Author: Rok Klemše, Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Nina Grad, Jerneja Jerak
Location: Tolmin / Slovenia
Concert date: July 25, 2013
Attendance: 15,000
Day four kicked off with Italian folk metallers Vallorch from Venice. This septet doesn’t bring any musical revolution, instead treading carefully along the well-worn paths of the genre, but by the end of the set they even got the crowd to do a »wall of death«! The set landed in the middle of the increasingly brutal heat, with swimmers streaming past the second stage on their way to the confluence of the Tolminka and the Soča (armed with every inflatable gadget imaginable, of course), so there was a pretty wild sight to be seen during the show. Crowd surfing on a rubber dinghy. A fun start to day four of the festival, no doubt!
Mexican melodic death metallers Imperium offered nothing more than a softened-down version of that branch of the genre, if you can even file them there. Lots of clean vocals, lots of chewed-over phrases, and above all a monotonous, predictable flow. Much the same followed when Basque Ravenblood. took over the stage. Guitar riffs frilled up with orchestral arrangements, epic bombast, and some growling on top. Marching gallop rhythms on rolling double-bass drums belong more to the power metal tradition than anything else. Once again, no real sting of aggression. Until Meta-stasis. These twisted psycho-alien gloomsters from Great Britain brought a proper grindcore superstition to the stage and impressed with great chemistry between brutally extreme exposure and tight playing. Gnarly vocal terror, as if it were coming from rotting corpses! A merciless massacre. Five stage patients with cancer diagnoses, or rather five decomposing beings slowly mutating into creatures of triumphantly foul vileness, the kind that haunt the sickest sci-fi movie scenarios of the human era.
If the day before Cypriots Stormcast took the stage at half past three in the afternoon, the next day that honor went to their fellow countrymen Blynd. The resemblance and kinship are obvious. Cypriot melodic death metal on the march, then. Nice playing, nice tightness, but more or less a replica of a replica. MetalDays served up plenty of this too, despite some very interesting bands on the bill. Sadly. You have to wonder where the ceiling is, and how much replication the melodic death metal market can even take. There are plenty of bands like Blynd all over Europe today. They play nicely, but once again they’re boring and generic first and foremost.
Belgian Herfst brought a bit more real chemistry and genuine feeling to the second stage. The quintet calls its music »necromantic« metal. They hit the stage painted in white and red »cream« colors. Red is blood, and white hints at the living dead (zombies). Herfst sit on two genre mattresses at once, combining elements of black metal and death metal. The extreme vocals make occasional use of clean singing. The band is very tightly drilled, and you can tell the crew has plenty of gig mileage behind them. Fifteen years of defiance on the scene. The most interesting of the squadron of Belgian roughnecks and necromaniacs was the right-side guitarist, who »skillfully« smeared red paint across his face so that he looked like he was laughing the whole time. Surely some relative of the Joker!
While the second stage had already been lively for an hour and a half or so, the main stage was kicked off by Italian power metallers From the Depth, who played the second stage of the »late« MetalCamp last year. These guys kick effectively, and even though they’re generic as hell, they already previewed a few new songs from their upcoming album during the set – it’s supposed to come out next winter. Otherwise the repertoire was made up of songs from the album »Back To Life«. The quintet is ambitious. Last year they opened shows around Italy for Rhapsody Of Fire and Swedish progressive metallers Seventh Wonder. The hard-to-digest Croatian Cold Snap quickly sank into oblivion with their metalcore torture machine, and Icelandic post-metallers Solstafir. took the stage after them. The extreme heat didn’t stop people from gathering in solid numbers and giving the band flinty support. Armed with a whole host of effects and compressed guitar sound, they stacked collages of soundscapes on top of each other. A slow unfolding. Atmosphere that demands you switch your mind off. Lyrics in Icelandic, an ear-piercingly high vocal, sometimes whiny but annoying enough that it would fit in some eighties new wave/post-punk band. Songs about ten minutes long. So there was room for exactly four. Hear five minutes of the repertoire, hear it all. That’s how it goes in music with the prefix »post«.
