9th - 12th May 2008
Wave Gotik Treffen Day 1: Beati Mortui (FIN), Ashbury Heights (S), Santa Hates You (D), Solar Fake (D), Elis (FL), Portion Control (GB), Tristania (N), 32 Crash (B), Tarja (FIN), Dragons (GB), Paradise Lost (GB)
Whitsun 2008 - like every year, about 20.000 Gothics came to Leipzig in the east of Germany to celebrate one of the most important meetings of the European Gothic scene, the 17th WAVE GOTIK TREFFEN. The gathering is more than a normal festival, it's more like a big family meeting, the people came from all over the world to meet old friends, looking for new friends, looking at the fantastic outfits of the other people, demonstrate their own outfits (purchased or self created) and of course to enjoy a lot of bands of different styles from all over the world too.
The venues were dislocated over the whole city, some locations were situated in the city centre, other locations were situated in the periphery of the town and the people shuttled through the city by public transport, by taxi, by own car or by walking. Where ever you were looking, dark clothed people, baroque dresses, kinky outfits, military outfits, varnish dresses and cyber space outfits shaped the townscape. Most outfits were pleasing for the eyes but some fashion lapses we had seen too. The dislocating over the whole town did make a special flair and the whole town was infected by the Gothic people. The largest venue was the AGRA area with the big campsite, the main stage and a lot of stalls where you could buy foods, drinks, clothes and accessories. Other venues, among several others, were the PARKBÜHNE - a pretty small open air stage situated in a park not far from the city centre, the KOHLRABIZIRKUS, an indoor stage easterly from the city centre and the WERK 2 - an indoor stage too. In city centre events took place too: a medieval market at the MORITZBASTEI - an old historic fortress in the heart of the city, signing sessions and cinema shows in the cinema and some more.
We arrived on Friday at noon in Leipzig, the weather report had promised only sun for the whole weekend and we were looking forward having a nice festival weekend. Our first stop was the AGRA area, where we checked in at the press centre before we were looking for our hotel where we checked in as well and took a little fresh up. At afternoon we went back into the city and visited different venues. Because the big distance between the several venues it was not possible to enjoy all bands we would like to see, but we tried to take as much as possible. I went to the KOHLRABIZIRKUS to enjoy ELIS, TRISTANIA and TARJA while our photographer went to WERK II for all the electro bands playing there. [CL]
Beati Mortui (FIN) - Werk II [DV]
The idea for the band was already born in 2005, when Maria and Sami started to write songs to create an electro/industrial band with dark and melancholic influences. In 2006 the line-up grew with the addition of Lilitha and they started to intensively work on songs. The line-up was completed by a guitarist in summer 2006 to add more aggression and live elements into the sound. From fall 2006 to spring 2007, the band produced and released a promotional CD called ‘Modus Operandi’ and after they reached the second position of the ‘Battle of the Bands’ contest of the Sonic Seducer magazine in 2007, they signed a deal with German label Danse Macabre. Their full-length debut ‘All But Dreams Will Die’ is scheduled for a release in May. BEATI MORTUI are Maria (vocals), Sami (synths, programming, production), Lilitha (synths, programming) and Jarno (guitars). http://www.myspace.com/beatimortui
Music & Performance
BEATI MORTUI had the hard job to open the WGT at the Werk II. The venue is usually very packed and it was later as well. Luckily it was not overcrowded at the beginning so I could at least see the band after leaving the pit. The Finnish band did not have an easy job. At the beginning I thought well, quite good music, but the chant is terrible. Later on I’ve heard that singer Maria just came over a bad laryngitis and should not sing at all. But she wanted to do the show at WGT under all circumstances, so my deepest respect! I hope to experience this band some when again under better conditions.
