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Flugplatz Drispenstedt, Hildesheim, Germany
9th to 10th August 2008
M’era Luna Festival Day 2 Hangar Stage: Irfan, Din[A]Tod, Painbastard, Elegant Machinery, Agonoize, Eisbrecher, Combichrist, Hocico, DAF

while on the second festival day the main stage presented rocking tunes, the hangar was totally in the hand of the electro bands… with two exceptions: IRFAN as very first band and EISBRECHER later. All others presented more or less harder electro sounds finding a brilliant highlight in the show of old-school heroes DAF who ended the festival in the hangar while outside FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM were playing.




Irfan

Bulgarian band IRFAN has been founded in 2001. The band's name is taken from the Arabic / Persian word Irfan, literally meaning knowing. IRFAN's music and reliance on traditional instruments is based on a blend of the musical influences common to Bulgaria, and thus represents a blend of medieval European, Balkan and Middle-Eastern styles. The band’s first self-titled album dates back to the year 2003. The band released their second album, entitled ‘Seraphim’ in October 2007. IRFAN is Vladislava Todorova (vocals),  Kalin Yordanov (vocals, daf, bendir, darbouka), Ivaylo Petrov (oud, saz, tambura, guitar, programming), Kiril Bakardjiev (programming, keyboard, santour) and Peter Todorov (darbouka, zarb, riq, djembe, tabla). http://www.myspace.com/irfantheband


Music & Performance
I was always a big fan of the idea to admit other musical currents either and not only pending between the poles of rock and electro. IRFAN was such a current you surely wouldn’t have expected to appear on a festival like the M’era Luna. The enchanting atmosphere of Middle Eastern sounds with percussions, various string instruments and keys, refined with singer Vladislava Todorova’s voice, taking one away into the orient; and at least for me it had a slight DEAD CAN DANCE touch. However, it was quite a calm performance with calm songs. Except Vladislava, all the musicians sat on stools while playing their various instruments and one of them provided some backing vocals now and then, harmonizing quite well with the ones of the front woman. The few dozen people who had come to see what’s behind the name experienced a surprise and every song was rewarded with a jovial applause.

Setlist
01. Peregrinatio
02. Otkrovenie
03. Instrumental (new piece which still does not have a name)
04. Svatba (cover of Dead Can Dance)

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 6
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 7.5




Din[A]Tod

After they had played in several other bands, Sven Clausen and Claudia Fasold decided to work as a duo because they were tired of smelly rehearsal rooms and people interfering with their musical preferences. The first release of the project DIN [A] TOD was the ‘Living Dead EP’ in 2005 which was released on a 10” Picture Vinyl Disc. The title track became a scene-wide hit in the clubs. Over two years and lots of hard work later, they could finally present their first full time album ‘The Sound of Crash’ and all the hard work paid off as both fans and press loved their uncommon music style in combination with the damn cool vocals and on the Out of Line Festival Tour taking place in November 2007, they also perform the material live in several German cities. DIN [A] TOD is Sven Clausen (vocals, guitar, construction), Claudia Fasold (synths, vocals, construction) and Phelix Schneefeld (synths, sounds, construction). http://www.dinatod.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/dinatod



Music & Performance
Now it was time for the German trio DIN[A]TOD to flood the hangar with their minimal electronic sounds. As already known from the debut album with his very own way of singing Sven was the epitome of coolness on stage as well, standing there at the front with his E-Guitar, wearing big sun glasses. Phelix on the left side was on par with him and you wouldn’t know that this was intended and just belongs to their style; you would have called it a quite sluggish performance. Claudia on the other hand moved a lot, while doing the keys and casual backing vocals and after the very calm sounds of IRFAN you could now see the first dancing creatures amongst the audience.



