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6.06 IS MY LUCKY NUMBER
The top 12 at the Metro in Chicago
After several hundred meetings, 36 concerts,198 bands and endless nights, we have 12 bands that made it to the Emergenza Chicago Finals at the Metro on June 5th. Each band made its first initial mark on the festival many months ago during the elimination round at The Note and moved onto the semifinals at the Double Door where they played their way into the finals. If the festival were to end today I know each band has the right to walk away with their chins up and confidence in place. 12 out of 198, lets do the math. 6.06% of bands that entered the festival still remain. 6.06% of bands will take 20 minutes to convince thousands of fans and a panel full of industry professionals that they are a key piece to making the musical world go round. 6.06% of bands, now with all results of days past wipe clean, grace the stage at the Metro with one common goal, Emergenza U.S. Finals in Boston!
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, freaks, geeks, lovers and losers, I give to you the 6.06%
…STELLAR ROAD …DEDKOR …GHETTOBILLIES …MAXLIDER …DIES MALI …EPISODE 7 …THE REGELS …FACELESS …TREOLOGIC …SOULS FOR RENT …BAND CALLED PHARISEE …CRANKCHEST
If variety is the spice of life, come June 5th we all are going to be livin’ large with this line up. Come for the nasty riffs of Dedkor, stay for the acoustics of Stellar Road, indulge in the intensity of Maxlider and sip on the musical juices of hip-hop and style with Treologic. You want rock? You got it. Take in Band Called Pharisee (in the picture), Episode 7, Souls for Rent and see way each bands feels they’re the one for Boston. Crankchest will be slinging its metal-rock fusion around the room while the Ghettobillies treat us to a display of music, charisma and STD jokes. DIES MALI will be ready for a command performance come next Saturday side by side with pop and roll artist The Regels swooning the ladies and keep your ears wide open for Faceless who is always hungry for more.
Chicago will have one of Emergenza’s best city finals in Chicago, will you be there to witness the 6.06% ?
Reggie Strokington - 31 May 2006
- EMERGENZA EUROPEAN AND NORTH AMERICAN LIVE FESTIVAL
Discography
For more information, go to www.diesmali.com or
www.myspace.com/dies mali.
The first full-length album, "Mourning Portraits" is expected to be complete by July.
Photos
Bio
~Dies Mali~ "cursed days"
c.1400; from Latin >dies "days" + mali (pl. of mauls) "bad, cursed."; days of disaster, gloom, or depression
Thundering yet accessible, dark yet inspiring; somehow dichotomy be damned Dies Mali makes it work.
Evolving around the core unit of frontman Zoran and drummer MarK, Dies Mali underwent the standard changes that every developing band works through: a shifting lineup, shuffling band names, and a growing sense of confidence and capability. After hearing Zoran , a classically trained pianist play at a party, MarK approached him about starting a project. The young band put together its first demo, and realized it was something that could stick. However, finding the other pieces to the puzzle held Dies Mali back from putting together a true full-length debut...until now.
After spending a number of years in Chicago’s fertile local scene, the band is ready to spread its wings nationally with its debut, Mourning Portraits. Roughly half the songs on Mourning Portraits have been rattling around Zoran’s head for quite a while, with the remainder of the tunes being new pieces. However, even the old dogs are being taught new tricks by the finalization of Dies Mali’s lineup, with the most recent additions - native New Yorker S.L.A.V.E. and Chicago rocker Bane - revitalizing and adding twists to the earlier material.
While the band has a clearly industrial aesthetic and has performed at gothic festivals in the Midwest, the band prefers to classify itself more as ‘dark synth rock’ than anything else, and goes the distance to make sure the music also has an element of humanity to it.
Musically, if it’s hard and heavy, there’s something Dies Mali has drawn from it. The band has earned comparisons to not only acts like Static X and Rob Zombie, but gothic and electronic pioneers such as Bauhaus, Gary Neuman, and Killing Joke.
“I’ve always been a fan of darker stuff, from older bands like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Soundgarden to more modern ones like Marilyn Manson, Korn, and Type O Negative,” Zoran says. “Anything that’s heavy and has a dark feel, I’ve always been attracted to.”
With its sights set on the future, Dies Mali is ready to prove its mettle and step things up a notch – actually, a bunch of notches. The band is road-ready, and is looking forward to presenting the material from Mourning Portraits to the masses. The days of disaster are coming, and they’ve never sounded quite like this.
OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST:
DIES MALI has played such venues in Chicago as Metro, Double Door, House of Blues, Martyrs, Hard Rock Café and The Odeum Expo Center in Villa Park.
During the North American and European Festival in June 2004, DIES MALI worked their way to the finals in this battle of the bands competition. DIES MALI became one of the top twelve bands - of nearly 200 competing bands - sharing the stage for the final show at the Metro with some of Chicago's finest musicians.
On September 17, 2005 Dies Mali played at North America's largest Gothic festival - Gothic Fest - which included bands such as Hanzel Und Gretyl, Slick Idiot (members of KMFDM) and Project .44 (Ministry/Thrill Kill Kult).
From July 2008 through September 2008 DIES MALI competed in the Guzzardo Emerging Artists Competition and was one of three finalists chosen out of 50 bands to play “On The Waterfront”, Rockford’s largest music festival.
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