WGT EBM Warm-Up 2025
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After a years-long break, my return to Wave-Gotik-Treffen began not with a gentle re-entry, but with a full-throttle immersion. This year, it all started on Thursday - earlier than ever- at the legendary WGT EBM Warm-Up. Hosted in the Felsenkeller, with its dual-stage layout and raw energy, the evening cracked the festival open with force, intellect, and a deeply satisfying dose of sonic chaos.
Like riding a bike, returning to WGT was instant muscle memory: the echoing corridors, the sweeping Agra halls, the very air charged with anticipation. But it was this night—Thursday—that anchored me again in its pulse.
Upstairs at Felsenkeller: The Audiophob Stage
Smaller in size, but dense with substance, the upstairs Audiophob stage was a laboratory of atmosphere, experimentation, and emotional charge.
the_empath: A Sonic Convergence of Worlds
The_empath project is a realm unto itself, a place where sound, emotion, and thought are not separate but interwoven, constantly evolving into a seamless experience. A vast, exploratory journey where every note, every texture, feels like an impression left on the soul. The live performance at WGT EBM Warm-Up was a revelation; it wasn't just a show, but an invitation to step inside a space where time and sound collapse, and where the self meets the vast unknown. The recent Ergosphere Remixes with Mortaja took this experience to new dimensions. The collaboration blends Mortaja's industrial pulse with the ethereal, atmospheric essence that defines The_empath, creating a dynamic tension between rhythmic solidity and abstract sonic landscapes. It’s the kind of music that challenges you to listen deeper, to feel beyond the surface, and to confront those spaces within yourself where sound and emotion collide. This was my first time experiencing The_empath live, and I was absolutely thrilled. The performance was an alchemical mix of light, atmosphere, and pure sonic energy, each track unfolding like a story that moves from the cerebral to the visceral.
Oliotronix: Handmade Mayhem and Dancefloor Alchemy
If there’s one word to describe Oliotronix, it’s uncontainable. Hailing from Leipzig, she brought to the stage more than just sound, she brought an entire sonic philosophy built on chaos, curiosity, and radical play.
Her set was a glorious collision of noise and rhythm, of glitch and glee. There were no safe spaces here- everything glitched, fractured, looped, and worked. The beats were irregular, sometimes absurdly off-kilter, sometimes locking into something hypnotic just long enough to make you move… and then everything swerved again. It was exhilarating. What made it even more spectacular was the fact that Oliotronix operates on handmade gear. Cables, circuit boards, device that looked like they’d been pulled from a sci-fi scrapyard—all crafted and customized by her own hands. In an age of plug-and-play presets, she builds her own language of sound from scratch. Despite the unpredictable textures and wild sonic turns, the crowd didn’t just follow, they surrendered.
Capular: A Cosmic Whisper in Sound
Mirko Heindrich’s project Capular offered something radically different in the night’s lineup—a performance less about force, more about space. Minimalistic, spacious, and almost dreamlike, it unfolded not like a setlist but like a transmission from a different plane. This was not dancefloor material. It was sound as sculpture, laid out in shimmering fragments and slow, deliberate pulses. At times cosmic, at others hauntingly intimate, Capular created a floating atmosphere where silence mattered as much as tone. It felt like entering a starfield with no gravity—weightless, magnetic, deeply meditative.
Mirko’s approach was deeply imaginative, using not only traditional gear but also curious, unplaceable objects to shape his sound. Was that a milk frother? A mixer? Perhaps. What mattered was that these tools weren’t gimmicks—they became strange extensions of intent, producing textures that felt both unfamiliar and precisely right within this sonic universe.
Mortaja: A Sonic Powerhouse
What a blast! Mortaja's performance was a full-throttle sonic explosion; pure energy from start to finish. A total beat-and-fire experience that defied the ordinary. Bert Lehmann's project has always been about precision and impact, and that night, the crowd felt every pulse, every bass-driven wave.
