Fagerlund's reviews

 

Chugger is a name I've heard a lot lately. So I thought it'd be nice to check them out. But honest, I can't really remember what they sounded like. The bass player had a cool see-through bass guitar though.

 

Ah, Sodom! They were supposed to play the festival last year, but Uncle Tom hurt himself just before the festival and had to cancel last minute. So they brought them this year instead! And thus I got to see this new Sodom in action. And I must say that I prefered the old 3-piece Sodom. This gig was a bit tame to be honest, it felt very... standard. Except that the setlist was really strange. Ohwell, still a solid set, since I doubt Sodom would actually do a bad one.

 

So I saw this band some 9 years ago... and was really surprised by what I saw and heard this time. They've changed a lot apparently. Still not my kind of thing though, but it sounded way heavier than I remember. 

 

Angrepp is the swedish word for "Attack". And that name really suits these guys. They play a very in your face style of Black Metal that's super intense. It's not really my thing, but they sure deliver their message.

 

Carcass! With a new guitar player apparently, who had only rehearsed 3 times with them before this gig... but you wouldn't have been able to guess that by the performance since it was steller! This is just one of those bands that have very high standards. I've never seen them do a bad gig, and this was yet another good one in the books. Good, solid Carcass. Let's hope for a new album soon though, right?

 

All girl Black Metal band, I saw them a couple of months back and my impression then was that they kept getting booked just because of the girl part... which is unfortunate. But this time they did way better, and I noticed the lineup was a bit different. So maybe they just had a bad day last time? This time it sounded pretty neat actually!

 

Now Belphegor was a long time since I last listened to. Not much has happened since then though! Still the same thing going on, and really no surprises here. Pretty solid gig.

 

So Behemoth are in the process of releasing a new album... which was really reflected on the setlist. A lot of old stuff! Much appreciated if you ask me! Again, they're one of those bands who always does really good shows. And this day they seemed to be in a particularly good mood. Good stuff!

 

So this was one of the gigs I was really looking forward to! I've been listening to Pestilence for a long time but never had the chance to see them. And wow, they're definitely one of those bands that raised the bar live. The energy! This is what I want from oldschool Death Metal when I see it live. Without a doubt my highlight of the festival!

 

I really had no expectations on Venom... I saw M:pire of Evil a few years back which consists of the good members of Venom and well... what's left felt very tired. 

 

Good to end day one with high energy Thrashers in F.K.Ü. then! And on Friday the 13:th no less, the perfect day for these oldschool slasher movie fanatics to play! And they did a really good show as usual. One big surprise was when they played a cover of Death's Evil Dead - remade in a F.K.Ü-style of course, which was awesome! Good ending of day one for sure.

 

 

 

First out on day two was this band that I had never heard of. Sounded like Butcher Babies I suppose, nothing that set them apart from all those bands that seems to be popping up lately though unfortunately. 

 

So instead I went in to the small stage to check out some Swedish Death Metal... sung in Swedish! Now this was one of those real oldschool sounding bands that just hits you in the face. Really enjoyed this one. Probably the best of the bands I hadn't heard before for me!

 

So this is what a lovechild between At the Gates and Bombs of Hades would sound like if they worshipped Cthulhu... which is exactly what it is! In other words, a Tompa Lindberg-Death Metal band and it kicks ass. I guess they haven't quite gotten traction yet though, but they show a lot of promise for the future!

 

This was another one of those bands that was a bit odd in the lineup. Very talented guys for sure, but their music doesn't really grab me.

 

So instead I went in to the small stage to see some oldschool Death Metal from the north of Sweden instead. And it was exactly what I'd expect! In some cases no surprises is a good thing for sure. Solid set.

 

...and then came the big surprise of the festival! Eluveitie were supposed to play, but they got stuck on the airport in Amsterdam due to incompetence at the airport which made it so they missed their flight... which sucks. But here is where the GMF-crew shines yet again, something like this happened last year as well - and still they manage to find a replacement. This time with like a 3 hour notice or something like that. And luckily for me it happened to be one of my favourite bands of all time! They don't play live very often these days, and their drummer had about 1,5h of practice before this gig - but still I loved it. This is how you turn a loss into a big win!

 

This was one of the reasons I bought the ticket this year, so was pretty excited to see this Swiss Thrash band finally. But... I've also not heard their new album, and man was this a weird gig. The new stuff sounds nothing like the old stuff, which caught me really off guard. It wasn't bad... but it wasn't what I was ready for which made it a weird experience.

 

So instead I went in to the small stage to check out this Folk/Doom band. But... it was way too slow for my mood at the time. I'll definitely listen to these guys again, because it sounded really good. But I really wasn't in the right mood at the time.

 

Luckily it wasn't long until At the Gates started, and At the Gates you're always in the mood for. The songs from the new album fits right in with the rest of the set and they prove to be another machine that keeps going and going. Super tight, great set, great stuff all around. Really enjoyed this one. 

 

Cannibal Corpse is one of those bands I've never really enjoyed, but they did their thing and people seemed to enjoy it. 

 

Ah, Nineeleven is one of those a bit... controversial Black Metal bands. Seen them a couple of times now, and I must say they improve for every time. Still not really my style, but I don't dislike it.

 

When they announced Children of Bodom it really felt like a blast from the past for me, I've not even heard them mentioned for years. Now, I never really got into them when they were "big" so I don't really have any nostalgia attached to them either. And well, they still sound like Children of Bodom, and they're still not very tight live. Alexi has cut down on the swearing though, now he was just saying "fuck" every second word or so instead of whole sentences of only swearing...

Yeah, wasn't too impressed with this one - but people seemed to enjoy it. 

 

Now this was by far the hottest gig of the festival. The small (indoor) stage was full for the first time, and after a very hot day as well the air was really lacking... so it was really hard to enjoy this gig despite Tribulation doing a stellar job as they usually do. Unfortunate! But the 40 minutes or so that I managed to see was great.

 

Ah, I've now seen Watain 8 times, and I guess I'm a bit over them. Luckily they started the set with Stellarvore which is my favourite song by them, so that was neat. And even though I've seen them so many times their stage set up is still really cool with all the fire and such. Watain does, what Watain does best!

 

And to end the festival were another high energy band in young Thrashers in Tyranex! It's hard to imagine that I used to go see these guys at one of the local youth centers and now they get to close festivals. And it's well deserved too! The riffs they're blasting out are awesome, and they can Thrash with the best of them on any day. Ending on a high note indeed!