APOCALYPTIC DECADENT EVENING
Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio / In Slaughter Natives / Cascadeur
The 15th Of November 2008, Brasov, Reduta Cultural Centre

A new Special Evening, organised by Kogaionon and DonisArt, took place on the 15th of November, in the same city and same location where ARCANA, ICE AGES or ATARAXIA have previously performed.

In spite of another event held on the same day but in a different city – Bucharest, an approximate number of 200 people still managed to gather up in the elegant Reduta hall. Coming from all over the country but from Bulgaria, Ukraine and Serbia as well, the fans started arriving around 5pm. With a more varied range of items, the merchandising stalls (T-shirts, CD’s or magazines) attracted the public’s interest instantly – especially the stand of the bands that were going on stage.

With a half an hour delay over the initially scheduled time, CASCADEUR stepped on stage. Axel Menzer, the mentor of this project, has an expressive voice, very sober, managing to pleasantly surprise the audience.

With an imposing and bombastic intro, framed by two symbolical flags placed above a stage dominated by the colour red, following a ritual of burning remnants of carefully chosen plants from the German woodlands, together with some interesting projections, Axel introduced us to a pretty original Neo Folk, sang in two languages, alongside an intelligent keyboard (Jouni/IN SLAUGHTER NATIVES) and a percussion that was simple but full of rhythm (Tomas/O.R.E.). He thanked everyone for their interest and wanted to mention that this was his second live concert held with this solo project, the first one having taken place some time back, in Madrid.

IN SLAUGHTER NATIVES showed us in 45 minutes what’s the meaning of true Dark Industrial, Jouni being a master of live gigs, this time somewhat more chilled as usual, even “whispered”… The audience present in the room seemed somewhat confused by this sound, proof to this being the intensity of the applause's that started fading towards the end. In any case, the combination of blue and red, mixed with violent projections and exclusively computer generated music, brought to a saddening image, a sinister atmosphere, even repulsive and at times, misunderstood…

After an approximately 20 minute long break Tomas went on stage as well... together with Fredrik (NO FESTIVAL OF LIGHT), the percussionist, Axel on toms and guitar and Jouni on the keyboards… The mix of white and red, surrounded by a thick smoke that gave nothing close to a state of comfort, managed to precisely contour the atmosphere requested/desired by the band. And we had an hour of truly beautiful Apocalyptic Pop, with tracks from CCP, Apocalips or Satyriasis being acclaimed by the audience. An encore of three tracks followed, the night ending with “Three is an orgy…” - a track of an unbelievable energy. It must be mentioned that two new tracks belonging to ONANI have also been included in the repertoire, songs that have truly shocked me! “Can You Hear The Devil’s Laughing” created an incredible energy, genially mixing three crucial components of the ORDO concept: music, lyrics and the visuals… you were under the impression that the stage was a red-hot hell corner, a place where even the flames used in the backdrop were kneeling down towards destroying any sign of life, of positive energy, and of light… On the other hand, “I Will Be There” unveiled a different aura, relaxed, one led by an extreme melancholy, very melodic, with a slow rhythm, a calmer voice, Lounge insertions and new, completely changed samples.

The Apocalyptic Decadent Evening ended, according to tradition, somewhere close to morning, in Musik Café, after long talks and debates between the band members and their fans…

Not even two days have passed and I keep thinking of that tiny table placed somewhere at the front of the stage, where, amongst roses, petals, pendulous nets, velvet and feathers, reined defiantly a bottle of absinth… HEH!

November 17, 2008