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Lumous Gothic Festival XX – Final Episode

Posted in Editorial/Opinionated, Festival, Gig with tags Chaos Research, Dark ambient, ebm, goth rock, live stream, Lumous Gothic Festival, Oldschool Union, Sekret Teknik, synthwave, Two Witches on 13th July 2020 by izaforestspirit

Finland’s biggest Gothic music event Lumous Gothic Festival celebrated its twentieth anniversary this year. The original plan was for this year to be the last Lumous with the final edition of the festival taking place in July 2020. The on-going worldwide coronavirus pandemic meant that the plans had to be drastically altered. There was a very realistic possibility that the event would have to be canceled like many others have been. Luckily, thanks to the low infection rates within Finland and successful preventative measures, small scale events were permitted with restricted access based on the capacity of the venue. Due to the international travel restrictions, only a handful of local bands were able to perform and the only venue available to host the event was a small pub in the city centre called Dog’s Home. In addition to the live performances, the event was also streamed live via the festival’s Facebook page.

Now before I go into more detail about this year’s event, I would like to tell you a bit about my own personal experience of Lumous Gothic Festival. 2020 marks the eighth year of my participation in the festival. My first Lumous was in 2012. Since then I have not missed a single Lumous Gothic Festival. It has become one of the highlights of my summer. I have met some really nice people there and I discovered several new bands including: Das Ich, Shiv-R, Auger, Raven Said, Sleetgrout and Sekret Teknik.

Shiv-R, archive photo from their show at Lumous Gothic Festival 2016

DAS ICH — Das Ich, archive photo taken from their performance at Lumous Gothic Festival 2019

Sadly this year I was unable to attend it due to the restricted access and the limited capacity of the venue but I still managed to stream the event online from their Facebook page.

This time line up comprised four Finnish bands: Chaos Research (neo-classical/darkwave/ambient), Old School Union (EBM with punk influences), Sekret Teknik (synth-wave) and Gothic rock legends Two Witches.

Friday 10th July 2020 (live stream)

I have actually seen Chaos Research live at the same venue two years ago so I pretty much knew what to expect from the live stream. They managed to create a chilled-out atmosphere thanks to the operatic vocals combined with the electric cello and drums. Not my kind of music but if you are into neo-folk or dark ambient then you will probably enjoy this.

Archive photo, taken from the performance at Lumous Gothic Festival 2018

https://chaosresearch.bandcamp.com/

Oldschool Union were highly entertaining to watch. I like some some old school EBM but I’m not the biggest fan of punk. The performance was fun and amusing to see. I particularly liked the song ‘Vartalovasara’.

https://www.facebook.com/Oldschool-Union-

Saturday 11th July 2020 (live stream)

I have only just discovered Sekret Teknik a few days ago. I liked their performance and their take on the synthwave genre. My personal favorite part of the show was the song ‘Nightsky’.

Image may contain: 3 people, people sitting and sunglasses

https://sekretteknik.bandcamp.com/

Then it was time for the band that has been involved with the festival right from the start. Two Witches front-man Jyrki Witch is one of the organizers of the event. Two Witches were the first band at the very first Lumous Gothic Festival back in 2001 so it was only fitting for them to be the closing act the final chapter of Lumous. It was an acoustic show. They played some of my favorites including ‘The Dark Angels of Sin’ along with some newer tracks such as ‘Spirit Sacrifice’. Unfortunately I missed some of the live steam due to a connection problem.

Archive photo taken from their performance at Lumous Gothic Festival 2016

https://www.facebook.com/Two-Witches-Official-

Jyrki Witch also announced the winners of the Lumous 2020 Award – Club Gothic Night.

So that was it. After twenty years Lumous Gothic Festival has come to end. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in the event for the past eight years. Hopefully there will be something new emerging from the Finnish Gothic scene to fill its place. Kiitos Lumous Gothic Festival! You will be missed.

