Pitchfork Music Festival 2018Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris, 1-3.11.2018 Photos by Robin Ono

I entered London’s Scala with pricked up ears and senses tuned to pick up on any Sugoi activity going on, whether good or bad. If one expects to be spooked when entering a spooky castle, it sounds only fair to expect enjoyable “Sugoi” music to come out of this second day of Enjoy Sugoi Festival.

Self-evident though it may sound, Pitchfork Music Festival felt fantastically festive, as though our smug cynicism had been lifted from all of our minds for the duration of our stay at hip-young-music-snob-heaven, a time during which many Parisians briefly reunite with long-lost acquaintances such as the concept of bright, flashy colours and non-ironic optimism.

Pitchfork Music Festival has expanded to take over the Bastille area for two evenings chock full of performances by promising new acts from the indie music scene. Here I stood, sole person in line at the Badaboum at 7:30 pm sharp, with excitement tingling in my brain and French opinionatedness running through my veins. I was ready.

As both the vocalist of one of East-Asias’ most successful metal bands and a central figure in Taiwan’s political arena, Chthonic vocalist Freddy Lim has recently found himself leading a double life unlike any other after founding his own political party and being elected into Parliament. However, Freddy’s devotion to political affairs as a congressman has done little to undermine the man’s musical passion. Robin Ono finds out more.

Set every year around the end of October and start of November, Pitchfork Music Festival has quickly earned its place as a staple event in the Parisian music scene through its yearly display of cutting-edge artists and rare live performances. Here are ten artists Echoes and Dust are looking forward to seeing at the festival.

A sonically dense, crushing record set to further establish Un as one of doom metal’s most relevant bands today. Escaping common tropes, the band has delivered a deeply introspective and emotionally poignant follow up to a stellar debut release.

The music of Oiseaux-Tempête is filled with the spontaneity and vivacity of the live performance, bustling with life that cannot be replicated. As the band’s latest release, TARAB sees the expansion of the bands’ repertoire, reinvigorated and rearranged to create an entirely new musical experience, with the addition of entirely new tour-borne compositions.

There’s nothing worse than a band describing their work before hearing them talk about how they go back to their normal lives at the end of the day.

Deep in the heart of Camden Town’s infamous walks, devout masses gathered to witness and worship the sweet, ecstatic rage of amplified mayhem. . .

With every song placed in context, Ingrina’s ‘Etter Lys’ record is a sturdily built debut and a thoroughly engaging listen. Etter Lys is not to be picked apart, specifically because its main strength resides specifically in the summation of its parts, or rather in the way the parts are put together.

They Promised Us A Bright Future is a participatory experience between an artist and its listener. What you get out of They Promised Us A Bright Future will depend on how much you’re willing to actively engage with it.

Grandbrother’s set made for a perfect demonstration of live performance used to transcend music into a full-on experience.

Grandbrothers, KelpeThe Village Underground, London, 10.04.2018 Photos by Robin Ono Please do not use the photos without the photographer’s permission.

As eccentric as their work may read on paper, Yamantaka // Sonic Titan measure up to their claims and have proven themselves once more with another splendid piece of work that transcends genres.

Numan knows how to put on a good spectacle and has made sure even the modest likes of Luxemburg’s Kulturfabrik was ready to accommodate a show worthy of his stature.

Autrenoir doesn’t draw its heaviness from loudness or abrasive crashes; rather, the atmosphere on each track settles in and grows at a steady pace, like a novel that unveils it gripping narrative, page by page, word by word.

Sometimes I forget that I like death metal, but it’s nights like this one – the night you’re currently reading about – that remind me why I love death metal.

We caught up with the young artist and decided to inquire about the projects’ current direction and its possible link with the “synthwave-frenzy” he has, in spite of himself, been caught up in.

The Black Dahlia Murder, Suffocation, Decrepit Birth, Necrot, WormwitchThe Opera House, Toronto, 18.10.2017 Photos by Robin Ono Please do not use the photos without the photographer’s permission.

“Mankind is a rope tied between beast and superman – a rope over an abyss” – a thin, razor-sharp rope upon which Laibach proudly waltzes.