Lvmen are not about the light, as one might think. They’re probably rather about the lack thereof. They are not Born Again Christians (thank God) and not to be confused with a Russian rock band with a similar name. Although you’ve probably never heard of them, Lvmen are somewhat of a Czech institution. It wouldn’t be exaggerating to say they have a legendary status in the underground music scene in Eastern Europe. If the world was fair, you too would know about them, because they played post-metal before everybody else did (Neurosis being maybe the only exception), before it became a genre. Their first self-titled EP came out in 1998, containing two tracks, named 1 and 2, both lasting about 14 minutes. The first Isis album, Celestial, in comparison, came out in 2000. Someone over at Sputnikmusic wrote about Lvmen’s Mondo (2006) that it is “the best piece of music no one has ever heard of” and “a hidden gem in the music world”.
I was looking forward to the Lvmen show ever since it was announced. More so, because they would be playing with two similarly excellent bands, Emphasis and Tomáš Palucha, both of which we have covered here. Emphasis are from Čakovec, Croatia, and play blackened post-metal (check out the review for their album Black Mother Earth here). Tomáš Palucha are from Prague, just like Lvmen, and play post-rock with an innovative oriental, African tinge (the review for their last album is here). Three of the four band members of Tomáš Palucha also play in Lvmen.
The show in Zagreb’s prime underground institution Močvara (swamp) was everything I had expected and more. Emphasis opened and had the bad luck of having to start while a lot of people hadn’t arrived yet. Their show was pretty good though, the sound excellent, creating a dark and heavy atmosphere, neutralized a bit, however, by a half empty club.
Tomáš Palucha started their show, after a short intro of spherical sounds, with the killer track Romulus from their last album Čaro. The crowd, who had primarily come out to see Lvmen and had never heard of Tomáš Palucha, was visibly impressed. The band played their new album backwards, inserted an additional track, and finished with the second masterpiece from the new album, Ursiny. The show was accompanied by projections of pictures and short films. I didn’t recognize anything, but it was probably taken from Czech movies (the Czechs have quite a cinematic tradition, you know) from the seventies. The subject was mostly the Occult. The musicians that caught the eye were the drummer Zdenek Jurčik and the guitarist Jan Tomáš.
After a short break, Lvmen were on. The first surprise, when they got on stage, was that three members of Tomáš Palucha also play in the current set-up of Lvmen. The second surprise was that they would play with two drummers, Zdenek Jurčik from Tomáš Palucha, and Lvmen veteran Robert Taschner.
The drumming duo was mind-blowing throughout the whole show. Sometimes they were perfectly synchronized, sometimes they complemented each other. They were absolutely mesmerizing to watch. Each has his own style, and yet they played the same. The music was the bands very own mixture of post-metal and post-hardcore, with disrupted harmonies, mostly instrumental, sometimes sophisticated, sometimes earthy and heavy, but always powerful and executed with precision. They played tracks from their newest album (Mitgefangen Mitgehangen, 2017, Day After Records), but also their very first song, 1. The band doesn’t give their compositions titles, but numbers them and has been doing so since their very first release. Jan Tomáš plays the lead guitar at the moment and does a tremendous job at it.
Lvmen also had projections accompanying their show. They had a somewhat darker nature than the ones Tomáš Palucha had shown. The last one was of vultures picking at what looked like dead babies.
The show was absolutely fantastic.
There are two additional things that I noticed: They don’t talk. There was no “Good evening, Zagreb!”, or “Good night!”, no “Buy some merch at the merch table!”, no nothing. They get on stage, they play their show, they smile and mouth a thank you, and they climb off stage again. Also, they play somewhat for themselves. The bassist, who stands in the middle of the set, played with his back to the audience a lot of the time. They make eye contact amongst themselves and smile at each other. I liked that. It’s like watching friends do their thing.
I liked the show in Zagreb so much, that I decided to go to the next show they were playing the very next day. It took place in a much smaller town, Čakovec, and in a much smaller club. When we (me and two friends) got there, the doors were open at the announced time, but they were just setting up the stage. Bummer. So, we hung around. And got to talk to the people from the bands. See, that’s the thing with smaller venues. Things are a bit more improvised, but the band has nowhere else to go, just like you, and you get to talk. I felt like I was propelled back in time twenty years, going to small hardcore shows in small clubs, in order to connect with other weirdos.
What’s good at a bigger and more professional venue, is bad at a smaller one, and vice versa! Emphasis were better in their hometown an in the more intimate atmosphere of a small club. Lvmen’s two drummers were better to watch in a bigger venue and the sound was better in Zagreb. But the feeling was nicer in Čakovec. You stood on one level with the band and could smile in appreciation. And they smiled back. The drummers were cramped in the small space, but you got to see them knock fists after the show.
The picture I’ve added is from Čakovec and taken by the club’s photographer Ivan Šardi. You can see me standing in the front row, looking like I’ve got a toothache.
Review: Slavica
Photo: With thanks Ivan Šardi
Bands:
https://www.facebook.com/emphasiscro
https://www.facebook.com/Lvmencz
https://www.facebook.com/tomaspalucha
Clubs:
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