Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Josefov, the Czech Republic
Concert date: 06.08.2009
Attendance: 10
Ticket price: 47€/54€
The second day of the festival was a real golden middle, with a small sea of bands lined up from eleven in the morning until two at night that you simply can’t miss. So, without too much waffling – “let’s get down to business!”
One of the first more interesting sets of day two (not counting Tasmanian devils Psycroptic and German tech death metallers Obscura, whom I missed because of a promised interview with Testament that of course came to nothing… with the Czechs you still have to fall back on the NNNP rule every now and then) came from Romanian black metal oddballs Negura Bunget. This spring quite a bit of dust was kicked up around the band, as founding members Hupogrammos and Sol Faur left, and drummer Negru, against the agreement, carried on Negura Bunget with a new lineup. Whether you accept the new incarnation of the band is up to each individual, whatever the backstory, and the guys and the girl on the Obscure stage at Brutal Assault opened the way into the cathartic realms of other worlds. Right from the intro, during which vocalist Corb plays a two-meter horn and conjures up a peculiar sense of mysticism and the atmosphere of long-gone pagan ritual ceremonies. Negura Bunget cross the genre borders of black metal, adding progressive structures, ambient parts and strong influences of Romanian folk music to the solid skeleton of black. The result of this unique mix is a kind of psychedelic black metal that traps the listener in its extraordinary atmosphere and pushes them into a different perception of the world around them. A world that, with Negura Bunget, takes on different colors, ethereality and spirituality. Although the experience would have been even more intimate and powerful in the darkness of a hall than in the early afternoon hours, Negura Bunget showed they’re confident on bigger stages too, and that right now they’re one of the most unique bands within black metal.
Meanwhile, Sweden’s Vomitory had already left the Metalshop stage, followed by their countrymen, another giant of Swedish death metal, Grave. The Swedes charted their career back in 1991 with the European death metal classic Into the Grave, and today, together with Dismember and Vomitory, they make up the holy trinity of real Swedish death metal. Real, because they spit pure old-school death metal, without the melodic junk à la Amon Amarth or the whining of In Flames, and rely on mighty riffs, crushing drumming, demonic solos and the hellish vocals of frontman Ole Lindgren. That’s exactly the kind of kick Grave delivered at Brutal Assault, and at three in the afternoon, in the worst of the heat, they got the crowd into wild moshing and unrestrained headbanging with classics like Burn, Soulless, Into the Grave and Christi(ns)anity. “Into the darkness, into the grave!”
French groove thrashers Dagoba were supposed to play after Grave, but they were in a traffic accident and didn’t make it to the festival, so American progressive/technical death metal champions Atheist were already climbing onto the Metalshop stage. Atheist are yet another in a line of bands that reformed after 2006 and returned to their old paths of glory. Vocalist and band leader Kelly Shaefer first claimed the reunion would only cover a few shows, and luckily he quickly ate his words. Atheist have now been playing live for almost three years and are currently working on a new record too. Sadly, their set was cut short, so we got only a good half hour of bombardment with technical riffing mixed with subtle Latin rhythms and jazz fusion influences, plus an extraordinary rhythm section made up of the excellent drummer Steve Flynn and Tony Choy on bass. Choy was thus the second big name in metal bass guitar, after Steve DiGiorgio the day before with Sadus, and the Havana-born Choy more than lives up to his name live. Following Choy’s quick-fingered bass playing is a pure pleasure, and it’s really nice to see this excellent bassist, who took over the role in Atheist after the tragic death of the band’s first bassist Roger Patterson (R.I.P.), enjoying himself completely on stage. Guitarist Chris Baker, who replaced guitarist Rand Burkey after the band got back together, soloed phenomenally through even the most demanding guitar parts and fit extremely well into the Atheist whole. And of course you can’t skip Kelly Shaefer, a true rock ‘n’ roll frontman among death metal frontmen, an impeccable stage figure, even if his vocals act up a little now and then and his banter during the genius instrumental parts slightly breaks the flow of the music. In half an hour Atheist took us back through history with tracks from a fantastic trio of albums that are still among the most influential releases of technical death metal. And Air, Mineral, Piece of Time, Unquestionable Presence and On They Slay still sound just as bold and killer as they did fifteen years ago. All we can do is hope that the stage energy carries over into the studio and that we can expect an album from Atheist that will be a worthy successor to this great band’s legacy. In the meantime, grab a rolling paper, wrap your favorite strain in it, light up and surrender to the wonderful world of Atheist. “Breathe!”
