Rob Dougan is an Australian musician, songwriter and electronic music producer, notoriously known for his 1995 super hit Clubbed to Death (Kurayamino Variation), heavily featured in the soundtrack of the first Matrix movie, which propelled him to fame overnight. This is the story of how an outsider and relatively obscure New South Wales musician instantly turns into a celebrity in the electronic music industry worldwide, being acclaimed and renowned as an EBM inspiratory source of light, and an electronica innovator.

But things with Rob Dougan are never simple, because this is when his history literally begins… and immediately ends, at least, to the general public. After all, instead of capitalizing in the 1995 single success, Dougan took seven years to release his first album, the double feature Furious Angels, which received massive acclaim worldwide, upon its release, in 2002. Of course, included in the album was the hugely successful track Clubbed to Death (Kurayamino Variation), which built his global reputation, after introducing him to wider audiences, since he was already familiar to some Great Britain electronica local scenes.

But after the release of Furious Angels, Dougan disappeared again. At least, from the public spotlight. Through sparse interviews that he gave throughout the years, we learn that he started his music career in the early 90’s in the UK, working as a producer, composer and remix artist for another musicians, and this absorbed him for so much, to the point that he was exhaustingly working for others, and doing very little on his own pieces. When Clubbed to Death – most specifically the so-called Kurayamino Variation – (a song for which Dougan composed a lot of different versions) proved itself to be a smash hit, this caught Dougan entirely by surprise, since he didn’t expected the track to become so successful, neither himself to become a celebrity. This success would be further exacerbated by the inclusion of the hit in The Matrix soundtrack.

Indifferent to the success, Dougan avoided the spotlight, and continued his ordinary activities, as a remix artist, producer and composer, having work commissioned from notorious bands and artists, like U2, Kylie Minogue and Moby. He also pushed further his work as a film score composer, creating songs that would feature in the soundtrack of The Matrix sequel, 2003 The Matrix Reloaded.

After these years, on which his work featured in the mainstream more prominently, Dougan literally disappeared from the public eye. In 2006, Dougan apparently mentioned that two albums were in the works, but absolutely nothing materialized. In 2008, rumors spread that Dougan was involved in wine-making, in France, and sporadically, his work as a film composer occasionally emerged, but usually in very obscure and relatively unknown movies.

Finally, after several years of silence, and thirteen years after his debut album, 2015 saw the light with news about Rob Dougan, with the release of the five songs orchestral neoclassical EP The 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Sessions. Apparently, way more distant of his past in electronic music than we could have possibly imagined, on the other hand, this change of genre proved not surprising at all to the fans most perfectly aligned with Dugan’s experimental nature, since, at least to the ones who were more deeply familiarized with the core of his work, Rob Dougan was already notorious for his eclecticism, mixing different genres and styles of music. 

Nonetheless, this is a great career move, and, unfortunately, albeit obviously, the fans most attracted to his work in the electronic music genre didn’t become enthusiastic or impressed on his turn to orchestral pieces.

Given his curious nature, his experimentations and incursions in other kinds of music certainly could strength his creative processes. Who knows? Maybe someday, Rob Dougan will return to electronic music. Nevertheless, being always unpredictable, and having an aversion for the spotlight, it’s hard to tell or to predict what’s going to be Rob Dougan’s next move. If ever there’s the chance to be one.   

Well, maybe in another thirteen years, Rob Dougan will present us with another album (a rock album, perhaps?). It’s virtually impossible to know, but certainly, we will have to wait to for a long time, apparently.  


​Wagner

Ernest Greene “Washed Out” – Musician, songwriter and record producer

Ernest Greene “Washed Out” is a 33 year-old electronic musician, singer and producer from Georgia, who debuted in 2011, with his first album, the hugely successful Within and Without, and followed in 2013, with his second album, Paracosm. A graduated librarian, Greene started making music in his bedroom, while completely out-of-luck when trying to find a regular job for himself. Things did an unexpected turn when, all of a sudden, his songs gained momentum, and a successful following in his Myspace page soon attracted great reviews, as well as the attention of renowned musicians and producers in the electronic music scene, and very soon the fortunes of the down-on-his-luck aspiring musician forever changed. Now being able to do what he loves the most in life – to write and to record music – electronic music fans and enthusiasts can be grateful to the lack of luck of Ernest Greene in trying to establish an ordinary life for himself, since all of us are winners, being able to listen to his magnificent music, that honors the new wave of the 21st century electronica genre, in his very personal and beautiful compositions. 

