Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Jerneja Jerak, Sebastijan Videc
Video: Sebastijan Videc
Location: Sotočje, Tolmin, Slovenia
Concert date: July 27, 2016
Wednesday started early for me, since I caught the Croatian death metallers Infernal Tenebra at two o’clock, and sadly they weren’t all that inspiring. The good sound conditions could hardly hide the occasional slip-ups, mostly in the intricate technical passages, and they gave off the feeling of struggling to fight their way through their own material. Maybe they just had an off day, but they didn’t exactly win the crowd over. (t: David)
Over on the second stage, Italy’s Blaze of Sorrow presented their ambient black metal with an optimistic edge, singing in their native language about nature and finding yourself. The band was a solo project for a few years, then in 2011 drummer Nicolò joined mainman Petru, and they’ve been working as a duo ever since, playing live with session musicians. They delivered an excellent set, but because of the early hour there weren’t many people in front of the stage. (t: David)
A little after three, the main stage kicked off a lineup that wasn’t exactly a hit with the supporters of the children-and-family movement, since Aborted and Dying Fetus were up next. The former already visited us in Ljubljana this year, when they stopped at Kino Šiška with Kataklysm and Septic Flesh, and they last played Tolmin two years ago, when they delivered one of the best sets of the festival on the small stage. They gave us a few tracks from their latest, ninth studio album, Retrogore, which came out in April. As we’ve come to expect from the Belgians, they got the job done flawlessly, caused a massacre in front of the stage, and despite the rain and the early hour, packed the grounds pretty well. (t: David)
Wednesday’s Slovenian acts began with the Metlika death metallers Sarcom on the smaller stage. A fairly solid set, but sadly without any real standout moments. We reckon that with a later slot and a bit more energy on stage the band would have pulled in a bigger crowd; as it was, only a handful of people watched from the benches in front of the stage. The whole thing gave off a funny feeling of sitting in a classroom. Only the singer occasionally surprised with some stage energy, while the rest of the members were pretty static. The highlights were the good drummer and, at moments, the singer, though his rather linear vocals are worth a scolding. (t: Klemen)
Aborted were followed on the main stage by Pro pain, an American band that, judging by the crowd, was eagerly awaited, and who file themselves under hardcore metal. It’s a four-piece with some serious mileage behind them, at least judging by their discography. The alpha and omega of the band is clearly vocalist and bassist Gary Meskil, who is also the only founding member left, as the others in the current lineup joined much later. In one sentence? An excellent set that, in our opinion, definitely deserved a slot an hour or so later. The band sounds incredibly tight and everyone does their part just as needed, so it’s hard to single anyone out. Heavy riffs, a locked-in rhythm section, great solos and solid vocals without letting up. Without a doubt a band we’d like to see again. They’re currently presenting tracks from their latest album, out this year, called “Foul taste of freedom”, released on Steamhammer. (t: Klemen)
Another band that isn’t the biggest fan of human offspring is Maryland’s Dying Fetus. Just like Aborted, the Americans are pretty regular guests on Slovenian soil. They played us their best-known songs plus »Induce Terror« from their upcoming album, due out next February. The band stands apart from its genre peers in that it’s only three musicians, yet sounds like at least twice as many. With their incredibly complex mix of death metal and slam/grind breakdowns, despite their »mature« years (John Gallagher turned 44 this year) they effortlessly outdo the vast majority of younger bands. (t: David)
The fairly fresh German heavy metal outfit Gloryful started filling the crowd with the energy needed for the evening’s highlights a little after 6 p.m. It’s a band where, from the very first songs, it’s clear what their answer would be to the question of who they count among their idols. We’re convinced the answer would be Iron Maiden, because they simply follow them too closely, both in the music and in their stage presence. The set wasn’t bad, but we didn’t hear anything much to write home about either, precisely because of those overly obvious copycat moves. (t: Klemen)
