THE UNION BLACK (DE/UK) | TVESLA (LUX)

➤ THE UNION BLACK (NAVAJO) | PROGRESSIVE | ALTERNATIVE | HARDCORE | DE/UK

Berlin-based The Union Black (Navajo) are a two-piece band project featuring spoken-word artist The Anté Dote (also of UK band Djevara) on bass and guitar and Cem on drums. The band play a (mostly) instrumental form of progressive/psychedelic alternative hardcore rock, which is nevertheless influenced by a clear Berlin vibe, interlaced with gut-wrenching spoken pieces and off-piste segueways.

After C19 killed off the first attempt at launching the project just after take-off, now The Union Black are bouncing backing for Round Two, bloodied and incensed, ready to kick ass with an even punchier bag of hard riffs...

The duo create a huge wall of sound thanks to the combination of Anté's three-amp set-up, controlled (just about) by a garrison of carefully curated pedals, and Cem's powerful, eclectic drumming - groovy, driving, powerful and creative. Together they produce a heavy sonic landscape that combines many elements of hardcore punk, progressive metal, 90's alternative and Hendrix-era rock, although more astute listeners may also discern slight influences from genres as apparently distant as jazz, house, "world" (!) and classical. 

Interweaved with Anté's terse and often enigmatic spoken diatribes and quirky electronica experiments, the result is a thrilling live show of raw energy, at once deliriously trippy and challenging, inviting head-banging madness interspersed with dreamy melancholy and pure rock fury, a tour-de-force crafted somewhere between the need to produce valid expressive art and the urge to just let go to experience a dark hedonistic catharsis...

[What is the relationship between “THE UNION BLACK” & “NAVAJO”?

Short answer: it's the same band.

Long answer: In 2019, Anté finally went about bringing into reality an idea he'd conceived of years before for a new band called "The Navajo Project", in tribute to a fascinating indigenous tribe that he has been intrigued by (obsessed with?) since early childhood. However, exhausted from years of touring and screaming every night as frontman of Djevara, and realising most people didn't get 95% of the lyrics anyway, he became attracted to the idea of implementing it (at least initially) as a mostly instrumental band and spending more time focusing on the non-vocal elements of the music.

Initially this was a source of internal conflict, as many of the ideas were also originally envisioned to have lead vocals. It was then that Anté realised there was no contradiction - consistent with the band's themes of dualism and opposites, he could just create two versions of the band at the same time, using the same material! Thus, out of “The Navajo Project”, both "The Union Black" and "Navajo" were born, representing the mostly instrumental and vocal-led versions respectively in this initial phase. The idea has since developed, with the The Union Black occasionally featuring pieces from Anté's solo spoken-word material and developing more of its own character. 

Initially the focus is on the The Union Black, which makes up the vast majority of the band's output to date and all the live performances, although one demo release has already given an advance taste of what was originally imagined for the vocal-led interpretation of Navajo.]

unionblack.band

 

➤ TVESLA | NOISY INSTRUMENTAL | LUX

Tvesla is like a submarine: most of the time they are navigating under the surface, hidden from the mainstream, occasionally emerging from the depths.
They have been hanging around the local DIY/Underground scene for more than 20 years now, sporadically venturing outside their home country of Luxembourg.
Operating mostly outside the social media world, they are considered by many as some kind of cult band.
Their music can be described as instrumental, sometimes melodic, sometimes noisy alternative post-punk.

Tvesla is back in 2024 with a new LP, so grab the chance to experience the band at one of their few and rare live performances.

https://tvesla.bandcamp.com