Being
my first time at the Maschinenfest
since it moved from the beloved Aachen bunker to the new
location in Krefeld, I had mixed expectations about the
event. Comments I had gathered from visitors of the two
previous editions had left me a bit cold towards the
perspective of embarking in this 3-day outing. This used to
be for me a staple of the festival season ever since 1999,
when I visited its second edition (the first to be actually
relatively widely known to exist, in the appropriate circles
only, of course) but only up to 2002, when the rhythmic and
death industrial, power electronics circles became widely
contaminated by cheap 'preset'-induced technoid influences
and the ever annoying break-beats so much en-vogue those
days, while fresh ideas seemed to be running dry. Sound
research had considerably slowed down as well, as a side
effect. The MF 05 line-up, however rang a few bells to me: a
fair mix of well-known names and more obscure propositions
to go with that looked quite promising from the outset. One
of the truly welcome additions was for example the presence
of acts such as BRIGHTER DEATH NOW or DEUTSCH NEPAL who fly the
glorious Cold Meat Industry flag, an
occurrence previously unheard of at the MF.
RogerKarmanikbrought the
doom industrial and power noises he is distinguished for
with BDN, under the
banner 'we destroy you', while Der General aka
Lina Baby Doll aka DEUTSCH NEPAL was even
sober for the occasion, delivering a powerful and structured
set that left many longing for more. Mr Karmanik
left eventually a quite
cold impression, frankly, it didn't seem they were enjoying
themselves, unless it was all part of the live routine.
Amongst the
many aspects of MF 05 that impressed me enough, was the fact
that most of the 'big' names of the scene seemed to have
deeply re-examined their purposes and intents and resurfaced
with renewed vigor and many fresh material after a few years
of chewing over collaborations and ensembles, side-projects
and the like, that have been Äìin all
truth- not always that exciting. I'd easily put at the start
of the list MORGENSTERN, who returned in purely
devastating fashion, proposing some of the best conceived
death industrial I've heard in some years. Having not heard
their latest release Two Different Faces before, I could only assume all the material
presented is part of this release. Their live set was a few
steps up the previous performances I had seen (except maybe
for the one at the MF 99), offering a merciless blend of
beats, rhythms, bleak atmospheres, psychotic screams,
focused electronics and rumbling noises. In other words, the
MORGENSTERN performance
was a truly uplifting experience that gave me a 'back to the
roots' message, coupled with a heavy new momentum. Pity only
their CD was sold out that evening, leaving me cold-handed.
Short on stock or huge demand??
Another act
that seemed to have re-dug some sort of connection to its
own roots is IMMINENT, giving many
good hints of a return to the beloved percussive
industrialism heavily tinted in dark atmospheres that
propelled this project to widespread attention, again in
those '99 days when MF was young and Olivier
Moreau was still
IMMINENT STARVATION. Carrying on with the daddies of the festival,
SYNAPSCAPE had their own
powerful impact on the audience, which I did enjoy up to the
point where their rhythmic exercises seemed to dry out and
head directionless towards nowhere in particular. SONAR
were as predictable as ever. This is not
necessarily a bad thing, as they are renewed for quality
rhythmic stuff, and quality they delivered in due fashion.
Just not terribly exciting in the context of the
proceedings. Closing my discussion of the 'big' names, I'd
mention a surprise set by AH CAMA SOTZ that saw MIMETIC contributing
drums and percussion, with material that I didn't seem to
recognize at all and a performance by ORPHX that didn't entirely live up to the first
impression they left on me when I saw performing at the
Forms of Hands festival back in 2002.
Close enough
to the 'big' names league come names as ISZOLOSCOPE or
ROGERROTOR who did left
a mark on the audience with vigorous sets.
KLANGSTABIL were another
big up, proposing the most recent material that deals with
more crazed, mental, twisted-pop structured weirdness than
you could envisage. Delirious and untamed, this was a shaky
flashlight tunneling the industrial darkness they are
renewed for. Doest it make any sense? Neither it does their
savage take on industro-goth that was as good as I could
take and gained me their latest album of course.
A word or two
on the venue are due, since this has been an issue for many
of the aficionados who were deeply attached to the
masochistic experience of the Aachen bunker. Facilities at
the KuFa in Krefeld are more conventional if you like, but
that doesn't mean they aren't suited for a great industrial
experience. On the contrary, the well structured venue
offered a better chance for those keen on getting as much as
music as they could possibly, to actually get it. It was the
case one could actually see one gig after one other without
having to gasp for breathable air at street level. Friendly
staff, great sound quality, the chill-out room, the
treasured merchandise room hosting a rotation of DJs,
truckloads of bargains and afterparties as well, completed
the picture of a festival that I'm personally going to visit
again in its next edition. Overall, a fantastic and relaxed
atmosphere that is rarely found at large scale events, but
that, in all truth, is quite consistent at these sort of
industrial events. Another sign of the true health this
scene is enjoying, which goes quite well along with the
copious productivity of the artists involved. And an
enviable international mix in the packed audience, maybe
unique as far as music events are concerned.
Aside from the
biggies I have mentioned above, there have been a few names
that have left in me a special impression out of the 30
bands on show and I'm going to mention a few, without
willing to detract attention from those that, humanly
speaking, I wasn't able to see (after all, 12-hours
industrial-a-day can prove to be a bit of an overkill,
doesn't it??).
I'd start in
random order from KOM-INTERN who were one of the high
priorities in my wish list since their Brume Records
masterpiece, Funkspiel. The high
expectations were fulfilled by an absorbing set that
confirmed their uncanny capacity to build up industrial
progressions made of intricate live percussion and real-time
electronics and looping, conjuring up captivating dark
atmospheres to get lost into. Promptly bought their new
album, out on Hands, after the gig, to be able to replicate
to some extent that experience in my living room.
ARCHITECT was another
great live experience and another name to successfully check
out in my agenda. With PUNCH INC. we had pure rhythmic stomping fare, while
EMPUSAE offered
structured and geometric patterns of minimal electronic
sounds made in Belgium. A quality mark! AMBASSADOR 21 brought their hardcore fare with the usual
overdose of adrenaline and amidst strobe lights. Not my cup
of tea really, but I reckon there's an audience for this
genre as well, although it does not seem to overlap much
with those following the 'traditional' rhythmic industrial
stuff. It was KRAKEN who gave an arty touch, performing droning dark
ambient on very low platforms equipped to transduce to sound
electric signals enigmaticaly traced by the duo over the
platforms with some custom-built devices. It was puzzling at
first to see an empty stage droning away in darkness, but a
closer inspection revealed the character of the performance.
S.K.E.T. gave way to
overdriven rhythmic mayhem instead and so did EDGEY and by now I
realize that I did get through a large proportion of the
program indeed! Let's not forget POW[D]ER
PUSSY, which I was curious about. I enjoyed them, but
didn't die for. RASPUTIN or ATROX were instead
quite staggering.
Another
positive aspect of this year gathering was that drum'n'bass
as well was conspicuous by its absence, with very few
exceptions, which can only be a good thing if you ask me. I
wish more space would be given to more ambient-oriented
projects in the future, but I would be a bonehead if I were
to criticize in any way this year's line-up, one of the
richest and most balanced to date. By the end of day three,
I was -like probably everybody else- so fully immersed in
that magnificent hard-industrial other-world that the
Maschinenfest is,
that the mere subdued music accompanying my taxi ride to the
hotel sounded very much like weird, inconsistent stuff
instead! www.maschinenfest.de