Setlist
01. Winter
02. Blood I Taste
03. Don't look back
04. Mirror
05. Gangraena
06. Cut
07. Cancer
Rating
Music: 6
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 6.5
Ashbury Heights (S) - Werk II [DV]
The history of this Swedish duo is rather short yet eventful. The release of their first demo in 2005 remained unnoticed by most people. Three months later when the twosome handed out its second demo it was approached by German top label Out of Line and became one the fastest signing in the label’s history with the contract signed within an hour. With the following release of the ‘Cry Havoc’ promotional CD and later the limited single, they cracked the German Alternative Charts. The album ‘Three cheers for the newly dead’ produced in collaboration with John Fryer and released in October 2007 received rave reviews from fans and press alike. ASHBURY HEIGHTS are Anders H (lead vocals, programming, synthesizers) and Yasmine U (lead vocals, synthesizers). http://www.myspace.com/ashburyheightsmusic
Music & Performance
For this duo from Sweden, the venue was already overcrowded. There were lots of people who seemed to have just come for this band. After I had seen ASHBURY HEIGHTS already during the Out Of Line tour last November when I was not totally convinced by the performance, I was curious how the show would be like today. And it was much better. The band now seemed much more comfortable on stage, the moves and the dancing of Yasmine seemed much more natural. Alternating on the microphone, Anders and Yasmine impressed with their catchy electronic sounds and made the people move to the beats. Loud applause was their pay for a convincing performance.
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7.5
Santa Hates You (D) - Werk II [DV]
As strange as the name sounds as strange is their appearance if one takes a look at the photos on their MySpace profile. The mastermind of this project should be fairly familiar to the creatures of the dark music scene. Peter Spilles (Project Pitchfork) created this project in 2007 with a woman called Jinxy. The debut release goes by the name of ‘You’re on the Naughty List’ and was released by the end of October 2007. On the WGT the project celebrated its live debut. http://www.myspace.com/santahatesyou
Music & Performance
I really did not know what to expect from this show as it was the live debut of SANTA HATES YOU. And it seemed lots of people did not even know which big name was standing behind this project so that the venue was less crowded than before. I was going for this performance with mixed emotions just because lately not all PROJECT PITCHFORK shows I had seen convinced me and I had no idea what was coming up now. Let me say something… I was not disappointed after the powerful show that rocked the crowd. Peter acted very energetic, he seemed much angrier on stage than during the shows with his main band. His female partner Jinxy was heavily dancing behind her keys delivering some additional vocals while Peter mostly was acting in front of the stage just moving back to his keyboard every now and then to start some track or fiddle around with different knobs and keys. Really hard were the beats SANTA HATES YOU made people dance with.
Setlist
01. Feuerball
02. Ego Inc.
03. Sugar and Spice
04. Karoshi
05. Love Song
06. Machine Sex Symphony
07. Pantheon
08. U’r Fucking it up
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7.5
Solar Fake (D) - Werk II [DV]
Sven Friedrich, well-known as the singer of the legendary DREADFUL SHADOWS and the band ZERAPHINE, is the man and the voice behind this purely electronic project. Dreaming of an electro project for quite some time but never finding the time for it, SOLAR FAKE finally came to life in 2007. The project name SOLAR FAKE is referring to both things, which are completely different than expected and also to the two faces every human has. The first musical output carries the title ‘Broken Grid’ and saw the light of day in February 2008. SOLAR FAKE is Sven Friedrich (production, vocals, lyrics) who was supported live by one keyboarder. http://www.solarfake.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/solarfake
Music & Performance
As SOLAR FAKE is a one man project, I was curious how this would be brought onto stage. The imagination that there is just one person singing to the backing tape is a little bit boring, isn’t it? But Sven was not alone on stage; he brought a keyboarder with him doing the musical part. As this still would be a bit boring there was luckily more to see on stage. SOLAR FAKE was supported by well composed visual projections fitting very well to the songs. The set contained all in all eleven songs meaning that except ‘I Can't Remember’ the whole ‘Broken Grid’ CD was presented, much to my pleasure the set contained also the RADIOHEAD classic ‘Creep’. Sadly there were some technical problems with the microphone and some wires needed to be changed. But after some fiddling around it worked quite well and the charismatic voice of Sven showed to advantage very well.
