:: pics :: WINGS OF STEEL ::
[Sui] :: WINGS OF STEEL :: :: were the first opener of the festival that I actually caught. My notes: classic heavy rock, good singer, unmistakable role models, but a good opener with a slight Queensrÿche touch. And I don't really have anything to add to that.
[Dajana] Yes, exactly, Queensrÿche came to my mind more than once while I was enthusiastically watching the guys. It didn't take long before the entire NH gang and friends around them were shaking their asses or even storming the mosh pit ;)
[BRT] Snappy up-tempo metal to kick things off. It was fun, even if the whole thing was rather faceless and a bit cheesy. Not really my cup of tea, but yeah, WINGS OF STEEL painted the town red...
Band: Leo Unnermark (vox), Parker Halub (git)
Setlist: Fall In Line, Liar In Love, Cry Of The Damned, Stormchild, She Cries, Gates Of Twilight, Rhythm Of Desire, Wings Of Steel
:: pics :: MAGGOT HEART ::
[Dajana] :: MAGGOT HEART :: were certainly the "outlier" of the festival in terms of style, but they also put on a really great show and really fired up the Amphi theater. The audience really got into it - I didn't expect that.
I had a few thoughts about the outfits in my head too... I'd better leave it ;)
[Sui] MAGGOT HEART was the next "grungy" band to start. Emotional alternative sound, but especially the guitarist seemed almost uninvolved. Instead of interacting with the audience, she preferred to tune her guitar after every second song. Usually, a guitar that is constantly out of tune is either due to a shitty guitar, strings that are too fresh or a playing style that is too heavy. With Linnéa Olsson, however, it was more likely her introverted nature, which unfortunately made the whole show seem strangely unmotivated and in contrast to all the other bands at the RHF. Only during the last song, the front woman came out of her shell a bit, too late.
[BRT] Well, I can't quite agree with that. Although slightly undercooled is part of MAGGOT HEART's repertoire, it was still quite refreshing to get something completely different musically. But perhaps you have to be familiar with the now abundant releases to get used to the band's somewhat unusual sound. It was definitely my thing, even if the stage was a little too big for three musicians. Surely the Berliners around the snappish Linnea Olsson are better off in a small club.
Band: Linnéa Olsson (vox, git), Olivia Airey (bass), Uno Bruniusson (drums)
Setlist: Scandinavian Hunger, Nil By Mouth, Roses, Dusk To Dusk, L.B.D., Looking Back At You, This Shadow, No Song
:: pics :: JOHN DIVE & THE ROCKETS OF LOVE ::
[Dajana] Oops, another band I've never seen live so far. I know glam metal, :: JOHN DIVE & THE ROCKETS OF LOVE :: too. The German Steel Panthers, or are the Americans a copy of the Germans? Nah, Steel Panther were around a decade earlier ;)
[Sui] JOHN DIVA & THE ROCKETS OF LOVEwith their glam rock, the huge backdrop with palm trees, the cliché lyrics and the singer's clearly ambiguous gestures seemed to have fallen out of time. Glam rock has never appealed to me, the whole hair metal thing already passed me by in the 80s original
So why was JOHN DIVA still so much fun? Firstly, because of the clichés, which are exaggerated to the point of parody. Secondly, because they rocked really well and fortunately didn't have any power ballads typical of the time. And thirdly, because the band, including the harmony vocals, was perfectly rehearsed. Not something I would buy or download, but absolutely worth seeing and hearing live.
[BRT] After Maggot Heart kept the stage and the backdrop very minimalist, JOHN DIVA & THE ROCKETS OF LOVE really kicked it up a notch. Everything was huge, everything was colorful and everything was quite pompous. This also included the clichés, the hairstyles and the music, which was a bit too over the top. Nope, I don't have to like it, but at least the pranksters on stage were able to convince some doubters in front of the stage of their qualities.
