GIVEN a little dry ice (helpfully disseminated by Italian electronics wizard, Marco Deplano), a puzzling cinematic backdrop and some rather effective lighting, the inner-city flagship which is the Red Rose doesn’t seem half-bad. At least once you get inside the damn place. I arrived at 8.30 ready for OSTARA to take the stage at the pre-arranged time of 9pm, although the half-hour spent queuing outside the door was not helped by the subsequent technical difficulties which left us waiting almost two hours inside the venue itself. The attendance - somewhere in the region of 100 people - was also very disappointing, particularly for a London gig. Even more so, considering the fact that some people had travelled from across Europe, America and Australasia. Irritatingly, the price of beer had also risen substantially since my last visit and was hardly representative of a so-called Labour working-mens’ club. But such are the trials and tribulations which one has to endure when an excellent act such as OSTARA comes to town. Since the departure of Timothy Jenn, who comprised one half of the group throughout the formulative ‘Secret Homeland’ and ‘Kingdom Gone’ periods, vocalist Richard Leviathan has recruited two new members in Andrew Waterson (acoustic guitar) and Dominic Goundar (drums). And very talented and versatile musicians they are, too. I first caught OSTARA live with SORROW and CURRENT 93 at the Camden Underground two years previously, but when measured against that slightly broader line-up it was a comparatively minimalist version which took the stage tonight. Not in terms of ability, but with regard to the fact that OSTARA seem to have undergone a form of musical down-sizing. Formerly, of course, Richard’s vocals had been supplemented by his use of the snare drum and various other percussion instruments, and he had confined his use of the rhythm guitar to ‘Operation Valkyrie’ (last performed as part of Foresta Di Ferro). However, tonight’s set was heavily-laden with the new live additions from the latest studio offering and, inevitably, led to the guitar becoming a more regular and frequent part of the overall performance. Wide-eyed and committed, Richard - clad in black shirt and matching leather trousers - delivered the opening line from the title track of OSTARA’s ‘Kingdom Gone’ CD: ‘They are going to school to learn how to die’. The song is brimming with emotion and concerns the nihilistic emptiness (‘Shunyata’) of war and death, tinged with references to Ernst Junger’s ‘Marble Cliffs’ and the iconoclastic shattering of religious idols. This was followed by ‘Bavaria’, a beautiful song which suggests a meeting beyond life itself, a life transcended by the blinding light of ‘imperium’. Three songs in and OSTARA breeze into ‘Transsylvania’, albeit without the primordial operatics which appear on the CD. A composition about living life to the full and ‘the night of the soul’ induced by recurring destiny. The ‘goth-pop’ aura of OSTARA’s first album is reflected in ‘The Trees March North’, with a rhythmic drumbeat adding a more upbeat sound to the performance. The descriptions of repetitious love remind me of the romantic cycles depicted in Miguel Serrano’s ‘Nos: Book of the Resurrection’. The words tell of Man’s desperate grip upon youth and his urge to both recapture and relive the experiences of life: ‘With every breath of your body/You want to fall in love again/And on the grey day of the dawning/Could you give this life away?’. This is followed by my three favourite OSTARA songs from the ‘Secret Homeland’ CD, and believe me, I have played this album every couple of days ever since it was first released. The first of this magical trio, ‘Operation Valkyrie’, needs little introduction. Seconds before it even began the song was requested from a member of the audience, to whom Richard replied: ‘You are clairvoyant’. Based on the struggle of Claus von Stauffenburg, the song is a tragic representation of Europe’s destruction at the hands of the Third Reich. But tonight it is played very differently indeed. Putting to one side his skins and cymbals, Dominic accompanied Richard on the tom-toms and created a soft atmosphere similar to that of BLACK SABBATH on their melodic 70s odyssey, ‘Spirit Caravan’ (later covered by PANTERA). The second in the series - ‘dedicated to George Bush’ - was ‘The Reckoning’, a fantastic song full of hope and optimism amid the truly ugly face of decline and degeneration. Almost my favourite OSTARA track, in fact, if it wasn’t for the penultimate climax of this mid-gig triumvirate. ‘Nostalgia For the Future’, in my opinion, is quite simply the best song OSTARA have ever recorded. From the devastating lines about mankind’s characteristic arrogance (‘Though we're reaching into space/We are fallen far from grace’) right through to the quest for liberation in death (‘And in these temples of decline/I'll seek redemption in the fire’), the song never fails to inspire. Thanks, Richard. The cheque’s in the post. After this we are treated to ‘Ways to Strength and Beauty’ - released on the band’s ‘Secret Homeland’ CD - and ‘Overworld’, taken from last year’s ‘Whispers To the Soul’ EP. This last song was dedicated to ‘someone who passed away a year ago today’, most probably the same personage to whom Richard dedicated ‘Kingdom Gone’: Rahle Helen Levy. The highly-catchy ‘Wolf’s Door’ came next, but this was soon juxtaposed with the far sterner ferocity of ‘Blond Beast’, a far-from-gentle reminder that STRENGTH THROUGH JOY functioned as an effective ante-chamber for OSTARA. Richard’s lines were delivered in between a thunderous hammering on the snare drum, quite different to the Industrial version which appears on ‘The Force of Truth and Lies’ album. This strong finish completed a short, but flawless set. As LUFTWAFFE took the stage I was forced to rush for the exit to catch the last tube home, safe in the knowledge that OSTARA are still alive and kicking.
