Day one

The forth edition of Wroclaw Industrial Festival – the greatest industrial event in this part of Europe - presented its exhalation in the club "Firlej", located in Wrocław. Alike one year ago, the audience had a chance to see ten, extremely interesting music projects. Despite the fact that the festival explores relatively niche territory of sonic expression, it attracts quite a big number of hotspurs, ready for anything. The audience is constituted by the people who yearn for extraordinary impression and who are open to the poetry of postindustrial dissonance and phlegm of neofolk decadence. The organizers served delicious bites in the festival menu that hurt the velum with the dissonance of sound recipe.

Job Karma
One of the organizers of the festival; the local export product as far as experimental/postindustrial scene is concerned. The performance presented by this duet from Wroclaw is always a chance to mix with art of a very high quality. Harsh mixture went through my perception smoothly leaving me satisfied. Job Karma is a unique aggregate od mechanized emotionality covered in form of balanced availability. To make it plain: I like it which is a rule - vide concerts of Job Karma

Oxyd
Oxyd is a representative of dark ambient from Slovakia, whose distinctive feature is interesting music and hopeless taste. I realize that the choice of adequate image may constitute a problem, however, it better to remain natural than to try to be "original". I pay attention to that, because musically the gentlemen did just great, combining gloom of dark ambient suits with the anxiety of industrial dissonance. The additional advantage were good visualizations; what a shame that their atmosphere didn't correspond to the image of the duet.

Herbst 9
The concert of Herbst9 was first of all the fusion of German precision and ritual ambient. The original surrogate was even more interesting because it was supported by vivid rhythmic section. But please, do not think that the art of Herbst9 is just a banal following of ethnic structures. The Germans efficiently fence with ambient ornamentals enriching it with cosmopolitan sound collage. The performance was likeable both visually and musically.

Troum
As we know by hearsay, each dream that is dreamt for too long sooner or later becomes a nightmare. Fortunately it cannot be related to the German project Troum which not only, at the moments of untamed exhibitionism, dreams in public, but also encourages others to do the same. The mixed duet explores the term "sonic deformation" daydreaming about the partial harmony. Lazily trickled instrumental variations bring the listener into the gentle trans, in which the real world seem to curve and the contours are deprived of their formalized status. The performance is monotonous and yet not boring.

Lagowski
The unquestioned star of the first day of the festival. The collector of various definitions, the entitled individual with the tendency to be modest. The innocent fizis and perfect mixture of rhythmic, cosmic ambient – this is how one could shortly describe the set. Lagowski presented the feeria of distressing sounds making them available or even quasi-danceable. The audience response was enthusiastic and then moved to the second room to contemplate the stricte danceable choreographies and to listen to the psychodelic set of DJ Wiktor Skok.

Day two

Hati
The second day of the festival began melancholically. The duo from Torun presented the listeners with a healthy dose of acoustic minimalism with trance electronica. The gentlemen have mastered their unusual instruments, adding flavour to the performance. The only drawback was a lack of a structurally lucid form, the set was more of a sonic performance act (a collection of loosely combined elements), although the improptus were truly clever. Hati's concert was a nice getaway from the industrial noises, an opus magnum of musical economy.

Lieche Rustikal
A few minutes after the soothing sounds, Lieche Rustikal brought out its cacophonous set, increasing the noise level. The Polish project is noise-ambient-oriented, imbruing the surroundings with a tangle of schizoid visions. The artist finds pleasure in a mechanical jumble of masochistic sounds, amplifying his message with distressing visualisations. His unusual employment of several instruments (including a guitar) was also noteworthy.

Tabor Radosti
I must confess that the Czech duo's concert really made my day. Even if they are not your most original band around, with clearly discernible Ah cama sotz inspirations. This does not deprecate the skills of the band members, quite the contrary. Tabor Radosti's music is a mature dark ambient, with a pulsating, sometimes jarring rhythm. Another asset was their theatrical image and sleek, sound-fitting visualisations.

Sol Invictus
Sol Invictus was undoubtedly the biggest star of this year's festival, as it's a legend of the neofolk scene. They are a band whose reflexive poetics can be matched only with their monotonous repertoire. Homogenity is an immanent feature of the neoflok craft, but it should not be perceived as a fault. The Brits were solid during the concert, juggling with skillfully with melancholical impressions. Postindustrial flavours, served in minute quantities, added some piquancy without spoiling the apocalyptic concept. Tony Wakeford suggestively proved that hopeless sadness is the cornerstone of his artistic activity. The audience received the British act enthusiastically, evoking an encore - something rarely seen during such festivals.

Allerseelen
Giving concerts is mainly great fun and an effective means of promotion as well. The Austrians from Allerseelen must have decided to focus on the former. Unfortunately, dealing with Bacchus is sometimes treacherous, especially if one imbibes too much. Eventually, Allerseelen presented a playful set, based on an extremely vital issue connected with keeping a vertical position. Surprisingly, the majority of the band members were doing quite well, but there was of course an exception. The bass player gave a one-actor-theatre performance that turned into pantomime after a few minutes (the sound engineer mercifully turned his amp off). Apart from such attractions, the music wasn't that bad after all. Allerseelen is a merited band, long faithful to the mechanised neo-folk industrial genre. I shall abstain from commenting, though, for it's hard to judge a band after a chaotical concert. Let's say it was.... fun.

In conclusion, I can state with full responsibility that the Wroclaw Industrial Festival is an event worth your attention. The organisation was nothing but professional, with clever conceptual planning. It makes me happy that this kind of music is promoted so stalwartly - after all it's good to detach from the reins of sonic conformism. I will be anxiously waiting for the next edition