ZATOKREV:
Intent on exploring every crag and fissure of the human experience, ZATOKREV have been ever firm in their resolve to dive headlong into the murky waters of consciousness and the subsequent experiences gained in those explorations. Ambitious and impulsive, but never careless. A primordial force has beckoned the sounds created by this Basel based group, emerging from the fecund Earth like water from a spring eternal. Vitriol carved its signature far into the valleys to reveal unmeasured depths of melody. Punishing and delicate. Relentless and patient. Otherworldly yet familiar. A medium to impart the wisdom gained from weathering the storm. Ancestral reverberations echo like thunder upon the stones. Audial voracity allows for the fade and calm. Within the labyrinthine tendrils of cognition, the candle to light the way has been given to the listener who dares. ZATOKREV have manifested these life sustaining torches. Musical sunlight melted into gold. Desperate hope sprouted from fallow soil. Pure glacial waters feeding the raging torrent. Brought into being in 2002 on the shores of the Rhine and in the shadow of the Alps, Swiss quartet have forged their distinctive musical pathways into an unmistakable vigor all their own. Allowing for inspiration from every imaginable summit and chasm of extreme music as well as the most esoteric of folk and true global soul, ZATOKREV have crafted an amalgamation of forever evolving vibrational energy. The band emerged in 2004 with their eponymous debut, released on the legendary Nottingham based metal abel Earache Records. “Bury The Ashes” was released in 2006 by the band’s own Czar Of Crickets Records, before a move to Candlelight Records would provide a well-earned platform to reach more ears on a global scale. 2012 brought the world “The Bat, The Wheel, and a Long Road to Nowhere”, released by Pelagic on vinyl and long sold out, before the monumental “Silk Spiders Underwater”was released again via Candlelight in 2015. The builders of the architectural marvel known as ZATOKREV had found a way to construct their new temple. A mind-expanding sense of refinement had emerged with this new offering. A split LP with Minsk emerged in 2018. A collaborative release with both bands sharing a kindred vision and history, it took their familial bonds further with both bands featuring on one another’s songs. After all the detritus of pain, time, and letting go has been slogged through, 2025 sees ZATOKREV return with an immense and immersive new (double LP) album: “Bring Mirrors To The Surface” obliterates the past and conjures a future previously unimagined, pleading with humanity to remember the power of the Will and the Imagination.
GEMINI ONE:
GEMINI ONE - originally founded in 2009 and reformed in 2023 to pave their way back into the scene. Driven by vast space and its uncertainty GEMINI ONE’s sound is packed with heavy riffs carefully transitioned into immersive drones and soundscapes to create a unique listening experience. After supporting This Will Destroy You, Omega Massif, Toner Low, Khuda, Union Of Sleep and Planks as well as some headlining shows the band disbanded. In 2018, Rudolph and Schmitt got together again and recorded new songs as a duo. These recordings became the EP „Per Aspera“, which displays their musical roots as well as postrock influences. „The EP is dedicated to all the people, who made sacrifices on scientific, progressive and human grounds – no matter if voluntary or non-voluntary. They are proof that something big can emerge from pain and that setbacks keep us moving. We bow to all of them, because they are the ones paving our way to the stars“, explains Schmitt. Covid hit, resulting in several years of silence. Then, in late 2023, a decision was made: Reform the band as a three-piece, get back on stage and write and record new songs. In this process, belarusian drummer Leonid Basharkevich (Marie Chante) was recruited, resulting in the band's current line-up.
