Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - Into Darkness Festival Tour

Details: Written by: Katrin Renner; Published: 21 October 2009

Batschkapp, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
15th October 2009
Diary of Dreams, Deathstars, Lacrimas Profundere, Dope Stars Inc.

It was in the early evening on that cold but fortunately not rainy Thursday when we arrived at the Frankfurt cult club Batschkapp to experience the seventh stop of the “Into Darkness Festival Tour”. The doors were opened just in time and the not so many waiting attendees poured into the small hall at 6 pm.

Dope Stars Inc.

The Italian band was founded in 2003 by Victor Love (vocals), Darin Yevonde (bass), Grace Khold (keys) and Brian Wolfram (lead guitar). After some line-up changes, the band now consists of Victor, Darin, La Nuit (guitar) and during live performances Ash Rexy (keys, backing vocals) plus an extra live drummer. Already in 2003, DOPE STARS INC. attracted a respectable following when they released the first EP `10.000 Watts of Artificial Pleasures´ as a digital download that was only available on the internet. Meanwhile, the three-piece can look back on two further EPs `Make a Star´ (2006) and `Criminal Intents´ (2009) as well as on the long-players `Neuromance´ (2005), `Gigahearts´ (2006) and `21st Century Slave´ (2009). Furthermore, the formation contributed several songs to compilations and soundtracks. http://www.dopestarsinc.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/dopestarsinc

Music & Performance
It was about 7 pm when DOPE STARS INC. came on stage. Holding tins of beer in their hands and striking some poses, the guys were welcomed in a friendly way despite the fact that the club was only half-filled at that moment. However, plenty of available space should be reduced during the course of the evening. Shouting at the top of his lungs, front man and lead singer Victor put his whole heart into the show as well as his colleagues La Nuit and Darin who didn´t miss any opportunity to show their skills while they were playing the guitar and the bass. After listening to the most recent long-player `21st Century Slave´, I had expected to hear rather electronic sounds, but the live-on-stage soundscape turned out to be a good balance of organic rock music combined with distorted electronics. Surprisingly, the DOPE STARS INC. appearance was accompanied by the best light show in that evening. Thus, colourful beams and rays connected to a cross-section of songs taken from the records they had released so far put the performance of the Italian band in perspective.

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 8
Total: 7.5 / 10

Lacrimas Profundere

The German formation has been part of the alternative music business since 1993. LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE was founded by Oliver Nikolas Schmid and soon increased in popularity. Firstly, the band was a Gothic Metal representative coming up with the genre-typical growls as heard on the debut album `...And the Wings embraced us´. Meanwhile, the soundscape is influenced by melodic and moody Dark Rock. LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE had to cope with many line-up changes resulting in the recent cast Oliver Nikolas Schmid (guitar), Tony Berger (guitar), Karl Fuhrmann (drums), Roberto Vitacca (vocals) and Peter Kafka (bass). Up to now, the band has released all in all eight long-players including the most recent full-length release `Songs for the last View´ that hit the stores in 2008. http://www.lacrimas.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/lacrimasprofundere

Music & Performance
Red lights and an atmospheric intro prepared for the upcoming appearance of the German Dark Rock band LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE that had filled in for the Canadian THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE. That evening was an overall new experience to me as I hadn´t watched any of the attending bands live in concert. Therefore, I didn´t know what to expect when the formation began to play. Meanwhile, it was tighter in front of the small stage, though it was still far from being crowded. Nevertheless, the audience gave the five-piece a rapturous welcome and soon was embraced by the sonorous vocals that embellished the catchy guitar-driven pieces I appreciated a lot. After the lively and ass-kicking performance of DOPE STARS INC. - that addressed to the pretty young listeners in particular - ACRIMAS PROFUNDERE´s style was rather timeless and down-to-earth.