As there’s only one album out to this date, most of the songs were taken from it like the title-song ‘The Sound of Crash’ or ‘Time made dogs of us’, but they also had a surprise for us with a completely new song. Unfortunately they didn’t announce the title, so I will just call it ‘Clockwork’ as the word appeared in the lyrics now and then – and knowing by now the song is exactly called like that. The song was much more rocking than the ‘older’ material and is maybe a hint where the journey will go on the next release.

Setlist
01. Ephedrine logic
02. Margarita
03. Clockwork (new)
04. Creation crucifixion
05. Jean sans peur
06. Living dead

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 6.8




Painbastard

The foundation stone for PAINBASTARD was laid in 1995 when Alex P. made his first steps into electronic music by buying a synth and experimenting with. His first Promo CD 'Just like Dying' was finished in 2000. The third promo 'Skin on Fire' should become a very special one cause that was the promo which caught the attention of Accession Records. He got a label deal and the album was released in 2003 and got very successful, especially in the clubs. The second album 'Overkill' was released in May 2005 followed by the 'Storm of Impermanence EP' in October of the same year and the next album 'No need to worry' was already released in 2006. It also included a special song called 'Torn' where Torben Wendt of DIORAMA did the vocals. The latest album is called 'Borderline' and also shows the calmer side of PAINBASTARD. PAINBASTARD is Alex P (vocals, programming, production) supported by Alex K. during live performances. http://www.painbastard.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/painbastard



Music & Performance
It stayed electronic - in the meanwhile well filled hangar - with PAINBASTARD from Leipzig, but there was still enough space to stand relaxed and to move which would change in the further course of the day; back to the two artists, both with the name Alex. On one hand the already impressive singer in his usual, black cyber outfit; and on the other hand the Alex behind the keys with aviator goggles. After ‘Borderline’, it started with the club hit ‘Nervenkrieg’. Angry and moving, Alex belted out the words in to the crowd in deep screaming chant and stomped from one side of the stage to the other. In the front rows of the stage, people were already intensely moving and the mood rose with every passing minute. Alex welcomed some familiar faces and proudly told them about his current joys of being a dad, before the sent continued with ‘Nyctophobia’ taken from the ‘Klangfusion’ collaboration with [:SITD:]. The specialty about the music of PAINBASTARD is its tonal harshness, paired with a unique emotionality and grief in his lyrics and his performance. Infected by the dancing fever, the visitors gratefully accepted every song and rewarded every single one with cheers and applause. Time was running out and so the driving ‘Sternentanz’ ended this 30 minutes performance.

Setlist
01. Borderline
02. Nervenkrieg
03. Nyctophobia
04. S.I.N. (Seele in Not) (previous unreleased!)
05. Psychological Disintegration
06. Sternentanz




Elegant Machinery

Back in the year 1988, Richard Jomshof and Leslie Bayne formed a band. A year later Robert Enforsen joined in as lead singer and inspired by the third album of the band DATA, they called themselves ELEGANT MACHINERY instead of POLE POSITION as initially planned. In 1990 they released the first single ‘Safety in Mind’ limited to 5000 copies; the single was sold-out within a week. Driven by this unsuspected success and a preceding tour, the band recorded the first studio album ‘Degraded Faces’ released in. The single ‘Process taken from the album became the biggest commercial success in the band’s history. In summer 1993, the started working on the second album ‘Shattered Ground’ followed by a successful Germany tour together with S.P.O.C-K. After yet another album ‘Yesterday Man’ (1997), a Best-Of album ‘A Decade of Thoughts’, recorded b now one less the Eskil Simonsson (Covenant) and the honouring as ‘Best Live Act’ at the SAMA 1998, the band split up  due to problems with their label. But in 2008 they came back to stir up the Synth pop genre with a new single called ‘Feel the Silence’. Another single - ‘Move’ - is just released and a new album is in preparation. http://www.elegantmachinery.se/ / http://www.myspace.com/elegantmachinery



