The Bitter Next Morning
Saturday starts far too early. F*ck the sunrise, 5:00 is not a metal head’s most preferred wake up time. I had seen it coming so I grab my eye mask and find a little bit more sleep somehow. It is not much later than 8:30 until I finally get up and find some coffee and rolls at the food tent just 20 m away. Still too early. More coffee helps. Activities around me, like arriving bands and the festival crew beginning to work help me finally waking up. But it is still time for some chilling. I check the running order of today online to have an idea of what is to come. Sipping a beverage, I enjoy catching some true festival atmosphere by watching people passing by, setting up their tents and coming around for a short chat. That’s the relaxed Metal Way Of Life.
Metal Dogs
Local band W.U.F.F. opens the reign of bands today. Their German lyrics deal with friendship, love, the daily madness. Their sound is a mixture between punk and traditional metal elements. The right band to listen to as early as 12:15 in the morning to bring you on track for a long night to come.
Musical Destruction
What comes next is M.A.D., neither the satirical magazine MAD, nor the German military intelligence Militärischer AbschirmDienst but finest Death Metal from East Germany. With interruptions the trio already exists since 1986, a quite tough time for metal bands in the former GDR. But M.A.D. reunited again to make their way through the next decades. M.A.D. serve a fresh thrashy three-course luncheon to feed the appetite for Music And Destruction. Well done guys, can we have more metal food please?
So Familiar!
No we can’t! But we’d like to! No we can’t because we need to be ready for Bavarian Ravenfield. They identify themselves as Melancholic Dark Rock. Don’t ask me which genre exactly it should be but to me they sound familiar. Elements of Gothic Metal mix with traditional riffs, even the excellent vocals sound similar to one of my favourite bands of that genre. The music goes straight into my heart. It raised my good mood even higher. Once again a surprisingly good band on a small festival like a jewel of the crown.
Eau de Cologne
We continue with bands “from far away” and The Gäs from Cologne. It is all about Sex and Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll, one of the traditional themes of early Heavy Metal. And that is how they sound, back to the good old golden days of the 70ies when the first real Metal bands saw the daylight, established themselves and the NWOBHM took over control. You all will know which bands would count as The Gäs’ influence and we are not talking about Depeche Mode or One Hit Disco Wonders.
No Swiss Cheese
Let’s go a bit further and down to the south, cross the border at Bâle. Here we are! Let’s welcome Fire Rose from Switzerland. Phillip, their vocalist mentions their 800 km trip to Oschersleben. We will see them run out though. Phillip himself combines the looks of a young and healthy Bon Scott with the vocal skills of early Michael Kiske, what an explosive mixture and stage persona! Thunderous drums, powerful bass chords and two harmonic guitars make them a perfect band for a tea or better beer time, party on! And that is what they will do after show, remain with the audience, celebrate all the other bands playing later the evening and night. Fire Rose have a whole lot of fun and share more than one beer too much with their friends and fans. Party hard if you are a true Metal Head!
Remaining Calm
For a complete change of the origin, extreme metal band MĀRA from Latvia and currently Croatia enter the stage next. More than 2500 km crisscross Europe and two days driving to play their first international show in more than two years! Sadly, they face serious technical sound the fixing of which get them quite a delay. MĀRA remain calm and wait patiently without a complaint. They know the festival is organized by enthusiasts managing it all after work and not by professional technicians whose routine in trouble shooting would not come for free.
Outstanding
We can be thankful for their endless patience and comprehension. To quicken the change-over the band logos are projected on stage. But MARA’s is not MARA’s! It doesn’t stop them from playing a furious show to their old and new friends and fans. MĀRA is also the first band to point out the charity background of the festival and that any donations are more than welcome. The vocalist’s singing style is over the top outstanding, not many singers have a comparable range of screams, clean vocals, growling and other even more demanding vocal technics. Drummer, guitar and bass player are not lesser skilled but of course most people always focus on the singer as the front person.
Not only the Vocalist counts
It is okay, but please sharpen your senses for the other instruments as well and learn more about real music from real musicians. Label me insane if they don’t climb the ladder of success fast in the future. After a short refreshment MĀRA will join the audience and meet in particular with some of their friends who came to see them play or even meet them for the first time. It turns out to be more of a family meeting than the typical meet-and-greet as so many other bands offer.
Right Between the Eyes
After the last shouts for an encore it is time to prepare the stage for Warpath. Their place of origin is coming nearer again; they are from Hamburg. Warpath play pure, still melodic Thrash Metal, other people say “Mean Hate Metal” but that’s not quite the truth. Of course they play fast, of course the vocals are harsh but I don’t feel mean hate. Power Thrash Metal right between the eyes without compromise.
Brutal to the Limit
Fateful Finality is the last band before the two main acts tonight join the audience for a Rock ‘n’ Roll party. Once again a Trash Metal band. Once again we make a journey through half of Germany, they are from Baden nearby Karlsruhe. For my taste their sound is even more brutal then of the previous band. Less melodic, more aggressive and pushing the crowd to the limit to be ready for…
A Tough Slot
… Ektomorf instead of Bullet. Due to flight connections both band swopped the slot. As some other bands already before, Ektomorf from Hungary face some issues with a not 100% sound. Sadly, they can’t handle it and lack the professional patience . They start shouting at the poor sound guy who is giving his best. Sure he needs more time than a professional sound technician, but bottomline: he solves them! I’d like to shout: “Cool down Ektomorf, didn’t you also start as a small band which faced bigger problems in your earlier years?”
Manners, which Manners?
Their lacking manners kill a bit of the crowd’s good mood. That’s not what we expect on such a small, familiar festival. Nevertheless, once they continue playing, their sound is fresh, thrashy Groove Metal with some Romanic influences. At least they know how to win back the sympathy. Let’s forget the insult, tomorrow will be a better day on the Rock & Metal Day’z.
Midnight Power
Finally, and with some delay Bullet enter the stage. I must confess, I first mixed them up with the identically named German band but these guys are finest Swedish steel. The speed slows down a bit, a mix between true Heavy Metal and traditional Hard Rock rules for the 75 minutes. I don’t know where they take the energy for their now midnight slot from. Must have something to do with their Viking genes. They are true metal warriors and stomp through the night like there is no tomorrow. Well, it already is tomorrow…
Good Night, Party On!
After all those more or less serious sound problems the night ends with them just to continue in the food tent for a last, almost last, nearly last, finally last or one for the road beer freshly drawn from the barrel. Certainly not without casualties and losses but in a good mood after two years of no festivals. Once again a true celebration of The Metal Way Of Life.