A few days ago we received the shocking and sad news of the passing of Bas Mercx/Dein Offizier, the percussionist of the industrial body music band Zwaremachine. We met him in Maastricht a few years ago when Violaine went there to interview the band. Last year we traveled to Nijmegen to see them play and were able to talk to the very nice and friendly percussionist again. The next day we went to see Laibach in Arnhem because he had told us they were playing there although we didn’t get the chance to chat with him. As we said in our chronicle, he had a great stage presence and brought a lot of power to the band. From here we send our condolences to his family and people close to him.
As a tribute to the late drummer, Zwaremachine has released a single, with a song which was already recorded by Mach FoX last year. Mach‘s intention was to add Dbot and Dein Offizier on a new version that would appear as a single and on the upcoming album as well as performed live. The result of this latest collaboration with Dein Offizier can be found on this single which also features a remix. The band is still determining if the profits from the single will go to the family of the drummer or to a charity of their choice.
Zwaremachine are opening for Front 242 today at a very special concert in Heerlen. They will also be playing with Xtort at Cafe The Jack in Eindhoven on the 15th.
