Gothic Hall, Wroclaw, Poland7th-9th November
XXIII Wroclaw Industrial Festival 2024 with Bad Sector, Blac Kolor, Cindytalk, KakofoNIKT & Chór Pogłosy, Lustmord + Karin Park, M.A.C. Of Mad, Martyrmachine, Pale, Riotmiloo, Sieben, Sonar, Trepaneringsritualen, Zoviet*France
I’ve finally resurrected myself after the greatest event to ever unfold in Wroclaw, namely Wroclaw Industrial Festival. Every year, this festival is more than just a series of performances - it’s a living, breathing celebration of sound, connection, and discovery. It’s a space where music goes beyond the conventional, where conversations flow effortlessly between strangers (not to mention friends), where dancing feels less like movement and more like a language of its own. But above all, it’s a sanctuary - a safe haven for exploring the uncharted territories of new and experimental sounds.
Each edition of this festival leaves me feeling transformed, enriched, and profoundly touched. It’s not just the music that lingers in your mind long after the last note fades - it’s the experience itself, the way it pulls at something deep within, forcing you to look at the world and yourself through a different lens. This year’s edition was a revelation, filled with projects that radiated pure magnetism. Every performance felt like a journey into the unknown, a reminder that music is never just sound, but a powerful force capable of shifting perspectives, emotions, and even identities.
The artists invited to this festival aren’t simply performers - they are visionaries, pushing boundaries and challenging what we think we know about music, its purpose, and how it’s meant to be experienced. Their work redefines the very essence of what it means to create and consume sound, to let it envelop and transform you. I’m deeply grateful to the organizers, not only for bringing such inspiring projects to life but also for offering me the opportunity to learn - about the world of music, yes, but also about myself. The festival is a gift that keeps on giving, and this year was no exception. I leave with a sense of wonder and gratitude, knowing that the echoes of these performances will continue to resonate with me for a long time to come.
Thursday 7th November: Opening Night with KakofoNIKT & Chór Pogłosy
The XXIII Wroclaw Industrial Festival opened with a powerful, one-of-a-kind performance by KAKOFONIKT & CHÓR POGŁOSY. As the only act of the evening, they delivered a mesmerizing experience that set the tone for the festival. Their fusion of Industrial, Experimental, and traditional Polish sounds was haunting and immersive, weaving together sacred compositions, white singing, and the intense beats of Polish frame drums and the baraban. The lyrical themes, inspired by Slavic mythology and the personification of plants, added a deep ritualistic atmosphere that transported the audience into another realm. The performance was a celebration of Poland’s noise traditions, drawing from pre-Christian seasonal and vegetative rituals and capturing the festival’s spirit of transformation.
Friday 8th November
Martyrmachine
I managed to catch only the final song of this set by the Electro-Industrial duo from Lodz, active in its current form since June 2023. The raw, gritty energy was palpable, blending the grim Post-Industrial vibe of their city with the fury of Electronic Body Music. The last song was a powerful mix of rough samples, live percussion, and haunting synth melodies that built up to a climactic call for justice. You could feel the tension between aggression and melancholy, with gritty textures meeting smooth, polished sounds. This duo captures a dark, yet balanced blend of classic EBM influences and modern Dark Electro - a performance that left an impression even from just one track.
Riotmiloo
The opening act at Main stage by RIOTMILOO was a truly striking performance - an intriguing fusion of elegance and raw, primal energy. It felt like a ritualistic cabaret, blending haunting beauty with intense power, drawing you in with its unique, electrifying atmosphere. There was a constant interplay of fragility and strength that created a sense of tension and release throughout the set. Emile, the driving force behind RIOTMILOO, commanded the stage with a presence that was both magnetic and unsettling. Her voice ranged from delicate whispers to fierce, guttural screams, while the music - a dark mix of beats and analog synths - wove together an emotionally charged soundscape. It was heavy, yet refined, a perfect balance of chaos and control. The performance had a ritualistic quality, like a sonic ceremony that explored the boundary between madness and clarity. RIOTMILOO’s music - angst-laden, industrial, and darkly melodic - felt like a live art piece, as much about the atmosphere and emotion as it was about the sound. It was an intense and immersive experience, setting the tone for the night in a way that made it one of the most memorable moments of the festival.