Twenty minutes to five in the afternoon, the veterans of medieval metal took the stage, basically the first horsemen of this »unusual« genre invented in Germany, Subway To Sally. The lineup is seasoned and has a long road behind it. If MetalDays were a German festival, this band would definitely have been the main act of the evening. The band got one hour for their set. Why they played in the middle of the day is unknown, maybe they asked for that slot themselves because the schedule suited them. As usual, Subway To Sally upgraded their show theatrically with salvos of smoke screens, crackling sparks, and fiery blasts. Dressed in leather garments of medieval make and armed with traditional instruments. Frontman Eric Fish took on most of the stage show with a practiced performance and carefully thought-out stage theater, in which violinist Silke “Frau Schmitt” Volland once again carved out a special place, and without her it wouldn’t be a real Subway To Sally gig. An outstanding performance. Full-on! You can feel the band is truly seasoned. To be honest, Subway To Sally should have played right at the end of the main stage program.
Since I can’t agree with the previous sentence at all (forcing folk into metal should actually be banned by law), the rest of Thursday’s program was tailor-made for me. Thursday’s schedule actually offered several headliners whose positions on the main stage could easily have been swapped. Even before the trio of the biggest names, the main stage was handed over to Norwegians for a good hour. And not just one lot, but two. First up were progressive metallers Leprous, whom we’ll be able to see in the fall at Orto bar, but the follow-up was more exciting, when they were joined by the former Emperor mastermind, now a brilliant solo artist, Vegard Svere Tveitan – Ihsahn. Since Emperor ended, Ihsahn has racked up four solo records, brilliant specimens of daring, even avant-garde progressive metal. His performance was eagerly awaited on Thursday, but Ihsahn didn’t quite manage to deliver on it. The brutal heat probably contributed, along with bad sound that gave the mighty, massive tone of the eight-string guitars a hard time, and a somewhat awkwardly chosen setlist. Most of the songs Ihsahn played with Leprous’ help were slower, and the real complexity of his music was clearly too much for a scorching Thursday.
Faring better at the same time on the small stage were British nihilists Anaal Nathrakh, but sadly their overlap with Ihsahn was one of the clumsiest and most annoying of the whole festival. Then again, one of the most misanthropic bands around, a British outfit led by the duo V.I.T.R.I.O.L. (Dave Hunt) and Irrumator (Mick Kenney), couldn’t care less about that, or about any standards and dogmas, while pissing and shitting on humanity as such. The twisted, chaotic, demonic, and nihilistic sounds Anaal Nathrakh conjure from the deepest, most rotten, and filthiest human qualities are unbelievable! And it’s not just the typical metal »fuck off« attitude, since the misanthropy and nihilism of Anaal Nathrakh are backed by philosophical doctrines and Nietzschean thinking. Sadly, this time the music that will surely be the soundtrack to the end of the world and the flooding of humanity came off a bit unconvincing because of the bad, truly chaotic sound. Both Hunt’s psychotic vocals and the sinister grind/black metal guitar lines kept getting lost in the mix. But fuck it, apparently even the sound was scared of the monstrosity of Anaal Nathrakh, and it all lent the show a special charm. If you can use a word like charm in connection with Anaal Nathrakh at all. The Brits kicked the crowd into a bloody pulp, mostly thanks to the incredible Hunt, who exploded all over the stage. What energy this man has! And on top of that, an inhuman, painfully disgusting (in the most positive sense) growler, demonically high screams, and at the same time fantastic clean vocals for epic choruses that tell us how worthless we humans really are, plus crazy banter and crowd-hyping. Energetic, fucked-up, honest, psychopathic, and loud!
There wasn’t much time to rest, though, because the big stage was already calling with one of this year’s festival’s biggest attractions! It was time for an assault of poisonous Canadian thrash metal, which a good number of people were impatiently waiting for. Fifteen minutes late, Canadian legends Annihilator blessed our ears with excellent thrash metal, opening with the new song Smear Campaign (from their upcoming fourteenth studio album Feast). The band’s first two albums, Alice in Hell (1989) and Never, Neverland (1990), rank among thrash metal’s brightest moments and signaled a rise to the thrash throne, but their later releases sadly didn’t live up to the big expectations and hopes, and they slowly sank into oblivion. But times are apparently finally changing for Annihilator too, and if anyone deserves it, it’s one of metal’s hardest workers, Jeff Waters. With the album Annihilator two years back he proved he’s not out of breath or drive yet, and the excerpts from the new record promise a lot too. Annihilator proved that live they’re poisonously thrash-fueled and one of the best live bands around! The leader and sole remaining original member, the great Jeff Waters (shaven-headed again), energetically led us through the whole three-quarter-hour set, jumping back and forth and firing up the crowd the whole time by stepping right to the edge of the stage and gunning down the audience with his classic red beauty, Steve Harris style. Dave Padden, a guy who looks like a member of some boy band, also shone live. His vocals have matured and work great even on the Rampage/Pharr/Randall-era songs, and the one and only Jeff Waters helps out generously with convincing backing vocals. Sadly, due to technical problems at the start, Annihilator’s set was cut short by a solid fifteen minutes, and a band of this caliber deserves a considerably longer slot. During the closing classics The Fun Palace and Alison Hell our necks were only just starting to hurt, and then it was all over. A shame, but Annihilator still kick at full power live! “Listen to Annihilator, eh!”
