Carcass - Sacred Reich - Obituary - Pretty Maids - Solstafir - Screamer - Deadlord - Roxxcalibur
[Sui] A cover band to start a festival day with? If not sweat (heat was brutal) skepticism was oozing out of my pores, yet losing ground as quick as :: ROXXCALIBUR :: started playing. All those of you who don’t think that NWOBHM stops with Maiden and Saxon should have found much pleasure attending this show. You hardly ever get all those lost gems of this important era performed live, especially at this high level of quality. The perfect opener for the second festival day!
[Dajana] All beginnings are difficult, also to get up when you are commuting every day. ROXXCALIBUR I just heard from afar while approaching the festival area. I don’t think I missed something spectacular…
:: pics ::
[Dajana] …and entered the pit dead-on for :: DEADLORD ::.
[Psycho] And again retro Rock, this time totally unoriginal and thus totally irrelevant. For those who need…
[Sui] Me, for example. Admittedly, reminiscences of Thin Lizzy are blatant. But, while every second retro Rock band launch into Sabbath and gets outdistanced by the originals, DEADLORD make it to resurrect the spirit of the always underrated Irishmen around Phil Lynott and present themselves as worthy descendants. Such twin guitars bands hardly play nowadays, aside from those who always do. Irrelevance sounds different, but yeah, a bit more originality can’t do any harm. DEADLORD are a young band, just got off the grid so I think they will get their chance.
Setlist: Hank, No More Excuses, Because Of Spite, Ruins, Lugna, Onkalo, Hammer To The Heart
[Sui] As Psycho found Deadlord trivial I had similar sentiments with :: SCREAMER :: Classic heavy Metal, well-done but nothing more. Time for another beer and a walk through the community...
[Psycho] The Swedes introduced their new singer/bass player, who did a good job. At the high pitches of voice he operated still rather unsteady. The traditional heavy/Power Metal is indeed nothing new but I like it. On smaller club stages DEADLORD should leave a bigger impact.
Setlist: Can You Hear Me, Phoenix, Adrenaline Distractions, Slavegrinder, Keep On Walking, No Sleep 'til Hamilton, Demon Rider, Rock Bottom, Screamer
[Dajana] Ah, my favorite Icelanders! And :: SÓLSTAFIR :: seemed to be once again dogged by bad luck. The Flying V of singer/guitarist Aðalbjörn Tryggvason left the plane broken (so it happened on the tour with Long Distance Calling last year – this time Deadlord helped out) and the gents had to struggle through some technical/sound problems. Never mind. I still can close my eyes and let it go. Such unique music, such dense atmosphere. Well, the sun… wasn’t that beneficial. An apocalyptic sky would have suited much better (or an indoor location) ;) You can’t have it all, right? Unfortunately SÓLSTAFIR did not play a new song from their upcoming album Ótta (as they did at other festivals – but you can already stream the title track. In one word: EPIC!). You see, I’m much biased *laughs* Great show guys!
[Sui] Till this day I just knew the name. After this show I took the view that it would be worth it to deal closer with the Icelanders. They sounded a bit as if Pink Floyd would have discovered the amenities of HiGain-amps. Old Fields Of The Nephilim I’d say I heard out too. Those names are just a vague reference. The sound of SÓLSTAFIR is extremely original, very intensive, and much atmospheric, which got a little bit thwarted by the obtrusively sunny weather. At night or in a club such show should work much better.
Setlist: Ljós í Stormi, Svartir Sandar, Fjara, Goddess Of The Ages
[Sui] From the :: PRETTY MAIDS :: I only know the very old classic Future World, an album with one crushing über-hit, a few good ones and a some fillers. Nearly like this tonight’s show turned out to be. Some stirring moments alternated with some trivial 80s mid-tempo rhythms. Besides, there was an overdose of sing-along parts I actually hate during shows. However, the PRETTY MAIDS presented themselves in the best light and are more than just a one-hit-wonder.
[Psycho] Hmm, most of the songs did not really turn me into a good mood. At least the Danish scored with strong self-confidence and a courageous performance that made people happy. Nice to see…
[Dajana] I neither saw the PRETTY MAIDS live, nor do I know many of their songs. I anyway got positively surprised and had a lot of fun watching them rocking the stage.
