Turbonegro - Kverlertak - Krisiun - RAM - Jex Thoth - Deathfist

[Dajana] Geez… how did I miss that! Finally the open air season has begun. I started early coz of traffic and parking situations but arrived without any problems and found a parking place for free nearby. Great. Festival mood arises immediately, sun, blue sky and the first festival beer. Live can’t be any better :)

:: pics ::

[Dajana] Relaxed and smiling I walk towards the stage and photo pit and welcome first colleagues. Finally the festival gets kicked off by local Thrash Metal heroes :: DEATHFIST :: Still a young band with a petit but great female singer. Wow! I’m impressed. Didn’t have them on the screen so far. Damn. Songs came all from the band’s 2010 debut Too Hot To Burn, except one I suppose is a brand new one. Great opener, great music, great beginning. I’m thrilled ;)
Setlist: Too Hot To Burn, Deathfist, Demons, Ruins, Hell Is Here, Splendour Of Death, Slay Her, Prey, World Of Darkness, Booze Brigade

[Dajana] Next up is :: JEX THOTH :: a band I was curious about. Hailing from Madison, Wisconsin JEX THOTH play a blend of Psychedelic Rock/Doom I absolutely like. Singer Jex Thoth is a charismatic and beautiful lady performing intensively. Just the sun is a bit counterproductive against music and atmosphere ;) Doomed by the sun or so *laughs* Thumbs up!
Setlist: Kagemni, Stone Evil, Obsidian Night, Raven Nor Spirit, Slow Rewind, Eclipsed, Separated At Birth, Nothing Left To Die, Warrior Woman

[Dajana] Swedish traditional metallers :: RAM :: disappointed me somehow afterwards. Don’t know what I actually expected and they for sure did not fail musically, not at all, but they could not captivate me either…
[Psycho] As I just arrived from my vacation trip I first started towards the festival some time later and second came from another direction and caught me such a big traffic jam that it took more than an hour instead of normally 15 minutes to arrive in Gelsenkirchen. Then I had to face this closed car park thingy and had to find a slot anywhere in the back of beyond. Long walking, huge queue at the press point to get me passes. What the hell are the journalists talking about there for hours? It didn’t take minute when it was up to me to get my wristband and pass. However, when I finally step down the stairs to the Amphi arena I get the last 1 ½ songs of R.A.M., a band I was especially looking for on this Friday. F**k!
Setlist: Flame Of The Tyrants, Awakening The Chimaera, In Victory, Sudden Impact, Forced Entry, I Am The End, Under The Scythe, Machine Invaders, Infuriator

[Psycho] Okay. Taking a breath, saying hello to some of the friends and a beer, before :: KRISIUN :: enter the stage. Brazilian Death Metal warriors start playing extremely enthused and get a likewise frenetic response as first moshpits occur. Sound is even ok although the wind took its toll. Generally it seems that they pumped up the volume. KRISIUN play a great best-of set, thrashing and grooving, pleasing the crowd. Only Max’s drum solo was rather unnecessary. It was clearly to hear out during the entire show that he isn’t the worst one. However, show was great, mood too. KRISIUN just could have moved a little bit more.
[Dajana] I’d say it was a classic KRISIUN show. Nothing more, nothing less. You got what you expected. At least my neck was warmed up now ;)
Setlist: Ominous, Combustion Inferno, The Will To Potency, Vicious Wrath, Descending Abomination, Hatred Inherit, Slain Fate, Ravager, Bloodcraft, Kings Of Killing

[Dajana] Another band I was really looking for: :: KVELERTAK :: I already have heard so many things about their all destroying shows… and what can I tell? They blow everything away! Really! Have hardly seen a band so freaking out on stage, going wild and run riot. These Norwegian gents are just crazy. Totally! And they enthused and thrilled anybody out there, no matter if interested in the music or not. No one could resist. They still presented songs from their self-titled debut and one brand new one called Spring. It was truly a hell of a show and for me the highlight of ROCK HARD FESTIVAL day one!
[Psycho] After Krisiun left I was in need of some food and was annoyed about the rise of prices, and then I watched KVELERTAK. They belong to the bands I never dealt with so far. What caught my eyes first was the nice stage deco: 4 Orange stacks, nothing else ;) Then it’s getting wild on stage. All of the thee guitarists, the bass player and singer Erlend used every inch on stage to permanently move, run and jump. I expected more blast parts. Most time KVELERTAK ranged in mid-tempo fields, mixing up with 3-guitar-tunes in between. Great musicianship, but not really my cup of tea. Besides, it seemed that the guys didn’t have enough material to play live and went off stage 10 minutes too early. If you think about of how many songs Krisiun could have played more instead…
[Sui] As my esteemed colleague Psycho already told, it wasn’t that easy to find way towards Gelsenkirchen and the Amphitheater or the next parking area. Not knowing the area that well I had to go through an unintended sight-seeing tour before arriving the ROCK HARD FESTIVAL. So I wasn’t in best mood when I came in listening to last songs of KVELERTAK. But that changed quickly. KVELERTAK were the first positive surprise to me. Surprisingly headbanging-compatible these Norwegian guys rocked and grooved as hell.
Setlist: Sjøhyenar (Havets Herrer), Fossegrim, Blodtørst, Sultans Of Satan, Spring, Liktorn, Offernatt, Ulvetid, Nekroskop, Ordsmedar Av Rang, Mjød

[Dajana] Okay, let’s see if :: TURBONEGRO :: are worth money and displeasure about a weakening festival line-up. In fact the Amphitheater was now packed, and sold out as editor-in-chief- Götz Kühnemund announced. Fans were in best mood. I’d say: aimed high and won. It was my first ever TURBONEGRO show and was taken. It was a good show, but can’t understand the hype.
[Sui] It was said that TURBONEGRO was the most expensive band the ROCK HARD FESTIVAL has seen so far. Sorry, that was bad investment. The dudes were for sure not any bad, as for that they are way too professional. But headlining such festival? Even at classics such as Denim Demon sparks didn’t want to ignite. The weak point was exactly there, where a legendary band can’t effort such weak point: the frontman. The pseudo-gay stage-acting, which looked cool when Hank von Helvete did it (although he came out as homophobic), now appeared to be contrived and insincere at Tony Sylvester. His voice indeed is raspy and rock’n’roll-like and actually suits the band well, but is also somehow replaceable. Too bad, I was locking forward to TURBONEGRO.
Setlist: All My Friends Are Dead, Back To Dungaree High, You Give Me Worms, I Got A Knife, T.N.A. (The Nihilistic Army), Get It On, Denim Demon, Mister Sister, Shake Your Shit Machine, Hello Darkness, Do You Do You Dig Destruction, Wasted Again, Fuck The World (F.T.W.), Turbonegro Must Be Destroyed // The Age Of Pamparius, The Prince Of Rodeo, I Got Erection

[Dajana] Whoops! The first festival day is already done. Damn… Can someone please stop time? With a glowing but smiling and happy face and burnt shoulders I take my way back home, already looking forward to the next day, supposed to be the best regarding the bands :)