Music & Performance
I believe that many people already waited the whole day for this moment to arrive and as I heard some exclusively came from Sweden to see the re-united ELEGANT MACHINERY. The weather outside still wasn’t very friendly and I guess we all could do with some good mood; and as it turned out, Robert Enforsen, who was entering the stage in a half-long coat; and accompanied by frenetic cheers had plenty of it for everyone in the hangar and believe me there were many people in the hangar. The other three - Richard Jomshof, Johan Malmgren and Leslie Bayne - stood in one row like some organ pipes on a heightened pedestal in the back, while Robert was using the whole stage. It told you about the good mood he had earlier; in fact it was so good he grinned almost the whole time and that was so infecting, it blew away every bad or better unhappy thought.



Anyway, the set started with the first single after the reunion ‘Feel the Silence’ and the masses slowly began to move their legs and shake their hips and also the brand-new single ‘Move’ was showcased. The music stand with the text book on it on the right edge of the stage somehow reminded me of Peter Heppner, who established that as his trademark during WOLFSHEIM live performances, but everyone was eagerly waiting for the classics to come and finally they came with ‘Hard to handle’, ‘Watching you’ or ‘Strange Behaviour’ all with those poppy retro feeling we love the guys for. Sadly, I had to rush for the next band on the main stage (Duty called) and couldn’t witness the whole show so I missed i.e. the classic ‘Save me’. I really hope you guys won’t keep us waiting with another visit for long.

Setlist
01. Feel the Silence
02. Hard to Handle
03. Watching you
04. Love to Cry
05. Process
06. Strange Behaviour
07. Words of Wisdom
08. Black Town
09. Move
10. Save me

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 8.5




Agonoize

AGONOIZE are one of those projects representing the so called “Hellectro” genre, which basically means harsh and angry and in most cases distorted vocals, sinister lyrics and club-friendly beats. The German project was founded in 2002 by Mike Johnson and Oliver Senger. The line-up was later completed by Chris L. Their first album ‘Assimilation: Chapter One’ was released in 2004 followed by several EPs in the same year. It shouldn't take long before a new musical prove of life in the shape of an EP called ‘Evil gets an Upgrade’. The second album ‘999’ was then released in October 2005. In 2006 they re-released their first album which was only available in the US under the title ‘Assimilation: Chapter Two’. Their new album is called ‘Sieben’ (Seven), released in November 2007. AGONOIZE are Chris L (lyrics, vocals), Mike Johnson (synths) and Oliver Senger (synths). http://www.agonoize.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/agonoize



Music & Performance
If you really wanted to see, instead of only hearing AGONOIZE, you had to be at the hangar quite early as the hangar was already fairly filled 20 minutes before the show started. Strangely they played some children’s songs during the changeover, but even more strange was to hear a big part of the attending crowd sing along to it. Anyway, it suddenly got silent and the three guys entered the stage to start the set with the track ‘Glaubenskrieger’. The song barely got started and everyone went into raptures about the hard beats blasting through the speakers. In the meantime, the hangar was filled to the last place; and even outside masses stood of people who couldn’t get in anymore; well back to AGONOIZE who stroke up their next song by now.



It was a cover version of the BEASTIE BOYS song ‘Fight for your right to party’. I wouldn’t wanna be a scaremonger, but I prefer the original. Guess, it also depends on the age, oh my god I’m old. Now a track came I had hoped not to hear live; it was ‘Femme Fatale’ and when the point of the song’s catchphrase, I won’t write down here was reached and even the women shouted it out loud, when Chris held the mic into the crowd, I was sincerely asking myself what the hell was going on here. Maybe this was just some kind of sick humour I didn’t understand, but I’m not sure if I would want to anyway. Besides that, the show couldn’t have run better for AGONOIZE. They made the people dance as if there would be no tomorrow. Musically not exactly my cup of tea, but at that time I was a minority with that opinion.

