Original Post Date: Jun 22, 2010
Hellfest 2010

So... we were the second people to arrive to the festival area. One day earlier than we were supposed to... We got there so early so the camping area manager gave us a personal tour of the area and told us to camp anywhere. :D
So my tent was the second one on the site, which was quite practical. Lots of space, and later on no people on the supermarket. Perfect!
So the first day and the second went by without much happening, more and more people arrived, and suddenly all the space was gone on the Thursday afternoon... :P
The most notable thing about the first day was the huge sign at the entrance that announced that Coroner will do a reunion show for Hellfest 2011! HELLYEAH!


Friday - 18/6

So the first band I was planning to see was The Faceless, but due to some bad planning by the Hellfest crew I missed it... Don't know how many people were there, but some tens of thousands of people wanted to get into the festival area at the same time... so it's not really a great idea to open the gates like 10 minutes before the first bands starts eh? Ah well, I got to listen to Gorod on the mainstage while waiting to get in, sounded interesting and I should check them out further. Shame to miss The Faceless though.

Carnifex
The first band I got to see was Carnifex. Not really a big fan of this hardcore style, but it was pretty OK anyway. Decent start of the festival at least, and they did put on a pretty nice show.

Swallow the Sun
I've seen these guys before, and I'm not a Doom fan at all, but these guys do something really nice. And it's also cool to listen to Kai Hahtos drumming. Good stuff!

Evile
I was supposed to see them when they were supporting Amon Amarth, but unfortunately their bass player died on that tour... but now they have a new one and I got the chance to see them! Some good Thrash to kickstart your brain in the morning is never a bad thing! A few songs were enough though, then I went off to see...

Urgehal
That's some Norwegian Black Metal band that has gotten a lot of hype lately. Personally I've never even heard about them before... but people said "you have to see them!". So well, why not? And it turned out to be just that, Norwegian Black Metal. No surprises there!

Sigh
So after the "standard norsk svartmetal" of Urgehal I went off to see "crazy Japanesse Black Metal". I never really thought I'd get a chance to see these guys live, so this was really cool. Their sound was shit though, but that might have been on purpose as they didn't really utilize their time for soundchecking... Ah well. The show was nice as well, with Mirai all in black and Mikannibal in a cute bloodied angel outfit (it's a girl for those who don't know...). They also had a bible that set fire on itself when opening it, and some fire breathing. Too bad the sound was bad, but nice show nevertheless!

Necrophagist
Now that they're reunioned and all I definitely wanted to catch these crazy guys. At least for a few songs. I mean, the technical guitars are really, really impressive but you get kind of sick of it after a while. The main reason I didn't stay that long though, was that another band started that I didn't want to miss.
And yeah, of course the sweeps were perfect. You didn't expect anything else, did you?

Negură Bunget
Some Romanian Folk Metal then! They had some technical issues, and compared to Sigh that played on the same stage earlier their soundcheck was longer than it should! :P
It's all those strange instruments I reckon, tricky to get them all sound good together live. And they did suffer some from that during the show. But what a great show! It was just awesome! This was definitely one of the best bands I saw at the entire festival!
I don't think that a festival is really their best place to play on, I think they would be even better on a smaller gig, with a longer set. Still it was really great, and I walked away with a smile on my face.

Finntroll
They had apparantly changed the running order without any announcent, so I actually only managed to catch Finntroll by chance and only got to see half of their set. So that's a bit of a shame, but I'm no big fan their new vocalist anyway so I wasn't looking forwards too much to seeing them. Still it was a nice gig, and I got to see Jaktens Tid and Trollhammaren, so that's all good! A few songs off their two latest albums as well which I've barely listened to... Ahwell, pretty nice in either case!

Kampfar
Then off to see some more Folk Metal, this time from Norway! Second time I see these guys, and they were equally good this time! I still can't believe that the singer has a tattoo of Kampfar all over his belly though. But that's dedication!
The set was a nice mixture from their albums as well, really happy with this one!

