Empyrium. Legendary folk black metal band turned to folk/neoclassical overlords. The band was on an indefinite hiatus, but have now decided to do a one-off for this festival.

For the upcoming WGT festival in Leipzig, some recommendations this week.

Feindflug. German elektro industrial. Harsh, violent and due to the imagery they use also a bit controversial. I guess I liked this more a couple of years ago, but their live shows are really something.

See my WGT Spotify list here.

As the WGT festival in Leipzig is coming up, I’ll post some artists that play there you should at least check out.

Lustmord. Industrial/dark ambient pioneer.

Lustmord will play the Incubate in September 2011 in The Netherlands. Catch ‘em there if you’re not in Leipzig.

See my WGT Spotify list here.

Probably the most unsettling, uncanny and interesting artist at WGT this year: Diamanda Galás. She will play in the Opera house.

Diamanda Galás (born August 29, 1955) is a Greek-American avant-garde composer, vocalist, pianist, performance artist and painter.

Known for her expert piano as well as her distinctive, operatic voice, which has a three and a half octave range, Galás has been described as “capable of the most unnerving vocal terror”. Galás often shrieks, howls, and seems to imitate glossolalia in her performances. Her works largely concentrate on the topics of suffering, despair, condemnation, injustice and loss of dignity. She has worked with many avant-garde composers, including Iannis Xenakis, Vinko Globokar and John Zorn.

See my WGT Spotify list here.

Next week Leipzig will be hit by thousands and thousands of goths, punks, wavers, hipsters, metalheads and other non-lamestream scenesters. They crawl from all over the globe to this town in the East of Germany for the Wave Gotik Treffen (Wave and Gothic meeting or WGT). One of the most diverse and most unknown of festivals in Europe.

I will post some recommendations for those of you that will be there, and some tips for you that have no clue about al this strange dark music. There’s actually a lot of good music to be found. Just like I do for Roadburn or Incubate.

See my WGT Spotify list here.

First up Rome. Of course.

Jerome Reuter will be playing WGT with a full band this time. Can’t wait to see it. They’re on Summer Darkness in Utrecht, The Netherlands as well.

Hooray for Earth.

Check it (preferably in full screen):

dir. Young Replicant

via Disco Naïveté.

After the relative soft bands of the previous Lights Out, here’s an ugly, mean and hard band for ya: Summon the Crows. As last.fm says: “crust with black metal influences from Oslo, Norway.”

Summon the Crows was hand-picked by Sunn O))) for the Roadburn Friday. This will be a welcome change in tempo, after the heavy and sloooooowww Earth, Void ov Voices and Winter.

On their bandcamp you can hear two song of their album ‘One more for the Gallows’.

As I’m completely stoked about going to Roadburn, in the next few days the Lights Out will be about bands playing that awesome festival in Tilburg between 14-17 April.

In Wovenhand (and his previous band 16 Horsepower) Edwards uses a funereal southern gothic mood, incredibly deep lyrical content and a distinctive vocal delivery to create some of the heaviest records of the millennium. The rock / folk / world / alt-country music that Wovenhand produce is shot through with southern torment and swathed in christian portent. (Roadburn)

Here’s an outstanding interview with David Eugene Edwards on the Roadburn website.

As I’m completely stoked about going to Roadburn, in the next few days the Lights Out will be about bands playing that awesome festival in Tilburg between 14-17 April.

Year of No Light are a sludge/post-rock outfit hailing from France. No vocals, no short songs and no light. Their music sounds like the equivalent of tall Gothic churches, dramatic romantic landscapes or post-rockers off their anti-depressants.

On Roadburn 2011 they will play two shows: One in which they will play their last album Ausserwelt, and during the other appearance they will provide the soundtrack for the 1932 horror classic by Carl Theodor Dreyer: Vampyr.

The downside of this is that on a festival with a great line-up, there are choices, no, sacrifices to be made. My choice will have to be between seeing the awesome Aluk Todolo once again, or choose the Vampyr screening…

As I’m completely stoked about going to Roadburn, in the next few days the Lights Out will be about bands playing that awesome festival in Tilburg between 14-17 April.

Quest for Fire is an Canadian psychedelic rock band incorporating elements of stoner rock. There latest album was in Walter Roadburn’s top 10 of 2010. Enough words, just listen.

Listen to more of them on TeePee records.