MASKHEAD started the fest with very simple and crude harsh noise. He mentioned all gear being elsewhere and has to cope with just one distortion pedal and mixer and one little metal-noise-object with springs attached to it. Mainly problem was the low PA volume, when it wasn't yet adjusted loud enough. Maskheads sound would vary from quiet scratching of spring into feedback drenched shacking. According to video, it isn't bad. Simple, crude, but at location should have been way way louder.
AMEK-MAJ being already more experienced live noisician, firmly insisted that PA and AMP, everything louder, "we need PA to crackle under pressure!!" haha. Indeed. And that's what we got. Volume increased into loud and fat PA power which made his noise sound - in good way broken and brutal, often dirty and somewhat suffocated/restricted bassy rumble, but erupting into ripping harshness. Casual playing style, just having fun with blasting noise works well. Man would stop the "first track", ask audience what time it is, and realising there is no hurry, he'd blast another long harsh noise song with further screaming and body movements. Excellent gig what got the mood of fest instantly into top.
Like discussed in this topic, Novitshok has one CD out (Novitshok "Passage Into Acausal" cd, can be found at nhfastore), but it is vastly different. Basically CD is solo works of the guy with electronics. Sound of CD is more like that. Hitech, electronic soundscapes. Not ambient, not harsh noise, but busy and multilayered synth noises and sounds. I would say noisy enough. Live was different. Synth stuff was mostly buried under feedback from the metal percussion and effect fueled vocals. I would be highly positive that percussive guy was actually the mysterious man of Anapthergal. Finnish experimental electronic project mostly active in late 90's and early 00's. His Artfuck productions put out first Akitsa demo on CDR back in 2000! What you hear in the live, seemed less of what was done on CD, more in lines of slowly waving ritual drone and metal junk percussion with tortured effected screams.
Unclean did his best set so far - at least what I know. Man has played 20 times live, and now set was mostly tracks known before, but balance of vocals, synth oscillations of chains hitting table for harsh noises has best balance. Everything loud and clear.
Seeing them play few times and listening the Young Hustlers live material from fairly recent Styggelse double tape documenting their gigs around the world, this largely improvised set certainly belong among best. Short, to the point, being mostly just brooding synth noise tone and two guys yelling and being unpredictably mayhemic. Result is broken noise tapes, broken noise CD's being hammered with metal objects, screams and sound, focusing on pure energy, not being "composed" or "performing songs" really. It has that strong vibe of power electronics, opposed to "harsh noise with vocals". Less innovations with sound, more simplistic pure energy. Even if short, it is so far favorite YH gig I have seen!
I didn't do soundcheck for Grunt at venue. Stuff was played and rehearsed in Lahti well enough, leaving just moment of turning on gear and finding out "oh, it sounds like this with different PA/amplifier"... Then proceeding. Half of the gig was made on the spot anyways, meaning the sounds and atmosphere will rely on the situation and available tech. That was one of the ongoing changes Grunt had over the years. Moving away from fully composed, fully pre-prepared sets, into structurally more and more open - like it has been formerly. Some more song oriented pieces were made, with help of stored loops in sampler, but even those tracks are open to being varied and played like mood dictates. One of the songs exists as studio version submitted to compilation (yet to be released). All the rest were new and unheard material.
Great venue, I personally thought the PA system was perfectly good. You can always insist louder and heavier - except, I tend to be bored with subwoofer rumble. It feels that people are thrilled by mere sound pressure of loud volumes, but I personally as listener and playing something, am not highly impressed by constant bassy hum and rumble, what often has no actual sonic information so to say. The mid-high torment is preferred over comfortable subwoofer rumble! Apparently venue is getting proper stage for next time, so you can see artists better.
mr. Olsson, not present at the venue. Apparently car broke down on the way to airport.
I am also in favor of night mixing harsh noise and more power electronics leaning stuff. I don't say focusing strictly on one style would get dull. Probably not, but perhaps in spirit of "Special Interests", what a great thing when you got harsh noise, power electronics, ritual electronics, structured and free form, all there plus tables filled with weird books, tapes, CD's or all types of noise. Just like mr. Atrophist was talking elsewhere about his own intent when organizing things. Putting together new, old, unknown, known, the brutes and the nice guys, in his words kind of forcing different corners of noise together. I don't know if it even requires force. More like opportunity to be so. Instead actively working against noise and creating obstacles, just allowing noise to happen as is. That combined to enough space between sets, and possibility to talk to people. Actual gathering of noiseheads, not just bar with dull background music trying to force everybody "shut up and drink". I like!
