A Night Of Dark Ambient Music
Desiderii Marginis - Xabec - Fjernlys - Nam-Khar - Corecass
Also the PHOBOS FESTIVAL finally returned in 2023! For the twelfth time :: Phelios :: mastermind Martin Stürtzer invited to a night of Dark Ambient Music. And many fans followed this call, even quite a few from abroad. For the second time the festival took place in the profaned :: Immanuel Church ::, which has been converted into a cultural church in the heart of Wuppertal-Oberbarmen, Germany.
This is my first time in this church, my only PHOBOS FESTIVAL to date took place in the Wuppertal City Church. The Immanuel Church is easy to find, even if it is a bit hidden behind high trees. The only thing that isn't so easy is parking. The church is an old basilica with many wooden constructions (e.g. the arches on in the side aisles and the roof). Very beautiful to look at and also sounds fantastic, even if Martin had announced technical problems for this evening, which, luckily, did not occur at all.
:: Impressions ::
This year Martin Stürtzer himself didn't play at the festival, but exclusively took care of sound and organization, which is actually enough work to do. This year's line-up was unknown to me except for DESIDERII MARGINIS. I remember that it happened the same way at my first PHOBOS FESTIVAL in 2018. So there was once again a lot of new music to discover.
:: pics :: CORECASS ::
The festival started promptly at 7 pm with :: CORECASS ::, the young project of Hamburg-based multi-instrumentalist Elinor Lüdde, who was on stage here with a large harp and lots of keys and electronics. But, this woman also plays drums for the sludge/doom metallers Moor? Wow! Now I'm gobsmacked! ;) She will also be supporting Amenra for a few shows in December, yay. Go and check them both out if you can. I hope that I can attend the Bochum show.
CORECASS has been accompanied by Christopher on guitar and bass and both played 5 of the 6 tracks from the debut albumVoid, released in 2020. The harp sound was mixed a bit too low and didn't come out as well as on CD. Likewise the vocals. In return, the organ sounded even more dramatic and sometimes reminded me of Anna v. Hausswolff. There were also rather minimal visualizations, so that it was very dark on stage and hardly anything to see. Good, the better you could let yourself fall into the music with closed eyes ;)
A very nice start to the PHOBOS FESTIVAL XII :)
Band: Elinor Lüdde, Christopher (git, bass)
Setlist: Intro, Void1, Carbon, Void 2, Amber, Void 3, Outro
Video » HERE «
:: pics :: NAM-KHAR ::
After a very short changeover, the festival continued with :: NAM-KHAR ::, a collective from Frankfurt. You won't find much more information about the project and its creators, apart from the numerous releases, collaborations and splits.
There were actually four men and one woman on stage, with four people jostling at the tables full of electronics, while the drummer somehow disappeared behind them. So, the arrangement was not that optimal. On the other hand... it was so dark that you couldn't see much anyway ;)
Now we got dystopian-spherical sound collages with lots of percussive elements, singing bowls, a metal sheet and all sorts of little things that made noises. Reminded me of Raison d'Être, who are basically the forefathers of the genre known as such, and were my introduction to dark ambient at the time. That shapes.
There were also very aesthetic visualizations, mostly black and white, but at the end in fiery tones. At NAM-KHAR we often talk about ritual sounds. If you take the track and album titles, Buddhism is added too, but without sounding like that. Not even close, although passages, especially on the new album, are supposed to be real components of Tibetan meditations. NAM-KHAR also doesn't sound like any other ritual or tribal-like bands or artists, at least not when it comes to the genres in which I usually haunt musically – Ambient left aside (you know, bands like Heilung for example or occult bands). And yet NAM-KHAR's music is very engaging, demanding to get into and then let go.
NAM-KHAR released a new album last year called Dok-Pa, the last part of a trilogy, of which a new version of Dok-Pa Part 4 was played here, as well as a previously unreleased Sielwolf & NAM-KHAR piece: The Vajra & The Sword For Yukio Mishima. Of course, I didn't recognize it myself, but asked the band later ;)
However, the music touched me deeply and took me away. Fantastic performance! I'm definitely a new fan.
Band: Konchok Gyaltsen, Maria Martinegou, Peter Prochir, Christian Boenke, Michael Gossmann
Setlist: Dok-Pa Part 4 (Dri Za, Shidak, Gyalpo, Wendigo), The Vajra & The Sword For Yukio Mishima
Video » HERE «
:: pics :: FJERNLYS ::
There is far less information about :: FJERNLYS :: (Norwegian for high beam) and the few then leaves a bitter aftertaste. Hardly that I had started with the research, I stumbled over various fascist accusations against the leader Knut Enderlein and his label. Here it should be noted that all allegations date from the time around the turn of the millennium and that Enderlein ended his collaboration with the named Nazi band. However, it should also be mentioned that Enderlein's musical and lyrical preferences found their place in much later done interviews and those Nazi band appeared unabashedly on the label's 25th anniversary sampler in 2016. Argh, how I hate this undifferentiated far right quagmire...
