29.11.2004
HOLE IN THE SKY FESTIVAL 2004
first part: second day of the festival
26 August 2004 - in Bergen - NORWAY
report by Haavard Holm
INTRO
Just
when the Summer festivals seems to come to an end around in Europe, we
have here in Norway
a
great little festival the very last weekend every August called Hole In
the Sky.
Year
after year they have impressed with getting a interesting line-up of both
local and foreign bands,
this
years headliners being Kreator and Danzig which again was a good way to
top the last years
festival.
For
me this was the first time I found the opportunity to travel to the very
nice city of Bergen on the
western
coast of Norway, a city where you have all opportunities to combine a
great festival with
daytime
events like taking a walk in the Norwegian mountains, fishing or just
getting absurdly pissed
before
the evenings festival. Well, enough of that, here is
the first part (of three) from the festivals first
day
for me, Thursday 26th of August...
This
was really the 2nd day of the HOLE IN THE SKY Festival 2004, and a report
from the first day you'll never
have
from me, as I thought that day was a bit so-so on the programme, even
though bands as Red Harvest and
Atrox
were listed. Still it was not enough to drag me down to the rainy
westcoast-capital of Norway, so
then
my choice to arrive in Bergen on the 2nd day seemed quite perfect. A
bunch of allright bands that evening,
and
the event taking place at the infamous "Garage" as a warm-up to
the main event on Friday and Saturday when
the
whole festival was taken to a much larger venue. The "Garage"
venue suited very well this evening, it's small and
These
boys have played very frequently around in Norway these last years, and
especially as they come from the same
But
it has to be said that I can't stand rockstars who wants to appear tougher
than the train on stage, and with the
Manifest
vocalist he really had a sad impact on stage. To behave as a monkey is one
thing, but reaching new lows
when
you ask the audience for their menstruation pads and other humiliating
ramblings in between the songs.
Luckily
it was just their vocalist taking it to that extreme, the others played
well and managed to create some sort
of
life on stage. As the band has been able to play a lot of gigs they
have also got the routine as
a live act, and
seemingly
is also more and more professional. The problem is their songs which are
at the best half-done, with a
part
here and there that could suit its purpose, but still with a lack of a
complete feeling and more just like a clone
of Meshuggah and Sepultura, just terribly much more boring.
GRADING:
5 / 10
A
local band from Bergen, Syrach, has been already playing for many years,
their previous album was out in 1996
and
they are still working on getting a new one out... The
band doesn't have a whole lot of routine as a live act yet,
but
this evening it didn't really show, as the band did a good figure on
stage. The bands problem is more that they
do
not seem to know where they are heading with their music. What in
the basic sense is all around the slow forms
of
Doom Metal is somehow distorted when the band suddenly jumps over genres
far too often to really give the listener
A
part of the set still worked out okey, and a little more variation was
good when the vocalist of
Octavia
(all female band, now signed with Candlelight) did a contribution on their
last track this evening,
and made me at least conclude that this was a ok gig.
GRADING: 5 / 10
Sorry
boys, after seeing this band the week before at a local arrangement the
disappointment was huge.
Also
these boys are from Trondheim, and perform a very brutal and relentless
sort of Death Metal, maybe a bit
influenced
by bands as Autopsy and Deicide. But here they really did not have a good
performance, mostly due
to
be the victim of a sound which was way too poor. During
the first 3-4 songs only one of their two guitars had a sound
The
sound improved a bit towards the end of their set, but it was far too late
to make their appearance at this
years
festival a very memorable one. Sad, as the band can make a good figure on
stage, but they desperately need
their sound to also work out.
GRADING: 4 / 10
It's
quite a tough ride for the drummer of Keep of Kalessin, as he also
actually play in Chton. So he did two gigs in
a
row, and while Chton is fast enough on it's own, that must just have been
a warm-up for Keep of Kalessin as this
is
high-speed Black Metal all the way. And this was for many the highlight of
the evening, as although there was
quite
a crowd before this evening, suddenly the venue was totally packed and it
was impossible to reach the front
without
fighting for your spot.
Unfortunately
also in the set of Keep of Kalessin I have the feeling something is
lacking, maybe it is partly the sound
Towards
the end it improves a bit with songs as "Obliterator" and
"Agnen", but still I had expected a bit more from
Keep of Kalessin as well...
GRADING: 6 / 10
In
the end there was absolutely no doubt who tonights most memorable act
would be, Zyklon blew everyone else
off
stage with their high-octane set of pure Death Metal. From the first
chords it was proved that Zyklon is at least
a
division above any other band tonight, and this unstoppable machine both
had the crown and sound on their side
to
enhance their appearance even more.
The
bands tightness and experience proved to be a winner, and when the sound
even allowed the guitarsolos to come
While
variating around their two albums "World of Worms" and "Aeon",
things especially picked up when the band
did
the titletrack from the latter one, and I can not imagine anyone going
home unhappy after the show.
I
would even dare to say that Zyklon live is a much more comfortable
experience than on their albums, and that really
GRADING:
8 / 10
to be continued
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