Friday’s fantastic lineup was merciless, and hopping from one stage to the other became routine. Around six, the rays of the late afternoon sun were set raging by Norwegian black metallers Vreid. The band, which grew out of the ashes of those giants of black/Viking metal after the death of Windir mastermind Valfar, is well on its way to earning a name at least as big. Since 2004 Vreid have been putting out extremely high-quality records in quick succession. Fast release schedules usually don’t bear very tasty fruit, but with their fourth album Milorg Vreid prove they’re a bright exception. The Norwegians have found an excellent niche of black metal mixed with rock ‘n’ roll rhythms and occasional thrash metal influences that’s unique enough and at the same time damn catchy. Luckily, these guys are also one of those black metal bands that don’t hide behind corpse paint and cliché Satan-worship, but instead take on themes about Norwegian folklore, and on their last two albums especially celebrate the Norwegian resistance during World War II. On stage, led by guitarist and vocalist Sture, they’re the pure definition of their name – uncompromising fury!
After a cold breath of Norwegian chill, the neighboring stage darkened into the cold November colors of the American fall. Chicago death/doomers Novembers Doom took the Obscure stage. I didn’t know the band before their set, I’d only heard praise, and, eager for a surprise, I’d even avoided listening to them on MySpace. I can’t even imagine how thrilling it used to be, on the release day of some important record, to wait on pins and needles until you could unwrap it from the cellophane and let it surprise you; the internet age has more or less spoiled that pleasure. But when Novembers Doom blew me away with their fantastic mix of death and doom metal, I realized, at least for a moment, what it was like in those good old days. And it must have been really nice! Novembers Doom played uncompromisingly, as if they were playing only for themselves and the crowd below the stage, as if time had stopped. Melancholic yet raw riffs, heavy as a ten-ton hammer, mighty drums and the breathtaking vocals of Paul Kuhr, who switches effortlessly between a brutal but intelligible growl and clean, hoarse and melancholic vocals, created an unforgettable atmosphere even in the afternoon sun. And only when you read the background of the dark lyrics do they leave an even bigger impression. For the last few years lyricist Kuhr has been writing the words based on his illness; Paul suffers from a rare and severe condition affecting his spine. The disease is incurable, and it’s only a matter of time before Paul ends up in a wheelchair. And yet the darkness of crushers like Rain, Lazarus Regret and The Pale Haunt Departure is shot through with optimism. Or maybe that’s just the power of the music of Novembers Doom…
If someone had told me a year or two ago that you’d one day be able to see Cynic, Atheist and Pestilence in one place within 24 hours, I’d probably have doubled over laughing in disbelief. But the secret wish would have remained, and this year Brutal Assault fulfilled that wish of every technical death metal fan. At Brutal Assault 2009 the holy trinity of technical death metal took to the festival stages in less than a day (not counting the giants Death, whom sadly we’ll never be able to see again). And since Cynic and Atheist had already left Brutal Assault, there was only time left for Dutch giants Pestilence. They too returned to the scene after years of absence to reclaim old glory, and sadly have already tarnished it a little with the poor record Resurrection Macabre. But nothing will ruin the legacy of Pestilence’s legendary four albums, and even though the band is missing