Sieben
SIEBEN’s performance last night was a striking revelation. I had always known Matt Howden as a bard, a sonic poet weaving intricate, often melancholic tales with his violin and loops, but this set completely surprised me with its unexpected dynamic energy. The usual hypnotic, layered textures were still there, but now they pulsed with a fresh intensity - an infusion of vitality that made his music feel more urgent and alive than ever before. What stood out was Howden’s ability to shape and transform sound through his original looping technique. The music unfolded with an almost magical precision, as phrases were looped and re-layered, each new element adding depth and nuance to the sonic landscape. The result was an astonishing richness - hard to believe it was the work of just one person. The violin was, of course, at the core, but the way Howden manipulated it, bending and twisting each note, gave the music an ethereal, otherworldly quality.
The shift in energy was palpable. While his earlier work leaned more heavily into the atmospheric and introspective, this set had a propulsive edge, driven by a raw, almost primal energy. The themes - still dark, mysterious, and poetic - were brought to life with a force that resonated deeply. SIEBEN’s music has always been about layers, about the interplay of voice and instrument, but now it felt more alive, more immediate, as if it were reaching directly into the audience’s psyche. It was one of the most compelling performances of the festival, both in terms of musical innovation and emotional impact. SIEBEN has long been a force in the Neofolk and experimental scene, but last night, Matt Howden showed us just how far he’s willing to push his sound, creating something truly singular and unforgettable.
Trepaneringsritualen
TREPANERINGSRITUALEN’s performance last night during XXIII Wroclaw Industrial Festival was nothing short of a revelation - both shocking and profoundly hypnotic, a clash of raw, brutal energy that seemed to reverberate through every inch of the venue. From the moment the first distorted pulse of sound ripped through the air, it was clear this wasn’t just another Industrial set. This was a total immersion into a world of guttural, psychophysical intensity, where music became a visceral experience. Thomas Martin Ekelund’s manipulations of his own voice - twisted, looping, contorted - felt like an agonizing ritual in real-time, dragging the audience into a dark, subterranean space where time seemed to stretch and bend. The slow, grinding rhythms were relentless, but it was the space between them that was just as unnerving, echoing with a palpable sense of unease. Each moment seemed to hang suspended, drawn out to the point of almost unbearable tension, before surging forward again with a brutal force.
This wasn’t simply music; it was a deep, unflinching dive into the occult, the arcane, the hidden layers of the human psyche. It was raw, it was primal, but it was also deeply fascinating - a powerful sonic statement that did more than just challenge; it consumed. This was one of the most fascinating sets of the entire festival, and certainly one of the most impressive. TREPANERINGSRITUALEN doesn’t just sound like Industrial - it’s an experience that feels almost ritualistic in its intensity, as if the very act of listening were a transformative process. The performance felt like being pulled into an ancient, mystical trance, a collision between Scandinavian black metal’s ferocity and the haunting, ritualistic undercurrents of dark ambient. It was the kind of show that didn’t just leave an impression - it changed you. A perfect storm of brutal sound and arcane mystery that stands as a true highlight of the festival.
Zoviet*France
ZOVIET*FRANCE at XXIII Wroclaw Industrial Festival was a mesmerizing experience - hypnotic, intense, and deeply immersive. From the very first deep drones to the complex rhythms and intricate textures, the sound created a dense atmosphere that felt both otherworldly and primal. Ben Ponton and Mark Warren masterfully wove together layers of broken melodies, field recordings, and looping percussion, building a soundscape that was as ethereal as it was unsettling. Their music, rooted in dark ambient and industrial traditions, moved through phases of stillness and tension, blending tribal rhythms and eerie, almost alien samples. The audience was drawn into a trance-like state, where the boundaries between reality and dream seemed to dissolve. Every element, from the atonal noise to the hypnotic loops, felt both fragile and overwhelming, capturing that unique ZOVIET*FRANCE ability to create beauty from chaos. The improvisational nature of the performance ensured that no two moments were ever the same - each shift in tone, each subtle change in texture, was like stepping into an unpredictable, evolving sonic world. This was a performance that blurred the line between ritual and sound art.
