Reithalle Strasse E, Dresden, Germany27th April 2019
Aesthetic Perfection - “Into The Black” Tour 2019 - Special Guest: Priest, Chemical Sweet Kid, Amelia Arsenic
What a splendid night it was on 27th of April in Reithalle Strasse E in Dresden! The consecutive stage of the European part of the “Into the Black” tour that altogether included 17 cities turned out to be a spectacle of energetic kicks, constant scenic fireworks and above all marvellous music that the set whole venue on fire. Four bands that rocked the place - AESTHETIC PERFECTION, PRIEST, CHEMICAL SWEET KID and AMELIA ARSENIC - all represent different styles of industrial music, but they all have one thing in common: they all build unforgotten atmosphere filled with fantastic energy and vibe!
Amelia Arsenic
The person to open the night was AMELIA ARSENIC, the project of Amelia Tan, who could be also associated with the project ANGELSPIT, she performed with before. Amelia is not only involved in music, but also fashion and art, exploring various inspirations, music genres and styles. http://www.ameliaarsenic.com
Music & Performance
I remember 2007 was the year I saw Amelia Tan for the first time - she was still performing with ANGELSPIT back then - the project she established with Karl “ZooG” Learmont in 2004 in Sydney. Already then she was like an electric butterfly - colourful, energetic spark with massive doses of energy she shared with her audience while giving the show. Changing styles, hair colour and scenic expression she was as protean as impressive. Well, I must say it hasn’t changed a bit - she is still extremely powerful vocalist and performer. Combining music, fashion, image and expressive scenic manner she is brilliant when it comes to managing the scene quite on her own.
Enough to look at her to see she made a work of art of herself and she did that in great style. Her performance in Dresden was full of passion and charisma - when she finally landed in the middle of the gathered crowd she looked as fragile as strong and I really enjoyed the way she presented herself. Rooting in Cyber Punk, Goth and Industrial, she manages to create her own style by seasoning it very nicely with other musical elements, like Metal or Rap tints that add to her music’s diversity and richness. Well played!
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Light: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 7.8 / 10
Chemical Sweet Kid
Metz based project CHEMICAL SWEET KID debuted in 2011 with their album ‘Tears of Pain’. Their music is a combination of Electro, Industrial and harsh Electronics, their most recent album is entitled ‘Addicted to Addiction’ (2017). http://www.chemicalsweetkid.com
Music & Performance
There is something special about the bands from France playing Industrial music. The first to shake my world were definitely TAMTRUM and CHRYSALIDE and I believe CHEMICAL SWEET KID follow the similar path - the one of extremely passionate, emotional, aggressive almost frantic, chaotic, harsh, incredibly powerful whirl.
It’s really hard to be indifferent to such a combination. More to that, when you think about the genre CHEMICAL SWEET KID represent, you may consider how hard it is to mark your own, individual path in the field COMBICHRIST, CHRISTIAN DEATH or MARILYN MANSON made theirs before. Have I seen the individual note to the band? I did, surely did, even though their music made me think of other bands as well in an instant - COMBICHRIST above all (hard to escape such comparison especially when making a piece such as ‘What the Fuck’). I think it will take some time for the band to evolve their fully individual mark that will make them totally outstanding, still, Julien Kidam and Kora-Li Louys gave a powerful, passionate, charismatic show that I fully enjoyed.
Both fully engaged in the concert, established great contact with the audience. It’s only a pity that the guitar sound was absent during the live show, I’m sure it’d add a totally different quality to the music. As it was - a great electronic and vocalic performance.
Setlist
01. Never Enough
02. What The Fuck
03. Fuck The Rest
04. Tears Of Blood
05. Lights Out
06. That Smells Like The End
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Light: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 7.8 / 10
Priest
PRIEST, the band rooting in Synth genre, are very mysterious when it comes to the information they share about themselves. Enough to say, they perform wearing masks (Black Death and Spiky ones) which makes the identification of the musicians impossible. Their recent release is ‘Obey’ of March 2019 and after seeing them live I must say they really set the dancefloor on fire during their live shows. https://www.facebook.com/pg/priestofficial/
Music & Performance
The band appeared on stage in the flood of white and purple light and only the black contours of their bodies could be seen. We could notice on the spot all the musicians were wearing masks I mentioned before - it was so during the entire show. PRIEST did not have luck with Reithalle Strasse E when it comes to tech - they started the show three times due to some technical issues. The more bravo for not being discouraged! I must say I had never seen the band live before so it was quite a thing to finally watch their performance on stage. Their energy was impressive and inspiring!
The concert itself was a symphony of extremely catchy melodies, Industrial punching hits and emotional depth. For not seeing the artists’ faces we had to rely on our feelings to music and I was totally taken by the show. Fabulous energy of such hits as ‘History in Black’ or ‘The Pit’ took the hall by the storm and I really enjoyed the feeling. Bravo!
Setlist
01. Intro ‘Supremacy’ by Jeoren Tel
02. The Pit
03. Populist
04. Private Eye
05. Neuromancer
06. History in Black
07. Nightmare Hotel
08. The Cross
09. Obey
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 8
Light: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8.5 / 10
Aesthetic Perfection
The first thing that comes to my mind while thinking about the concert of AESTHETIC PERFECTION is that it was an unstoppable flow of energetic kicks. Daniel Graves, Joe Letz and Elliott Berlin were like a storm trio to take Dresden audience on the spot. The band’s been present in the music scene for nineteen years now and it’s hard not to respect the amount of work the artists put into creating music, playing concerts intensively and promoting their artistic output. It won’t be a lie to say their popularity they justly enjoy is the result of their very own input, hard work and creativity. Enough to say their most recent release, ‘Into The Black’, is a proof of Daniel Graves’s effort as it is self-created, self-released and self-promoted. Huge respect! http://aesthetic-perfection.net/
I was totally surprised by the energy and vigour the artists presented; the pace would not slow for even a moment! ‘Wickedness’, ‘Never Enough’ or ‘Gods & Gold’ of recently released album, ‘Into the Black’, were like a whipping, sparkling fire flame to ignite the audience. Daniel Graves, the mastermind and frontman of that band, was as charismatic and powerful as every soul thirsty for energetic vent could wish for. Stylish lights only enhanced the fantastic atmosphere of the show and made the artists look a bit unreal, a bit theatrical and extremely impressive.
Crazy antics of both, Joe Letz and Eliott Berlin (who climbed up his gear just behind Daniel’s back and played in such position that made some of wonder how he is actually able to do so), and great expressive mimicry of Daniel Graves and his inexhaustible energy were marvellous! I was really struck by the way they led the entire show - with no single break, it was one big energetic stream that really recharged my batteries. The encore played for the show was extremely atmospheric and I guess it was the only moment the pace slowed down for a second… for the ballad ‘All Beauty Destroyed’… the rest of the show was pure energy outburst! Thank you!
Setlist
01. Gods & Gold
02. Inhuman
03. The Siren
04. Antibody
05. Wickedness
06. Rhythm + Control
07. Never Enough
08. Echoes
09. Big Bad Wolf
10. No Boys Allowed
11. The New Black
12. The Dark Half
13. The Great Depression
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14. All Beauty Destroyed
15. Love Like Lies
16. Spit It Out
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Light: 9
Sound: 8
Total: 9.3 / 10
All pictures by Karo Kratochwil
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