Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - Skeptical Minds

Details: Written by: Tom Van Den Broeck; Published: 04 January 2009

Soirées Cérises, Théatre de la flûte enchantée, Brussels
7th December 2008
Skeptical Minds & La-Ventura

On a not too cold winter evening, after having spent the earlier part of the day catching up with old friends in the Museum of Musical Instruments and drinking hot Kriek beer on the Brussels Christmas fair, I headed towards Etterbeek, near the University of Brussels to one of those small neighbourhood theatres you can find so many of in Belgium. My aim that night was not to see a local theatre group perform their latest production. The venue (Théatre de la flute enchantée – Theatre of the magical flute) was chosen by an organisation called Soirées Cérises (Cherry Evenings) to give stage to two bands: La-Ventura from The Netherlands and the Belgian group Skeptical Minds who would take the opportunity to introduce their new lead singer Karolina vel Death.

I must say that this venue was not the best of choices, not because it is very hard to find a decent parking spot, but because it’s simply too small. It only has 55 seats and the only access to the stage is through the seating area. Since more than 150 people turned up, you can imagine it was a struggle to see anything at all. After the break, the management decided to let the people stand up, but that made it even worse. But I must admit the theatre created a cosy atmosphere. It was like sitting in your own living room and watching the bands play before your tv-set – apart from the other 149 people in the room of course.

But let us focus on the music. La-Ventura kicked off at 21.00 – one hour later than announced because the stage was not available earlier because of a theatre performance.

La-Ventura

La-Ventura is a Dutch band, founded by Erwin Polderman and Carla Douw. They released their debut album “A New Beginning” in October 2007 and managed to get the CD released in the US in March 2008. They’re working on a second album that probably will see the light of day near the end of 2009. They describe their main features as follows: A charismatic singer with passion in her voice; melancholic, mystical, atmospheric synths and piano, heavy guitar riffs and a groovy rhythm section. You can find them on MySpace www.myspace.com/laventura

Music & Performance
When you say “The Netherlands” and “Female Singer” one tends to think “Within Temptation”. But in this case you would have thought wrong. Strong, concise songs, not too complex and a clear voice. Sometimes melodic, sometimes heavy, all brought together by the voice of Carla. Impressive. At least more impressive live than on CD. Sure she has her limits but is very well aware of them, so it isn’t a problem.

At the start of the gig there were some problems with the music, but we can blame it on the limited set up time. Although it sometimes felt like a bit too much of the same, the overall performance was very nice. I’m looking forward to the new album of which we heard two songs in preview (White Pearl & Human Vanity if memory serves me well).

Rating
Music 8
Performance 8
Sound 8
Light 5
Total 7.3

Skeptical Minds

The band was founded in 2002 and before taking their music to the stage, they took 2 years in writing their repertoire from scratch. 14 songs were the result of this extensive exercise and would be the band’s weapon to attack various festivals during the next years. Their effort did not go unnoticed and a first album was released (Rent to Kill). Eventually this album was also introduced into the US, Canada and Mexico. They subsequently released an EP and are currently working on their new album, to be released in the beginning of 2009. A female voice, a love for electro-industrial music and heavy guitar riffs make up the band’s characteristics. The release of the new album will also be the introduction of two new elements in the band’s sound: a new instrument: the violin & last but not least: a new female voice. Find them on MySpace: www.myspace.com/skepticalminds

Music & Perfromance
Since today’s gig was regarded as the avant-premiere of all of this, the expectations were high. So high that the room was completely full and it was hardly possible for me to see anything until halfway the performance. Fortunately I could hear every note perfectly. If you know the band from before, you know that the guys are just plain looking with nothing fancy, most of them even don’t have long hair! And amidst those guys, the new singer Karolina vel Death paraded like a small but proud goth-peacock. And although she might look a bit scary at first glance, the smile on her face takes away any doubts you might have on her good intentions. The first songs are a bit slow, more landscapy music pieces with a esoteric voice: fragile but firm at the same time. Towards the end of the concert the songs became more up tempo and easier to get into. At certain moments the resemblance with La-Ventura is striking, at other moments the difference is enormous.

It’s crystal clear that the new line up is a match made in heaven. They convinced me on stage. I just hope that they can put the same quality on disk. They sure have enough enthusiasm to get there. I’m sure we’ll be seeing and hearing a lot more of them in the near future as a band and individually as Karolina is also working hard on her own project, which will give us the opportunity to get to know her better.

Setlist
Intro
01. Schizophrenia
02. Someone New
03. Eat and Hate
04. Kissing the White Goddess
05. Rent to Kill
06. The Beauty Must Die
07. Back to desire
08. My Love
09. Skeleton Key
10. Quod me nurrit me destruit
11. Broken Dolls

Rating
Music 8
Performance 8
Sound 8
Light 6
Total 7.5