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October 17, 2011

Amphi Festival 2012 – Great News Keep on Coming

July 21&22 next year are going to be some busy days! Amphi Festival organizers announce the great news for their 8th edition; the open-air venue of Cologne’s Tanzbrunnen will be taken over by more than 40 acts on three stages. Add to that the merchant galleries, the beach club and the cafe’s, and you get the picture.

Will the 8th edition be again sold-out? Chances are the answer to that question is YES, since all three past editions were sold-out successes. If you take into account the forming lineup, chances become clearer and clearer: The Sisters of Mercy, And One, Eisbrecher, Project Pitchfork, Combichrist, Camouflage, Front Line Assembly, DAF, Mono Inc., Corvus Corax, Nachtmahr, but also 18 Summers, Coppelius, [X]-RX, [:SITD:], Solar Fake, Haujobb, Assemblage 23, Seabound, Tyske Ludder, Whispers in the Shadow, Eisenfunk, Schoengeist, Lord of the Lost – we wouldn’t have written all the names announced so far if they weren’t – all – so great!

The 5+1 ticket package is soon to be sold-out, so hurry up if you’re going to travel with a group of friends to the festival. Other than that, tickets are sold in regular premises such as Eventim offices, but also online on the dedicated page of the Amphi festival site (http://amphi-festival.de/tickets) and on Protain web page (http://protain-ticket.de). As always, you can keep yourselves up to date with festival info by checking the festival official page and the festival Facebook page.

October 12, 2011

Shiv-r “This World Erase” – Viva Music Album Review

Tracklist: “Entree” * “Pharmaceutical Grade” * “God Is Art” * “Incision” * “Hollow Mask” * “This World Erase” * “Blind Mice” * “Deafening” * “This Fix” * “Stripped” * “Alpha Omega” * “Lingerie” * “Arise

About Shiv-r:

Shiv-r are: Virul3nt (Pete Crane), and Kong (Lee Bulig).

After hitting the scene with their innovative debut album “Hold My Hand” and the hard-hitting follow up EP “Incision“, Shiv-r are back in 2011 with “This World Erase“, a new full-length album to awaken the dark side lying dormant beneath our skin. No stranger to club hits, Shiv-r tread this ground stronger and heavier than ever with plenty of harsh club annihilators destined for the dancefloor. Haunting, neoclassical tendrils also encompass the brutal club sounds while a more evolved lyrical and vocal approach attacks themes such as nihilism, the romantic rendering of abuse and above all waging a war on apathy. From the grindingly slow vampiric dirge of “This Fix“, to the psy-infused energetic explosion of “Alpha Omega” and the overly emotive title track, “This World Erase” is a varied and evolved follow-up album that further establishes Shiv-r‘s gossamer stranglehold and strives to make us feel alive in a dying, apathetic world. (source: press release)

Read about Shiv-r’s performance at Nocturnal Culture Night 2011 here| See the photo gallery for Shiv-r’s performance at Nocturnal Culture Night 2011 here

Shiv-r “This World Erase”: Viva Music Album Review:

Can a music album be an exercise in eloquence? After listening to Shiv-r’s “This World Erase”, released this week (and already a top seller with Metropolis Records and a point of pride for Infacted Records) and giving it a serious thought, the answer is definitely yes. The purity of the sound, the shrewdness, and, audacity of the lyrics, and their fortifying combination really bring on a special effect. Listening to this album is like listening to a good friend, who, no matter what the two of you are talking about, brings you reason and clarity. Nothing stands out in an obtrusive manner, and nothing provokes havoc. And all songs included in “This World Erase” are like pieces in a puzzle: they mix, they match, and fall in the right pattern before your eyes. (more…)

October 10, 2011

Aesthetic Perfection release “All Beauty Destroyed” on Nov-02. Before, “Inhuman” (single) on Oct-20!

All Beauty Destroyed” is the name of the third album from Aesthetic Perfection. It will be released both as a standard disc and a special limited edition with a second disc including various remixes from X-RX, Alter Der Ruine and Hocico). It will be available in Europe from Out of Line starting Nov-04 and in the US from Metropolis starting Nov-08. Preceded by two single releases, one of which can be listened to and downloaded for free from the band’s Facebook page here (tab: Free single), (“The Devil’s in the Details”), as well as their forthcoming release, the appetizing album teaser to be released on Oct-20 with Out of Line (“Inhuman”).

