Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Josefov, the Czech Republic
Concert date: 07.08.2009
Attendance: 10
Ticket price: 47€/54€
And so we woke up to one more Saturday morning, the last day of the festival. After a metal breakfast (beer, and whatever else was around), it was time to blow the last of our crowns at the metal market and then park ourselves in the afternoon sun in front of the Obscure stage, where English thrashers Evile were about to step up. In five years of existence the foursome has picked up a nice crowd of fans, which is no surprise given how popular thrash metal has been lately. Evile build their thrash on the old-school foundations of bands like Slayer, Metallica and Megadeth, and they’re about to drop their second album, Infected Nations, which will come out on Earache, just like their debut Enter the Grave. If you could fault the debut for sounding too much like the old guard, Slayer especially, then going by the tracks I’ve heard so far on MySpace, Infected Nations is a big step forward. And on stage you can tell they’ve played a seriously enviable number of shows lately, because live they’re confident and uncompromising, and they had the crowd moshing with no trouble even in the worst of the afternoon heat!
The more brutal part of the festival was kicked off by American death metal heavyweights Hate Eternal. The trio led by the great Erik Rutan (Morbid Angel) is a familiar face on Slovenian stages too, but unfortunately the band’s biggest weakness showed up again this time. Even though Rutan is one of the bigger producer names in death metal (he’s produced everyone from Cannibal Corpse to Six Feet Under), Hate Eternal flop across the board when it comes to live sound. Their records like Conquering the Throne, I, Monarch and the latest, Fury & Flames, count among the better death metal releases, but live they disappoint, at least sonically. Still, it’s a pleasure to watch Rutan at work – you can never have too many twisted death metal riffs, demonic solos and Rutan’s brutal vocals!
Another big exclusive of this year’s Brutal Assault was English outfit Anaal Nathrakh (no, the name has nothing to do with the anus – it’s a translation of one of Merlin’s spells and means “serpent’s breath”). The band’s only permanent members, Mick Kenney and V.I.T.R.I.O.L., stirred up a lot of hype around the band right from the start, since they never published their lyrics and claimed the band would never play live. Luckily they changed their minds, and Anaal Nathrakh played their first show in December 2005, and since then they’ve lined up only a handful of exclusive “one-off” gigs. One of those was this year’s Brutal Assault, and despite how uncompromising Anaal Nathrakh are on record, I never imagined they could pull off anything like that live. But the band’s hour-long set was a perfect blast to the brain and eardrums, and between songs the guys gave us just enough of a breather for the fantastic frontman V.I.T.R.I.O.L. aka Dave Hunt (also the vocalist of English death metal giants Benediction) to explain that we’re worthless scum. The band’s lyrics touch on apocalyptic themes, mortality, misanthropy and especially the nihilist philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. So, under the command of Hunt’s sickeningly good vocals, crushing blastbeats and grind/black/death guitar mayhem, we were led through the nihilistic anthems In the Constellation of the Black Widow, Solifugae, The Lucifer Effect and Bellum Omnium Contra Omnes (“the war of all against all”, a quote from Leviathan by the philosopher Thomas Hobbes, who used it to describe the natural state of humankind). But it doesn’t even matter what they played – Anaal Nathrakh are an incredibly intense live experience that you won’t forget any time soon. Seeing them live is a real privilege, so I warmly recommend grabbing the first chance you get to see them again. Until then, listen to the albums! Nihilism with Anaal Nathrakh becomes damn cool!
And just when you think nobody’s going to match Anaal Nathrakh’s intensity, American death metal champions Suffocation step onto the stage. And that can mean only one thing: a solid hour of pure death metal mayhem, fronted by brutal vocals and a brilliant instrumental four-piece. The crowd was packed in tight for Suffocation, and when Frank Mullen (vocals), Terrance Hobbs (guitar), Guy Marchais (guitar), Derek Boyer (bass) and Mike Smith (drums) marched on stage, the gates of hell swung open. Suffocation are without doubt one of the tightest bands around – the guitar lines of the Smith/Marchais duo cut just like on the albums, while I struggle to find the right words for Smith’s octopus drumming. Add Frank Mullen’s insanely brutal vocals and all you can do is drop to your knees and yell “we’re not worthy” at the crushing Suffocation five-piece. Suffocation have been putting out fantastic albums for 18 years, and the new one, Blood Oath, is no different, which they proved live in style. And when the guys club you over the head with maces named Effigy of the Forgotten, Catatonia, Jesus Wept, Infecting the Crypts and others, then leave you lying in a puddle of your own blood, all you can do is beg for one more round like that. “Hail Suffocation!”
