15.03.2004

X-Mas-Festival 2003

16.12.03, Pratteln, „Z7“ - CH

Deicide/ Destruction/ Nile/ Amon Amarth/ Dew-Scented/ Graveworm/ Misery Index

live report by Boris "Azrael" Witta ___

What a great package! 4x Death + 2x Thrash + 1x Black Metal equals a Metal-evening to remember!

It’s 5 o’clock when Misery Index start at time. The “new Dying Fetus” have some Grind-influences and remind more than once to their old band, but that’s a detail. They play tight and motivated and the two guitarists are headbanging almost all the time. The audience is not really warm yet and so there aren’t many headbangers, but Misery Index earn good applause. My favourite song is the one with the funny title Angst Isst die Seele Auf. A good start!

Graveworm’s last album “Engraved In Black” is one of my favourites of the year and so I am pretty tensed how they are live. Big show! The whole band (besides of drummer Maschtl of course) is moving and banging all the time, and it looks great, most of all when the beautiful lady on the key – Sabine Mair - let her mind rot. The sound is superb and well differenced and so Melodic Black Metal-hymns like Dreaming Into Reality or Legions Unleashed spread a dark atmosphere and animate the crowd to make one of the party and a lot of noise after each song. Stefano Fiori screams perfect and there’s just one bad thing: After 30 minutes, the gig is already finished. Graveworm, come back soon!

Next band: Dew-Scented. The Thrash-Maniacs fire on grenade after the other into the crowd which is now banging and cheering. The biggest influence of Dew-Scented is of course Slayer, but the German have their own style of Thrash and they are a very good live band. Leif on the micro shouts and screams and growls and wants a moshpit, but he doesn’t get it. “I know it’s early and you don’t desire some violence!” What the fuck?! As I see, every Metalhead enjoys listening to Thrash-Crushers like Soul Poison. Like all the bands this evening, Dew-Scented play very motivated, and again the concert is too short.

Yeah, the Vikings are back! Amon Amarth rule from the beginning of their set ‘till the end. No surprise with immortal Swedish Death Metal-hymns like Victorious March, Versus The World, Bleed For Ancient Gods (Killer!) or The Last With Pagan Blood. Johan Hegg performs – with a beer in his hand – with naked upper part of his body and not only head-, but also beard-banging. The two guitarists and also the bass man just play and look indeed cool and this band is 100% Metal! Logical consequence: Moshpit! I think Amon Amarth won a lot of new fans this evening. Great!!

The intro of Nile has not finished yet, and already there’s a fight right in front of the stage. The moshpit is only for mad guys! Death Metal with Egyptian influences, oriental melodies and a lot of technical parts, that’s what Nile is. Karl Sanders on vocals and guitar directs the people like he wants, and we all shout, bang, clap our hands and it’s just great! The singer and bassist of Nile, Jon Vesano, has indeed the biggest upper arms I ever saw. Insane! Now, the Z7 is passable full, I think more than 1000 people enjoy the Extreme Metal-evening.

And then Destruction, the German Thrash Metal legend. Just one word: Fantastic! The setlist contains every classic the band ever wrote, the sound couldn’t be better, the band acts sympathy and of course there’s a deadly moshpit. It’s interesting to see how perfect new songs like The Ravenous Beast, Metal Discharge or Nailed To The Cross harmonize with classics like Curse The Gods, Mad Butcher or Total Desaster. Before Eternal Ban, Schmier appeals to the crowd to stand together, because we all are Metal, and we shouldn’t fight against each other. How right he is! After one hour, when the Thrash Metal inferno’s finished, Destruction won everything they could win!

Setlist Destruction

Curse The Gods

Total Desaster

The Ravenous Beast

Nailed To The Cross

The Butcher Strikes Back

Eternal Ban

Thrash ‘Till Death

Life Without Sense

Desecrators Of The New Age

Invincible Force

Metal Discharge

Bestial Invasion

Mad Butcher

Deicide begin very unspectacular: The band enters the stage, Glen Benton announces The Children Of The Underworld and here we go! US Death Metal par excellence! One classic after the other, a cheering and clapping audience and… I don’t have to say it, so I don’t say that there is the biggest and most brutal moshpit of the whole evening. Deicide look very impressive, most of all when they stand in one line. What I don’t understand is that people mustn’t enter the stage when Deicide play. One fan manages to climb on the stage – and gets a tread in his side so he has to jump down. But anyway, a super gig, and after a short hour, the X-Mas-Festivals 2003 are already history. Deicide don’t play any extra songs, but who really expected them to play some? It was a great Death Metal massacre, every band showed why they were on the billing and so it shall be!

Setlist Deicide

Children Of The Underworld

Bastard Of Christ

Biblebasher

Lunatic Of God’s Creation

Serpents Of The Light

Sacrificial Suicide

Once Upon The Cross

Deicide

Mephistopheles

Carnage In The Temple Of The Damned

Dead But Dreaming