[Seb] Let's go to day two! Unfortunately, due to the shifts on the running order (Arthur Brown's cancellation caused DARKHER to be postponed to Saturday), we missed the first performance of YEAR OF THE COBRA, who suddenly gave the opener of the day on the Small Stage.
[Dajana] But, luckily, there were always two sets. And, we were well-rested and fit :)
:: pics :: LASTER ::
[Dajana] Starting the day with "Obscure Dance Music"... was a blast! :: LASTER :: had already thrilled me in 2019 (where they also opened the second festival day) with their weird and groovy Black Metal. And this was not a bit different now :)
[Seb] LASTER are well remembered from their very strong 2014 debut De Verste Verte Is Hier and I was eager to finally see the Dutchmen live, especially since songs from their upcoming fourth studio album Andermans Mijne were to be expected. To heavy applause (for the first band on the main stage it was already packed) the band entered the stage in their characteristic bird-skull-mummery to an atmospheric intro and a black and white video with dancer in the background to offer in the consequence excellent 45 minutes of varied Black Metal (or something like that, mainly Black Metal anyway). Depending on whether the songs were fast, wild, or restrained, the video in the background changed, in which the same dancer was dissected into kaleidoscope images, or alienated by means of other effects, depending on the mood of the song. Only at the outro, the video returned to normal, while the circle was closed with the same spherical sounds from the intro.
Already here it was clear to me that with one or the other band the 45-50 minutes playing time would become too short... I especially liked the title track of the upcoming album Andermans Mijne, I'll definitely give it a listen!
Band: S., W. Damiaen, N.
Setlist: Wachtmuziek, Vacuüm != Behoud, Kunstlicht, Andermans Mijne, Zomersneeuw, Schone Schijn, Vorm Alleen, Stenen Spiegel, Bitterzoe
:: pics ::YEAR OF THE COBRA ::
[Dajana] So, now finally :: YEAR OF THE COBRA ::. Small Stage the first. It was very dark in the back corner of the cave, and very humid, so the equipment, especially the electronics, was already suffering. Some of them were wrapped in cling film (sic!) to avoid short circuits. And it didn't happen during the whole festival. It also didn't narrow awesomeness of the Seattle combo's show. Ultra brutal Stoner Doom. The duo wrecked everything as usual. Great music, very likeable band - I just like them!
[Seb] Luckily, we then got to see the second, unfortunately quite short gig of YEAR OF THE COBRA. Impressive, what the two of them do on stage with only drums and bass, the sound is worth seeing and hearing!
Especially the first song of this set (I think Battle Of White Mountain from Ash And Dust) blew everything away, it was even more impressive live than on the album. Very cool and the numerous audience in front of the small stage saw it the same way. It shouldn't be taken for granted that there was a really full house on the small stage during the second set, because there were no real breaks during the festival to stretch the feet and often a "smaller" band had to bite the dust - not so here.
Band: Amy Tung Barrysmith (vox, bass), Johanes Barrysmith (drums)
Setlist: The Divine, Into The Fray, Alone // The Battle Of White Mountain, White Wizard, Full Sails
:: pics :: DISILLUSION ::
[Seb] :: DISILLUSION :: are very close to their 30th band anniversary, so I've already seen them live one or two times. They haven't had a cellist with them before, or is my memory misleading? The Saxons took no prisoners and got off to a furious start with the 11-minute Am Abgrund (single from their latest album Ayam). When do you ever hear death metal with a trumpet? And the rest of the set consisted mostly of newer pieces, I think the most recent was from the 2006 album Gloria. Unfortunately, the sound wasn't always optimal, you could rather guess the cello and trumpet than hear it, and sometimes I had to see what they were playing in order to really hear the instrument in question. All in all, a solid performance, although I would have liked to have heard one of the very old numbers. [Dajana] All said, great show!
Band: Andy Schmidt, Ben Haugg, Josh Saldana, Sebastian Hupfer, Felix Tilemann, Birgit Horn
Setlist: Am Abgrund, Driftwood, The Black Sea, Alea, Tormento, The Mountain
:: pics :: 1476 ::
[Seb] :: 1476 :: had already gained a small fan base yesterday on the meadow, and so it was pretty crowded in front of the stage right for the first set on the small stage. The guys played a completely different set today in every respect. Not only did the two setlists not overlap in any way, but of course the electric guitars were finally unpacked. 1476 play a hybrid of (post) black metal, folk, punk and art rock with mostly clean vocals - hard to grasp and describe. On top of that, the band changes their style significantly with almost every album. You really have to see it, and I can only recommend it to lovers of at least one of the genres mentioned, should 1476 ever be in the area again. As one of the guys told me later in the evening, they are already making contacts and working on a return to Germany.
