5TH SEPTEMBER 99 @ THE UNDERWORLD

Just how does Uncle Nemesis manage it? It's been a while since Covenant were last in town, but as they're mooching aroung the country for the Invocation fest. It seems only right that they give those less fortunate of us who never got the chance to go a rare oppurtunity to catch 'em. 

Jonathan Sharp's (NewMind/C-Tec) Hexedene project are up first and tonight Jonathan (head well down over keyboard, hidden behind long-ish hair)is joined by Reza (on keyboards and looking most groovy in his mirrored shades) and Alexys (on vocals and looking more restrained than usual), both on loan from Inertia. The music is high-impact,maximum energy, minimal fuss Tekno/EBM and not too dissimilar to Inertia,
K-Nitrate et al.
The music hits all the right neural receptors in the brain, urging the crowd to gyrate wildly, or shuffle their feet feet mildly if nothing else. Vocal wise, Alexys is improving all the time, though still manages to hit some rather bum notes and goes some way to spoiling what would be a faultless performance.

Attrition I miss due to working dodgy deals. What I do hear though is, like Hexedene, musically adept but again the femme vocalist is the weak link in the chain. 

The stage is finally bathed in a glorious blue glow, the expectant atmosphere rises to a near fever pitch as the epic intro track lures the band out.
Dressed, as always, in their best suits, the hard-assed beat kicks in, the mass of bodies you could call John Q Punter begin to shake their collective thangs and the band are off.
All three members of the band, main vocalist Eskil (who looks not unlike Spahn Ranch's Athan) and keyboardists Joakim and Clas are pogoing about the place like Zebedee on Nazi Crank and appear to be enjoying themselves a helluva lot more than when they last played London
(last year at the Powerhaus when
VNV Nation literally blew them away...).
The hits come thick and fast, Speed, Theremin, Figurehead, Stalker, all delivered faultlessly (the sound is near-immaculate), and of course the crowd love it. EBM don't get much better than this and it's live that Covenant realise their full potential. They unveil a couple of new tracks (Tour De Force and One World(???)), both of which exhibit a more Ministry Of Sound-ish vibe, and both go down deservedly well.
They play one encore and then another, the crowd are that eager to make the most of this oppurtunity, and when the band finally escape the stage for the last time, everyone leaves with a massive smile on their faces.

Uncle Nem You've Done It Again!    

gileZ Editor Of fashionably UNHIP