PRE-SHOW WARM UP PARTY
Pet Sounds Bar: Sodermalm, Stockholm, Sweden 2nd November, 2017
Performing act: Nordvargr
Report: Richard Stevenson
Live photos: Scott Van Dort
Flyer courtesy of Death Disco Productions
MAIN EVENT
Klubben: Stockholm, Sweden, 3rd & 4th November, 2017
Friday Night Performing Acts: Sophia / Sanctum / Deutsch Nepal / Brighter Death Now / Sephiroth / Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio / Mz.412
Saturday Night Performing Acts: Morthound / Desiderii Marginis / Coph Nia / Raison D’etre / In Slaughter Natives / Arcana / Mortiis / Archon Satani
Report: Richard Stevenson
Live photos: Henrik Stolt & Derek Rush (as credited)
Flyer courtesy of Death Disco Productions
: PREFACE :
With my attendance at the Cold Meat Industry (CMI) 30th anniversary festival coinciding with my attendance at the Tesco Organisation 30th Anniversary festival the weekend before, it is perhaps necessary to highlight that I have approached both festivals with a very different mindset. In the first instance the Tesco 30th Anniversary festival was and is very much representative of my current listening preferences, whereas on the other hand CMI represents my main gateway into the underground industrial spheres which I have ended up covering via Spectrum Magazine and Noise Receptor Journal over the past two decades. Thus, from my first introduction in around 1994 to the varied sonic worlds of darkness released on the label, for me the pivotal influence of the label and its artists cannot be underestimated. Likewise from my initial introduction to CMI (via Mortiis of all artists), it quickly became a label to obsess over, where I purchased virtually everything which was released (both CMI and its sub labels), and have spent many years since tracking down the more obscure and limited releases.
To then talk a little of the defining elements of CMI, despite the highly varied sounds and thematic approaches of the label’s roster, there was as consistent attitude and visual aesthetic, which in turn functioned to stoke the flames of a fetishist collector’s mindset. Without this, how else could ‘CMI’ become an overarching descriptor that underground devotees would immediately recognise and understand?
From the above perspectives, it has meant there was simply no way I could approach the event without a heavy dose of nostalgia, as well as intrigue for some acts who either have not played live in many years, or in one case at all. Equally there is a degree of interest in what the potential future of CMI would be following the event, particularly given the label had slowed in activity from 2012, followed by an announcement in February, 2014 by the label head Roger Karmanik that the label had ceased operations.
So, in the context of my long term and interest and obsession with the label, my impressions of the event are so coloured and influenced by my favourite artists and albums, it is almost impossible to be completely objective within my festival report. And from this angle I expect there may be some strong opinions of agreement and/ or disagreement with some of my impressions, and as that may be, I have at least attempted to be as objective as possible. With all that said, following below is the full rundown of the event in all its glory!
: PRE-SHOW WARM UP PARTY :
Before the main event a pre-warm up show had been organised at the Pet Sounds Bar in Sodermalm, Stockholm, being a small, street level bar which could hold perhaps 150 people in total, and also including a much smaller basement bar where Nordvargr was to play (only 66 tickets were made available for the show).
Photo: Scott Van Dort
In arriving at the bar at official kick off time of 6pm it was a great opportunity to meet up with many old contacts and also meet a number of new ones. But following drinks and chit chat, around 9.30pm it was time to descend to the basement level to see the only performance of the night courtesy of Nordvargr. With the basement space consisting of a bar to the side of a tiny performance space, the stage included a small modular synth set up, and small altar of a single candle, various ritual trinkets and wood incense stick (which was periodically lit throughout the set by Nordvargr).
Upon Nordvargr entering the performance space, his significant stature was duly noted given his head was just short of the quite low ceiling, and when combined with the number of attendees crammed into the small space added to the intimate, verging on claustrophobic, atmosphere. Playing to a projected video backdrop, sonically speaking Nordvargr played a set mostly revolving around an upcoming Nordvargr album slated for release of Cyclic Law, in addition to select tracks from recent solo album material (i.e. The Secret Barbarous Names) and his Anima Nostra collaboration project. Accordingly the mood and atmosphere of the performance balanced driving and rhythmic tribal industrial beat driven songs, to more sombre ritual moments with deep guttural chants. Nordvargr’s stage presence also alternated between being behind the equipment deck or otherwise towering over the fold backs bellowing vocals at the front row audience. Also, by virtue of the final track having a repeated vocal chant of “sweet death triumphant”, the crowd ended up following in an unscripted sing along to generate an excellent conclusion to the show (and in talking with Nordvargr the following day, he was completely blown away by this crowd interaction as it is a new song not previously heard by anyone). With a set of perhaps 40 minutes in length it was no less than an excellent warm up for the main event to follow over the Friday and Saturday.
