The golden mean turned out to be a hellish one this time, because Tolmin got probably one of the worst heat waves of the summer. But the most beautiful festival site in the world has the Soča to cool down overheated heads, loads of side events on the beach (I’m still not quite sure whether morning yoga and stretching to a dance choreography set to metal is the dumbest or the best thing under the sun), a wide choice of beer in Slovenska vas, and a wonderfully laid-back vibe all around. But I really don’t envy the bands who had to step into the hell of the Lemmy stage in the afternoon scorch.
Local grind bulldozer Glista had the luck of playing the BB stage in the relative shelter of the tree canopy. Nature didn’t provide a breath of wind, but Glista whipped up a proper hurricane on stage. The guys, a bit tipsy, still served up a proper grind shot. This genre always gets a great response from the crowd on the BB stage, and this time was no different: a nice number of people gathered in front of the stage, and Glista served them tracks from the debut Death Machinery without mercy. This gig was the last one with drummer Tegla, who did an excellent job, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the rest of the four-piece finds a fitting replacement as soon as possible. Disco fever!
What followed was a lot more monotonous, as Catalan black/death band Atrexial took the stage. They played Winterdays of Metal last year and already made it clear then that they’re a painfully obvious clone of Polish giants Behemoth. So we got countless blast beats, riff-shooting, quasi-epic interludes with clean vocals and songs that were as alike as two peas in a pod. So it was better to check the temperature in front of the Lemmy stage, which was nowhere near human, and Irish metalcore band Dead Label successfully pushed it up a few more degrees. The genre they play isn’t exactly my cup of tea, but the Irishmen thoroughly loosened up the neck muscles, because during the breakdowns they successfully work in fat groove elements that bring them pretty close to the late Chimaira and Sepultura’s Roots era. Besides the energetic vocalist, who won people over with a varied and powerful voice and a few moves, the biggest surprise was the tiny Claire Percival, who pounded the drums without mercy in the worst of the afternoon heat.
Meanwhile, over on the BB stage it was time for a lesson in brutal death metal, courtesy of the seasoned Italian Hour of Penance, who have already played Slovenia a few times. From this band you expect nothing but fast riffs, fast pedals and blast beats from the drum side, plus the odd technically demanding passage. The vocals of guitarist Paolo Pieri fit the bill, backing up the instrumental brutalization with a growl. Despite a tight band, the Hour of Penance set felt monotonous. With the exception of a song or two, everything was based on speed, which results in a lack of variety. A solid show that mostly warmed the hearts of brutal-music fans.
Meanwhile, there was something for gentler death metal souls at the Lemmy stage, as after many years you could catch Finnish melodic death/power metallers Kalmah on stage again. They came back to the live scene last year with the album Palo after a five-year studio drought. Early in their career the Finns kicked up quite a bit of dust with a first run of four quality studio albums (Swamplord, They Will Return, Swampsong, The Black Waltz), and then more or less sank into oblivion. This time Kalmah put on a very solid show which, unlike their countrymen, hardly brings the typical Finnish melancholy into the melodic death metal base, but we didn’t get much more than that. The songs from the “swamp” albums got the crowd on its feet the most, but overall Kalmah satisfied undemanding appetites for melodic death metal.
There was really no shortage of hardcore at the festival this year. But this time it was a slightly different kind of hardcore. A sextet called Une Misere stepped onto the BB stage. The Icelandic band delivered punchy hardcore with a considerable emotional edge. With three guitars, they made sure they were heard loud and clear. It’s not exactly reinventing the wheel, but the band’s more emotional approach and powerful sound give them something specific. They don’t have much material behind them, but there’s some potential for something bigger to come out of it.
Something different awaited on the main stage, where Norwegian owls Kvelertak flew in for the first time in the festival’s history. They’re no strangers to our stages, having played Ljubljana at least twice. Last year the Norwegians shocked fans with the news that the iconic original vocalist Erlend Hjelvik was leaving the band. The singer, known for his owl headgear and for raging around the stage shirtless like a beast, was the band’s real mascot, and the new vocalist Ivar Nikolaisen was met with a lot of skepticism. But the Norwegian black ‘n rollers knew what they were picking, and right after the instrumental intro to Apenbaring Ivar made it clear that he’s a beast of his own, who looks less like a drunken Norwegian lumberjack and more like something from an MTV reality show, but never mind. With one of the most energetic and positive shows of the festival, Kvelertak easily won the crowd over and thrilled it with great renditions of the hits Bruane Brenn, Blodtørst, Berserkr, Mjød and the closing anthem Kvelertak, which wouldn’t get out of our ears even after the Norwegians had already waved goodbye.
