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Lumous Gothic Festival 2019

Posted in Festival, Live with tags Blood Magick, Dark electro, Darkwave, Das Ich, Golden Apes, Gothic rock, Industrial, Lumous Gothic Festival, post punk, Raven Said, The Danse Society on 14th July 2019 by izaforestspirit

Golden Apes, Danse Society, Das Ich
Pakkahuone and Dog’s Home, Tampere, Finland
12-13th July 2019

Summer is here again. One of my summer traditions since 2012 has been to attend the Lumous Gothic Festival. This year was no exception. The only minor change was that of the main venue. Throughout the time that I have been going there it the main acts have always performed place at Klubi. However Klubi is currently being renovated so the event was moved to Pakkahuone, a much larger venue located in the same building. I have seen several metal shows there before but this was a first for Lumous Gothic Festival.

Friday
This was the main day for me as most of the bands which I wanted to see were playing then. I was mostly looking forward to Das Ich and I had limited knowledge of the other bands.

First up was a Spanish darkwave band called My Own Burial. These guys are really into old horror movies and the performance had lots of eerie visions. The music was catchy and fun to dance to. They reminded me a little of Los Carniceros del Norte minus the punk elements. So a good start to the night. 3.5/5

Then it was time for a German Goth rock band Golden Apes. I’m not a massive fan of Goth rock but I have to admit that the vocals were pretty good. Their singer’s vocal style sounded like a cross between Elvis and Jyrki from The 69 Eyes. 3.5/5

Finally it was time for the main band that I came to see. I discovered Das Ich at the same festival four years ago and it was great to see them live again. I loved the stage actics and the music was fantastic. They played some new material plus some classic hits including ’Destillat’, ’Gott ist tot’, Das dunkel Land’ and my personal favourite ’Reaminat’. 5/5
DAS ICH again

DAS ICH

DAS ICH -Bruno

Saturday

Day Two of the festival started a little earlier since I decided to catch some of the bands playing on the second stage located at a different venue called Dog’s Home. Dog’s Home is essentially a pub or bar near the train station. Unlike Pakkahuone which is primarily an event venue, Dog’s Home is mostly used as a bar but it also doubles as a small gig venue. The stage is pretty small and rather low down.

The Swedish occult dark electro solo artist Blood Magick was on first. The project was originally known as My Own Sorrow and the lyrical themes are centered around horror and the occult. Sadly the venue didn’t do the performance justice. That place really isn’t ideal for an electronic show. For instance, the stage is tiny and there is limted space for props and no means to project any visual imagery. Still, Blood Magick did his best with the limited resources. He managed to convey the creepy atmosphere through which was good. 3.5/5

Next up was a Finnish goth rock band called Murnau’s Playhouse. These guys drew in a bigger crowd and they put on an entertaining show. 3.5/5
Murnau's Playhouse

Then it was time to move to Pakkahuone for the remainder of the night. The main band that caught my attention, my new discovery was the Russian Gothic rock duo Raven Said. The clue is in the name, Raven Said… I guess that ”Quoth the Raven” might have been a bit too obvious. Oh yes, this band is all about Gothic horror and the works of Edgar Allan Poe. They even have a song called ’Lenore”. The visuals worked a treat too. I will definitely have to give their music a listen. 4/5

Sadly I was unable to stick around for the main headliners, Inertia. So the last band I saw was a British Goth rock band called The Danse Society. More Goth rock… There is not a lot that I can say about their performance. It was fairly good as far as Goth rock goes, I’m just not a massive fan of the genre. Also with a name like The Danse Society, I expected something a bit more dance-inspired. 3.5/5

In summary I had a great time at Lumous Gothic Festival. Das Ich were excellent and I made a new discovery in Raven Said. Blood Magick’s performance would have worked better at a different venue. Kiitos Lumous Gothic Festival! See you next year!

Iza Raittila

Lumous Gothic Festival 2015

Posted in Festival, Live with tags Das Ich, Los Carniceros del Norte, Sleetgrout on 5th July 2015 by izaforestspirit

Lumous Gothic Festival 2015

Red Sun Revival, Los Carniceros del Norte, Das Ich

Klubi, Tampere, Finland

3-4th July

Lumous Gothic Festival, Finland’s main goth event is now in its fifteenth year. While it may not be as well renowned as the larger goth festivals such as Wave Gothik Treffen, it has a strong following within the goth and industrial scene. I’ve been attending this festival for the past three years now, and this year there was an exceptionally good line-up.

Friday

First up was the Berlin-based, minimal electro band Afghan Dance. They played some rhythmic and fairly catchy synth tunes with darkwave-style vocals. It was definitely a good start to the night. 3.5/5

There’s not an awful lot that I can say about German goth rockers Golden Apes. They basically played some decent and standard goth rock, which is great for those who like that genre. Personally I’ve never been a massive fan of this style and there’s only a handful of goth bands out there that I enjoy. However, their performance was good but not exceptional and none of the songs stuck in my head afterwards. 3/5

The Russian harsh electro band Sleetgrout were the main band that I came to see and by far the best performance of the evening. They were meant to play at Lumous last year but they had to cancel due to problems with their visas. Their show was very energetic, full of adrenalin-fueled harsh electro with trance elements. I couldn’t stop dancing, especially when they played two of my favourite club tracks ‘Coffin With Two Suicides’ and ‘The Strings’. 5/5

Now, when I say that I’m not the biggest fan of goth rock, that’ doesn’t mean that I’m completely adverse to genre. There’s certain goth bands whose music I adore and occasionally there’s the odd goth rock band that captures my attention. Red Sun Revival was one such band. I’m not sure if it was the singer Rob Leydon’s mesmerizing vocals and the beautiful sound of the electric violin. Whatever it was, it worked because I enjoyed their show and even ended up buying one of their albums afterwards. 4/5

Saturday

In the three years that I’ve been attending this festival, there has always been at least one dark ambient or noise band present in the lineup. This year that was the Estonian electro duo Forgotten Sunrise. Their sound comprises a variety of electronic styles ranging from dark ambient, industrial experimental to noise and synth pop vocals. It was rather slow paced and too ponderous for my liking. 2/5

The Spanish punk band Los Carniceros del Norte clearly like their horror movies and theatrics. I’m not normally into punk or post-punk but that did not stop me from enjoying their show. They were very energetic on stage and the singer’s over the top theatrics were fun to watch. Two other factors that helped me get the most out of their performance were that I understand Spanish and I happen to like horror movies. These guys played some clips of my favourite movies on the backdrop including The Shining, Nosferatu, The Exorcist and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. 4/5

Speaking of theatrics, that’s one thing that the German dark electro duo Das Ich have in abundance. Now, for those who don’t know, I have a bit of a soft spot when it comes to German electronica. I like most styles; whether it’s the industrial rock of Eisbrecher and Rammstein, the creepy harsh EBM of Wumpscut and X-Fusion or the catchy darkwave Gothic sound of Blutengel. And as of yesterday I also like Das Ich. These two freakish and creepy Germans put on one hell of a show. I really enjoyed the whole performance and it didn’t take long for me to start dancing along. 5/5

So there you have it. Another great edition of Lumous Gothic Festival. I’ve finally been to see Sleegrout live and I discovered Das Ich and Red Sun Revival. It is performances like these that make me want to come back year after year.

Iza Raittila