Released in July 2011, Washed Out’s first album, Within and Without, attracted great reviews from all corners of the electronic music scene, being scored at three and a half to four and half stars, in the majority of reviews. After two years of its release, it has sold almost 90.000 copies in the United States alone, establishing Greene as one of the most fresh and solid new promises of electronica in the present day. Although only forty minutes long, the album really don’t disappoint: if you are looking for calm and transcendent melodies, melancholically balanced, proficient and pop-infused, Washed Out really delivers a great masterpiece that proves itself to be really worthwhile listening.         

In 2013, Greene followed, with his second full length, Paracosm, released in August 2013, which also received very positive and enthusiastic reviews, by music critics and fans alike. Although a little more transcendent than its predecessor, it continues Greene’s calm and peaceful musical atmosphere, consolidating a style that can be seen as a peculiar result of his very personal and ambitious compositions. Although being mostly associated with the Chillwave movement – by the nature of the transcendent and very serene atmospheres of his music –, Washed Out’s songs are very infused with a lot of pop subgenres, like synth pop, dream pop and indie pop, and flirts a little with other genres as well, like soft rock and trip hop, making his style a very interesting mixture for the underground scene, especially when related to the electronic music. 

Well, it’s impossible to know precisely what’s going to be his next move, but all of his fans and admirers are waiting to see. Of course, we expect in 2016 to see a new album, maybe, although Ernest Greene didn’t spoke about this possibility yet. With more than 310.000 likes on his Facebook page, certainly, the popularity of Washed Out’s beautiful music will continue to grow, as the electronic music scene is anxious to hear new material, and listen to news, related to Washed Out. Well, I certainly wish Ernest Greene a very long and prolific career, as I want to keep listening to his wonderful and melodic music, ever! 

Wagner

During my decades of digging through numerous musical styles, I've encountered a lot of bands that didn't really get the attention and popularity they deserved. Somehow they fell victim to the success of bands that weren't even that good. So for today's "Songs With Stories", I decided to plunge into the vast history of the musical universe to dig up gems that should have been massive hits. 
The dig for these five songs also provided me with a trip through memory lane. A trip to the festivals I visited, to the countless of hours I spent in record stores, going through every alternative thing they had. This was fun article to write...

When I first heard this song, back when MTV was still a music themed television company, I immediately thought these guys would become the next big thing. It was 2001, nu-metal was making its way to the top. Bands like Linkin Park & Limp Bizkit appeared on the biggest stages with hits like 'Rollin', 'My Way', 'Papercut' and 'In The End'. For me, 'I'm Not Trading' by Sunna was way better than any of the previously mentioned songs. The anger, the despair, the industrial elements, everything was stronger than any other nu-metal band could produce. The balance between guitars, drums and electronics was perfect and the vocalist was one of the best in the genre. 
Sunna, hailing from Bristol, UK, also appeared on the 'Hollow Man' soundtrack with another brilliant song, named 'Power Struggle'. They released three albums, toured with A Perfect Circle and Smashing Pumpkins but somehow Sunna got forgotten in time, hopelessly falling behind the Korns, Slipknots, System Of A Downs and so on. Now, even the world's greatest nu-metal tribute band, Bizkit Park, doesn't even play this song. Today, after listening to the song again, I would no longer place this in the nu-metal scene but directly into the industrial one, in good company of bands like Nine Inch Nails.

When I first heard Croatian rockers Stonebride, they blew me away. At that time, I was co-owner of a metal bar and these guys rocked our little stage. Although they never used the term "stoner rock", they became a reference in that particular scene. Their groove, there fuz-out sound and their immersive atmosphere was everything I was searching for at that moment and, along with Monkey 3, Stonebride became a genre-favorite.

