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Church of the Cosmic Cranium
Monster Magnet, Orange Goblin, Church of the Cosmic Cranium
Bear Stone Competition, DONJE PRIMIŠLJE, Croatia, July 7-8, 2023,
Aug 02, 2023
Pictures by Marko Lopac
Net Unique
Thoughts-altering sounds, nestled in some pure idyll, surrounded by stunning individuals fuelled by the vibe of the place – that was at all times the hippie competition splendid, wasn’t it? Monterey, Woodstock, Pilton Pop, all these occasions that we nonetheless can’t transfer in from over 50 years later!
Properly Croatia’s Bear Stone Competition, delivers the identical vibe, simply with music derived from the heavier finish of the spectrum, if nonetheless as psychedelic and “far out” MAN! It revels within the riffs and crushing atmosphere of stoner and house rock – it’s like all that survived hippiedom was Hawkwind (and that’s no dangerous factor).
And it does this from inside a screened canyon on the Mrežnica River, a protected haven for music followers to actually lose themselves within the immersive expertise that this new competition is making its calling card. Swim in clear waters, beneath waterfalls and whereas the music performs get drawn into the psychedelic gentle journey supplied by Sector 7G who ship traditional and mind-altering visuals that elevate the band’s performances and make the made sculptures across the floor dance within the gentle.
Bear Stone is really a competition that inhabits a particular place, up to now faraway from the company, money-grab in a moist subject that’s the majority of UK festivals. It’s an occasion that may be a “taking place”, an expertise – who doesn’t need that?
However sufficient of the hype in regards to the web site and vibe, it’s in spite of everything a music competition – was the music as much as scratch?
Briefly sure! On the planet of stoner rock, you’re not going to get a lot better than headliners Orange Goblin and Monster Magnet. Veterans of stoner rock and doom metallic, Orange Goblin paid tribute to their roots with a career-spanning set that confirmed why they’re thought of as legends within the metallic scene, infusing components of Southern rock and punk vitality into the traditional metallic riffage. All through their hour, Ben Ward having the time of his life, thanking the gang and urging on their moshing. Some pleasant deep cuts like “Time Travelling Blues” made this a worthy headline set.
Monster Magnet are traditional another way. Historically out of step with what was taking place on the time, their headline set proved why their polished rock with stoner and house rock influences has at all times made such an influence. The group misplaced it to classics like “Powertrip” (which was pivotal in 1998 in turning them into an enormous identify in rock) and “House Lord”. Captain Dave Wyndorf steered the Magnet ship round their 30-year-career through cuts like “Crop Circle”, “Tractor”, “Negasonic Teenage Warhead”, with a severe concentrate on older materials. The stoner rock lords took their rightful place as legends of the scene in psychedelic swirls of lights and sound.
However what made Bear Stone nice is that they weren’t reliant on the massive names to peg the competition on. The competition on the entire was lovingly and knowingly curated with one of the best of the scene from throughout Europe. Napalm Data stalwarts, the UK’s Conan was a living proof as a fuzz-juggernaut on the high of their recreation. They destroyed every thing in its wake. The three-piece crushed the viewers with cruel distorted density, pounding beats and waves of riffs.
Bear Stone additionally wasn’t terrified of enjoying on the central theme with variations on the stoner sound. You had Zagreb’s Illness Jane with their desert rock wall of layered noise and rhythmic pulse, with the ache vocals of post-grunge angst, the sheer ferocity of Candy Deville, who pummel all expectations of conventional doom and stoner right into a pulp and the blues-ladden fuzz of Mr. Bison. All totally different however all fastidiously slotted into the fastidiously curated vibe of the competition.
Even when the bookings veered off into unusual territory, it labored. The vibe for British seven-piece (and splendidly named) Church of the Cosmic Cranium is totally totally different – “Placing the Abba in Sabbath” as their non secular slogan suggests. Adorned in white robes, they preached a vibrant psych-pop gospel in a haze of lights and propelled by a whirling organ, that completely offset the guitar riffage. It is a church that may convert metalheads to their polyphonic methods, and one of many standouts of the weekend.
One other act that set a excessive benchmark from out in leftfield was Croatia’s Seven The Spells, who channeled psych-rock via traditional German kosmiche musik to ship motorik drive beneath the swirling guitar hurricane. In the end, they delivered an intoxicating, meditative repetition that was arduous to flee, discovering concord in discord. This was trance music in its most blatant and primal method.
Every thing from this 12 months’s Bear Stone Competition appeared to work – the music, the setting and the vibe. That is solely the beginning and in years to return it needs to be one in every of Europe’s high “should attend” festivals for rock followers, and if individuals don’t concentrate it is going to be one of many continent’s occasions for these within the know – the fortunate few. Both manner, you actually need to be at Bear Stone.
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