So, a little background first. Regular readers might have noticed the severe lack of reviews that say ‘Bjorn’ at the bottom. I have a severe case of writer’s block that resulted in several unfinished reviews on my desktop and several hours staring blankly at my screen, struggling to find words. People who know me will confirm that I’m quite loquacious so failing to do what you actually really like doing is a major bummer. Add to that the fact that you disappoint people who value your input as well as people who look forward to having their stuff reviewed... Thing is, my life hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing in 2017 and 2018. I always say ‘next year will be better...’ and I sincerely hope that 2019 will be just that. I managed to exorcise some of the bad stuff by releasing my full-length album ‘Sattva’ for Hellstorm Of Flaming Nothingness (gratuitous plugging, I know (sorry dude-who-hates-us)) and there are some very concrete plans for a physical release for my harsh noise / power electronics project Pask.. Making noise always helps.

I have to say though that I might have it sound like my life was/is an endless stream of bad stuff. It’s not. A lot of it is really nice. And it will get nicer, I’m confident of that. Which leads me nicely to the actual review part.

One of the nice constants in my life is going to gigs, exploring and enjoying new music, etc.. Seeing shows in the livingroom of Mr. Ashtoreth himself, Peter Verwimp, is something that I immensely enjoy. Peter and Anja host the Palazzo Sessions for several years now and each one I went to was something truly special. It doesn’t even matter who’s playing, or whatever genre they’re playing. You know you will be surprised, intrigued, immersed and entertained on a very high level that very few shows achieve.

​The line-up of the night consisted of some familiar faces (Sitka, Stratosphere and Misantronics), someone who I wasn’t yet familiar with (Distant Fires Burning) and the second ever show of the newly formed Synchyse, which I was very curious about.

First up was Sitka. I had a chat with Ben before the show where he explained that he was evolving to a more ‘noisy’ sound. Roughing up the edges, so to speak. And he wasn’t lying either. It was by no means actual noise but I have to say I really, really like the direction that Ben is going for. Delicately and with a solid vision layering his drone loops, but not afraid of letting the electronics and effects take over once in a while. It made for a very adventurous listen, and seeing Ben totally immersed in and captivated by his own sounds made it very enjoyable to watch too.

Next: Misantronics. Serge told me he was a bit nervous because he hadn’t performed live in over 5 years and he was using a new computer program. I told him it would be fine. And it was. With Misantronics, you never know what to expect. His output over the span of his career has been very diverse.

​Tonight the set he played was rather restrained and minimal. Subtle percussive beats, oscillating synths, rumbling rushing noise deep in the background and laden with samples of playing children and what sounded like broadcasts in German. What I like most though is that Misantronics sounds ‘wrong’. And I mean that in the best way possible. Sometimes slightly out of tune, sometimes a bit broken. I’m sure this is deliberate and I hope Serge never stops doing it.

​Distant Fires Burning aka Gert de Meester was up next. Shamefully I admit that I haven’t heard that much from him yet, apart from some things online, and the collaboration track he did with Stratosphere. That will change after this show though. At first I was a bit puzzled by the lack of direction in the set. It sounded like he was just fumbling at random with his bass and the electronics. The bass was rumbling, clicks and noises happening. It seemed to go nowhere. Then, after a while it dawned on me. Gert was very delicately, deliberately and brilliantly constructing a glitchy percussion track to combine with his bass lines and drones. At the apotheosis, the set consisted of a fantastic mix of very stripped-down postrock and glitchy click-techno. Unlike I ever heard before. Brilliant. I love music that forces you to pay attention and that rewards you for your invested time.

I’ve seen Stratosphere a couple of times now and I absolutely adore what Ronald is creating. First, because he is a very accomplished sound engineer you can be sure that Ronald will aim for the best possible way for you to enjoy his drones. Second, the way he manages to make his loops and drones sound so massive is really second to none. The set he played tonight was actually something he created not long before so we got a first-time exclusive track for the evening. Dreamy, ecstatic drones, lovely sparkling guitar sounds.. It was wonderful. In the end –and I don’t know how he does it- he managed to make the whole thing sound like there was a string section or french horn in there somewhere. This screams to be recorded sometime soon Ronald....

