Östra Torn
Mitromemot
Noisy Tel Aviv hardcore punk outfit, Zaga Zaga, have released a new full length album. In order to celebrate it, they have invited their fanbase and friends to Levontin 7 to witness the new material live. They have also invited two new bands to open up for them.
Mitromemot
Up first is Tel Aviv based Mitromemot (which apparently means "faggots"). As I'm sure happens in most small scenes, sometimes new bands will pop up made from members of other popular/once-popular bands. Mitromemot consists of drummer Oneg (also the current Haium HaDeomgraphy drummer), guitarist Adi (Deaf Chonky), bassist Benjamin (Almonim Metim) and vocalist Mati (ex-Erev Rav). Having only just put out their debut self-titled EP, this is also their debut show. However, there's already a lot of people eager to see them. The band plays all of the 8 rapid and aggressive songs from the EP (no longer than 1 min 30 secs each) which run in a similar vein to the aforementioned Almonim Metim and Erev Rav. Out of those songs, Savta Coeset (Grandma's Angry/Angry Grandma) stands out the most. Although a song I cannot personally relate to, it simply speaks of the true and familiar generation gap between modern Israeli liberals and their Jewish/Zionist elders. As an added bonus, the band also treats the crowd to an interesting Hebrew rendition of the straight edge classic Minor Threat by the legends of the same name. I didn't actually recognise it due to never having heard the song in Hebrew before but those who get it are singing along and holding Mati aloft. All in all, it might not be the type of hardcore punk I would normally choose to listen to but the band has the right amount of passion behind the music and Mati has turned into one hell of a performer, screaming his lungs out and owning the stage.
3/5
Östra Torn
Man, Haifa has been giving birth to a lot of heavy shit! As one of the bands to have been born out of the demise of Haifa hardcore heavyweights Barren Hope, the next band on, Östra Torn (which I believe is Swedish for "East Tower"), similarly play low-tuned, fuzzy, metallic hardcore. On stage, the trio align themselves in a triangle so as guitarist, Dean, and bassist, Nir can both see equal amounts of each other, the crowd and drummer, Ofer. As they aggressively plough through a thunderous set of Nails/Trap Them/Soulground heaviness, Dean and Nir share vocals, with their different styles complimenting one another well. I basically had a grin from ear to ear throughout most of the set; it just hits that spot in my brain that really responds to crushingly angry music. If these guys can stay around longer than Barren Hope, I can easily see them as a welcomed addition to either Prosthetic or Nuclear Blast roster.
4/5
Zaga Zaga
Yes, yes..I'm having to write about Zaga Zaga again! To be honest, I'm writing this review more to give some publicity to the supporting acts. I've written about Zaga Zaga a lot over the passed couple of years. Although my views on them did change after the first couple of times seeing them, they've since just been consistently fun to watch live that there's never really been nothing new to say. With the release of their self titled album (which some are calling their debut, although I personally consider Year One their first proper album), they've now just added more crazily fast, heavy and noisy songs to their set. Joining classic crowd-pleasers such as The Dancer, (I Just Called To Say) I Hate Your Band and Industrial Estate (my personal favourite due to its interesting question-answer guitar breakdown), new tracks such as Black T and Cancer Man are already seeing the crowd get involved. Razorblade Razorblade, although from the new album, has been in the band's repertoire for quite some time. It's jagged, dissonant groove always manages to get my head moving.There is still a part of me that finds some of the faster songs flying right by me like a barrage of shouting and shredding, but there are at least songs which have enough balance of groove and rapid intensity which make them one of the more interesting bands in the scene at the moment. Also, every time I watch them, I'm reminded of a quote that a friend read in a band's biography (I think it was The Sonics). It was something along the lines of "If you haven't sweat enough from a show that you can throw your shirt at a wall and make it stick, then you didn't give a good enough performance." Tonight, I was worried guitarist Ben was going to create a fire hazard with what was pouring out of his face onto his pedals! Even if the music isn't your thing, everyone can admire how Zaga Zaga give 110% on stage.
3.5/5
Photos by David "Doh Doh" Rosen
