Location: Tolmin (the confluence of the Tolminka and Soča) / Slovenia
Date: August 6, 2012
We moan every year, and we moan all year long. We (rightfully) complain about a lineup that looks like the roster of Nuclear Blast and/or the Rock the Nation agency, about Slovenian passports being handed out for free to bands like Amon Amarth, Eluveitie and Korpiklaani, and about the feeling that this is a volunteer fire brigade fête with accordions and flutes that a few thousand metalheads accidentally stumbled into. Okay, to each their own, but a more demanding metal fan would have had a hard time actually finding ten bands that don’t fall into the categories above. This year’s Metalcamp managed to surprise on that front with a somewhat more exciting lineup. The standouts were the headliners Machine Head and At the Gates (plus the alternative giants Korn, who in my opinion just don’t belong at a festival like Metalcamp), then Testament and Sanctuary and many others. And whatever the grumbling throughout the year, it’s unforgettable to dive into the fantastic atmosphere surrounding Metalcamp, soak up the spectacular nature, and gulp down a cold beer next to the even colder Soča.
This year the honor of opening the festival on the main stage fell to local black/death metal outfit Morana, followed right after by American power metal veterans Vicious Rumors, who I’d been eagerly waiting for. Of course, thanks to work obligations, I had the luck of catching exactly the last ten seconds of the last song. The bitterness was soothed by a cold beer, and even more by the pleasure of torturing my ears with the cult Canadian technical death metallers Gorguts, who came back to Europe after seventeen years away. Gorguts were supposed to hit festival Europe last year already, but we were left high and dry, with the official explanation that the guys were recording a new album (about which there’s still not a peep). Anyway, the band’s leader and mastermind, guitarist and vocalist Luc Lemay, has gathered a completely new lineup around him: bassist Colin Marston (Behold… the Arctopus), drummer John Longstreth (Origin) and guitarist Kevin Hufnagel (Dysrhythmia). In just under an hour the guys delivered a phenomenal technical death metal massacre, with classics of sick, twisted, otherworldly death metal from the albums The Erosion of Sanity and Obscura. In a great mood, Lemay put on a brutal vocal performance and, together with the trio of instrumental wizards/psychopaths, strung together enough complex mathematical equations to fill an entire blackboard, all translated into music. Gorguts played a show that was simply a must for every technical death metal fan. It was an orgasm of cosmic proportions, and at the same time it felt like having Linear Algebra jammed into your left ear and String Theory into your right.
Monday was the day for yet more legendary comeback acts. If the breakup of Nevermore brought anything good, it’s the reactivation of cult Seattle power metal band Sanctuary, in which bassist Jim Sheppard and vocalist Warrel Dane played before founding Nevermore (and, as a live guitarist right before the band’s split, Jeff Loomis too). If Nevermore grew out of the ashes of Sanctuary in the early nineties, then Sanctuary rose from the dead on the ashes of Nevermore. Thanks to Warrel’s intelligent lyrics, the intriguing, almost progressive-leaning music and the genius guitar wizardry of the duo Lenny Rutledge/Sean Blosl, they still count as a gem of late-eighties American metal, with Refuge Denied (1987) and Into the Mirror Black (1989) considered cult records (the former was produced by none other than Dave Mustaine, awfully, as it happens, since at the time he was delving into lines other than guitar ones). There was a lot of speculation about how Sanctuary would hold up on stage these days, and opinions clashed on the forums after the show too, ranging from total disappointment to musical ecstasy. I belong to the latter group and think Sanctuary were Monday’s highlight. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a show where goosebumps kept running down my spine the whole way through. The bulk of the doubts clearly centered on Dane’s vocals, especially whether he could pull off the inhuman high falsettos from Sanctuary’s first run (with Nevermore he largely, almost entirely, left them out). Dane admittedly doesn’t shriek like in the old days, but he hasn’t put on a better vocal performance since at least the Nevermore tour for This Godless Endeavor. He pulled off a few breathtaking screams, and only the closing classic Battle Angels wore him out. The new member, guitarist Brad Hull (ex-Forced Entry), also did excellently and confidently, already forming a mighty guitar duo with Rutledge, and I really wonder what they’ll show on the upcoming record (supposedly called The Year the Sun Died). The setlist? Unforgettable, full of wreckers and epics – Soldiers of Steel, Die For My Sins, the Jefferson Airplane cover White Rabbit, then Future Tense, Eden Lies Obscured and The Mirror Black!!! I only truly missed the chilling tribute to Tutankhamun, Veil of Disguise. The band did introduce a new song, I Am Low, which sounds far too Nevermore-ish and melancholic for Sanctuary, but let’s wait and see what the new album brings. Welcome back, Sanctuary!
