MANIFESTO RITUALS INTERVIEWS RELEASES SOUND NOIZEMACHINES COLLABORATORS BLOOD CONSCIOUSNESS SUSPENSION GALLERY GALLERY A-M-F RECORDS AUF DEUTSCH FENRIS LIBERATION PLAGUE OF HUMANITY HISTORY RUMORS HOME KONTAKT / MAILING LIST

They who live by the morals of the masses, they who assimilate, they who drown in the sea of subservience, they who worship gods and idols, they who crawl on their knees, they who can not stand alone, they who can not think for them Selves, they who have no will of their own, they who do not fight for them Selves, they who do not resist in any shape or form,        A R E   D E A D ! The Ritual was held at these locations: August 15th Live at CODE 2001, Hollywood  CA March 30th 2001 "Fenris Release", live ritual @ Xanth, San Diego  November  29th 2000, "Fenris Release", live ritual @ Dunker, Berlin - Germany,  November 24th 2000 "Fenris Release", live ritual @ Stubnitz, Rostock - Germany,  November 3rd 2000 "Fenris Release", live ritual @ Xanth, San Diego  August 15th 2000: "Fenris Release", live ritual @ 7hz, San Francisco

 

 I ended up at the club alone that night, it seemed no one else was interested in the dark rituals I was hardly prepared for. I had  seen the website for the Aesthetic Meat Front, and was fascinated by their art and vision. Their frustration with the trapping of  modern society, and the need for primal cleansing rituals mirrored my own longing. I greeted new and familiar faces, and then began a sweep of the club to get my   bearings for the night. The crowd was small, most were darkly robed, and many  were heavily modified. I moved into the smaller room, attracted by the writhing  beats of deep goa trance. To my surprise, the room was almost completely empty. Few wanted to dance, most were there to participate in the social deprogramming.  I chatted with the members of Native  State for a while, and then moved to check the rest of the club  out. The main room was very dark, with only a few lights flashing overhead to light the way. A DJ was in the tall   booth spinning some excellent industrial. The back part of the room was behind a large black curtain, and people  were moving around setting up last preparations. I went out and hit the hookahs a few times, and enjoyed my cancer stick.

Upon reentry, I noticed the stage lit up, and a table was being set up. The leader of the AMF, Louis sat down. A very tall, beautiful girl, Jenner, approached him. She was heavily pierced and tattooed, and to my surprise she pulled her shirt off. Her   nipples covered with X's of black electrical tape, she pulled on a pair of latex gloves.   She then picked up various needles and instruments, and set to work piercing the  arm of Louis. During all this, there was an  overwhelming sense of dark knowledge and confidence.  Then for a second I saw Louis break a pained smile when Jenner inserted a hook into his arm,   and for that second only I was able to see how much he was enjoying this, and how human he  really was.

JayJ, the club owner, came around and asked everyone to write on a few canvases   that were set around the room. He instructed us to paint images and words expressing how we felt, and they would be destroyed at the end in the energy   release. I looked on as others took turns, and I felt muted at that moment, I knew    what I needed to say, but not how to say it.

Soon, the show was to begin. It grew quiet, and everyone started to gather   around in front of the curtain. Dark, ambient noise filled the room, and I felt the   deprogramming begin. As the curtain was torn down, I saw two women in the light  and shadows, and they were topless. They began to pour blood over each other, and then moved into the crowd. A figure began pounding a drum attached to his chest, and worked through the audience, bringing the show right before our eyes.

The women moved back to the front and lit a massive bone symbol of the AMF afire. The music was intensifying, and pounding us into submission. The women began to  wave their torches, and at different intervals would breathe massive clouds of  fire. They seemed to be consumed by the flames, but in an instant, it was gone.

They began handing out bones, pipes and fleshy skulls complete with eyes. The   audience was passing them about, and feeling the death in their hands. The fire-breathing disciples moved through the crowd, baptizing everyone with blood. Some were merely marked on the face; some were almost bathed in blood.   Everyone was moving to the intense rhythms, and pounding the pipes, bones   and skulls to produce these sounds of an apocalypse beginning. I was  overcome by the ritual, and the cacophony got louder when sheets of metal were brought out, emblazoned with the AMF symbol. It was violent, but not to one another it would seem, it was our collective need to release our fears and frustrations, and feel clean for a short time again. The guy in front of me had gotten a large piece of sheet metal, and with his pipe he had beaten it from a flat square to an almost organic looking, dented piece of UFO wreckage.

The members of AMF moved around the front, pounding on various pieces of what  looked like junkyard scrap, and making noises and rhythms that fuelled their  show. It seemed like a pick me up musical group after a nuclear blast, pieces of twisted metal, fire, bones, meat, blood, skulls, all coming together in ways I'd never thought possible. The canvases with the images of our pain, sorrow, and need were brought out, and destroyed with pipes, boots and jaws of animals, the ritual complete.

As quickly as it began, it was over. It was quiet, and everyone looked drained. We  were quite a sight, covered with blood, slipping on the wet floor, pipes clanging to the ground. Everyone milled about, and I was somewhere in awe, shock, and relief. I felt different, new, better. My deprogramming was initiated, and I would  take the lessons out into my life. I glanced out in the smoking area, and  was surprised to see the performers sitting around, talking with people. The women  were still half nude, covered with blood, and I found it odd that it felt so normal. I was surprised when I approached them how friendly they were. We chatted about the show, their piercings, and I complimented them on what a great show it was. It really meant a lot to me to be able to approach the performers and tell them personally what I thought, and they were very warm and receptive. One of the girls was from Santa Barbara, and the other had flown from Germany just for the show. She and Louis both had thick accents, which I liked, being German  myself. I promised to email them the pictures,  and began a round of good  byes to old friends and new ones. This was a very freaky show, and the  crowd was pretty small, and intimate. I liked it  because everyone was into it, everyone seemed willing to participate and make the show. The crowd didn't flinch  during the blood baptism, even those dressed nicely, now covered in bodily fluids. Xanth could have been packed that  night, filled to the brim with gyrating bodies moving to  techno beats. But instead, the club owner decided to do this  show, and I really respect him for that, I think it was a wise choice. This wasn't an event for everyone, and that's just fine. I hope to see AMF again; I thought it was an amazing show.