Bloodbath - Sólstafir - Legion Of The Damned - Naglfar - Destruction - Immolation - Satan - Vomitory - Suicidal Angels - Jungle Rot - Svartidauði - Vulvodynia // Deathrite - Malkarpatan - Undergang - Damnation Defaced - Carnal Tomb - Goat Explosion - Black Mood

:: Pics ::

[Dajana] After a (much needed) slightly rainy evening and half of the night sun blazed all over the airfield early in the morning. To our luck with a fresh breeze. We all got a proper tan ;)
And here we go, the last festival day. No rest for the wicked! The infield was sparkling clean again. Wow. How awesome! Thank you for that. Seems, the increased cup deposit pays off. I like it.

[Dajana] The matinée one hour earlier than we are used too, at 10 am. Just because to put another band on the tent stage. Is that really necessary? Two bands in the tent and then, without any break we started into the last day at the main stage. Bands in the tent I left aside. There is already enough action (and work to do) on the main stage.

[Dajana] To get in full swing, South Africa’s squad :: VULVODYNIA :: brought us some excellent brutal Death Metal. Never heard of them before. And they blew me away. The guys had a hell of fun onstage, and so had the crowd in front of. It was really crowded out there. Loved them. Much more I was fascinated by the 8-string multiscale guitars (Goliath GTR Multiscale by Ormsby). Killer! No idea when the guys arrived at PSOA but it seemed they made new friends in a twinkling of an eye. During the show, the Stillbirth singer appeared for guest vocals. And another one too.
Oh, by the way, VULVODYNIA have just released their third record Mob Justice they played a couple of songs from. Yeah! Cool stuff. I really enjoyed the show. And I’m wide awake now ;)

[Dajana] :: SVARTIDAUÐI :: - Icelandic Black Metal. Usual a hooded band, they did it without. Too many bands on this festival appeared hooded. So they performed with simple masquerade and shoe cream corpse-paint. Well, hmm, it was ok, wasn’t it?
[BRT] I like SVARTIDAUÐI, but to me, it didn’t work. Too early, too sunny, you know, tea and cake time. That prejudiced the atmosphere. Flesh Cathedral and Revelations Of The Black Sword are great records. Check out and enjoy the band in a dark and smoky club. Solid performance, good sound.
[Öko] SVARTIDAUÐI don’t convince me live, neither on a big stage nor in a club. But I like them on CD.

[Dajana] I always fancied :: JUNGLE ROT ::. No matter, if at an early time, a lot of sun, whatever, JUNGLE ROT downright wowed me. Lots of fun to watch them, especially singer and guitarist Dave Matrise pulling faces, lots of fun to rock out with them. And what has Geoff Bub done with his hair? He looked like he forgot to get his curler out. Nevermind. Another highlight to me.
[BRT] To me, JUNGEL ROT is just another old school Death Metal band. But they indeed did a great job there live on stage. Though, no song got stuck. Maybe I should give them a chance in a club.
[Öko] I don't care a pap for JUNGEL ROT. They do not harm, but don’t thrill me either. Listenable on CD, live too.

[Dajana] :: SUICIDAL ANGELS :: - Thrash Metal instead of Death. Can't do any harm in between ;) The Greek Slayer minime’s for sure delivered a powerful show. As usual. It’s ok to watch.
[BRT] Well, to me it is a similar matter as with Legion Of The Damned: saved under most boring bands on earth. And as reliable as they are, SUICIDAL ANGELS proved me right again. Terribly boring.
[Öko] Unfortunately, I have to agree with BRT. They just copy trademarks of other bands. Zero originality. But the live show was ok.

[Dajana] Ok, back to Death Metal then ;) :: VOMITORY :: has been great but not as great as Jungle Rot. Perhaps my system just ran out of beer… lunchtime.
[BRT] I used to like them. Here my memory left me…
[Öko] Here I was actually much looking forward to see VOMITORY. I have never seen them playing live before. Death Metal thrashing the way I like it. But they should work on their stage-acting. On the other hand, I guess, after their disbanding in 2013 they did not play often together, do they?

[BRT] :: SATAN :: is currently one of the best live bands around, so I was looking forward to see them. Unfortunately, guitarist Steve Ramsey fell ill and had to sit out recent shows. So, the most underrated guitar-duo of Heavy Metal, Ramsey/Tipppins, did not happen tonight. Did not sound well and singer Brian Ross was out of tune too. I needed to flee…
[Öko] Have seen them often and like to see them again and again, the SATANists, but without Steve Ramsey? Um… no. I took a break and reminisced about their great shows during the last couple of years instead.

