NECKBREAKER’S BALL

After having experienced such grandiose but comparatively contemplative concert event two days ago I now got it right on my kisser. Rude expression? Yes, but 100 pro to the point ;)
Austrians tour smithy Rock The Nation sent out its first band package, kind of a wake-up call for all those who still did not arrive entirely in the new year yet. That the trek is dubbed as NECKBREAKER’S BALL does not fall out of the blue sky. Line-up appears like a motley crew, almost… strange, but exactly that seems to be the formula of success.

:: pics ::

Five bands, early beginning, early end. The house to be demolished is once again the Matrix in Bochum that promptly causes a dull feeling due to the known problems with light, sound and air condition. Even more since there was to hear that previous shows of the tour were sold out and all destroying. So I expected a packed house and burning stages ;)

:: MILKING THE GOATMACHINE :: were the ones to open and to light up. They actually were one of the reasons to attend this show at all. Deadly love this bunch of goaties since I saw them for the first time at last year’s Party San Open Air *laughs* Found back in 2008 MILKING THE GOATMACHINE played through their two album releases Back From The Goats (2009) and Seven… A Dinner For One (2010). The Tube is crowded and the mood already phenomenal. And guess what! The sound is brilliant, blowing away everything! Ha! So it’s possible… Felt 30 seconds and the first 3 songs are over. I have to put away my cam stuff and start enjoying wolves and goats, culminating in Surf Goataragua, the band’s most known hymn. Hell yeah, this is pure Death/Grindcore fun! Love, love, love it! Asskicking!
Setlist: March Into Shed, Milk Me Up nBefore I Go Go, Seven, Goat-Thrower, Sour Milk Boggie, Here Comes Uncle Wolf, Ding Dong, In The Woods Of Unsuspected, Beware Of The Wolf, Surf Goataragua, Bingo Bongo - I Don't Want To Leave The Congo

Next up is :: MÅNEGARM :: who didn’t want to suit the concept at all. Total change in style. Musically. Audience seemed to be changed too. The undercooled Scandinavians pretty much killed the mood and couldn’t get up with any similar. The first one in the first row keeled over and got since then nursed by the security. Another way to save money (spending on drinks). And huuuh, don’t show too much of thank… ungrateful bitch. However, most action on stage got provided by fiddler Jan, who was whirling around like a devil. His violin bow was somewhat of a fuzzy thing producing tons of wrong and disharmonic tunes ;)
Setlist: Hraesvelg, Mina Fäders Hall, Bergagasten, Vedergällningens Tid, Daughters Of Eve, I Evig Tid, Hemfärd

And again sort of a complete crowd change happened. Still the same faces but sentiments change like at the push of a button. :: EQUILIBRIUM :: are about to enter the stage. They are for sure somewhat of the pop stars in the Folk/Viking Metal scene. The grass roots immediately starts to freak out and the first crowd surfer fall into the photopit, while fans get later “bloody eyes” during a wall of death and various mosh-pits. There is actually not that much to “see” from the band, smoke is massive and dense. When the smoky wall tears I witness a bass player that did not succumb an error in fashion taste this time and actually cuts a good figure. Music is bombastic and of manifold instrumentation, means, most stuff got imported and I methinks that some of the symphonic introductions just got copied from known themes.
Setlist: In heiligen Hallen, Sturm, Der ewige Sieg, Der Wassermann, Blut im Auge, Heimwärts, Fahrtwind, Met, Aus ferner Zeit

Dutch agro thrashers :: LEGION OF THE DAMNED :: cannot keep that highly energetic level afterwards. Not that the fans are exhausted or tired, it’s just that the receptors for musical taste tick differently tonight. Too bad, because I liked the show. Maybe LEGION OF THE DAMNED played a bit too… polished. Anyway, the just released brand new album Descent Into Chaos kills but I have to confess that my personal faves come from older records (Malevolent Rapture you got it? ;)).
Setlist: Night Of The Sabbat, Legion Of The Damned, Shrapnel Rain, Cult Of The Dead, Death Head’s March, Killzone, Pray And Suffer, The Hand Of Darkness, Son Of The Jackal, Werewolf Corpse

Last change-over, that took a bit longer and then :: KATAKLYSM :: got in with A Soulless God from their current record Heaven's Venom. From the first second on the crowd totally freaks out. Boys headband and mosh as if there is no tomorrow, girls scream for Maurizio (rumors say he is up for grabs again ;)). He again first thanks all the fans for making possible that he can be there and do what he loves to do, demanding to never give up on dream and to fight for them! Yes, he’s right! Smoke is even stronger than before, I’m I allowed to kill the technician??? Sweat flows like water, fans goes wild and crowd surfer tumble in seconds into the photopit. That I call an intensive and brutal show! Definitely the highlight of tonight’s show and the Olympus belongs to KATAKLYSM.
Setlist: A Soulless God, Serenity In Fire, The Ambassador Of Pain, Push The Venom, Manipulator Of Souls, Determined (Vows Of Vengeance), Prevail, Years Of Enlightment – Decades In Darkness, In Shadows & Dust, Astral Empire, As I Slither, At The Edge Of The World, The Road To Devastation, Crippled And Broken , To Reign Again, Like Angels Weeping (The Dark)

At pm the show is over and now fans are exhausted and tired ;) The last tone is hardly gone the Friday-mess starts with hundreds concert goes leaving the tube, while other hundreds of people rush in for the disco treatment.
As for me: KATAKLYSM were awesome, followed by MILKING THE GOATMACHINE and then LEGION OF THE DAMNED. So, time to go homeward madam… ;)