Photos: Scott Van Dort
: DAY 1 :
The venue of choice to host the main event was Klubben, which appeared to be a purpose band venue within a education complex / community type multi-purpose building. The main band room included a large footprint floor area and upstairs balcony, where the large elevated stage included a full and comprehensive lighting and PA rig. Between the entrance and the band room, was a large foyer where the CMI merchandise tables were set up (manned across the two days by none other than Roger Karmanik, his parter Åsa Tedebro, and other assistants including Lina Baby Doll), with further band merchandise tables in a separate upstairs room).
In the weeks prior to the event it was announced that CMI’s old mail-order ‘vaults’ would be opened and that all manner of rare items would be made available for sale at the festival. Thus, having arrived at the venue early to get towards the front of the queue, I was at least able to peruse offered rarities before the mass crush of the crowd enveloped the room. While I already own a significant proportion of the CMI catalogue, I was still astounded by the number of sold out rare vinyls and tapes available – in mint condition and at reasonable prices to boot. Needless to say some significant money was spent my myself (and many others), where it also seemed that Roger was ecstatic to have the stuff sold and out of his life. Even better was the side-table of CMI flyers and memorabilia which was being given away for free, where I scored many rare flyers, old mail-order catalogues and other obscurities (such as spare covers for a number of classic Sound Source tapes and the Puissance logo printed on a transparency which I imagine would have been used for the embossed effect of the cover the Let Us Lead LP).
As the opening act for the festival Sophia took to the stage, featuring four members of Peter Bjärgö, Cecilia Bjärgö, Per Åhlund, Stefan Eriksson. Via the utilisation of two synths, live floor tom percussion, a large piece of sheet metal and played to a backing track, the group delivered a solid set of their heavily martial industrial and militant neo-classical songs, and including some strong backing imagery (including footage of flames, battlefields and abattoirs etc). Although musically as strong as was to be expected, unfortunately the only drawback was the sound volume, which was simply too low for the bombastic nature of their music. Noting this issue, it heavily affected the impact of their set, which to mind should have been absolutely booming, rather than merely functional. This however would appear to be no fault of the group, given there were some reoccurring issues with volume levels for a couple of acts.
Photo: Derek Rush
Additional photos located: here
Sanctum followed next with what appeared to be the current line-up in addition to other original members resulting in a total line-up of three males and two females on stage. With their song based industrial music which blends harsher aggressive sounds with some orchestral elements, their set was an early highlight particularly based on both their imposing sound and strong stage presence. The dual angelic female vocals offset against the aggressive male vocals also worked excellently in the live setting. Having personally not listened to Sanctum’s back catalogue in many years, it was quite the walk down memory lane, with tracks taken from Lupus In Fabula being particular highlights of their set, as was the ‘untitled’ (or perhaps the unnamed title track) off The Answer to His Riddle 10”EP.
Photo: Henrik Stolt
Additional photos located: here
Deutsch Nepal were up third, and it is perhaps of note that I have not really followed Lina Baby Doll’s output over recent years as the current soundscape and guttural crooning format has not captured me as much as his earlier wonky dark ambient and rhythmic industrial experimentation. However, my views on his recent output was completely altered by tonight’s show, with the volume winning out and making the driving rhythmic loops a massive feature and imposing sonic backdrop to Lina’s deep vocals. Coupled with Lina’s jovial and at time humorous stage presence, it absolutely worked on the night. In casually strolling the stage while bellowing vocals (in-between chugged beer as expected), Lina also interacting with the audience by handing over the microphone and encouraging people to sing their own karaoke versions of his tracks. At one-point Lina seemed to be seeking audience requests, but my own yelled request for Thomas 29 Needles went unheeded. Regardless, it was an extremely impressive and fun set and personal favourites of the set came in the form of the powerful versions of A Silent Siege and Alcohology.
