Finns have been spoiled with seemingly endless noise related events. To catch up some recent ones, Special Interests offers three recent shows that have happened in various cities of Finland in recent weeks. Kouvola, Oulu and Helsinki. Just few days after Helsinki there was two day Harsh Ways Fest II in Turku region that will be covered in separate report, with photos and video material!
MELUA JA MÖKÄÄ, 27.7. KULTTUURITALLIT, KOUVOLA
Kulttuuritallit is located in Kouvola, Finland. Old military stables transformed into underground space. 2024 they celebrated 10 years of noise shows arranged in that place. Perhaps due relatively small profile and revolving around small artists and free entry events, shows in this place have not received same international attention as some other Finnish shows.
Local new project, Rautakymi was performing his debut gig. All the basics of harsh noise were in order, but also the most common flaws of live harsh noise still to be solved. Primitive harsh noise was created with merely two pedals and some kind of amplier. The focus is on clearly direct and fierce sounds and there is no wall or any neat effects or echoes. This is absolutely advantage! No wall of rumbles, but really rough sounds with clear definition and form, that are actively processed. Especially his two self released tapes makes one think of early 90’s Richard Ramirez / Deadline type of noise.
The typical challenges with many first-time noise gigs is how to avoid acoustic stage sound to be heard over amplified noise. Naturally, increasing the volume is one way to go. It usually has to be very loud that the sharp acoustic rattling of the metal junk abuse would be completely buried. Especially if the processed sound doesn’t resemble an acoustic sound. Another way to go is to ensure that acoustic and effected sounds resemble each other and blend together nicely. The third option should be about thinking how hard and loud you really need to hit, shake and rattle metal jar full of junk, because often the best sound of junk metal comes when a quiet and more toned handling is amplified. Rautakymi’s tapes are excellent and the live gig was solid apart from the hearing the acoustic rattles over the PA sound. If he had the sound level of the following bands, it would have kicked more ass. I could imagine that he will soon be at the top of the game in style of a violent brute noise.
Brain Spacer was really good! First came the weirdo free music guitar picking recorded into looper. Soon it started to get buried within more psychedelic guitar drone/distortion/feedback/effect layers. In the middle of the set there was a short “Sunn o)))” -moment where there were a couple of slow chord strikes from the guitar, adding perhaps unnecessary ”musicality” to it. Luckily it was a very short moment which soon progressed to the best cosmic guitar thing I have heard for a while. The artist mentioned that there are no releases yet but something is being planned. I asked if he had heard KK Null’s 90’s stuff, because I myself have appreciated a lot from them and there were a lot of the same elements here. Almost surprisingly many similarities to ”Heavy Water” and ”Flying Serpent” type of Null!
At this point, Edge Of Decay is clearly comfortable with being on stage. Always in control of the sounds and clearly define tools, ideas and flow of set. There was nice volume and contact-mic powered sawing, junk metal object screaming and other things. Having gotten ride to this gig from fellow harsh head, at this moment of evening a bottle of wine and some beers had already been consumed and the feeling was very upbeat! Harsh noise roar and men climbing in the structures of the stables with the amplified saw fit damn well to the mood!
Stinkfinger vs Amek-Maj was a rather short. Not as much noise battle, as it was merely noise collaboration. If my feelings were fueled with drinks & good time, the same can be said about Amek-Maj’s condition, with extra notch of confusion and chaos! Sonic results of artists seemed to be a bit of a side note when it was more about expressions of excitement. At times, the flow was almost completely dependent on Stinkfinger’s contribution, but it was at its best when the combination of the duo made Amek-Maj’s somewhat lo-fi bass rumblings and Stinkfinger’s almost birdsong chirping style electrified high-pitched junk things merge together. Familiar elements from both were present. Such as Stinkfinger’s trademark old school “now let’s turn the delay pedal button” -tactics.
The weather was very nice. Kulttuuritallit is a really great place for noise. Even though it was hot outside, it was cool enough inside. There is enough space, the milieu is mixture of military- rural- and DIY space vive decaying all into one thing. One is allowed to own drinks, and local animal rights group is selling vegetarian food for minimal prices. Perhaps the only minus is that public transport is not the easiest in these regions of Finland. The gigs usually end in time to make it to last trains. Coming with your own vehicles is the easiest. The parking space around venue is abundant and free. After heading back from Kouvola to Lahti, it was still time to enter local bars!