two key members of the first incarnation – Martin Van Drunen and Marco Foddis – a band of Pestilence’s caliber is still a huge pleasure to see on stage. Bassist Tony Choy thus had a second shift at the festival, joining his Pestilence colleagues Patrick Mameli, Patrick Uterwijk and Peter Wildoer after the Atheist set. As at every show since the new album came out, the guys served up Horror Detox and Devouring Frenzy and then went back to the good old classics – Chemo Therapy, Chronic Infection, The Process of Suffocation, Mind Reflections and Land of Tears. And despite the missing key members, Pestilence are a well-oiled machine that mows down everything in front of it! The crowd went nuts, and Mameli once again couldn’t do without his idiotic between-song banter full of curses, which is there only so Mameli can show off his pumped-up ego, and statements like that he’s so happy he’d cry if he were a girl. Yeah, sure, Patrick… At home he surely melts over his favorite Teletubbies episodes. But when Patrick keeps quiet, a Pestilence show is pure enjoyment, especially when your eyes are devouring the brilliant riffs and solos from the Uterwijk/Mameli duo and Choy’s wild bass lines, and it’s nice to hear that Wildoer has toned down his blastbeating, which has no business in Pestilence. But Pestilence are, and remain: “A timeless world unreal“
Meanwhile, the next concert attraction and yet another Brutal Assault 2009 exclusive was getting ready at the neighboring stage. The Obscure stage wrapped itself in a cloud of smoke from burnt joints, and over the barbed wire dividing Mexico and the USA crept none other than Brujeria. The crush below the stage was indescribable, and we were squeezed in like rolled joints in a cigarette case of vocalist Juan Brujo, who rolled onto the stage amid the crowd’s indescribable delight in the company of his satanic “drug lords”. Of course the members of Brujeria always carefully cover their faces with bandanas in public, since the FBI is on their tail, but vocalists Juan Brujo and Pinche Peach, guitarist Hongo (Shane Embury of Napalm Death), bassist El Cynico (Jeff Walker of Carcass) and drummer Podrido (Adrian Erlandsson) skillfully dodge them. Behind the Brujeria characters hide nothing but all-star names, and in the past the band has featured Bill Gould (Faith No More), Dino Cazares (Fear Factory), Nicholas Barker (Dimmu Borgir, Old Man’s Child etc.), Raymond Herrerra (Fear Factory), Jesse Pintado (Terrorizer, Napalm Death) and many others. But it doesn’t matter who plays or has played in the band; the show by the Mexican satanic smugglers was a perfect kick from start to finish. Aggressive, fast and raw deathgrind anthems rained down one after another, from the opening Raza Odiada (Pito Wilson) (Hateful Race (Falus Wilson)), a special tribute to an American Republican politician with especially strong opposition to immigration and views on racial segregation, through crushers like Marcha de odio, Anti-Castro and Brujerizmo, all the way to the closing anthem Matando Gueros (Killing Whites). Below the stage a mass of people went wild to the lines that Juan Brujo and Pinche Peach delivered with equal wildness on stage, and the crowd happily sang along to the verses about killing white people, which Juan kindly reminded us of with a half-meter machete. In just over an hour Brujeria put on one of the best and most uncompromising shows of Brutal Assault 2009, and dancing along to Ritmos Satanicos, bawling Seis Seis Seis, and going through Chingo de Mecos to Pura de Venta, we all became cabrones. Brujeria wrap up with their take on Macarena titled Marijuana, and after hanging out with Brujeria you feel like sinking a machete into your own head just because you’re white. Culeros!