Photo: Henrik Stolt
Additional photos located: here
It was a somewhat unusual choice to have Brighter Death Now play so early in the festival, but in chatting with Roger over the course of the event this was the promoters choice and not his. But based on the substantial volume of the Deutsch Nepal set, it boded well for an excellent Brighter Death Now show, but in the end the lack of overall assaulting volume and chest kicking low-end bass let the group down. On the night Roger Karmanik was assisted by Lina Baby Doll on Bass and new live member Giovanni Maffeis on a table of noise equipment. However the all-important fourth member of ‘volume & low end’ was simply missing. Once the set got underway with the title track from the latest album With Promises of Death, it became apparent that Roger was frustrated by the lack of volume given he kept indicating to the sound booth to elevate it, and taking to event crew side stage mid set. But without this resulting in significant increase in volume Roger and Lina both sought to ramp up the sound volume via generating fold-back speaker feedback loops. Perhaps by the end of the set during a chaotic version of Happy Nation the volume was approaching ‘acceptable’ but really it should have been the starting point and not the end. Also with a barrier between stage and audience Roger was less readily able to interact with (or assault) the audience to which he is known during his shows. Although the show was more the acceptable, ultimately I was left frustrated by volume issues which marred a set which should have benefited from the full capacity of the obviously decent PA (particularly with myself having witnessed the perfect use of volume and low end for this type of material at the Tesco Organsiation 30th Anniversary show the weekend before).
Photo: Henrik Stolt
Additional photos located: here
Sephiroth were the next act to follow where sole member Ulf Söderberg presented a set based around his two and only albums Cathedron and Draconian Poetry issued on CMI (and some material from his solo records for good measure), which particularly showcasing his highly composed tribal / rhythmic soundtracks styled songs. While not much of a stage show, given it featured Ulf behind a bank of synths and other equipment, a swirling visual backdrop provided focus and visual variation. Having seen Sephiroth before, it was perhaps an ‘expected’ show, but still a complete pleasure to be able to hear a selection of his songs played at such booming volume on large sound system.
Photo: Derek Rush
Additional photos located: here
Moving towards the back end of night one, Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio took to the stage and demonstrated themselves to be professional and consummate professionals as a live band (although it sounded like the sound mixer took a couple of songs to really harness and elevate the overall sound). With four members in all, including a guitarist and bassist to either side of Thomas Petterson and Rose-Marie Larsen to the centre, the band was flanked by statuesque females wearing high heels, S&M gear, hooded monks robes and plague masks, all the while holding Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio flags.
With the chosen set list tripping though their extensive CMI back catalogue, it ranged from the later pop-tinged neo-folk tracks, as well as some earlier and more militant tinged industrial tracks. With the band having commanding stage presence and generating an overall erotic and apocalyptic atmosphere, which was further enhanced through the lighting, they were another personal highlight of night one.
Notable highlights of their set included: Nature Seeking Equilibrium / War For The Principal Of Balance (from the Ordo Equibrio I4I 7”EP), The Perplexity Of Hybris. I Glorify Myself (from the Ordo Equilibrio album Conquest, Love & Self Perseverance) and A Song 4 Hate & Devotion (from the Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio album Songs 4 Hate & Devotion).
Photo: Henrik Stolt
Additional photos located: here
The black industrial originators Mz.412 were the headline act for the first day, and based on their performance showed why this was completely justified. With three members dressed as sort of black high priests, each was stationed behind a small pulpits housing small modular synths. During the performance the three figures were mostly motionless, but stormed through a set featuring the heaviest black industrial soundscapes and bombastic neo-classical movements, all set to a shuddering/ stuttering visual backdrop of flames and Satanic symbols.
Clearly the set was based on a pre-sequenced set list, which was augmented on stage by live generated noise and occasional vocals. It was a performance that was completely convincing based on the implied menace and tension of the three members, coupled with the weight and presence of the ample volume. When the group launched into and excellent live rendition of Algiz – Konvergence Of Life And Death from Nordik Battle Signs, it also included an unexpected guest vocal appearance of Thomas Petterson of Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio (who guested on the original studio version). By this stage the niggling volume issues earlier in the day were completely forgotten by the power of their set, which was a supreme way to conclude the night.