Sonar
SONAR’s performance at XXIII Wroclaw Industrial Festival was a thrilling, almost visceral experience, a perfect collision of precision and chaos. The sound - dense, pulsing, mechanical - felt like it was carved from the very bones of machines in motion, yet still oddly human in its urgency. Each beat had weight, each shift in texture seemed to crack open new sonic spaces, pulling us deeper into that hypnotic rhythm they’ve mastered. It wasn’t just music; it was a physical force, a surge of raw energy that filled the room and left you breathless, as if the boundaries of sound and space were being redrawn before your ears. There was something almost magnetic about it, a magnetic pull between the grinding, distorted electronics and the deep, driving rhythm that didn’t just invite you to move - it demanded it. SONAR’s industrial sound has always been about stripping away the fluff and getting to the heart of what moves us, and last night they did that with absolute ferocity and precision. It was a masterclass in creating something primal and powerful - without ever losing the pulse of the dancefloor.
Saturday, 9th November
M.A.C of MAD
Formed in the mid-1990s from the remnants of the legendary Czech project STŘEDNÍ EVROPA, this band initially focused on live performances, building a reputation with their high-energy stage presence. At the turn of the millennium, they released their debut album ‘The One’, followed by ‘Badluck’ in 2006. A major milestone came in 2010, when they supported the genre icon ATARI TEENAGE RIOT. The band found its stable line-up when vocalist and frontwoman Jana von Habczak joined, alongside DJ Narco Polo, who took charge of the beats and electronics. Now, after 17 years, they’ve returned with ‘Keep Music Evil’ (2024), recorded with Czech Electro pioneer Daniel Rodny, marking a new chapter for this dynamic group.
Pale
PALE delivers a raw, aggressive, and profoundly dark northern Industrial experience. The band expertly combines traditional elements of Power Electronics with pounding rhythms to create an overwhelming wall of sound. This intensity is amplified by the presence of four charismatic vocalists whose primal screams cut through the noise. Founding members Håkan Paulsson and Joakim Engström, veterans known from their time in the legendary SANCTUM, bring years of experience to PALE, which has existed for over 15 years. Although they’ve performed sporadically over the years, it wasn’t until 2023 that they released their first album under the iconic Ant-Zen label. With its relentless sound and visceral performances, PALE stands as a testament to the brutal allure of northern industrial music.
Bad Sector
BAD SECTOR’s performance at XXIII Wroclaw Industrial Festival was an alluring experience that transcended the conventional bounds of a concert. Massimo Magrini intricate, layered soundscapes - shimmering drones, ambient textures, and deep electronic pulses - drenched the room in a dark, enveloping atmosphere. But it was the performance of Marianna Miozzo, the ballet dancer who brought the music to life through her movement, that truly transported the audience to another realm. Marianna Miozzo‘s dance was not just a complement to the music; it was a profound and mesmerizing embodiment of it. Her every movement seemed to be a response to the sound itself - each gesture reverberated with the same intensity and weight as Magrini’s droning compositions. She moved with such fluidity and grace, yet there was a deliberate tension in her posture, a perfect balance between surrender and control. It was as though she was caught between two worlds, her body existing within the music, bending and shifting through the light and the shadow in an almost ritualistic trance.
The ballet was both delicate and powerful, a visual manifestation of the sonic landscapes Magrini created. Miozzo appeared to be in a constant state of transformation, her movements a language all their own - one that seemed to speak to something primal and ancient, as if she were channeling forces beyond this world. In the flickering interplay of light and darkness, her body became both vessel and oracle, as though she were interpreting the very fabric of the sound itself. As the lights shifted, so did she - her body moving in perfect harmony with the evolving sonic textures. At times, her movements were light and airy, almost ethereal, while at others, they were heavy and deliberate, as if in direct dialogue with the darker, more brooding elements of the sound. The contrast between the quiet stillness of some of her poses and the fierce energy of others mirrored the ebb and flow of BAD SECTOR’s music - seemingly fragile at times, but always with an undercurrent of strength.
What struck me most was the profound connection between Marianna Miozzo and the music of BAD SECTOR. She was not merely performing; she was becoming the sound - her body an extension of the hypnotic drones, the granular noise, and the low-frequency pulses. There was a sense of ritual in her movements, as though each step was part of a sacred dance, pulling the audience into a world where time and space seemed to lose their meaning. Her dance was not just a spectacle; it was an act of transformation - both for herself and for those who watched. It is rare to witness a performance that moves so deeply on so many levels, one that immerses you not just in sound, but in light, movement, and emotion. Marianna Miozzo’s dance was a beautiful, breath-taking revelation. It was as though she took the audience on a journey into the very core of BAD SECTOR’s sound, a journey that was at once hypnotic, haunting, and deeply emotional. This was no ordinary concert. It was an experience - an exploration of the senses, a merging of music, movement, and emotion. And in the end, when the final note of sound had faded and the last light dimmed, all that remained was a sense of something profound having passed through the room.