Sadly, the clumsy overlaps meant some annoying choosing and calculating about what was worth seeing, but the excellent shows on the big stage were a Band-Aid on the wound (though unfortunately at the expense of Lock Up and Onslaught on the small stage).
It got dark just right, and strange, otherworldly lights appeared above Tolmin. The main stage had been taken over by old acquaintances, Swedish giants Hypocrisy under the eternal leadership of Peter »The Alien« Tägtgren. The stage setup for their show was a feast for the eyes, mainly thanks to Horgh’s (Immortal) gigantic drum riser, which really looked like a landing pad for unidentified flying objects, but this time Hypocrisy managed to top the visuals with the music. The Swedes struck with the epic title track of the new album End of Disclosure and proved from the very first notes that, despite somewhat repetitive studio output, they still kick at full power live. Peter needed a few verses to warm up his vocals, but then he screamed and growled like there was a bet on, and the band was helped most of all by a clear, clean sound that cut right into the eardrums. It was really great to hear Tägtgren in excellent vocal form. He growled extremely well, and especially fantastic were his trademark high screams, which Peter emphasizes beautifully in the songs, most notably in the animalistic shriek at the start of the once-military-artillery Warpath. The songs from the new album have already caught on nicely with fans and anchored themselves firmly among the rest, but this time Hypocrisy especially thrilled with a few unexpected, and therefore all the sweeter, surprises – Left To Rot from Penetralie, Necronomicon from Osculum Obscenum, and Elastic Inverted Visions from Hypocrisy! Wow, praiseworthy! The immortal hits Roswell 47 and the obligatory Eraser weren’t missing from the encore, but before them it was time to run to the small stage, where Norwegian veterans Enslaved played for the first time in the festival’s history.
And what a show they played! Phenomenal sound, a band in great spirits that erupted with energy from the stage, which the crowd quickly caught, wonderful lighting, and a great choice of songs made for a complete victory for the small stage. Probably even of all the days! Enslaved, who over their career have walked a long evolutionary road from a purebred black metal band to what they are today – progressive/psychedelic black/viking metal – were frequent visitors to Slovenian stages a few years ago, but it’s been quite a while since their last visit. In that time Enslaved have become one of the most respected names in the genre, or rather, genres, and they still inspire with constant development and quality studio albums. The Norwegians were so convincing that it seemed like a whole host of Nordic gods had descended onto the stage and Asgard itself had blessed the band. Crystal-clear guitars flowed like the purest rivers, the drums boomed and thundered like the worst fury of nature, and the interplay of harsh and clean vocals sounded so harmonious that the festival could have ended right after Enslaved. They wrapped us largely in the roots of the current album RIITIIR, and there was no shortage of the fiery classic As Fire Swept Clean the Earth or the closing black metal masterpiece Allfǫðr Oðinn. Almighty father Odin surely nodded in approval at this show, and I hope Enslaved attack Slovenia again soon with a headlining show of their own.