For Stoned Jesus, the area below the BB stage filled up properly. You could smell in the air that plenty of people had lit up a joint of “grass”. The band’s name probably says it all. Stoned Jesus’ hard work has clearly paid off. Just a few years ago the band played Gromka at Metelkova, and now they had a packed crowd in front of the Boško Bursać stage. The Ukrainian trio plays pretty average stoner metal. The riffs develop slowly, the songs are long, and it takes quite a while before the music speeds up a bit. Nothing earth-shattering for stoner. And with Stoned Jesus too it felt like they recycled Black Sabbath riffs a lot. Apparently that’s a formula you can’t avoid. But there must have been something about Stoned Jesus to draw such a big audience.
Interestingly, you could feel among festival-goers that one of the most eagerly awaited bands was Greek black metal giants Rotting Christ, especially after they had to step in for one of the bigger names on the Metaldays 2019 bill, the later-cancelled Phil Anselmo & The Illegals. The Greeks took their mission devilishly seriously, took the stage like kings and held the crowd in a state of absolute trance for a good hour. Charismatic Sakis Tolis had the crowd in his fist from the first song, the somewhat monotonous Hallowed Be Thy Name, and didn’t let go until the last breath of the anthem Non Serviam. Sakis’s monolithic silhouette at times looked like the famous statue of Baphomet, and the superb performance of the whole band, together with great lighting and pyro, kept us enchanted to the end. Only a pity about the somewhat (too) short set, which was mostly newer material, with the exception of the ancient The Forest of N’Gai and the closing Non Serviam. Superb!
Meanwhile, Danish doom metal band Saturnus had already taken the BB stage. According to the description they were supposed to play sludge metal too, which turned out not to be true in the slightest. The band started slowly, like some funeral doom, say. A bit unpromising, but a turn followed. With the next song the tempo picked up, and a melodic guitar came to the fore that just wouldn’t let up. Saturnus swam in melancholic melodies through the entire show. Everything worked, but it’s precisely the melodicism that makes them special. Definitely the surprise of the festival, and proof of how varied doom/death metal can be. Here’s hoping the band releases a new album soon, because the last one came out in 2012. Judging by this show, Saturnus definitely deserve more recognition.
On the third day the main stage was reserved for Dream Theater, the so-called pioneers of progressive metal. This year the band released a new album, Distance Over Time, which by the reviews is far better than the fiasco called The Astonishing. Logically the focus was on the current record, but Dream Theater didn’t present an especially good repertoire. They even skipped the legendary album Images & Words. From Scenes from a Memory, which marks 20 years this year, they played only Dance of Eternity. Dream Theater still play competently. John Petrucci shows a small sea of tricks in the shortened set. The rhythm section of John Myung and Mike Mangini is confident. Keyboardist Jordan Rudess remains a virtuoso, but with certain keyboard sounds his contribution spoils the whole sonic picture and makes it kitschy, or fit for a Walt Disney cartoon. What has become extremely annoying with Dream Theater in recent years is the vocals. James LaBrie has long since been out of form. His tone cuts into the ears, and the high vocals are downright dreadful. Musically, too, you couldn’t feel that Dream Theater wanted to show anything overly progressive. With the song selection it seemed more like the band wanted to show off its technical skills. During the long solo sections it felt like the members were jamming jam with each other as if at rehearsal. There were bright spots in between, like the song Lie from Awake and the closing As I Am from Train of Thought. But that wasn’t enough to rank them among the best shows of the festival. To justify the expectations, Dream Theater will need to be given a chance at a standalone gig. After all, they’ve announced a tour for next year on which they’ll play the whole of Scenes from a Memory.
After LaBrie’s squealing, British progressive black/death metal veterans Akercocke were a real balm for the ears to close out day three. The cult London band made its mark in history above all with the legendary albums Choronzon and Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone, a unique approach to the genre, erotic Satanist themes and performing in proper tuxedos. Akercocke stopped operating in 2012 and surprisingly returned to the live scene three years ago in their original lineup, and on top of that last year released a superb comeback album, Renaissance in Extremis. Anyone who had watched their live shows before the Metaldays gig could rightly fear for the quality of the performance, but Jason Mendonça and co. nipped every doubt in the bud. Akercocke shone in exceptional form: superb tightness, a nasty, loud sound and the beastly vocals of Mendonça, who pulled ultra-deep growls straight from the ninth circle of hell and surprised with excellently executed clean vocals too. Without a doubt one of the five best shows of this year’s festival. I hope the duo responsible for putting Akercocke on the BB stage brings them to an indoor gig as well, and that in the future they’ll book another British cult band for Metaldays, such as Mithras. A great end to day three!
Photos of Glista, Atrexial, Dead Label, Hour of Penance, Kalmah, Kvelertak, Rotting Christ, Dream Theater: Nina Grad
Photos of Une Misere, Stoned Jesus, Saturnus, Dream Theater, Akercocke: Sebastijan Videc
Video: Sebastijan Videc
Text on Dream Theater, Hour of Penance, Une Misere, Stoned Jesus, Saturnus: Primož Novak
Text on Dead Label, Kalmah, Kvelertak, Rotting Christ, Glista, Atrexial, Akercocke: Rok Klemše