They spent a few days at our house before and after their show, drinking loads and loads of coffee and watching South Park and Family Guy on our television-set. It was great fun having them around but after they left, things got quiet around Stonebride until they returned with the album 'Heavy Envelope' in 2014 (read our review). I hope that these guys can finally find the way to the Desertfests and Roadburns. They truly deserve it. 

This one might have something to do with the fact that Sweater was a local band who never got to break through because Belgium had some other acts to push first. Acts like dEUS, who released their smasher 'Worst Case Scenario' in the same year, or Noordkaap and Channel Zero. Internationally, 1994 was a big year for rock music with the release of songs like 'Zombie' by Cranberries, 'Basket Case' by Green Day and 'Come Out And Play' by The Offspring.
Sweater finished third on that year's Humo's Rock Rally, overtaken by Evil Superstars who would grow on to become one of the biggest acts from Limburg ever. For Sweater, the third place was followed by a few singles, including this uplifting rocker and the minor hit 'Love Birds'. However, due to musical difference within the band, front man Jo Smeets decided to pull the plug in 1999. The band made a t-shirt for this song as well, which was one of the first band shirts I ever bought.

If someone asked me, "what is your all-time top-10 of rock ballads"? This one would undoubtedly be in there. In fact, for me, the whole 'Songs For Insects' album is one of the best pieces of progressive metal ever recorded. This song has been with me since I heard it first in 1992 or 1993 and it has been a reference for rock ballads ever since. The heavy songs are brilliantly written pieces of metal, often dissonant but always adventurous. 

Thought Industry recorded five albums but eventually fell victim to musical differences and other issues within the band. They're on my 'too bad I never got too see them live' list, along with The Doors, The Ramones and few other acts.
​
Odd fact, the drummer for Thought Industry went on to form another underrated project, namely I Am Spoonbender. I didn't know that before I started my research for this article but now I like I Am Spoonbender even more :-)

This is one of the bands that I will always keep pushing, simply because it's my all-time favorite and a personal reference to adventurous music. Although this Dutch instrumental industrial rock act has enjoyed some success in the nineties, they completely vanished from the stages in the new century. In 2009, they hesitantly returned with the album 'What You See Is What You Get', followed by 'Merchants Of Air' (no, that's not a coincidence...)  in 2012 and the amazing 'Stern' in 2014. Yet, gigs are scarce, which is too bad.

Kong has a lot to teach to young instrumental rock bands today. For decades they have been able to tell elaborate stories without uttering a single word. They know perfectly how to make a ten minute anthem interesting and continuously changing. In my opinion, Kong is what the post-rock scene needs today, more variation, more tempo, more strange electronics and more immersive sounds.

In fact, I want these guys on Dunk! Festival more than any other band, and I want them in their four-stages, quadraphonic set-up. I can almost guarantee that they would play a gig that the youngsters will remember for a long time, if not forever (like pretty much every Kong gig I've seen so far). From rock over electronic dance music to jazz and ambient, Kong can do it all.

Their debut 'Mute Poet Vocalizer' was released in 1990 and a remastered edition just last year. Both albums will give you a decent impression what Kong are capable of but I suggest you just go to bandcamp and get everything they've ever released.

Serge

Well, it's that time of the decade again. The most criticized band in the world is back with a new song and everybody is getting ready to barf out their opinions. I've seen this happen again and again since the black album appeared in 1991. In fact, I was one of them, one of those fuckers who kept on claiming "Metallica have gone soft", but I quickly grew out of that. After a while, I even started liking that particular album and today it's being played often in this household. I guess my opinion changed a bit after I kissed that girl for the first time when we were slow dancing to 'Nothing Else Matters'. It was New Year's Eve and I got to start the year with a new girlfriend, all thanks to that one Metallica song. It didn't last very long by the way. One day she called me to break up with me because I was too nice to her. 

