The Sense of Community Topped Even the Fantastic Lo!, The Ocean and Cult of Luna (2013)

Arhiv Arhiv Last updated 3 October 2026

Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik

Location: Ljubljana / Channel Zero / Slovenia
Concert date: April 27, 2013
Attendance: 150
Ticket price: €8.00 with a ticket from the Zagreb show / €12.00

This one hit us right in the back. A trio sworn to the post-metal creed! Sweden’s Cult Of Luna, Germany’s The Ocean and Australia’s Lo! were actually supposed to play Zagreb on the day of this show, at the Močvara club there, rather than in the middle of Slovenia’s alternative hub »Metelkova«, but they ran into trouble at the border, where border officials apparently turned them away and sent them back north. I don’t know the background, but it may have been a problem with the paperwork for hauling cargo from EU member states into territory outside the EU. Croatia isn’t in the EU yet, so for the PA gear you have to hand customs ATA Carnet papers. Who the hell knows what went wrong.

So just two days before the Močvara show, the gig was moved to the Ljubljana club Channel Zero. Ticket holders for the Zagreb show were rightfully entitled to a discount, and the bands dug into their own pockets and put together a special surprise that doubled as an apology: a free bus from Zagreb to Ljubljana for all the bands’ Croatian fans. So Channel Zero got an unusual crowd of visitors from Croatia that night, and the club was properly packed! Of course, the Slovenian crowd turned out in force too, coming to back the local organizers and helping ease the awkward circumstances around putting on a show for these three bands.

First up, a little after nine in the evening, were Australia’s Lo! from Sydney. The band was founded in 2006 by guitarist Carl Whitbread after the breakup of Omerata, and he was joined by vocalist Jamie-Leigh Smith, bassist Adrian Shapiro and drummer Adrian Griffin.

Lo! are interesting because on top of a post-metal foundation they weave in elements of noise hardcore on one side and sludge on the other. You can even faintly make out the outlines of stoner. If you dig bands like Breach, Old Man Gloom and Converge and their sound speaks to you, you won’t have much trouble befriending Lo! too. The band released their debut studio album Look And Behold in September 2011, and a few days before the Ljubljana visit their fresh full-length Monstrorum Historia came out, which they ambitiously presented at Channel Zero. The quartet came in with everything they had. Getting to present their music to a European audience is, of course, a real science-fiction dream come true for Lo!, and you could feel the band’s incredible commitment in a three-quarter-hour set aimed at winning the crowd over. Burly vocalist Jamie-Leigh Smith wholeheartedly called on the audience around the middle of the show to come right up to the stage, because the band wanted to share the energy with the people. Confident, energetic, tightly locked in, with a club sound that any band would envy. The successful introduction was crowned at the end by a well-earned round of applause, and the set featured the new »As Above«, »Bloody Vultures«, the new single »Lichtenberg Figures Lo!«, »Falles Leaves«, »Palisades Of Fire« and the closing »So Below (Before We Disappear)«, plus the older »Bastion« and »Aye, Commodore!«.

From the land down under, the second band moved us to somewhat closer and more familiar ground – Germany. Up next were the experimental metallers The Ocean from Berlin. Conceptually the band is very similar to its predecessor, since the philosophy is alike – a search for new, interesting sounds, forms and patterns, all wrapped in modern heavier, distorted genres that love to slap a post- prefix on themselves. Still, compared to their predecessors (and their successors too), The Ocean pay the least attention to genre shackles and are already diving into more avant-garde waters. They believe in what they do, they don’t mess around or doubt their mission of exploration, and that shows on stage. Experimentation and energy aren’t mutually exclusive, and even if Lo! were perhaps rawer, The Ocean were every bit as on point as the Aussies. And since Lo! had the longer set, The Ocean had to pull out every ace they had to build on the evening and crank it up after Lo!’s excellence; and that’s exactly what they did. They leaned, of course, on their newest album Pelagial, released this year, which is already a contender for album of the year (at least within its genre, which is a bit absurd, since that’s exactly what The Ocean transcend). If you’ve already spun Pelagial, and add to that the fact that the Germans master every stage trick, are insanely full of energy, love reaching for bold moves live and try to breathe life into the studio experience, then you’ll get close to what the band’s set was like that night. The Ocean showed they can handle even the most complex forms as time unfolds right in front of them, and that studio magic isn’t the product of an actual studio, but of their skill.

The cherry on top (and not just one cherry, but a whole cherry tree) of this post-metal cake was provided by Sweden’s Cult of Luna. The band needs no bigger introduction than the pronunciation of its name – the Scandinavians have surely counted among the scene’s biggest names in recent years, which they more than confirmed with this year’s album Vertikal. I already called The Ocean’s Pelagial one of the albums of the year (going not on my own opinion but on that of the media and music lovers), and in my view Cult of Luna’s Vertikal goes even a step further than Pelagial. So on this concert night we got at least two of the hottest post-metal bands of the year. The Ocean lived up to the label. Cult of Luna did too. The Swedes just know how, and Cult of Luna, well, they are Swedes. Scandinavian coolness doesn’t rule out energy, that dark, atmospherically pompous energy which the musicians transform, in a truly daring experimental way, into a totally special experience. The band pays no mind to the “true metal” hatred of electronic music, because a big part of their atmosphere is built from analog electronic sounds, noises, din and so on. That very atmosphere is probably the biggest part of the band’s uniqueness and recognizability, and the band certainly showed that uniqueness on stage. It’s hard to get into specific (technical) details when the music catches you in its wave during a show and you spend most of it swaying, headbanging or simply daydreaming through the prism of the band’s musical language. Because their expression rests on singular sounds (rather than on some fast-fingered wizardry), it’s an even bigger pleasure when the band’s sonic explosions hit you from all sides. When you’re getting ready for the peak, for that middle section when the distorted guitars kick in. These are simply indescribable moments, which of course we relive at many concerts, but that doesn’t make this one any less special or distinctive. And despite countless complications, and the open arms of the local organizer in the end, Cult of Luna gave the audience exactly that – a one-of-a-kind experience that sticks in the memory. And if a band has any job at a show, that’s it.

The ad hoc organization of a collapsed Zagreb festival, which surely helped all three bands enormously, paid off in its mission. The Slovenian underground music scene proved it knows how to pull together when it wants to, and that there are definitely individuals (like organizer Ch0) for whom art will always be the top priority, no matter the financial complications. That art matters, that the people who put their hearts into it matter, and that this is what makes us human. That tremendously powerful sense of connection was felt from the moment the show was announced, two days before the concert itself, right up to the moment it ended. A sense of community, solidarity and connection, something that transcends even the music itself. So this wasn’t just another fantastic concert night, it was proof of how big-hearted people can be.

Setlist

LO!
1. As Above
2. Bloody Vultures
3. Bastion
4. Lichtenberg Figures Lo!
5. Falles Leaves
6. Aye, Commodore
7. Palisades Of Fire
8. So Below (Before We Disappear)