With Mortaja's new evolution on full display, the minimal-EBM textures met industrial intensity, leaving no room for anything less than pure immersion. The bass lines rumbled through the space, undeniably influenced by the '80s icons like Nitzer Ebb, but with a fresh, hypnotic edge that’s all Lehmann’s own. If you weren’t already familiar with the project, this performance was a hell of an introduction.
Rendered: A Sonic Assault
Daniel Myer never disappoints—but what unfolded under the moniker RENDERED was nothing short of a sonic assault: sharp, muscular, and drenched in industrial sweat. Created together with Clément Perez, RENDERED is Myer’s more brutalist playground—where EBM’s mechanical punch meets techno’s relentless propulsion. And live, it hits like a steel piston to the chest.
From the opening sequence, the set was a sheer powerhouse; merciless yet intelligent, raw but sculpted. This wasn't the abstract precision of Architect or the layered introspection of Haujobb. RENDERED is all grit, all teeth. You could feel the basslines shake the concrete, each beat a command, not a suggestion.
What stood out, though, was how unmistakably Daniel Myer this performance still was: controlled chaos, a masterclass in tension and release, with a razor-sharp understanding of how to break, bend, and rebuild rhythm. Stunning, aggressive, enthralling.
Main Stage at Felsenkeller
If the Audiophob stage was an intimate fever dream, the main stage was a pressure chamber of EBM's full force—loud, proud, and delivered with surgical rage.
Oszylayter: Soundtrack of Sarcasm and Scorn
Some projects perform, others detonate. Danny Hildebrandt and Andreas Schubert didn’t come to please—they came to drag the crowd through overdriven filth, distorted sarcasm, and a tightly wound panic disguised as music. Their set pulsed with irregularity, constantly shifting between rhythmic machinery and near-collapse. Nothing predictable, nothing polite. Vocals weren’t delivered; they were spat, barked, or sneered, half manifesto, half provocation. Having Lover Boy in mind, their performance made perfect sense. Every track felt like a jab—at club culture, at identity politics, at the fragile egos of both performers and spectators. A rough, sarcastic mirror held up to the scene and smashed into noise. Well done!
NordarR: Old-School Pulse with Relentless Drive
NordarR brought a necessary dose of no-nonsense, straight-line EBM. Minimal, raw, and muscular, their set recalled the stripped-down aggression of early 2000s German electro. A performance that didn’t seek to impress with production polish—it aimed straight at the gut, and it landed.
Buzz Kull: Sleek Shadows, Bursting Light
Buzz Kull didn’t walk onto the stage, he punched through it. From the first synth stab, it was clear: this set would burst with energy, sleek and unrelenting.Coldwave precision met a dark, muscular undercurrent that made the air itself feel electric. Buzz Kull commanded the stage with a focus that didn’t shout but left no room for distraction. A dark jewel set in the heart of the night—elegant, ferocious, unforgettable.
Kreign: Veiled Command and Industrial Ceremony
The moment Kreign appeared on stage, veiled in black fabric and crowned, it was clear this would be ritual. Drawing heavily on their recent release III, the set was a plunge into industrial minimalism—brute rhythm, chant-like vocals, aggressive sequencing. There was nothing chaotic here—just sculpted pressure. Tracks like Canto I–III and Collapse Imminent burned with syncopated tension and clarity. A modern incarnation of EBM’s core drive—lean, high-energy, and emotionally unrelenting.
Kontravoid: Dubbed Dread and Dancefloor Discipline
Kontravoid brought a cavernous, dub-heavy underworld to the stage—glitching, shifting, always just on the edge of rupture. His performance was visceral, building pressure through carefully spaced pulses, dragging the crowd into dark hypnosis. Pure dancefloor dread, cut with precision.
Absolute Body Control: EBM Royalty, Unshaken
They didn’t need theatrics. Just sequences, voice, and silence in all the right places. Absolute Body Control delivered a classic set that reminded everyone why minimal EBM still holds power. Cool, clear, unshaken, like a well-placed punch in a quiet room.