After a brief pause it was time for Synchyse. Expectations were pretty high for me, although the track ‘Aldo’ (which they started the set with) can be heard online for a while now so I knew soundwise what direction they would go to. My main ‘concern’ was how three acts, that sound very different from each other would manage to make it sound cohesive like a proper ‘band’. Turns out that I needn’t have worried. Synchyse played a solid set. Each member retaining his signature sound but together so much more than the sum of their parts. Final track ‘Rembrandt’ was where it all gloriously fell into place. Not really post rock, not really ambient, not really glitch, or shoegaze, or wave.. but a great concoction of all of those things. All three of them were also visibly pleased with how the set was going, which added to the enjoyment. Seeing as this is only their second ever show together, I predict some great things in the future. People of Dunk! Festival: are you reading this??


I left Peter’s home, riding my bike accompanied by some light drizzle, some strong winds and the gloomy streetlights of Antwerp’s cheerless periphery road. Normally that would bother me to no end, but not tonight. I was still too elated from witnessing a truly special show. Plus, I knew it would put me in the proper mood to try and actually write something again...

 

Bjorn

So next time I'm telling you that something is going to be good, you better show up, even if you are suspicious and not sure if you're going to like what you hear. I am the Nostradamus of the underground music industry, and I fucking proved that last night. Or better, three highly talented acts proved that for me. But enough with the self indulgence, it's time to relive that fantastic evening, an evening that was way more than three bands playing for one another and a handful of people. This was an evening that showed what the underground music business is all about.

The evening started as most evenings I think. I got there early to help Jan from Ondergronds with the hot meal and to welcome the artists. Bark was making a lot of noise in the rehearsing room, people were talking and laughing and I was cutting vegetables. Little later, all the artists walked in. I set up the time schedule, wrote down the entrance fee and socialized to my best attempt. Then, while the acts set up their equipment, the first paying audience members came in. They would also be the last, but that's the risk we had to take.

Around eight, Sitka took his place behind his pedal rack and started filling the room with drones and soundscapes. It had been quite some time since I saw him perform in Mol, so I was extremely curious about his progression. His performance started out in a similar way but gradually I began to notice Sitka opening up. He dared to experiment, searching for his own sound in the drone ambient scene. He is getting there too. What I heard last night was an excellent step in the evolution of a young, talented artist. His drones are still cold and dreamy, perfectly suited to enjoy while viewing over a wintery landscape and drinking a grand cru by the fireplace. Sitka gracefully built his set to the point where an almost overwhelming array of soundscapes rolled through the Music City, and then he abruptly stopped.

They had a little surprise for us, a short improvisation session with Sitka and Stratosphere. What it sounded like? Like the beginning of something beautiful. I love seeing how our scene cooperates and develops. This was another delightful example of that. They barely even looked at each other but you could feel the connection, you could feel the magic happening. The set lasted for only a few minutes but it surely tasted like more.

At most, Antwerp Music City is known for booking heavy bands. Black metal, grindcore, sludge doom, Antwerp Music City usually blasts like a madman. Now, suddenly, there were two drone ambient acts and an unusual Swiss act that does odd things with shoegaze, psychedelic rock and electro. This was truly one of the most unique things we have witnessed and that undoubtedly counts for the metalheads in the audience too. 

Lord Kesseli and the Drums opened their set with a mystifying, ritualistic intro. Candles and incense sticks were burning, filling the room with a church like scent. Then, the first song, perhaps a bit hesitant at first. After all, it can't be easy to convince a bunch of metalheads. But when 'Waiting For Arnold' pierced through the speakers, Lord Kesseli suddenly had all eyes on him. People were looking surprised, pleasantly surprised, even though they might rather have listened to Slayer.

Me? I was singing along, just like my wife. Both of us applauded loudly after, and we were not the only ones. Lord Kesseli and the Drums were on their way to becoming a trustworthy headliner for this already fine evening. Then, electronics, techno beats, more surprised faces. Suddenly, the punky 'MDMA' blasted through the speakers and the words "wow" and "yeah" were shouted. Manu, the driver gave me a big smile and a thumbs up. The energy was wild.

It was brilliant set and I almost felt like an ancient king who had gathered the finest bards in the land to play just for me and a few of my fellow men. Afterwards, someone said "this surely was not my thing but it was brilliantly executed". People started checking out the merchandise, which went surprisingly well. No doubt that Lord Kesseli and the Drums made a damned good first impression in Belgium.

This was the first thing I organized in over ten years and I regret nothing. Even though there were only a handful of people, the evening was a lot of fun. I'd like to thank Jan from Ondergronds for his help and the great people at Antwerp Music City for making this possible. Another massive thanks goes out to the bands who gave it their very best. And finally, I'd like to thank the people who were there. We will be back and next time we will bring Ashtoreth to the Music City. Now it's time for me to do some useful things like cleaning the kitchen and making more coffee. Guess what record I will be playing while I do the dishes?


