Wave Gotik Treffen - Leipzig 2009 (Day 1)

DIES ATER (Latin, stands for a "black / fatal day") is a German Black Metal Band preferring an atmospheric and melodic style to express their emotions and feelings. Founded in autumn '94 by Impurus (drums), Nuntius Tristis (vocals, guitar); Obskur (bass) and Torgrim (guitar & additional vocals), this new formed band took their first steps in composing own songs. In April 2003, time was right to release the full-length-album with massive and brutal sound, called "’Chanting Evil’. Following their path of melodic and atmospheric black metal, this longplayer represented the development of DIES ATER. http://www.diesater.de/



Music & Performance
The band entered the stage and I couldn't help myself, I just had to laugh. Usually, corpse paint is really nice eye-catch but in this case it was just absolutely funny. 3 of 5 band members wore some paint and the other ones just didn't. Pretty strange, but pretty funny. And the keyboarder looked just like “The Terminator” standing there, moving pretty rarely and wearing those ugly huge sunglasses. So, their performance was really something special. The guitarist stood out, too. He made strange faces which was probably supposed to look evil or something like that. And the sound really didn't contribute much to their concert. The sound was pretty crunchy. The left guitar sounded good - when you could hear it because it was just too quiet. The other guitar was compressed and just too dominating. The “Terminator” was pretty needless because most of the time he didn't play at all. He was just standing there thinking of how cool he was. And when he played some notes, you couldn't hear it anyways. All in all, they kind of disappointed me.

Rating
Music: 6
Performance: 5
Sound: 4
Light: 7
Total: 5.6 / 10




Sanity Obscure - Kohlrabizirkus (Anne Kuhfuß)

SANITY OBSCURE is a gothic-metal band and was formed in Nürnberg, Germany, in 2000. Two years later, their first EP ‘Somewhere in Between’ was published and in 2006, their first self-titled LP ‘Sanity Obscure’ was released. In the following years, they played with well-known bands like DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER, ZERAPHINE and BIG BOY. Now, they've released their new album ‘Springtime's Masquerade’. http://www.sanity-obscure.de/



Music & Performance
After the great performance of UNSUN, I was anxious to see how the next female-fronted metal band would do. And I really have to say: it was probably the most boring performance I have ever seen. The songs all sounded the same and there was nothing special about this music. The singer probably thought she was in some kind of strip club. She danced like a pole-dancer. Obviously, she thought she would look good doing those moves but it didn't. Their music was just lame and I hoped there would finally happen something but eventually, it didn't. All in all, there is nothing special about this band and I will surely forget them soon.

Rating
Music: 4
Performance: 4
Sound: 6
Light: 6
Total: 4.6 / 10




Tyske Ludder - Werk II (Cathie Niemann)

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 ‘Anonymous’ is their most recent release which came out on 5th June 2009. TYSKE LUDDER is Albert (vocals, performance), Olaf (synths) and Z67 (percussions, shouts). http://www.tyske-ludder.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/tyskeludder



Music & Performance
Already at the beginning of the90s, vocalist Albert and composer Olaf A.R joined forces to create harsh electro sounds between industrial and EBM, involving the predomination of technology, the war in Yugoslavia, and the military implementation of US interests. With the deadly futuristic club hit ‘Fry Frysenia’ from the brand new album ‘Anonymous’, the set started rough, hard, and fast. The setlist revealed further new songs such as ‘Shokkz’, ‘Bastard’, or ‘Panzer’, a terrific cover of the JESUS & THE GURUS track. The old-school EBM and electro sounds seemed to please as was proved by the dancing and brooding masses. From the 1994 album ‘Bombt Die Mörder’, they had ‘An vorderster Front’ and ‘Wie der Stahl gehärtet wurde’ blowing up in our faces. Hard beats swept through the venue and the charismatic chant literally appeared penetrating. The varied setlist also offered ‘Bionic Impression’ with future pop tendencies and the club cracker ‘Monotonie’ from the 1995 album ‘Dalmarnrock’ and so the explosive and energetic gig ended.

Setlist
01.Fry Frisena
02. An vordester Front
03. Bionic Impression
04. Wie der Stahl gehärtet wurde
05. Shokkz
06. Panzer
07. Manipulation
08. Canossa
09. Bastard
10. Monotonie




L'âme Immortelle - Kohlrabizirkus (Anne Kuhfuß)

L'ÂME IMMORTELLE started out as a two men project, writing songs. These two men were Thomas Rainer and Hannes Medwenitsch. The song ‘Life Will Never Be The Same Again’ gave the impulse to take on a female singer. A former classmate of Thomas showed her interest: Sonja Kraushofer. L'ÂME IMMORTELLE was born. Nowadays the band is a duo consisting of Sonja and Thomas. http://www.lai-music.com/



Music & Performance
Thomas (vocals) was wearing a nice black suit. Sonja (vocals) was dressed in a wonderfully torn up grey gown. At the beginning of the show, she also had her eyes covered by some kind of fabric. She moved across the stage like a true dancer. Sonja’s vocals were very clear and full of passion. She sings as if she is telling her own story. It was just stunning how many feelings she put into her words. Ashley (guitar) played so low to the ground he can almost sit down, at the back of the stage Markus was attacking his keyboard. They started off with some songs from their last album ‘Gezeiten’ like ‘Stumme Schreie’ and ‘Fear’. Basically, they were one of the best bands I had seen in a long time. It was really a pleasure listening and watching them.