I couldn’t have pictured the perfect end to the festival without the one and only Immortal (even though a few more bands played after them, none worth any special mention). The legendary black metal band from Bergen, the Norwegian smelting furnace of black metal bands, made a name for itself as one of the genre’s biggest acts right from the start of its career. Immortal carved out their own niche early on, a black metal mixed with German thrash influences, and with their over-the-top image, corpse paint, unforgettable album covers and the even more iconic video for The Call of the Wintermoon they deliberately enthroned themselves among the biggest bands in the genre. Immortal broke up in 2003 but reunited three years later for the following year’s festival appearances. Back together, they headlined the closing slot at Metalcamp in 2007 too, but the reunion with Abbath, Apollyon and Horgh was easy to look forward to. With an ultra evil intro, Immortal led us into the world of Blashyrkh, ruled by Mighty Ravendark. Immortal are one of the few black metal bands that steer completely clear of Satanism – the lyrics of Demonaz (the band’s fourth member, who no longer plays guitar because of an injury but is still the lyricist and a key part of the band) are about the imaginary world of Blashyrkh, ravaged by war and suffering. Through Abbath’s icy riffs, Horgh’s blastbeats and those Popeye vocals, they took us on a tour of the “frostbitten kingdoms” with classics like Tyrants, One By One, Sons of Northern Darkness, Battles in the North, all the way to the closer Blashyrkh (Mighty Ravendark). Immortal were tight and precise, and of course it wouldn’t have been complete without Abbath’s obligatory fire-breathing and the iconic “crab walk!” A perfect ending to a perfect festival!
So what can Brutal Assault offer compared to all the other festivals that have been sprouting up lately like a garden watered by Sasha the gardener? The unique atmosphere of the idyllic medieval town and fortress of Josefov, which for three days gets occupied by metalheads instead of Prussians. A fantastic lineup with big names from the extreme metal genres, headlined by exclusive acts you almost never see on European stages (this year Sadus, Orphaned Land, Ulver and Anaal Nathrakh, for example), all on the quality-over-quantity principle, which really holds true at Brutal Assault, so there’s not the slightest chance of running into overchewed names à la Amon Amarth or Korpiklaani, who regularly make us happy in Slovenia. And last but not least, despite the considerable distance, Brutal Assault is extremely good value for what you get, because for a ticket that costs a measly 50€ you get the real cream of the metal bands right now. And of course the Czech Republic is a paradise for metalheads for one more reason. Excellent, cheap beer, naturally! Next year Brutal Assault celebrates its 15th anniversary, and Josefov will undoubtedly see us again!
Photos: Nina Grad
Setlist
OBSCURE STAGE: Black Bomb A 10:00-10:30 Depresy 11:10 11:40 Ashes You Leave 12:20-12:55 Cripple Bastards 13:35-14:05 The Faceless 14:50-15:25 Evile 16:10-16:45 Raunchy 17:30-18:05 Anaal Nathrakh 18:50-19:35 Suffocation 20:25-21:15 Walls Of jericho 22:50-23:40 Skepticism 0:35-1:20 METALSHOP STAGE: FDK 10:35-11:05 Gama Bombs 11:45-12:15 The Red Chord 13:00-13:30 Ador Dorath 14:10-14:45 Ghost Brigade 15:30-16:05 Hate Eternal 16:50-17:25 Misery Index 18:10-18:45 Atrox 19:40-20:20 Immortal 21:20-22:45 Marduk 23:45-0:30 Eternal Deformity 1:25-2:00 ANAAL NATHRAKH 1. In The Constellation Of The Black Widow 2. I Am The Wrath Of Gods And The Desolation Of The Earth 3. Bellum Omnium Contra Omnes 4. The Final Absolution 5. Submission Is For The Weak 6. More Of Fire Than Blood 7. Solifugae 8. Der Hölle Rache Kocht In Meinem Herzen 9. The Lucifer Effect 10. The Destroying Angel 11. Do Not Speak 12. Pandemonic Hyperblast IMMORTAL: 1. The Sun No Longer Rises 2. Solarfall 3. Sons of Northern Darkness 4. Tyrants 5. One by One 6. Damned in Black 7. Withstand the Fall of Time 8. Unholy Forces of Evil 9. Unsilent Storms in the North Abyss 10. Beyond the North Waves 11. Battles in the North 12. Blashyrkh (Mighty Ravendark)
Photo gallery
