Gilead Media Music Festival

— GILEAD MEDIA MUSIC FESTIVAL —

ANOTHER HALF-ASSED FESTIVAL REVIEW

The Gilead Media Music Festival.... where to start? What an incredible weekend. Even six days later I'm at a loss for words in terms of what I experienced. It took me a little while to write this and even then I don't think I could ever do it justice. Be prepared for a disappointing account of a wonderful weekend. You had to be there.

Before getting into the bands and their performances I want to sincerely thank Adam Bartlett, founder of Gilead Media and generally humble and awesome dude, for putting this shit together. The fest went off without a hitch — it was very well organized. Much praise to him, his crew and all the people who came together to make the fest an unforgettable experience.

After the break I'll get into the sets and all that great shit. I took some photos and video but the large amount of pro photographers and press allowed me to take it easy on that end of things; I only got shots of those bands that interested me the most but even then the cramped conditions and thrashing going on made it difficult for someone as unprofessional as me to get much — which again relieved me and allowed me to sit back and just enjoy the fest.

Anyway on with the review.

A Scanner Darkly - A Scanner Darkly (2006)

EP, Gilead Media
January 1st, 2006

Genre: Grindcore/Sludge/Noise
Region: USA

A killer release from a band that is dead. Gilead Media again have housed another winner. Themed around the excellent novel by Philip K. Dick (as well as several of his other works), A Scanner Darkly have molded a fierce sound from grindcore and sludge with some noise influence sprinkled throughout. This shit is a face shredder and has a pretty unique sound for such a grindy band, very spacy atmosphere in between the blasts, feedback and huge powerchords.

I'm pretty sure this is their only release. There are six tracks that alternate between quick 1:30 technical blasts and 4 minute sludgey batterings (often with great use of the wah), some of which start with ominous statements in a Hawking-esque speak-and-spell voice. Vocals range from standard powerful grind vocals, deep raspy roars to distorted and effect-drenched yells. The final track is a haunting 9 minute drone with a minimal acoustic backing, filled with feedback, warped electronic pulses and samples which come together to evoke images of a sci-fi totalitarian landscape; much like the cover. It's all catchy as hell, polished and sure to please any fan of grind.

This is truly a forgotten gem. I think there are still some hard copies left at Gilead Media, or if not you can pay what you want (no base price) at Gilead's bandcamp page as well. Definitely recommended for fans of Gadget, Dephosphorus, and Black Arrows of Filth and Impurity.

Get a taste here.

DOWNLOAD (Bandcamp)
DOWNLOAD (Mediafire)
DOWNLOAD (Megaupload)