Setlist
01. We shouldn’t be here
02. To Bleed or not to be
03. Dear Amy
04. Again it’s over
05. I did it for you
06. My Velvet little Darkness
07. Should
08. Amber Girl
09. My Mescaline
10. Ave End

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 7.5 / 10

Deathstars

In 2000, the Swedish band DEATHSTARS arose from the Death / Black Metal formations DISSECTION, OPHTALAMIA and SWORDMASTER. Two years later, they released their debut album `Synthetic Generation´ which turned out to be an unexpected success in Sweden and other European countries. The second album `Termination Bliss´ was released at the label Nuclear Blast in 2006 followed up by the third full-length release `Night Electric Night´ in this year´s January.
DEATHSTARS is Andreas “Whiplasher Bernadotte” Bergh (vocals), Emil “Nightmare Industries” Nödtveidt (guitar, keys), Ole “Bone W Machine” Öhrnan (drums), Jonas “Skinny Disco” Kangur (bass, vocals) and Eric “Cat Casino” Bäckman (guitar). http://www.deathstars.net/ / http://www.myspace.com/deathstars

Music & Performance
Particularly longing for those Swedish guys, more and more girls gathered in the first rows. Suddenly, the hall was well-filled - an indication for the great popularity the formation enjoys. Dressed with the obligatory uniforms, DEATHSTARS entered the stage and hell broke loose. I have to admit that I´m not the biggest fan of the vocals which were way too growly for my taste. Nevertheless, I was pleased by the powerful attitude of that music. Songs such as `New Dead Nation´, `Cyanide´ and `Blitzkrieg´ came as vibrant and brute bombshells that were welcomed by the crowd in a frenetic manner. The fans sang along and screamed for more while Whiplasher Bernadotte and his band mates were presenting some hellish beats that perfectly fitted to the expressive facial expressions and gestures. Bassist Skinny Disco practised a special kind of head banging making his dreadlocks impressively flying around. To sum up: The soundscape might be a matter of taste, but it´s undeniably true that the guys know how to make their listeners go wild.

Setlist
01. Night Electric Night
02. Motherzone
03. Mark of the Gun
04. Tongues
05. New Dead Nation
06. Chertograd
07. Blitzkrieg
08. Blood stains Blondes
09. Cyanide
10. Death dies hard

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

Diary of Dreams

As the RoD-crew has been following and supporting DIARY OF DREAMS for some years, many reviews had been written and lots of photos had been taken. The band´s latest stroke of genius was the release of the most recent album `(if)´ that hit the stores in this year´s spring after all in all 15 recordings including long-players such as `Nekrolog 43´ (2007) and `Nigredo´ (2004). On 9th October 2009, mastermind Adrian Hates (vocals, guitar) and his colleagues Gaun:A (guitar), D.N.S. (drums) and Torben Wendt (keys) released the single `King of Nowhere´ taken from `(if)´. Due to the fact that Torben couldn´t join his band mates on tour, Taste replaced him as the keyboardist at the Frankfurt appearance. http://www.diaryofdreams.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/diaryofdreams

Music & Performance
I had read so many reviews concerning DIARY OF DREAMS-concerts before. Naturally, I had listened to some songs, but I had no idea how they would work live on stage in my view. Thus, I was really curious about the appearance within the scope of the “Into Darkness Festival Tour” and didn´t hesitate when I was offered the opportunity to see that gig. After all, I understand why this band is able to captivate each and every listener. It´s the unique fusion of hard guitar rhythms that are aesthetically arranged with playful synth sounds and punching drum beats. Last but not least Adrian Hates´ charismatic vocals as well as the cryptic and intelligent lyrics are the icing on the cake and totally in line with the dark and at the same time rousing performance. Obviously, the Frankfurt audience agreed with that definition of a skilful appearance, as the folks were celebrating the entire show by singing and dancing along.

Songs such as the thunderous `The Curse´ and the magical `ButterFly:Dance!´ made me understand why DIARY OF DREAMS had become that popular. The most recent single `King of Nowhere´ could also enchant the crowd. Admittedly, I liked its hypnotic live version much better than the rather clean studio version. To arrive at the conclusion: The headliners provided an atmospheric and at the same time energizing appearance which was definitely the highlight of the well-chosen line-up.

Setlist
00. Intro
01. Wahn!Sinn?
02. The Plague
03. The Chain
04. The Wedding
05. King of Nowhere
06. AmoK
07. MenschFeind
08. Soul Stripper
09. The Curse
10. Kindrom
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11. ButterFly: Dance! (upgrade 02)
12. Poison Breed

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 6
Total: 8.4 / 10