(Text/photos/video: Mikko A)
STEEL RÄÄSEIKKÖ AROUND OULU II – 3.8.2024
It was time for the second instalment of Steel Rääseikkö, this time armed with American noise powerhouse Pain Appendix. Strong Finnish assortment of Malaise 57, who played his debut gig, Commando 15, Aprapat and Unclean.
In same building was a explicit art exhibition called PervQ which attracted a big audience, also few of the visitors wandered to Steel Rääseikkö as well and got an surprising dose of heavy noise, all seemed very pleased!
Commando 15 opened up the evening, this was second time seeing him live. Many things from last performance were present but also overall the whole live performance has taken steps forward. There was this absolutely sickening sound that was wailing in the beginning before trademark sound of C15 kicked in. Perfect mix of control of gear and being immersed by the sound. C15 gigs are usually relatively short, and so was this time. But then again such brutal sound doesn’t need much more, it really makes it’s point clear. Another great gig in the books for C15!
Malaise 57 was performing for the first time, churning out loops that kept grinding audience and spicing it up with slight modulations. Very calm stage presence, none of first gig type hassling around but taking his time to let the sound sink in and making very thought out performance. Looking forward what this project has to offer in the future.
Aprapat has been playing live gigs quite a few for the past year, lastly in Sweden at a special music festival, clips and pictures from there was stunning, wish I could have been there! Few tape decks, contact mic’ed piece of plastic, and of course the infamous wheelbarrow. Everything blended into a perfect noise performance, stylish video playing in the background and active playing, constantly working on something. Flow of the gig was a pleasure to see, sometimes slowing down tapes physically, contact mic’ed plastic made impressive detail to the sound fabric. Towards the end wheelbarrow scrapes kicked in, very nice contrast to the set. After tape manipulation the roaring sound of metal made a triumphant end for the set.
Unclean set consisted of basic materials, synths, vocals and junk. Background video of Heaven’s Gate material. A quote from online; ”Unclean was the best of the evening. After the first three acts, we dived into PE / heavy electronics. Very oppressive atmosphere seemed to suck the air out of the entire hall and held its grip for the duration of the gig. Strong synth bass and oscillations crawled along the hall and were felt in the chest. The Heavens Gate video deepened the ominous mood even more. Damn good, the vocals reminded me of Goatlord, so 5/5.”
Pain Appendix had his second visit in Oulu. With much more new gear, the set had very intense atmosphere right from the beginning. Clashing samples of factories filled the room, as more and more elements seeped in, sometimes accompanied by ferocious vocal sounds. In retrospect when saw his gig in Turku a week after, the final part was cut out due a mishap from Oulu set, but nevertheless Pain Appendix played absolutely crushing set which seemed to blow crowd into a crazy state of noise fandom. After the gig the unsuspecting outsiders who bought tickets were screaming out of control how great the gig was! Truly a statement! Pain Appendix keeps evolving constantly and especially his live is one of the best in the game at the moment, no question about it.
Event all in all was very successful, which gives a sign to keep arranging more quality noise nights in the distant north. Bringing more foreign acts in especially seems to be worth it, there was great interest towards the gig and audience attendance was satisfactory.
(Text: MT)
(Rääseikkö live photos: Jaakko Marras)
GRAY RITUAL vol I – 7.8.2024 HELSINKI
Bought the ticket just couple days before the gig. Wasn’t even sure where it was to be organized, as location was kept private until you got the ticket. First time in this venue and turned out quite positive surprise! Organizer has displayed great DIY ethics as well as unusually high level of energy in organizing countless small non-profit noise shows over the years.
Many might have been thinking, is there point in organizing wednesday private show in undisclosed location, in middle of hottest noise summer? Two previous weekends been noise shows, and next weekend after it coming two days Harsh Ways Fest! But no worries, this place was packed! Small underground venue with perhaps around 40.. maximum of 50 people, but it was already filled to capacity if you want to be on the actual live room. Place is more oriented to dance music, so perhaps at first noise gigs were a shock for the staff.
Augmented Atrocity started the event. Even if volume was kept strictly below 110dB, I don’t think it was actually ruining anything really. Artist was little pissed off for not soundman turning down any attempt to get louder, but set worked nevertheless. You could barely see anything but red light and mass of people standing next to eachother and often feedback based set with vocals.
