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July 27, 2012

Amphi Festival 2012: Viva Music Review, Jul-21&22, Cologne

Amphi Festival took over Cologne’s Tanzbrunnen for the 8th time! With a very clever choice of acts, and overall perfect organization, Amphi stated once more its position as one of the central events for the electro and industrial scenes. As it often happens, a sold-out event weeks before its start, Amphi Festival provided quality entertainment, very good facilities and considerable fuel for a crowd of almost two score of thousands. With early starts on both festival days, both on Saturday Jul-21 and Sunday Jul-22, the festival comforted the audience with a solid palette of both on the outdoor main stage and in the nearby Staatenhaus, as well as alternative entertainment in the Theater building. If you add to the set of concerts the wide array of stands, facilities, areas (including the famed beach zone), you could have practically spent a whole festival day just digging through bargains and taking your time in front of quite varied meals and still call it a full day. Or day and night! Because after countless concerts in the various venues of the area, DJ sets went on until the early hours of morn. But as a yearly convention of already sufficient stance, Amphi Festival meant, of course, a probe of temperature and color in today’s scene, and if audience reactions stand for anything, we’re all good, the entertainment is still varied, the ethos of the scene is still valid and vivid, people still feel the urge to dress up and make a stand, and the music sounds as good as ever.

 

Viva Music would like to take a minute to thank for the opportunity to be there and enjoy Amphi Festival 2012 to: the flawless clockwork organizing team, to the numberless artists and tech personnel who made concerts happen, and to the beating heart of the audience, which keeps our scene alive and kicking. And if you missed Amphi Festival this year, put these two things down on your to-do list: (1) read our act-by-act review and browse the individual photo galleries; (2) book in time your Amphi Festival 2013 experience: with tickets already on sale this coming week on Aug-01, and the first acts to be confirmed on Aug-13. Amphi Festival 2013 will take place on Jul-20 and Jul-21 in Tanzbrunnen Cologne. (more…)

May 5, 2012

Industrial Booom – ReBoot Festival – Apr-27-29, in Budapest, Hungary: Viva Music Review

Industrial Booom – ReBoot Festival is one event we were definitely eager to attend. To begin with, we are always happy to see the scene evolve and manifest itself in our part of Europe, and the scene of Budapest, especially after last year’s Industrial Booom, was something we were curious to check out. Then this year’s lineup screamed thrill coming our way, and we could not resist it. Guided and welcomed by the extremely helpful and accommodating professionals who organized the Budapest event, Black Head Agency, we attended Industrial Booom – ReBoot Festival in Budapest, Hungary, between Apr-27 and Apr-29 and were simply thrilled. Our thanks go to the organizers, to the nice emerging dark scene of Budapest, and needless to say, to the artists who gave their best on the stage of Barba Negra Music Club, a truly great venue, with everything from a VIP lounge to a kitchen, as well as a great stage and sound system, a welcoming concert hall, and a smoking ban that was appreciated even by smokers.

The event lasted for three days, and each day was given a special name to accommodate the genres and acts who were performing. The first day, Fri, Apr-27, entitled Mechanix Day, was the day in which First Aid 4 Souls, Decoded Feedback, Haujobb, The Neon Judgement, 32Crash and Project Pitchfork went up on stage. Then on the second day, Sat, Apr-28, we witnessed the Electronic Body Day, with acts such as Escalator, Absolute Body Control, Klutae, Spetsnaz, Front 242, and The Juggernauts. Finally, the Dark Side Day, on Sun, Apr-29, meant incredibly good performances from The Arch, Sonar, Dance or Die, In Strict Confidence, Clan of Xymox, and Diary of Dreams. Belgium was the most represented country if you think of the nationalities of bands, with seven acts, closely followed by Germany with five. Local acts from Hungary, two of them, as well as acts from Canada, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands, one each, completed the beautiful and clever lineup of the festival.

Detailed festival concert reviews illustrated with event photography can be accessed below by scrolling or by clicking on the days and act names from their respective menus.

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April 19, 2012

Amphi Festival News: Second Theater Headliner, Conjure One, Ticket Info

Amphi Festival organizers are happy to announce the second headliner for the theater stage. Reading performance and concert ‘Henke Plays Goethes Erben’: on Saturday, Jul-21, Oswald Henke takes over Theater am Tanzbrunnen. First hitting the stage with his current reading performance “Die Zeit Formt“, he will make a second appearance later that day, playing one of the most definite concert highlights of the Amphi Festival 2012.

