was coming next. // https://hiddenplace.bandcamp.com / https://www.facebook.com/hiddenplaceitalia // Rating: 7.5 / 10

hiddenplace


Autodafeh

And next there were the representatives of Swedish EBM AUTODAFEH. The project doesn’t want to add anything new to the style and usually their music is labelled “old-school”, however it doesn’t matter much when it comes to live shows. The band managed to charge everyone with their energy and vigorous music, of course. AUTODAFEH released the new album, entitled ‘Digital Citizens’ not so long ago, so I guess, as it was my first introduction into the band’s music, the setlist consisted of the songs from the new record as well as old and well-known ones. Anyway the most important thing was that the audience had fun during the whole set and the musicians as usual were given a warm welcome. // http://autodafeh.com / https://www.facebook.com/autodafeh // Rating: 8 / 10

autodafeh


Dive

Dirk Ivens is well-known for his projects ABSOLUTE BODY CONTROL and THE KLINIK, but that day at the festivals the audience could enjoy the full-set of his solo project DIVE. In short the set was rather cool in some way, but no so interesting to watch or to listen to, because on one hand electronic music is just meant for dance floors, while on the other hand it gives a lot of opportunities for experiments with the sound and express oneself, that you must be a devoted fan of the genre to understand what it’s all about. However despite all the monotony and rather specific way of performing the songs, the show produced a fairly good impression. // http://www.dirkivens.com / https://www.facebook.com/DIRK-IVENS-Absolute-Body-Control-Klinik-Dive-Sonar--12536779886 // Rating: 7 / 10

dive


Spiritual Front

Another Italian band of the day succeeded in playing a good concert despite some technical problems. The band’s songs differed a lot from one might expect judging by album covers and all the other artwork connected with SPIRITUAL FRONT. In fact everything turned into a pretty nice, maybe a bit aloof but still heartfelt acoustic set supposed to reflect somewhat decadence style of the formation. The lyrics in English allowed to understand the songs but at the same time almost destroyed a melancholic and romantic atmosphere created by the melodies. Obviously SPIRITUAL FRONT is working on contrasts combining not too positive subjects and emotional delivery with delicate music but anyway the show itself was really good and impressive. // http://www.spiritualfront.com / https://www.facebook.com/spiritualfrontofficialpage // Rating: 8 / 10

spiritualfront


Klangstabil

And again the project I saw at Nocturnal Culture Night in 2014. KLANGSTABIL is very electronic but unlike most part of electronic formations, their live shows are emotional and interesting to watch and of course, the musicians made the whole audience move. The sound itself wasn’t too complicated and sometimes it seemed that the music was just the canvas for the vocals. However everything produced an impression of coherence and completeness and pleased the old fans and maybe helped the band to get some new ones. // http://www.klangstabil.com / https://www.facebook.com/Klangstabil-7403019660 // Rating: 8 / 10

klangstabil


Frozen Plasma

As DIORAMA had to cancel the show at Kasematten on short notice due to health problems of singer Torben, FROZEN PLASMA became a worthy substitute. The first time I saw the band was several years ago in Moscow, however it was nice to see their performance again. The project played good-quality synth pop, and also gained points thanks to energetic and cheerful performance of Felix Marc. Looking at him it was hard not to feel the whole positive atmosphere of the concert or to stand still. So in general FROZEN PLASMA did an emotional and somehow bright show and cheered the crowd up before the final act took the stage. // http://www.frozenplasma.com / https://www.facebook.com/FrozenPlasma // Rating: 8.5 / 10

frozenplasma


Covenant

The last band of the whole festival was Swedish electronic formation COVENANT. The first word that comes to mind to describe the performance is elegant. Although some especially showy moves of the singer in his elegant suit looked a little bit funny, yet it didn’t spoil a deep and dramatic atmosphere created by the songs. Of course, there was a guest appearance, too and this time Elena Alice Fossi from KIRLIAN CAMERA joined Eskil Simonsson on stage for a couple of songs. The audience enjoyed the set to the full and so did the musicians themselves. It was a great finale for the whole festival and there is nothing else to add. // http://www.covenant.se  // https://www.facebook.com/Covenant-OFFICIAL-156626197713557 // Rating: 8.5 / 10

covenant


All in all the two days of Kasematten festival were full of different music, different emotions and impressions and actually passed by rather fast. It was interesting to discover new projects worth listening to and for me all of them were new, and to have a chance to appreciate not only electronic, but acoustic music too in an interesting locations and I guess most part of the audience will be looking forward to coming to the festival next year. 

All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)


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