"POWEREVER" – heal me with violence. (festival review)

It is quite symbolic that 9 October 2004 revealed itself to be deeply expected date for the hardest music fans in Lithuania. Only few people on a whole earth could sing and play electric guitars and drums harder than "Slogun", the vocal-instrumental group. Project "Cannibal Corpes" seemed as a blue whale swimming in the hardest electronic music ocean. Both of them acted like the noise makers on Saturday Vilnius scenes. However, in someone's words – "you can't f..k all of them". So you need to choose. Every conscious minute of my life I listen to electronic music, so with the tick of 9 pm I was already tramping around the local "temple of underground music" – "Vault".

"Power electronics" – the most horrible sound the human ears ever perceived from the times of Adam. This is audio violence. Music maturated with misanthropy, uncontrolled aggression and hate should be considered the part of "industrial" subculture flourishing in post-industrial countries. This movement driven by the anger and pessimism is subjected against problems triggered by the Western World – suicide for popularity, war and planet ravage for the world power as well as other disasters usually imposed upon the Western residents. "Industrial" people see the society "cradled by the media" and unaware of its "corruption". No wonder that this "cultural philosophy" was born in the USA.

According to those, at the least, weird people one of the basic measures for saving the world – "Therapy through Violence" – is the most brutal and violent form of Art. Vocal distorted by sound effects, brutal powerful sounds, perverted video products, even physical contact with the audience – only few forms of expression. All measures used in order to shock the audience, to force it feeling like the real victims of violence.

In the hearth of such still unpopular subculture in Lithuania lies "Autarkeia". During several years, the most drastic electronic music performances of artists patronized by this label are still horrifying the Lithuanian undergrounders. "Slogun" commando is no longer the pioneers of "power electronics" in our country. "Deutsch Nepal", "Aube" – world's famous artists already familiar to our scenes. Like both above, the festival "Powerever" brought to the organizers inconsiderable financial losses. However, one of "Autarkeia" members Lashisha (Paulius Katkevičius) abuses – like in the other spheres of activity – only the slumbering locals. But he is still acting. Perhaps therefore, several "industrial" locals forgive Lashisha his dreadful temper.

5 projects involved in this festival were performed from 9 pm till 2 am. Noise was launched by the single Lithuanian artist on that day – Donis who played unusually hard that night. About an hour-lasted track distinguished by its spatial and hardly racy bass sounds that forced to shiver every muscle of the body and seemed penetrating through it. I suppose that even the deaf man could gain some experience there as the hearing was not only delivering the aesthetic sensation on that night. Operating just few video means – stroboscope and smoke – Donatas Bielkauskas made rather strong impression on the audience.

Guests looked somewhat different than Lithuanian one. The local covered himself by smoke leaving the audience alone. Still all guests attracted the eye of attendees and exposed their odium. By finishing their performances, freaks have been rudely tearing the cables from ports and after the hardly tolerable noise the perfect silence descended. The effect reached its highest peak. Just after the sound vanished, unpredictable, furious beasts, nearly by the edge of insanity, seemed to be even-minded as Zenonas Vaigauskas.

SKM-ETR (Chris McDonald), the guest from Canada, who was gigging in Riga only a day ago, felt sick. So after 10 minutes performance he cut.

The vocal of violent and venomous Control (Thom Garrison), in my view, was quite noiseless to accompany noise. Still the energy exploded. The sound established the atmosphere full of pressure and malice and as the last minutes were passing by, I was truly waiting the performance to stop. Actually, the breaks between the performances lasted around the half an hour. It took much time for performers to connect the sound-generating equipment. At that time, the audience could listen to noise music from the CD's. The sound was actually turned off. I dare say that nobody would get angry if the breaks would be lasting even longer. Breather set the brains and ears for the new dose of sound of violence.

I was disappointed by Slogun. Music of three young guys assisted to the project leader was really irritating. Many high and hearing-tearing sounds. There were no bass sounds vibrating the body effectively. Perhaps, this should be recompense by the project leader John Balistreri improvised texts. His effects-distorted vocal sounded powerfully but I couldn’t decode the words.

Still everything was amended by Sickness (Chris Goudreau). Hard and brutal music lashed even physical discomfort. I caught myself grinding my teeth and nibbling my lips. Sometimes, I realized myself in motion. I was totally overwhelmed by his music for the half an hour. Wild as a mental he was frightening and noise was tearing the body.

I survived.

Written by Petras Vomilas. Translated by Ruta Muller. Swiped from Omni.lt. 11.10.2004.

autarkeia's p.s. It was everything OK with Control vocal. When Thom Garrison, the founder of Control, was interviewed by the magazine "Freak Animal", he answered that his vocal is drowned in the "noise" wall purposely in order to have it differently than in other "power electronics" groups preferring and developing the vocal more than music. Actually, Slogun commando had real problems with equipment and therefore there was no bass line. Still the vocal was unique only for there was no distortion effect on:):):). John Balistreri is a fucking monster.