Cannibal Corpse - Lock Up - Suffocation - Napalm Death - Aura Noir - Necrophagist - Manegarm - Desaster - Ghost Brigade - Tribulation - Under That Spell

:: pics ::

[Sui] The wake-up call for Saturday “morning” was given by Muenster-based Black metallers :: UNDER THAT SPELL :: and they did a good job. Songs were not really complex and did not offer much of outstanding traits but the first fans liked what they got.
[Dajana] Huuuh… is there the Black Metal denier speaking? *lol* Well, yep… I liked the show too, saw this new established band for the first time, but I also have to confess that it was clearly to sense out where from the music comes, namely Dionysos, former guitarist and songwriter in Helrunar. All beginnings are difficult but there’s much potential in it.

[Sui] Much more complex :: TRIBULATION :: got into their set, blending Black and Death Metal with slow parts and blastbeats, quieter moments and guitar solos. The band’s rhythm guitarist seemed to be… a little bit off when wildly posing and stumbling over his own feet. Too bad that they only played for 35 minutes.
[Dajana] I’d say these cats were totally crazy, not only going wild, going nuts on stage. Must have been strong… erm… meat they took ;) Never mind, to take photos these guys were perfect. And generally speaking this was one of these bands I newly discovered for me ;)

[Sui] Ah, from these Finns The Devil’s Blood could have taken a leaf out of their book when it comes to mesmerizing effects (ok, this comparison is not fair, but who cares) :: GHOST BRIGADE :: definitely went under your skin. Especially when singer Manne offered the full range of his voice and singing goose bumps was sent up and down the spine. The first highlight of the last festival day and a band that gained much feedback for that, although some fans seemed to be a bit confused by the instrumental 22:22 Nihil.
[Dajana] What to add? I love these guys, that’s no secret, and I enjoy every show to the max. I was surprised by the clean singing, which was way deeper as known. Generally singing was too loud and killed much of the music. Well, these things just happen on a festival. But for those who can’t get enough of GHOST BRIGADE, the Finns come back touring Europe in November together with Amorphis and Orphaned Land :) Don’t miss them! As for me, I had a really nice, funny and amusing chat with guys to a alter hour ;)
Setlist: Deliberately, My Heart Is A Tomb, Into The Black Light, Lost In A Loop, 22:22 Nihil, A Storm Inside

[Seb] Matching the beginning of :: DESASTER :: I also arrived in front of the stage. And the German Thrash/Death metallers didn’t waste any time to get the crowd under their control ;) As usual Sataniac was in best mood and started every song with funny announcements and introductions, while Infernal went wild and pulled faces like blazes. I heard some criticism afterwards about the setlist, but I say, with the classics such as Infernal, Tyrants Of The Netherworld, Metalized Blood and of course the track to sway along Teutonic Steel, there was a lot going on in the crowd, despite the fact that everybody was stuck ankle-deep and that disgusting mud. Good show, especially at this time where band and fans had likewise a blast.
[Sui] And the band got bid farewell with thundering DESASTER chants. Well deserved…
[Dajana] Wasn’t it the birthday of one of the members? Or was it just a joke?

[Seb] When :: MANEGÅRM :: enter the stage one might expect something folky, but with the first couple of tracks the Swedes played faster and straighter material. First Sweden flags were raised but atmosphere reached its climax when MANEGÅRM immersed into past and played stuff from the earlier releases like Havets Vargar/Wolves Ov The Sea. Eye-catcher was again violinist Janne Liljequist, playing really wild with and without his violin, running, jumping and headbanging. With the epic Hemfärd from Vredens Tid album, the show came to an end after only 40 minutes and without an encore.
[Sui] Yep, the Viking Metal of the Swedes stood out with its epic feeling and catchy mid-tempo parts...
[Dajana] And the sun that finally broke through the clouds and offered a blue sky. For a while...

[Seb] A lot of good stuff was told about :: NECROPHAGIST :: but the show itself was just... average. In fact the guys are damn fucking skilled on their instruments and they have also some great ideas like to embed Prokofievs Monatgue And Capulets/Dance Of The Knights at the end of Only Ash Remains, but all in all their music was too tricky, especially in such atmosphere. Whenever a moshing part appeared it got killed by a solos or breaks. During the second half of their gig, NECROPHAGIST did it a bit straighter and immediately got more feedback.
[Sui] Technically beyond all doubts, especially the problem such band has on a festival got here displayed: tricky and sophisticated riff work went down in the mix and wasn’t comprehensible. That made the chosen songs sounding arbitrarily. Too bad I say, because the guys hailing from Karlsruhe and specially bassist Stefan Fimmers got it.
[Dajana] *coughs* I was meanwhile off the track mixing NECROPHAGIST with Necrophagia. And I was keen on latter ones ;) NECROPHAGIST I of course know and have seen playing live in the past but as for here and now I found them too complex and tricky… Time for something to drink… ;)

