Nocturne Fest 2019 (FESTIVAL REVIEW)

By Maria Rasmussen & Xenia Kromann

This weekend we attended Nocturne Fest at Loppen in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was a six-band line-up with a few international acts. Furthermore, Nocturne Fest teamed up with a few of the most popular underground bands in Copenhagen at the moment, as DJ's. Friday was all-female band Konvent, with a DJ set full of doomish tracks and their fabulous looks. Saturday the guys from Dirt Forge played their favorites to the audience while waiting for the bands.

Friday the 1st

Opening act for Friday is the local band Kronic. Formed in 2014, which released their debut EP ”Tales Of The Underground” in 2018. Which of course we heard tracks from. The vocalist totally owned the stage with his show off attitude. The music is heavily influenced by mighty Saturnus, no doubt. A more genuine take on their own music would have been more suitable. It seemed like the lead guitar had a lot of trouble with either remembering his own solos or failing to carry them out correctly. A few times it even sounded like someone was poking needles into one's ears. No one is perfect and everybody makes mistakes. Practice makes perfect!

Hadron 2^nd band of Friday's line-up is stoner doom from Odense that has existed for nearly a decade and during that time they have released a couple of demos with the latest one which is self-titled and came out last year. Dark gloomy music with a very old-school black sabbath vibe, even their clothes brought the audience back to the seventies, along with the vocalists very fitting voice. A few songs, so old-school that it even sounded like covers and not original material? In our opinion the most fascinating band of the evening.

Woebegone Obscured was Friday nights closing act. Since 2003 they have released 3 full-length albums, the latest from 2018, ”The Forestroamer”. The first impression was that the band is a merge between musicians from different genres, because of the visual approach. It seemed like one half of the band had a different vision than the rest. Keyboard player and vocalist made us feel like we were gonna experience something epic and atmospheric, but gazing on to the rest of the band it could have been any metal genre. A more unified look would have made it perfect. Apart from their visual approach, Woebegone Obscured is definitely a band with very talented musicians. Their sound is voluminous, and with every instrument, they gather a unique unified sound. For this show, they had a special guest with them, exactly Sofia Schmidt from Ethereal Kingdoms who sang along for their full album performance of "The Forestroamer".  

Saturday the 2nd

Feathers & Doom from Norway kicks off Saturday. Finally, a band that manages to catch the attention of the audience through their entire show. Good dynamics in the songs also with a mix of different vocals that sounded exceptional, supported by a well-playing band. Even visuals were great with their matching outfit and way of standing on stage. Probably the best act at Nocturne Fest this year. 

Solstice was unfortunately very disappointing for us, but the rest of the audience seemed entertained. Vocals were really off together with the drums to the point earplugs were not even enough and we are not overreacting when we say that it was one of the worst music experiences we have had. Was that doom? 

Saturday's headliner Saturnus, was what everyone had been waiting for. The difference between the sound and the atmosphere from the first note was not to compare. You could feel the music through the floor and one's veins. The audience was filled with energy and you could hear several different languages, which tells you how popular Saturnus is in and outside of Denmark. The stage seemed too small for the band, but the symbiosis between the audience and the band was memorable. The setlist was not much of a surprise, though they did play a new song “Thorns”, from the upcoming album and it sounds promising. Thomas the singer announced that if everything runs smoothly, we can expect the new album in November, but due to the late showtimes at Loppen, several of the audience had already left before the song. Nice to see the festival organizer enjoying the Saturnus concert up front as well.

Next year we hope Nocturne Fest digs even deeper and presents bands from the underground that has yet to set their foot on Danish soil. With this, we mean both up-coming and established bands. To mention a few, Shape Of Despair, The Howling Void & Profetus.

Nocturne fest facebook site: 
https://www.facebook.com/nocturnefest/

Facebook event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1401958853268083/

Loppen facebook site:
https://www.facebook.com/musik.loppen/

Loppen Website:
http://loppen.dk/