Rating
Music: 4
Performance: 7
Sound: 6
Light: 6
Total: 5.8




Eisbrecher

After singer Alexx Wesselsky split up with his former band colleagues from MEGAHERTZ in 2003 due to artistic differences, he founded EISBRECHER together with another ex-member of MEGAHERTZ Noel Pix. The release of the first and self-titled album in 2004 caused a heavy stir, when the band added to blank CDRs to the release as an incentive to copy the album and as a statement against the criminalization of the end-customer through the music industry. Two years later, in summer 2006, it was finally time for the second album ‘Antikörper’ to satisfy the hunger of the fans for more material. This album even reached position 85 of the German Album Charts. Right now, the band is preparing for their next strike. EISBRECHER is Alexander “Alexx” Wesselsky (vocals), Jochen “Noel Pix” Seibert (lead guitar), Jürgen Plangger (guitar), René Greil (drums), Maximilian “Maximator” Schauer (keyboard) and Martin Motnik (bass). http://www.eis-brecher.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/eisbrecherkommando



Music & Performance
The EISBRECHER had anchored at the hangar and with it came no cold, but an extreme heat. I had sort of a déjà vu; it was already an adventure to get in there and once you were in, you were rewarded with lots of bad air, but ok, this is about EISBRECHER and they were frenetically welcomed. Front man Alexx Wesselsky wore a marine captain’s outfit and without much ado, they started with ‘Kein Mitleid’ and from the very first moment, there was no need for Alex to boost anyone. All the people in the hangar seemed to just have come for EISBRECHER and knew every line by heart and made it known through loud singing. ‘Leider’ and ‘Antikörper’ followed, but it was all nothing compared to some of the hardly g-rated dance interludes some people did during ‘Schwarze Witwe’. The “get naked” shouts for Alexx became louder and louder but he didn’t do them the favour with the justification that his fitness coach advised him not to do so.



Well, at least the guy has humour that you have to give him credit for. The next song was a premier so to speak as the preceding single to the upcoming album ‘Kann denn Liebe Sünde sein?’ was the next one on the list which, like the others before, was celebrated a lot, in fact people ran wild by the time the song was played, but the apex was reached with ‘Miststück’ where there was no holding back for anyone anymore; and with a rap passage (respect) in English an energetic set ended and sweat-soaked but happy, the EISBRECHER devotees left the venue to make way for the COMBICHRIST fanatics…

Setlist
01. Kein Mitleid
02. Leider
03. Antikörper
04. Schwarze Witze
05. Vergissmeinnicht
06. Phosphor
07. Kann denn Liebe Sünde sein
08. Mein Blut
09. Miststück

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7




Combichrist

COMBICHRIST is one of the other faces of well-known singer and ICON OF COIL mastermind Andy LaPlegua who’s presenting a much more hard-edged side of industrial with this project. The two first releases, the album ‘The Joy of Gunz’ and the limited Halloween special ‘Kiss the Blade’ both being released in 2003, conquered the clubs and dance floors in a storm. Only a year later Andy unleashed the next assault entitled ‘Sex, Drogen und Industrial’ which marks a change in the sound of COMBICHRIST to more electro and less distortion dominated sounds, yet the tracks remained as energetic as ever.



In Spring 2005 it was finally time for the new album ‘Everybody Hates You’ whose description can be summed up as follows “A journey through hell and high water, through the eyes of a serial killer, sex, violence and plenty of Jack Daniels on ice.” 2006 saw the release of a new EP that even took the project to the Hot Dance Billboard Charts and as Andy is a workaholic, he released the next album ‘What The F*&$ Is Wrong With You People?’ in March 2007.  Right in time for the Summer Andy released the ‘Frost EP’ at the end of June 2008 with new tracks as well as remixes. COMBICHRIST is Andy LaPlegua (vocals, lyrics, production). http://www.combichist.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/combichrist