Photo: Henrik Stolt
Additional photos located: here
: DAY 2 :
Returning to the venue for an earlier 3pm start, futher CMI rarities were snapped up before day two opener Morthound (the early to mid-1990’s teenage solo project of current sound artist Benny Nilsen). Once the set commenced the substantial volume was immediately noted. With a static visual backdrop (silhouette of figure with crossed arms standing adjacent to a cross), Benny was stationed behind a laptop and noise generator attachment, and gave the sound-system a solid workout via his industrial tinged soundscapes, which on occasion pushed towards harsher industrial noise. This force of the set was quite unexpected, as perhaps I has assumed (wrongly) that the set would be based around the ethno/ tribal ambient sound of his most popular Spindrift album. Noting this was not the case, Benny navigated massive peaks and troughs of heavy bass driven distortion with the only detectable element from the back catalogue coming in the form of the ‘ticking clock’ rhythm of The Age Of Crying (from the This Crying Age album).
Despite the heaviness of the set, Benny was clearly having a great time on stage and at one point he began ‘shooting’ audience members with a finger gun and noise blasts! All in all it was an excellent set and boded well for the night ahead (although it did appears that Benny got the wind up orders early by the event crew and his set was cut short despite not playing for the full allocated 45 minutes).
Photo: Henrik Stolt
Additional photos located: here
Desiderii Margins were second to follow and were similar to Sephiroth in that there was not much of a stage show, rather the visual backing functioned to guide audience engagement. With Johan Levin’s well-established sacral tinged dark ambient, the visual backdrop equally suited the slow pacing and ominous mood of the material. Toying with laptop, synths, and other equipment including contact mic’ed symbol (which was played with a cello bow) in expert fashion, a solid set was delivered and again it was a pleasure to hear his material on such a large PA. Notable highlights for me were the early tracks played from his debut album CMI Songs Over Ruin. Sacral and sublime.
Photo: Henrik Stolt
Additional photos located: here
In moving on to the next act Coph Nia (one of the bigger and more popular acts of the mid 2000’s CMI era), there is simply no way of getting around the fact that I have never been a fan or listener of the group, as it comes from a different angle of broader industrial related music (and simply put, their music is just a touch too ‘gothic’ for my liking). But despite my prior aversions I still checked out the set, and as expected it was a decent show from Mikael Aldén and crew (but still did not convince me otherwise of my own established impressions of the group). But objectively speaking, the crowd was extremely enthusiastic (so technically invalidating my own views of the project!), with the track Holy War being a notable set standout.
Photo: Henrik Stolt
Additional photos located: here
Having seen Raison D’être three times before, I expected it to be decent show, but instead was completely blown away by the impact of this set based on sheer intensity of the utilised volume. Also with sole member Peter Andersson playing a special set consisting of one track from all of his CMI albums, it was a veritable hit parade of the tracks from each album with the greatest emotional impacts.
Again with the focus being on the projected visual backdrop, it functioned to further amplify the mood of the sacral and the damned, based around various moving images of religious decay and sorrowful mourning. For me personally Raison D’être’s was the most moving of the entire festival, where the pairing of tracks Inner Depths of Sadness (from the Within The Depths Of Silence And Phormations album), and Reflecting In Shadows (from the In Sadness, Silence And Solitude album) hit home hard to just how important the music of Raison D’être has been to me over the years (as an example of this, I was so taken In Sadness, Silence And Solitude when first hearing it in 1997 that it spurred to immediately write my first music review, which in turn led to me creating Spectrum Magazine shortly after).
In being far beyond a ‘mere’ dark ambient set, the volume absolutely elevated the impact and presence of the set to the next level and was one of my personal standouts of the entire festival.
Photo: Derek Rush
Additional photos located: here
Next to grace the stage was Jouni Havukainen’s In Slaughter Natives and having previously seen the group in Dresden in 2015 when the set was plagued by sound issues, thankfully there was no repeat of that here. As such the booming satanic industrial/ neo-classical hymns sounded simply massive though the sound system, while a suitable atmosphere was generated by the stage being bathed in dim light and set to disturbing backing images of implied damnation.
