In Bradford the bank holiday weekend approached, lightness grew dimmer as Friday in the middle of England, three days of Electronic impulses sprinkled with a hint of Goth awakened for summer 2011.

Day 1 Friday broke ice with DJ Midnight kicking things off at 8pm, as ‘U-Turns’ became the first artist on stage. UK home grown, they showed of beats from their album ‘Pop Porn’. A mixture of mellow electronic and rock, that rolls into a heavier concoction slowly but surely. Taking a break from the stage, this year the venue setup has changed. Last year Bradford University students union was in a construction process, though this year it is nice to see a great deal completed. The food courts have moved to just outside the stage in the back smoking area where a pavilion tent has been erected serving quick blood and chips.


Returning to the floor, while ‘DJ Cyber Andy’ finishes up his set, ‘Code 64’ a mixture of Scandinavian companionship hits the stage. Unfortunately the sound setup had other intentions and decided to give up its soul; leaving the crowd in silence for the good part of 10 minutes. Eventually the bristled voice of ‘Bjørn Marius Borg’ got the crowd on full swing again as the Electronic trio set foot on EBM future pop and let the sound do the talking. Advancing to midnight, ‘Tatical Sekt’ closed the first day with Aggrotech testing out the bass of the speakers, whilst ‘Matt ©’ took over beginning the after show Oontz off.

The Second Coming Saturday begins late. One of the main advantages of Infest being that the first act doesn’t break ground until 4pm. Therefore wandering for breakfast and then flourishing back to the union for reconnection to the festival is rather pleasant, and reducing the stress involved in needing to be ready with makeup in the morning. ‘V2A’ the Anglo-German duo started things off, followed by the works of ‘MASCHINEKRIEGER KR52 Vs DISRAPTOR’. ‘Alien Vampires’ appeared on stage as if they were taking themselves a bit too solid and seriously, though breaking into their music on the other hand was an Aggro-Electro success. After 18.00 hours, in the cooler mellows of the Escape Bar, this year’s newest feature “Goth Karaoke” got into full swing and during the weekend, some of the energy that people put into their performances, really rivalled that of the main stage.


‘Absolute Body Control’ brought us back to the 80s electro industrial scene with the duo of ‘Dirk Ivens’ and ‘Eric Van Wonterghem’ hitting the bass drum. Continuing the era ‘XOTOX’ showed off harsher pure Industrial complemented with smoke visualisations. Taking it more present day the Mexican workings of ‘Erik Aicrag’ and ‘Racso Agroyam’ named ‘Hocico’ brought themselves and the listeners to the brink pushing the red button, as they rocked their armoured garments into the stage floor. The performance saw the sweat and steam of the black horde seer into the ventilation ducts, as heat and electricity in the atmosphere became greater and greater. Guest performances from ‘[:SITD:]’s’ hit man ‘DJ Krischen’ shot up the drained ‘Hocico’ crowd with EBM beats announcing to us that the after show party has begun.


Epilogue Again for the Final day a lateness is praised. The Australian working of ‘Shiv-R’ combined with drumming’s of ‘M4RC’ from Dutch Aggrotech project ‘Grendel’ struck a blow into the masses. Their live performance earning them cheers from crowd as they set upon them their debut album ‘Hold My Hand’. Austria’s ‘Mind.In.a.Box’ led on stage by ‘Stefan Poiss’ slowly entwined the fans within the harmony of what is future pop. The band itself is not focused on their attire for the occasion, as it is not necessary. Looking amongst the weekend it has been surrounded in much more draining energy beats. The foursome that shone in blue rays deemed it necessary to ease the feet and cool the mind of their listeners, as they threw their easing set list at us. Only their main track of ‘8 Bits (8.6Bits mix)’ from their latest EP blew a gust of feet movement to crowd as they ended their set. Bringing it back to the noise, ‘Sonar’ the fusion of ‘XOTOX’ and ‘Absolute Body Control’ hit the darkness hard as blinding light, severed in with electronic sound pulses reckoned anyone without earplugs and woke up one’s eyes.


The conclusion to Infest 2011 was bestowed upon ‘Mark Jackson’ and ‘Ronan Harris’ of ‘VNV Nation’. Styling the 1930s moustache, ‘Ronan Harris’ bulleted around the stage, showing off his trademark footwork that ignites the crowd. The set was immersed in the two major elements of energy and emotion. Speaking before going into ‘Illusion’; ‘Ronan’ stepped back and spoke about the scene and how important he felt individuality is and how tragic losses such as the murder of ‘Sophie Lancaster’ can be and show still the intolerance of within society of being different. After the emotion of ‘Illusion’ the gear was brought back up into 5th. Showing off a glimpse of their new tracks from the forthcoming album ‘Automatic’ they brought down the curtain with glow sticks flying mid-air and “VNV” being chanted.


Straight after the piano crashed on stage, showing to us that Infest still had yet to finish, DJ’s ‘M4RC’ of ‘Grendel’ and ‘Virulent’ of ‘Shiv-R’ got things into full swing on stage with high BPM and Electronic Body Music, mixed in with fists flying. Infest is a great opportunity of the UK scene to save the expenses involved with flying to mainland Europe, and instead convene in the middle and listen together to the music they love. Infest each year is reaching its prime. The factor which makes this festival so successful is the ability for it to be just relaxing enough. No demanding time frames, not too many bands, close enough to civilization and slumber. So what can we see for 2012?