I think this is second liveshow for Finno-Ugrian Suicide Hypothesis. First one was private show and documented by Special Interests. Parts of the set could have benefitted of louder volume. Especially the metal junk sounds, yet also I must say the rugged style of decaying manual noise, lotta svärd speaches, shouting vocals, brute electronics, garden-tool noises.. it all worked with the blunt acoustic sounds being heard along the amplified sounds. I hope they would make their tape more widely available!
Atrophist, as usual, was half really great and half the kind of fishing for sounds. It is a bit odd way of playing that just a good set is there, he fades it down starts building the next, without any haste. The best gigs and best moments of his sets always seem to improve. It’s no wonder that new tape releases are starting to pop up, especially quite frequently on labels outside Finland!
Apex Rodent played a set with less than 15 minutes duration. The first half was quite wild and energetic and then moved into a bit more static. When playing in the audience, the junk metal sound would sometimes rattle over the PA sound coming from back of the room. Not too bad, though. The volume level, at least where I was, was very decent! Apex Rodent was one off live collaboration consisting Pain Appendix and Rotat. To imagine how it was, you just imagive those artists playing their own stuff together and image will be pretty close!
I have mentioned that Edge Of Decay has developed greatly over the years. These days being quite a notable force in Finnish noise. If in the early gigs there was a bit of that “Balaclava, plus scrap metal and piece of chain in a bucket” -Finnish-noise classic, haha…. These deays, at the same time a certain “industrial noise” vibe, but on the other hand even a traditional harsh noise duo approach is present. Making wild physical noise. At this point, when the dB meter flashed over 120dB at times, the limit values of the place started to be met yet volume was not turned down. Concert continued with that intensity until the end and among the best of the evening. Very similar set to the one in Kouvola, but a bit less physical action.
The ANTIchildLEAGUE has indeed mutated over the years. Earlier ACL has operated within realms of heavy electronics sound. Also oldest live shows I have seen has had often technical difficulties. In recent years things have changes. Especially every cassette release been good, plus all the live sets I’ve seen ACL has proven to have taken big leaps forward. Energy and amount of sheer harsh noise has been increased significantly. At the beginning of the live set, the volume was perhaps too low. It worked because there was theatrical element to it, instead of noise. ACL was screeching vocals over the drifting sound layers and at the same time as she was being whipped by masked man. Next song progressed into a proper distorted march sample/beat industrial anthem where the traditional nihilistic political commentary and totalitarian hand signs and headwear added neat touch to very basic ”communists, fascists, liberals… liars!” -type vocals. As soon as ACL started to assult her distorted metal junk, effect driven violin significantly more volume was added. All this massive distortion started turning set into actual harsh noise gig. There were even long parts that made clear why The Rita wanted to go on a UK tour with ACL while ago! A large part of what happened on the floor level could not be seen from behind the human wall, but: it worked! I am sure that some of current noise fans will sigh “not this again”, when seeing masks, salutes, performance bits, somewhat obscene video projections and so on… But my feeling was: ”yes, finally this!”
In a way, the kind of noise familiar from older industrial/PE gigs around Europe, where artists don’t just wear a band shirt and a cap and rub the pedals. ACL would balance the old school industrial performance and the sheer energy of noise gig very nicely. This type of stuff is really underground within the noise underground these days!
Curiously, despite mentioning how some of the slogans were very basic, on the way back to Lahti, sitting on train and trying to listen some podcast, I simply had to stop, since my mind was still circulating around questions of what really constitutes as lie, in realm of politics? Seemingly blunt and old question that has been address countless times in art and protest music, still today – or should it be said – even more than ever before, can be inspiring question. At the gig, also discussed with handful of people about the unusual nature of noise or industrial culture, that appears to be one of the rare “genres” where seemingly anything goes. Entire notion of homogeny is almost laughable, and someones politics, religion, gender, age, geographic location and so on, plays very little role. It annoys people who have used to at least some sort of collective uniformity in some of the basic principles, beyond the characteristics of sound. While this may annoy people, it may be one of the key elements why noise or industrial culture can still provoke discussions and make people think. Both, artists works, but perhaps also their own thoughts and ideas. At least when looking something such as possibilities within contemporary punk where certainly is diversity, yet also surprising, almost totalitarian level of conformity in many issues, and compare that what is happening within realms of noise, where may be disagreements and bickering, yet lack of cultural uniformity… I would be ready to put quite big bet on this hypothesis I mentioned!
(Text/photos/video: Mikko A)