Fagerlund's reviews

  Mother Nature threw everything she had at us. Scorching heat, lightning and sudden rain storms knocking out the power, tornado like wind and heavy rain, mud everywhere. But still we stood there, fists in the air banging our heads. Because it takes a lot more to stop Metal!

 

  So traditionally I would write a few lines about every band I saw this festival, but I saw 57 bands this year and that'll be very long. So I figured I'll try something different this time and just write about the highlights instead. It'll be long enough anyway...

 

  So here we go!

 

 

 

  I don't know about you, but when I'm at a festival I always watch the first band to get things started. This time it was God Mother, some hardcore from Sweden. I've seen their name around even though it's not my favourite genre, and I'm actually glad I got to see them. It was a very entertaining show, and it's not often you see a band where the singer spends more time in the moshpit or crowd surfing than on stage! Also with the hilarious quote "I'm thinking about going back down there again... but last time some crazy bastard bit me so I won't!!". What!

  Second out was Deserted Fear, and they had by far the best looking backdrop of the festival. Damn, that was a nice piece of art! Too bad I forgot to take any pictures... anyhow the music was nice as well, with some German Death Metal. Will definitely check these guys out more in the future.

  After that came one of the "must see" for me, with the kind of "all-star" band The Lurking Fear, with Tompa Lindberg (At the Gates) on vocals. I was surprised to see so few people remained to watch them, probably people didn't realise what band it was since they're pretty new and this was their first show outside of Sweden. But they delivered some damn good Death Metal mixing it up with both fast and heavy stuff. Really good!

  Fleshgod Apocalypse and Gorguts both delivered solid sets, but having seen both quite recently it wasn't much that stood out for me. Root is also a band I saw not too long ago, and of course they had quite great support from the home crowd. I still can't decide if I actually like them or not though...

 

  Then it was finally time (hah) for Wintersun! Probably the main reason I went this year. Having seen them before I of course had very high expectations, and was also curious to see how it'd work with their new guitar player. With a new album out as well I was looking forward to hearing that material live as well. Unfortunately it didn't work so well... the new song they played felt a bit tame actually. Maybe they just need to play them live a bit more? And what about the guitars? I'll always miss Jari on guitars... even Teemu messed up Jaris solos (while Jari was playing extra drums, haha!). Asim, the new guy did well though! Kai was missing on the drums unfortunately, but it was still alright. So yeah, I can't say they quite met my (high) expectations, but it was totally made up for with perfect renditions Starchild, Time and Sons of Winter and Stars. Wish they'd had a longer set though! Also, at one point the mosh pit randomly sat down and started rowing?! I've never seen that one before...

 

  After a bit of a break I finally headed over to the Metalgate stage for the first time this festival to check out American Horror Metal band Macabre. That was a really cool show actually, and always nice to get some history for the songs (every song is basically about a freakish murderer). Entertaining!

  Metal Church, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Helheim followed that again with solid sets but nothing that stood out much.

  Master's Hammer was the headliner for day one. One of the first Black Metal bands from Czech Republic as I understood it. And that's exactly what it sounded like. That super oldschool sound, similar to bands like Vulcano or Nifelheim where it's almost more Heavy Metal than Black Metal. Pretty nice stuff!

  I ended up watching the entire Overkill set for the first time ever I think, but that was simply because there was so much people at this point and I wanted a good spot for the next band... not that Overkill was bad, it's just not my style really.

  But it was totally worth it, because Batushka was definitely one of the best bands of the festival for me! Heard so much about these guys lately so it was really nice getting to see them live! It was a mighty and atmospheric performance that really dragged you in. I just wish it'd been a smaller venue actually. I don't really know what other words to describe this show. Just that if you get the chance, go see them. So good.

  And then finally the last band of the day was Wolves in the Throne Room, another band I was really looking forwards to finally seeing live. Somehow I ended up front pretty much. And as they played the Metalgate stage they did get that closed off more intimate stage that Batushka lacked. And damn these guys delivered. It was a super tight set with no dull moments really. Glad to finally have seen them!

 

 

 

  So we had some issues in camp that caused me to miss the first couple of bands (mainly Nervosa for me) unfortunately. So first band for me this day was Fallujah! Last time I saw them in Stockholm the sound was terrible so I was looking forward to this one. And they sure delivered! Really nice set. Bit of a break and then on to Canadian maniacs in Cryptopsy who played the entire None So Vile album. Great set! But I can't help but missing Lord Worm... Anyhow, as if Cryptopsy wasn't fast enough the next band on the bill for me was Hour of Penance, and that was just the kind of barrage I was expecting. Good stuff. I stayed at the Metalgate stage to check out Czech band Avenger as well, but it wasn't so memorable unfortunately.