Be that as it may, since Phelios have already released via the label too and Enderlein has been a guest at the PHOBOS FESTIVAL several times with different projects, I assume that man and attitude are at least unproblematic these days. If it’s in and for the public only, I can't judge.
Musically, here too, we got wonderful contemplative soundscapes, accompanied with aesthetic b/w visualizations of, I guess, domestic mountains (Alps). Musically not as dark as the previous band, and also a bit more electronic. The vocals of Knut and CKS were each a bit too low, but you could hear the violin and guitar of Johannes well.
The last album of the Leipzig-based band, Four, has already gathered some dust and dates back to 2015, but in 2020 there was again a musical sign of life with the single The Kingdom Of Ghosts. And I would bet that this track was also played live here.
Band: Knut Enderlein, CKS, Circular
Video » HERE «
:: pics :: XABEC ::
Another short break, and meanwhile the sweets were sold out. Also :: XABEC :: has been in the business for a long time and looks back on many releases, most recently Loss Of Self, which was released in 2022 but is actually a live recording. And once again it was time to sit back and enjoy the music while large galaxies and star explosions on the screen provided atmospheric lighting. In contrast to the previous bands, XABEC stood alone on stage with his laptop and his Microphonic Soundbox (I strongly assume that such a thing was on the table) and seemed a bit lost, as he was deeply leaned over the screen and almost disappeared behind it. And again the disciplined audience and the dark church suited the atmosphere and the music very well. Another great show!
Band: Manuel G. Richter
Video » HERE «
:: pics :: DESIDERII MARGINIS ::
Like Peter Andersson, Johan Levin, aka :: DESIDERII MARGINIS :: has been around since the beginning of the 90s and is a veteran of the scene with numerous releases. He, too, has a new album out (2021), Bathe In Black Light, a title which fitted perfectly to the midnight performance. It got a bit darker visually, as the b/w visuals gave only little light and also Johan stood bent close over keyboard and instruments. That gave him somewhat of a spooky touch as purple lights from the knobs illuminated his face. But again, in the end, it was all about diving into the sounds with your eyes closed and letting yourself drift.
Once again, an excellent performance and a great conclusion to the PHOBOS FESTIVAL 2023, an audience that bid a fond farewell and headed home satisfied. I also let myself be carried home in style to Devin Townsend's Dreampiece.
Band: Johan Levin
Setlist: Through A Forest Of Empty Armors, Deadbeat MMXIX, Night Grasping At Day, Ghostfires, Temple Of Andromeda, Necrose Evangelicum, Departed
Video » HERE «
Summary: Yes, it was once again a great PHOBOS FESTIVAL edition! All five bands/artists impressed me musically and I picked up a lot of new things. The organization was great, as was the food and the people at Immanuel Church were super nice.
I was surprised that, despite the short changeovers, each band was ready in no time and kicked off on time. As already mentioned, the feared problems did not occur. Ok, here and there the vocals were too low and somewhere there was something briefly overdriven, but otherwise the sound was great. The audience behaved very considerately, didn't talk and didn't disturb the shows with flashes or clinking bottles. You really don't have that very often.
It was pretty dark in the church, which of course benefitted the shows and the atmosphere, although even musicians sometimes had problems to see anything. CORECASS actually rehearsed in the dark beforehand to prepare for the festival (so guitarist Christopher said). The dark also made two or three fans nod away too (and sometimes audibly ;)). Photographically it was certainly a challenge. So, I think, one or two lights on stage wouldn't do any harm ;)
Another thing I noticed is that you often find so little information about the respective artists and projects in this genre, apart from the releases themselves. It's as if everyone barricades themselves in their closet and (wants to) leave the world outside. Okay, to listen to the music you don't need this information, that's rather my journalistic curiosity and background for well-founded writing. And probably it is also a rather self-contained community that simply wants to do without the superficial, public bla bla.
In his farewell words Martin Stürtzer announced a new, (as yet) unspecified event for the spring and also another edition of the PHOBOS FESTIVAL in fall next year. Yeah, I'm looking forward and I'm already curious about the bands! :)
Oh, and before I forget... All shows were filmed this time as well, so there will be corresponding footage soon, which I will link here afterwards.
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