Advance orders of the latter can be placed at the store located on Aesthetic Perfection’s site, but will also be available in digital outlets from both Out of Line and Metropolis. Meanwhile, you can stream the track from the band’s Facebook page here (tab: Band page). And if you thought the names of remix acts dropped in the album tracklist preview were great, what can you say when you hear that “Inhuman” is remixed by Combichrist, Imperative Reaction or iVardensphere? Check it out, don’t miss such a great opportunity to become familiar with a great album.

August 11, 2011

The Birthday Massacre – “Imaginary Monsters” – Viva Music Review

Tracklist:  “Forever* Burn Away * “Left Behind * Pale [Kevvy Mental & Dave Ogilvie ‘Rubber Unicorn’ Mix]” * “Control [tweaker Mix]” * “Shallow Grave [Combichrist ‘Good For Her’ Mix]” * “Pins And Needles [SKOLD Mix]” * “Shallow Grave [Assemblage 23 Mix]”

Imaginary Monsters” (release date: Aug-09) is a followup material from The Birthday Massacre after their successful 2010 album “Pins and Needles”.  The EP, comprising 8 tracks, includes three original tracks, as well as five fantastic remixes of tracks from their latest album.

Order The Birthday Massacre’s “Imaginary Monsters” from Metropolis Records here | Read the official release information from Metropolis Records from May-26 here.

About The Birthday Massacre:

The Birthday Massacre is from Toronto, Canada. Combining their interests in various musical and artistic styles, the band has successfully accumulated an impressive international fan base, press accolades, and defied categorization with their unique sound and visuals.

The band was formed in 1999 and independently produced and recorded their first two albums, “Nothing and Nowhere” and “Violet”. Through both of these high-demand releases, as well as their highly acclaimed and beautifully atmospheric website, the band obtained a large and loyal fan base throughout the world. Due to their independent success, in 2005 they were approached by European and North American record labels and the band began its steady climb to reaching a much wider audience with the 2007 release of the acclaimed and wildly popular “Walking With Strangers”.

In the last few years, the band has been performing internationally, traveling extensively across Canada, the United States, Mexico, Australia, the U.K. and Europe. They have become renowned for their high-energy live performances, drawing large, mixed crowds through their appeal to fans of a surprisingly wide range of genres. Their fourth full length album “Pins And Needles” was released on Sep-14, 2010 accompanied by a video for “In The Dark“.

The Birthday Massacre – “Imaginary Monsters” – Viva Music review:

With the release of “Pins and Needles” and the 100% positive feedback they received, The Birthday Massacre accomplished a new stage in their career – full sound, charismatic voice, well arranged musical landscape. Therefore, it is no wonder that they came up with new material within less than a year from their latest album release. “Imaginary Monsters” is a fresh deal and a disc bound to be played in a loop! Not only it comes packed with beautiful remixes for already famous tracks, but it also gives a glimpse of previously unreleased material, which definitely thrills the band’s 150k fanbase (according to Facebook). (more…)

July 12, 2011

Nordstern Festival, Hamburg, 08&09-July 2011: Viva Music Review

 

Viva Music wants to thank Neuwerk Music Management and all the participants in the first edition of Nordstern Festival for an awesome experience. Let’s do it again!

Day One (below) | Day Two

Day One: July-08, 2011 Nordstern Festival @Markthalle

 The venue | SLAVE REPUBLIC | ARCHITECT | KLANGSTABIL | EMPIRION | FROZEN PLASMA | SONO

The venue

Hamburg’s own dark and electro festival debuted with a first evening in the generous venue of Markthalle. With a good club and concert venue layout, Markthalle proved not only to be a very accessible location (in the immediate vicinity of Hamburg’s central train station and with a myriad of means of transportation within reach of the avid concert-goer), but also a plausible choice for the size of the event and the needs of the audience. Bedecked with a no-wait bar, food stand, coatroom and merchandise stands, the venue was impressive, with good acoustics and a wonderful coordination of sound and lighting, thanks to Neuwerk’s team of skilled professionals. Though the 2-day festival passes were sold out before even the event kicked off, the management made a few 1-day tickets available at the front counter, so that late-comers to the festival could enjoy it, too.  back to top (more…)

May 26, 2011

Birthday Massacre “Imaginary Monsters” Out August-09 + Pre-Order Info

Tracklist:

01. Forever * 02. Burn Away * 03. Left Behind * 04. Pale [Kevvy Mental & Dave Ogilvie ‘Rubber Unicorn’ Mix] * 05. Control [tweaker Mix] * 06. Shallow Grave [Combichrist ‘Good For Her’ Mix] * 07. Pins And Needles [SKOLD Mix] * 08. Shallow Grave [Assemblage 23 Mix]

Following up on the success of the most recent album “Pins And Needles“, The Birthday Massacre returns with “Imaginary Monsters“, a new EP consisting of three all new songs and five remixes. The three new songs, “Forever”, “Burn Away”, and “Left Behind” find the band at its creative apex. Dark, personal, and atmospheric, The Birthday Massacre builds on its compelling blend of gothic, rock and electronic music into a sound that is all their own. To give the fans another perspective on the aforementioned sound, The Birthday Massacre has had five colleagues offer their unique perspectives on tracks from “Pins And Needles“. SKOLD, Combichrist, tweaker, Assemblage 23, and Kevvy Mental & Dave Ogilvie add their own spin to TBM’s distinctive style. As a bonus, the EP also features the video for “In The Dark“!

PRE-ORDER: Order now, and we will ship this item to you when it is released on August 9, 2011.

(source)

May 12, 2011

Necro Facility – “Wintermute” – Viva Music Album Review – Out Tomorrow May-13!

 

Tracklist:

01. You Want It | 02. Explode | 03. Cuts | 04. Do You Feel The Same | 05. Fall Apart | 06. Waiting For The Snow | 07. Ignite | 08. Skrik | 09. Supposed | 10. All That You Take

Read the album press release here.

Viva Music Album Review

Note: If the review is overwhelmingly positive, it is because we at VIVA MUSIC are thrilled about the latest release from NECRO FACILITY, “Wintermute”, out tomorrow May-13 with Progress Productions. Not only is the album a delightful listen you feel the urge of listening again when you finished listening to it the first time; but also because it is a well-needed breath of fresh air to the electro and industrial scenes. (more…)

April 26, 2011

Alter Red – “Mind-Forged Manacles” – Out May-02 – Viva Music Album Review

On May-02, UK act ALTERRED’s debut album, “Mind-Forged Manacles” is out at Ionium Records.

Download the free promo track “Like April Foolshere.

About ALTERRED:

ALTERRED are: AlterRed – music * Vix Vain – images

ALTERRED live are: AlterRed – vocals * Vix Vain – synths * Mark Red – synths & piano * Jack Hell – bass

One of the most dynamic and original UK debut stage presences is, without doubt, ALTERRED. A cross-germination of niche musical interests that range from indie to darkwave, preserving at the same time a fundamental electro touch, stacked up on a flamboyant, conceptual and theatrical live show, ALTERRED claim their influences from a variety of cultural icons such as Depeche Mode, NIN, IAMX, Marilyn Manson, David Bowie, Danny Elfman, Hans Zimmer, VNV Nation, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Christopher Nolan, Tim Burton, Ridley Scott.

A 2008 product of the London musical scene, what ALTERRED propose is, avant-garde piano mashed up with electro samples and soaring, haunting vocals. To back up, a complete contemporary mythology, coming with surreal characters and surroundings create the universe of ALTERRED. KMFDM, Assemblage23 and Combichrist are just a few of the names who shared the stage with ALTERRED. (more…)

March 22, 2011

Combichrist Tour Diary Entry for Bucharest Out Now + Facebook Contest

COMBICHRIST published on their Vampirefreaks.com tour diary the entry devoted to their stay&play in Bucharest on March-01, 2011. They liked what they saw & did around here, and ended on a very promising note: “THANKS ROMANIA! WE WILL FOR SURE BE BACK!”

Read COMBICHRIST‘s tour diary entry for Bucharest here.

Read COMBICHRIST‘s Tumblr entry for Bucharest here.

Read VIVA MUSIC‘s review of event (plus loads of links of event coverage in text, photo and video) here.

And… contest time!

Clues for an ad-hoc COMBICHRIST contest on our Facebook page.

March 3, 2011

Combichrist in Romania review (with photos) – with Mortiis – March 01, 2011

I can only say one thing: tonight, VIVA MUSIC converted me to a new religion in the chapel of The Silver Church”. (Hypestreet.ro)

VIVA MUSIC proudly presents the success of yet another event, COMBICHRIST + MORTIIS live at The Silver Church, on March 1st, 2011. A frantic crowd, a very energetic and invigorating sound, plus a unique experience for both artists and audience: these are the words we’d use to sum up the ploy COMBICHRIST and MORTIIS put up in order to prompt the emotions of their audience into the right corner of the heart.