The more sophisticated continuation of the evening was taken care of by Swedish giants Opeth, who greeted us with a demonic crusher from the current album Watershed, Heir Apparent. Live, the Swedish masters are clearly surgically precise, and this time they were also helped by one of the better sound systems at the festival. The destructive riffs of the Akerfeldt/Akesson duo tore at the eardrums and, at the same time, caressed them with calmer, almost psychedelic parts; the Axenrot/Mendez rhythm section is bombastic as always, and Per Wiberg creates that unique Opeth mystical atmosphere on keyboards. But all eyes were once again on frontman Mikael Akerfeldt, who thrills with his extraordinary switching between brutal death metal growls and excellent, dreamy clean vocals. And Mikael of course can’t get out of his stand-up comedian skin, so this time too we got his side-splitting banter; from the Staind joke “It’s been a while”, to the fact that Opeth used to play classic death metal at the start and today write one masterpiece after another. And Opeth really do play us one masterpiece after another – the hellish The Grand Conjuration, Leper Affinity, Closure and Deliverance. And after every brilliant Opeth show it’s clear why they’re one of the biggest metal bands right now!
For probably many of those present, yet another highlight of the festival was the show by American thrash metal giants Testament. After the excellent The Gathering in 1999, Testament left us waiting a whole nine years for a new record, and last year they finally released the long-awaited The Formation of Damnation. And the wait paid off! The legendary Bay Area thrashers left their mark on European festivals this summer and left an excellent taste at Metalcamp too. This time again the guys didn’t let us down, and Brutal Assault saw yet another one of its concert highlights. Testament pounded us mercilessly from the opening crusher The Preacher, and if there’s any band you can say is in top form, it’s definitely Testament. Our eyes darted from one member to the next, stopping for a moment on the brilliant guitar duo Skolnick/Peterson, who faultlessly served up unforgettable riffs and breathtaking solos, then on the rhythm section featuring legendary drummer Paul Bostaph (Forbidden, Slayer, Exodus) and impeccable bassist Greg Christian, and last but not least on great frontman Chuck Billy, who’s in excellent vocal form. Whether it’s old-school thrash vocals in the style of the first record The Legacy or the death metal moments of the albums Low and Demonic, Chuck flawlessly sings every last letter of the thrash metal classics. And Testament hacked away with one classic after another, interrupting a proper best-of setlist only with tracks from the current record, and otherwise chopping heads off with The New Order, Over the Wall, Into the Pit, Burnt Offerings and Disciples of the Watch, while two classics from The Gathering, the fantastic D.N.R. and 3 Days in Darkness, provided the surprises. The crowd was eating out of Chuck’s hand, only when he demanded a wall of death did the Czech (in both senses) crowd stare for a while like a calf at a new gate, since English is double Dutch to most Czechs. But Testament delivered a real thrash assault at Brutal Assault! Fuck yeah!!!
Before sleep came the obligatory “nightcap” of Czech nectar of the gods, and gathering strength for the final day of the festival.
Photos: Nina Grad
Setlist
OBSCURE STAGE Action 10:00-10:25 Forgotten Silence 11:05-11:35 Agathodaimon 12:15-12:45 Negura Bunget 13:30-14:05 Gadget 14:50-15:20 Dagoba 16:05-16:40 Beneath The Massacre 17:30-18:05 Novembers Doom 18:55-19:35 Brujeria 20:30-21:20 Testament 22:35-23:35 Dark Funeral 0:35-1:15 METAL SHOP STAGE Casketgarden 10:30-11:00 Obscura 11:40-12:10 Psycroptic 12:50-13:25 Vomitory 14:10-14:45 Grave 15:25-16:00 Atheist 16:45-17:25 Vreid 18:10-18:50 Pestilence 19:40-20:25 Opeth 21:25-22:30 Ulver 23:40-0:30 Evergreen Terrace 1:20-2:00 NOVEMBERS DOOM: 1. Into Night’s Requiem Infernal 2. In the Absence of Grace 3. Empathy’s Greed 4. Rain 5. I Hurt Those I Adore 6. Lazarus Regret 7. The Pale Haunt Departure TESTAMENT: 1. The Preacher 2. The New Order 3. Over the Wall 4. Practice What You Preach 5. More Than Meets the Eye 6. The Persecuted Won’t Forget 7. Burnt Offerings 8. Into the Pit 9. Disciples of the Watch Encore: 10. D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate) 11. 3 Days in Darkness 12. The Formation Of Damnation
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