Monday, 27 August 2018

Industrial Music Monday - Blackpill

It's that day, and you know what that means... Industrial!! This week we have a band out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The music is in the vein of harsh/industrial/ebm. The project consists of one member: Ricin. This endeavor is called: Blackpill! Check this project out!!!






blackpillmusic.bandcamp.com

facebook.com/blackpillmusic

Friday, 24 August 2018

OHGR w/Lead Into Gold and Omniflux

This last Wednesday (Aug 22nd/2018) we had the pleasure of having Ohgr play here in Calgary! Ohgr was touring with, Omniflux and Lead Into Gold... Omniflux opened up the show, she had a really cool video display that her and Lead Into Gold were sharing. I hadn't actually heard her stuff until the show was announced, it's decent stuff... her live performance was excellent! Her sound, especially her vocals remind me a little bit of Android Lust! Here's some photos of her set:





Lead Into Gold was next, and it was amazing to finally be able to see this project! I have never seen Lead Into Gold before, but the project has a lot of history. As many of you know, Paul Barker played in Ministry for quite some time... and the Lead Into Gold project has been around since the Wax Trax days (Trent Reznor appeared in the video of the song "Faster Than Light" along with Al Jourgenson)! The set was excellent, and I hope that Paul decides to keep doing this thing... For me, it was like being able to see and experience a piece of history, that I never got to be a part of, cause I was too young at the time! It definitely wasn't nostalgia, but it was like I was experiencing something from those early days! Soo glad I got to see them!! Here's some photos:







and here's a little video:


Finally, Ohgr comes on stage... I've never seen Ohgr live or even Skinny Puppy for that matter! I am soo glad I finally got to see this legend! He came on stage wearing a hood with a mask, and he performed some Tricks 😉 ! He pretty much wore the mask for his entire set. Such an excellent set! I got to hear a couple of my favorites and some stuff off the new album! Here's some video:









Overall the evening was excellent, I am so glad I got to see these legends and I think Omniflux was such a nice addition to the tour! If this tour is coming to your city, go see them!! Such an excellent show!! You don't want to miss out on seeing these legends!

Monday, 13 August 2018

Industrial Music Monday - Ickus

It's that day, and you know what that means... Industrial!!! This week we have a band out of Salt Lake City, Utah. The music is in the vein of electronic/industrial/rock. The project consists of one member: Alana McDonald. The endeavor is called: Ickus! Check it out!!!






ickus.bandcamp.com

facebook.com/Ickus

Wednesday, 8 August 2018

Media, Media bias, and Current Goings On!




Something I’ve been thinking about lately, why, why, why would any media outlet spout biased/manipulated/ or fake news… don’t you want to help people build better relationships with their neighbors, don’t you want the world to be in a better place, don’t you want to educate the masses on what is going on around them in an unbiased fashion… why spout bullshit rhetoric that puts people off or unsure what your true intentions are… why spout racist bullshit, why spout anything false about what is going on around us… the idea of humanity is that we come together and make the world a better place… and when the media starts spouting false news… because they are trying to manipulate people into thinking something that really isn’t going on is… the media is how we see and hear what is going on in the world (whether online or off)… people don’t want to see violence, the want to see and feel peace… ask anybody in the world (if they truly search inside themselves) they will want peace. Granted we may never end up having a true peace, as we will still need to be able to defend ourselves, but a peace nonetheless. If these media companies are using fake news and bias to spin their stories for more viewership…  Shame on you!! You have truly lost what it means to be a news-person. You are supposed to be the trusted places we go to for our stories and current goings on! Where we can see not only the negative aspects (that need changing), but also the positive stories that go around us as well!! Like FOX news, why the fuck would you lead people into believing in such garbage and false stories… don’t you want to educate your customers/viewers and help them help themselves and maybe build a better world…just ridiculous what we are seeing these days (Something I think a lot of the news stations have missed the point on)… If you are doing it just for ratings, I’m sorry, but that is probably the most despicable thing imaginable… the news is supposed to be about educating the masses, and helping them, informing them of what is going around them in world, positive and negative. Maybe what I say here is pointless, but I will say… there will be a point where people will have had enough, and turn off the TV, or stop following your internet reporting pages… I think the shittiest thing we have right now is you turn on your TV or scroll through your news at whatever your favorite site is, and the main concern is, what has this idiot (current president of the US)… has he started a war yet… has the backwards thinking on foreign policy caused the world to become more isolationist… I am truly afraid that the world is gonna become so isolationist, that we will cease to be a world of exciting different cultures to a world that does not want to communicate with each other… a world that will lose its heart and it’s humanity! I guess what I’m trying to say here is… we are all human; Native, Black, LGBTQI+ , Spanish, or whatever… We are all Human, and if you can’t see that, I’m sorry but maybe you should take another look at yourself, a long deep look and ask yourself… am I a human or an animal… animals are violent, we humans evolved from Monkey’s, we are supposed to be more intelligent… Maybe it’s time to act more like it, that means being able to accept everyone is different, if you can’t see that… well I’m very sorry to tell you…I am not a clone, neither are my friends, neither are the people I don’t know… The world would be a very sad place without our friends/family/brothers/sisters/mothers/fathers from another mother… our world would be very sad if all there was, racist rhetoric… or isolationist rhetoric, where countries don’t want to deal with other countries anymore… And I don’t think it’s the general populace of most countries that want this bullshit, it’s the people generally in power that are spouting this bullshit, and if you don’t follow it, you will be shunned, jailed, stoned to death, lynched (yeah apparently that still happens) the one thing I would like to say to these leaders; or supposed leaders, as well as to the mass (supposedly trusted) media… where has your humanity and compassion gone… We are all human, remember?