Anyway, after the black album, Metallica released a bunch of albums that made me want to listen to 'Kill 'em All', 'Ride The Lightning', 'Master Of Puppets' and 'And Justice For All' again. 'Load'? Nope, 'Justice'!. 'Relead', even noper, 'Puppets!'. 'Saint-Anger', nopest of nope but still better than that dreadful thing they did with Lou Reed. Not that those were bad albums, not at all. As a fan of rock and metal music, certainly in the new century, you cannot ignore them. There are some great tunes on these full-lengths, even 'Frantic' is quite ok. But you're not going to a high class wine shop to buy Liebfraumilch and you're not listening to Metallica for anything less than 'One', 'Creeping Death', 'Master Of Puppets' or 'Damage Inc'. But, then again, they have already written and recorded those songs.

In 2008, 'Death Magnetic' appeared, an album that completely passed me by. I didn't care anymore, just like I didn't care for anything by Sepultura without Max Cavalera. I guess by now Metallica was quite similar to that girl who dumped me for being too nice, something I used to care about. I think it was 2012 or even later when I finally gave it a go. Again, not a bad album but immediately after 'Death Magnetic' I pushed 'Justice' into my CD player. Still, something told me that 'Death Magnetic' was a step into the right direction, away from commercialism, angry again. It was no 'Master Of Puppets'. It was simply another Metallica album that would have been better if it came directly after the black album. For a lot of fans, Metallica had lost it.

But now there's a song called 'Hard Wired', coming off the upcoming album, and quite frankly, it's a blast. True, the lyrics are somewhat infantile. 'We are so fucked, shit out of luck' are words you'd expect from a beginning band of fifteen-year old kiddos but not from one of the most seasoned and enigmatic bands on the planet, but, as much as I hate to say it, they are absolutely right on the spot. We ARE fucked. This world, this society hasn't gotten any better since James barked out 'back to the front'. In fact, we're in exactly the same shit as when Metallica first formed.

And that's actually how this song sounds to me. It feels like a punky thrash metal song from the early eighties: pissed-off, in-your-face, kicking against the establishment. If this song was on 'Ride The Lightning', it would have been a classic by now, but no, this is the twenty-first century Metallica, the one people love to shit on to get a little attention from across the interwebs. If this song was the new Overkill, Testament or Kreator track, no one would bat an eye, but no, let's quickly post some negative comments about Lars because it's so damn hip to hate Lars. Lars, who fucked up 'Justice' with his moronic vision about the sound of the bass guitar. Lars, one of the most loathed drummers to ever set foot on the stage. Lars, who is responsible for multiple classics in the metal scene and an inspiration for countless of young people to get their butts behind the drum kit. Thàt Lars!

Since the black album, Metallica have been swallowing criticism, and sometimes with good reason too. They shouldn't have said that they recorded 'St Anger' "in the spirit of 'Master Of Puppets'". But this? This rocks and I bet that most of the people who now criticize the song will soon be moshing their limbs off at one of the upcoming Metallica concerts. If anything, this song makes me want to go see them live again. I will probably be buying a ticket if they come back to Belgium and changes are big that I will buy this new album, maybe even a new Metallica t-shirt. I haven't had one in decades.

There seems to be fire again, power, speed, everything you ever liked about Metallica is here, all in just over three minutes. In a way, this is 'Whiplash' all over again, a fierce speed metal track that will soon blast through millions of already tormented speakers, along with a bunch of other possible fan-favorites. I'm damn sure it will blast through mine and this time, I will probably not be playing one of the older albums after this one. I'm not saying that this is going to be the best Metallica album ever, recording that is no longer possible, but it could be one of the best metal albums of 2016 and that's more than good enough for Metallica. They don't have to prove anything anymore but they just did...


​Serge

The Sound Defects is an American musical project from Indianapolis, the creation of part time musician Brian Witzig. While his latest album was created basically using samples – which could make you think at first that this has nothing to do with rock’n’roll –, you are indeed confronted by a very peculiar sonority, which at first, seems to fall into the psychedelic and stoner rock genres. With the final result being an interestingly hybrid old style of rock, eager to be regarded as a constituent member of the offshoot from the good old passionate rebel rock associated with the psychedelic movement, the album The Iron Horse particularly, his latest to date, exhibits interesting features of southern rock, highlighting a cool nostalgia for 60’s and 70’s psychedelic rock bands, which appears to be the main mission behind contemporary stoner rock groups, that considers themselves today to be basically the official offspring of old psychedelic rock, revitalizing by their own efforts the most eccentric kind of rock’n’roll ever to exist, and bravely impeding the demise of the genre.   

