Live Review: Electrowave Ritual - Dresden 2025

Reithalle, Dresden Germany
22nd February 2025
Electrowave Ritual with NNHMN, Emmon, Die Selektion

Dresden’s Reithalle Strasse E is a venue that seems almost sculpted for nights like this - industrial, raw, immersive, where every sound bounces off steel and brick, amplifying the experience. It was the perfect setting for Electrowave Ritual, a gathering of some of the most compelling names in contemporary electronic music. NNHMN, DIE SELEKTION, and EMMON - three acts, each with their own distinct sonic identity, yet bound by a shared ability to captivate and command.

I had seen EMMON just last week, and yet, her energy never falters, never bores. DIE SELEKTION had only crossed my path once before, but their mix of cold intensity and raw vibrancy left a mark. And NNHMN? Lee and Michal have been among my longtime favourites, their blend of dark electronica and hypnotic stage presence always magnetic. All three acts stormed the hall with their own unique force, each carving a different facet into the night’s ritual.


NNHMN

NNHMN is a Berlin-based Dark Electro duo known for crafting moody, provocative soundscapes infused with rich, electrifying synth lines, throbbing rhythmic grooves, and Lee Margot’s hypnotic, ghostly vocals. Anchored in Techno culture and Avant-Garde electronica, their music is a mesmerizing blend of Darkwave, Industrial, and atmospheric storytelling, pushing listeners to surrender to its pulse.



Music & Performance
From the first moment, NNHMN sculpted the atmosphere, turning the stage into a space that felt less like a concert and more like a moment suspended in time. Lee Margot and Michał Laudarg are like opposing elements caught in perfect balance - fire and air, power and ephemeral beauty, solid sound, and poetic fragility. Michał’s sharp, meticulous production carves out a dense, immersive landscape, each layer of sound precisely placed yet throbbing with a life of its own. There’s an architectural quality to it - mechanical yet organic, structured yet breathing. Against this, Lee’s presence is nothing short of mesmerizing - mysterious, luminous, otherworldly yet inescapable. She moves through the sound rather than over it, dissolving into the music one moment, commanding it the next, with an intensity that never demands attention but holds it effortlessly.



The poetics of their scenic dynamic is remarkable. Their performance isn’t just a sequence of songs - it’s a carefully woven atmosphere where sound, light, and presence create an unspoken narrative. Every flicker of movement, every rise and fall in the music, every pause and release carries weight, shaping the experience as much as the music itself. Their show in Dresden was a perfect dance of these elements, a moment where contrast met cohesion, where energy was both harnessed and left to unravel. NNHMN do not perform; they transform.

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Die Selektion

Hailing from Germany, DIE SELEKTION describe their sound as Prosecco Wave - a distinct fusion of Coldwave, Post-Punk, EBM, and Darkwave, infused with bold trumpet melodies and Industrial-tinged rhythms. Their music is sharp-edged yet intoxicatingly melodic, driven by Luca Gillian’s charismatic and enigmatic vocals. Think DAF meets early DEPECHE MODE, wrapped in noir aesthetics.



Music & Performance
Few bands deliver a sonic onslaught quite like DIE SELEKTION - a powerhouse, a scenic whirlwind, a tornado, and an earthquake at the same time. These two do not take prisoners. Their performance is a masterclass in contradiction: cold precision meets raw, unfiltered force, clinical yet seething with urgency. Luca Gillian’s presence is as sharp as the band’s sound - a figure both commanding and distant, like a prophet preaching from a world on fire. The deep, dramatic vocals cut through the thundering beats, while piercing brass lines twist through the dense electronic pulse, creating a soundscape that is both calculated and chaotic. The German lyrics land like declarations, heavy with intensity, demanding introspection while driving the crowd into a collective frenzy.



What makes DIE SELEKTION so extraordinary is how they sculpt sound into a living, breathing force, their set feeling less like a sequence of songs and more like an evolving sonic maelstrom, a relentless current pulling everything into its orbit. One moment, the audience is hypnotized by ominous, mechanical coldness, and the next, they are thrown into a full-blown storm of rhythm, bodies moving in lockstep, entirely at the band’s mercy. This was not just a concert, but a sonic detonation, an explosion of sound and sensation that left the room breathless, electrified, and utterly consumed.

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Emmon

Sweden’s EMMON (Emma Nylén and Jimmi Monell) elegance with sharp-edged, high-energy synth beats. From her roots in the early 2000s electroclash movement, she has evolved into a one-woman force of nature, known for her explosive stage presence, hypnotic melodies, and raw, driving basslines.



Music & Performance
Some artists burn bright on stage; EMMON is the flame itself. Dresden saw her at her most ferocious and electrifying, turning the industrial backdrop of Reithalle Strasse E into a vortex of pulsating neon, relentless beats, and kinetic energy. She might be the only artist I wouldn’t mind seeing two weekends in a row - and this weekend, my favourite flame didn’t just burn; she set the night on fire. There’s something about Emma Nylén that defies the laws of performance. She isn’t just an artist; she’s a force of nature, a flickering pulse between cold precision and untamed, feverish release. From the first beat of ‘Skin’, the atmosphere shifted - tight, electric, and razor-sharp. ‘Reconstruction’ followed with its throbbing, urgent groove, setting the tone for a setlist that felt like a carefully orchestrated sonic storm.



Her stage presence is an unpredictable dance between control and chaos, a perfect equilibrium of discipline and abandon. One moment she’s a glacial, untouchable spectre, the next - she’s pure kinetic energy, a spark in motion, a flame at full blaze. The core of the performance lay in tracks like ‘Purebloods’, its hypnotic rhythm slithering through the crowd like a slow, intoxicating burn, chanted with the audience, and ‘Dark’, slicing through the air with a chilling, metallic elegance. ‘No Man’s Land’ thundered through the venue with its dystopian weight, while ‘Machines’ pulsed like a relentless heartbeat under flickering strobes. But it was ‘Like a Drum’ that sealed the night - an unstoppable, pounding, adrenaline-fueled climax that left the audience breathless. No hesitation, no escape - just the sheer force of sound, movement, and light colliding into a final, euphoric crescendo.



Two weekends in a row? I’d go for three.

Setlist
01. Skin
02. Reconstruction
03. The Game
04. Purebloods
05. No Man’s Land
06. Dark
07. Machines
08. Cold Within
09. Hard Drive
10. Like a Drum

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A ritual worth repeating! Some nights fade quickly, lost in the blur of sound and movement. Others stay with you, their echoes lingering long after the last note fades. Electrowave Ritual was the latter - a night of charismatic performers, an industrial dream of a venue, and an audience fully immersed in the moment. NNHMN, DIE SELEKTION, and EMMON - each left their mark in their own way. This was not just a concert; it was an experience, a ritual, a reminder of why electronic music continues to be a force of pure, unrelenting power.

All Pictures by Karo Kratochwil