Setlist: Mother Of All Lies, Nuclear Boomerang, Red, Hot And Heavy, I.N.V.U., I See Ghosts, Yellow Rain, Rodeo, Little Drops Of Heaven, Back To Back, Future World, Sit On My Face
[Psycho] Ah, finally music right in your face! Florida’s own Heavy-Doom-Groove-machine :: OBITUARY :: (happily) did not take any prisoners and steamrolled everything with a brutal set, much to the crowd’s pleasure by the way. With his lion’s mane John Tardy was the eye-catcher and was in good voice. And he knew his lyrics… ;) Amazing show! Just the previously announced special song selection did not contain enough classics…
[Sui] Ok, when it comes to Death Metal I’m mostly skeptical. Many bands, especially from the beginning of this genre, ain’t good enough for more challenging music. OBITUARY do not belong to those bands. Here I rather have the problem that I - not by any stretch of the imagination - can’t detect song structures. One great riff after another, but just loosely connected to each other. Tardy’s vocals did not better my orientation. When I got used to it I enjoyed their punch. OBITUARY definitely know their craft.
Setlist: Stinkpuss, Intoxicated, Bloodsoaked, Immortal Visions, Infected, Visions In My Head, Violence, Chopped In Half, Turned Inside Out, Back To One, The End Complete, Inked In Blood, I’m In Pain, Slowly We Rot
[Psycho] Super personable Phil Rind and his mates proved to be the winner of the ROCK HARD FESTIVAL in 2009. 2014 :: SACRED REICH :: straightforwardly picked up where they left the crowd back then and boiled up the masses. No trick as they only played classics in their special mixture of brutal riffing and catchiness – the perfect festival music. There was no noticeable difference to the show 5 years ago, but where you can’t improve anything anymore…
[Sui] This year it was quite easy to count the bruises I caught in the mosh pit: one huge one on every extremity. There was no other band where almost every song got so frenetically sung along. No other band caused such a turmoil being almost motionless itself. The fact that no song from Heal has found its way onto the setlist was a little bit disappointing. Well, I don’t wonder. Even if Phil Rind underrates his album, there would have not been time and room for more songs. But I think it’s finally time for some new tunes.
Setlist: Independent, One Nation, Love...Hate, Ignorance, State Of Emergency, Death Squad, Crimes Against Humanity, Who's To Blame, RIP/Draining You Of Life, Free, Sweet Leaf/Paranoid, War Pigs, The American Way, Surf Nicaragua
[Psycho] Headlining the second day was surely not an easy task for reunited :: CARCASS ::. But, hats off! All in all they managed it creditably. CARCASS offered a professional and entertaining show I did not expect. Although such extreme headliner is surely not everybody’s taste the arena remained packed and crowded. British veterans delivered a set focusing on their brand new album Surgical Steel, mixed with classics, of course including Heartwork, but also played one songs from the Swansongs CD. Their stage performance was throughout aggressive. At the end nothing to nag about. The Sacred Reich show was just better…
[Sui] Same here. To me, the headliner has already played. Musically CARCASS are just stunning but I can’t do anything with the singing (once again). Compared to Sacred Reich, CARCASS were quite low. Especially during the blast beats you could hear up and downs in the dynamics. Snare almost did not have a chance to get heard. Despite of the extreme music a great final for day 2.
Setlist: Buried Dreams, Incarnated Solvent Abuse, Cadaver Pouch Conveyor System, Carnal Forge, No Lost Love, Unfit For Human Consumption, Edge Of Darkness/ This Mortal Coil/ Reek Of Putrefaction, The Granulating Dark Satanic Mills, Noncompliance To ASTM F 899-12 Standard, Genital Grinder/Pyosisfied (Rotten To The Core)/ Exhume To Consume, Captive Bolt Pistol, Corporal Jigsore Quandary/The Sanguine Article // Black Star/Keep On Rotting In The Free World, Ruptured In Purulence/Heartwork, Carneous Cacoffiny
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