With a very cool, acid-like sound with a positively vibrant atmospheric onset, The Iron Horse is brilliant not just for the nostalgic-minded, but also presents some new elements for the stoner movement, impregnating in their sound some hell bound road ferocities of the old spirit, that will generate (or degenerate) an entire atmosphere of luminescent clouds in your room, full of 60’s ideologies, freedom and a desire to live free, unbound, unchained and unrestrained, almost literally catapulting the listener to a time travel of sound, that can easily fool you, making you think that this is indeed a 70’s band from Alabama, that started its career playing in Woodstock, or any other Flower Power festivals throughout the US. Well, this is not the case, here. But if you listen to The Iron Horse, you certainly will find it hard to believe. Brian Witzig’s ability to stay strong and faithful to the roots and the atmosphere of his old rock’n’roll shape influenced psychedelia it’s not only admirable, but it is also a concept to be preserved, and, hopefully, a mainstay in future albums. 

The Sound Defects has achieved and maintained a very loyal and ever increasing cult following fan base. Being his main point of contact with the outside world his FB page – which currently have more than 32.000 likes –, unfortunately, it is rarely updated. Reading the posts, you discover Brian Witzig’s wife is the main responsible for the page’s updates, mainly posting happy birthday wishes to her husband every time he completes another year of life. She also sporadically answers to people’s comments on the page. The only relevant information you really get from the FB page – and even then, you have to search throughout the posts – is the band’s discography, made up of three albums so far: the first, Respect the Specs (which is also called Volume 1), which is a very rare sought out after collector’s item, Volume 2 and The Iron Horse, which somewhat consolidated The Sound Defects’ reputation. 
 
With a somewhat anachronistic approach to music, which is undoubtedly a major concern – not to mention a requirement – by stoner rock standards, the sound displayed by The Sound Defects in their album The Iron Horse is a major achievement for stoner and southern rock enthusiasts, although they are a lot more than that. With a sound substantiated by minor doses of sound scales and a major alignment to the faithfulness of the entire rock tradition, The Iron Horse delivers to us forty six minutes of what could easily be considered great stoner rock, summarized by the amplitude of an apparent devotion to all the great balances of the genre: psychedelic influences, the 60’s peaceful rebel spirit and a desire to stay free, incorporating also minor traces of other musical references, like southern and roots rock, and Americana, to the extent of creating a unique genre, being at the same time well placed in their exact musical proposal, revealing a very curious and interesting style on making records.             


​Wagner

The plan was simple, go to Rodeofest, sell a bunch of Metal Decks, see a bunch of bands and write a review about the whole thing. Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned. Yes, we went to Rodeofest. Yes, we sold a bunch of Metal Decks but no, we didn't see a lot of bands, not enough to write a decent review about them. So, no, this is not a review. Not in the strict sense of the word. What you are reading right now, is merely a blog post about the sparks that set the Antwerp metal scene on fire again. But first, perhaps I need to explain a little something about myself, someone who rolls in an out of the scene on a regular basis.

​I'm not the world's most social guy. I used to be a lot better around people back in my years as a shop and bar owner. Nine years ago, when I quit those activities, everything changed. Even though I still lived in the same city, I never really got to meet my ex-customers again, mainly because I didn't really go to metal gigs anymore. I switched to noise, drone and ambient, the first one fueled by anger, frustration and an enormous financial hangover. Gradually, my wife and I crawled out of our misery and got our lives back together. Fast forward to that Tuesday morning when I invented The Metal Deck, and things would start changing again; for the better this time.