Walls of Jericho
After Kampfar I went back to the mainstage to see what was happening there as this was when Finntroll were supposed to play, instead it was this band who were supposed to play when Finntroll played that were on stage... Some American new style Thrash, that was pretty decent. But nothing that kept my attention for very long.

Secrets of the Moon
So I went off to see what was up in the Terrorizer tent instead, where this band was playing. Pretty progressive Death / Hardcoreish style. Made me think a bit of Between the Buried and Me (who were also at the festival but I skipped them since I've seen them before and they were clashing with Ihsahn). It was a pretty nice breather, might check them out later as well!

Ihsahn
Then I was back to my schedule and saw Ihsahns first gig outside of Norway! If you don't know Ihsahn is the guy from Emperor, now going solo... I think his first solo album sounds like a mixture between Emperor, Opeth and... King Diamond. :P
Live was a totally different matter thou, a lot heavier and also songs from the other albums (that I've not heard). It was a really cool gig.

Hypocrisy
Yeah! Third time I see Peter and the guys this tour! Pretty much the same setlist as the other times, still not tired of it! Hypocrisy was definitely the mainreason why I had a hard time standing up the day after... :P
I think they managed to forget to play Hang Him High though? They were a bit confused on which song to play when for a bit actually. :D
Still a great show as the other two times I saw them this year, although it's a shame the light show didn't come to it's full effect outdoors in daylight...

Loudblast
Ah, time for some French music then! They definitely have a cult standing over there in France, I saw loads of Loudblast shirts everywhere. Pretty good oldschool Death Metal anyhow, and a pretty nice show. I was too exhausted to see all of it though, I had to go to the tent and have a nap halfway through, and some food and such. Long long day, and plenty left as well!

Watain
So after a nap and loads of water I went back in there to catch Watain again. Hellfest is having lots of troubles with people trying to shut it down, that they want no "satanic ritual in our country" and blah blah. Watain doesn't do anything to help that. :P
Pretty much the first thing you get to hear is "Now it's time for us to rape your Christian sons and daughters and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it". Typical Watain. No one should be surprised. :P
They had a really nice show though, as always with Watain I guess. Great setlist, and awesome pyro. There's no doubt about it, they're top notch in their scene.

Sepultura
As it wasn't really the "real" Sepultura (no Cavalera brothers!) I wasn't too excited about seeing them. So I only watched the last couple of songs. But it sounded good, and I don't think I would've minded seeing all of it. Heard from someone else that the intro was awesome, but I was in the Rock Hard tent enjoying Watain then so... oh well.

Arch Enemy
I'm no fan of Arch Enemy, I think they're nothing special really. But there was nothing else to see so I figured, why not?
And it turned out to be a good decision. Because they're a bit like Amon Amarth, good but nothing special on CD and really good live! So that was a bit of a pleasant surprise actually. :)

Ulver
Well, this should be interesting I thought! I mean... Ulver! How often do you get the chance to see something like that? Certainly not often! Unfortunately it was a bit of a disappointment. They're one of those bands that shows a movie while playing the live music for you. That's cool and all, but it gets old pretty quickly when you've seen it a couple of times before. So I must say Ulver were a bit of a let-down.

The Devil's Blood
I had no idea what this was beforehand, but I had to keep myself occupied while waiting for Marduk. Turned out to be some really odd Progressive Metal that was based around the bass guitar. So much distortion that it basically sounded like a guitar, so he was playing leads and everything on it while the two guitars were just rhythm. And add some weird vocals to that. It was all right, but eventually I got tired of all the roundings... hurts my ears. :P

Marduk
Ah, some more Swedish Black Metal to finish the day then! Marduk are really good live, and no different this time. They had a really crappy start though, starting off with Panzer Division Marduk... and there's no sound from the guitar. Mortiis got pissed off and just left the stage, aborting the song after the first refrain or so. At first I thought they were late and it was just soundcheck or something... but then they got back and tried again... and Mortiis almost left again, but then they managed to fix it and they could continue the set. After that it was all cool. I was so tired I left before they finished but I saw almost one hour, but apparently they played for 75 minutes, maybe to compensate for the technical problems?
Good day anyhow and off to a few hours of sleep...