Music & Performance
Only three weeks after the Amphi Festival, Andy LaPlegua had secured a slot for COMBICHRIST on the M’era Luna as well. According to expectations the hanger was short before bursting and was, regardless of the “shift change” subsequent to EISBRECHER the gathering point “Hangar” again and as always an entertaining doze Techno Body Music was to please the audience. The set had some similarities to the one in Cologne and with ‘Today I woke to the rain of blood’, ‘This is my rifle’, ‘Electrohead’ and ‘Get your body beat’ could come up with some strong tracks. Also the drummer was almost unstoppable this time and fairly maltreated his tools. At one point he doused water on the drums and started to bash on them again what led to an interesting effect and especially for the photographers it should have been a nice gimmick But as APOPTYGMA BERZERK already started outside, we had enough of their fellow Norwegian compatriots short time later. But those who stayed in the Hangar surely weren’t disappointed either.




Hocico

Somewhere in the juggernaut of Mexico City, two cousins founded a band named HOCICO DE PERRO, later to be shortened to HOCICO. The following years were spent with training and some local gigs. Until 1996, the duo self-released three demos which got re-released in a special release in 2003. However, the first album would be released in 1997 and be called ‘Oido Bajo el Alma’. Throughout he following years and with releases such as ‘Cursed Land’ (1998) or ‘Sangre Hirviente’ (1999) they grow up to be one of the leading artists in the Dark Electro movement with loyal followers scattered all over the world but in Germany, they’ve undoubtedly the biggest fan base and play on several big festivals of the Goth scene like the M’era Luna or Wave Gotik Treffen. After a creative break during which Erk debuted with his project RABIA SORDA’ HOCICO was re-animated for the release of ‘Memorias Atras’ in 2008. HOCICO is Erk Aicrag (lyrics, vocals) and Racso Agroyam (synths, programming). http://www.hocico.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/hocicoh



Music & Performance
Normally you wouldn’t expect more from a band like HOCICO, than an Erk storming over the stage like a dancing dervish and Racso, standing behind his instruments, mostly like a statue. Well, that came later, but the first thing you saw was a guy dressed like a native American, extensively plumed, coming onto the stage and starting to beat on a ritual percussion build up in the middle; and the drumming became more ecstatic with every second; and soon two other ‘Indians’ came on stage and they started to dance together; just to retreat to the respective edges of the stage to make way for the stage devil Erk to start with the first song, which was ‘The Shape of things to come’ from the current album ‘Memorias Atras’ and as usual, he screamed his mind to the heavens, this time without any distortion and for the dance-crazy folks, the track was just the right start for 60 minutes full of energy.



With ‘About a Dead’ the preceding single to the album release, the twosome raised the tempo to make the people even more sweat; faster harder, HOCICO if you like. So the set made its way through the mentioned sixty minutes and with such tracks as ‘Spirals of Time’ or ‘Spirits of Crime’ people had a good time and probably were more than just exhausted when leaving the hangar…

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7.7




DAF

The DAF ‘Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft’ is a band that can be counted amongst the pioneers and influences for such genres as Electro Punk, Techno or the so called ‘Neue Deutsche Härte’. The unpolished, raw sound they’ve developed should as well be defining for the emerging EBM genre. The album ‘Die kleinen und die Bösen’ from 1980 can be named as prime example for this and was and is a milestone for the EBM movement, released by Daniel Miller’s Mute label. Shrank to the duo Robert Görl / Gabi Delgado-López, the band continued working on new material which found its way on the two albums ‘Alles ist gut’ (1981) and ‘Für Immer’ (1982) with which they finally made their breakthrough. Some of the songs like ‘Der Mussolini’, Die Götter sind Weiß’ or ‘Ein bisschen Krieg’ cause controversies with their provoking lyrics and more than once the two were exposed to hostilities of being fascists. When ‘Für Immer ‘was released in 1982, DAF had already called it quits and every member pursued solo activities. However an album called ‘1st Step to Heaven’ was released under the DAF moniker, it was only intended for the US market and should be the only musical sign of that band until 2003 they reunited, released ‘15 neue DAF Lieder’ in 2003 and went on world tour after which they broke up again. http://www.daf.ag/ / http://www.myspace.com/delgadogoerl