Iza Raittila

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Two Witches 30th anniversary show

Posted in Gig, Live with tags anniversary show, Dark Side Cowboys, Freakangel, goth rock, Industrial, Two Witches on 9th September 2017 by izaforestspirit

Dark Side Cowboys, Freaknagel, Harmony Garden
Klubi, Tampere, Finland
8th September 2017

The Finnish Goth rock band Two Witches celebrated their 30^th anniversary last night. And what would be a better place to celebrate it than one of my favorite venues in their home city – at Klubi. I’ve seen them live before, but their anniversary show promised to be something special. Support bands including the Swedish alternative rock band Dark Side Cowboys, Estonian industrial band Freakangel and others.

I arrived too late to catch the first band Harmony Garden, who apparently played an acoustic set. The first band I saw was Dark Side Cowboys. I’ve seen these guys live before when they played Lumous Gothic Festival a few years ago, so I pretty much knew what to expect. Their style is difficult to categorize, it’s a mixture of old school, Fields of the Nephilim -style Goth rock with hints of darkwave and even some industrial. One thing is for sure, they know how to put on a great show. 4/5

Freakangel is a band that I used to like a lot when they first came out; I really like their first album. Sadly I’m not that keen on their newer releases and I don’t particularly like the direction that they are heading with their latest album. Their show was better than the first time that I saw them live, but it’s a shame that they only played one track from ‘The Faults of Humanity’. Other songs I recognized included ‘Parasite’, ‘The Used’ and ‘Book of Violence’. 3/5

Then the time came for the heroes of the day, Two Witches. These guys are usually very good live. This show was special in the sense that it gave the audience an insight into the band’s history. Singer Jyrki Witch was keen to share some anecdotes about the band’s early days. They also had some surprise guests with two former members of the band, Nauko and Toby joining them on stage for a few songs. As usual, they played an mixture of old and new songs including fan favorites such as ‘The Dark Angels of Sin’, ‘Dead Dog’s Howl’, ‘Inner Circle Outside’ and ‘Burn The Witch’. One surprise addition to the setlist was an old darkwave track called ‘Cat’s Eyes’ sung by Jyrki alone as an encore. 5/5

In summary I had a good time. Good music and it was a fun night out in town. Dark Side Cowboys were great live, Freakangel had its moments. As for the night’s heroes…Thirty years and still going strong. Happy anniversary to the Two Witches!

Iza Raittila

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Two Witches live in Tampere

Posted in Gig, Live with tags goth rock, Two Witches on 14th May 2015 by izaforestspirit

Larva, Two Witches
Redemption Club at The Dog’s Home,

Tampere, Finland

13th May 2015

After my recent travels it was nice to go to a local alternative event for a change. Two Witches is a local Goth rock band and this was a free show to celebrate their keyboard player Zynthexia’s birthday. The venue was a pub called The Dog’s Home, which is located near the train station at the heart of the city centre. Tampere has a sizable Goth scene so the venue was full by the time the bands started.

Larva

First up was a Spanish terror EBM duo called Larva. I was not sure what to expect when I first saw them because the singer was draped in leather and covered in corpse-paint which is usually more befitting for a member of a black metal band than an industrial/EBM one. Yet after hearing the first notes of the synthesizers, it was pretty clear that this was going to be electronica. Not a guitar or drum kit in sight, just some harsh screams and cries (mostly in their native Spanish) and synthesizer beats to dance along to. I liked their eerie atmosphere and the creepy vocal samples in the songs. They reminded me a little of their Mexican brethren, the Aggrotech band Hocico. 5/5

Two Witches

I’ve seen this band live before at Lumous Gothic Festival last summer so I knew what to expect. They are one of the very few Goth bands that I actually like and they usually put on a good show. I guess that a large part of their appeal is down to the singer Jyrki Witch’s stage presence. Unlike some Goth rock frontmen, this guy actually looks like he’s having fun performing live. Since this show was in honor of their keyboard player’s birthday, they stopped at one point to sing to Zynthexia “Paljon Onnea!” (Happy Birthday in Finnish) and they encouraged the crowds to join in. They then continued to play a mixture of old and new tracks to the delight of the audience. 5/5

In summary, I had a great time. It proves just how close-knit the local Goth and industrial scenes are. Just as with Lumous Gothic Festival, this was a rare occasion for people who like these types of music to get together under one roof for a free concert. Hopefully there will be more of these events in the future.