Saturday - 19/6

Dew Scented
So the Saturday started with me watching a few songs of this American Thrash band while eating breakfast. Like I mentioned earlier... Thrash is always a good way to start the day. :P
Can't really remember anything from the band though...

Kalisia
First band on my "to-see-list" was the French Progressive Metal band. They really have  a lot of stuff going on in their songs so I was really curious about how they would manage it all live, but it was all fine! Really talented guys (and girl), complex songs and tight as hell. Very happy with their performance.

Obscura
Then I got to see this Technical/Progressive Death Metal band from Germany. And I guess you could say they were my compensation for missing The Faceless the day before, to manage to catch this band like that. Extremely good guitar player, and great songs overall! Very technical, but without overdoing it. I liked this gig a lot, and it might be the best discovery of the entire festival for me.

Tankard
Then it was time for more Germans! Beer-drinking Thrashers! I had been looking forward to this gig a lot, as Tankard is a band that'll probably never play in Sweden so I was really happy to get a chance to see them!
And they certainly didn't disappoint me. They were pretty much exactly what I expected! Really good, experienced show and a nice mix of headbanging friendly songs. There was even a circlepit going, that spontaneously turned into a circle dance! Everybody just grabbed each others shoulders and started dancing. ^^
I would've liked a longer set for Tankard, but that's the only thing I can complain on... :P

Y&T
After Tankard I was planning to see Count Raven, but apparently they had cancelled last minute, and were replaced by some French Punk band... so instead I went back to the mainstage and chilled with Y&T. I've never really listened to them, although I've heard about them, but it was definitely some enjoyable Hardrock.

Raven
Then time for some Heavy Metal! ...and it was a bit of a let-down for me. I was expecting something a little better from guys as experienced as these guys. But it just felt old and tired really...

Asphyx
After that it was time for the Dutch legends! One of the mainreasons for me going to this festival was definitely Asphyx playing! And they delivered. It was fucking great!
The Hellfest crowd is actually pretty... immobile. The French seem to like to just put their fists in the air and shout. But when Asphyx started playing the Rock Hard tent exploded! It was one of the wilder shows I saw, and I'm happy about that! Asphyx deserves it!
It was also great to see Martin Van Drunen (vocals) come out on stage and just smiling for the whole gig. Someone was enjoying himself at least! Ace show!

Anvil
Now... this band I figured I just had to see. They're those guys who've been around for 30 years without coming anywhere, and then suddenly got famous because of a movie... Unfortunately I feel like there's a reason WHY they didn't come anywhere in 30 years... And it's kind of sad to see them make fun of themselves about it as well... but oh well, it's just fun! So good for them. :)

Sadist
I was planning to see Atheist here... but they get replaced last minute by Sadist instead... too bad. I was really looking forward to Atheist. Maybe next time!
Sadist weren't too bad though, not really my type of music though. Far to keyboard-based for me to really enjoy it.
So instead I went off to see...

Airbourne
again. As I've seen them before I know they're a pretty damn good liveband so I did have some expectations. Unfortunately it seems I missed most of the fun though as I got their halfway through their set, and by then it was pretty much only slow/midtempo songs left in the set... which makes them sound even more like AC/DC than they usually do. I kind of felt like that you can notice that these guys have been on a pretty much constant tour the last couple of years and it's starting to get to them a bit as they didn't look quite so full of energy as I remembered them. But then again I did miss the first part of the gig.

