Mondo Negro x ZDB: Powerplant ⟡ Thee Seizures
Live music 14€
Monday 9 November · 21:00
Mondo Negro and ZDB join forces to bring Powerplant, the London-based Black Metal delirium of Ukrainian Theo Zhykharyev, together with Thee Seizures for a night that embraces the genre's tropes with good humour.
More than three decades have already passed since Euronymous was murdered at the hands of Varg Vikernes, and the Scandinavian ice fury and hermetic mist that hangs over Black Metal, nourished on misanthropic instincts, not to say homicidal/suicidal ones, has been fading from the trve kvlt purism of the nihilist, edgelord horde to assume, ever more visibly, the campy theatricality of corpsepaint. From the meme-ification of Immortal, through the sleaziness of Carpathian Forest and the Lord of the Rings lore of Summoning, to the figure of Mortiis and his pivotal role in Dungeon Synth, up to the anti-NSBM satire of Old Nick, a whole progressively more self-aware imaginary of that fantasy is traced, one that is consummated in the music of Powerplant. A delirium born in London from the mind of the Ukrainian Theo Zhykharyev, which amassed a virtual cult following over the years and is today a band in its own full right. Drawing inspiration from the Garage Punk of the Misfits, the gothic faction of post-punk, the humid atmospheres of Dungeon Synth and, of course, Black Metal, Powerplant embody the genre's tropes with good vibes and without condescension, exulting on their latest album, Bridge of Sacrifice, their qualities in absolutely memorable weaves within the kaleidoscopic swirl. Between the harsh shrieks of Black Metal and a clean voice that (strangely) recalls Layne Staley as much as it surrenders to indie and/or gothic excesses, Powerplant achieve the feat of turning all this apparent confusion of tremolo picking, rock riffs, martial beats, epic synthesizers and acoustic passages into a natural process aimed at the song. All done as honestly as it is self-aware. BS.