Mortiis - Bethlehem - Empyrium - Darkher - Vemod - Year Of The Cobra - Fen - Tchornobog - Laster

:: Pics ::

The second festival day presented itself in the best light. Literally. Blue sky and brilliant sunshine at summer-like temperatures. Gorgeous weather, indeed. As I did it the day before I walked along the river Hönne towards the cave and enjoyed the day and the nature. Arriving at the cave quite a few people sat in the sun too with smiles on their faces and enjoyed the day. So, where were the canvas chairs? ;)

Anyway, the second festival day kicked off on time inside the cave with :: LASTER :: opening. They were new to me. Means, I never dealt with them before. That was a mistake. The trio not only was a feast for photographers and photogenic in general, I much got blown away by their music. Obscure Dance Music they say, crazy and experimental but groovy Black Metal I would call it. Awesome performance, always with atwinkling eye, taking themselves not too serious. I saw many people dancing or at least nooding heads and wiggleing toes and hips. So I did ;)
LASTER have released their thrird record in spring, entitled Het Wassen Oog, they played four songs from. The other tracks came from the the band’s sophomore Ons Vrije Fatum.
Band: S (Sylwin Cornielje), W (Wessel Reijman), N (Nicky)
Setlist: Vacuüm ≠ Behoud, Ons Vrije Fatum, Betonnen Ballonnen, Zomersneeuw, Bitterzoet, De Roes Na

Well, as we are already talking about craziness. Crazy, crazier, :: TCHORNOBOG ::. Or let’s call it extravagant and avant-garde. TCHORNOBOG is the brainchild of Ukrainian Markov Soroka, who meanwhile relocated to Portland, Oregon. From there he sheds light on musical aspects of the “Black God” and his inner self.
He opened the show with a blood ritual and then went into a frantic and wild live performance. He and his bassist Gina played blindfolded, whereas Gina remained static in the background. The scenery somehow caused an association to the Bird Box movie. When Markov Soroka did not sing or scream he had his tongue out and did Gene Simmons credit. If his tongue has something to do with the black God or with the “vomiting” lyrics… who knows… Insane performance, unsual, unwieldy… bizarre.
Band: Markov Soroka, Gina Eygenhuysen, Jordi Farré
Setlist: The Vomiting Tchornobog I, The Vomiting Choir, Hallucinatory Black Breath Of Possession, The Vomiting Tchornobog III

Next up was :: FEN ::, one of the latest signings to Prophecy Productions. And we remained in the fields of Black Metal, just Folk-tinged and much more atmospheric. Generally, this year’s billing is much heavier than previous editions. Once again we got an intense and sophisticated show delivered, it just did not captivated me this time. I got me some food and cider instead.
Band: The Watcher (Frank Allain), Grungyn (Adam Allain), Havenless (Pete Aplin)
Setlist: Exile's Journey, II (Penance), Nebula, Consequence, Menhir - Supplicant

I actually was much looking forward to see :: YEAR OF THE COBRA :: and was once again thrilled what powerful sound can be created with drums and bass guitar only. Seattle duo Barrysmith plays low-tuned Doom-driven heavy (Stoner) Rock, groovy monster riffs included. Blown away. Again. Above the bass-wall of sound Amy’s clear voice dwells, painting an enchanting contrast.
YEAR OF THE COBRA will release their sophomore, Ash And Dust, on November 1, from which they already played three songs. Can’t wait for more. Asskicking show!
Band: Amy Tung Barrysmith, Johanes Barrysmith
Setlist: Into The Fray, The Divine, The Howl, Cold, The Black Sun, White Wizard, Ash And Dust, The Siege

Yeah, time has come for the “blue hour” ;) It is already the third edition of PROPHECY FEST for :: VEMOD ::. But this time they are not the last band with an hour delay or more. Nope, they play on time in the middle of the second festival day. A win-win situation for both, band and crowd ;)
While the cave had emptied the last hours (sun and warmth was attracting a lot outside) it now got really crowded again in front of the stage. VEMOD have not released any bit anymore since their 2012 debut Venter på stormene and still fascinated as if that was the first show ever. Pure Magic. Spellbinding. Truly awesome. And… there is light at the end of the tunnel. As VEMOD wrote on their Facebook page: “It was a bit of a new start for us, with both new music and new live line-up…” – there might be a new album soon :)