Rodeofest was the very first festival I contacted about The Metal Deck, and they were the first ones to say yes too. So we reserved a spot in the merchandising tent, gathered a box of decks and grabbed a heap of cds to sell to the fine people at the festival. Björn, my companion for the day, picked me up around noon and we drove off in his awesome, almost ancient, Volvo. About an hour later, we were all set-up and ready to go. We had to expand the merch-tent a little in order to make room for Dopethrone and Eat The Turnbuckle, our neighbours for the day. Before even talking to them, we knew who the guys from Eat The Turnbuckle were. One's leg was plastered, his forehead showed cheese-grater wounds. Another one was limping and still another one could barely walk. It had been a busy tour for these guys, that's for sure. And still, moments after, we saw them walking around with TL-tubes, garbage cans and hockey sticks, getting ready to bash each other's brains in (again).

But for now, all was calm, except for some people from Rodeoshows and Antwerp Music City, who walked around nervously. They were fine-tuning the preparations, hanging arrows towards the toilets and the entrance, making sure every stage, merch booth and food-stand received electricity and water, unloading cars... Organising something like this is not an easy task, but since you already read through this whole thing, now might be a good time to assure these people that I think they did an excellent job. In short, Rodeofest was a massive party with plenty of people, plenty of drinks and plenty of fun.

I started chatting with Robrecht Van Steen, a rocker and a wrestler. In October, we will be selling Metal Decks on Rocktoberfest, which is organised by vzw Into The Pit. However, we mainly talked about wrestling and Robrecht invited us to an upcoming wrestling event. That's cool, I like wrestling and I'm sure it will be a great experience. I have been to a WWE show a few months ago, but this surely will be something different. I'm very much looking forward to that. For the record, no Robrecht, I will not be wrestling. I saw what it does to Eat The Turnbuckle and I don't want to be in a wheelchair at forty-five. I will write some storylines if you like. Anyway, back to the festival.

Along with the first visitors, the first customers started arriving and soon the beautiful fort of Wommelgem would be crowded with bearded, pierced and tattooed people, much to the surprise of the police I think. I remember seeing a man and a woman in uniform looking at all those society-critics in disbelief. They smiled nervously at first but started enjoying themselves quickly after that. Soon after, I saw three or four festival goers taking a selfie with another pair of constables. It even looked like two of the festival goers were holding a joint while taking the picture, which surprised me quite a bit. 

From a distance, I could hear Interstellar Deathroll kicking off this festival in style. They rocked hard, immediately igniting the torch of success, so it seemed. From then on, things would become nothing short of awesome. Soon after, Daedalus would do something similar. Or, again, so it seemed from a distance. I didn't get to see many bands, but what I heard did not irritate me so it must have been good. At 'The Hill', The Reeves blasted a nice set of garage rock and what somewhat sounded like melodic punk rock over the grass. It was a bit of a surprise because I mainly expected metal and sludge at this festival.

Dario Mars and the Guillotines also didn't sound very metal to me. I watched them for a short time during my much-needed coffee break and I like what I heard. With their psychedelic cosmic rock, apparently interlaced with some soul, they quickly gained my attention and I'm quite looking forward to their full-length in October. In 'The Bunker', things would get violent with Marginal and the highly aggressive Carnation, covered in blood. The searing hot venue was packed to capacity, loaded with headbangers, moshers and deranged noise. Yep, party time, the heavy way. Coming out of the venue, I saw someone from the organisation with a tired but happy grin on his face.

Headliner Dopethrone did what headliner Dopethrone always does, deliver a solid set of sludge doom. It was a great set, but I felt that it missed a bit of power on that small stage. Nonetheless, Dopethrone proved to be a worthy main act for a festival like Rodeofest, and I think the audience agrees with me on that one. Back in 'The Bunker', Eat The Turnbuckle came up with their specialty: groovy but heavy rock 'n roll and a decent dose of hardcore wrestling. I didn't see the show, but I heard it from behind my table full of cds and metal decks. In fact, at the time we were keeping an eye on Dopethrone's and Eat The Turnbuckle's merch stand, because that's what colleagues do.