Amphi The Orkus Open Air 2012 Festival will take place between Jul-21-22 at Tanzbrunnen, Cologne.

 Amphi Festival 2012 program to date includes:

The Sisters of Mercy, And One, Eisbrecher, Blutengel, Project Pitchfork, Apoptygma Berzerk, Combichrist, Camouflage, Mono Inc., Corvux Corax, The Cruxshadows, DAF, Conjure One, Nachtmahr, 18 Summers, Coppelius, [:SITD:], Haujobb, Stahlzeit (Rammstein Tribute), Spetsnaz, Assemblage 23, Solar Fake, Henke, mind.in.a.box, Love Is Colder than Death, Spiritual Front, Seabound, Aesthetic Perfection, A Live Divided, [X]-RX, Tyske Ludder, Whispers in the Shadow, The Other, Eisenfunk, Lord of the Lost, Schoengeist, The Wars, Eklipse, Dr. Mark Benecke

Front Line Assembly cancels all shows this summer, therefore there will be no FLA show at Amphi. Here is the official band statement: “After much thought and considering we regret to inform our fans that we will be unable to perform at any summer shows we are currently booked for. After an extensive tranche of shows supporting our last record we have to decided to spend next year focusing on writing and delivering new albums; an instrumental of tracks that will be featured in the videogame AirMech from Carbon Games, a new full length LP, and possibly a new Noise Unit record. Our apologies to any promoters/fans this may affect in a negative manner, we look forward to releasing new material and playing shows further down the road. All the best, FLA

Conjure One/Rhys Fulber will perform a special live set at Amphi Festival. Rhys Fulber, known as long-time member and producer of many classic FLA tunes will perform a unique set, including Conjure One and Delirium tracks, as well as a selection of Front Line Assembly classics that have not been played live in recent years.

Original festival tickets can be booked in advance exclusively on the Amphi Ticketshop at www.amphi-festival.de/tickets. Festival tickets are further available online at www.protain-ticket.de and at all nationwide CTS/EVENTIM box offices. For further information please visit the festival site: www.amphi-festival.de and the official festival Facebook page: www.facebook.com/amphifestival.

 

March 22, 2012

Nordstern Festival Lineup Complete 2012

Finally the line up of our second Nordstern Festival 2012 is complete!

We stick to our idea of trying to present bands that you can only rarely see at the big festivals: The Belgian EBM combo Juggernauts is just such a band. The formed in 2010 and the their first song „Phoenix“ was released in July 2011 as part of the „Awake The Machines 7“ sampler. The Juggernauts will open on Friday at the Markthalle. With 18 bands on 2 days and in 2 two venues, a Kick Off – and an Aftershow Party the Nordstern Festival team is going to offer you a superb program in beautiful Hamburg. Below you can find all relevant festival information:

Line Up:
Markthalle (Big Hall), Friday, 13.07.2012:
Dive* Nachtmahr * Haujobb * :SITD: * Blind Passenger *

Markthalle (Marx), Friday, 13.07.2012:
Eisenfunk * Lights of Euphoria * Monolith * X-RX * Neurotic Mass Movement (Winner of the Newcomer Wettbewerb) * MOON.74 (Winner of the Newcomer Wettbewerb)

Stadtpark, Saturday, 14.07.2012:
Apoptygma Berzerk * Project Pitchfork * Mesh* Northern Lite * Solitary Experiments * The Exploding Boy!

Advance sale is running at full speed. Tickets can be purchased from: 2 days ticket: Tickets for Markthalle, Stadtpark & the Aftershow Party on 14 July (limited to 1000 tickets!!!): Those of you who want to buy such tickets should not wait too long. Stock is already low. Karsten Jahnke: www.karsten-jahnke.de/tickets.php (€ 49,90 including all fees) Eventim: www.eventim.de (€ 51,90 including all fees) Day ticket Stadtpark: Day tickets for Stadtpark and Afteshow Party at the Markthalle on Saturday: Karsten Jahnke: www.karsten-jahnke.de/tickets.php (€ 37,90 including all fees) Eventim: www.eventim.de (€ 39,90 including all fees).