Nevermore
Another one of the highlights of the festival for sure! Nevermore is just an amazing band, and their live-show reflects it pretty well. Again the French crowd was a bit off... When Warrel Dane asked for a moshpit people were just staring at him... :P
But great performance anyhow, and really cool to see Jeff Loomis play live. That man is a monster...

Dark Funeral
Third time for me seeing these guys. 1 was horrible, 1 was really bad. 3 time counts? :P
Wasn't too excited about seeing them again, but they're allright so why not? I basically wanted to hear 666 Voices Inside, and they played that one as their second song, so I was happy. Watched a few more before going off to the next band though.

Slash
I grabbed some food while listening to Slash. He played some various songs from different bands. Of course the ones who got the best response were Sweet Child O'Mine and Paradise City. Decent enough for dinner entertainment. :P
Oh... and to all Scottish people; it's pronounced SlaSH. SLASSSSSH. Not "SlaCH!". :P

Annihilator
Figured I should see these guys since they're kind of legendary and all that. I think their set consisted of way too many slow songs though, so it was just an OK gig. But I needed the rest anyway so that's allright.

Twisted Sister
No make-up, but still twisted. :)
Good show. All the classics. A speech in honour of Dio and a Rainbow cover. Twisted Sister. Good stuff. They still know how to do it. :)

Immortal
Lots of make-up, still twisted. :P
Second time I got to see Immortal, still a great show as expected. Abbath was talking a bit more than I expected, but he still had time to spit fire. Played a nice mix of songs. Not that much to say really.
Except that I think they might have summoned Blashyrkh. Because the two nights before were allright... but after Immortal had played it became so fucking cold! :P

Alice Cooper
This was actually a bit sad to see. A lot of legendary bands played at Hellfest this year, and Alice Cooper is definitely among those. But unlike most other oldies Alice just didn't cut it. It felt like it was playback, and just uninspired. And what's the deal with played School's Out both as the first song AND encore...?
I couldn't help to wish they'd switched places with Carcass so I could've gone to bed earlier...

Carcass
Second time I got to see these guys, but this time they played the entire Necroticism album! Also a few songs they've never played live before in the end to fill out the full set. Performed complete with some disturbing pictures in the background... but unlike Ulver the slideshow was just a compliment to their normal show, so a lot more interesting.
Jeff Walker is also a good frontman, saying pretty funny stuff in between songs. But damn it was nice walking back to the tent afterwards...


Sunday - 20/6


Blaspheme
A French Power Metal band singing in French. Really good vocalist actually, so I guess they should count as a good Power Metal band. ^^
Just happened to see them as I was eating breakfast, but that was quite nice so.

General Surgery
Well, this was the Death day, so the first band on my to see list for today was Swedish Grindcore/Death Metal band General Surgery. Coming out in bloodied doctors robes is always ace, and you know what to expect from there.
Unfortunately they had some technical issues so the microphone sounded shit, but it was still great.

Sabaton
Well, I didn't see ONLY Death this day. :P
I figured Sabaton are a cool band live so why not see them again? Also I was a bit curious to see if they would be able to get the though French crowd moving, as they're usually really good at that. Unfortunately they didn't really manage, maybe it was too early in the morning or something? Pretty nice performance nevertheless.

Freak Kitchen
Ah, IA and the boys. :)
They're insanely talented so they're always awesome to see. And it was great that I got to see Teargas Jazz this time as well, as they didn't play it last time I saw them. And IA even commented that they'll probably play it wrong anyway because it's so hard. :P
Ahwell, a bit short set but it was awesome nevertheless.

Eluveitie
Another band I've seen before, but that time I was really unmotivated to see them so decided to give them another chance. I did enjoy them more this time, but the 40 minutes set they had was pretty much enough for me.

