Southern Lord hosted a special event in Amsterdam, home of their European office, as a celebration of the label’s diversity and ever-expanding roster. The label invited an array of bands to perform for one night only, across two stages. The line-up included Big | Brave, Circle, Magma, Okkultokrati, Sunn O))), Unsane, Vitamin X and Wolfbrigade. Nowhere else had all these bands shared a venue together in one night.
VITAMIN X
Vitamin X opened the festival with their furious hardcore punk mixed with turbo-charged thrash. They are from Amsterdam. Their music brings back fun and politics in hardcore and makes people think and laugh at the same.
BIG | BRAVE
Montreal, Quebec, Canada, three-piece Big|Brave plays sincere, long-form out-rock that ventures into different directions their music plays out in to moon-bleached grunge where serene vocals crumble over scraping guitars bled of melody. Big|Brave chooses their silences carefully, oscillating between sparse, gentle arrangements and deep swells of noise.
MAGMA
There’s no doubt about it, Magma have left a legacy of music that defies any of the standard and convenient classifications of rock, operating instead in a realm of their own creation. Magma’s music is not for everyone but when you listen to it, it gives you one of the most rewarding listening experiences you could wish for.
UNSANE
New York City’s Unsane assisted in pioneering a more aggressive, less studied version of noise rock. Chris Spencer (vocals, guitar), Dave Curran (bass, vocals) and Vincent Signorelli (drums) are responsible for well over two decades of aural ruination, with no intention of letting up anytime soon. With the new full-length album Sterilize, the band is touring the globe.
WOLFBRIGADE
Wolfbrigade have been storming the scene internationally in one form or another since 1995. The band kicked off the new millennium with a more aggressive and pummeling music approach. “Run with the hunted” is an album with ten brutalizing new tracks which elevate both the harsh intensity and the melodic attributes of the band’s patented, penetrating, d-beat-ridden hardcore crust punk to new extremes of infectious viciousness.
CIRCLE
Circle are the very definition of genre-defying, a rare feat for any band, but effortlessly achieved by this prolific Finnish collective. Circle’s latest album Terminal is pure hedonistic pleasure.
OKKULTOKRATI
Okkultokrati play a vicious combat music for fans of punk, d-beat, black metal and generally anyone with a penchant for unsavory anthems delivered with inimitable attitude.
SUNN O)))
For sixteen years, Sunn O))) have been challenging the way we think about music. The live set is always a mystical experience between sound and vibrations. Recently, Sunn O))) have established a Bandcamp page which serves as an exhaustive archive of their entire back catalogue, including rarities and essential live material
photos: Marika Z.
