Despite the weather all week being sunny here, rainy there, i felt energized for this Thursday evening. This was also because of a particular successful day at work, so i was all in for a barrage of strings and some growling.
Arriving early into an almost empty upstairs at the Hafenklang, the only other attendee was a mate. It did not turn really better, at the end only ever about 30 good people took the opportunity for a good mu-sick-al beating at an utmost fair (and flexible) price.
Atom Atom from Hamburg kicked off and turned out as a big surprise. I have not seen them before but came across their recorded output on Bandcamp, liked them and included them them into my December 2022 playlist.
Atom Atom (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 20.06.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)
What did i get? Besides the sub-optimal (and unfortunately broken) lights i got a hard banging drummer, a gifted guitar hero that both can do shredding plus fast finger play and a girl on bass that has a vocal spectrum from … say Opera to Growling. A real wow factor.
And how did it sound? It sounded like this:
That’s Zurück Zum Schmutz vom the 2019 Tape. The lyrics actually drive a wee bit a smile, as i just can not relate to it (other than the last sentence).
Ist komisch, riecht komisch, sieht räudig aus Prunkvoll zerfallen, mit Liebe verstaubt Torkelnde Wesen vergnügen sich davor Baraken der Hoffnung steigen empor Zurück zum Schmutz - zurück zum Schmutz Selbstverwaltung, Feuertonne Zurück zum Schmutz - zurück zum Schmutz Schmuddelkinder, wenig Sonne Gegenkonzept zu Ordnung und Fleiß Verpiss dich mit Scheiße und Engstirnigkeit Räume befreien, im Plenum kurz fassen Strukturen bewahren und verwahrlosen lassen
It's weird, smells weird, looks mangy Magnificently disintegrated, covered in dust with love Staggering creatures have fun in front of it Barracks of hope rise Back to the dirt - back to the dirt Self-government, fire barrel Back to the dirt - back to the dirt Dirty kids, little sun Counter concept to order and hard work Fuck off with bullshit and bigotry Free up rooms, keep it brief in the plenary session Preserve structures and let them fall into disrepair
They got something, indeed. Their main asset to me is the brutal onslaught at times (driven by the guitar) and the male/female ping-pong on vocals paired with the two voices being distinct different (growl on the guitar side, the much wider spectrum on the bass side).
Atom Atom (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 20.06.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)
And, whilst they seem deeply rooted in the mu-sick-al cupboard labeled D-Beat, they actually spread much wider and thus make the songs less uniform. Here is the one i liked most live, it pushed downward from stage with even more umph:
Great set, cheers and applause from the small audience and definitley a band that i will aim to see again. Check them out, it is a good bet for a good surprise.
Nightfeeder, who were glued to Atom Atom during their set, next and they started with something that is just perfect showman ship: Intro music (dark, horror movie like) and the band on stage raising the bottle for a band-internal cheers.
And then crossing over the intro music with an instrumental that drives forward harder and harder, accumulating into a short fast banger. Wild guess, it was this beauty (that also has a beautiful name):
Where Atom Atom gave the audience variation, Nightfeeder focused. But not like the tip of a needle, no, far from. They focused on pushing a wall of sound to the audience, heavy, and with a growling voice.
Only one song stood out and was different, I’m A Letdown sung by the bass player.
As items out of the Crust and/or D-Beat cupboard are normally not my thingy i am not an expert but mates in the know told me that Nightfeeder (hailing from Seattle in the US of A) are somewhat a supergroup. They are made up by members from legendary bands such as Consume, Deathraid, and Disrupt – all bands i have never heard.
But whatever that history, what counts is what is being pushed down from the stage. And that wall of sound, in best moments a powerful dark soundscape, felt near perfect as a live experience.
Nightfeeder (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 20.06.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)
As fast as they played, as fast it was over. The small expert audience responded with plenty of cheers even asking for even more, but Nightfeeder had fed what they wanted to feed.
As ever if a band convinces me live i got to score vinyl, this time round for me the clear winner and more interesting catch was Atom Atom, so i scored their LP.
A mate got both the Nightfeeder LP and the Atom Atom Tape and surprised the hell out of me with the cool plastic bag he carried for getting the score safely home.
A somewhat very fitting, dark humor type of bag. Cudos my friend, cudos!
Great evening and a pity that the turnout was so small. Both bands should have faced at least a full upstairs – it was a more than fair price. A couple of days earlier two young hardcore bands sold out downstairs, at double the price.
And i have been told it was not even half that good.
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