Decapitated
Another one of those bands I went to the festival for! I was really excited to see the new drummer Krimh and what he could do. And Vogg. Is it really possible to play those insane riffs live?
The answers are... Krimh is fucking amazing. And yes, Vogg can play them. It was insanely tight, and this made me even more excited for any coming Decapitated albums. This line-up kicks some serious ass!
And Decapitated were another of those bands where the crowd went really nuts as well. Awesome juice!

Ensiferum
And yet another band I've seen before! And I still miss Jari... But alas, they played mostly newer stuff so it didn't sound as weird as those songs were made for Petri so he handles them really well of course. But I haven't really gotten into the albums after Jari left so I was just chilling for this one.

U.D.O.
You got your balls to the wall man! Balls to the wall! Another one of those oldies, but he's still standing strong. I was actually off to the Rock Hard tent to see Dying Fetus instead of U.D.O., but apparently they had to cancel last minute. They were even there as I understood it... but I guess something happened. So instead I got to see the last half of U.D.O. which was pretty all right. :)

Behemoth
Third time I see them on this tour and fourth time in total, so I kind of knew what was coming... :P
But that's the thing with Behemoth, despite having pretty much the same setlist for three shows I've still not grown tired of them live. They're just so damn good! It wasn't quite as good as when I saw them on House of Metal earlier this year, but then again then they were headlining and had a longer set and all so no wonder they put in some more energy on that one. Still as I said a very good show, but I think Behemoth is one of those bands that never makes a bad show, they only make good or great!

Saxon
And yet another oldie that I've also seen before. :)
But they're another one of those reliable bands, you know what you get when you see them. A great frontman and singer in Biff Byford and a nice set of good ol' Heavy Metal!

Devin Townsend Project
And here's another mainreason to go to Hellfest! Devin Townsends first show in Europe! And what can I say? It was pretty much exactly what you could expect from Devin. Whacky talk, crazy songs, awesome singing, and lots of love! It was really amazing to see him play really!

Suffocation
Then the Death Metal theme continued with some oldschool American band who put on a really heavy show. Tight as hell with a lot of action. Pretty finny talk in between the songs as well by Frank the Tank, and his typical hand gestures. Really nice show!

Exodus
Last time when I was about to see them at Wacken they suddenly had changed the running order so I only got to see a few songs of them! This time I got the full set though, and some really nice stuff for sure. I was sitting this one out though, looking from a bit back to save energy for later (you really need to be careful with your energy on a festival with a crazy line-up as this...)... But it was still a great show. And they got a huuuuge circlepit going. It covered the entire mainstage! Must've been at least a hundred people in it! Great stuff, and really glad I got to see it. :]

Nile
I'm still angry at Nile. They managed to find three shows in Sweden on their last tour but missing Stockholm... so I didn't get to see them that time... But now I finally got to see them! ...and I noticed that my Nile knowledge was a bit out of date as they were suddenly were 4 people on stage, and Karl Sanders wasn't doing the vocals. :s
It was still great though, so no worries about that, and for the last song there were actually a bunch of vocalists on stage, Nergal among others... Didn't manage to see who the others were though. Nice little touch however!
Another cool detail was that the sun was setting just as Nile were playing and was just low enough to shine into the Rock Hard tent, which made the light be very yellowish and it became this desert feeling, which of course is totally fitting for Nile!
The weather gods smile on Hellfest! Coldness for Immortal and deserts for Nile! :o

Slayer
More legends on the bill! Was sitting them out as well, and enjoying the riff from the back. It was a nice gig for sure, and I guess you know the setlist all ready. Pretty much just what you would expect. Nothing wrong with that though. It's Slayer after all.
Another funny detail was that they where on the same flight as me on my way home, so I actually say behind Slayer on the plane. I saw Kerry King without sunglasses... now that's a rare sight. :P