All in all- The EBM Warm up absolutely elivere it all. From raw distortion to cosmic silence, from sarcasm to poise, from modular mayhem to minimal command—the WGT EBM Warm-Up 2025 was the kind of curated chaos that proves this scene is still full of sharp minds and burning hearts. It wasn’t just an opening night. It was a statement. And it hit, track after track, act after act—with absolute force.
Like riding a bike, returning to WGT was instant muscle memory: the echoing corridors, the sweeping Agra halls, the very air charged with anticipation. But it was this night—Thursday—that anchored me again in its pulse.
Upstairs at Felsenkeller: The Audiophob Stage
Smaller in size, but dense with substance, the upstairs Audiophob stage was a laboratory of atmosphere, experimentation, and emotional charge.
the_empath: A Sonic Convergence of Worlds
The_empath project is a realm unto itself, a place where sound, emotion, and thought are not separate but interwoven, constantly evolving into a seamless experience. A vast, exploratory journey where every note, every texture, feels like an impression left on the soul. The live performance at WGT EBM Warm-Up was a revelation; it wasn't just a show, but an invitation to step inside a space where time and sound collapse, and where the self meets the vast unknown. The recent Ergosphere Remixes with Mortaja took this experience to new dimensions. The collaboration blends Mortaja's industrial pulse with the ethereal, atmospheric essence that defines The_empath, creating a dynamic tension between rhythmic solidity and abstract sonic landscapes. It’s the kind of music that challenges you to listen deeper, to feel beyond the surface, and to confront those spaces within yourself where sound and emotion collide. This was my first time experiencing The_empath live, and I was absolutely thrilled. The performance was an alchemical mix of light, atmosphere, and pure sonic energy, each track unfolding like a story that moves from the cerebral to the visceral.
Oliotronix: Handmade Mayhem and Dancefloor Alchemy
If there’s one word to describe Oliotronix, it’s uncontainable. Hailing from Leipzig, she brought to the stage more than just sound, she brought an entire sonic philosophy built on chaos, curiosity, and radical play.
Her set was a glorious collision of noise and rhythm, of glitch and glee. There were no safe spaces here- everything glitched, fractured, looped, and worked. The beats were irregular, sometimes absurdly off-kilter, sometimes locking into something hypnotic just long enough to make you move… and then everything swerved again. It was exhilarating. What made it even more spectacular was the fact that Oliotronix operates on handmade gear. Cables, circuit boards, device that looked like they’d been pulled from a sci-fi scrapyard—all crafted and customized by her own hands. In an age of plug-and-play presets, she builds her own language of sound from scratch. Despite the unpredictable textures and wild sonic turns, the crowd didn’t just follow, they surrendered.
Capular: A Cosmic Whisper in Sound
Mirko Heindrich’s project Capular offered something radically different in the night’s lineup—a performance less about force, more about space. Minimalistic, spacious, and almost dreamlike, it unfolded not like a setlist but like a transmission from a different plane. This was not dancefloor material. It was sound as sculpture, laid out in shimmering fragments and slow, deliberate pulses. At times cosmic, at others hauntingly intimate, Capular created a floating atmosphere where silence mattered as much as tone. It felt like entering a starfield with no gravity—weightless, magnetic, deeply meditative.
Mirko’s approach was deeply imaginative, using not only traditional gear but also curious, unplaceable objects to shape his sound. Was that a milk frother? A mixer? Perhaps. What mattered was that these tools weren’t gimmicks—they became strange extensions of intent, producing textures that felt both unfamiliar and precisely right within this sonic universe.
Mortaja: A Sonic Powerhouse
What a blast! Mortaja's performance was a full-throttle sonic explosion; pure energy from start to finish. A total beat-and-fire experience that defied the ordinary. Bert Lehmann's project has always been about precision and impact, and that night, the crowd felt every pulse, every bass-driven wave.
With Mortaja's new evolution on full display, the minimal-EBM textures met industrial intensity, leaving no room for anything less than pure immersion. The bass lines rumbled through the space, undeniably influenced by the '80s icons like Nitzer Ebb, but with a fresh, hypnotic edge that’s all Lehmann’s own. If you weren’t already familiar with the project, this performance was a hell of an introduction.