About that, during a little chat with Dopethrone's manager, we learned that recently they had a vinyl stolen from their merch stand. It was the first thing stolen in years but it pissed him off. Earlier, I did indeed see him taking the vinyl and the cd out of the items and I wondered about that. I never saw that happen before and I wondered where he lost his trust in the fans, but now I know. Later, I had a funny ad-lib with a fan who wanted to purchase the vinyl but couldn't because no one was there. He suggested he'd steal it then, on which I replied that it would be useless because there's nothing in the sleeve. 'Yeah', he said, 'that would look stupid when I got home'. 'Yeah, and then send them an email to complain about nothing being in an item you stole'. We laughed a bit. But people, please, don't be a fucktwat, don't steal from bands (or fans). Respect your scene because it's pretty much the only thing that respects you...

I learned a lot about respect over the last couple of years, and, although I'm still not a very social guy, I respect the hell out of the people behind this smashing festival. In times when festivals are coping with severe issues, ranging from exuberant pricing to shitty visitors who don't give a flying fuck about the artists, Rodeofest clearly proved that things can be different. The feeling of oneness can still be present. Everyone was welcome, from little children over scary looking pierced giants to gently smiling old ladies and everyone was allowed his or her moments of joy. I saw a lot of familiar faces this Saturday, and I'm sure I'll be seeing them a lot more from now on. We'll surely be at their Winter fest, as we were so kindly invited by Sharon. 

In December, we will probably make another list of best-ofs and I'm absolutely positive that Rodeofest will be somewhere in the festival-section. Well, unless the remaining festivals will be ecstatic of course. This one is growing, hopefully not too big because I no longer believe in that the-bigger-the-better nonsense. All I can say is: splendid job people, from the organisation over the volunteers to the bands and the crowd. Everyone seemed to be elated by this event. I'll finish with a big "THANK YOU" to Sharon and company, to Bjorn, to our customers (including the sweet lady from Antwerp Metal Fest, hopefully we'll see you at AMF next year).


Serge

Virvatulet is – or probably was – a Finnish Black Metal band, whose sonority is exceedingly great, obscure, vivid, cautious and imperiously malevolent. True underground roots black metal, unfortunately, Virvatulet seems to be one of those many bands that faded away in obscurity, for once and for all, doomed by the exceedingly brutal and hard difficulties of an underground career, something that takes many, many bands off the road, every year. And a lot of them simply break up, or split, or go on an indefinite hiatus, never to reunite again, which is a sad thing to consider, when you realize that, at least half of these bands are made of really, really talented and gifted musicians. 

Virvatulet is one of those bands. Apparently singing on their native Finnish language, their FB page only have three posts, all of them from August 3, 2015: their profile picture, their cover photo and the Youtube link to one of their songs, titled Sodan Roihuava Aamunkoitto. Although they have three more songs on official Youtube channel, there is little to no information about them. Their inclination towards a raw, but nevertheless remarkable and quite fascinating style of Black Metal, with aggressive and cutting melodic intonations, is not just intriguing and impressive, but could have turned them into one of the greatest references of the genre, not only on their native Finland, but on the global underground scene. So, if they have really broken up, and faded away definitively, below the horrible obstacles that most bands have to endure, we can only express our sadness for one more case of wasted talent, along the sorrowful and depressive road of buried bands and deceased acts, that were promising features, from the very beginning.

It’s perfectly understandable the difficulties and obstacles that all underground bands have to face, in order to simply play their music, and exist. Since all of these musicians have jobs to support themselves, and can’t live exclusively on the music, or at the meager money they make on the gigs they play, the overall exhaustion of day to day life, the obstacles imposed by ordinary existence itself, and also the lack of time and outside support can be a very hard ordeal for a band to make it, manage to exist, and thrive a prosperous musical career. So it is no surprise at all that a lot of bands simply go defunct every year, on the path of this hazardous and tough process.

Nonetheless, if Virvatulet is still on the scene, or not – we simply don’t have information enough to tell for sure if they only went inactive, or have disbanded for good, especially given the fact that most underground bands don’t have management, and handle all their online communications and social network by themselves – you can check it out their great, amazing and tempestuous black metal, on their official Youtube Channel. It’s pure, delirious, true to the ground and amazingly solid Black Metal. If they haven’t had the chance to make a career, they managed to throw away some fantastic and unforgettable pearls on the process.           


​Wagner