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 8
Sound: 6
Light: 5
Total: 6.9 / 10




Les Fragments de la Nuit - Zentraltheater (Florian Schürmann)

LES FRAGMENTS DE LA NUIT is a blossoming band created in 2005 by Michel Villar (piano) and Ombeline Chardes (violin), score composers for film. In order to play their pieces on stage, they decided to set up a quintet made up of three violins, a cello and a piano. Their music, ranging from tragic to epic and atmospheric was greeted by audiences with unexpected enthusiasm. Some see in it the influence of repetitive music composers such as Philip Glass or Steve Reich, others the melancholic emotion found in the works of Arvö Part or Canadians Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Encouraged by such fervour, LES FRAGMENTS DE LA NUIT have played their music to a growing number of passionate spectators, keeping in mind their motto: “Our music is poetry in which words are notes, a memory in which images are dreams”. http://www.lesfragmentsdelanuit.com/

Music & Performance
A kind of unusual act I was looking forward to was the band LES FRAGMENTS DE LA NUIT, which is less a band than chamber orchestra, consisting of three violins, a violoncello and a piano/keyboard. The decision not to miss their appearance on the WGT was made after a visit of their MySpace page. My first thought was: “Hm. This sounds exactly like that, what you appreciate in movie scores and soundtracks” and though there was no rhythm section, the gig was as great as I expected it to be. Unfortunately I only had half an hour to get from the “Kohlrabizirkus” to the “Schauspielhaus” and I nearly was able to make it in time, if I wouldn’t have to search for the actual location. A few consultations of some pedestrians later, I learned that it was renamed to “Zentraltheater” (central theater) by the new intendant last season, but of cause not until I ran past the building several times. Anyway, after I made it to a seat in the ranks (sadly the capacities were only used to 60%) I was lucky to enjoy at least 30 - 40 minutes of fine performed chamber music, which was relaxing, compelling and moving at the same time. The frenetic applause and final standing ovations rewarded this young French quintet, which promised after an encore to come back in the future. I hope our ways will cross again.

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 7
Sound: 9
Light: 6
Total: 8 / 10


Edo Notarloberti - Zentraltheater (Florian Schürmann)

After LES FRAGMENTS DE LA NUIT went off-stage, the audience was asked to wait outside the theatre hall for changeover. Due this circumstance I was able to get a seat in the first row for the upcoming act called EDO NOTARLOBERTI. Prior to the gig I asked myself “Is this the band’s name? Kind of strange.”, but as far I remembered the music was quite decent and overall not so different from the foregone. Shame on me I was wrong with both assumptions. http://www.myspace.com/edonotarloberti

Music & Performance
The stage offered nearly a classic band setting, consisting of keyboard, drums, guitar and bass, but the vocal position was replaced by the band’s name giver, who played the violin. And wow, how he played the violin was amazing, not so outstanding over long periods, but in the glimpse of a five-minute-solo or the famous ‘Barber of Seville’ by Rossini he showed his abilities. Unfortunately these long periods were a bit dull, because of the pop music undertone, but were accentuated by EDO NOTARLOBERTI’s wife, which changed into different outfits for every second song and accentuated the gig with some belly-dancing. A nice gimmick, but not really necessary. The part I enjoyed the most, was the frontman’s confession to like a lot of metal songs, followed by an apology to the audience and ‘Toxicity’ by SYSTEM OF A DOWN. All in all a decent, but not very memorable appearance.

Rating
Music: 6
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 6
Total: 7.2 / 10


Combichrist - Agra (Anne Kuhfuß)

COMBICHRIST is a Norwegian group now working and living in the US. The music presented by the band could be described as Industrial. Started in 2003 by Andy LaPlegua (ICON OF COIL, PANZER AG), with its albums full of energetic, hard-hitting music it is a total knock-down at every concert or party. Their recent album is entitled ‘What the F**k is wrong with you people’ - and so, the recent tour was called ‘What the F**k is wrong with this tour’. Members of the band are currently (listing all, live-crew usually changes) Andy LaPlegua (vocals), Joe Letz (drums), z_marr (keyboards), Trevor Friedrich (percussion) and ocassionally Mr. Petersen (keyboards). http://www.combichrist.com/



