The annual cycle 2024 in the Tarbathian extreme scenes

The year 2024 is getting further and further behind us every day, and with it, human memory is gradually fading. In order not to completely forget everything that happened, we take it as our sacred goal to remember the significant things that happened in the metal circles of Tarbatu (sometimes also known as Tartu, Estonia) last year. In accordance with the taste of the Pergerus grouping, the main focus of the retrospect is directed at the more sinister and underground part of heavy music, but in addition, the adventures of representatives of other similar stylistic trends are also briefly explored.

Spring Harvest

The year started quietly on the surface, but in fact, intense studio work was taking place here and there under the surface of the winter snow. The first fruits began to ripen in early spring. The punky black metal project Howl paid homage to the old-school attitude to art and life with their debut album “Drought”. Howl’s main ideologist and composer Fen alias Tiit Pähnapuu probably needs no introduction to dedicated underground geographers. “Drought” was released on April 4 and can be purchased from the publisher of the album Warhorn Records.

Speed Metal collective Käptör, who performed in quite a few places throughout the 2024, released the cassette “Thräshättäkk” in April with the help of Gatekeeper Records. The aforementioned Tarbathian label also released the demo “The Call of Grief” by the black metallers from the north coast Lein in spring. On May 11 all devotees could purchase records, shirts, and other merch from their favorite bands at the band shirt fair Must Turg organized by Eesti Raskemuusikaliit (Heavy Music Estonia) at the club Genialistide Klubi. The flagship of aggressive punk Kuritarvitaja performed at Paavli Kultuurivabrik in Tallinn on 17th of May with the grandmasters Eyehategod from the US.

Signs of Life in the Heat of the Summer

Death/black metal trio Ziegenhorn cracked open the door for Pergerus in Finland by performing at the first edition of the indoor festival Bloodfest in Helsinki on May 31. Just a weekend later, the next foreign performance was given by the philosophical/pagan black metal duo Hasswald, who visited the famous Zobens un Lemess festival in the Latvian town of Bauska on 8th of June. At the most honoured festival in the homeland, Hard Rock Laager (28–29th of June), Pagansarv and Tankist held high the flag of the southern regions. On 13th of July, the doom/death quartet Woundgiver played at the Latvian festival Zombïfests and on 19–20th of July, at the Punk & Rock festival in their hometown of Tarbatu.

The end of summer revived the signs of life for the experimentalists from Form, who took stage at the cult club Black Magic Estonia in Tallinn on 31st of August. Although no one could probably know it then, the concert turned out to be the last time any Pergerus band played there…

Blossoming in Autumn

Autumn soon arrived, and with it came several remarkable events. At the beginning of October, the Pergerus UG ’zine Taud was published as a result of several months of work. The third issue got out after a four-year break and contains interviews with southerners Hasswald, Vare, and Pagansarv, Rävala’s pride and glory Pime, Finnish extreme metallers Vuohi and Scottish lunatics Nyctopia. The magazine is still available – if you simply want to read it, you can find it on our website, but physical copies are also still available – let us know about your desire to purchase it! (Yes, it’s in Estonian, because we are such elitists. It is also possible that the next issue will be published in a language with an even smaller number of speakers…)

The evenings of October 11 and 12 were undoubtedly the highlights of the dark music scene of Tarbatu – that’s when the long-planned Tarbariitus indoor festival took place at the clubs Rock & Roll and Hell, led by Krux and his team. The 13 bands that gathered mainly represented black metal, some death metal, and a couple of sonic experiences that deviated boldly from the rigid genre boundaries. As for the countries, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Scotland were presented (the picture was even more diverse in terms of the audience). The role of the headliners were carried out by two groups – Loits and Swarn. Estonian metal legend Loits, who focus on the aching moments of history, released specially for this occasion the EP “Furor Aesticus: Prelude to the Vere Kutse Kohustab” (Gatekeeper Records) on cassette and remixes “Tõelised kuningad (kutse sügavikust) // Kiri kaevikust (kauge laane versioon)” on a seven-inch vinyl disc, the creators of which were Kaido Kirikmäe and Faam respectively. Swarn, who has rarely preached their message of cosmic horror live until now, showed the crowd their newborn lineup and a selection of songs from most of the band’s releases. The performances of the bands at Tarbariitus were recorded by the experienced concert photographer-operator Gronnenhell, whose videos can be found on Youtube.

Those who got exhausted by the intense noisescapes of the bands at Tarbariitus could participate in sessions of discussions among musicians and other metal-related people, talking about band and/or noise-making, taking concert photos, and other such things. Hopefully, the video recordings of the sessions will also be publicly available soon.

The year did not end with the Tarbariitus ceremony; there were quite a few concerts in that memorable autumn. From 17th to 26th of October, Käptör and Lein toured internationally in about ten places across Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania. On 18th and 19th of October, the pioneers of Setonic black metal Langenu made consecutive appearances at the concerts of the Finno-Ugric Kindred Days in Tartu (Rock & Roll) and in Narva (Art club Ro-Ro), the latter being the easternmost venue for the band so far. At the same time, Hasswald invaded the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh at a concert “Gathering of the Damned”. The band also managed to enter the Sügis Production studio with some new material. On 9th of November, the heavy music festival “Must Kurg” was held at the Aparaaditehas, featuring Tankist and Kuritarvitaja among the metal and punk bands from all three Baltic states. On 23rd of November, Woundgiver could be seen and heard at the Rävala club The Krypt on an evening “Dark Doom Saturday”.

Winter is Taking Over

And then December arrived, and with it the abrupt news of the end of the life of our dear Rävalian friends and comrades-in-arms, the club Black Magic Estonia. We have accumulated many unforgettable memories over the past decade or so, and without doubt we are sincerely sad to hear about the end of the club. At the same time, it’s totally understandable – if the necessary resources are lacking (be it strength, time, money, motivation, or something else important), there is no point in trying to push forward until the end of days. However, we hope that our northern brothers and sisters in arms will find new ways to do things their blackened hearts desire and that our cooperation will continue for decades and centuries to come.

The disciples of speed metal took on the last month of the year with great enthusiasm. On December 7, the club Rock & Roll hosted the concert “Speeding Violation”, which brought the original speed metal trio from Tarbatu Sküllfükk Satänik Slüts back to the stage after a long time. At the same event Käptör presented their debut full-length album, “Speed & Pöwer” (so far only accessible digitally).

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Anyone who has read the chronicle to the end is definitely asking: “That’s all nice and cute, but what next?” Yes, I admit, we really do have to move on from this situation in some way or another. In any case, the inner circle of Pergerus is already having new ideas, and we will soon gather for an important meeting. Once that is done, we will probably reveal at least some of our plans to the wider world. Then everyone can follow up to see if we are fulfilling the promises we made with our big mouths or not.