The event was preceded by an escalating reputation – numerous publications, radio stations, internet communities and sites propagated the news of a performance filled with excitement and expectations: and in effect, the show was not disappointing at all! If you add the many Twitter and Facebook shares (estimated: over 2,000) to the concert related news, info, videos and reviews, you talk about the event that broke ground on the music scene of Bucharest – an event that ignited, inspired and elevated a curious, educated and hip audience of electroheads, Goths, rockers, and the regular club-goers – a wonderful audience whom we feel we could never thank enough.

MORTIIS’s concert lasted a head-spinning 45 minutes, in which they delighted their audience with a gravity-defying scenic tour of their work. Although consecrated tracks of their impressive discography were not given live greenlight, their setlist tuned to the audience’s thirst of quality music made in Norway.

Mortiis are a team-like band, and their music matches perfectly the energy they display on stage and their aspect, thus making the perfect introduction to what was about to happen, namely the COMBICHRIST concert” (Thegig.ro)

In the spotlights that would occasionally tear the darkness filled with smoke it was rather difficult to picture the savageness of their look thoroughly, however, the concert was an excellent one, with very good sound and a different (and I mean it in a good way) show, that sets against their studio recordings”. (Metropotam)

MORTIIS setlist @The Silver Church, March-01, 2011

The Ugly Truth
Way too Wicked
Gibber
Doppleganger
Closer to the End
Perfectly Defect
Decadent & Desperate
Scalding the Burnt
Demons Are Back

MORTIIS photogallery @The Silver Church, March-01, 2011

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(special thanks to Andrei and vv)

MORTIIS photogallery, March-01, 2011, courtesy of Silver Church

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MORTIIS interview by Metalfan.ro (English version, Romanian version)

COMBICHRIST’s show, on the other hand, eliminated any doubt anyone might have had about their live performance skills. A well-concerted experience that did away with the limitations of a traditional show, their erupting presence, synchronized team and infatigable zest delivered a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Well over their 90 minutes, the band encored and encored into the night as a frenzied audience asked for more energy and majestic sound.

Breathtaking from the beginning to the end”. (Thegig.ro)

With their industrial make-up all over them, as if, they had just changed the oil or the ball-bearing of the wheel of the apocalypse, COMBICHRIST made an outstanding show”. (Metropotam)

I have never seen before such an excess of testosterone in only one place! So much synchronicity, force and manliness unleashed!” (Hypestreet.ro)

After what seemed like 2 hours of live performance, which would have tired anyone, the band amazed with the same energy they showed when they got on stage. COMBICHRIST were amazing, they were prepared to deliver a show you had a hard time leaving behind”. (Thegig.ro)

I can only say one thing: tonight, VIVA MUSIC converted me to a new religion in the chapel of the Silver Church”. (Hypestreet.ro)

COMBICHRIST setlist @The Silver Church, March-01, 2011

Just Like Me
Follow the Trail of Blood
Today I Woke to the Rain of Blood
Electrohead
Throat Full of Glass
Get Your Body Beat
Deathbed
Slave to Machine
Fuckmachine
Blut Royale
They
Never Surrender
(encore one)
Scarred
Fuck This Shit
(encore two)
What the Fuck Is Wrong With You?

COMBICHRIST photogallery @The Silver Church, March-01, 2011

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(special thanks to Andrei and vv)

COMBICHRIST photogallery, March-01, 2011, courtesy of Silver Church

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MORTIIS videos courtesy of Adrian Rolland, www.bloodbath.ro: Perfectly defect, Decadent and desperate

COMBICHRIST videos courtesy of Adrian Rolland, www.bloodbath.ro: Fuckmachine, Fuck this shit, What the fuck is wrong with you

MORTIIS & COMBICHRIST videos by Metalhead.ro

Reviews with photo galleries: Metropotam, TheGig, Hypestreet, Empty-Stage, Metalfan, Rockstage (MORTIIS photos), Rockstage (COMBICHRIST photos), and last but not least a vivid review from Maximum Rock Magazin.

 

Other videos by the participants: MORTIIS no #1, MORTIIS no #2, COMBICHRIST no #1, COMBICHRIST no #2, COMBICHRIST no #3, COMBICHRIST no #4

 

 

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