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Issue n. X Summer 05
ii
[ ^{issue: n. X summer 05 - web-only extras:}^{Pro-Jekt
on tour}]

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ii

The Unholy Trinity UK Tour (2005)

After several rumors of dissolution, the Finnish gothic-rock band TO DIE FOR are back and with their last album IV they rock more than ever! Their European tour brought them to 'Bilborock', a small venue in the north of Spain, on the 12th of June, where I had the chance to talk to Jape, the singular vocalist and Josey, their new bass player...

The Unholy Trinity UK Tour is an unholy alliance of three of the darkest bands clawing their way from the UK underground, joining forces to tour the UK, each band bringing their individual brand of Dark Heavy music to this groundbreaking tour.

Whether it is the brooding industrial gothic groove of PRO-JEKT, the menacing industrial metal of AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT or the pure evil vampire gothic metal of MORIARTI AND THE SITH. This tour provides the soundtrack to a way of life for anyone who is looking for a darker alternative, possibly the darkest tour ever.

That was the press bumf, but what was the tour about and why?

This tour was an alliance of the bands working together with a true underground work ethic. It is a case of the old 'co-operation rather than competition', to get something done, rather than sit around complaining that nothing ever happens, to get off our arse's and just get out there and do it..! There's a mutual respect for each others bands as we know how much work goes into being in a band of this style. We all had equal billing and swapped around the headline spot so that each band headlined in their own area. Each band got equal set times, etc, and all the usual stuff that gets thrown out of the window when bands get a support such as sound checks, the visuals such as smoke machines and lighting. Every one got the use of the whole thing, so it's a whole package, and it worked very well, for the bands and for the fans too! I am sure people saw that, once the bands got on stage... Make no mistake the bands took no prisoners, it was war! But this in turn pushed the performances up a gear, which was good for everyone.

What did each band offer and how do they differ? The bands each have their own sick twisted but individual sound and style that encompass much of the UK underground.

PRO-JEKT. The band have been described as being brooding and powerful, a dark emotive force for the new millennium, electronics and big guitars, the Nu Gothic Metal Groovers. Live… lots of sweat hair and an intense performance.

AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT. Alternative industrial metal that sounds like Marilyn Manson eating Static X. Live drums with digital programming. The band is based around front man 'D-void' with great vocals, with a back bone of crunching guitars and heavy rhythms.

MORIARTI AND THE SITH. Vampire/Gothic Black Metal with a stage show including tombstones and severed heads. The band is best described as "what would happen if Danzig and Jim Morrison shared a coffin with Cradle of Filth and The Cult." They are the latest signings to Nightbreed recordings, a very unusual band to sign to that label, they must be broadening their horizons as they are quite a distance from the usual darkwave offerings. But a great fun live experience very 'bloody'!

How has this been received in the UK underground? Well the gigs we promoted where mostly by arrangement with the goth / industrial promoters we have worked with before, we tried to use the regular gothic nights and co-ordinate the shows this way. However, as some of them couldn't get their club nights to fit in, but they handed out flyers for us instead. It seems that there was a feeling of goodwill and everyone helped out to make this a success Also this in turn may give back some much needed publicity to these clubs and promoters.

The UK Goth scene has been really good to PRO-JEKT in the past and long may it continue to! Some may come and go but we get the feeling that these are just people doing something that they can put their heart into, not always for financial gain, they may ask themselves why? Promoting gigs, doing a fanzine, DJ's etc… Maybe it is to be part of something that's real and not the mainstream soul destroying trash that's churned out by the media. Even the latest fad of bands crossing over into the Goth thing like Evanescence or Rasmus, great bands and great musicians they may be, but its 'Gothic lite', packaged and formulated, unlike the bands on this tour... although we hope that those bands do encourage the Nu goth kids to look a little deeper and check out some of the new bands out there... Like ourselves! We think the tour was very well received, we had some good shows and some great and some not so great, as with any tour. But on the whole 'the unholy trinity tour' was really good for all the bands! We all made a lot of new friends across the UK! So this made it worth all the hard work.

What has been happening in the world of PRO-JEKT since the last Darklife interview? Well quite a lot since then... As always, PRO-JEKT have had some ups and downs... We parted company with our first singer Shaun Travis and now have on board Mick Witham taking on the vocal duties, it had taken us quite a while to get someone that we felt fitted the sound and style, we had lots of great vocalists audition but as soon as Mick arrived then we knew we had the right person we just clicked straight away. It was however, a baptism of fire for Mick, as within weeks of him joining the ranks we landed the full UK support tour with Mortiis, so it was a real test of his abilities and in a way, his character, as he was thrown in the deep end, so to speak, but it turned out to be the best and biggest tour we had done. This Unholy Trinity Tour we have just completed has also been a blast! we hope to do something like this again next year. The week After the Unholy Trinity Tour finished, we flew out to perform at the 'Lumous' gothic Festival in Finland. It was our first time in Finland, also first time overseas for the new line up with Mick, this was a sold out festival too, so we where quite nervous! ...but thankfully The response to PRO-JEKT was fantastic, we where blown away ! We are sure this will remain a highlight of our career! On the Recording front, as you read this we should hopefully be in the finishing stages our new album 'Defiance'. It's great to get the new tunes recorded, Because of previous problems, we never got into the recording studio for the second album when we feel we should have done, so for us its been a really long time coming, but we are really enjoying the studio process. We feel the new songs are quite a big step in the right direction and with Mick's new vocals and ideas, it's added a whole new dimension to PRO-JEKT, if you liked our debut album 'Encryption'… You will love 'Defiance'.