Monday, 6 August 2018

Industrial Music Monday - Wetware

It's that day, and you know what that means... Industrial!!! This week we have a project out of New York, New York. The music is in the vein of experimental/industrial. The band is the creation of Roxy Farman, and Matthew Morandi. Together they are called Wetware!!! Check them out!!






wetware-nyc.bandcamp.com

facebook.com/WETWARENYC


Tuesday, 31 July 2018

Industrial + Beers: Episode 4: Tekhnotron

We have another episode of "Industrial + Beers" with the band Tekhnotron! In this episode, we talk about Industrial, EBM, Terminus, and current world politics and how some of it comes into play in the industrial/goth scene!




If you like these Industrial + Beers videos, please give it a like, comment, share, and subscribe! Thank you!!

Monday, 30 July 2018

Terminus: Shockwave (2018)






Well, another year, another Terminus! This year was definitely the most well attended show (I think 95% of the tickets were sold), but I would say, probably not the strongest lineup. I do understand that this time around it was harder to get certain bands, as a lot of them were committed to other festivals. I will say though… despite that it still turned out to be a good festival!! Unfortunately, I didn’t get a lot of photos or videos, but I’ll share what I have! Here were some of the highlights and surprises this year:

Day 1 (Friday):

Street Sects:
This band was quite a surprise for me. I’ve heard their music online, and too be quite honest, I didn’t really dig it, but I loved their live set. I find for me, the live show is what really makes or breaks a band for me. If I like the live show, I tend to follow a band, and it may not even be their performance so much, as their live sound… I tend to like bands that are a little noisier in their live show… and their live set was definitely noisy! I also think the added noise adds dynamics to the songs that aren’t there in the recordings. Their stage performance was excellent… and I’ll definitely have to go back and listen to their releases!

Shiv-R:
This band is one of the bands I wanted to see this weekend. They sounded great, but I will say their performance was not as energetic as I thought it would be, but overall I still liked it.




Author & Punisher:
I saw this guy a couple of years back at another Terminus. I’m mentioning this project again, cause it is excellent, and the performance is great! The guy fucking builds his own midi triggered gear that have a bunch of hydraulics in them… and in his performances you can tell he really works for his music… literally, his performance is very physical.


Day 2 (Saturday):

Kontravoid:
I will say, I’ve always dug Kontravoid, but I’ve never had a chance to see him live. His performance was excellent, and once again, it's always the live show that always makes or breaks a band for me, whether it’s the actual performance, or just the sound… his sound was fucking amazing... I will say this again, sometimes the live sound always adds these dynamics or elements you won’t hear on albums and that was definitely the case here! This was probably the highlight for me for Day 2!



Unter Null:
I would say Unter Null’s set was pretty noisy, and from what it sounded like, Erica’s harsh vocals were done without vocal processing, which I quite liked, as well, as you don’t see that too often in the scene! The performance overall was excellent!


Day 3 (Sunday):

HIDE:
HIDE were a surprise for me, I’ve heard their various stuff online, but their set was amazing and intense! The music had a meditative element to it I would say, and Heather’s vocals and stage performance were quite excellent. I really think their live sound/performance does justice to the recorded music. The added smoke and strobes definitely set the mood for their set!



TrepaneringsRitualen:
I hadn’t heard of this project until he was announced to play Terminus. I checked it out online… and I really liked it. It’s kind of a black metal meets noise. Seeing the guy’s stage performance was amazing… on the corner of the stage he had a little set up of black candles and a bunch of incense… which, even though it seems so miniscule I thought it was really cool! With the smoke billowing off the stage, the strobes and the smell of the incense and then this harsh performance on top of it, excellent!! I didn’t see any physical product in the merch area, but I will definitely be purchasing his music!!



DSTR:
Daniel Myer once again put on an excellent performance, this time as DSTR. I’m really not too sure what to say, anything Daniel touches turns to fucking amazing, whether that’s just the compositions of his music, or his stage performance. I feel like he walked in and rocked the show!!



Android Lust:
This is the band I wanted to see this year. I’ve liked Android Lust since she put out her album "The Dividing". I’ve said this before to some people, but Shikhee is definitely the female version of Trent Reznor. The performance was amazing! I don’t normally go into shows with expectations of what a band should sound like, or what their performance should be, but for seeing them for the first time, it was perfect!





Here were some of the performances that I wasn’t necessarily into, but thought deserved a mention:

FIRES:

This band was definitely a highlight for me, they had really good energy… and it looked like they had a lot of fun on the stage. I'm not really into the synthwave stuff but still good!


iVardensphere:
Scott and company always put on excellent performances. I have seen them countless times so, don’t really need to go into the details. Excellent performance!

ACTORS:
These guys, like the last Terminus, put on excellent performances, and they are very polished. I think I mentioned them last year, so no need to mention them this year again. Excellent!

FGFC820:
I don’t mind these guys music, although, I don’t actively go out and listen to it. I will say though they did put on an excellent show!

Leaether Strip:
It’s Claus, he put on an excellent performance! I don’t normally listen to his music, but it is definitely starting to grow on me!






Even though this year wasn't the strongest year in the lineup for me, I will say probably one of the better (or most enjoyed) Terminus's I've been to! Not so much in the music department, but definitely seeing people I haven't seen since the last Terminus, and I also met a lot of new cool people too! I really didn't want it to end, and for me this year, I'm starting to feel like these people are starting to become family. I hope this festival continues to be a thing here in Calgary for many years to come! I can't wait to see what next year brings, and I can't wait to see all you folks again!! See you at Override!!