Live Report: Cold Meat Industry,
The 35th Anniversary
On the 19th to 20th of November 2022 the legendary Swedish record label Cold Meat Industry, run by Roger Karmanik of Brighter Death Now, celebrated its 35th anniversary at the prestigious and historic venue, Södre Teatern in Stockholm, Sweden. I was there, and man, am I happy I was!
I arrived in Stockholm a few hours prior to the festivities, just leaving enough time to check in at the hotel before heading to the venue. Arriving in Stockholm I was greeted by snow, making Stockholm even more picturesque than usual. After a short walk in the snow-covered streets, I arrived at the venue; a beautiful old building that was fittingly decorated with posters for the event. Going inside, the bar area (one of several) was filled with people and two stores selling CMI and related merch and records, including Roger Karmanik’s personal for-sale collection. Lots of gems to be found there as well as some oddities! The venue itself was great. An old theatre with balconies and everything, which also meant that all shows were to be enjoyed sitting down. This was no problem at all, rather it suited the ambient nature of the music well, but the restrictions regarding photos led to a bit of frustration for some of the audience. The mood, however, was good throughout, and even though I do not know the final number of tickets sold, it seemed that the venue was almost full. Judging by the people I talked to, many among the audience had traveled a long distance to take part in this magical event, highlighting that this was expected to be truly special.
Day 1
The opening act was Morthound. A stable in CMIs vast catalog, but an artist that I think many have missed out on throughout the years. From my perspective, anyway, it seems like Morthound was always a bit underappreciated. He started out in an ambient/sound collage style which I thought was a tiny bit too artsy for my taste. But as the music evolved it turned more and more noisy, rhythmic, and churning, and by the time the background visuals were showing a naked lady in various positions (halfway through, maybe?), I was won over completely. Morthound was the perfect show-starter, outlining exactly the kind of atmosphere one would expect of the CMI label and setting the mood for the entire festival beautifully.
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Now in the mood for a more trademark CMI atmosphere and well hydrated on overpriced beer, I was ready for the second act of the evening: legendary post-industrial outfit and another CMI stable Deutsch Nepal. Lina looked happy on stage and gave a rather loose performance focusing mainly on the newer more “song-based” records. When at his best there was some reminiscence of certain parts of the Coil back catalog, but overall I was not entirely convinced. The audience seemed to like it though. Lina also proclaimed that this was the last ever Deutsch Nepal live performance, so I guess we can all wish him a happy retirement from this part of his activities.
Next up was Sephiroth who gave a stunning performance all the way through; crushing, rhythmic, and trance-inducing. Sephiroth has always seemed to me to be one of the smaller and more unknown acts on the CMI roster, but judging by the way the audience reacted and talked about experiencing Sephiroth live, I might be mistaken here. In any instance, his tribal industrial/ambient really made a huge impact, and talking to people afterward it seemed that too many this was the best show of the night so far. Surely that was also my experience and I hope that he will hit the stage more often in the future!
The next band on stage was Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio who delivered their classic recipe of neofolk/goth/industrial and did it exactly like I would expect them to. I used to like them a lot back in the ‘90s and have a soft spot for a lot of their songs, but this night I did not really feel it. It felt a bit tired and a bit overdone. Like something that was past its prime. For me the weakest show of the festival by far, but not as such bad. They did what was expected of them, stuck with their usual structure, and for those into that, I am sure they got their money’s worth.
The headliner of the evening was Swedish black industrial legends MZ 412. A large portion of the people I was talking to had them as the main attraction of the whole festival, and everything was buzzing with expectation before they hit the stage. Little did we know about what was waiting to happen. The band members were standing on individual podiums and were wearing their trademark robes and facemasks. Everything was great, the sound, the aesthetics; all was going well until another sound suddenly blended in with the black industrial attack: the sound of an alarm. Was it part of the music; was this a gimmick, what the fuck was going on? Well, this was sadly not part of the gig. No, some fucktard had apparently walked out of the wrong door making the copious amounts of dry ice used by MZ 412 trigger the fire alarm, so before we knew it we were all standing out front in the freezing cold watching a fire truck. I think we got to have 10-15 minutes of black industrial magic before the unfortunate incident, but judging by what we got, I hope this will not be the last time I get to witness MZ 412 on stage!
Day 2
On the second day, I arrived while the first act, Lamia Vox, was playing. I decided to cure my hangover in the only logical way: getting a pint and catching up with people. That means that I missed the show and cannot really say much about Lamia Vox’s performance. I am sure they did just fine.
