The Makabra Ensemble at the new Levis Bushveld Originals Stage
They specialise in sound tracks to old silent horror movies. It was quite someting to watch and listen to.
From their 'MySpace Webpage':
The first seeds of Cape Town based TERMINATRYX (pronounced "terminaytrix") germinated around 2002 when lead vocalist Sonja Ruppersberg and extreme music veteran Paul Blom (of V.O.D - Voice Of Destruction, F8, and K.O.B.U.S.) took it upon themselves to create a musical project unlike any other in Cape Town and South Africa as a whole.
When it came to choosing a name, instead of a single concept, several layers were combined to include a range of movies, fetishes and mythical locations to encapsulate the specific mood. Movies like Tetsuo The Iron Man, The Terminator, The Matrix, and the Nexus replicants from Bladerunner / a strong female presence of the dominatrix / the river Styx - All of this fused to create the TERMINATRYX phenomenon.
In the early stages, around 2003, first guitarist Tom Somers left for Scotland which led to songwriter Paul taking care of all the instruments (including guitars, bass, drums, programming, keyboards and backing vocals).
The duo of Sonja and Paul is enhanced with additional personnel when it comes to live performances (Ronnie on drums and Patrick on guitar).
The first of these live performances came in 2003 when TERMINATRYX was chosen as support for German Darkwave legends Diary Of Dreams on their South African tour. The 8-song repertoire at that stage was expanded to include over an album's worth, with pre-production samplers making the rounds.
The sound also took shape to create a unique Industrial-Metal blend with female lead-, and male backing vocals, which was quite rare in Southern Africa at that time, but is becoming more commonplace.
2004 they used TERMINATRYX and F8 music in their short film, imPERFECTION.
The debut album release was always on the horizon, but time simply seemed to dissolve with Paul & Sonja's other activities including the creation of film festivals like the annual South African HORRORFEST in 2005 (for which Sonja is also the poster-girl) and the new X FEST.
In between rare live performances which included appearing at the Popkomm festival in Berlin, Germany (2006).
Each year TERMINATRYX also performs original live soundtracks to the screening of classic silent horror films at the annual South African HORRORFEST (incl. NOSFERATU, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, HAXAN, and MACISTE IN HELL). This is done in conjunction with musical collaborators Sean and Simon (from LARK - on upright bass, flute, theremin, drums, percussion etc.), as well as Matthijs Van Dijk (on electric violin). Accumulatively this musical project is known as THE MAKABRA ENSEMBLE. Other guests are also incorporated for this unique audio visual experience.
In 2007 Simon showed interest in mixing the anticipated TERMINATRYX album at his Cape Town based Sound & Motion Studios. The proposed timeframe passed and early 2008 they put their collective foot down and booked the studio for March. Paul produced (and executive produced together with Sonja) and recorded all the tracks at Flamedrop Productions. Mixing commenced with Simon at S&M early March with the album released mid-May 2008 thru ENT Entertainment, and followed with launches in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Live highlights of 2008 included the Cape Town album launch (4th July) where TERMINATRYX performed at the Labia Theatre in the 200-seater cinema with a huge synced-up video projection show accompanying the entire performance. The show was followed by a pre-release screening of werewolf movie Skinwalkers - a new kind of double feature!
Within a single week in August, TERMINATRYX performed as support for two international acts visiting South Africa independently - incl. Sheep On Drugs (16 Aug) and VNV Nation (22 Aug).
Halloween 2008 also saw the release of the TERMINATRYX / NOSFERATU DVD, featuring music videos, live clips, photo galleries, their short film imPERFECTION, and the classic 1922 silent vampire film NOSFERATU with the new TERMINATRYX soundtrack (as performed live to the film's screening at the 2006 South African HORRORFEST Film Festival, together with special guests).
In 2009 Paul & Sonja created and compiled the KOPSKOOT! album (translated: "headshot!") - the first ever collection of strictly heavy Afrikaans music from Metal and Rock to Industrial, Electronic and everythign inbetween.
Mid-2009 TERMINATRYX embarked on the remixing of the debut album, calling in remixers like Industriezone (Austria), Sheep On Drugs (UK) and South Africans like Battery 9, Axxon, NuL, Jekyll & Hyde, iRONic, Francois Blom (V.O.D / K.O.B.U.S.), Theo Crous (Springbok Nude Girls / K.O.B.U.S.), and others. It is aimed for an early-2010 release.
With a natural aversion to cheap commercial sentiments and a blind consumer society, TERMINATRYX is truly a unique South African audio adventure, looking at the world with a satirical eye as they take the listener through a juxtaposed range of sonic intensity and calm, fusing technology with the organic in a David Cronenberg vs. H.R Giger trip.
In a televised talent show, and mock reality drenched commercial media decline, TERMINATRYX is not merely a breath of fresh air, but a long awaited new direction out to rattle the cage just enough to make a saturated public stand still and think, "hey, there's more to it than this..." - even if for only a moment.
But as we know, a moment can be a multitude of infinities - depending on the way you look at it.
