Review: Excepter + Black To Comm

This was another night with at least two shows happening that I really wanted to see. A decision had to be made and since Excepter seemingly aren't touring Europe that often plus I haven't seen Black To Comm before, this show won the decision making process.

When Black To Comm took the stage and started to play, the room was barely filled. He started pretty downtempo and quiet and made his way through a quite manifold set. In a nutshell his music could be described as drony ambient electronica. There were parts that sounded more calm and captivating with everything seeming to happen in very slow-motion. Then there were parts that sounded like an overwhelmingly number of layers of sound combined that left me trying to figure out what those sounds were and where they came from. All in all this was very cinematic without being superficial and catchy. It was not resembling a soundtrack of arbitrary post-rock soundscapes but more like an interesting and intense performance that often made me think of 80s weird and trashy horror movies.

Excepter obviously were the main reason for most of the audience to visit Berghain Kantine this evening. When they started to play the room was significantly fuller than before, yet still far from sold out. They took their places behind piles of cables, synthies and keyboards, a set-up that already looked interesting right from the beginning. Although I've seen them before I wasn't quite sure what to expect since their records sound quite diverse and often different from each other. Consequently their live set did as well. Mainly they played rather dark yet dancy experimental electronic music. Industrial and dirty beats were completed by a noisy guitar and the typical Excepter vocals that often sound like weird singsong and chatter. Their songs were often driven by monotonous stomping rhythms and their music seemed to be strongly influenced by the New Weird America scene of the early 2000s, experimental dub and dusky technoid sounds. Everything was completed by a rather uncomfortable (yet fitting) performance that sometimes made me feel like I was witnessing a dystopian Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas musical. 

All in all I have to say I was pretty happy with my concert choice of the evening. Although I wish to see Black To Comm again in a more cozy setting his set was exciting and Ecxepter were exceptionally compelling. Hope they'll be back sometime soon!