[Dajana] Yes, 1476 is an awesome band. Especially live they come across much more dynamic than on CD.
Band: Robb Kavjian, Neil DeRosa (drums, perc), Nate Adelman (git), George (bass)
Setlist: Lost In Exile, Lapis Fire, Jade Fire: A Paragon // Carnelian Fire, Winter Of Winds, Ettins
:: pics :: THE VISION BLEAK ::
[Dajana] Tada... anniversary! Almost. So to say. The debut album The Deathship Has A New Captain (9 Songs Of Death, Doom And Horror) was released in 2004 and is now (almost) 20 years old. A perfect opportunity to present and celebrate this great album live in all its beauty. And that's what :: THE VISION BLEAK :: did. And so did the audience.
[Seb] A performance of The Deathship Has A New Captain I saw back then, shortly after the release (surely also with Dajana) at one of the Osnabrueck 1-day festivals in the Eventcenter at the B1, after that I met THE VISION BLEAK live at most once again.
As one of the most important bands of the label, Messrs. Schwadorf and Konstanz and their live comrades received by far the biggest applause so far, even before a single note had been played. Of course, the setlist didn't offer any surprises, since, as announced in advance, the entire album was played through from beginning to end – in perfect manner and with visible joy of playing. And at the latest, when Konstanz marched on the spot to one of the songs, he looked like the devil's drill sergeant with his hat and make-up. Although almost all songs on The Deathship Has A New Captain sound quite similar, especially after a few years distance, they are all similarly good. It was fun and the audience was enthusiastic.
[Dajana] The audience was not only enthusiastic, but also sang and danced along loudly to almost every song. But, who can stand still when THE VISION BLEAK is playing? ;)
Band: Schwadorf (git, vox), Konstanz (vox), Alsvartr (git), Aline Deinert (violine), Fursy Teyssier (bass), Seb (drums)
Setlist: A Shadow Arose, Night Of The Living Dead, Wolfmoon, Metropolis, Elizabeth Dane, Horror Of Antarctica, The Lone Night Rider, The Grand Devilry, Deathship Symphony
:: pics :: DARKSPACE ::
[Dajana] :: DARKSPACE :: are extremely mystical. Nothing is known about the band. There is no social media and the last album, Dark Space III I, dates back 10 years ago. The Swiss play very atmospheric ambient black metal. I listened to them and I really liked it, but I had never seen them live before. Here we go – my live debut! And what can I say… That was really amazing!
[Seb] Wow, that was awesome. If you would just write that there were three guys with corpsepaint on stage and played the same "riff" for about 47 minutes relatively motionless most of the time, that would be correct, but somehow it wouldn't do justice to the whole thing. DARKSPACE managed to create an incomparably dense sound carpet from basically very simple ingredients, which is unparalleled. I had wondered the whole time how many songs there were, because there were no recognizable breaks or pauses - in retrospect it turned out that it was actually a single track stretched to an absurd 47 minutes. Very cool.
[Dajana] The question is, which track was that? Aha, Dark -2.-2, the only track of the 47-minute EP Dark Space -II, which is expected to be released in spring 2024 via Seasons Of Mist, so the band told me later.
Band: Zhaaral (git, vox), Wroth (git, vox), Yhs (bass)
Setlist: Dark -2.-2
:: pics :: CRONE ::
[Dajana] From the meadow to the small stage. And next year hopefully on the big stage again with a full set. The show of :: CRONE :: was something very special this time. Not because the performance was extraordinary - but good nonetheless - but because Thelemnar and Daevas were standing at the edge of the stage as guests, and little up-and-coming rockers ;) But I missed Kirsten Schuhmann. Or did the singer join only at the second set?
[Seb] The band that I blame for the killing of Secrets Of The Moon played the small stage next - and in fact two former bandmates from the old SOTM days were in the audience. Looking at CRONE in isolation, I don't think they are bad musically, but I can't do much with the vocals. So during the second set I treated myself to a well-deserved break in the fresh air.