[BRT] Meanwhile in the tent… Danish Death metallers :: UNDERGANG :: destroyed… erm… the tent. Pure brutal Death Metal the Incantation way. An extremely tight playing band, an elemental force, almost like Bolt Thrower. Brutality I would have loved to see at the Incantation show. Killer! You definitely have missed something specials colleagues! So I did too as I missed Malokarpatan and Deathrite at a later hour in the tent. Maximum saturation…
[Dajana] Well, you can’t do them all at once…

[Dajana] Nope, :: DESTRUCTION :: is not my cup of tea. Same story as with Belphegor. Not my cup of tea…
[BRT] Nope, don’t need them either. I like some old records of them but the reunion was unnecessary.
[Öko] Ditto.

[BRT] :: IMMOLATION :: right after made the totally failed last PSOA show forget in one second. The band is right now on tour, very well-rehearsed and celebrated its dark and nasty Death Metal in the best way possible. Sound was top, punching, and the band kicked so much asses as if they had to exorcize Satan personally from the field. They played with such passion. Watching the crazy guitar-dance-moves by Robert Vigna might have been funny yet did not change the highly likeable charisma of this unique band. Top #3 highlight this year.
[Öko] Killer! Excellent show of the Death Metal veterans around the much likeable Robert Vigna. It is quite interesting what contorted movements he is able to do live on stage. Musically, the premier league of Death Metal. I also like their early Thrash Metal beginnings in Rigor Mortis ((Vigna and Wilkinson). But IMMOLATION tops them a few levels. My #2 of the festival after Rotting Christ and before Sólstafir.

[Dajana] Now I was much looking forward to see :: NAGLFAR :: playing. It has been silent around the band for ages. Now it seems they woke up from their deep slumber. Great show, but… again… shoe crème corpse-paint? Is that trve?
[BRT] They started strong and then strongly slackened. Ok, don’t know much from their discography, but I know that many were eager to see them finally again. Need to check them out on CD again. Live they just were again average.
[Öko] It was a bit disappointing what the Swedes offered here. I was looking forward to this show too. But, as usual at Black Metal shows, the big stand around and looking on the fretboard was dominating. Musically, there was nothing to nag about. For that, the material is just too strong.

[Dajana] The return of the sons of the Jackal. Didn’t :: LEGION OF THE DAMNED :: disband? Do we need a reunion?
[BRT] No, no, no! See above at Suicidal Angels. An absolutely unnecessary and overrated band.
[Öko] Watched from the catering area. Was ok.

[Dajana] Since the drummer story back then, :: SÓLSTAFIR :: remain an ambivalent matter to me. Though, the show was highly atmospheric, dense, and intensive, even if much light-less and smoky. There has been fire, but much later during the show. Methinks, the band had some sound problems in the beginning. Oh, and bass player Svavar Austman was on board again. He had to sit out last US and European tours and was temporarily replaced by Ragnar Zolberg (I would have loved to see with the band).
[BRT] Wow! After a day full of brutal thrashing, the SÓLSTAFIR show was a very welcome change, a pure feast for ears. Meanwhile the night has closed in and the light show unfolded its magic to the emotionally epic and psychedelic songs. This I call a stunning show!
Sure, that story was nasty and shows what kind of person singer Aðalbjörn is, but well, it happened, nothing to change anymore. It was a stunning show!
[Öko] I can only agree with BRT. There was real epic to hear. Did not see that much as my feet tried to kill me so that I sat down on a roofed bench. Right after I finished the festival. Bloodbath I listened to from the tent.

[Dajana] :: BLOODBATH :: headlining PSOA 2019. You sure can debate about it. BLOODBATH played a good show. Nothing spectacular but a good show. There was just nothing to see. Just like during Sólstafir show or during Hypocrisy on Thursday: minimum light, maximum smoke. I have seen shadows…
[BRT] Yes, you can talk about if BLOODBATH is a headliner or not… I never cared for them. It’s ok what they do but nothing I would buy a record of. Accordingly, I had no expectations towards the last show of the festival. Well, solid, without highlights. Nice, without charisma and less recognition value. Unspectacular. I think a band like BLOODBATH does not work properly on a big stage. The performance was rather lethargic, even if they have some great songs. Sound was good, lights ok, anything else? Nope.

story © BRT, Öko, Dajana • pics © Dajana & Dajana Winkel • Photography