Iza Raittila

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Two-Witches-Official/167374843332778

https://www.facebook.com/larva.official?fref=ts

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Lumous Gothic Festival 2014

Posted in Festival, Live with tags ebm, Goth, goth rock, Harsh EBM, Leaether Strip, neofolk, Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, powernoize, Two Witches on 6th July 2014 by izaforestspirit

Lumous Gothic Festival 2014 @ Tampere, Finland

Two Witches, Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, Leaether Strip
Klubi, Tampere
4-5th July

Lumous Gothic Festival is Finland’s largest goth event. It was established back in 2001 and has become an annual event held in central Tampere. The music on offer is strictly non-metal, ranging from goth rock, darkwave, industrial and EBM to neofolk. The actual festival is a four day event but the main shows take place on the Friday and Saturday.

Friday
The opening act was meant to be the Russian Harsh EBM band Steelgrout. Sadly they were unable to make it due to some problems with their Visas. Their replacement was the Jyväskylä-based Finnish EBM act Unzyme. Before their substitutes started, they actually played a message from Steelgrout to the audience in which the Russian band apologizes for not being able to make it. Unzyme describe their sound as “biomechanical pop” which is essentially synthpop with lab experiments as a their main theme. Their set was entertaining and it was a good start to the night. 3.5/5

Next up was the Swedish goth rock band Malaise. I’m not a massive fan of goth rock, but these guys were better than I expected. They combined the classic goth rock sound of bands like The Sisters of Mercy and Fields of The Nephilim with EBM for a sound that is truly unique and memorable. I really enjoyed their set and this was my favourite performance of the night. 4/5

The final act of the night was another Swedish band – Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio. Their sound is not an easy one to classify; it’s a mixture of dark ambient, neofolk and industrial. They are a returning act to Lumous having played their before back in 2002. Their music has this eerie, soundtrack feel to it and the pace is mostly slow. The problem I had with them is that they were playing dark ambient in the early hours of the morning, by which time my energy was running out. I was too exhausted to stick around until the end of their set. 3/5

Saturday
The night started with a performance by the Latvian industrial band Autogen. Their style is a mixture of industrial noize and rhythmic/powernoize with an experimental flare akin to the likes of The Klinik. Some tracks were more danceable than others. They also had an interesting range of stage props ranging from fake blood, a fire extinguisher and a contraption that looked like a defibrillator. Their set was definitely entertaining as a result, but I wasn’t super keen on the music itself. 2/5

Next up was the Finnish rock band Two Witches. Their lead singer Jyrki Witch is one of the organizers of the festival. I like their old songs but I’m not too familiar with their new work. Luckily they played a mixture of old and new material including “Zombie Walk” (from the latest album) along with some old classics such as “Vampire Empire” and “Burn The Witch”. They are one of the best and the most energetic goth rock bands that I’ve seen in a while. 4/5

The night ended with a performance from the main band I came to see, the Danish harsh EBM duo Leaether Strip. I’ve seen them live last year and it was great to see them again. These guys really give it their all, playing all their hit tracks including “Evil Speaks”, “Strap Me Down” and “Don’t Tame Your Soul”. It didn’t take long before I joined in, dancing along with the rest of the audience. 5/5

So there you have it. Another summer, another Lumous Festival. It’s always great to see that the goth and industrial scene in Finland is alive and well. I just wish that they would organize more events like this in the future.

Iza Raittila

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