*Won't promise that the world won't end in the meantime, you never know...people are always caught off guard by apocalyptic scenarios in movies.
NTI, as they will be referred to from now on, play intense mathcore in the vein of Ion Dissonance and their fellow Italians in Damned Spring Fragrantia although I personally think I prefer NTI to DSF. They started their set off without any hesitation and jumped right in the fray, throwing dissonance, blasting, tapping and screaming together to make their insane sonicscapes a reality. Considering how incredibly nice they all were in person Fabio (vocals) made a very convincing performance as a man on the brink of losing it. The demanding technical nature of the music did not diminish the stage presence of the band and the stage presence in turn did not make for a sloppy outcome. The sample they used (also found on the album) created an even eerier atmosphere than they had done already so it was easy to forget that the time was only four on a Thursday and the sun was shining. Pure apocalyptic fury can only last so long before it gets boring so it's good that the boys in NTI know how to throw in an effective calmer clean part only to build up to another cataclysmic riff to make sure no one gets too comfy.
After their set, before getting some food and unfortunately missing the next band, we got a short interview with a few of the guys:
1. If you could add one tech band to the festival what would you choose?
NTI: The Arusha Accord and Ion Dissonance
2. Have you discovered any new bands from the line-up this year?
NTI: Those guys (point at the next merch table where Simon from The Colour Pink Is Gay is standing) (Editor's note: Sounds familiar?)
3. Why do you think the tech metal scene in the UK is so strong compared to other places in the world?
NTI: It's the place where rock and roll was born so people have always been open minded. Bands like Pink Floyd definitely paved the way.
4. How would you describe the scene in your country? You obviously have bands such as yourselves, Damned Spring Fragrantia and Amia Venera Landscape so there is obviously something happening.
NTI: It's rising, we are rising.
5. If you could add one non-tech band to the festival what would it be?
NTI: Amia Venera Landscape, Igorrr and Venetian Snares. Breakcore for the afterparties would be really cool.
-
NTI's EP on Bandcamp:
After getting some long awaited food it was time to see what Disperse had in store for us. Having been moved to the first day due to problems with their schedule (I think) some people sadly ended up missing them. Disperse, however, did not let that affect the performance. The instrumentation and vocals were top notch as was to be expected and the fusion-esque guitar solos were jawdropping but two things were quite surprising:
1. The vocalist's piercing high screams he did now and then.
2. The band's fantastic loose interpretation of The Prodigy's Voodoo People.
The guys all seemed so grateful for everyone who showed up and regularly thanked the audience for making this their best show ever. While people tried to get them to play an encore they unfortunately did not have time but thanked everyone once more.
Hopefully they'll be back at next year's Tech Fest with more time to hang around and enjoy themselves after the set. Maybe with some new material, who knows...
Finishing off the band portion of the day, before moving to another hangar for an afterparty featuring the best named cover band of all time (Fist'em While They're Down), was Chimp Spanner. The whole set was delivered perfectly and, for me, the highlight was Bad Code complete with a new intro. The intro, which was made up of samples from Portal, was apparently made the day before by Paul Ortiz (guitar). Boris (drums) allegedly complained that they always started it the same way and he was worried that people were getting tired of it. At the end I caught Boris's drum stick and we talked to Paul a bit afterwards hearing some cool new ideas for the live show that we hope to see implemented at next years Tech Fest.
Jón Þór
*All pictures are taken by me unless otherwise noted