The Gathering Of Autumn Souls – Day III

The third day of the AUTUMN SOULS OF SOFIA festival started early with the welcoming of maybe the band that the fans of the style anticipated the most – ESOTERIC. The musicians seemed to be really humble, unassuming and responsive. In the afternoon Live&Loud was still calm and almost empty. The Bulgarian band INVIDIA arrived while ESOTERIC were doing their soundcheck. The bands which gathered us on the 15th of October were quite colorful and with different genres, while the end of the show was surprising even for the organizers.

INVIDIA are one of our really good black metal bands. After their album “Deep into the moonlight” came out I started to dream of seeing them live. But their episodic concerts differed from my personal schedule. That’s why their participation in the AUTUMN SOULS OF SOFIA 2016 was something that I waiter for eagerly. Their set included songs from that album, two new compositions (we hope for a new album) and a cover of SATYRICON – “The Pentagram Burns”. They shared with us that they had prepared covers of DIMMU BORGIR and IMMORTAL but the time ran out.

LEBENSSUCHT also come from Leipzig, the same way as their colleagues from HUMAITAS ERROR EST. The brand new band, created last year, released its first (and for now only) EP “Fucking my knife”. Their art could only be compared to the movement theater of the French choreographs, where the main expression is the movement of the body. It is something that can’t be told it MUST be seen. It must be lived. The protagonists were S Caedes – main vocals, Déhà – guitars, bass, vocals. After we saw HUMANITAS ERROR EST last night we thought that we knew what to expect. Not with LEBENSSUCHT. Torn, blood stained innocent white clothes. As if it wasn’t a symbol of purity and happiness but madness and self-harm. Bandaged wrists and still not healed wounds from self-harm rituals. And insanity. Madness which crawled in your subconscious and started to plant psychotic thoughts there. Have your ever asked yourself how the real face of depression would’ve looked like? The face of the deep personality disorder or a phobia that’s impossible to defeat? Those grotesque body and face, torn apart from pain, that could only dwell in the mind of a sick man…they seem to be in your mind as well. LEBENSSUCHT will show that to you. Furthermore, it their show you will find yourself. Your own fears, your hidden pain, the unhealed wounds that still bleed and stain the shining white purity of your soul with blood. “WHO ARE YOU” S Caedes screamed. Yes, who are you, where do you come from and where do you think that you are going? “Pain is the gate, their eudemonia.” Is the philosophy of the band. The healing or the process of replacing one pain with another can really make you happy, at least for a short period of time…after you have cried all your infected tears.

Set list of LEBENSSUCHT
Fucking my knife
Beloved depression
Until we die
Improvisation

And after LEBENSSUCHT left me with the feeling that I had the desire not to listen nor see anything else, the bloodstained stage is occupied by the Serbian rebels REDENIK. Their fresh crossover/thrash pumped some life into the ravaged bodies and brains. Judging by their lyrics, mainly sung in Serbian, they are really big esthetes and optimists. REDENIK really managed to bring a colorful touch among the mainly somber fans. Especially with Majmun behind the drums and Pakost on the guitars. We hope that they will soon summarize their songs into a studio album so that we will be able to give them a proper evaluation.

And of course the presence of depression and aggressive rebellion, must result in something more harmonic and autumn-like, because we started to feel quite chaotic. It seemed that EVADNE managed to combine the different energies and to transform them in a single flow that has its own individuality. EVADNE came from the land of passion and flamenco, but their music carried another, darker, passion. A passion which possessed you and through which you could feel the touch of darkness. Melodies, which contained warm beauty and aristocratic melancholy. Their set passed on and led us to the next band.

ZATOKREV. “Funny music for funny people”, is written on their stickers. Hm, really?! They have almost as long as their Spanish colleague’s. The classic Doom/Death was combined with muddy Slude, which made the music of the Swiss even more “oppressive” and dirtier. They were welcomed with almost the same euphoria as ESOTERIC, which means that they weren’t a new name for the fans. Their fairly long set warmed us for the headliners ESOTERIC, who wanted to exchange their setlists with SELVANS, which was a good decision because of the styles coincidence. Because the Funeral Doom/Death metal of the British band couldn’t be swallowed without a proper preparation.

I don’t think that it is necessary to talk about the professionalism or the musical history of ESOTERIC. The set of the British band directly sent the fans to a trip through the vast universes. Funeral doom and smiling faces weren’t the most compatible combination, although some of the fans shared that they never even dreamed of seeing them live. I confess that I’m not a big fan of this style. And instead of being boring, describing it with generalities, we will wait for the tale of ESOTERIC, written by our colleague Asia Pesheva.

Before the set of ESOTERIC, Adde Outlaw shared with us that after all the band finish playing, he would grant us another set with Angrepp. This made the public quite euphoric, because Adde has been a favorite for the fans and his colleagues for a long time. And if you ever asked yourself what black metal musicians do when they are at a party…Well, they sing MANOWAR acapella. Yes, it was funny to see and hear musicians from HUMANITAS ERROR EST, DEN SAAKADTE, IXXI, Månegarm singing exactly that.

SELVANS were the band which I expected the most. When I decided to write the review of their album “Lupercalia” and I studied the concept behind it, I was stunned. The things were well made and the alchemic mixture between music, lyrics and live performance which really managed to transfer the spirit of the ancient Roman cult. The cult of the wolves, the female origin and Faunus. The music of the Italians had so much fire in it, that it led to a complete loss of the mind. The same as the pan flute of Faunus enchanted everyone to follow it in a dance of insanity. Despite the small technical problems, that are sometimes inevitable during live performances, SELVANS were amazing. Stunning and magical. Selvans Haruspex was an incredibly good front man who showed the main moments of the ritual Lupercalia. SELVANS have prepared a split with the one man project DOWNFALL OF NUR from Argentina, where they included traditional instruments, while the subject of the split is the dualism between the Moon and the Sun.

Set list SELVANS:
Matavitatau Versipellis
Hirpi Sorani
O Clitumne!
Lupercale

The clock was showing us that the new day had arrived, while the Death metal band from Burgas THE REVENGE PROJECT took their place on the scene. One really loved band by the Bulgarian fans. The place of the vocalist Max Pain was taken by Woundheir of Dimholt, who despite his worries, did an amazing job. The 15 year history of the band is really something to respect and their last album “Figment Paradise” gathered a lot of positive comments. Although the fans were a lot less, the audience showed its love for the band.

Adde Outlaw didn’t waste a lot of time and right after THE REVENGE PROJECT left the stage , he attacked it with Angrepp. Despite that the night was transforming into the new dawn and that we were nearly completely exhausted, the energy of Angrepp and the pure positivism of Adde really manage to revive us. Hair started to fly in all directions, glasses of beer are raised. Angrepp repeated almost their whole set from the last night, and of course Ghoul of HUMANITAS ERROR EST was there for the encore of “True Old Soul”. Their colleagues of DEN SAAKALDTE were also headbang in front of the stage.

Well, as a conclusion I wanted to say something wise, or poetic or…The only thing that I can say is that I am endlessly happy for the existence of this event. Because it’s not only becoming a meeting between the fans and their favorite musicians but also in an artistic forum where musicians that play different genres, come from different countries and have different views on music, can spend time together. Where they can exchange ideas, emotions and share the art that they create. Until new meeting, Autumn souls!