What a weird day it is today, and what a contradiction to yesterday it is too. My country, or at least the capital, Brussels, is under terrorist attack. After explosions in the metro and at the airport our whole country is in lockdown. Anger, fear and confusion take over and we mourn the victims of this cowardly act. Even here in Antwerp I can hear the impact. There are more sirens than on any other day, once in awhile suddenly interrupted by an ice-cream truck whose music now sounds bleak and desolate, like a music box in a dystopian area.

I've been silent all day, not knowing how to write about the exact opposite feeling I experienced yesterday. Yesterday was a day of excellent spaghetti, tasty Geuze-beer, the music of Philip Glass and chianti, completed by three great performances and a free ride home thanks to my Merchants Of Air colleague Björn. It was a day of many familiar faces and very few 'hellos'. I guess I just wasn't feeling very social yesterday. As a matter of fact, I rarely am.

So for awhile I've been thinking about absolute silence on Merchants Of Air today, even though I still have a lot of stuff to check out. However, at some point, I decided to get this review done anyway. Perhaps I wanted to start spreading some positive words from inside this 'warzone', realizing that the people in attendance at Het Bos yesterday might appreciate that. Besides, all three gigs were too good to not write about them. Once again, sorry about the lousy quality of our photos. Let's just say it's not our speciality...

It was quite a strange line-up, if I can be honest. A Shoegaze/post-punk band, a drone act and a psychedelic black metal band on one evening, could that work? Damn well it did, once you saw the general pattern: an immersive atmosphere.

This is actually the third time I review a gig by The Mary Hart Attack. The first one seemed a bit hesitant, the second one was awesomeness in absolute darkness and this last one was tight as hell. These guys have been growing as a band, that's for sure. In Het Bos, they delivered a massive wall of sound, guided by that intense, rolling bass and energetic drums. At the moment, I wonder what's keeping The Mary Hart Attack from completely breaking through. They are becoming one of the most interesting things in the shoegaze and post-punk scene. A new album seems to be on its way and judging from what I heard yesterday, it's going to be a blast.

Up next was Antwerp's own Ashtoreth and his gloomy drone folk set. Armed with a guitar, his voice and a rack of pedals, this one-man act captivated the audience, some lying or sitting on the floor, some standing up. I was standing in the back, with my eyes closed, sometimes imagining some deep percussion over the layers of drones coming from the speakers.

This too was as excellent gig, very atmospheric and somewhat trippy. Ashtoreth formed a perfect bridge between the intense walls-of-sound this evening. It also was too short for me but I guess that's nobody's fault. I just love to be engulfed in drones and soundscapes for long periods of time. 

After the gigs, I heard Oranssi Pazuzu had to cancel some shows due to a wave of sickness in the band. In Het Bos, none of that was noticeable. The Fins blasted their psychedelic and massively immersive blackened metal over a stunned audience. That audience was simply ecstatic and loved every single second of this intense gig.

Helped by a minimal but on-point light show, the songs from Oranssi Pazuzu blended the complexity of psychedelic rock with the intensity of extreme metal, sometimes grinding, sometimes noisy but always enthralling. These guys proved that the evilest of genres isn't dead yet and that original and fresh acts can pop-up anytime.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who enjoyed this show, and something very Belgian happened right after it. In front of the merchandise table, a nice line of people formed, each one gently waiting to be served. Björn and I took our place in line and went home wearing a brand new t-shirt and carrying what is possibly one of the most interesting albums in 2016. 

I will probably soon visit Het Bos again to see Conan & Hemelbestormer and Zion Train. Many other concerts will obviously follow in this great venue but, like most people in attendance, I will always miss Scheld'Apen. It felt good to see the Scheld'Apen facia hanging in the hall as a sign that some scenes will never die...


​Serge

As some of our readers should probably know by now, we at Merchants Of Air have a pretty eclectic music taste. For me the whole journey started with metal. About ten years ago, I was into industrial, rhythmic noise, darkwave and dark ambient and so was a girl I met at one of those dark gatherings. A few years later, we got married and we still are today, hurray for that right?

Over the years our taste evolved. We started discovering new sounds and left the so-called 'goth'-scene behind us.  However, we kept a few favorites. Deutsch Nepal and Sophia still find the way to our speakers very often. So when both appeared on the line-up of Porta Nigra, we didn't hesitate. After all, it had been a long time since we've seen these bands and their new albums are very promising..

Now, before I go into the performances of the bands, I have to tell you that we were unable to see Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio and we only witnessed a little bit of Rome. Why? Because we have no other means of transportation than the public version and the Belgian railway company isn't too friendly towards people who go out late at night. So our last train was around eleven. I decided not to complain to the conductress since she was the nicest, most friendly railway worker I have ever met.

Before we entered the venue, we found ourselves on the local funfair, putting coins into a machine, which in its turn gave us points, prices and more coins. That too was the first time in about ten years. So this day was becoming a huge flashback for the both of us. An hour later and twenty euros poorer, we stepped out of the luna-park with the thing you can see on the left side of this text.

