Venue: Kino Šiška, Ljubljana
Concert date: 16.11.2009
Attendance: 0
Since Kino Šiška opened its doors again, it’s been one top-notch gig after another. This time three masters of ambient and dark music paid our little country a visit: Transitional, Dälek, and old Slovenian acquaintances Isis. Isis drew the most interest, of course, since these guys pull in metal and rock crowds as well as fans of experimental music.
TRANSITIONAL
The night was opened by the duo Transitional. They’re a band from Great Britain that cultivates a kind of post-rock/metal style. Even the very start of their set was the kind you remember. I don’t know who was responsible for it, but the opening was deafening. Later I felt like they turned the sound down a bit, but without earplugs it was practically impossible to listen to them. I really don’t get it. Why so damn loud? It’s good music, sure, but do we all have to go deaf because of it? It could be listened to at a much more moderate level. I don’t know if everyone had earplugs as good as the ones you can stuff in your ear, but the show was definitely easier to bear with them. Transitional were still pretty interesting, but painfully slow. They built their almost-doom atmospheres so slowly that they nearly put me to sleep, and then guitarist and vocalist Kevin Laska’s monstrous scream woke me right back up. After that the set came to life a bit, but the tempo felt too monotonous the whole time, which was undoubtedly also down to the lack of a drummer (the drums were programmed).
DäLEK
Dälek is a duo made up of Dälek on vocals and Oktopus behind assorted knobs and triggers. The question of what a hip hop duo is even doing at a metal show would be perfectly fair if this were an ordinary hip hop duo. The two hefty guys do draw heavily from hip hop, but you can’t overlook the psychedelic and avant-garde impulses either. The backdrop is definitely the part that’s a bit special. Oktopus knows how to create an excellent dark backdrop, although toward the end of the set his sounds started to feel a little played out. The MC also had a few interesting things to say, though mostly it was typical socially critical stuff. Definitely excellent hip hop that doesn’t glorify “hoes” or “homeys” but actually focuses on real problems. The performance was dynamic and top-level, just monotonous for a moment (like with Transitional).
ISIS
Isis are an interesting band from California who weave a mix of post-rock, space rock, and hardcore metal into their music. There are other ingredients too, but those are the main ones. In Slovenia they’re already old acquaintances, and that’s probably one of the reasons their show was so nicely attended, mostly by metal diehards.
It was clear right from the start that Isis were the band many music lovers had bought their tickets for in the first place. The crowd was way bigger than for the previous two acts. Isis really do have solid live mileage by now, and their popularity is a lot bigger than the first two bands’, too.
Plenty of the band’s songs start with metal sections, followed by longer instrumental jams. Somewhere in between there’s also the odd softer, unplugged part. What really stands out with Isis are the atmospheric parts, where they gradually build the sound back up to the heavy sections. They’re most convincing during that build-up, while the metal parts don’t deliver anything exceptional and are more or less run-of-the-mill. Still, the combination of those post-rock moments and the leaps into metal works pretty well. Just like the music itself jumped visibly from ambient to metal sections, the singer also hopped from screaming to clean vocals. The screaming isn’t all that impressive, since there’s nothing outstanding about it, while the so-called “clean” vocals were much more pleasing.
With Isis there’s no need to look for technical fireworks (there aren’t loads of solos either), because it’s more about developing the sound and interweaving melodies. They do it with two guitars and ambient keyboard sounds, and when the keyboardist leaves the keys and grabs a guitar, we got to hear three guitar lines intertwining. All of this can feel downright magical at times, because the feeling of hearing one melody progress and link up with other melodies on other instruments can be truly extraordinary. It’s just a shame that over time these patterns become predictable and boring, no matter how beautifully they know how to weave their soundscapes.
Isis played a solid, focused set and, sadly, with practically no communication with the audience. But for this style of music that’s almost understandable, since dark atmospheres dominate throughout. The sound was just as loud as all evening, but during the calmer parts you could at least listen without any ear gear. In terms of balance between the individual instruments, Isis were also at the top level, and what lifted them one more notch was the fact that they were the only band with a real drummer. The performance itself was well executed, but I can’t say the same about the length, since the guys wanted to leave us after just over an hour. After the audience protested for a long time, they finally came back and played the standard hour and a half. The show wasn’t the highlight of the year, but it definitely spiced up the music scene in Slovenia. Next time, though, please turn the sound down a bit, or this old-timer’s hearing is going to get even worse!
Photos: Robi Lipej
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