Setlist
01. Intro & Hiding memories from the sun
02. Stigmata Rain
03. (You think you’re) Radical
04. Sometimes
05. The shield
06. Creep
07. Here I stand
08. Your hell is here
09. I keep my eyes shut
10. Hero & Conqueror
11. Lies
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 6
Light: 8
Total: 7.5
Elis (FL) - Kohlrabizirkus [CL]
ELIS began their musical career under the name ERBEN DER SCHÖPFUNG in 2000. In 2001, they released their first single ‘Elis’ as well as their debut album ‘Twilight’. The band has appeared live at the Wave Gotik Festival in Leipzig, among others, has held on to favourable positioning on the DAC-Charts, and has remained well represented in the scene's press. Following their split with Oliver Falk, the band re-emerged in 2003 under the new alias ELIS, guitarist Jürgen 'BigJ' Broger left the band in 2005. Unfortunately on July 9, 2006 singer Sabine died of a cerebral haemorrhage, the album ‘Griefshire’ was released in Sabine's memory. The new female singer is the Austrian metal singer Sandra Schleret, former vocalist of DREAMS OF SANITY and SIEGFRIED, and guest singer on some SAMAEL albums. ELIS are Sandra Schleret (vocals), Pete Streit (guitar), Chris Gruber (guitar), Tom Saxer (bass, grunts) and Max Naescher (drums). http://www.elis.li/ / http://www.myspace.com/elisofficial
Music & Performance
ELIS entered the stage without their second guitar player Pete who was ill and missed the gig. They performed a 40 minutes set with 8 songs and got a lot of applause. The lightshow was pleasing with wonderful LED elements at the background of the stage, but unfortunately first the sound mix was poor - the drums were to loud and the guitar and the vocals were to low, but it became better over the gig. One song was dedicated to Sabine, the former singer of the band who died young in 2006.
Setlist
01. Tales From Heaven And Hell
02. Die Zeit
03. Show Me The Way
04. Devil Inside You
05. Der letzte Tag
06. A New Decade
07. Phoenix From The Ashes
08. The Burning
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 9
Total: 7.3
Portion Control (GB) - Werk II [DV]
PORTION CONTROL is a British electronic and industrial band formed in London in 1979. The band calls its music style electro punk or hard rhythmic electronics. They’re considered one of the most influential harder electronic bands worldwide and have been name checked by bands like DEPECHE MODE, SKINNY PUPPY or FRONTLINE ASSEMBLY. Until 1986, they constantly released critically acclaimed albums, but when they signed to the label they vanished; just to re-appear under the name SOLAR ENEMY, which existed from 1990 to 1993. About 17 years after the last life sign, the band surprisingly returned to the scene with a brand new album ‘Wellcome’ followed by a retrospective CD release ‘Archive’ containing a vast majority of their vinyl back catalogue for t he first time in a digital format. The upcoming album ‘SLUG’ will be released end of May 2008. PORTION CONTROL is: Dean Piavani (vocals) and John Whybrew (synths). http://www.portion-control.net/ / http://www.myspace.com/porcon
Music & Performance
After SOLAR FAKE with just two guys on stage we got the same live-up again: one guy doing the vocals and one setting up the music behind his desk. Again, the show was supported by great visuals making it very interesting also to watch the show and not only to dance to the hard beats the dinosaurs of electronic music delivered. The presented set mainly consisted of very new songs taken from the upcoming album ‘SLUG’ which were well received by the audience even though they were yet unknown to most of them. While John did not move much, DEAN ran from one site of the stage to the other one shouting the lyrics into his microphone. After I had seen the band on last year’s Amphi festival, I saw now again a very convincing show based mainly on the good music as well as the visuals and not on the acting of the people on stage.
Setlist
01. Tyger [onion jack iv]
02. Global [SLUG]
03. Hardman [fwg]
04. Sick man [SLUG]
05. Infant [SLUG]
06. Cubicle [SLUG]
07. Hey hey [fwg]
08. More than just a nuisance [wellcome]
09. Defend [SLUG]
10. Green hills [fwg]
11. Bleach [SLUG]
12. Blind eyes [wellcome]
13. Rogue [SLUG]
14. Chew you to bits [archive]
Visuals VMAG transmission 2.4
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 7
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 8
Tristania (N) - Kohlrabizirkus [CL]
TRISTANIA is a band from Norway, formed in the end of 1996. Their music is usually classified as Gothic metal due to its strong ties with the genre's history, and the band making use of styles and traits stereotypical of the genre. TRISTANIA are Østen Bergøy (clean vocals), Mariangela Demurtas (female vocals), Anders Høyvik Hidle (guitars, growling), Rune Østerhus (bass), Einar Moen (keyboards, programming) and Kenneth Olsson (drums). http://www.tristania.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/tristania
Music & Performance
TRISTANIA did a powerful performance dominated by guitars and drums. The both singers -female and male - sang alternated and together and the symbiosis of classic and electronic instruments combined with the different vocals of the both singers was nice to listen for everyone who likes this genre. The show ran about 50 minutes and included 9 songs. The lightshow was pleasing too.
