English outfit, Capricorns, served up some killer instrumental, sludge-laden metal. Canadian trio Danko Jones were one of the few rock ‘n’ roll bands on the line up, but still seemed to go over well. Even if most of the dodgy in-between song innuendo from their sharp tongued frontman seemed to be lost on the crowd. Sporting a stylish looking black eye patch, it turned out that it wasn’t just for show. Extra points for not letting an eye injury stop him from playing HELLFEST! Long running Norwegian black metallers Satyricon looked a little out of place playing on a sunlit (even though it was 7pm) outdoor stage. That’s one of the pluses of the Euro summer, it doesn’t get dark until late, almost 10pm. While debate rages over whether these Norwegians are still “true” black metal or not (what with the more mid paced, rockin’ sound of their later albums, signing to Roadrunner and winning a Grammy in Norway), the crowd loved ‘em and so did I. Just try not to bang your head to a song like “Now, Diabolical”. Funnily enough, while corpse painted vocalist Satyr did his best to throw his iciest stares the audience’s way, any sense of menace was undermined by their fruity looking bassist, with his bass up around his neck. I was half expecting him to bust into a bit of funky slap bass action. The unintentional laughs kept on coming later that night, with Helloween and Saxon. I realise that both of these long-serving bands are well respected, but I fail to see what the big deal is. The best thing about German metallers Helloween was the massive inflatable pumpkin that arose from the stage at one point. Saxon were part of the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal), so you’re meant to kneel down and worship them, but for me their brand of “heavy metal thunder”, as they called it, was just plain dull and plodding. Though the audience sure disagreed, when it came to both bands. So what the fuck do I know? Cradle Of Filth came across like something of a one trick pony - overblown extreme metal that impressed at first but got boring very quickly. I’ve seen them before and the thing I still like most about these Brits is the acidic humour of their pint-sized frontman, Dani Filth. Arch Enemy, on the other hand, offered memorable, anthemic songs and the sound (and this was on the smaller second stage), was near perfect, as it was for most of the bands throughout the festival. I don’t think I’ve ever heard such top-notch sound at an outdoor festival (or maybe it was just the good European beer fooling me into thinking that). On the third and final day, Prostitute Disfigurement from the Netherlands kindly provided a very fucking loud early morning wake up that could be clearly heard over at the campsite. Anyone fancy some grindin’ death metal for breakfast? Carnival In Coal are a French outfit that I just couldn’t get my head around, with their whacky, disjointed and quirky brand of extreme metal. On the other hand, a welcome new discovery for me was French metallers, Gojira. They drew a huge crowd to the mainstage, serving up some utterly punishing death metal, yet with a unique twist.
Impressive stuff. Hatesphere are a band I also knew little of, but I was knocked sideways by the Danish quintet and their vicious thrash ‘n’ death fuelled attack. Back at the smaller stage, a bunch of hardcore bands blasted out back-to-back fifteen-minute sets, including Vancouver’s melodic HC kids, Go It Alone and San Francisco straight-edgers, Allegiance. We also saw Boston’s Guns Up! and their brand of heavyweight HC go head-to-head with the outright venom of Panic (who had their Circles EP released in Australia recently, thanks to Resist). Entombed, playing the mainstage in the evening, went down like a cold French ale. Vocalist LG Petrov knocked back the booze and growled his way through everything from the old (“Revel In Flesh”) to the new (“When In Sodom”), with a shit-eating grin plastered across his face the entire time. Now trimmed back to a quartet, things only fell flat when they attempted to tackle a song like “Left Hand Path” – the outro just doesn’t work with one guitar. Nile delivered the goods, with their ferocious and blasting death metal, drawing a packed crowd to the second stage. Norway’s Zyklon were absolutely crushing. Boasting two former Emperor members in guitarist Samoth and drummer Trym, you’d expect something fairly impressive from the fourpiece, and they didn’t disappoint, offering relentlessly vicious technical death metal.
Obituary and Celtic Frost are two bands I grew up listening to but never thought I’d actually ever get to see live. The boys from Tampa, Florida, got off to a shaky start late on the final night, but eventually found their feet. Hearing stuff off their 1990 album Cause Of Death, like “Chopped in Half” and “Turned Inside Out” was incredible. And John Tardy’s voice was as monstrous live as it sounds on their albums. The only downside was that the onstage vibe between the band members was icy; I couldn’t help but get the impression that offstage they’re probably not exactly the best of mates. Celtic Frost, a band who had an obvious influence on Obituary, played next, but ironically on the smaller stage, in front of a lot less people. It was hard to believe it was happening at the time, standing in the photo pit just a few metres away from vocalist/guitarist Tom Gabriel Fischer (aka Tom G. Warrior). Along with original member Martin Ain (bass), a new drummer and a second guitarist, the Swiss band have returned after a fifteen year absence, with a new album, Monotheist. Around midnight, they opened with two classics, “Procreation (Of The Wicked)” and “Dethroned Emperor”. The newer tracks are different again to their earlier work, yet still as bleak and doomy in the oppressive atmosphere they create live. Forty-five minutes later (if only they could have been allocated a longer time slot) they closed the second stage with another killer old song, “Circle Of The Tyrants”. People who live in Europe or the UK probably tend to take outdoor summer festivals featuring music of the heavier kind, like HELLFEST, for granted. As you would – there’s plenty to pick from. But for anyone from Australia, there’s obviously nothing like it at home that’s comparable. So get yourself over to Europe one summer and take in one (or two). The only drawback is that it’ll make just about everything on offer at home pale in comparison… END.