With assistance coming from a female synth player (but more of a case of just adding rhythmic percussive key hits to the pre-recorded backing), Jonui had a strong and commanding stage presence throughout. Although for me this was perhaps another example of an ‘expected’ set, again it was great to hear the range of old but now very much classic In Slaughter Natives songs at such elevated volume. Also in chatting with various folk, I know that this set was one the main highlights for many.
Photo: Derek Rush
Additional photos located: here
Like Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio the night before, Arcana also demonstrated themselves to be consummate performers on stage. For the show the band featured five members (two synth players to either side, a percussionist to the back and Peter Bjärgö and Cecilia Bjärgö front and centre to share vocals).
During their set the group delivered a stunning and at times transcending set of darkly and medieval tinged neo-folk/neo-classical songs. Noting that the music of Arcana is effectively an extension of where Dead Can Dance should have taken their sound after their In The Realms Of A Dying Sun album, the interplay of Peter’s and Cecilia’s vocal parts throughout the set was sublime. An early highlight was the song Beautiful Child (where Peter was notably moved and had to emotionally steady himself before commencing), and a pinnacle height was achieved with the final track The Song Of Mourning from their debut album Dark Age of Reason.
Perhaps more than any other performing act at the festival, the audience reaction could be described as nothing other than ‘elated’, and this was noted and reflected in the reception of the group at their end of the set. Simply put it was another amazing show to witness.
Photo: Derek Rush
Additional photos located: here
And so now we come to Mortiis, where it must be said that prior to the event I was already conflicted about the prospect of seeing Mortiis play a ‘reinterpreted’ version of his classic ‘Era I’ album Ånden Som Gjorde Opprør, particularly as it comes so many years after Mortiis had effectively walked away from his ‘Era I’ phase. On the one hand Mortiis was pivotal to my introduction to the CMI world, so I do still have a major soft spot for the ‘Era I’ material (whereas ‘Era II’ and ‘Era III’ are simply not to my taste at all). But on the other hand, is a live ‘reinterpretation’ of his early classic second album really needed at this point in time? Although heavily leaning towards the latter in my personal view, I still approached this set with intrigue and whether it would involve a band, or a theatre type show like in the past, or something else altogether. And I certainly did want to like what was to be showcased – whatever it would be.
So, when the curtain was finally dropped, the audience were confronted with two banners featuring the Mortiis symbol (although one was mistakenly upside down), with Mortiis standing behind a bank of synths to centre stage (resembling a sort of pulpit). As for the video projection, this was a decent visual accompaniment and featured a sort of slow revolving ‘slide show’ of various drawings by David Thiérrée illustrating Mortiis’ created world.
With the smoke machine working overtime throughout the set, you could only catch occasional glimpses of Mortiis in full costume (incl. hooked nose/ ears etc), and while you could not see exactly what he was doing through all the smoke haze, it seemed he was playing the main melody lines from the Ånden Som Gjorde Opprør album to a pre-recorded/ pre-sequenced backing track. As for that backing track, it obviously an updated and newly recorded version, but made to sound far more booming and bombastic (but to my ear it still sounded overly synthetic and also had tinges of an industrial metal sound, which for me was not any sort of improvement on the original recording). So, for me, it was a case that any initial intrigue I may have had, was soon replaced by apathy and then boredom (and perhaps tellingly even the metal-heads in front of me who initially seemed super revved up to see Mortiis live, ended up leaving before the end).
To my mind ‘Era I’ Mortiis sits in its own time capsule and works well as a product of its time, but this new updated and ‘reinterpreted’ live version is simply not needed given the murkiness of the original recording functioned to increase its charm. I can certainly appreciate that as an artist Mortiis is in a tough spot, particularly as there is still quite the cult status around ‘Era I’, so obviously he wants to celebrate it in some way. Likewise, prior to the show I sort of expected I was going to like the show regardless, and that was either going to be on the basis of being great on its own merit, or otherwise by it potentially reaching a complete level of ridiculousness for a total entertainment factor. Instead I was left underwhelmed and could not even connect with it as mere entertainment alone. Of all acts on at the festival, I expect that Mortiis’ show will be the most polarizing in opinion, so despite my own negative view, I am genuinely intrigued to hear of others’ views.