Setlist
01. Libre
02. Shadowman,
03. Angellore
04. Mercyside
05. The Wretched
06. Down
07. Beyond the Veil
08. World of Glass
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 8
Light: 9
Total: 7.5
32 Crash (B) - Werk II [DV]
When you hear the name Jean-Luc de Meyer one instantly thinks of one of the pioneers in Electronic Body Music: FRONT 242. Over the long course of his career, de Meyer has been active in several other projects besides F242 i.e. CYBERTEC, C-TEC or COBALT 60. With 32 CRASH, he’s focussing only on song writing and singing while his two colleagues Len Lemiere (Implant) and Jan D’Hooghe (Vive La Féte, Implant) are responsible for the musical accentuation. Following the release of the promising ‘Humanity EP’, the album ‘Weird News From an Uncertain Future’ was released in October 2007. http://www.32crash.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/32crash
Music & Performance
32 CRASH was one of the bands of the festival I was really looking forward to see again after I enjoyed last year’s M’era Luna performance a lot. Different to that festival show, the band now had a bigger portfolio where they could chose from. Due to the fact that the songs are rather short, the band could fit 17 songs into their set. Impressive! The clothing style did not change and so, all three guys appeared again on stage in their black warrior-like costumes all wearing sun glasses what looks a bit strange in this dark hall. The songs presented different facets of electronic music, either rhythmical and danceable or meditative, slow and hypnotic, just as the vocals were - angelic one moment to change to threatening, distorted one the very next. 32CRASH presented a perfect mixture of thought-provoking lyrics, appealing music and a styled performance that got a rather positive reception.
Setlist
01. Intro
02. Merlin's Gun
03. Porcupine
04. Slow Crash
05. Spacemen and Poets
06. Dust and Drought
07. Lone Ranger
08. Beware
09. NTT
10. Fibers etc.
11. I Remember
12. The Creature
13. Plutonian Breeders
14. Propaganda
15. Humanity
16. Isomodia
17. Fast Crash
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 8
Tarja (FIN) - Kohlrabizirkus [CL]
Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen Cabuli, born August 17, 1977, is a Finnish soprano, best known as the former lead vocalist of Finnish symphonic power metal quintet NIGHTWISH, which she founded along with Emppu Vuorinen and Tuomas Holopainen in 1996. After being fired from the band in October 2005, Tarja Turunen is now devoting her time to her solo career under the stage name of TARJA. TARJA's first solo album, 'My Winter Storm', was released in November 2007 and achieved gold status in Finland on the day of release. In late 2007, TARJA was nominated for 2 awards, an ECHO as best newcomer and an EMMA for best Finnish artist. The live band consists of Doug Wimbish (bass), Alex Scholpp (guitars), Mike Terrana (drums), Maria Ilmoniemi (keyboard), Max Silja (cello) and Toni Turunen (vocals, guitars, additional electronic drums, keyboards) http://www.tarjaturunen.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/tarjaturunen
Music & Performance
TARJA and her band entered the stage 25 minutes later than announced after a long change over and a long sound check. But the waiting time was worthwhile; the fantastic voice of TARJA combined with six virtuosic musicians bewitched the audience satisfying. Of course the show was dominated by TARJA, her voice and her charisma, but the other six musicians on stage did a very good job too. The guitars and the cello were played virtuosic and the both drum sets had given much power to the performance. The second drummer (a brother of Tarja) played alternate a guitar at some songs and at the song ‘Phantom Of The Opera’ he took over the male vocal parts. The set started with ‘Lost Northern Star’ and ‘My Little Phoenix’, followed by the NIGHTWISH song ‘Passion And The Opera’. After it, the show went on with own songs and finally the highlight of the show - the fantastic ‘Phantom Of The Opera’, the last song in the main set which was sang by TARJA and Toni together. After it, TARJA and her musicians left the stage, but they came back for an encore which was given with two more songs and after about one hour they left the stage finally.