BLOODBATH
Ah! Finally! After three hard days time for the REAL headline! Their fifth show ever, so obviously I was very excited to get to see them! And damn. It was just amazing straight through the entire set. Nice choices for songs, although most songs were from Nightmares Made Flesh (according to Åkerfeldt "An album I wasn't on... but it turned out pretty OK anyway" :P ) so one would've hoped Tägtgren would make a guest appearance since Hypocrisy had been playing and all... but I guess he had all ready left the festival. :P
Anyhow, they played Breeding death so I'm happy. Would've been cool to hear Funeral Furnace as well, but I guess I had to settle with Eaten on that theme. :P
One funny thing about this band is of course Åkerfeldt... he's a sarcastic bitch in Opeth, but in Bloodbath he takes it to new heights! "Are you happy?" YEAH! "Fuck you.". XD
Not much more to say really, it was just really awesome and it alone made the trip worth it. Damn.

KISS
And on the way to my tent I watched KISS, I only catched the encore though, but that's allright. Shame I didn't get to see more of them I guess, but when the choice is between Bloodbath and KISS it's a no brainer for me... Seemed like a nice show anyhow, and they finished off with some huge fireworks. I had just managed to get in my tent then though and didn't manage to find the energy to look out, so I just got disco lights in my tent. XD

And with that I close this extremely long report of my Hellfest experience! All in all it was amazing! There were some organisation issues I didn't quite like, but the line-up in itself was so amazing that it more than made up for it! And with Coroner as headlines next year there's definitely a big chance of me going again... Hellfest? Hellyeah!




Edit: I've collected a few setlists from around the web for those interested as well:

BLOODBATH
Intro
Ways to the Grave
Soul Evisceration
Process of Disillumination
Iesous
Breeding Death
Mouth Of Empty Praise
Mass Strangulation
Cancer of the Soul
Mock the Cross
Like Fire
Blood Vortex
Outnumbering the Day
Hades Rising
Eaten

IHSAHN
The Barren Lands
A Grave Inversed
Misanthrope
Scarab
Emancipation
Invocation
Called by the Fire
Unhealer
Frozen Lakes on Mars

KISS
Modern Day Delilah
Cold Gin
Let Me Go, Rock 'N' Roll
Firehouse
Say Yeah
Deuce
Crazy Crazy Nights
Calling Dr. Love
Shock Me
I'm An Animal
100,000 Years
I Love It Loud
Love Gun
Black Diamond
Detroit Rock City
Encore:
Lick It Up
Shout It Out Loud
I Was Made For Lovin' You
God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II (Argent cover)
Rock And Roll All Nite

EXODUS
Bonded By Blood
Exodus
And Then There Were None
A Lesson In Violence
Metal Command
Piranha
No Love
Deliver Us To Evil
Strike Of The Beast
The Toxic Waltz

SLAYER
World Painted Blood
Jihad
War Ensemble
Dead Skin Mask
Angel of Death
Beauty Through Order
Disciple
Hate Worldwide
Mandatory Suicide
Chemical Warfare
South of Heaven
Raining Blood


SABATON
Ghost Division
The Art Of War
Coat of Arms
Cliffs Of Gallipoli
Saboteurs
Primo Victoria
Metal Machine / Metal Crüe

BEHEMOTH
Ov Fire and the Void
Demigod
Conquer All
LAM
As Above So Below
Slaves Shall Serve
At the Left Hand ov God
Alas, Lord Is Upon Me
Decade of Therion
Chant for Eschaton 2000

SAXON
Heavy Metal Thunder
Motorcycle Man
Dogs Of War
Demon Sweeney Todd
To Hell And Back Again
Live To Rock
Princess Of The Night
Crusader
Wheels Of Steel
Denim And Leather

SLASH
Ghost
Back From Cali
Nightrain (Guns N' Roses cover)
Rocket Queen (Guns N' Roses cover)
Sucker Train Blues (Velvet Revolver cover)
Nothing To Say
Civil War (Guns N' Roses cover)
By The Sword
Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)
Sweet Child O' Mine (Guns N' Roses cover)
Paradise City (Guns N' Roses cover)