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WELCOME
WARRIORS!
It is kind of strange to review a
Festival some months later. The school year has been
very time-demanding for me. But the "forced"
procrastination of this live review could have positive
sides. Hopefully it will result more intriguing for those readers who
attended this event because now, only some days away from the
winter edition of this Festival (Meh Suff! Winter Festival), they get an
occasion to remember a true awesome time. While all our
international readers get an occasion to know more about this great
Swiss Festival, now that many plans are made about the next summer. Who
knows... some will choose to be present at the next edition of the
Meh Suff! Metal Festival for the very first time.
This was a fomidable edition to
say the least. The Meh Suff!-crew has been successfull since years: top
organization, great billings (just to mention: the past edition was
headlined by the Hyperblasters Kataklysm), great atmosphere. This year
the festival got the same great characteristics of Swiss efficience and
Swiss hospitality, maintaining that "sense" of intimacy
and of "feeling-at -ease", which is totally gone lost in
bigger open airs. Services are there,
you can buy merchandise, you can drink mead too at the
nice and faithful Imkerei stand (www.imkerei.ch ) where you can buy
horns, keyholders and other products; you can admire how
enchanting this location is, at night, even more when you look at the
sky watching the moon and the black silhouettes of the pine-trees; you
have the adjacent camping-place. But the music remains always in
absolute foreground All this must have been mesmerized the bands. I got the impression that during this
edition, even more than in the previous ones, the bands were simply
enthusiast. Each band that i saw has given the best , each band has find the time to connect with the
audience, each band enjoyed seeing devoted fans, devoted metalheads,
who were there for them only.
From
the moment that photos and videos say more than words, I will not
comment much, leaving you with my fots and footages. The first day was headlined by
Kreator, the second day was headlined by Satyricon. The audience
was pumped up in both days till late, the atmosphere for the
performance of the headliners was perfectly prepared by the previous
bands. No one was tired when the headliners played and the pit was full. On
the first day, I took the entrance of the festival when the Belgian Death
Metallers Aborted were almost ending the show . I can only
say that Aborted was technical and
unrestrained. Huge vocal power and blasting drumming.
Black
metallers Watain, led by Erik Danielsson, put on the stage a very
dark yet hammering show, very mystique, and very respectful to their
dark God. It was a true worship, not only a concert, it was a
"sinister" ritualistic worship. The stage was also provided with an altar,
nothing more, nothing less than an altar. Cauldrons of fire, skulls and
the inverted cross were also part of the set up. Although the music
was extreme yet it resulted captivating. I remember frontman
Danielsson kneeling, at times during the show, before the altar. The
same did he at the end of the show, very slowly , very concentrated. It was the first time
I had the occasion to attend Watain. If they will play again in this
area (Zürich), you can beat I will go see them. Ave!
Polish
Death metal institution Vader has been fantastic, with a kind of fresh aura
and no compromises. The death/thrashy Triumph Of Death was brutally
awesome and crunchy, with a nostalgic taste of the 80's: an
absolute highlight of their concert, followed by Where Angels Weep. Metalheads were very eager to attend Vader's show.
In particular the new material was much appreciated. The band didnt
disappoint and delivered a concert full of energy, experience, technique
and hooks that made you headbanging like hell. Vader kicked ass. Simply
that. Knowing that Kreator had to hit the stage after this
concert, we truly had a fantastic gift to live a unique evening with
practically two headliners of the same caliber. Vader was acclaimed as the ultimative strike
of this first phase of the festival. Solos were wild, vocals solid. What
do you want more than this?
To
the grave
To
the grave
Still
marching on
To
the grave
To
the grave
You'll
meet the Human... DEAD
O
tempera, o mores!
How
weak became this pride...
Ad
portas inferi
Where
even Death may cry...
Setlist
Vader
Abandon All
Hope
Go to
Hell
Silent
Empire
Blood of
Kingu
Triumph of
Death
Where Angels
Weep
Come and See My
Sacrifice
Sothis
Hexenkessel
Return to the Morbid
Reich
CarnalSword of the Witcher
One
Legend follows the other. After Vader, Thrash-Metal Icon Kreator
in perfect form hit the stage on front of the enthusiast metalheads. I felt that
Kreator have not only the stature of Slayer but they
are
truly the German answer full of rage to Metallica. Moshpits and
headbanging non stop with crowd surfing. Absolutely entertaining was Mr.
Petrozza when he said that Meh Suff! means "mehr saufen" (to
drink more), he didnt know.
Indeed it is true: Swiss-German (Schweizerdeutsch) is quite a dialect for the Germans. He told also how
brilliant
this festival developped and thanked the audience. At
the end of the show, Kreator' s frontman brought a flag announcing the
song "Flag of Hate", closing the show in a traditional manner
for Kreator. Time to raise the flag of hate for Meh Suff! Festival 2014
too.
