Band of the week 29/2024
Origin: Austria
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal
Hier geht’s zur deutschen Version.
The band about itself:
“Taking its name from a pagan goddess revered among the people in the Upper German and Austrian Alps, Perchta from Tyrol, Austria, were founded in 2017 and channel the deity’s essence to keep alive regional traditions. “Ufång,” the project’s first record, is a multi-faceted concept album, entirely intoned in local vernacular before a backdrop of tremolo guitars and ritualistic folk passages.”
Editorial commentary:
In my festival planning for this year, I often noticed a common feature in the line-up: The band Perchta is supposed to play at one festival or another and that’s when I got curious. So I was able to see part of their show at the Dark Easter Metal Meeting and two complete shows at the Ragnarök Festival and the Walpurgisnacht Festival.
At Ragnarök they surprised for three reasons: The incredible sound of the band, the self-expression of the front woman and the dulcimer! From the beginning, Perchta’s music is a great atmospheric black metal. Hidden within the steely riffs is a more complex melody and the lengthy passages build up a multi-layered fabric of sound. A black metal that grips the listener and only lets hom go again after several minutes or even at the end of the show/album. The voice of front woman Julia-Christin Casdorf aka Perchta gives the music depth and further complexity when she alternates between screeching screams and powerful, full, clear vocals. It was Julia-Christin Casdorf’s performance as her own interpretation of Lady Percht that captivated me from the very first moment. The musician is dressed in a black dress with a headscarf, her eyes are rimmed in black, and her teeth and gums are also colored black. This disguise radiates a cruel beauty, and I got goose bumps several times when the front woman pointed her long, artificial claws at the audience and screamed like an old, bitter woman. The third point is about an instrument that I have never seen on stage before and that made me melt away with its sound. I’m referring to the instrument with the lovely name dulcimer. I’m always happy to see instruments on stage that aren’t part of the usual metal repertoire and that’s why my heart beat faster when I saw the instrument hidden behind antlers and heard the first notes. It was a great idea to liven up the pitch-black black metal with a hammered dulcimer.
These were three reasons why Perchta and their live show are a joy for me and why I will always recommend them after their show at the Ragnarök Festival.
The band at Dark-Art:
- Review: Perchta – D´Muata
- Festivalbericht: Walpurgisnacht Festival Vol.III, Samstag 27.04.2024
- Festivalbericht: Ragnarök Festival, Freitag 05.04.2024
Live impressions:
Music recommendation:
Upcoming live dates:
Links:
Band of the week is our weekly posting about a band we recommend and is posted every Tuesday at 8pm (CEST). These are bands that are just at the beginning of their career and that we think should recieve more attention.
You can also find all the bands we’ve featured this year in our playlist on Spotify!
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