Deafkids & Test

The start of the concert got a delayed by around half an hour as only few people showed up on time – but by the time the first band started to play, there was a decent crowd in the venue considering the Sunday evening show. Test opened the concert with a 40-minute assault on our senses. Despite the band playing as a guitarist-drummer duo, and with the guitar’s string count reduced to just four, they managed to fill (nearly) every second of their set with their unique avantgarde take on grindcore. Towards the end of the set, the two members of Deafkids also joined them on stage to add the sound of conga and djembe drums to the percussion. This was followed by a moment of silence – maybe a rendition of Cage’s 4:33, or a short breather to prepare audience and band alike for the last few minutes of noise.

After a short twelve-minute break and another reminder by the venue that it will be extremely loud and that there are earplugs available at the bar, it is Deafkids’ time to shine. It’s difficult to categorize Deafkids’ music – the next 45 minutes were filled with veracious drumming – at some point drummer Mariano de Melo broke his drum stick – distorted guitars, a flute interlude and heavily used synths.

Both Test and Deafkids delivered a hypnotic show that is better to be experienced than to just be read about, and the still image cannot do it much justice either.