Cindytalk
“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” - Bob Marley
But when music like CINDYTALK hits you, the sensation is far from painless. It’s more akin to being struck by something intangible yet overwhelming, a force that shakes you, moves you, stirs you from the inside out. The music doesn’t simply occupy the space - it consumes it, twisting and contorting, pulling every emotion to the surface with an intensity that is almost violent. Gordon Sharp, the unrelenting force behind CINDYTALK, delivered a soundscape that was nothing short of cathartic. The atmosphere was dense, claustrophobic even, a swirling mass of distorted electronics and low-frequency drones. The very air felt thick, heavy with the weight of every noise, every sound wave. It was a sound that didn’t just surround you; it infiltrated you - settling in your chest, pressing against your ribs, resonating in your bones.
And yet, there was a delicate precision to the chaos. CINDYTALK’s music is not a wild, untamed beast; it is a carefully sculpted abstraction, each pulse and each break a calculated strike. The dissonance wasn’t random; it was intentional, designed to disrupt and unravel, to unearth emotions you didn’t realize were buried so deep. Sharp’s voice, a whispering rasp, rose above the chaos with a haunting intensity, a fractured melody that could shift from cold detachment to raw vulnerability in an instant. The music moved in waves - sharp, jagged peaks of noise followed by moments of eerie calm, fragile and full of tension. It felt as if every shift, every moment of stillness, was a breath held in anticipation of something darker, something more profound. The rhythm was never predictable, constantly skirting the edges of disintegration, as though the very structure of the sound was on the verge of collapse - but never quite did. It kept us on the edge, suspended between control and release, between beauty and chaos.
There is a certain quality to CINDYTALK’s music that feels almost personal. It’s as if the sound was designed specifically to pierce the listener’s interior, to reach something deep and visceral, something primal. It wasn’t just the noise that resonated - it was the emotional charge that came with it. Every broken melody, every unexpected dissonance, felt like a message that went beyond the sonic, as if Sharp were laying his own raw, unfiltered emotions bare for the world to hear. It was uncomfortable, yes - unsettling even - but it was also necessary, as though the music was carving open wounds in the listener, not for destruction, but for healing. And yet, in its bleakness, there was something undeniably beautiful about it. The cold, electronic hums, the dark ambient swells - these were not just sounds, they were emotions in their purest form, a reflection of something far deeper. In that room, the music became a shared experience, not just for the audience but with the audience - an act of collective catharsis. It was the sound of letting go, of breaking free, of surrendering to something larger than yourself.
The performance left you raw. It left you spent. There was no applause at the end - no clamor of excitement. Only silence, the kind that follows a revelation, a moment of transcendence. The music had done its work, and in that quiet, you felt something profound and deeply human - the kind of raw, exposed emotion that only music like this can evoke. It wasn’t just entertainment; it was a visceral experience, a reminder of the raw power that sound, when executed with such passion and intensity, can have on the soul. CINDYTALK doesn’t just play music - they tear through it, and in doing so, they tear through you.
Lustmord and Karin Park
There are moments in life when music becomes something far beyond mere sound - it becomes a force, a presence, a moment of revelation. And when I witness concerts like the one last night with Lustmord and KARIN PARK at XXIII Wroclaw Industrial Festival, I always feel the same way: no words will ever be enough. No language will capture the delicacy of the transformation that occurs in such moments, when time bends and the air thickens with something ineffable, something that only the body and the soul can truly understand. KARIN PARK stood in front of us like a vision - transcendent, yet entirely grounded in the here and now. In her presence, it was as though the physical world and something far older, far more mysterious, had intertwined. She was a queen of some forgotten realm, a goddess both ethereal and earthbound, with a voice that seemed to transcend the limits of human expression. Her singing wasn’t just heard; it was felt, like a gentle wave that quietly reverberated through the deepest chambers of the heart. Her power was not in volume or force, but in the way she could hold an entire room suspended, hanging on the fragile breath of each note. There were moments when I thought I could almost hear the echo of something ancient in her voice - something celestial, like the hum of the universe itself, yet deeply human in its vulnerability.
