Such a coupling is only possible at Mystic Festival – the desert boogie of Eagles Of Death Metal can stand shoulder to shoulder with the symphony of terror of Cradle Of Filth. The festival lineup is also joined by representatives of contemporary, American take on metal – Whitechapel and Combichrist.
Cradle Of Filth
“Malignant Perfection” is the latest single from Cradle of Filth and the most clear-cut description of the kind of art the British band makes. No other designation, from black metal to vampiric gothic metal, has ever stuck, with the band slipping through genres since the 1994 release of their debut album The Principle of Evil Made Flesh. Extreme sound, erotic aura, erudite lyrics which join worlds so (outwardly) remote like romantic poetry and B horror movies – abandon all hope, ye who enter this vile valley.
Eagles Of Death Metal
When coming up with the band’s name, Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme were to find inspiration with our own Polish Vader, or so the story goes. It, however, also largely ends there for the band’s sound is a thoroughbred rock’n’roll – electric blues coming from a garage standing in the middle of a desert where there is no room for any car, seeing how everyone needs their space to dance. A recommended serving only for those festivalgoers who aren’t too fussy about sweating.
Whitechapel
Jack the Ripper might have prowled through the 19th-century Whitechapel area of London, but it pales in comparison to the threat posed by the 21st-century Whitechapel hailing from Knoxville, Tennessee. The American six-piece’s music knocks you out with the heaviness and wanton brutality of their death metal, groove metal and deathcore alloy. There are also melodic, if not lyrical fragments – making you lower your guard only to then hit you that much harder.
CombichristThe opening track of their sophomore album, Everybody Hates You, is titled “This Shit Will Fuck You Up” – and, well, thank you for your attention, that’s all there really is to say about Combichrist. From the beginning of this century, the American band has paved their own way between the metal heaviness, industrial coldness and electronic soullessness. Sometimes they sound as if their music was made and performed by machines, but no artificial intelligence is yet so brave to face this deep into the void.