Ha'fest: Paolo Angeli / Amenra: 'Acoustic Afterlife Show'

ACOUSTIC SLUDGE AT ST JAMES’ CHURCH

Acoustic sludge inside a church, why not? On the third day of Ha'fest festival, concerts will take place at St James' Church instead, for added power and intensity. First, solo artist Paolo Angeli will perform a range of eclectic sounds, from noise to drum & bass using his highly-rebuilt guitar. Then, Belgium’s best metal band Amenra will turn things upside down: more sensitive sounds, less volume. An exclusive format at an exclusive location for what is to become an exclusive night!

PAOLO ANGELI

Eightteen strings, a set of tiny hammers, screws and springs, and a separate output for each string. Sardinian Paolo Angeli completely transformed his guitar into a mini orchestra. His improvised music is a blend of contemporary and traditional sounds, with remnants of Sardinian ‘canto a chitarra’, Tasgia choirs, free jazz, punk noise, drum & bass and avant pop.

As a child, Paolo Angeli learned about the traditional Sardinian music from his native region from retired guitarist Giovanni Scanu. Paolo Angeli mixes these traditional sounds with other musical influences. A copy of his 'prepared guitar' was ordered by famous guitarist Pat Metheny.

"His solo concert was impressive not only for the unique sounds that he was manifesting, but also for the raw creative energy that it invoked." (Pat Metheny)

AMENRA

Amenra produces capturing, crushing, conjuring and salving sounds. Pure emotion translated into beautiful but devastating sludge metal. In 2009, they released an acoustic album titled Afterlife, in which they started exploring a different emotional spectrum. Now, they are bringing an almost ‘spiritual’ live experience, inside a church of all places!

Over the last 15 years, Amenra has acquired an almost legendary status for their live performances. Together with bands such as Hessian, Syndrome, The Black Heart Rebellion, Treha Sektori and Oathbreaker, Amenra are part of a collective known as Church of Ra. Their music focuses on spirituality and religion, with recurring themes such as 'light and darkness', 'birth and death' and 'pain and sacrifice'. For this concert, they will be removing their heavy black capes and reverting to heavenly soundscapes.

" If the sludge produced by Amenra is a search for salvation, then its acoustic counterpart is salvation itself." (***1/2 De Morgen)