Setlist
Kreator Intro:
Mars Mantra Phantom
Antichrist From
Flood into Fire Coma
of Souls (intro only) Endless
Pain Pleasure to Kill Hordes
of Chaos Phobia Enemy
of God Civilization
collapse Intro
2: The Patriarch Violent
Revolution Flag
Of Hate
The
second day begins for me with the Dutch Dath/Doom act Asphyx, who
reunited 2007. The band enjoyed the show in an incredible way. The
cohesion in the band was flawless. Bonebreaking and crushing
in all mid-paced- tempo, almost doomy paths. Asphyx have
played a solid and reliable show, that has left in me an impression that
will last. I'm sure that the audience was given everything that a metal
heart is looking for. No better way to pave the way for Unleashed.
Martin Van Drunen and his band has done a very good job!
Setlist
Asphyx The
Quest OF Absurdity Vermin Food
For The Ignorant Deathhammer M.S.
Bismarck Death
The Brutal Way Forgotten
War Wasteland
Of Terror The
Rack Scorbutics Last
One on Earth Here
the footage Last One On Earth. I liked the drone who appeared
suddenly flying over the audience while the band was playing. It added a
kind of hi- tech- embellishment near an already technically perfect stage!
Enjoy Last One On Earth. The quality of
this footage doesnt reflect the vocal ability of Martin van Drunen,
whose performance was great, due to the resounding bass sound coming
from the giant speakers. It is not easy to shoot photos, gather
impressions for the review and make footages at the same time.
Anyway...take what the convent gives!
Shouting
"Welcome warriors!" Deathsters heavy machinery Unleashed
began to enflame the pit with the fast and mighty song Blood of Lies
. A true arsenal of riffs and mighty tempos took merciless and immediately
shape. The quality of the musicianship was astonishing. Partularly
irresistible was Dont want to be born, with its "back to the
80's" fascination. Brutal extasy! The reaction of the new generations, enthusiast in the
first raws was awesome: Go for it! Here the footage.
The
Death Metal triumph rips on and on with The Longships Are Coming
from the album "Sworn Allegiance", the band
could express all the technical skill from the solos to the impressive drumming.
After
having presented the band's line up, frontman Johnny Hedlund announced Fimbulwinter
(song from 2012 album "Odalheim"): fast and brutal. Great
highlight was Wir Kapitulieren Niemals. "We fucking never
surrender" said Hedlund to the crowd. With If They Had Eyes
we went back to their first album. Pounding and brutal was also This
is Our World Now followed by Now Your Child Will Burn, Hammer
Battalion and Midvinterblot. The setlist was well balanced
indeed presenting songs from various moments of the story of the band. To
Asgaard We Fly was another highlight as well as Death Metal
Victory. The whole show was not only a kind of story of the band but
a story of Death metal. The one hour concert seemed last just few
minutes, so involving and interesting it was. Unleashed, super
band! Period.
Ensiferum
enthralled me. The Folk Metal Finnish band has been
so full of energy, so badass, so explosive. Ensiferum has been a true
revelation for me . Sami Hinkka is an incredible bassist; together with frontman
Petri Lindroos and band grounder Markus Toivonen, put on the stage a
damned hot and involving show. Unfortunately the sight to keaboardist
Emmi Silvennoinen was often restrained by the Viking-string-line. Anyway
this was a hell of a show which I still remember as one of the best
concert I ever saw. Ensiferum opened their concert with the hook
filled beautiful In My Sword I Trust. Other highlights was One
More Magic Potion. But i was falling in love with Token of Time. At
the end of the show, the band lined up and applauded the audience.
In this edition one thing caught
my attention: the brilliant performances of the drummers.
The rhythmic section of each band was propelled by a monster, not
by a drummer. The culmination was of course the performance of Frost of Satyricon.
When Norwegian
Black Metal gods Satyricon
played, I became almost obsessed to shoot pics of Frost. Although I had
backstage access, to jump on the "back" of the stage running
around and disturbing is not my thing. I tried my
best, or my worst, it's up to you to decide. I couldnt be there in time
for 1349, but at least I enjoyed Satyricon so much, after years i didnt
see them. And I was so blown away due to Frost's drumming. Just
fantastic, precise, intense, merciless with all facettes useful to amplify
feelings of involvement, power and fear. Frost behind the drum-kit is
simply unreal, as well as his look à la Genghis-Khan. The concert was infernally immense. Satyr was
commanding yet very solidal with the band and the audience. The presence of
a keyboardist attracted my attention too. Satyr and
Satyricon were at the very top with "banging" setlist and
boundless dinamism. Compliments to Satyricon and a huge THANK YOU to the
guys of Meh Suff! for having organized this mega-edition....and ...may
Frost be immortal! \m/.
Dear
readers, dont miss all these bands when they play in your area, and come
to Switzerland for the next edition of the Meh Suff! Metal-Festival !
However next date (on January 2015 ) is the Meh Suff! Winter Festival
in Winterthur with Primordial and Dark Funeral among other great bands.
In
Metal faith, your dalietta.
Setlist
Satyricon Now,
Diabolical Black
Crow on a Tombstone Our
World, It Rumbles Tonight Walker
Upon The Wind Repined
Bastard Nation The
Infinity
of Time & Space Nekrohaven The
Pentagram
burns Fuel
for Hatred Mother
North K.I.N.G
review
by dalia di giacomo
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