Read more: www.myspace.com/terminatryxxx#ixzz0wnJcvpIL
The Makabra Ensemble at the new Levis Bushveld Originals Stage
They specialise in sound tracks to old silent horror movies. It was quite someting to watch and listen to.
From their 'MySpace Webpage':
The first seeds of Cape Town based TERMINATRYX (pronounced "terminaytrix") germinated around 2002 when lead vocalist Sonja Ruppersberg and extreme music veteran Paul Blom (of V.O.D - Voice Of Destruction, F8, and K.O.B.U.S.) took it upon themselves to create a musical project unlike any other in Cape Town and South Africa as a whole.
When it came to choosing a name, instead of a single concept, several layers were combined to include a range of movies, fetishes and mythical locations to encapsulate the specific mood. Movies like Tetsuo The Iron Man, The Terminator, The Matrix, and the Nexus replicants from Bladerunner / a strong female presence of the dominatrix / the river Styx - All of this fused to create the TERMINATRYX phenomenon.
In the early stages, around 2003, first guitarist Tom Somers left for Scotland which led to songwriter Paul taking care of all the instruments (including guitars, bass, drums, programming, keyboards and backing vocals).
The duo of Sonja and Paul is enhanced with additional personnel when it comes to live performances (Ronnie on drums and Patrick on guitar).
The first of these live performances came in 2003 when TERMINATRYX was chosen as support for German Darkwave legends Diary Of Dreams on their South African tour. The 8-song repertoire at that stage was expanded to include over an album's worth, with pre-production samplers making the rounds.
The sound also took shape to create a unique Industrial-Metal blend with female lead-, and male backing vocals, which was quite rare in Southern Africa at that time, but is becoming more commonplace.
2004 they used TERMINATRYX and F8 music in their short film, imPERFECTION.
The debut album release was always on the horizon, but time simply seemed to dissolve with Paul & Sonja's other activities including the creation of film festivals like the annual South African HORRORFEST in 2005 (for which Sonja is also the poster-girl) and the new X FEST.
In between rare live performances which included appearing at the Popkomm festival in Berlin, Germany (2006).
Each year TERMINATRYX also performs original live soundtracks to the screening of classic silent horror films at the annual South African HORRORFEST (incl. NOSFERATU, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, HAXAN, and MACISTE IN HELL). This is done in conjunction with musical collaborators Sean and Simon (from LARK - on upright bass, flute, theremin, drums, percussion etc.), as well as Matthijs Van Dijk (on electric violin). Accumulatively this musical project is known as THE MAKABRA ENSEMBLE. Other guests are also incorporated for this unique audio visual experience.
In 2007 Simon showed interest in mixing the anticipated TERMINATRYX album at his Cape Town based Sound & Motion Studios. The proposed timeframe passed and early 2008 they put their collective foot down and booked the studio for March. Paul produced (and executive produced together with Sonja) and recorded all the tracks at Flamedrop Productions. Mixing commenced with Simon at S&M early March with the album released mid-May 2008 thru ENT Entertainment, and followed with launches in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Live highlights of 2008 included the Cape Town album launch (4th July) where TERMINATRYX performed at the Labia Theatre in the 200-seater cinema with a huge synced-up video projection show accompanying the entire performance. The show was followed by a pre-release screening of werewolf movie Skinwalkers - a new kind of double feature!
Within a single week in August, TERMINATRYX performed as support for two international acts visiting South Africa independently - incl. Sheep On Drugs (16 Aug) and VNV Nation (22 Aug).
Halloween 2008 also saw the release of the TERMINATRYX / NOSFERATU DVD, featuring music videos, live clips, photo galleries, their short film imPERFECTION, and the classic 1922 silent vampire film NOSFERATU with the new TERMINATRYX soundtrack (as performed live to the film's screening at the 2006 South African HORRORFEST Film Festival, together with special guests).
In 2009 Paul & Sonja created and compiled the KOPSKOOT! album (translated: "headshot!") - the first ever collection of strictly heavy Afrikaans music from Metal and Rock to Industrial, Electronic and everythign inbetween.
Mid-2009 TERMINATRYX embarked on the remixing of the debut album, calling in remixers like Industriezone (Austria), Sheep On Drugs (UK) and South Africans like Battery 9, Axxon, NuL, Jekyll & Hyde, iRONic, Francois Blom (V.O.D / K.O.B.U.S.), Theo Crous (Springbok Nude Girls / K.O.B.U.S.), and others. It is aimed for an early-2010 release.
With a natural aversion to cheap commercial sentiments and a blind consumer society, TERMINATRYX is truly a unique South African audio adventure, looking at the world with a satirical eye as they take the listener through a juxtaposed range of sonic intensity and calm, fusing technology with the organic in a David Cronenberg vs. H.R Giger trip.
In a televised talent show, and mock reality drenched commercial media decline, TERMINATRYX is not merely a breath of fresh air, but a long awaited new direction out to rattle the cage just enough to make a saturated public stand still and think, "hey, there's more to it than this..." - even if for only a moment.
But as we know, a moment can be a multitude of infinities - depending on the way you look at it.
Read more: www.myspace.com/terminatryxxx#ixzz0wnJcvpIL