[Seb] That’s a band I was looking for on this festival :: AURA NOIR ::And what to say? This show was just awesome! Appolyon, who now walks abroad in Immortal, introduced the band after the opening track Upon The Dark Throne as: „we are AURA NOIR, the ugliest band in the world!“. It followed a set of finest Black/Thrash Metal leaving scorched earth especially with tracks from the 1996 record Black Thrash Attack. Appolyon and his side kicks were in best mood, while the fans started headbanging as if there is no tomorrow. And that after three days of mud and rain. Having played 8 songs AURA NOIR pretended to leave the stage to come back with the encore Blood Unity. Then a big surprise followed when former singer Aggressor joined AURA NOIR on stage for the first time in five years, walking on crutches and visibly handicapped and performed Sons Of Hades, a song that of course got much celebrated by the crowd. This show was my personal highlight on P:S:O:A 2010.
[Sui] What struck me most was the fact that I finally could hear the bass (Sui is a bass player too, you got it? ;) – Dajana) and the song Unleash The Demon I liked. But Sebastians enthusiasm I cannot share, which might be owned by the skepticism I have for this genre.
Setlist: Upon The Dark Throne, Hell’s Fire, Unleash The Demon, Conquerer, Wretched Face Of Evil, South American Death, Fighting For Hell, Condor// Blood Unity, Sons Of Hades

[Seb] After the organizers have thanked everybody for making this festival happen and ongoing they also affirmed that there will be enough tractors to get the cars out of the mud, starting after the festival is over. Another old traction engine… erm… legend got announced: ladies and gentlemen, please welcome from Birmingham, England: :: NAPALM DEATH :: Almost 30 years the band’s career spans, Barney Greenway since 1989, and it seems, nothing can wear them out. Tired people got awake and it got really crowded now. I even saw fans with a Chinese hat (slightly crude but fancy).
Barney always tried it with German announcements and gave a clear statement to the Nazi shit followed by Nazi Punks Fuck Off. NAPALM DEATH kicked through their set as usual and after 30 minutes Barney told that they played too fast and that they are already done with their set. Of course a couple of more songs followed till the stage crew wanted to stop them. The band gave them the finger but ultimately had to announce „this is gonna be die letzte Song for diese Nacht“ to finish their show. As always brutal, entertaining and much likeable!
[Sui] NAPALM DEATH are not only on this festival, but always unique. Where others don’t give a shit for anything, the Brits show their colors and that very clear and clean. Not only against all kind of Nazi shit (what was high time for P:S:O:A 2010), but also against all kind of religions (incl. Satanism). Barney was some sort of intellectual ray of hope in this darkness of pseudo-heavy blabber a lá Ofermod. Thank you Barney!

[Seb] On such prepared battleground :: SUFFOCATION :: did not have a difficult job, even if singer Frank Mullen is not really of the same kidney. Instead of “peace” he called the crowd up for Cataclysmic Purification, to get best and most heavily armed for the apocalypse. And when he writes a love song it comes up in shape of Entrails Of You. But hell yeah, he knows how to bawl, and his mates delivered pounding heavy Death Metal crushers alongside. In between Mullen dedicated Blood Oath to every metal head on this planet, no matter if he is listening Death, Thrash, Grindcore… or even Hair Metal, when the fans would have decided to wear the sexy underwear of their sisters instead of cool clothing… hehe ;) SUFFOCATION closed their show with Infecting The Crypt and left an exhausted but happy audience.

[Dajana] No rest for the wicked. Mercilessly and undamped the show went on. More Grind, more Shane Embury = :: LOCK UP :: This Swedish/British all star gang blew everybody away with their high speed Grindcore, trying to get the fans up again. But the crowd has reached something of a final mud-low and did not spend much of response. Well, it was fun tho.

[Dajana] Last but not least and to ultimately finish this year’s matter of mud-wrestling called PARTY.SAN 2010 :: CANNIBAL CORPSE :: gave us the final kick in the ass. I actually love the splattering gore deather but I was exhausted and tired too, and way too sober. I watched a couple of songs and then left towards my car. There was another mud rally and a long drive to stand.

[Dajana] After a sleepless night (again) and ABBA all night long I got up early and headed towards home. And nope, I did not get stuck in the mud :) At 12am I already lay in my homey bathtub, totally knackered… *sighs*

:: Summary ::

[Seb] It was the first but definitely not the last time at P:S:O:A. Many pros but also a few cons. The weather I leave aside, there’s no one to blame for.
Pro: chosen bands, same playing time for every band and the combined parking & camp ground. Also great the range of drinks (really friend AND fast) and food.
Con: Ok, the security had even more to do due to the muddy circumstances, but when people in the first rows raise hands for the Hitler-salute or are clearly to made out as Nazis (clothing) they should be deleted from the festival. Also the CD and merch dealer should be checked out in this matter, there was a lot of dubious stuff to find. Oh, and bands such as THE DEVILS BLOOD nobody needs :/
[Sui] Well-done festival! But being a layman to this kind of music I found the one or the band sounding equally. On the other hand I discovered and got surprised by highlights such as SARKE and GHOST BRIGADE, I would never have expected.
[Dajana] It’s all said. I had a blast. Again. Despite of all the mud and rain. I’ll be back in 2011. And for the Nazi shit I gonna ask the organizers directly for a statement…