Music & Performance
COMBICHRIST was definitely one of the bands I really wanted to see and so, I was really excited when their show finally started. They started with one of their most known songs ‘This Sh*t will fcuk you up’ which was just the best start because the crowd already started moving to the beat and the party began immediately. Andy (vocals) moved around the stage like a rubber ball. It was pretty hard to get good pictures of him. And the fog they had really didn't make it easier. You almost couldn't see the people on stage which was pretty sad if you ask me. Joe (live drums) moved like crazy behind his drums. Basically, all members had some fun on stage. And all of them looked great. Andy (vocals) had some kind of paint on his body. First, I thought, it was usual paint but when you had a closer look, you could see that it was latex paint or some similar paint. It was really interesting to see. All in all, I really enjoyed their show, especially the song ‘Get your body beat’ really got the people going. It was just great.

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 10
Sound: 6
Light: 4
Total: 8.1 / 10




Henke - Werk II (Cathie Niemann)

I was equally anxious for Oswald Henke’s new project HENKE which was coming up now at Werk II. The six-piece live band exclusively brings songs of GOETHES ERBEN, ARTWORK and ERBLAST back to the stage and the fans. To my surprise, some of the band members looked extremely young and split the band into different generations. The band members are guitarist Rene Gruhl, drummer Benjamin, bassist Tom Bolo, pianist/keyboardist and background singer Hanna Løg, pianist/keyboardist A:lex Popp and last but not least Oswald Henke who’s on a break with GOETHES ERBEN right now. http://www.oswald-henke.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/oswaldhenke



Music & Performance
On this evening many followers had found their way to the venue to listen to old classics you either love or hate. ‘Kopfstimme’ made for the start. Re-arranged, fresher, yeah even more rocking were the songs. The musicians on stage sprayed a very own charm, however with recognizable roots, alone through Oswald Henke’s unique, eccentric, and dazzlingly looking performance. The music from the two keyboards, bass, guitar, and drums sounded, in spite of the keyboards, much less electric than the original songs. It was a fun to watch the musicians, who had at least the same fun on stage and so song such as ‘Zinnsoldaten’ and ‘Die Brut’ also came up in the quite ERBEN dominated setlist. It was close to the end when with ‘Stadt der Träume’ and ‘Liebling der Götter’ classic ARTWORK tracks were presented matching up with my tastes much better. Indeed a successful performance with a special meaning for all the old and new fans.

Setlist
01. Kopfstimme
02. Der Eissturm
03. Vermisster Traum
04. Zinnsoldaten
05. Die Brut
06. Nichts bleibt wie es war
07. Himmelgrau
08. Stadt der Träume
09. Liebling der Götter
10. Sitz der Gnade




My Dying Bride - Kohlrabizirkus (Anne Kuhfuß)

MY DYING BRIDE is a British doom metal band formed in 1990. MY DYING BRIDE is one of the three bands responsible for the formation of death/doom metal, along with ANATHEMA and PARADISE LOST: To date, they have released one demo, three EPs, several singles, ten full-length studio albums, one box set, four compilation albums, one live album, one live CD/DVD release, and several video releases. The band released its tenth studio album, ‘For Lies I Sire’, on March 23, 2009. http://www.mydyingbride.org/



Music & Performance
Since my boyfriend is a really huge fan of this band, I took off to the Kohlrabizirkus again. Actually, I thought I would took off to the concert of TÝR but since they stood in traffic jam, the whole set changed a bit. And so, after 60minutes of nothing MY DYING BRIDE started just on time. MY DYING BRIDE showed a good mix of new and old songs. They presented their new album ‘For Lies I Sire’ with 3 new songs. Their whole setlist was a good mix of new and old songs and everybody enjoyed it. So, the music-part was satisfying. Since there were a lot of people on stage, I was doubtfully about their performance. But there was no reason to it. Aaron Stainthorpe (vocals) lived up to the band's name and literally died in every single song. If you ask me, he overacted from time to time. But I guess, that's just the way it works in a depressing doom metal band.

Setlist
01.Fall With Me
02.Bring Me Victory
03.From Darkest Skies
04.And I Walk With Them
05.Turn Loose The Swans
06.She Is The Dark
07.Catherine Blake
08.The Dreadful Hours
---
09.The Cry Of Mankind
10.My Body, A Funeral

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 8.3 / 10




Sara Noxx & Friends - Werk II (Cathie Niemann)

