Author: Rok Klemše
Location: Vojenska pevnost Josefov, Jaromer, the Czech Republic
Concert date: 12.08.2011
Attendance: 15,000
On the third day, too, we were woken by the morning sun, which, like Plato’s allegory of the cave, promised that something good was in store for us. Right after poking our heads out of the tents came the obligatory coffee in the center of Josefov, and soon after it, the first dark Primator. Hey, it looks just like Coca-Cola, haha.
Josefov got its good morning from American gothic doomers A Pale Horse Named Death, led by former Type O Negative guitarist Sal Abruscato, with his bandmate from the same group, Johnny Kelly, behind the kit. The two carry on the TON legacy nicely, and with their genre-similar music the spirit of the late Pete Steele lives on through them. It’s just that all that slow, heavy, morbid and melancholic music was a bit too much for a crumpled morning.
That the closing stretch of Brutal Assault 2011 would be top-notch was announced by none other than cult American black metallers Absu. What could be nicer than sipping coffee (and beer) while Absu burn the stage down at ten in the morning, led by legendary drummer Proscriptor McGovern? Absu took us on a phenomenal trip into their world of mythological, occult black metal, ruled by the drum salvos of the inhumanly good Proscriptor. He doesn’t just handle the octopus-armed drumming, but the raw, aggressive vocals too. It’s truly unbelievable how the guy manages to drum something so complicated and sing at the same time, and at full force no less. Even though Proscriptor was completely out of breath between the announcements, the extremely demanding performance didn’t let him down for a second.
The great start continued at a somewhat slower pace with Seventh Void, yet another lineup made up of former Type O Negative members, namely Johnny Kelly (drums) and Kenny Hickey (vocals, guitar). The stoner trio presented their only released album so far, Heaven is Gone, and the mighty, heavy stoner riffs set an ever-growing crowd swaying into slow headbanging, a crowd that was slowly but steadily gathering in front of the Brutal Assault stages.
Sweden’s Draconian also wrapped us in a dark veil of majestic, epic-sounding, gothic-tinged doom metal, and an excellent show was made even better by the epically long, richly layered songs and the fantastic vocal performance of the charming vocalist Lisa Johansson (who, sadly, left the band soon after the Brutal Assault gig). The guys and the girl mainly presented their still-current album A Rose For the Apocalypse.
The first real tidal wave crashed into Josefov when the Dutch instrumental wizards Exivious took the stage. The lineup today consists of guitarist Tymon Kruidenier, bassist Robin Zielhorst (both former members of Cynic who played on the album Traced In Air), guitarist Michel Nienhuis and drummer Yuma Van Eekelen (ex-Pestilence). In three quarters of an hour, the four-piece presented songs from their debut Exivious (2009), on which the Dutchmen pulled off a perfect fusion of metal and jazz. We witnessed pure musical orgasm: syncopated guitar riffs where the two guitars rarely played the same lines, ethereal solos from Tymon and a killer rhythm section. The excellent sound made sure all the changes in rhythm and tempo, and there were plenty, came through clearly, and the superb execution is just more proof that the musicians of Exivious are nothing less than masters of their craft. A band that metalheads and jazzers alike can easily get into isn’t for everyone, since the music is technically extremely complex, which is exactly why it was great to see that Exivious already had a fair number of people in front of the stage, who rewarded the band accordingly for a great show.
We then danced to completely different rhythms with Latvian pagan folk metallers Skyforger, who are known mostly for having been accused in the past of all sorts of things like Nazism, fascism and the like. Skyforger of course have nothing to do with any of those isms, and the swastika on the singer’s pendant is, of course, a symbol of the sun. You can tell from the lyrics, too, that Skyforger are no bogeyman but a quality folk metal band dealing with serious folk themes rather than idiotic drinking songs in the style of Korpiklaani and similar bands. Skyforger delivered an extremely solid show backed by the energetic performance of the bassist and both guitarists.
Then the crowd boiled over once more, because thrash heavyweights Forbidden majestically marched onto the stage. The very first bars of the opener March Into Fire set Josefov alight, raised the temperature by at least ten degrees and the crowd went wild. The moshing and hair-whipping showed no sign of letting up until the very end. Forbidden stood before us in the lineup of Russ Anderson (vocals), Steve Smythe (guitar; ex-Nevermore), Craig Locicero (guitar), Matt Camacho (bass), and Mark Hernandez (ex-Vio-Lence, Heathen, Defiance) behind the kit, who replaced Paul Bostaph, who officially left the band soon after. Well, Mark did a brilliant job, and you really couldn’t tell Paul Bostaph was missing. Most eyes were fixed on legendary vocalist Russ “The Walrus” Anderson, who has clearly put on quite a few pounds (too many Big Macs?), but with excellent singing, on both the classics and the new songs, he proved the claims that he can no longer hit the highest registers were completely wrong. Russ sang more than excellently for the whole hour and, like the rest of the band, proved that Forbidden’s decade-long absence from the stage doesn’t show in the slightest. The Locicero/Smythe duo easily blew minds with refined solos and crushing riffs that have become history, and Camacho, despite staying in the background, got into the show like nobody’s business. There’s really no point wasting words on individual songs: Forbidden spread out some of the most cult thrash tracks of all time before us – Step By Step, Twisted Into Form, Through Eyes of Glass and the closing anthem Chalice of Blood – and added to them the fresh numbers Forsaken At the Gates and the title track of the current album Omega Wave, which is proof that Forbidden age like fine wine, and they put out one of the best “come-back” albums ever. The only minus was the shortness of the set, but never mind, Forbidden gave us one of the best concerts of Brutal Assault 2011 and they themselves were more than visibly happy with the response, especially the constantly grinning Russ and stage animal Craig.