All tickets also allow you to use public transport in Hamburg (HVV) free of charge. News and information concerning the festival can also be found at: www.nordsternfestival.de & www.facebook.de/nordsternfestival. (source: promoter)

March 21, 2012

In terms of musical variety, Amphi Festival 2012 stands out a mile

Amphi Festival 2012 news keep on coming, and we are very happy, since it’s one of the events we are really looking forward to this summer. Musical diversity gives the extra finishing touches to the superb lineup of the festival. Already announced, The Sisters of Mercy, And One, Eisbrecher, Blutengel, Apoptygma Berzerk, Project Pitchfork, Combichrist, Camouflage, Front Line Assembly, DAF, Mono Inc., Corvus Corax, Nachtmahr, Assemblage 23, Solar Fake, 18 Summers, Coppelius, [:SITD:], Haujobb, Stahlzeit, Seabound, Aesthetic Perfection, A Life Divided, [X]-RX, Tyske Ludder, Whispers in the Shadow, The Other, Eisenfunk, Schoengeist, Lord of the Lost – and many others. Today’s news? Three more acts, and what acts, if we may say so: mind.in.a.box, Love Is Colder than Death and Eklipse – the latter being the name of the seductive quartet, which loves to clothe contemporary pop music and soundtrack elements into a fascinating dress of compelling classic string sounds on our Theater-stage. Without vocals, yet even more emotional and spiced up with an extra portion of sex-appeal, the four ladies interpret songs by Coldplay, Lady Gaga, Hurts, Depeche Mode and many more, cunningly flavored with a magic note of dark-lascivious romanticism, wit and dreamy melancholy.

Also in the news today:  Amphi Festival warmup parties – they are numberless! and great occasions to meet other Amphi enthusiasts, plan your trips and get in the mood for the festival, if need be. Apr-07: Paris, Apr-08: Amstelveen, Apr-14: Brighton, Apr-28: Stuttgart, Apr-28: Thessaloniki, Apr-28: Antwerpen; Apr-28: Karlsruche, May-04: Manchester, May-05:  Northampton, May-09: Wuppertal, May-12: London, May-16: Heidelberg, May-19: Krefeld, May-19: Zuerich, May-19: Vienna, May-24: Duisburg, May-25: Bonn, May-25: Bielefeld, Jun-02: Frankfurt, Jun-02: Essen, Jun-02: Augsburg, Jun-03: Dresden, Jun-09: Bonn, Jun-09: Bremen, Jun-16: Siegen, Jun-21: Oberhausen, Jun-22: Athens, Jun-29: London, Jun-30: Ingolstadt, Jul-20: Cologne.

Tickets are available via the Amphi ticket shop under http://amphi-festival.de/tickets and also from http://protain-ticket.de, as well in all German CTS/Eventim box offices. For further information please visit http://amphi-festival.de and http://Facebook.com/amphifestival.

February 29, 2012

More Great News about Amphi Festival 2012!

Great news from the organizers of Amphi Festival 2012 – the Orkus Open Air festival – the list of confirmed acts is getting an irresistible contour. Band suggestions were volunteered by festival fans as well, and in the end the new and replacement bands that make Amphi Festival the event to be at on July 21&22 at Cologne’s Tanzbrunnen.

Apoptygma Berzerk, The Cruxshadows, Spiritual Front, The Wars, and Spetnaz are some of the new names that are added to the already gorgeous list of acts that will keep you beaming for two days: The Sisters of Mercy, And One, Eisbrecher, Blutengel, Project Pitchfork, Combichrist, Camouflage, Front Line Assembly, DAF, Mono Inc., Corvus Corax, Nachtmahr, Assemblage 23, Solar Fake, 18 Summers, Coppelius, [:SITD:], Haujobb, Stahlzeit, Seabound, Aesthetic Perfection, A Life Divided, [X]-RX, Tyske Ludder, Whispers in the Shadow, The Other, Eisenfunk, Schoengeist, Lord of the Lost – and many others.

Tickets are available via the Amphi ticket shop under http://amphi-festival.de/tickets and also from http://protain-ticket.de, as well in all German CTS/Eventim box offices. For further information please visit http://amphi-festival.de and http://Facebook.com/amphifestival.