Given how often they visit our stages, I swapped the legendary British grindcore pioneers Napalm Death for a cold beer and a trip down to the confluence. I squeezed back in front of the main stage a little after nine and greeted thrash giants Testament with huge enthusiasm. With the new record Dark Roots of the Earth they proved that right now they have no equal among the greats. In true big-league style, Testament, led by chieftain Chuck Billy, marched onto the Metal Camp stage and called us to rise up with the new album’s wrecker Rise Up, which is downright made for live situations. Sadly, the perfect enjoyment was spoiled by dreadfully bad sound that completely ate Billy’s vocals and most of the guitars of the Peterson/Skolnick duo (I suspect Gene Hoglan sat on the speaker), but luckily by the third song in a row, the classic Testament thrash mauler The Preacher, it was at least passably fixed. Then it was a shot of adrenaline-fueled thrash metal all the way to the end, and beneath the stage there was no end (or beginning) in sight to the headbanging and endless moshing. In the (too short) time they had, Testament put together a setlist with a representative from almost every record (sadly there was no time for a surprise from the unjustly overlooked Souls of Black, The Ritual, Low and Demonic). The eternal classics, written in blood into history – The New Order, The Preacher, Into the Pit, Over the Wall – were easily joined by new masterpieces that will undoubtedly become part of the band’s iron repertoire. Native Blood, True American Hate and Dark Roots of Earth have all the hallmarks of classic Testament mixed with the more aggressive creations of the nineties – catchy, infectious choruses, phenomenal guitar work from the brilliant duo Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick, and on top of it all the drumming of the human atomic clock Gene Hoglan (after Chernobyl the man presumably grew extra pairs of legs and arms). But Testament wouldn’t be the real deal without Chuck Billy, who once again proved he’s one of the most striking thrash metal vocalists around! A man who beat cancer roars like a lion! Whether it’s aggressive thrash lines, clean singing or pure death metal growling in the bombs from The Gathering, D.N.R. and 3 Days in Darkness. Despite the worse sound, Testament closed out a top-notch performance in royal style with Formation of Damnation.
Monday’s excellent festival start was crowned by giants of modern, thrash-rooted metal, America’s Machine Head, who right now are probably one of the hottest bands around. After many troubles in the past, the California foursome of Robb Flynn (vocals, guitar), Phil Demmel (guitar), Adam Duce (bass) and Dave McClain (drums) are at the peak of their career, and even a few years ago you could only have smirked at the words Machine Head and headliner. But since the album Through the Ashes of Empires, the guys’ career has only been climbing steeply. It hit its peak with the phenomenal The Blackening, and Machine Head managed to keep up the pace with the current album Unto the Locust too. The summer festival tour was thus still largely run in its light, and Flynn and the guys greeted us with the opening epic I Am Hell (Sonata in C#). It really shows that Machine Head have grown and matured as musicians over these few years. The new songs are varied and dynamic and full of unexpected surprises, not to mention the guitar duo Flynn/Demmel (formerly a duo in the cult Vio-Lence), who shake supersonic-fast, gorgeous guitar duels out of their sleeves like it’s nothing. The rhythm section is no slouch either, and it’s a particular pleasure to listen to Dave McClain’s fantastic, distinctive drumming and the deep rumble of Duce’s bass. This time Machine Head devoted the bulk of the set to The Blackening and Unto the Locust, but the iron classics Old, Bulldozer, Ten Ton Hammer and the closing anthem Davidian weren’t missing either. The best moments were undoubtedly the fantastically executed, bulldozer-heavy Aesthetics of Hate (dedicated to the recently detained Randy Blythe) and the epic Halo, which kicked off the encore. That Flynn has progressed not only as a guitarist but also as a vocalist was proven above all by the ballad Darkness Within, which with the gorgeous light show came off even better live than on record. And Flynn of course wouldn’t be Flynn without endless “fucks” and “motherfuckers”, though he totally missed the mark with the line that he can’t believe we still have so much energy after five days of festival, and that Machine Head are playing first in Slovenia. Still, when the show ended, you really felt like you’d been worked over by a ten-ton hammer. Machine fuckin’ Head!
I escaped back to harsh reality before the set by Italian folk metal band Krampus, and so I kept the first day of Metalcamp in fond memory.
Authors: Rok Klemše & Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
TESTAMENT:
1. Rise Up
2. The New Order
3. The Preacher
4. Native Blood
5. True American Hate
6. More Than Meets the Eye
7. Dark Roots of Earth
8. Into the Pit
9. Practice What You Preach
10. Over the Wall
11. D.N.R.
12. 3 Days in Darkness
13. Formation of Damnation
MACHINE HEAD:
1. I Am Hell (Sonata in C#)
2. Old
3. Imperium
4. Beautiful Mourning
5. Locust
6. This is the End
7. Aesthetics of Hate
8. Darkness Within
9. Bulldozer
10. Ten Ton Hammer
— encore —
11. Halo
12. Davidian
