Download Festival –LIVE REVIEW by Carina Lawrence / Dark Art Conspiracy
Download Festival’s 20th anniversary saw a record-breaking 100,000 attendees to the hallowed grounds of Donington Park, becoming its most successful year ever. The fastest-selling Download in its 20-year history, 2023’s edition showcased world-class rock and metal across four days and six stages. The sold-out festival spanned four days for the first time ever, with two headline sets from Metallica, and a set each from Bring Me The Horizon and Slipknot.
Welcome Rootbrain! Their debut album Breakwater has finally released today (June 14, 2023) after much anticipation! The band is comprised of music scene veterans, including members of Triptykon, Profane Omen and Kuolemanlaakso.
Jules Näveri – vocals V. Santura – lead guitar Hurja Helle – rhythm guitar Thomas Wright – bass Fat Tony – drums
No frills, Breakwater is a solid album. Old school sound with a fresh coat of paint and anguish, embellished with occasional wisps from the members previously existing bands. Rootbrain consider themselves “Black Grunge”, which is definitely the sound at the core of it all, but there are also constant bursts and streams from every corner of metal, rock and alternative music . The easy flow of ballad breakdowns, electrifying solos, groovy melodies, doomy riffs, heart wrenching harmonies and chill acoustic interludes keeps your ears, mind and soul on edge. Throw all of those things into a blender with a shot of whisky, sunshine, and the notion that this world is going down in flames- and you have Breakwater. I couldn’t imagine a better time of year for this album to have been released than the beginning of summer. Listening to it makes me want nothing more than to lounge in the sun and drink to the end of the world. The album is equally as diverse in lyrical themes, bending from rage to sorrow to power to pain, reflecting the soul of the writer, and the world surrounding them. A positive reflection of the fucknesses of life. Acceptance of the shitty state of the world with a grin. A view of a dystopian hell through rose colored glasses.
Breakwater is saturated with the vibe of guys making music for the sake of music and friendship. Guys who love what they do, and recorded the most professional and intricate jam session ever. In their bio, they describe themselves as a “band built on brotherhood” and this album smacks you in the face with that notion. I can almost see their live show with intense jamming, jokes, tricks, and a laid back but professional stage presence where they are all in sync with each other as well as the audience. This album really makes me want to experience them live. Now. No… like, yesterday!
Interview by Carina Lawrence / Dark Art Conspiracy
Internationally renowned musician of popular rock band Life Of Agony and graphic novelist Alan Robert is the creator of several critically-acclaimed works: Wire Hangers, Crawl to Me, Killogy, and The Beauty of Horror, a bestselling series of horror-themed adult colouring books. Alan has recently unleashed the sixth volume of his successful horror colouring books, where he pays tribute to the world’s most famous works of art. We talked to Alan about his latest book, his love of drawing and horror, music and more!
Download Festival 2023 will mark their special 20th-anniversary edition, their biggest and longest festival yet, being four days instead of the usual three and taking place on 8-11th June 2023. Metallica, Bring Me The Horizon, and Slipknot headline a great year for the UK’s biggest rock festival, and Metallica will perform two headline sets with no repeat songs. As expected, their 20th-anniversary celebration boasts a mega line-up for a record-breaking year for the festival, as 2023’s event is the fastest-selling Download ever. Here are some reasons this year’s event is breaking records and some bands we are particularly excited to see added to the anniversary bill!
Grave Pleasures celebrated the release of their fourth studio album Plagueboysat Yo-Talo in Tampere on April 27, 2023.
Modem, a dystopian synth-pop duo donned with a pile of synth filled boxes warmed up the stage. They seemed to be a bit mysterious and underground as I had trouble finding much info about them. Although their style and sound seemed to be on the outer edge of relative to Grave Pleasures, the connection was understandable. They somehow flawlessly blended eccentricity and low keyness, drenaline driven yet chill indie aesthetic, shiny latex, fast glasses eccentric dancing vs. knitted sweaters, humble newsboy hats and groovy stoicism. The vocals and more melancholic melodies shot a streak of Twin Peaks vibes through the whole set. Specially the parts when the vocalist played the Sax, and it made you question whether it was insanity or brilliance.
Although it was a Thursday night and probably not as big of a crowd a there could (should) have been, Grave Pleasures set the stage ablaze from start to finish. At times, every (living) body in the room was swaying to the groove of dystopian doomy post punk. Mat’s humble and low key speeches between songs drove in the lovely paradox of up beat dystopian music. Questioning why they wrote songs about such dark subjects such as “Doomsday Rainbows” in the past, and how they’ve move on to getting “High on Annihilation”. Sarcastically mentioning all the things going wrong in the world that they weren’t supposed to talk about , although much of their music coincidentally directly breached those subjects. Dancing with a similar low key eccentricness Modem had. The only other time I had seen the band was at the packed indoor stage at Tuska in 2018, so the half full intimacy of Yo-Talo was quite a different vibe and although the show as brilliant and will probably make my top gigs list, it left an unsatiated feeling, needing more. I really REALLY hope they do more gigs this year!
VORNA is a Finnish sextet formed in 2008 that concocts melancholic grand metal. They are back with their fourth album, “Aamunkoi”, their most melodic and ambitious offering yet. The album title translates as “Aurora”. In literature, this means “The Dawn”. In the far north, where VORNA come from, this is also the name for the phenomenon of the polar lights. The vocals are sung in the Finnish native language, which makes it more mysterious and compelling to those like me who aren’t Finnish. Still, I did have the lyrics translated into English, and as expected, the lyrics are bleak with a flicker of hope and beauty entwined – fitting for their sound and origin. The album’s central theme is survival in the uncertain world where the lucky ones who witness a new day have a chance to strive for a better future – when they still can.
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