February 16, 2012

At Industrial Booom – Reboot Festival You Can Team Up and Enjoy a Once in a Lifetime Experience

Blackhead Agency is happy to present attendees and potential attendees of Industrial Booom who have not yet made up their mind to come and enjoy the 3-day frenzy of their Budapest festival a once in a lifetime opportunity: to be part of the event, not only as audience, but also team up and gain access backstage for 3 days, to meet and greet their favorite artists and spend the festival time in a unique atmosphere. All is possible due to the recently added option of a VIP ticket (priced at 30,000 HUF/100 EUR) which will instantly make you the star of the event. With a VIP ticket, you’re not only a guest with full rights, but also a host! What’s more, your name will be aired before the shows, in the list of friends of Industrial Booom Reboot Festival who chose to help an ideal festival lineup stay up and running.

Due to recent upsetting news of Malev breakdown, alternative flights had to be found for the fifteen acts which will spray dark paint over Budapest for three days. This affects the initial budget of the festival and the hopes of open-minded and hard-working organizers to keep the faith, but the festival must go on and this is where you can help.

Just a reminder, here are the festival details and awesome lineup that are in store for visitors of Industrial Booom 2012 in Budapest.

 

Black Head Agency presents Industrial Booom – ReBoot Festival between April 27 and 29: three days with a great lineup in Budapest’s Barba Negra Music Club (Prielle Kornélia u. 4.). It’s not the first time the festival happens, last year’s edition was one we are sorry to have missed: still in late April, acts such as Vomito Negro, Suicide Commando, Blitzmaschine, or The Klinik provided during the 3-day festival sufficient entertainment for the dark crowd.

This year, the festival lineup includes a lot more acts, and in addition, their names together spell the lineup of a reputed festival. Although not complete to date (negotiations with Blutengel and Plasma Pool, as well as a DJ set by Covenant’s Eskil are also under the organizers’ scrutiny), the lineup includes:

Day One, April 27 – “Mechanix Day”: Project Pitchfork, The Neon Judgment, Haujobb, 32 Crash + surprise band

Day Two, April 28 – “Electronic Body Day”: Escalator, Absolute Body Control, Klutae, Spetsnaz, Front 242

Day Three, April 29 – “Dark Side Day”: Sonar, Clan of Xymox, Diary of Dreams, In Strict Confidence, Dance or Die

 

Regular and VIP festival tickets are available on the agency site (http://www.black-head.eu/) as well as on the venue site (http://music-club.barbanegra.hu).

January 26, 2012

Industrial Booom – ReBoot Festival – Budapest – 27-29-Apr 2012

RSVP to the Facebook event here.

Black Head Agency presents Industrial Booom – ReBoot Festival between April 27 and 29: three days with a great lineup in Budapest’s Barba Negra Music Club (Prielle Kornélia u. 4.). It’s not the first time the festival happens, last year’s edition was one we are sorry to have missed: still in late April, acts such as Vomito Negro, Suicide Commando, Blitzmaschine, or The Klinik provided during the 3-day festival sufficient entertainment for the dark crowd.

This year, the festival lineup includes a lot more acts, and in addition, their names together spell the lineup of a reputed festival. Although not complete to date (negotiations with Blutengel and Plasma Pool, as well as a DJ set by Covenant’s Eskil are also under the organizers’ scrutiny), the lineup includes:

Day One, April 27 – “Mechanix Day”: Project Pitchfork, The Neon Judgment, Haujobb, 32 Crash + surprise band

Day Two, April 28 – “Electronic Body Day”: Escalator, Absolute Body Control, Klutae, Spetsnaz, Front 242

Day Three, April 29 – “Dark Side Day”: Sonar, Clan of Xymox, Diary of Dreams, In Strict Confidence, Dance or Die

Festival tickets are available until Feb-15 at HUF9,900 (approximately EUR45), as well as day tickets between EUR20-25. For more information check the agency site (http://www.black-head.eu/), or on the venue site (http://music-club.barbanegra.hu).

December 19, 2011

2011: A Music Year in Review (Viva Music version)

2011 was a great year for our scene. Just a quick roundup of the acts and artists who released new material this year is sufficient to give you an impression, however fleeting, of the great tumult the scene has caused and the important additions 2011 has brought to our playlists. New releases from VNV Nation, Apoptygma Berzerk, Haujobb, Sopor Aeternus, Covenant, Kirlian Camera and Diary of Dreams kept music lovers on edge and numerous other releases made their days worthwhile throughout the year.

In 2011, Viva Music had the pleasure and honor to listen to and review some 100 albums. In order to read our reviews, you can go to the menu and pick Album Reviews from the Interviews & Reviews section, or navigate using the right-hand visual cover flow. Pluses between brackets in the article lead you to the featured reviews.

