A packed viewers beneath a lightning-filled sky gathered on the Mohawk Austin on June 16 to look at a number of equally riveting and haunting music acts represented by San Francisco-based label The Flenser. With excessive expectations as the one sold-out showcase for the 2023 Oblivion Entry Pageant, the memorable lineup delivered an exhilarating nearly seven-hour exhibition of among the world’s finest darkish music.
Ragana
The talent-stacked evening kicked off with the queer, anti-fascist, darkish steel energy duo from Olympia, Washington. By way of the intense Austin summer time warmth, the pair unleashed a melancholic wrath on stage that cradled the viewers with a well-recognized dreadful vacancy. Channeling queer and feminist themes inside their work, the lyrics’ emotional depth echoed with each soundwave. A refreshing new Flenser signee, the duo proved their expertise in pushing darkish music to new heights.
Bosse-de-Nage
San Francisco’s elusive experimental black-metal group gave a uncommon efficiency filled with harrowing vocals with wealthy lyrics, dynamic drums and piercing guitar riffs. Having solely carried out about 20 reside live shows all through their round 15-year profession, the paranormal group carried out songs throughout their five-album discography. The infernal soundscape radiated into the sky as patrons of the Mohawk celebrated the sturdy steel act.
Planning For Burial
Thom Wasluck’s post-metal ambient venture from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, took the stage subsequent. Wasluck delivered a hypnotically passionate efficiency as his elbow-length hair whipped across the stage. With solely a guitar, an array of pedals and a small blue suitcase overflowing with chords, the atmospheric ambient sounds of his spectacular solo act rang all through the venue. Filling an area with such compelling droning sounds proved to be a formidable feat, however after 300 performances as Planning For Burial, Wasluck’s beautiful stage presence ought to come as no shock.
Mamaleek
Shrouded in multi-colored face masks, the faceless band from San Francisco and Beirut rocked the stage in homage to Eric Livingston, a band member who died in early March. The efficiency started with a robust trumpet solo because the quartet threw down some piercing darkish steel tracks. The band’s infusion of jazz and digital music into black steel blared into the evening as followers screamed alongside. After the bewitching efficiency, the band threw luggage of sweet into the group, leaving the sonically bitter efficiency on a candy observe.
Chat Pile
One of the vital thrilling bands of the evening from Oklahoma Metropolis exploded onto the stage with sonic ferocity after an hour-long thunderstorm delay. The efficiency actually felt as if the band expelled poisonous waste from their amps as lead singer, Raygun Busch, freakishly strutted round stage, shirtless in cargo shorts, screeching into his mic. Between songs, Busch praised Texas horror movies like “Texas Chainsaw Bloodbath” for his or her profound affect on the band’s work and the artwork of filmmaking. The band’s quick set displayed their refreshingly hellish sound and the thrilling promise of the band’s future.
Have a Good Life
The evening got here to a detailed with a efficiency from the legendary depressive, post-industrial, doom-gaze band from Middletown, Connecticut. The electrical efficiency rang deep into the evening as vocalist Dan Barrett passionately flung himself round stage, intermittently chanting the band’s profoundly miserable lyrics and falling a number of instances. Colourful summary projections coated the musicians as they performed vividly layered songs wealthy with bone-rattling bass strains, melancholic keys and atmospheric guitar. Have a Good Life ended the evening with a dramatic and heartfelt bombshell of a efficiency.