And then, LUSTMORD - Brian Williams, the master of sound who has spent decades sculpting landscapes of darkness and mystery. His drones were not simply noises, but living, breathing entities. They grew and expanded like unseen forces, wrapping themselves around you, pulling you into a space that was neither here nor there. It was a space beyond time, where memory and sensation blurred into one. The layers of sound he conjured were not designed to be heard, but felt - deep in the chest, in the bones, in the very marrow of your being. Lustmord’s music became a force of nature, both heavy and weightless, as if the weight of the world and the lightness of a dream could exist simultaneously in a single moment. Together, they created a union that was not just musical, but spiritual. Their performance was a weaving of delicate threads, each note pulling us deeper into an altered state. The music held us. It was not a matter of listening, but of being enveloped, immersed in a soundscape that was equal parts hypnotic and revelatory. There was a quiet intensity, a slow unfolding, as if the music was revealing something hidden deep within, something long forgotten. And in those rare moments, those delicate, fleeting seconds of revelation, I found myself teetering on the edge of something transcendent - something too fragile to fully grasp, but so real, so profound, it made me feel both infinitely small and infinitely connected.
Whenever I experience music like this, I am always left with the same paradox: the feeling lingers, but the words elude me. No matter how carefully I try to craft them, they will never fully translate the depth of what I felt. There are no descriptions for that quiet moment of grace, when you are completely lost in the music and suddenly, everything feels right. It is a fleeting moment, yet one that stays with you, softly tugging at the edges of your mind long after the last note has faded. That night was not a concert. It was an invitation - to something sacred, to something larger than ourselves. And as I walked away, moved to tears, there was a quiet understanding that the music had touched a place I didn’t even know existed, a place where time, memory, and emotion merge into something whole. And that, perhaps, what art is for - to open those spaces in us we didn’t know we had.
Blac Kolor
BLAC KOLOR set at XXIII Wroclaw Industrial Festival last night was a powerhouse of sound that electrified the crowd from start to finish. Hendrick Grothe, the mastermind behind the project, proved once again that his music is not just about beats - it’s about creating an atmosphere, an undeniable force that takes hold of you and doesn’t let go. From the first pulse of the bass to the last echo of the closing track, the energy was relentless. BLAC KOLOR’s signature blend of driving breakbeats, marching snares, and dark, atmospheric electronics held the room in a constant state of movement. The beats were sharp and precise, yet never cold - there was a raw intensity to the rhythms that kept you locked into the groove, while the Industrial undertones gave it all an edge that was impossible to ignore.
Grothe’s performance was a masterclass in sound design, every track a meticulously crafted layer of tension and release. You could feel the depth in every moment of the set - the electronic textures shifting, swirling, and rising to meet the pounding percussion. The crowd was hooked, swept away by the hypnotic rhythm, as the soundscapes blurred the lines between industrial, techno, and darkwave. There was something magnetic about the way the music evolved, always pushing forward, always evolving into something new. What made the night even more impressive was how perfectly the music translated live. BLAC KOLOR’s intricate studio productions were elevated to new heights, with the beats hitting harder and the sound filling the space with a weight that demanded your full attention. There was a physicality to the music that made you feel every drum, every synth pulse, deep in your chest.
Grothe’s mix of darker, industrial textures with subtle melodic elements brought a unique dynamic to the set. The way he played with atmosphere and tension, building and releasing the energy in waves, created a sense of anticipation that made each drop feel like a revelation. It wasn’t just a performance - it was an experience. An invitation to lose yourself in sound, in rhythm, in energy. By the time the final track hit, the crowd was completely submerged in the intensity that BLAC KOLOR had crafted. It was an unforgettable show - a perfect example of how powerful electronic music can be when it’s done right. BLAC KOLOR continues to push boundaries, and this performance only solidified his place as one of the most exciting acts in the industrial and electronic scene today.
Summary
The XXIII Wroclaw Industrial Festival once again brought a powerful line-up, uniting legendary acts and fresh talent from the industrial and experimental music scenes. Known for its bold and immersive atmosphere, the festival transformed Wroclaw into a haven for fans of dark sounds, heavy beats, and avant-garde performances. Featuring iconic names alongside emerging artists, the event showcased a spectrum of industrial, electronic, and noise music, cementing its reputation as a must-attend for enthusiasts across Europe. With intense live performances, thought-provoking visuals, and a unique communal spirit, this year’s edition reaffirmed Wroclaw Industrial Festival’s place at the heart of the industrial music world. Next edition will take place 16th-19th October 2025 - https://industrialart.eu/wroclaw-industrial-festival
All Pictures by Karo Kratochwil
Comments powered by CComment