Rendered: A Sonic Assault
Daniel Myer never disappoints—but what unfolded under the moniker RENDERED was nothing short of a sonic assault: sharp, muscular, and drenched in industrial sweat. Created together with Clément Perez, RENDERED is Myer’s more brutalist playground—where EBM’s mechanical punch meets techno’s relentless propulsion. And live, it hits like a steel piston to the chest.
From the opening sequence, the set was a sheer powerhouse; merciless yet intelligent, raw but sculpted. This wasn't the abstract precision of Architect or the layered introspection of Haujobb. RENDERED is all grit, all teeth. You could feel the basslines shake the concrete, each beat a command, not a suggestion.
What stood out, though, was how unmistakably Daniel Myer this performance still was: controlled chaos, a masterclass in tension and release, with a razor-sharp understanding of how to break, bend, and rebuild rhythm. Stunning, aggressive, enthralling.
Main Stage at Felsenkeller
If the Audiophob stage was an intimate fever dream, the main stage was a pressure chamber of EBM's full force—loud, proud, and delivered with surgical rage.
Oszylayter: Soundtrack of Sarcasm and Scorn
Some projects perform, others detonate. Danny Hildebrandt and Andreas Schubert didn’t come to please—they came to drag the crowd through overdriven filth, distorted sarcasm, and a tightly wound panic disguised as music. Their set pulsed with irregularity, constantly shifting between rhythmic machinery and near-collapse. Nothing predictable, nothing polite. Vocals weren’t delivered; they were spat, barked, or sneered, half manifesto, half provocation. Having Lover Boy in mind, their performance made perfect sense. Every track felt like a jab—at club culture, at identity politics, at the fragile egos of both performers and spectators. A rough, sarcastic mirror held up to the scene and smashed into noise. Well done!
NordarR: Old-School Pulse with Relentless Drive
NordarR brought a necessary dose of no-nonsense, straight-line EBM. Minimal, raw, and muscular, their set recalled the stripped-down aggression of early 2000s German electro. A performance that didn’t seek to impress with production polish—it aimed straight at the gut, and it landed.
Buzz Kull: Sleek Shadows, Bursting Light
Buzz Kull didn’t walk onto the stage, he punched through it. From the first synth stab, it was clear: this set would burst with energy, sleek and unrelenting.Coldwave precision met a dark, muscular undercurrent that made the air itself feel electric. Buzz Kull commanded the stage with a focus that didn’t shout but left no room for distraction. A dark jewel set in the heart of the night—elegant, ferocious, unforgettable.
Kreign: Veiled Command and Industrial Ceremony
The moment Kreign appeared on stage, veiled in black fabric and crowned, it was clear this would be ritual. Drawing heavily on their recent release III, the set was a plunge into industrial minimalism—brute rhythm, chant-like vocals, aggressive sequencing. There was nothing chaotic here—just sculpted pressure. Tracks like Canto I–III and Collapse Imminent burned with syncopated tension and clarity. A modern incarnation of EBM’s core drive—lean, high-energy, and emotionally unrelenting.
Kontravoid: Dubbed Dread and Dancefloor Discipline
Kontravoid brought a cavernous, dub-heavy underworld to the stage—glitching, shifting, always just on the edge of rupture. His performance was visceral, building pressure through carefully spaced pulses, dragging the crowd into dark hypnosis. Pure dancefloor dread, cut with precision.
Absolute Body Control: EBM Royalty, Unshaken
They didn’t need theatrics. Just sequences, voice, and silence in all the right places. Absolute Body Control delivered a classic set that reminded everyone why minimal EBM still holds power. Cool, clear, unshaken, like a well-placed punch in a quiet room.
All in all- The EBM Warm up absolutely elivere it all. From raw distortion to cosmic silence, from sarcasm to poise, from modular mayhem to minimal command—the WGT EBM Warm-Up 2025 was the kind of curated chaos that proves this scene is still full of sharp minds and burning hearts. It wasn’t just an opening night. It was a statement. And it hit, track after track, act after act—with absolute force.