Band: John Diva (vox), Carsten Stepanowicz (git), Snake Rocket (git), Remmie Martin (bass), Markus Kullmann (drums)
Setlist: Believe, God Made Radio, Wild Wild Life, The Big Easy, Lolita, Bling Bling Marilyn, Runaway Train, Voodoo Sex & Vampires, The Limit Is The Sky, Rocket Of Love
:: pics :: CHAPEL OF DISEASE ::
[Dajana] In February 2023, the band structure of :: CHAPEL OF DISEASE :: had completely fallen apart. Laurent Teubl, the only remaining member, continued the band with a new line-up and released a remarkable album, Echoes Of Light, a year later.
[Sui] Death Metal goes funky - that's what I thought at first. Then it became extremely melodic in parts, with the familiar shredding in between. Doesn't anyone write cool riffs anymore? Didn't knock my socks off. Strangely un-heavy for death metal.
[Seb] Also on Sunday I could only go to the first heavier band of the day. Advertised as the host's number one of the whole festival, I would have expected more. Whenever you thought that CHAPEL OF DISEASE had a riff to build on, the song was "shot down" by miserably long droning. If there's more guitar fiddling and droning than with some guitar legends (see previous day), then something's going wrong - especially if you're supposedly playing death metal.
[BRT] CHAPEL OF DISEASE and I won’t become friends anymore, even though I really would like to like the guys from Cologne better. But unfortunately, it doesn't work. Nothing against the hard rock, classic rock and Dire Straits elements in the once much more death-metallic music, but unfortunately, I completely miss the drive. Because every time a cool riff was played, the Knopfler-resque lead guitars completely botched the song up. It may all have atmosphere, but then the vocals kick in, which always sound like they're being grunted along without any fun or energy.
I just don't know where the band is going, or whether the fear of burning the bridges to old death metal times is too big. Perplexed as usual...
Band: Laurent Teubl (vox, git), Chris N. (git), Marco J. (bass), Sören S. (drums)
Setlist: Echoes Of Light, Null, Song Of The Gods, A Death Though No Loss, Void Of Words, Oblivious - Obnoxious - Defiant, Selenophile
:: pics :: DEMON ::
[Dajana] The NWOBHM heroes from :: DEMON :: had stepped in for Threshold at relatively short notice. DEMON were good, no question about it, they also just released a new album called Invincible, on Friday, after 8 years. But I would have preferred to see Threshold live. Sorry.
[Seb] Absolut nicht meine Musikrichtig, aber ich habe grundsätzlich eine Schwäche für altgediente britische Bands. Für mich die positive Überraschung des Festivals, sehr sympathische Altherren-Riege und nach ca. 45 gemeinsamen Jahren extrem gut aufeinander eingespielt.
[Sui] DEMON took a while to get going with their old school metal, especially as the first heavy downpour so far had started. But the old men really let it rip again. I agree with Sebastian, very likeable, self-ironic and perfectly played.
[BRT] I think DEMON are great, there's plenty of hits, classics and sing-along favorites in their repertoire that you can't fit into one set. Apart from one fairly new song (Face The Master - brand new... 1 day old ;) - Dajana), they only played old hits, but with a lot of enthusiasm. Night Of The Demon as opener, Don't Break The Circle as bouncer, in between Sign Of The Madman or The Plague.
It's a shame that the band has always remained in the shadow of the greats. Well, there were certainly some worse choices, but even in the proggier or more commercial phases, DEMON always had good songs and came back really strong at the beginning of the 90s.
A great concert by old men who didn't come across as old-fashioned at all .
Band: Dave Hill (vox), David Cotterill (git), Paul Hume (git), Paul "Fasker" Johnson (bass), Neil Ogden (drums), Karl Waye (keys)
Setlist: Night Of The Demon, Hurricane, Sign Of A Madman, The Plague, Nowhere To Run, Face The Master, Remembrance Day (A Song For Peace), The Spell, Liar, Don't Break The Circle
:: pics :: EXHORDER ::
[Seb] This was the undisputed highlight of the day for me. Bay Area Groove/Thrash Metal of the highest quality, with a very charismatic frontman. I would have liked a few more of the very old songs that I'm actually still quite familiar with, but of course it's understandable that a current album (Defectum Omnium) shouldn't be neglected at a gig like this.