Meanwhile, on the neighboring stage, Spanish goregrinders Haemorrhage had already eaten some brains and a few limbs, serving up a real lesson in brutal gore, crowned by their stage outfits – guitarist Luisma was dressed in surgical gear, bassist Ana Belen de Lopez as a sexy nurse, and the unhinged, psychotic vocalist Lugubrious took care of the blood showers, gnawing on a human leg and drinking from a bowl of human brains. I was dying of laughter through their whole set, though in fact the Spaniards don’t play bad grind at all, which, perfectly in line with the genre, is backed by gore themes and odes to all sorts of operations. But the fact is, I wouldn’t let these Spanish surgeons put me under the knife voluntarily for anything in the world.
The dismal tones continued with American shock industrialists Genitorturers, led by the wife of David Vincent (Morbid Angel), who sound as dismal live as some kind of female version of Rob Zombie. You can rest your eyes a bit on Mrs. Vincent, who is dressed in full fetish gear and clearly parades around the stage like a dominatrix with a whip. Definitely a show that you watch more than you listen to, and I really missed a remote with a “mute” button.
Things really kicked off again when the lights went out and the intro Ultima Thule thundered from the speakers. Without any muffled breathing, you knew it was coming. Vader. The Polish death metal beast, which for a quarter of a century has been sowing its vision of devastating death metal around the world, without mercy and without stopping, under the leadership of the unstoppable Piotr “Peter” Wiwczarek. Right before Brutal Assault, Vader released their ninth studio album Welcome to the Morbid Reich, which is without a doubt one of the strongest releases in Vader’s discography and was also the central theme of this gig. Peter once again gathered a fresh crew around him, one that’s so confident and tight it sounds like they’ve been playing together ever since the debut The Ultimate Incantation. Peter commands the crew like a great leader and, with his roaring vocals, which haven’t weakened one bit, he criticizes religion and war and invites you into realms of darkness and tentacled Lovecraftian beings. Those tentacles caress you gently, but it’s all just a nice trick, until they grab you and drag you into the demonic world, whispering “we have such sights to show you” while they abuse every possible orifice, and Vader provide a fantastic “soundtrack” to this agony with tectonic crushers like The Wrath, Wings, Sothis, Impure. This time Peter gathered a truly top-class crew around him, as proven by drummer James Stewart with his animal-brutal and surgically precise drumming, and new guitarist Spider (Marek Pajak), who showed off with excellent soloing and good ideas that bring even more variety and freshness to Vader. On top of that, he nicely counters Peter’s constant jerking off of pinch harmonics and abuse of the tremolo. Through a top-notch set, Vader took us all the way to the end with, surprisingly, covers of Black Sabbath and Raining Blood.
The final evening carried on a bit less earth-shatteringly with epic folk metallers Turisas, desperately boring Canadian techies Cryptopsy, Christian metalcore band As I Lay Dying, the yawn-yawn ambient merchants Anathema and Brazilian veterans Sepultura. The only true headliners, really, were Switzerland’s Triptykon, who carry on the legacy of the cult Celtic Frost with the legendary Tom G. Warrior. Their set, too, mostly consisted of classics from these black metal pioneers – Procreation (of the Wicked), Circle of Tyrants and, to close, the nailed-it anthem Winter. Tom proved once again that he is one of the most unique frontmen in metal history, again with the obligatory black cap and black-painted eyes. His sinister vocals still work just the way they should, and Tom, with the guitar designed for him by none other than H.R. Giger, seems to be one with it. Sinister, morbid and oh so fitting for the close of this year’s festival. It went on with Kataklysm, black metallers 1349 and Khold and funeral doomers Ahab, but for me all that was left was a farewell beer and gathering strength for the trip home. See you at Brutal Assault 2012? Of course!
Setlist
Blood Red Throne A Pale Horse Named Death Trigger The Bloodshed Absu Seventh Void Draconian Kvelertak Exivious Skyforger Forbidden Haemorrhage Genitorturers Blood For Blood Vader Turisas Cryptopsy As I Lay Dying Anathema Sepultura Triptykon Kataklysm 1349 Khold Ahab Dagoba
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