The 1997 award winner of the Zillo band contest was often compared to the British artist ANNE CLARK due to her similar voice, but with time; and her further development as a musician, that comparison was to be buried in oblivion. Already in her debut ‘Noxxious’ she could come up with a song ‘Society’ still filling the dance floors of the alternative clubs. The sophomore album ‘Paradoxx’ followed right in its footsteps with electronic sounds and lyrics full of melancholy. After a dormant period of 3 years, she returned with ‘Exxtasy’ (2001) with the classics ‘Winter again’ and ‘Last Desire’. After an instrumental album ‘Nonvoxx’ and poetry book ‘Lyrixx’, she released a 3CD set ‘XX-ray’ including numerous new interpretations, remixes and duets but also a collection of multi lingual interpretations of her work and collaborated with Peter Spilles (Project Pitchfork) on the re-interpretation of the ‘Earth Song’ and in April 209, her new album ‘Intoxxication’ was released http://www.myspace.com/saranoxx



Music & Performance
Co-headliner of the evening was the German musician, winning the 197 Zillo band contest and growing in popularity with electronic sounds and melancholic lyrics of end time romanticism. This evening’s show was announced as SAREA NOXX & FRIENDS. The first 3 songs ‘Flight 257’, ‘She’, and ‘Wishful Thinking’ were performed solo with support by 2 keyboard players. The outfit was rather modest. Dressed in bright colours and a headscarf stood a little motionless in the centre of the stage, but the big ‘Xe’ and the video projections catered for more energy. To the ‘Earth Song’ a collaborative effort with PROJECT PITCHFORK, Claus of TYSKE LUDDER came on stage to do the male vocals. Erich Bachman played the live guitar, another befriended guest during the Remixx version of ‘Winter again’ as well as ‘Short Moment’ and the current single ‘Superior Love’.



Rico Schwibs, commonly known as M.Stolz, violinist of LETZTE INSTANZ supported her on ‘I don’t Care’. Together with Sven Wolff (PATENBRIGADE:WOLFF), Sara founded the project ESSEXX combining hypnotic beats and minimal electronics. Together with Sven, Rico Schwibs and guest vocalist Androgynos of the Japanese act GOTHIKA, they performed an impressive ‘Night in my Hands’. The charming ‘Deeper’ off the new album ‘Intoxxication’ followed with Sven on bass, followed by ‘Describe it again’ and ‘Prepossessing’ from the same album. In spite of the overused comparisons, even I had to draw some to ANNE CLARK, but there’s worse than that, I believe. The classic ‘Colder & Colder’ and the breakthrough song ‘Society’ in a re-worked version completed the setlist. Definitely an inspiring performance standing out with vocal diversity and verve!

Setlist
01.Flight 257
02. She
03. Wishful Thinking
04. Earth Song
05. Winter Again (Remixx)
06. Short Moment
07. I Don´t Care
08. Night In My Hands
09. Superior Love
10. Deeper
11. Describe It Again
12. Your Face In My Brain
13. Colder & Colder
14. Prepossessing
15. Society


Týr - Kohlrabizirkus (Anne Kuhfuß)

TÝR formed in January 1998. They began making music which was heavily inspired by Norse mythology, Faroese traditional music and heavy metal music in general. According to the band's frontman Heri Joensen, TÝR's “musical mission is to break down the walls that are erected between all the kinds of metal that have arisen over the years. Power-, doom-, black-, progressive-, gothic-, Viking-, folk-, ethnic- and epic metal. Walls and labels do nothing but fill people with prejudice.” TÝR was a part of the Paganfest tour in Europe and the US in 2008, with ENSIFERUM headlining. Other bands on the tour included ELUVEITIE, TURISAS in the US, and MOONSORROW and KORPIKLAANI joined them on the European part of the tour. http://www.tyr.net/



Music & Performance
When I think of TÝR I always think of a band that probably doesn't really have a private life since they play at all kind of festivals, tours and concerts (but I don't know if it's a surprise since they live on the Faroe Islands). And so, I wasn't really surprised when I heard they stood in a traffic jam. But then, they finally got there and started their show with an hour delay. They started off with a song from their new album ‘By the Light of the Northern Star’. They looked good on stage with their matching almost kind of warrior-like outfits. It was fun watching them. They also were in a really great mood. Obviously, the delay couldn't harm it. The sound was pretty ok for the Kohlrabizirkus. Although, I usually think of TÝR as a pretty lame band but this time, it was refreshing after the always dying MY DYING BRIDE.

Rating
Music: 6
Performance: 7
Sound: 6
Light: 5
Total: 6.2 / 10



Written by:
Anne Kuhfuß (Dies Ater, Sanity Obscure, L'âme Immortelle, Combichrist, My Dying Bride and Týr)
Florian Schürmann (Les Fragments de la Nuit, Edo Notarloberti,)
Cathie Niemann (Tyske Ludder, Henke, Sara Noxx & Friends)
Translations by Sebastian Huhn

Pictures by:
Anne Kuhfuß (UnSun, Dies Ater, Sanity Obscure, L'âme Immortelle, Combichrist, My Dying Bride and Týr)
Michael Rothe (Tyske Ludder, Henke and Sara Noxx - http://www.mindbreed.de/)

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