Readers’ choice in terms of number of Facebook likes indicate Apoptygma Berzerk’s “Black EP vo.2” (+), Global Citizen’s “Nil by Mouth” (+), Haujobb’s “New World March” (+), The Cruxshadows’ “Valkyrie” (+), Ghost and Writer’s “Shipwrecks” (+), Autodafeh’s “Act of Faith” (+), Tenek’s “EP2” (+), Shiv-r’s “This World Erase” (+) and Covenant’s “Modern Ruin” (+) as top favorites. We have no doubt it was the beauty of the respective albums and not of our reviews that kept them up in the charts!

With numerous releases, the appreciation of the public was unanimous. It was an honor to have around VNV Nation’s “Automatic” (+), Kirlian Camera’s “Nightglory” (+), Diary of Dreams’ “Ego:X” (+),  Sopor Aeternus’ “Children of the Corn” (+), Aesthetic Perfection’s “All Beauty Destroyed” (+), KMFDM’s “WTF?!” (+), And One’s “Tanzomat” (+), Sin D.N.A.’s “Afterlife” (+), Lowe’s “Evolver” (+), IAMX’s “Volatile Times”, Imperative Reaction’s “Imperative Reaction” (+), Necro Facility’s “Wintermute” (+), Amduscia’s “Death Thou Shalt Die” (+), and System Syn’s “All Seasons Pass” (+ ).

No less impeccable and listenable in a loop proved to be a set of albums which, should you have missed them, are up on your shopping list next time you hit a record store. Ad Inferna’s “There Is No Cure” (+), The Pain Machinery’s “Surveillance Culture” (+), God Module’s “Seance” (+), Mona Mur & En Esch’s “Do with Me What You Want” (+), Leaetherstrip’s “Untold Stories” (+), Vic Anselmo’s “In My Fragile” (+), Solar Fake’s “Frontiers” (+), Mina Harker’s “Bittersuess” (+), Lahannya’s “Dystopia” (+), and Lord of the Lost’s “Antagony” (+).

Special mention should be made of Romanian wonders LeVant’s “Beyond the Masque of Eden” (+) and Brazda lui Novac’s “Dizzy” (+).

Let us not forget the beautiful events we were invited to attend, and had the pleasure to experience in 2011. We provided detailed footage both under the guise of reviews and photo galleries at Amphi Festival (+), Nordstern Festival (+), and Nocturnal Culture Night (+). In 2012, we intend to attend to more such events and keep you posted on our beautiful and dynamic scene.

As Viva Music we also organized our own events in Bucharest. You can take a look at the feedback we received for the third edition of our Darkwave.ro Festival (with Tenek, Rabia Sorda and Project Pitchfork, +), for our Combichrist (+) and Kirlian Camera (+) concerts, as well as for our support for the first Nine Inch Nails Tribute in Bucharest (+). We do our best to keep our scene alive and the response we get is always heart-warming and positive.

 

What was your favorite release in 2011? And what are you looking forward to in 2012?

November 11, 2011

Haujobb “New World March” Out Today 11.11.11 – Viva Music Album Review

Tracklist: “Control” * “Crossfire” * “Let’s Drop Bombs” * “More than Us” * “Machine Drum” * “Dead Market” * “Lost” * “Soul Reader” * “Little World” * “Membrane” * “New World March” * “Echo

Read Viva Music’s review of Haujobb’s single “Dead Markethere | Order “New World March” from here.

Haujobb New World March” – Viva Music Album Review:

The new world march begins today 11.11.11 with the release of Haujobb’s “New World March” album with Zweieck Recordings/Basic Unit Productions,. Beside Daniel Myer and Dejan Samardzic, several other artists joined their efforts in the project: Covenant’s Joakim Montelius, Paul Kendall, Achim Faerber, Sebastian Ullmann, to the result of a very impressive album. Our expectations were already geared up with the June release of their single “Dead Market”, but listening to the album (which, as you will see, cannot happen just once) provided way deeper insight into a musical universe worth settling in, in the coziest and most empathetic manner. It flows naturally, and it is heavy with feeling. There are no extraneous things in the album, and lyrical content is impactful, though it is kept at a minimum: no fancy embedded and subordinated clauses, proof of the fact that you don’t have to be verbose to get your message across. (more…)

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