​Serge

Those who check out our website regularly might have noticed that we are the driving force behind the Lapses project by Belgian writer Tamara E. Williams (click here). While our writer Paul takes care of the paintings, my mission was to find ambient and drone artists to accompany the story. Coincidentally, four of the selected artists played at this nice mini festival in Mol (Sitka, Stratosphere, Ashtoreth and Monnik, who fronts Charnia. Misantronics and Hellstorm Of Flaming Nothingness were in the audience, enjoying this splendid evening). So in a way, Rituals Of Frost was a reunion avant-la-lettre. But you'd probably want to know how the gigs went, right? Oh, by the way, I forgot my camera so I had to make photos with my phone.

Armed with his guitar and the usual bunch of effects, Sitka nervously opened the evening with a nice set of drones and ambient. Sitka is a young, fresh force within the drone genre and certainly one to keep an eye on. I'm not sure if this was his very first live performance or not, but the feeling was right, the sound was excellent and the drones coming out of the speakers were interesting. Given time and effort, this project might indeed be able to compete with the big ones in this scene. Today, he was an excellent opener for what would become an incredible evening of music.

I know that some people think that drone ambient is a stale and unimaginative genre where nothing really happens. Well, these people should have been at the Stratosphere gig yesterday. While Sitka came up with the well-known and somewhat typical version of the genre, Stratosphere took things further, meticulously blasting out layers of riffs, soundscapes and plucks and eventually coming out with two huge tracks. I heard references from new wave, indie rock and shoegaze. My mind started imagining drum patterns over these layers, something I would like to do live one day. Anyway, Stratosphere is the perfectionist in this the Belgian drone scene and his performance came extremely close to perfection.

Then it was time for the heavier side of things, something I'm not always looking forward to. Sludge and post-metal have never been my favorite genres and I don't think they ever will. However, that doesn't mean that post-metal gigs bore me, on the very contrary. Charnia is a unique entity, one that doesn't just focus on trying to be as loud and aggressive as possible. This quartet came up with an intense, varied and atmospheric version of the genre, nudging towards doom metal, something I do like. Unfortunately, some sound issues made the gig less pleasurable for the band than for the audience but nonetheless, Charnia put up a very decent performance. These guys should be bigger, that's for sure.

Second heavy act on the bill was Eleanora who delivered a massive slab of in-your-face post-metal and sludge, complete with the usual bombast, the screams and the steamroller sound. For a while I watched them do their thing, quite convincingly I might add. Fans of this genre will know why Eleanora are one of the must-see acts. Their technical abilities reach perfection, their performance is a slab of hardcore energy and their music pounds on your head like there is no tomorrow. Although I'm not a fan of their music, I can only respect them and be proud of these guys. After two songs, I went outside for a smoke and witnessed their pulverising sound roll over the city of Mol. This surely is a destructive force, one every sludge fan will adore.

It is always disappointing to see that most of the audience members leave after the last heavy band. Personally, I think it's a lack of respect but then again, it was already midnight. When Ashtoreth finally climbed on stage, not even half of the audience was still present. But, those who left surely missed something.
Where Stratosphere is the perfectionist, Ashtoreth is the improviser, the generalist. I've seen him before but it's always different. This time, the ambient tag didn't really apply. Ashtoreth first showed a nice psychedelic piece, turning the venue into a searing hot desert. The second part of his set was dedicated to sheer noise and drones, harsh, intense, relentless and so bloody awesome.
Later I would hear that Ashtoreth was somewhat frustrated with his performance and therefore turned it into that wall-of-noise, but as far as I'm concerned, he can be frustrated all the time if it leads to a stunning performance like this. Like I said to Björn afterwards, 'out-harshing two sludge metal bands on your own is quite an achievement'. This was a stunning gig, one that can be repeated anytime.

This was the very first Rituals Of Frost festival. Sitka has been working on it for quite some time, resulting in sleepless nights, unexpected misfortunes and probably a lack of appetite. Yet, it was all worth it. This was a great evening with excellent gigs and a nice atmosphere. If he organises another edition, I'd recommend a bill with four acts instead of five. I think everything is just going to be a little easier. You can always add a dj after the gigs or just make each act play a bit longer. Nonetheless, I applaud these initiatives, certainly in a country where Sabam and the government are always on the lookout for a bit of the money you make (or they think you make). So good work and hopefully until next time.


​Serge