Also :: DARKHER :: do not play the cave for the first time. Live they are just reduced to two by now, the petit Jayn Maiven and drummer C Smith. The stage was way too big for them and especially Jayn looked a bit lost. But it of course did not narrow any bit of their hauntingly beautiful show. The mystic songs were as intense as mesmerizing - “ghostly transmissions that sound like they were delivered by lost souls in the dead of night” – yep, indeed! I could not have said it any better. Songs of an earthy power and fragile beauty with driving drum patterns. Goosebumps. Once again. The sound in the cave was clear and eerie. Just wow!
The debut album Realms dates back three years already (well, not that long as Vemod, right? ;)) and again, everybody is waiting for something new. Be patient a little bit more. DARKHER have already confirmed work on the follow-up. Can’t wait!
Setlist: Hollow Veil, Foregone, Buried Pt. I, Buried Pt. II, The Dawn Brings A Saviour, Wars, Moths

Ah, what an emotional roller coaster music wise. And the best has yet to come. :: EMPYRIUM :: were, without a doubt, THE highlight of PROPHECY FEST 2019. At no other band the cave was so packed and crowded. Well, that was to expect, wasn’t it? The vocals of Thomas Helm already caused goosebumps during the sound check. How I love his voice. How I love the music of EMPYRIUM. And so did the audience. Every songs was frenetically welcomed, then the crowd listened devotional just to break out in elation right after.
While focusing on The Turn Of The Tides at PROPEPHCY FEST 2015 they now played a set with songs from Songs Of Moors & Misty Fields and Where At Night The Wood Grouse Plays. Nothing I would like to complain about ;) Every song was recognized in a twinkling of an eye and frenetically welcomed.
The sound was a problem at first but it got better during the show. It surely was not perfect but surely better that to wait for an hour and having the same bad sound afterwards. Anyway, it is easy to say that is was the best show of the whole festival. And again the question rose after the show: Will there be a new EMPYRIUM album (anytime soon)?
Band: Markus Stock, Thomas Helm, Fursy Teyssier, Eviga, Allen B. Konstanz, Aline Deinert
Setlist: Intro, Mourners, The Blue Mists Of Night, Ode, Where At Night The Wood Grouse Plays, Heimwärts, With The Current Into Grey, The Ensemble Of Silence, Many Moons Ago...

What Empyrium avoided, :: BETHLEHEM :: did afterwards: Causing delays. Luckily for only a couple of minutes. But everyone in the cave could hear that especially the front woman was not satisfied with the sound. By the way, madness has a name: Onielar! The one or the other might know her from her other band Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult.
BETHLEHEM played brand new songs from the just released ninth album Lebe dich leer, but also very old stuff such as Schatten aus der Alexander Welt and Tagebuch einer Totgeburt from the 1996 sophomore Dictius Te Necare. Classics from the past perfectly staged by Onielar.
BETHLEHEM fathom extremes. In many ways. You need to be aware of this and you need to like it somehow, otherwise you will hate them. To be honest, it is not my cup of tea yet it is highly fascinating to BETHLEHEM performing live. Without any kitsch and drama, they manage to give madness voice, tone and emotion in the possibly sickest and craziest way. It comes out natural, so to say. BETHLEHEM embodies insanity. And Onielar adds her bit. BETHLEHEM could not have found any better singer to front the band. Pure madness.
Band: Onielar (Yvonne Wilczynska), (Ilya) Karzov, Florian "Torturer" Klein, Jürgen Bartsch
Setlist: Niemals mehr leben, Die Dunkelheit darbt, Aberwitzige Infraschall-Ritualistik, Gestern starb ich schon heute, An gestrandeten Sinnen, Fickselbomber Panzerplauze, Kalt' Ritt in leicht faltiger Leere, Schatten aus der Alexander Welt, Tagebuch einer Totgeburt

Though stuff. After the madness comes the… well, what exactly? Calm? No way! Contemplation? Nope, neither. I actually was not sure what to expect from a :: MORTIIS :: show. The setup of his “machine” was martial. And so was the set. We actually got somewhat like a DJ set with harsh and apocalyptic yet epic and Industrial-tinged soundscapes. First, everybody thought of an intro and was waiting for “real performance”. I did so too. But there have been only the soundscapes with wonderful illustrations by MORTIIS on the screen behind. The cave emptied quickly but those who stayed, were able to enjoy a fantastic end time soundtrack to finish a great festival, turning the cave into an intensive dungeon one last time.

That’s the way PROPHECY FEST 2019 came to an end. Once again a perfectly organized edition with musical variety. There have been interesting excursions into different fields of music such as KATLA., DISILLUSION and YEAR OF THE COBRA, while the majority of bands range in the wide field of Black Metal. No monster delays this time. As for that sound was an issue every now and then but mostly could have been balanced during the set. I’m looking much forward to PROPHECY FEST 2021!

story & pics © Dajana & Dajana Winkel • Photography