I don't know exactly what it is or what it does. It looks like a man who got anally struck by lightning. According to the box, which I threw away in a local bar, it's a letter opener & pen holder. To me, it's Chinese junk, good for a laugh. Frankly, it was all we could get for 800 points, apart from bad headphones, toys and 16 lighters.

Right, on to the festival then because that's what we came here for. When we entered the venue, it was like we entered a time capsule. It's odd how some things never seem to change. There they were: the militant, Death In June shirted and pants-in-boots wearing neo folk fans, the women who had been spending the entire day in front of their mirrors,, the massive presence of the color black - in fact, there were two people with colors, one looked a bit paranoid about his backpack and the other one suddenly started performing on stage.

Even the merchandise booths looked exactly the same as ten years ago, with the same artists coming back time and time again. Is that bad? Not really, because I finally got my hands of a copy of 'Palpita Corazon Palpita' by Calva Y Nada. Hurray. I bought some other stuff too, The KVB, Imminent and a beautiful 5-CD box by Klaus Schulze & Pete Namlook. So yeah, it was all worth it.

While I was still shopping, Synapscape started blasting their rhythmic noise through the speakers. Obviously they immediately gained everyone's attention and before we realized it, the venue was loaded with people dancing, or something that looked like dancing.  Now, that's what I like about this scene. People show up on time to watch the opening bands. The venue contained the same amount of people all evening, which is a great show of respect. Obviously, Synapscape are great and always come up with a convincing performance. This time was no different and we were off to a great start.

Outside, the carnival trucks were gearing up to travel through the city of Aarschot. Carnival is a strange tradition in our country. Originally a Catholic thing, carnival is now an orgy of alcohol consumption, throwing candy at people and blasting the most mind numbing music out of enormous speakers. Everywhere I looked, there were people dressed as pirates, barbies, tigers, goths. Somehow it all fitted perfectly, even with what was going on inside the Klinker venue.

Yet, there it would suddenly become all seriousness, because Sophia was about to climb on stage. Aided by Belgium's own Empusae on drums, Peter & Cecilia Bjärgö played a number of songs from the new album 'Unclean' and they sounded extremely promising. For years, since 1997 to be exact, Sophia has been one of the best martial industrial acts in history and with the new songs, they pretty much secure that position. 

The gig itself sounded a bit hesitant, as if the trio were not completely attuned yet. Here and there, I heard a little error, a glitch in the co-act. Harmless, obviously. This was an excellent gig because Sophia's music is simply brilliant. I loved every second of it and I wasn't the only one. I've always thought that 'Spite' is one of the best albums in their genre, but judging from this concert, maybe 'Unclean' might surpass that, because for the first time I liked the new songs better than the old ones. Honestly.

Here come two different reviews for the exact same Deutsch Nepal gig. The first one is the one I overheard when two fifty year old rockers were comparing it to 'back in the days', and the other one is mine.

Oh look, this one doesn't even have instruments. There's only a table with some electronic stuff and an old drunk with a can of Jupiler in his hands, rambling about being a cosmic trigger or something. Man, this goes on for ages and those people all seem to like it. (a few minutes later). He's not even singing now. The voices come from that same table of electronics. (again, later). Where is he going? The music is still on. Oh, his can of beer is empty so he stops?

Deutsch Nepal climbed on stage and thanked everyone for coming. Someone yelled 'for you' and he answered, in a pretty hilarious, and a bit gay manner 'I know'. It set the tone for a brilliant performance. The music started playing and Lina Baby Doll started singing. At first, it looked a bit arduous but gradually he was getting into his act, resulting in an epic version or 'Erosion' by the end. And as we're used from Deutsch Nepal, he left stage when the can of beer was empty. It was a classic Deutsch Nepal gig and everyone, except those two rockers, loved the hell out of it.

The most energetic act was Imminent, my personal favorite one too. Harsh industrial with a lot of energy and intensity, able to get everyone dancing. Imminent is widely known for his energetic gigs and an immediate floor filler everywhere he goes. There is little else to say about his performance. This simply was one of the most hyperactive electronic gigs I've ever witnessed. Shouldn't that be enough credit for this guy? 

So, thanks to the NMBS (the Belgian railway messuppers) that was about it for us. We had to start walking towards the train station. Yet, before we left, we both got a nice encounter with and a hug from Deutsch Nepal. It was nice seeing him again and it was nice being in that scene again for awhile. I saw a few familiar faces, ten years older and just as much enjoying dark music as I do. So it really was a great trip through memory lane.

I did see Rome starting their set and it sounded like Rome always sounds. For a moment, I thought that Jerome added some post rock influences to his strong and emotional music, making me regret that we had to go. When I saw the faces of the people in attendance, I know this was about to become a classic Rome gig, one which passed me by. We started walking and collected some candy from the carnival trucks on the way to the station.  The last time we did that, was also about ten years ago.

It's funny how some things change and others stay exactly the same...


​Serge