Meanwhile, Thursday’s headliner in the truest sense of the word was already set up on the big stage. Iced Earth, of course! Schaffer and his boys crowned their last MetalCamp appearance by putting its recording on the concert DVD Festivals of the Wicked, putting Slovenia on the map of concert DVDs, and this time the legendary Americans came back with a new lineup and a new vocalist, the brilliant Canadian Stu Block. With the new album Dystopia, after a long time wandering in the dark, Iced Earth have found the light again, which means a return to the band’s roots – that is, a first-rate mix of Iron Maiden and thrash metal influences, which Iced Earth have been famous for since the start of their career. Schaffer’s trump card is Stu Block, who with work like this can completely overshadow both Matt Barlow and Tim »Ripper« Owens. In the very first moments Iced Earth proved they were once again full of anger and aggression on one side and unforgettable epicness that instantly gets under your skin on the other, and on top of that Stu gave them the much-needed kick of unbridled youthful energy. Iced Earth dedicated a big part of the setlist to the current album Dystopia, and with its title track they welcomed us into their rebel ranks. The guys justified the huge expectations right away, since the band hadn’t looked this fired up in a long time! Only new drummer Raphael Saini, who recently replaced Brent Smedley in the band, seemed to be catching up a little, but even his (minor) slip-ups faded next to Stu’s mighty vocal performance. Once Stu opened his vocal cords, you could easily forget that Matt Barlow wouldn’t be on stage anymore. Stu shone from the first vocal line to the last, brilliantly handled even the emotionally heaviest songs, and technically blew away all doubters with a deep baritone and high falsettos that even outdo Ripper. On top of it all, he brought back a real frontman to Iced Earth, one who could teach Ripper how to really work a stage. On the wings of Stu’s youthful enthusiasm and inexhaustible wellspring, Iced Earth flew high, with no crash landing. This time, during the classic I Died For You, the band got help from little Jadran, who had spent the whole week tirelessly, confidently, and self-assuredly belting out this song at the Beach stage’s karaoke (along with Enter Sandman and Sweet Child O’ Mine). The band members noticed him too and invited him on stage. A lovely, spontaneous moment. V, A Question of Heaven, Dracula, Prophecy, and the always magically moving ballad Watching Over Me, during which everyone can easily think of the loved ones they’ve lost, stood out as the highlights that followed. This time the guys didn’t end their set with the classic Iced Earth anthem, but had to give in to the demands of an insatiable crowd that wanted more. And as a finale we got the brilliant My Own Savior! In the dystopian society of Iced Earth there is no Big Brother control, no totalitarian repression, no brainwashing, no dependence on technology, and no feeling that human life is worth only as much as the dystopian regime says it is. No! In the land of Iced Earth, all that matters are sawing riffs, phenomenal and unforgettable choruses, and a cannon-like rhythm section! An unforgettable end to Thursday, even though Legion of the Damned and Shining were still to come.
Setlist
SOLSTAFIR:
1. Ljos i Stormi
2. Svartir Sandar
3. Fjara
4. Goddess of the Ages
ANAAL NATHRAKH:
1. Drug-Fucking Abomination
2. The Blood-Dimmed Tide
3. In the Constellation of the Black Widow
4. In Coelo Quies, Tout Finis Ici Bas
5. Of Fire, and Fucking Pigs
6. More of Fire Than Blood
7. The Lucifer Effect
8. Todos Somos Humanos
9. Between Shit And Piss We Are Born
10. Volenti Non Fit Iniuria
11. The Destroying Angel
12. Forging Towards the Sunset
IHSAHN:
1. On the Shores
2. Arrival
3. The Paranoid
4. Frozen Lakes On Mars
5. The Barren Lands
6. A Grave Inversed
7. The Grave
ANNIHILATOR:
1. King of the Kill
2. Clown Parade
3. No Way Out
4. Set the World On Fire
5. W.T.Y.D.
5. The Fun Palace
6. Alison Hell
HYPOCRISY:
1. End of Disclosure
2. Tales of Thy Spineless
3. Fractured Millennium
4. Left to Rot
5. The Eye
6. Fire In the Sky
7. Necronomicon
8. 44 Double Zero
9. Elastic Inverted Visions
10. Warpath
— encore —
11. The Gathering/Roswell 47
12. Adjusting the Sun
13. Eraser
ENSLAVED:
1. Riitiir
2. Ruun
3. The Watcher
4. Roots of the Mountain
5. Thoughts Like Hammers
6. Convoys to Nothingness
7. As Fire Swept Clean the Earth
8. Allfaðr Oðinn
ICED EARTH:
1. Dystopia
2. Dark Saga
3. Pure Evil
4. Burning Times
5. I Died For You
6. V
7. A Question of Heaven
8. Dracula
9. Prophecy
10. Anthem
— encore 1 —
11. Boiling Point
12. Watching Over Me
13. Iced Earth
— encore 2 —
14. My Own Savior
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