Music & Performance
Old farts like my did regret a little that DAF performed at the same time as old Gothic Rock legend FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM but for Electro heads the choice was clear - first DAF, and then perhaps watching the rest of the FIELDS gig. However, when a few months back the news that Robert Görl and Gabi Delgado would reunite as DAF to perform at the M’era Luna this year, all fans were surprised and most excited! Rumours said that after their 2003 comeback and the subsequent tours Görl and Delgado had some kind of argument which led, as rumours had it, to the statement that they would never work together again. But 2008 they are back again! So a huge crowd, from old to young and from punks to electro-fans, gathered at the hangar stage of the M’era Luna to be part of the DAF experience. The stage looked pretty empty, only a drum kit (a fully-fledged one without electronic pads!), a table with some small electronic devices next to it, and a mike stand in the middle. After a short delay some repetitive noise sounded and the two heroes Görl and Delgado entered the stage. Görl took his place behind the drum kit, while Delgado announced “This was ‘Gewalt’ [violence], and now we gonna start!” First track was the acoustic steamroller called ‘Verschwende deine Jugend’, one of DAF’s most popular and also one of their speediest tracks, and from one second to the next everything in front of the stage was in movement.



Holy cow, in fact I’ve hardly seen a show going from zero to hero as quick as this! The sound was as you would expect it from DAF - simple but most effective. Sound and setup were as minimal as it could get but the raw energy DAF achieve with this is mind-blowing. For this gig, Görl and Delgado decided to perform many of very old album tracks from their albums ‘Die Kleinen und die Bösen’ (1980), ‘Alles ist Gut’ (1981) and ‘Gold und Liebe’ (also from 1981). The tracks they picked were rather mid-tempo but with their mega-hit ‘Der Mussolini’ placed quite early in the set everyone who wished to continue were they began during ‘Verschwende Deine Jugend’ (that is, jumping around and pogo dancing *g*) got what they wanted. Old tracks like ‘Nachtarbeit’ or ‘Sato-Sato’ but also songs from their 2003 comeback album like ‘Die Lüge’ followed, returning again to rather mid-tempo stuff though it sounded still raw and energetic. Delgado chanted the DAF slogans, which are often quite obscure but which prove that this band always had a political and social message. They are simply *anti*, they seem to be against everything, they are against American culture (which is mere imperialism to them), they are against guitar music (which is “hippie crap”, as they prominently state on their Myspace site), they are against capitalism and against German culture as well - something certain fans, who apparently got the Hitler/Mussolini reference in ‘Der Mussolini’ a little wrong, should think about! And DAF are also against meeting expectations - I’m sure that’s why they decided on a rather “difficult” set for their headline gig at a huge festival.



Obviously some people who are not too familiar with DAF’s work left the hangar after a while but the fans in the front were more than happy with the gig, despite some sound problems here and there. And all those who waited for more speedy dance tunes were sated with ‘Als wär’s das letzte Mal’ as the final song of the main set. Of course an encore was indispensable, so Görl and Delgado returned to the stage to perform the title track of the 1981 album ‘Alles ist gut’ and the rarely performed ‘Kebabträume’ - the only song of the gig which really sounded quite messy, especially as Delgado forgot half of the lyrics. What a pity, but who cares in the end after a powerful and impressive gig like that! DAF are back!

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 5
Total: 8.6

Written by: overall editor Daniela Vorndran [DV], all band intros Sebastian Huhn [SH] and J. “Niggels” Uhlenbruch [JU]. Translations by Sebastian Huhn [SH] for Painbastard and Combichrist with friendly approval from the articles published at http://www.musik.terrorverlag.de [TV]

All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com/ / http://www.black-cat-net.de/ / www.myspace.com/vorndranphotography)
{jos_sb_discuss:18}

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