It's a shame that :: EXHORDER :: never really became famous, while Pantera were able to take off after "stealing" the sound…
[Sui] EXHORDER were the wrecking ball par excellence at the beginning of the 90s. However, the fact that Thrash Metal was already in an artistic dead end at the time prevented the band from receiving the attention they deserved. They can still swing the wrecking ball. Even my old buddy Andy allowed himself to be carried to the mosh pit once again despite blatant knee problems. Unreservedly awesome!
[BRT] Feel free to bash me, but I was never an EXHORDER fan. When all of my buddies were cheering The Law, this record and its predecessor left me pretty unimpressed. But well, live it was a completely different caliber...
EXHORDER had already made a good impression at PartySan, which was really topped here. This was certainly due to frontman Kyle Thomas, who was in a brilliant mood and gave one or two reminiscences from the old days. It was also very funny when bassist Jason wanted to check Kyle Thomas' guitar because something was wrong. Without further ado, the instruments were swapped and the next song was belted out.
Simply great.
By the way, Waldemar Sorychta once again helped out on the second guitar .
[Dajana] Yep, I'm one of those who have already celebrated EXHORDER at the PSOA. And rightly so, as they proved on this fun, albeit somewhat wet Sunday. Definitely highlight number 3 for me!
Band: Kyle Thomas (vox), Waldemar Sorychta (git), Jason Viebrooks (bass), Sasha Horn (drums)
Setlist: My Time, Forever And Beyond Despair, Legions Of Death, Under The Gaslight, Unforgiven, Divide And Conquer, Death In Vain, Wrath Of Prophecies, Year Of The Goat, Exhorder, Desecrator
:: pics :: RIOT V ::
[Sui] Since my need for classic/old school/true metal was more than covered this year, I only listened to the first three songs of :: RIOT V ::. The guys were in a good mood, were celebrated, but somehow, I had the feeling that I had heard it all umpteen times in the last three days. And that was the end of RHF 2024 for me.
[BRT] RIOT V were also my last band of the festival, and I can only agree with Sui.
Everything was actually right, but didn't really reach me anymore. After three days of the festival, the batteries were dead and at that moment I could hardly stand Todd Michael Hall's high-pitched vocals. RIOT V are certainly a great band, I have a few albums at home and songs like Swords & Tequila belong at every metal party. But the position as co-headliner was rather ungrateful .
Band: Todd Michael Hall (vox), Nick Lee (git), Mike Flyntz (git), Don Van Stavern (bass), Frank Gilchriest (drums)
Setlist: Hail To The Warriors, Fight For Fall, Victory, On Your Knees, Feel The Fire, Road Racin', Warrior, Bring The Hammer Down, Johnny's Back, Bloodstreets, Love Beyond The Grave, Flight Of The Warrior, Swords And Tequila // Magic Maker, Thundersteel
:: pics :: D-A-D ::
[Dajana] By nature, I always have to stay until the end (or at least I should ;)). The last one turns out the light, right?). And that was difficult. :: D-A-D :: have been at the ROCK HARD FESTIVAL before, twice. Now for the third time, as headliner of the last festival day.
Well, Primordial, Amorphis, Unleashed, Grave Digger, Overkill, Asphyx... have all been at RHF (at least) 3 times... my gosh... Sodom even 6 times... Could be one of the reasons for the empty round and the decreasing numbers in general... God knows there are legions of interesting bands to have a varied billing for 20 years without repeating anything. Oh, I'm repeating MYSELF...
Anyway, D-A-D went strong with a great stage setting, while the outfit, instruments and performance were old hat - you've seen it all before. Nice, but I had run out of steam too. I was tired and longed for my bed. One last look over my shoulder, down into the round, then I left with the festival smell and the slowly fading sounds in the distance...
Goodbye ROCK HARD FESTIVAL. See you again next year. Wherever ;)
Band: Jesper Binzer (vox, git), Jacob Binzer (git, vox), Stig Pedersen (bass, vox), Laust Sonne (drums, vox)
Setlist: The Road Below Me, Burning Star, Point Of View, 1st 2nd & 3rd, The Ghost, Grow Or Pay, Monster Philosophy, Everything Glows, Johnnie, Call Of The Wild, Jackie O', Isn't That Wild, Bad Craziness, Sleeping My Day Away, Jihad, It's After Dark |
