Next month, phantasmal purveyors of musical mystery, Vegas, will carry out a one-off live performance in Helsinki, Finland alongside locals Long Gone and Dredged. Aversionline regulars should be no strangers to the group—who's been covered several times herein so far this year—nor the wickedly abrasive and obscure series of releases they've been issuing as of late:
The two Finnish acts, however, may be new names to some...
Coincidentally, my man Markus from Killing the Legacy had tipped me off to Long Gone about a month before I was notified of this event; and their rugged, Rot in Hell-ish type of take on the earlier, more hardcore-oriented aspects of the Clevo sound:
They've got two EPs up on Bandcamp now, and more soon to come.
Dredged treads a similar path, but leans towards a darker, heavier, and more atmospheric approach—one that adds in a tonal dash of classic Swedish death metal for good measure:
Though not yet fully on Bandcamp, their latest EP, Life Desolates Me, includes a cover of Ironside's "Fever Pitch," which I'll eagerly await hearing!
Asked how this whole opportunity came to pass, Vegas mastermind T has stated the following (excerpted from a larger interview that will be part of a special, limited edition release in honor of the show):
Finland has a diverse and extensive range of fauna. There are more than 3,000 species of cuckoo wasps in the world, of which about 50 have been found in Finland. Despite their attractive appearance, cuckoo wasps are still rather poorly known, and there is much ambiguity considering their taxonomy, distribution, and biology. Needless to say that I was delighted when the gentlemen from the Finnish Judas Chair Collective informed me that about 120 new hymenoptera species were found in Finland in 2015. As we share a passion for biodiversity, we made arrangements for a research excursion, and during a discussion of the basics of phytodiversity and the identification of different plant species on the basis of taxonomical characteristics and morphology, I learned about the local researchers' musical bands: Long Gone and Dredged. Once we discovered a shared fondness for chamber music, it was fairly straightforward to organize an oratorium as an extracurricular activity of sorts.
I spoke with Riku (Long Gone) and Nakki (Dredged) for some additional insight...
Talk about how you became familiar with Vegas' work, and how this special one-off show came together.
Nakki: If my memory serves me right, I was introduced to Vegas via MySpace sometime around the mid- to late-'00s. Been a fan ever since. So, when Riku gave me a call one Monday morning about the possibility of booking a Vegas show in Finland, I didn't have to think twice about it.
Riku: I have been an admirer of T's musical work since I heard the Wake album. The universe works in mysterious ways. We all share a fondness for nature's diversity and, for example, emerald wasps; so it was natural for us to form a gathering. We all thought that it was time for Vegas to play in the Old World, so we organized a show, too.
Tell me about the Judas Chair Collective.
Riku: The Judas Chair Collective was formed because Long Gone and Dredged share similar interests in the musical field, too. We will be organizing shows and releasing music—focusing mostly on the dark and sinister sides of underground music. A new Dredged tape has just come out, and we are in the process of making a few limited Vegas releases for the show. Later this year, the Judas Chair Collective will publish a few more releases—including a compilation tape that comes with a zine. We also have interesting plans for the next release that Long Gone will take part in.
I was a huge fan of the Finnish scene in the early-2000s with bands like Down My Throat, Bolt, Cutdown, Security Threat, and so many more. It's clear that the scene is still going strong today, though I must admit I've lost touch. Who are some of the current bands that should be on everyone's radar?
Riku: There is a wide range of good Finnish hardcore, so I can just name a small part of the great bands that we have in this quite small country. Here is a list of some bands worthy of attention: Cold Inside, Upright, Foreseen, Kohti Tuhoa, Remissions, Face Stomp, Ydintuho, and Slave Hands.
Nakki: The Finnish scene seems to be at its peak at the moment. Even though I'm an older guy, I have no need of talking about the "good old days" and how things used to be better "back in the day." It seems that those "good old days" are now. Riku already made a decent list of bands, but I would like to add The Reality Show, Perikato, and Usko to the list.
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More information about the show is available on its Facebook event page.
