I must admit, every time I go to a new country just to visit a gig or two, I try to invent some sort of a cover story - be it a business trip or visiting friends. For some reason, when you tell people that you are from Ireland and came here just because of music - they immediately start avoiding you as if you are a crazy person and it's infectious. This time - there was no cover story. It was the first, but definitely not the last visit to Sweden for me, and the main reason for it is usually abbreviated to three letters - EBM. Year 2010, October 9th, and new name on EBM scene appeared. Sweden, as a country that has already contributed to the genre with multiple bands, such as Spetsnaz or Container 90, now became as well a home for brand new festival - Bodyfest. It is a club-based, one-day event, celebrating heavy bass line, steel cap boots and the tough romance of heavy industry. The debut was deemed to success, as Front 242, proclaimed fathers of EBM scene, was listed as a headliner. German legends Tyske Ludder, as well as a dream team of Swedish bands - Pouppée Fabrikk , Autodafeh, Spark!, No sleep by the Machine and Stockholm Wrecking Crew, almost guaranteed to drag a lot of fans to the festival venue. And indeed the venue, Klubben in Fryshuset activity centre on Stockholm south, was packed. The festival sold out completely on the day. Visitors came not only from Sweden, but from around 10 other countries as well, including Finland, Germany and UK. The event was preceded by a warm-up party, which started as early as 2 pm in Stockholm EBM clubs. Festival goers had great chance to get into festival mood, down some beer, listen to some good music spun by the club's DJs, and meet up with friends before going to the festival. The main party began at 17-00.



The honour to open the festival went to Stockholm Wrecking Crew, a younger band, combining original EBM sound and attitude with elements of punk, that work quite well together. The atmosphere of a street gang from an industrial suburb, tough and violent, yet dedicated to rather musical violence than wrecking everything around them, is both in the sound and in the look of the band. They united efforts with No Sleep By The Machine, band that works somewhere in the same area. For me personally both bands were one big discovery of the festival.



Spark! is another Swedish band, working in the area slightly broader than just traditional stompy body music. Some of studio records reveal sound close to roots of electro-synth music, the same influence is quite apparent in more old-school EBM records. Songs are mostly in Swedish, but the energy and emotional load of songs makes knowledge of language optional. Minimal line-up of a singer and a drummer delivered maximum of performance, and made the crowd dance and sing together with the band such songs as "Produktion Nonstop" or "Tequila".



After Spark heated up the dance floor to the boiling point, there was no turn back, and no chance of slowing down the beat, the dance or the energy. The next band on stage, Autodafeh, made sure the audience goes on stomping, and singing along. This trio appeared on EBM scene in 2007, but already managed to make a statement. Basing its sound on such iconic bands as Front 242, the band revives the original EBM vibe, which is not necessarily experimental, but strongly recognisable. I had a chance to have a short chat with Mika, Anders and Jesper before the show and learn more about their experience on the EBM scene, which all of them sincerely LÖV . Bodyfest set included such hits as "Bodycount", "Mother green" and "Stompers", which pretty much guaranteed to give enough energy to the dance floor.



Normally EBM bands, while delivering insane energy on stage, don't care much about the visual part, I often heard photographers complaining about "hey, they are all the same men in caps, cargo pants and heavy boots screaming into microphones and doing nothing interesting". That's not the case with the next band on the festival line-up. Tyske Ludder, the militarised electronic device from Germany, actually adds elements of show. Going on stage in Guy Fawkes mask and ranting about scientology, marching with a USA flag, and generally going much outside of what an "old school" band is normally expected to look and act like. Needless to say, all that while playing all the hits the fans were waiting for. Definitely "show of the day" nomination goes to them. After the show I took my chance to have a short, but rather interesting chat with Olaf and Claus, about music, scene, genre limitations and fates of humanity. The interview is already available on Neuweltmusic Youtube channel.



One of the biggest highlights if the festival was a reunion-show of scene veterans Pouppée Fabrikk . The band emerged on the scene in the end of 80's and went all the way from minimalist body beats, to more industrial-metal like sound, always with a genuine twist. The comeback at Bodyfest was something PF fans were waiting for since the announcement of reunion in 2000, followed by disappearance from the scene and band members pursuing their goals separately for a while. And it was not just a one-off "best of" event, but a full-scale comeback. The new material Poupee Fabrik is working on now is likely to be released soon. While being responsible for a lot of what is now considered to be old-school EBM, and especially more speedy anhalt EBM, the band clearly states that it doesn't limits itself to a particular sound, experimenting with metal guitars for the new album. This is not something entirely unexpected, as the singer's vocals could be called too metal, if there was such thing as something sounding too metal. Quite a big bunch of fans travelled from as far as Germany just to see them on stage again. From what I could see, nobody was disappointed.



After Pouppée Fabrikk finished their set, the audience was far from calming down, as the main show of the day was yet to come. Front 242. What would you expect of godfathers of the genre, the band that founded the scene and coined the name? Well, first of all - you expect the venue to be packed to the rafters, you expect the fans singing and shouting along, knowing every word of "Welcome to paradise", "No shuffle" or "Headhunter". You would also expect a massive dance-off in front of the stage, given the crowd has enough space to move. You would expect old hits that sound as fresh as they used to back in the days, due to non-stopping production and remixing work. Well, I must say that the band fully exceeded the expectations, by providing the show in the best traditions of the scene veterans, that may have aged, but still maintain the level of energy, emotion and that particular rebel spirit that fuelled EBM back in the 80's. Personally for me good surprise was to hear "Tragedy", which the band hasn't played live for quite a while, as well as re-worked versions of "Moldavia" and "Lovely day". Overall energetic performance was followed by audience roaring for an encore, and getting it - and to "feel so f*cking alive".

The overall success of an event was a result of a well-coordinated work of the festival crew, consisting of true enthusiasts of Swedish EBM scene. It has already been announced, that the festival will be back next year, with more stomp, more drive, and hopefully more fantastic bands.

Stay in the rhythm, Stockholm!


Picture credit: Elena Kovakina
Date: October 9th 2010
Venue: Klubben, Mårtendalsvägen 2-8, 120 30 Stockholm
Website: www.bodyfest.se