Kev Pro-jekt

www.pro-jekt.org

(Photos © www.disturbing.org.uk)

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Issue n. X Summer 05	ii	[ *^{issue: n. X summer 05 - web-only extras:}*^{Pro-Jekt on tour}]
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	ii	The Unholy Trinity UK Tour (2005) After several rumors of dissolution, the Finnish gothic-rock band TO DIE FOR are back and with their last album IV they rock more than ever! Their European tour brought them to 'Bilborock', a small venue in the north of Spain, on the 12th of June, where I had the chance to talk to Jape, the singular vocalist and Josey, their new bass player... The Unholy Trinity UK Tour is an unholy alliance of three of the darkest bands clawing their way from the UK underground, joining forces to tour the UK, each band bringing their individual brand of Dark Heavy music to this groundbreaking tour. Whether it is the brooding industrial gothic groove of PRO-JEKT, the menacing industrial metal of AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT or the pure evil vampire gothic metal of MORIARTI AND THE SITH. This tour provides the soundtrack to a way of life for anyone who is looking for a darker alternative, possibly the darkest tour ever. That was the press bumf, but what was the tour about and why? This tour was an alliance of the bands working together with a true underground work ethic. It is a case of the old 'co-operation rather than competition', to get something done, rather than sit around complaining that nothing ever happens, to get off our arse's and just get out there and do it..! There's a mutual respect for each others bands as we know how much work goes into being in a band of this style. We all had equal billing and swapped around the headline spot so that each band headlined in their own area. Each band got equal set times, etc, and all the usual stuff that gets thrown out of the window when bands get a support such as sound checks, the visuals such as smoke machines and lighting. Every one got the use of the whole thing, so it's a whole package, and it worked very well, for the bands and for the fans too! I am sure people saw that, once the bands got on stage... Make no mistake the bands took no prisoners, it was war! But this in turn pushed the performances up a gear, which was good for everyone. What did each band offer and how do they differ? The bands each have their own sick twisted but individual sound and style that encompass much of the UK underground. PRO-JEKT. The band have been described as being brooding and powerful, a dark emotive force for the new millennium, electronics and big guitars, the Nu Gothic Metal Groovers. Live… lots of sweat hair and an intense performance. AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT. Alternative industrial metal that sounds like Marilyn Manson eating Static X. Live drums with digital programming. The band is based around front man 'D-void' with great vocals, with a back bone of crunching guitars and heavy rhythms. MORIARTI AND THE SITH. Vampire/Gothic Black Metal with a stage show including tombstones and severed heads. The band is best described as "what would happen if Danzig and Jim Morrison shared a coffin with Cradle of Filth and The Cult." They are the latest signings to Nightbreed recordings, a very unusual band to sign to that label, they must be broadening their horizons as they are quite a distance from the usual darkwave offerings. But a great fun live experience very 'bloody'! How has this been received in the UK underground? Well the gigs we promoted where mostly by arrangement with the goth / industrial promoters we have worked with before, we tried to use the regular gothic nights and co-ordinate the shows this way. However, as some of them couldn't get their club nights to fit in, but they handed out flyers for us instead. It seems that there was a feeling of goodwill and everyone helped out to make this a success Also this in turn may give back some much needed publicity to these clubs and promoters. The UK Goth scene has been really good to PRO-JEKT in the past and long may it continue to! Some may come and go but we get the feeling that these are just people doing something that they can put their heart into, not always for financial gain, they may ask themselves why? Promoting gigs, doing a fanzine, DJ's etc… Maybe it is to be part of something that's real and not the mainstream soul destroying trash that's churned out by the media. Even the latest fad of bands crossing over into the Goth thing like Evanescence or Rasmus, great bands and great musicians they may be, but its 'Gothic lite', packaged and formulated, unlike the bands on this tour... although we hope that those bands do encourage the Nu goth kids to look a little deeper and check out some of the new bands out there... Like ourselves! We think the tour was very well received, we had some good shows and some great and some not so great, as with any tour. But on the whole 'the unholy trinity tour' was really good for all the bands! We all made a lot of new friends across the UK! So this made it worth all the hard work. What has been happening in the world of PRO-JEKT since the last Darklife interview? Well quite a lot since then... As always, PRO-JEKT have had some ups and downs... We parted company with our first singer Shaun Travis and now have on board Mick Witham taking on the vocal duties, it had taken us quite a while to get someone that we felt fitted the sound and style, we had lots of great vocalists audition but as soon as Mick arrived then we knew we had the right person we just clicked straight away. It was however, a baptism of fire for Mick, as within weeks of him joining the ranks we landed the full UK support tour with Mortiis, so it was a real test of his abilities and in a way, his character, as he was thrown in the deep end, so to speak, but it turned out to be the best and biggest tour we had done. This Unholy Trinity Tour we have just completed has also been a blast! we hope to do something like this again next year. The week After the Unholy Trinity Tour finished, we flew out to perform at the 'Lumous' gothic Festival in Finland. It was our first time in Finland, also first time overseas for the new line up with Mick, this was a sold out festival too, so we where quite nervous! ...but thankfully The response to PRO-JEKT was fantastic, we where blown away ! We are sure this will remain a highlight of our career! On the Recording front, as you read this we should hopefully be in the finishing stages our new album 'Defiance'. It's great to get the new tunes recorded, Because of previous problems, we never got into the recording studio for the second album when we feel we should have done, so for us its been a really long time coming, but we are really enjoying the studio process. We feel the new songs are quite a big step in the right direction and with Mick's new vocals and ideas, it's added a whole new dimension to PRO-JEKT, if you liked our debut album 'Encryption'… You will love 'Defiance'. Kev Pro-jekt *www.pro-jekt.org* (Photos © www.disturbing.org.uk)
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