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I was there Friday through Sunday. I'm terrible at reviews so I'll just share some highlights and observations.
Cianide was the first band I got in the crowd for on Friday. Their first song was butchered by the loud bass boom, but they fixed that before playing Mindscrape as the second song. That was a relief for me because that was the only song I wanted to hear. I'm only familiar with their first album so I didn't recognize many of the tracks they played. Even with the loud bass gone, the sound remained rough throughout their set.
I skipped Vallenfyre in favor of getting some food. Their albums didn't do anything for me, but from what I could hear in the background, they actually sounded really good. Nice and tight sound. I did notice that Adrian wasn't drumming for them. Greg Mackintosh had some funny banter in between songs; at one point he was saying it was the band's biggest dream to play in a car park in Baltimore, haha.
I got back in the crowd for Master. Pretty clear mix, and they ripped through their set. Paul Speckmann's vocals sounded great and it was nice to hear some blazing solos. There seemed to be an issue with lead guitar being too low in the mix the rest of the fest, though. Arcturus, Primordial, and Bloodbath had quiet solos, from what I can remember (all three sounded great otherwise).
Didn't pay much attention to Lock Up, not my thing. After them Aura Noir played. I stuck around for the whole set and was excited to see them but was a little underwhelmed. Their mix was flat and muddy.
Suffocation kicked ass. Great tight and punchy sound. Probably the best sounding set all day.
I was most looking forward to seeing Obituary and they delivered. Easily my favorite set on Friday. A demon came over me when they played Don't Care (wasn't expecting to hear that one at all), and Back to One and Dead Silence being played right in a row was really cool. The crowd lulled slightly whenever they played a new song, and there were a handful, but things kicked back into gear whenever an old song started. I never mosh but I got into some circle pit action during Slowly We Rot.
I took it easy and stood far away during Bloodbath's set as I already had a headache before Obituary started. Not much to say besides they played well and sounded good. I'm still not totally sold on Nick's weak, gargly vocals, but they weren't distracting and he had good stage presence.
After some food at Subway I headed over to Soundstage for Napalm Death's set. I'd seen them a couple months before and may have skipped them to see Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult, but I was with a friend who hadn't seen them before. In the end I'm glad I stayed. Their set was perfect, drawing from several albums and with a whopping seven songs from the new one. It was cool seeing a proper, old school grind show too with people stage diving every five seconds. It's not often you get to see a big death metal band in that setting (although there was that Obituary show on the floor of a bar a couple years ago...).
Saturday... Got to Edison Lot six minutes after Twilight of the Gods started. I could hear Alan Averill wailing down the street and I started to panic. I had an old schedule that said they started at 2, but they'd apparently been moved to 1:20. Anyway, they sounded really good, and it was nice to start the day with some heavy metal, after the excess of death metal the previous day. They're playing all original songs now, no covers. The old Cradle of Filth fan in me also had a fun time seeing Nick Barker behind the drums (having not cared for Lock Up).
I didn't watch Blood Red Throne, but their reliable, albeit predictable style of death metal sounded good in the background. I cracked up and felt a bit embarrassed as their vocalist started the set by saying, "I wish you were dead. I wish you all were dead, and buried in the ground," or something along those lines.
Einherjer were entertaining and sounded good. Their vocalist's bass crapped out early in the set so their guitarist kept playing and took over vocals which I thought was neat.
Vulcano I skipped because I find them boring. They seemed to get a good response though. I watched half of Bulldozer's set from the beginning though, and they were quite good. The bloody podium that their vocalist stood at was awesome. Their style of music gets tiresome after awhile and I felt my hairline burning in the sun so I ditched them and got a good spot for Triptykon... who slayed. Tom G. Warrior had a grin ear to ear the whole set. I heard a lot of complaints about too much bass or kick drum or whatever, but they sounded great to me, and immensely heavier than most bands did that weekend. Decent setlist starting with Procreation of the Wicked and ending with thats song's main riff. Tree of Suffocating Souls and Goetia were played, probably the best songs off their respective albums, so that was fine by me.
Arcturus... wow. I was completely blown away. Fantastic stage presence from all of them, from ICS Vortex's goofy mannerisms and his hands-in-his-pockets dance, to Knut's swaying jig with his cape and guitar, to the keyboardist's carnivalesque grin the entire gig. In full costume, those guys are just fun as hell to watch on stage. And Vortex sounded phenomenal. No flubbed notes or apologies for being drunk. He also promised a US tour in the next year so we'll see what becomes of that.