  Back to the main stages and Arkona. I don't know where Masha gets all her energy from, but she was bouncing around everywhere as usual getting the crowd on her side instantly. Much dancing and singing was done in the crowd. Then it was time for Nile to continue the blasting barrage from earlier. Again, a solid set but I must say I missed Dallas even if the new guy was good as well.

  I then headed back to check out much talked about Swans to see what all the fuss is about. I still don't know really. The first song was a 15 minute long intro. The second song some kind of dissonant punk. Not my kind of thing. So after that I took a longer break.

 

  Then it was time for Emperor. I've seen these guys before, so I knew they were good live. But I don't know what it was this night because they were just on a whole different level. Everything was just bloody perfect. The sound, the crowd, the atmosphere, everything. And what a mighty ending with Curse You All Men!, I Am the Black Wizards and Inno a Satana. Just wow, I was a bit blown away by this one really.

  Since it was absolutely packed at the Oriental stage Opeth was up next. Saw them a month ago and it was exactly the same set so it was alright. Typical Opeth stuff. Then the skies opened up and just as Suffocation entered the stage the entire sky was lit up by a lightning ball across the entire sky. It was really impressive, and the lightnings just kept coming. It was almost as if they had ordered it as part of the show. Of course that didn't stop the mosh pit from going non-stop and even Frank was impressed; "Thanks for a night I will never forget!".

  Final band for me this day was Rotting Christ who also got the awesome lightnings which just added to their chanting atmosphere even more than for Suffocation. This was another one of those bands I really wanted to see this festival and they sure didn't disappoint. Great set, but I kind of wish they had switched spots with Suffocation because at this point I was almost falling over... 

 

 

 

  Friday morning made me happy. 10:30 in the morning, just 7 hours after the last band stopped playing we have Dysangelium, Czech unknown Death Metal band playing on the main stage. It's raining heavily. And still there's like a thousand people there watching them do their biggest show yet. It's things like this that makes me convinced Metal will never die. Also Dysangelium was really nice, my kind of Death Metal for sure!

  It was followed by some Czech Hardcore from Primary Resistance, dutch Hard/Grindcore from Teethgrinder and Slovakian Doom by Doomas. Of the three I liked the last one the most.

  Then I had a bit of a break until what I thought would be Aversions Crown, but apparently they switched slots with Skywalker... so I quickly went away again as that wasn't my kind of thing at all. I came back to see Finnish Melodic Death Metal Wolfheart as well as some Sludge from Crowbar. Both pretty decent. I stayed and watched a couple of minutes of Graveworm which reminded me why I'm not a fan of them, and instead went to see Death Metal all the way from New Zealand by Ulcerate. Those guys really blew me away. I've heard the name mentioned a lot, but this was the first time I actually heard them. And it was awesome. In fact so awesome that I had to go see them again in Stockholm the night after I came back from the Czech Republic. The drummer is absolutely insane, and they really manage to create an intense atmosphere that you rarely find in Death Metal. Superb show!

  Then I went to see the start of Sacred Reich on the main stage, they got through the intro and the first song before the craziest most intense rainstorm I've ever seen hit us. The dark clouds covered the sky in less than a minute and the following rain was like someone pouring a bucket over everything. Apparently the wind caused a power failure in all of Jaroměř for a couple of minutes, so of course Sacred Reich had to stop their show. So I headed towards the Metalgate stage to seek some cover in the tent stage instead where The Crown were getting ready. Last time I saw them it was pretty meh to be honest, but this time they were obviously eager to show all they had. It was actually a really nice intense gig! So the rainstorm caused a 30 min delay (the rain left as quickly as it came...) on the main stages so I actually managed to catch the end of Sacred Reich who delivered some nice quality Thrash.

  After a dinner break I checked out the first of Incantation's sets, this one was the "normal" Death Metal set. It was a great improvement since last time I saw them actually, and I quite enjoyed it. I decided to check out something random after this so headed back braving the mud ocean in front of Metalgate stage again to see French band Igorrr. This was a weird one. I'm not sure what to think of them, only that I don't understand why they have a real drumset if they're going to sample the fast drums anyway? Left after a couple of songs and checked out Eluveitie instead. They're one of those bands that I never can quite get into, they're decent but for me they lack the soul that most Folk Metal has. I don't know what it is. Still a pretty good show, I was particularly impressed by how they used the light for atmosphere in the slower parts of the songs. 

  I once again headed back to Metalgate stage, but decided I was tired of trying to cross the mud and stayed a bit away and checked out Swallow the Sun on the (new) big screen instead. Unfortunately they still had the tent closed up even though it had stopped raining so the sound got pretty muffled from the outside. Too bad as Swallow the Sun are really good! So instead I went to the Oriental stage and checked out some experimental music from Wrekmeister Harmonies. A pretty cool mixture of Bluesy guitars and Metal. Not bad!