Photo: Derek Rush
Additional photos located: here
The project with the greatest intrigue factor on the line was Archon Satani, noting this was to be their first performance ever and saw resurrection of the project as a duo. To provide brief historic context Mikael Stravöstrand and Thomas Pettersson had worked together before splitting up on around 1992 in acrimonious circumstances, where Mikael continued with Archon Satani until around 1997 before deviating off into techno fields, while Thomas opted to develop the song focused Ordo Equilibrio.
With the stage bathed in smoke, low blood red lighting and a projected ‘flame flickering’ Archon Satanic shield symbol, things looked set for a excellent show, with Thomas stationed behind a large piece of sheet metal and sonic equipment, while Mikael manned a separate table with further sonic equipment and a lone mounted crash symbol. However, from the outset things appeared not to go to plan. Plagued by virtually no output volume, there was some frantic communications side stage before a fragment of an Mz.412 track (of all things!) started to play through the speakers before being abruptly cut. From there things gradually got on track and the volume issues improved, but the set only worked in partial terms overall. Of note was an early segment included live sequenced driving tribal rhythms, but to my mind was far more percussive than what I have always appreciated about the project (i.e. murky production, drawling chants, slow ominous ritual beats and conveyer belt type loops etc). However, a lengthy mid-section managed to sate expectations given its darkly rendered ritual industrial soundscapes.
My general impression of the performance was that it involved live generated noise being created over a pre-prepared backing track, but perhaps the issue on the night came down to the sound mixing and balancing of elements, as the backing track seemed too low in the mix and the live generated material (bowed sheet metal, sequenced tribal beats/ rhythms, sporadic symbol hits etc.) being elevated too much in the foreground (although strangely a better balancing of these elements is featured in the online videos I have since watched). Regardless of these issues, to my ear the set appeared to included live versions and/ or fragments of Voices Of Garden Hell, Heavenly Inoculation, Ritual Murder, Beyond All Thee Sickness, Incubus and Hymn of Despair (but I could also be wrong on this, based on my ‘balancing’ comments above), but the set definitely concluded with a live rendition of the vocal driven track Dies Irae Pt. 2 (from 1993’s Karmanik Collection compilation).
From the limited integration of the duo on stage (including Mikael doing lots of standing around and drinking beer), I am not sure how much the set was rehearsed, but given I that their set was one of my most anticipated, it in the end I found it to be slightly lackluster and not the not the overall ending for the festival I had hoped, particularly when compared to the massive concluding set of Mz.412 from the night prior. Perhaps my overall expectation for the set was simply too high, or otherwise could have been altered positively if the mixing issues were overcome and the volume matched that used by Raison D’etre or Mz.412 for example. Despite all this, it was at least still enjoyable to finally see Archon Satani grace the stage some 25 years after the duo split.
Photo: Derek Rush
: EPILOGIE :
From the outset the CMI 30th Anniversary festival was going to be something special, but I was still surprised by just how positive the atmosphere and mood of the entire event was, which extended to both fans and artists I talked with along the way. There was also clear sense of disbelief that the event was actually happening, and that so many CMI acts had been brought together under the banner of single event and given the opportunity to perform on such a large stage with a massive PA and lighting rig. But happen it did, and in the end the promoter Death Disco Productions did an absolutely fantastic job of pulling the overall event together and keeping thing on track, given that each acts was allocated around 45 minutes playtime each, and with only 25 minutes changeover between acts. Time will tell, but I get the sense that this event may be in future be referred to as one of those ‘once in a lifetime’ experiences for artists and fans alike.
The event also functioned to answer the question of what if anything was the future of CMI is, given that new flyers were circulated announcing that CMI indeed was being relaunched with a series of archival releases from Lille Roger and Brighter Death Now and a new 7” from the obscure Swedish project Thurnemans. Given this relaunch is welcomed news, it will be interesting to see where the label goes following these initial releases in early 2018.
As a final comment, in talking with Roger during the event he seemed genuinely touched by the support and devotion of the 750 attendees who had made the special trip from 46 different countries, which is itself telling of the legacy and impact CMI has had on so many over the years. Without a doubt it was an amazing event to experience, so gratitude to Death Disco Productions for making it happen. Now, long may the legacy of CMI now continue!
Photo: Scott Van Dort
Mr Noise Receptor Journal/ Spectrum Magazine (Richard Stevenson) with the Cold Meat Industry Captain (Roger Karmanik).
noise receptor 