I went to Soundstage afterward to catch Wolfbrigade but they took ages to set up, a common theme at the venue. They were on the stage and hadn't begun playing five minutes past their start time, so I gave up a headed over to the Ram's Head for the first time that weekend. I got a pretty good spot for Demoncy who were a treat for me to see. They were one of the first black metal bands I became familiar with outside of the Norwegian scene so their set was a bit of a blast from the past. The Ram's Head has risen in notoriety for indecipherable mixes and quiet guitars, but I had no complaints. Tsjuder, on the other hand, became a complete mess whenever they went into a fast tremolo or blast beat section. Thankfully they do a lot of groovy Celtic Frost stuff and that was headbanging heaven.
Anyway, Demoncy were kind of funny because their set is very repetitive. The vocalist croaks the song name with a boat load of reverb, then sways in his cape as the other guys stand like Secret Servicemen and play, and then kneels with his back to the crowd to sip some water. Repeat this, all the while with Tsjuder's backdrop hanging up. Still, I love their brand of downtuned black metal, and you have to suspend your disbelief to ignore the cheap Halloween costumes and bare stage setup. Things got sillier when the stage manager walked on and told their vocalist to wrap up. They played another song and the stage manager threw a conniption fit and flailed his arms on the side of the stage. I've never seen gear taken apart as fast as it was after that song finished.
On Sunday I pretty much just wanted to see the last four bands on Stage B in Edison Lot. I got there during Goatsnake, who provided some nice lunchtime music, and then got myself a spot for Primordial, my most anticipated band of the whole fest. I'd never seen them before, and after seeing them once I have to commit to seeing them again. Flawless set. One of the only (if not the only) sing-a-long bands playing that weekend, and my bad allergies be damned, I sang along to every song. A solid setlist, starting off with Where Greater Men Have Fallen, then going to a more classic Primordial sound with Gods to the Godless, and slowing down with Babel's Tower. Actually, there is a song I didn't sing along to: that one. Things picked up again with No Grave Deep Enough, followed by the mandatory Coffin Ships, and then the band finished with a bang by playing Empire Falls. Alan's stage theatrics really add to the experience and I actually enjoyed the afternoon sun during their set. I've always considered them a "summer band" so the heat aided the atmosphere. My favorite set this MDF.
Anaal Nathrakh and Demilich I simply watched from afar because I was getting tired and I knew they wouldn't live up to Primordial's set. They were both very good though, with Demilich having a clearer, if quieter sound. Their banter was amusing too; Anaal's vocalist spread some humorous, some serious cynicism that you kind of come to expect given the music they play; Demilich's vocalist just casually introduced the next song with some jokes (none of that intelligibly croaking the next song business).
I didn't see two of the other juggernauts that day, Skepticism and Neurosis. Well, mostly didn't see. I listened to Skepticism from the picnic tables and peered over a couple times to gawk at their suits in the heat. They're not the sort of the music I can stand in the sun for an hour to listen to. When Neurosis played I went a little crazy and camped out over at Amorphis' stage for an hour. I didn't really pay attention to them, but I remember the last song they played being cool (setlist.fm tells me it was Stones from the Sky). So then Amorphis got on and the crowd erupted into a frenzy; I hadn't seen a crowd that crazy all weekend. Their set flew by but it sounded great. Tomi Joutsen's growls sound 10x better live than they do on the albums - nice and meaty. I was hoping for some sort of tour teaser but they said nothing of it.
After some free bread and cheese sandwiches from Zombie BBQ/Smokerhead, I went over to Soundstage to catch the last of Melt Banana's set. They finished about 20 minutes early and apparently had a merch line until DRI's set started. I should know, I was waiting outside while my buddy was stuck in it. He got me a Melt Banana pin with a cat on it. Anyway, we then headed over to Ram's Head to watch a few Portal songs and called it a night. Until next year!
Also, I don't mind the hour long sets before headliners, personally (and to be exact, many of the bands playing in the late afternoon got 50 or 55 minutes). There are a lot of big name bands in those slots that draw people to the festival. Triptykon, Primordial, Suffocation, Demilich, to name a few. There are some bands who play longer than they should (I agree on Winter), but that gives you time take a break and still catch some of their set.
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BaloroftheEvilEye wrote: Every thread is secretly a Manowar thread.
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