 

  "I would like to start with apologising profusely. We are not Morbid Angel. Nor are we Clawfinger. We're Carcass from England." Jeff Walker starts classy as usual. So Morbid Angel were supposed to play but had visa issues so cancelled the whole european tour, Brutal Assault managed to get a replacement just one week before the festival; Carcass. Pretty much everyone I talked to thought this was an upgrade! I also think this was the biggest crowd I had seen yet. Everyone was out of their tents this time! So not only were they a replacement band, they also had to switch slots with Clawfinger, and on top of that they lost their equipment on the way to the festival ("...so please don't be disappointed when these plectrums I'm throwing out says... Sacred Reich on them."). But despite all of that they delivered a pure class show. From start to end was simply superb. It says a lot about a band when they can have the shittiest conditions and still be top notch. 

  Then it was time for a band that has played a lot of festivals that I've been to, but they've always clashed with something I wanted to see more. Electric Wizard with their psychedelic soundscapes (or the genre described as "Drugs, Sex, Every Sort of Filth" in the festival guide) was pretty interesting to see live that's for sure. But for me the set was a little bit too long. I was hoping to catch Einherjer as well, but in between that was Clawfinger and they were not very interesting at all. I still don't know what they were doing headlining Brutal Assault, because there's absolutely nothing brutal about them... anyhow, it had been a long day (15 hours of Metal...) so I headed off to sleep instead.

 

 

 

  What better way to wake up than to go see some Dutch Grindcore? That's what I went for anyway and started the day with Collision. It got me awake at least! Then a band that I think I'll only remember the name of, Oceans Ate Alaska, because the music wasn't very interesting at all. Luckily Aversions Crown who were supposed to play the day before was on after that and picked up the slack with their Technical Death Metal. Because if Grindcore doesn't wake you up, Technical Death Metal sure should! Australia seems to be generating quite a few good bands from this style lately, which is really nice to see! The contrast was huge when Polish Prog Metallers Disperse went up after that. It sounded more like Pop than Metal to be honest. Luckily French Svart Crown brought the Metal back after that. It's one of those bands that I think are alright, but they're lacking that little bit extra to make them really stand out. Perhaps in a couple of years they'll have something that stands out a bit more.

  Danish oldschool Thrash by Artillery was up next for me. I must say that it's always fun to see these older bands go on stage with so much energy that it puts the younger bands to shame. The singer was all over the place (including in the mosh pit for one song)! 

  Then I of course had to see Decapitated once again. It seems like there's always a lot of Polish people at Brutal Assault so the crowd went a bit extra crazy here. Really solid set as usual. Demolition Hammer came up next with their style of Thrash Metal, which sure was intense. Reminded me a lot of old Kreator, which is surprising from a US band I think. Good stuff!

  Back to the Oriental stage again to check out some Death Metal from Israel; Zhrine. It's not often you see bands from those parts, but after having seen these guys I wonder why not? It was really good stuff! Intense and mellow at the same time. I was really impressed by these guys, definitely one of the best new discoveries on this festival for me!

  I popped back out to the mainstage to see the first couple of songs of Devin Townsend Project. "Apparently we are Progressive Metal. If you use the definition that we have more than one verse than that would be true. And also if we use that definition; fuck Kate Perry! OK, this is getting a bit awkward now so I'll just get off the stage and come back in and pretend nothing of this actually happened..." Yep, that's Devin for ya. The band seemed to be in great shape though and it sounded really good. I wasn't really in the mood for it though so I went back to the Oriental stage and checked out the second set of Incantation, this time (for the first time ever) playing only Doom. I must say I prefer their Death Metal, but this wasn't bad at all. 

  Then it was time for Amorphis, and they're just one of those bands who seem to play everywhere (apparently I've seen them 9 times now). They're always really good, always really solid. But they clashed with Furia, another one of these newer Polish Black Metal bands that everyone seems to be talking about so I had to go check them out as well. And I don't regret doing so! This was a really good show, and I can see why there's a lot of buzz around these guys. It sounds like an interesting mixture of Mgła and Valkyrija, super intense yet melodic. Very good! And that turned out to be the last band I saw at the festival as well, I wanted to check out Revocation as well but they started at 2:00 and I'd had to stay awake through Mayhem (zzz...) and a French Doom band Monolithe so I deemed my chances low and called it a day... 

 

 

So that was it! All in all it was a great festival once again. It's just one of those festivals where everything just seems to work. Hopefully they get less of the "core" genres in coming years like it used to be, or at least schedule them in a better way (I don't mind being up at 10:30, but when there's only one band I'm interested in at that time followed by 3 hours of Metalcore/Hardcore I'm a sad panda...). Even so there was obviously plenty of good bands to see!