Setlist
01. Lost Northern Star
02. My Little Phoenix
03. Passion And The Opera (Nightwish)
04. Minor Heaven
05. Ciarán's Well
06. Our Great Divide
07. Sing For Me
08. The Phantom Of The Opera
---
09. I Walk Alone
10. Die Alive
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 9
Light: 9
Total: 8.7
Dragons (GB) - Werk II [DV]
It was in the year 2006, when Anthony Tombling Jnr. and David Francolino got to know each other in Bristol, both being already involved in musical projects before but in fairly different directions. David could riot as a drummer with the bands LEVIATION and DARK STAR, while Anthony was exploring the electronic side of things. When the debut album ‘Here are The Roses’ was unleashed, the press overturned with praises. The album even became the ‘Album of the Month’ in the Sonic Seducer music magazine. DRAGONS are: Anthony Tombling Jnr. (vocals), David Francolino (drums) plus live members Calvin Talbot (guitar), Will Crewdson (guitar), James Fage (bass) and Adam Coombs (synths). http://www.dragons.cc/ / http://www.myspace.com/dragons1
Music & Performance
DRAGONS were really the paradise birds at the Werk II where the program of the day presented only electronic bands… except those British guys. Somehow I had the impression the promoters did not really know where to put this band and that slot was the only free one. I was not the only one at the venue who did not know what was coming up now. So many people asked around if anyone had heard of the band before… and did not get a proper answer. No wonder when the crowd consisted only of electro heads. Most of them left the venue after 32 CRASH, only a few remained because they were curious what was coming up… a pure guitar based rock performance attracting luckily a few admirers of this style too so that the venue was not totally empty. It was a bit sad to see the band performing in front of a smaller crowd because they were really good.
I liked especially the warm charismatic chant of singer Anthony. Sad enough that I could not stay for the whole performance because one more band was waiting at the Agra for me. As the DRAGONS are just an electronic rock duo, the stage line up was completed by a full guitar band presented a powerful mix of electronic elements, rock and wave. I really liked it and decided that I should get the only available album soon.
Setlist
01. Condition
02. Treasure
03. The law
04. Hold me in your arms
05. Trust
06. Lonely tonight
07. Epiphany
08. Remembrance
09. Always the night
10. Here are the roses
11. Where is the love
---
12. Obedience
13. Redemption
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 8
Paradise Lost (GB) - Agra [DV]
Their career lasts for over two decades now and in this long time they have created a whole new genre - the Gothic Metal - and gone through many different styles. Obviously I'm speaking of PARADISE LOST. In 2007, they released their already eleventh album entitled 'In Requiem'. The expectations on this album were really high due to some statements of the band. Drummer Jeff Singer called it “darker, heavier and with lots of double bass attacks” and “more raw, organic, less polished” is how guitarist Greg Mackintosh describes it and he didn’t exaggerate and the album became a wide success. The “Kings of the Gothic Metal” were back on their throne and at the Wave Gotik Treffen they showed they showed they still can rock the house. PARADISE LOST are Nick Holmes (vocals), Greg Mackintosh (lead guitar), Aaron Aedy (rhythm guitar), Steve Edmondson (bass guitar) and Jeff Singer (drums). http://www.paradiselost.co.uk/ / http://www.myspace.com/paradiselostuk
Music & Performance
PARADISE LOST were announced as “midnight special” at the Agra. In fact, the scheduled show time said 1:00 and so, it was really late when the band entered the stage and I was already really exhausted knowing from the start that I won’t be able to stay for the whole show even though I really wanted to. As during the last tour, the set started with ‘The Enemy’ out off the current album release. The set all in all contained a good mix of new and old songs even presenting the classics ‘Gothic’ and ‘As I die’. For those people having seen the band several tomes during the tour, the set did not offer any surprises. As for the performance, the band today looked a bit bored and uninspired to me. So, I was not too sad about not being fit enough to see the whole show.
Setlist
01. The Enemy
02. Ash and debris
03. No celebration
04. True Belief
05. As I die
06. So much is lost
07. Enchantment
08. Requiem
09. Unreachable
10. Gothic
11. Embers Fire (planned but not played)
12. One Second
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13. Never for the damned
14. Erased
15. Say just words
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 6
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com/ / http://www.black-cat-net.de/ / www.myspace.com/vorndranphotography) except Tarjy by Sandro Griesback (www.darkmoments.de)
Daniela Vorndran [DV], Carsten Leopold [CL] and Sebastian Huhn (Band Introductions except Elis, Tristania, Tarja)
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