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Live reportage
METALFEST 2008 December 5 - at Z7 in Pratteln - Switzerland
OMOPHAGIA ARSIS KEEP OF KALESSIN THYRFING (ABORTED) MARDUK KATAKLYSM MORBID ANGEL
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© by dalia di giacomo > intro and all bands except Morbid Angel and Aborted
and Gianrichy Giamboi >
Morbid Angel photos © by dalia di giacomofor interview and pass thanks to Irascible.ch |
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More is less? Not always. Generally, i hate
these mega convoy- concerts: i see them mainly as commercial idea in order to gather huge
audience. Nonetheless i didn't want to miss this event, because of the presence of highly interesting bands like Keep of Kalessin. To see Kataklysm is then a must for me, and legendary Morbid Angel don't need any introduction. Marduk played too. A bit of elite,
isn`t it? Very often, more is less, but this time i have to say that more can be actually more. "Today is one of the best days of my life and only because of YOU! We finally won the metalfest voting which we never would have dreamed of. Omophagia will be playing on one stage with Morbid Angel and many other great acts and you made it possible! Thankk you so fucking much". This is what the Swiss Brazilian Death Metal Band Omophagia wrote in a blog on November 12. And indeed Omophagia, thanks to the support of the fans, had the honour (and the burden) to open that kind of "mammouth" fest indoor at the Swiss metal venue Z7 in Pratteln. To be honest i am not confident with the local opener Omophagia, what impressed me was the only big intensity and force of the music and the nervous guitars. Hammering , flexible and violent enough to warm up the fest. Omophagia has been quite lucky too, cause although doors were set at 16:00 the audience was already quite numerous with tight presence at the merchandise. (by the way merchandise: if you were buying a shirt of the metal fest you received a big Metalfest flag for free)
17:10 - ARSIS -
The big surprise. Cadenced and proficient melodies blossom from brutal and technical riffs that let result the stage acting even more powerful than it really is, but this proves the good skill of the American band, that is able to make you reason over the music produced, offering also those necessary catchy lines. In the setlist We are the Nightmare and The Face of my Innocence.
17:55 - KEEP OF KALESSIN -
One of the best bands of this evening and , above all, so fresh. Satyricon guitarist Obsidian C. has been successful in delivering a fresh outfit to the veteran group, thanks to the right insertions in the line up. Black Metal affined but linked too Death and progressive too. Keep of Kalessin performe a genuine show based on skill, a little drop of dramatic behaviour and much fitness. brutal yet melodic. What i like is the response of the audience, it seems Obsidian C. (who opened with a solo the concert) and his bandmates were pretty awaited. The concert had the flair and rapture of a Black Metal injection without the side effect to kill each interest for the gigs that follow.
At a first impact this veteran Swedish Pagan band Thyrfing seemed to me uninteresting and boring; nonetheless the more the band played, the more it became intriguing because the positive, cadenced sides of the music surfaced. The audience was digging their show and i too began to get more convinced.I have noticed that the new release "Hels Vite" sounds the same. The first thing you think is "damn, it is nothing particular" but then you feel the magic and dignity of the composition you hardly leave this release which paradoxically charted my personal playlist right after this show . Thyrfing's slow and pounding chords may be judged as easy and banal but in reality they are quite solemn. On the stage Thyrfing is mainly calm, but, in the middle of this event (and after the the eruptive Keep of Kalessin) this impending music runs the risk to seem less virulent. Thyrfing (who sometimes appear even influenced by Bathory) need a very gloomy thick atmosphere, therefore i would like to attend them again, under different conditions. Anyway Thyrfing's show has represented that moment of menacing calm after and before the storm and didn't spoil at all the quality of the fest. A wish for the future: i would like to listen to Fran Stormens Öga in peace without the pressure of a long event.
ohhh Marduk! Now i need a person who is deeply expert in Marduk's evolution
Concerning (Melodic) Death Metal, the Canadian Hyperblasters seem to be the band of the moment. The latest effort
"Prevail" is a top album, one of the best if not The Best
Metal album of the year (eh? what are you saying? Metallica? no, for me not) but, after all,
"Prevail" is not greater than "Shadows & Dust" or
"Serenity in Fire", or "In the Arms of Devastation",
"Epic - The Poetry Of War" was also valuable. All masterpiece
-albums which should have given to Kataklysm this definitive seal of success much before. Were were all these admirers at that time? It seems that
"Prevail" is the breakthrough, but actually is the logic result of an excellent work in
years, only , i think, "Prevail" could rely on a more refined commercial support, but the band itself doesn't forget
some best tracks of a near past by including in the setlist much of the previous repertoire. In my opinion, this evening Kataklysm is better than the Kataklysm i have seen last year here at
Z7 (when Maurizio Iacono's band played together with the acclamation-catcher
Behemoth) although still just a bit far from that exquisite, brilliant, warm band of the years 2002, 2004 , 2005 and 2006 that made of me an ardent fan, more or less as i am for PL. In spite of a stage routined schema, Maurizio Iacono today is again that
force of nature-born, formidable, down-to-Earth frontman. However, the whole band
delivers a strong concert, as expected. Handing out some beers to the first
rows is included, (anyway i remember when Kataklysm offered even more varied
and intense performances). Whatever.
23:00 - MORBID ANGEL
- The last band in this marathon were the death metal gods
Morbid Angel. Since the return of David Vincent the band has mutated
back to the status of being one of the most powerful and impressive
formations of the scene. With evergreens as "Rapture"
"Fall from Grace" "Chapel of Ghouls" "Maze of
Torment" or "God of Emptiness" and the new yet
unreleased track "Nevermore" the band confirmed to be still a
top act. The charisma of David Vincent, and the skills and virtuosities
of guitarist Trey Azagtoth and drummer Pete Sandoval ensorcered the
audience and left everyone astonished and petrified. Only the absence of
Eric Rutan on the second guitar was a little bit of a disappointment,
but he was worthily replaced by Thor Anders Myhten from the band Zyklon.
Let's hope the next album will be in qualitative regions as albums like
Altars of Madness or Covenant.
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Written permission is needed for the public use of these photos
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The concert is solid, and full of temperament, appreciated by the fans who welcome the band in Switzerland with the usual
interest . Unfortunately the sound is everything but optimal, a couple of songs are even difficult to be immediately
recognized. But this is no Kataklysm' fault. Pity because the mix between guitar , bass and hyperblasting drums would have been really well
balanced. Also positive is the sober use of smoke effect, while negative (at least for me) is the habit strangely shown now by Kataklysm too, to
let the long hair hide the face after an headbanging. I bloody hate it.
The setlist could have been better, but this is again personal taste.
This setlist is however well structured. Tracks from "Prevail", like
Taking the World by Storm, The Chains of Power, and the titletrack
Prevail (opener of the show), dwell together with As I
slither, Like Angels weeping (The Dark), Crippled &
Broken, In Shadows and Dust (a song that received a superb appreciation), and my beloved
Where the Enemy sleeps and Face the face of War. The last song
) of this "almost co-headlining" gig comes however from another
planet. Not only the song is one of the most awesome that the band has ever composed, but this evening, if compared with the other tracks, suddenly, is the best sounding one.
It is another track from "Prevail" (and second video). Blood in
Heaven. 
Niederrohrdorf
- Switzerland