Rossomahaar played right after Gloryful, and before the set we were curious how their mix of folk-thrash-black metal would actually sound. Sadly, we can’t write anything much more positive. Maybe it would have been better to hear just their thrash and black without the folk flute, since it simply didn’t fit the band. The Russian four-piece puts in the necessary energy and they’re not just extras on stage. Digestible. But not something that would stay with us. Let’s give them time, but considering they’ve been around for 11 years, we’d have expected more. (t: Klemen)
For a break from the brutal death metal, the main stage had Graveyard. The Swedes have been on Nuclear Blast for a few years now, a label that, with bands like Kadavar, Blues Pills and the new Opeth, is kind of reviving the music typical of the ’60s and ’70s. All of those bands have delivered excellent sets in Tolmin over the last two years, and Graveyard were no exception. With their mix of psychedelic rock, blues and the occasional more dynamic insert, they swayed a very sizable crowd of fans and curious onlookers to their pleasant grooves. I definitely recommend catching one of their shows when they come back to our parts. (t: David)
Next up was without a doubt the most anticipated Slovenian band of the day, if not the whole festival. The Škofja Loka thrash metallers Sarcasm are already a well-known name on the Slovenian metal scene. Despite lineup changes, they’ve stayed at the top of their game. The latest change is singer Grega Čadež (Rise), who joined this year; he’s still finding his feet in the band, but he played his role well all the same. He topped off the constant stage energy of all the members with some great crowd work, getting the packed audience in front of the stage going and even into a moshpit. There’s nothing to criticize about the band, they come across as perfectly in sync, and the standout is drummer Aleš Korošec. They announced their long-standing presence on the scene with an upcoming anniversary show. For that occasion they were joined on stage by former members Aleš and Sandi on bass and Tomi on guitar. As expected, Sarcasm left an excellent impression and we have no doubt the anniversary will be a quality affair. The preparation, at least, is clearly going more than well. Judging by the crowd’s reaction, the standout tracks were Crematory and Something to believe. It was a great lead-in to the first stars of the evening on the main stage, Napalm Death. (t: Klemen)
It was time again for loud music and blast beats on the main stage. To be more precise: very loud music and a ridiculous amount of blast beats. The legendary grind pioneers Napalm Death brought chaos and anarchy. In the crowd you could see a huge variety of activities, from classic slamming and moshing to conga lines and a group macarena. Even though Barney is closing in on fifty, he’s still got the energy of an angry teenager and is a truly great frontman. Between songs there was of course no shortage of his socially critical remarks, each of which got a loud round of applause. (t: David)
I skipped the set by the German thrash giants Kreator, whom I’ve seen many times, because the American death metallers Misery Index were playing on the second stage, and I especially wanted to see them because Adam Jarvis sits behind their drum kit. After the excellent performances from Ken Bedene (Aborted) and Trey Williams (Dying Fetus), I was curious how the third drummer of the death metal trio would fare. The answer: like an animal. Misery Index’s set can be summed up simply as »a punch in the face«, and with a great choice of songs they caused total devastation and fittingly closed out the brutal part of the program. Definitely worth recommending. (t: David)
The main stage then continued with Germany’s Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, who sadly turned out to be the first major disappointment of the festival. Maybe it was because the red thread of the day was death metal, or because wherever I turned I was surrounded by Germans with €5 beers, but the real energy simply wasn’t in the air. The material, otherwise very well played, grew more and more predictable and repetitive, and sadly the band didn’t leave the best impression. After a day like that, we could have wished for a slightly more dynamic finish on the main stage. (t: David)
I didn’t get to watch the Germans till the end, since Kreator ran seriously over before them, and after just a few songs it was one o’clock and Secrets of the Moon started playing on the second stage. They’re very hard to pin down genre-wise, but if we boil down all their sonic elements, we can only conclude that it’s (experimental) black metal, not of the same kind as, say, Marduk or Dark Funeral, but more of a slow, dark nature. Reactions from the audience were mixed, since, as mentioned earlier, people probably wanted a finish along the same lines as the whole day before. And so another festival day came to an end, leaving us with only two short days. (t: David)
text: David Bordon & Klemen Udovč
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