Inside Amplifest: Black Shape of Nexus

The punishing mix of drone, sludge and doom conjured up by Black Shape of Nexus is something worth of being scared of. Each riff is soaked in agony, each word is painfully spat in despair, each drum hit feels like a rusty nail driving through your soul, and everything is drenched in a suffocating haze of feedback and nihilism. The German six-piece has been building their flawless discography and live reputation since 2005, but this year Black Shape of Nexus will finally premier their nightmarish live show in Portugal – and what better place to do it than Amplifest? Before October 5th comes, they shared a few words with us.

What do you expect of the Amplifest audience?
Stef: I expect people with a wide-ranging taste in music, people enjoying bands which are not suitable for the standard mainstream audiences.
Gebbo: I expect nothing! Maybe the whole range from dedicated music lovers to pretentious, longbearded roadburn dandys. Either they like it or they leave the hall. I don’t care!
Jan: Diverse people looking out for having a good time!
Malte: I have no expectations for the audience. I only have expectations for myself and my bandmates.

We like surprises, but what can we expect from your show?
Stef: Low frequency assaults, Noise and Boogie-Doom.
Gebbo: Noise, feedback and maybe doom.
Jan: Sweat, emotions and versions of our songs, that slightly differ from the ones on our releases.
Malte: I am not a friend of big mouthed announcements like “We’ll crush the hall” and such. All i can say is, that i’ll give all i have.

What band do you really want to see at Amplifest?
Stef: I’m a real big fan of the SWANS since I was a teenager. I saw them some years ago, and they were truly amazing.
Gebbo: I’m looking forward to have an ear or two on WovenHand, Swans, Mr Brötzmann and Yob.
Jan: Swans, Brötzmann and Pallbearer!
Malte: Marissa Nadler, Pallbearer, Brötzmann & Noble, Swans, ? (haha), Wovenhand

If you had to pick a band or a musician of this Amplifest edition to play with who would it be?
Gebbo: Maybe I’d like to jam with Eugene Edwards and Mike Scheidt or create a lowfreq-orchestra with the Conan dudes. Hahaha!
Stef: Yeah, jamming w/ CONAN would be great i guess!
Jan: Brötzmann would be my favourite pick!
Malte: There will be a group indeed i will perform with. Won’t tell yet. Besides that something with Marissa could be very interesting.

What records have you been listening to lately?
Stef: Lots of stuff…. DEATHROW – riders of doom – LP is the first that comes to my mind.
Gebbo: Right now I’m listening to some UNRUH 7“. And the BEASTMILK LP was on heavy rotation the last few days.
Marco: VENOM!
Jan: A lot of good stuff around at the moment, but I mostly listened to GAG, Sacrificio, RVIVR, Athanatos, Reverorum ib Malacht, Demon Head and the latest Botanist album. In addition I´m already very excited to listen to the upcoming Zola Jesus LP!
Malte: Lots of Scott Walker, The Walker Brothers and The Body again and again and again.

Enough about music, Amplifest is also about other arts. What books have you been reading and what movies have you been watching lately that you want to recommend?
Stef: I don’t watch that much movies, mostly documentations. But i just read the book from BOFF WHALLEY about his old band CHUMBAWAMBA. This book is insane. I had to laugh so hard when i read it. What a wonderful story.
Gebbo: The most impressive movie I’ve seen in recent times was A FIELD IN ENGLAND. The last book I “read” was a photobook from the COC, EHG, HIGH ON FIRE show in Baltimore this year THE RIFF COMPELS THEM. Worth a look.
Jan: As concerning to books, I lately enjoyed “Blut muss fließen” (undercover report about the German white power/ nazirock scene), “The birth of graffiti” (some great pics of really early graff stuff from NYC) and “14 Tagebücher des Ersten Weltkriegs” (14 diaries of WWI). I don´t watch that much movies, but “7 Days” impressed me quite a lot recently!
Malte: A lot of cook books and old Titanic Magazines.