After getting back on track and in the mood for more ambient/industrial, Raison d’Etre was the perfect band to start the day’s program with. Peter Andersson’s pioneering dark ambient records have been in heavy rotation in my home since they came out in the ‘90s and I think they are some of the records that have had the most profound impact on my musical taste throughout the years. I still listen to them on a regular basis. I have seen him live before and he has always delivered the goods. He did so this time too: real-time sound manipulations and as always razor sharp sound with a level of finesse and refinement that is absolutely stunning. I did not really feel time or space while Raison d’Etre played, but just drifted into his evocative, dark, and melancholic sonic universe. Then, after some 45-60 minutes it was over and I slowly came out of my trance. This was truly a great performance and I hope to catch Raison d’Etre live again sometime in the future.
After this performance and lubricating and socializing further at the bar, it was time to see the mighty In Slaughter Natives. I have seen him a few times before and it has somehow always been slightly underwhelming, especially when thinking about the huge impact his records have had on me. Truthfully, I had such a good time at the bar that I for a second thought about skipping In Slaughter Natives, ‘cause do you really need to see him a third time? It turns out you do! Especially this evening, where the sound was razor sharp and Jouni Havukainen’s haunting stage presence was given the perfect sonic and visual surroundings. After Raison d’Etre I thought I had already had the highlight but was I wrong! In Slaughter Natives was heavy, bombastic, haunting, beautiful, and terrifying. A true fucking manifestation of power. The best performance so far for me, and judging by the talks I had with people afterward, I was not alone in that experience. Even the sound guy was full of praise for In Slaughter Native’s sound and performance.
How could anyone top In Slaughter Natives? Well, I think Brighter Death Now, who was up next, did. I saw Brighter death Now three times this spring, twice in Denmark and then at the OEC Congresso Post Industriale in Pordenone, Italy. The Pordenone gig was by far the best of them, but at each gig focus was on the pumping, churning bass-heavy, and kind of punky tracks of the post-2000 albums which are not my favorite Brighter Death Now era. Since that has been Brighter Death Now’s an approach in recent years, I kind of expected them to deliver more of that on this occasion, but I was surprised, very pleasantly surprised. This night’s show marked a return to pure, unadulterated, death industrial. From start to finish Roger and co. (Lina + Kristian Olsson) dragged the audience through the catacombs of Great Death and Necrose Evangelicum era death worship, heavy ambiance, tormented howls and screams, and the whole thing made complete with skulls and bones forming the main bulk of the video backdrop. This was by far the biggest surprise and one of the very best live experiences, not just of the night or the festival, but of my life. Suffice it to say, after a whole line of excellent performances, label boss Karmanik took the crown. Utterly fucking brilliant!
The next band to enter the stage was Arcana. They were on heavy rotation in my teenage room way back when and for me personally, the chance to see Arcana live was one of my main reasons to go to Sweden this cold November. They looked funny there on stage in their comically oversized goth dresses and I was annoyed with the opera singer’s voice in the beginning. It also struck me as odd that Peter’s wife was doing the talking since everyone knows it is his band. Anyway, after a slightly bumpy beginning (from my perspective), the band slowly but securely won me over. One classic replaced the other on the set list and at the end, I was completely immersed in Arcana’s melancholic gothic/neoclassical universe and no longer had any regard for the world around me. It was a magical experience for me to hear these classics performed live for the very first time so many years after their release and I am very thankful for that.
The last band to enter the stage was Trepaneringsritualen, who was never on the CMI label but can be said to have continued the proud Swedish death industrial tradition with a musical output of consistently high quality and some rather spectacular live shows with foul-smelling incense, skulls, bones, blood and the signature sack on the head and rope around the neck outfit. The show this night was without the props except for the attire, but with the addition of a live drummer instead of the usual solo set-up of past performances. Thomas Ekelund did a good job. The performance was energetic, the vocals were powerful and the sound was good. Still, after the absolute onslaughts of In Slaughter Natives and Brighter Death Now, Trepaneringsritualen felt a little bit anticlimactic for me personally. It was not by any means bad, but how could anyone be expected to top Brighter Death Now’s performance? Anyway, the audience seemed satisfied and Trepaneringsritualen manifest the impact of the Cold Meat Industry sound and aesthetic as well as the future of the death industrial genre, so in that way, it was fitting to have them close the show and they did it very well.
After the final live performance, it was time for the after-party which was fun although a lot of people had already left and the venue, therefore, felt a bit empty. It was good to talk to people from near and far and bond over our love for this little niche in dark underground music. Overall, the 35 years of Cold Meat Industry and Roger’s impressive legacy were celebrated with a bang and I certainly had a blast. I hope that the 40th anniversary will be celebrated in the same manner and that the crowd will be just as enthusiastic when that time comes. Under all circumstances, the legacy of Cold Meat Industry lives on and this event just shows how deeply the label has impacted a lot of people from all over the world and continues to do so after so many years.
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