Band: Kevin Olasz (git), Phil Jonas (vox, git), Christian Schmidt (keys), Kirsten Schuhmann (vox)
Setlist: Abyss Road, The Ptilonist, Quicksand, Towers Underground // Houses Of Gehenna, Gemini, Waiting For Ghosts, Silent Song
:: pics :: MY DYING BRIDE ::
[Seb] Another metal veteran founded in 1990: I honestly didn't know that the band still exists, haha. Never been my cup of tea and I don't like the newer albums anymore. Luckily :: MY DYING BRIDE :: played a whole bunch of 90s songs, starting with Your River from 1993's Turn Loose The Swans, so I enjoyed the show overall much more than I would have expected!
[Dajana] This was without a doubt one of the greatest shows by a band that I haven't seen live in a long time (most recently in 2016 at Turock). As always, singer Aaron Stainthorpe was in the spotlight, suffering 1000 deaths, while the rest of the band acted rather restrained and in the background. Only Shaun Macgowan occasionally stepped out of the shadows and acted more lively when he picked up his violin.
Musically, I have to admit, I meanwhile veered far away from the band, even though I used to adore MY DYING BRIDE back in the days. Well, musical tastes change over the years. It was still an impressive show for me, I just lacked the overwhelming enthusiasm for it. But, there were thousands of other fans cheering the band to the max, some of whom even had tears in their eyes ;)
Band: Aaron Stainthorpe (vox), Andrew Craighan (git), Neil Blanchett (git), Lena Abé (bass), Shaun Macgowan (keys), Dan Mullins (drums)
Setlist: Your River, Your Broken Shore, Like Gods Of The Sun, Catherine Blake, The Cry Of Mankind, She Is The Dark, Turn Loose The Swans, The Dreadful Hours
:: pics :: AMENRA ::
[Dajana] The musical difference couldn't be sicker and moreover perfectly underlines my just made statement about My Dying Bride and where my musical interests lie these days ;) And I was also quite surprised that Prophecy Productions booked such a band ;) :: AMENRA :: - to experience them live in this cave... I was really looking forward to that :) This could only be great! And it was! Actually, an AMENRA show can hardly be put into words. And there is hardly a band that is so intense, gets under your skin, is equally insane as brilliant.
[Seb] In advance and despite everything that follows: I really enjoyed the gig and it was a worthy end of day 2 ;)
I still remember that the Belgians once played in Oberhausen and Dajana was once again full of praise, while I had taken the anniversary tour of Mayhem next door. Now I'm not a big friend of the genre as such, I find the song structures usually predictable up to the point of total boredom (just like the long time inevitable Nu-Metal wave). And also AMENRA don't make a big exception there, as far as the structures are concerned (probably with full intention). The pattern of changing between extremely calm and then manic passages in almost the same sequence with almost the same timing was identical in almost every track (and yes, I know that this is not only due to the genre, but also part of the "story" that the respective song is supposed to tell, but not all novels have the exact same narrative structure...). But when the guitars were (finally) turned up, the massive sound compensated for (almost) everything. That is - especially in this place - more than impressive (and sounded a bit like in Lamp Of Invisible Light by Enthroned, who also come from Belgium, I think...).
I just think it would be even better if the singer wouldn't have fidgeted so much (some songs gave the impression of a stage-like representation of bipolar episodes or something similar) and if the quiet parts would have been used much less predictably and, above all, much shorter. Sounds all a bit negative now, although it was, as mentioned above, quite an impressive finale. Especially everyone who is more inclined to the genre should have gotten his money's worth. The ovations at the end proved that even with restrained criticism I'm rather outnumbered...
[Dajana] Yes, I would bet on it! ;) As I said, AMEMRA is a rather unusual band for the PROPHECY FEST and yet the Belgians were extremely well received, seeing the audience sinking into trance and frenzy. Yes, a phenomenal end of the second festival day!
Band: Colin H. van Eeckhout (vox), Mathieu Vandekerckhove (git), Lennart Bossu (git), Tim De Gieter (bass), Bjorn Lebon (drums),
Setlist: Thurifer et Clamor ad te Veniat, Plus près de toi, Razoreater, De Evenmens, Am Kreuz, A Solitary Reign, Diaken
[Seb] Overall a great first day in the cave. Apart from the music, the entire atmosphere in this unique environment was simply great and incomparable. No other festival can match that, and I've already been to a few. I'm already looking forward to Saturday!
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