Newcomer Contest "Metal" - Stuttgart 2006

This Friday evening the Longhorn in Stuttgart had called all the metal heads from the surrounding areas to a Newcomer Metal Contest. In the run-up to this event there had been an online voting; each band not signed so far and with its own web presence had the possibility to apply for this voting. Five bands, namely FIREREIGN from Esslingen, SCRATCHED SURFACE from Göppingen, MINDEAD from Stuttgart, SOULSICK from Zwiefalten and CROWD IN ANGER from Ostelsheim had survived the online poll and now had the opportunity to play on the Longhorn stage in front of a bigger audience and maybe get one of the prizes. About 300 Metal-hooked people had found their way to the venue. The jury, consisting among others of the FARMER BOYS’ drummer Till Hartmann and representatives of Nuclear Blast and metal.de, would estimate the bands' music and performance and announce the winners when the contest came to its end. The prizes were money and another possibility for a live performance. My favorites, the congenial CROWD IN ANGER, finished third, FIREREIGN won second prize and MINDEAD were the night's winners.

The Metal band FIREREIGN from Esslingen has been formed in the year 2000. Originally they adopted the name WARCRY, but had to change this, because another band of this name already existed. In 2005 they have released a first demo. FIREREIGN are Christian Schäfer (vocals), Stefan Hezinger (guitars), Torsten Reinert (guitars), Matthias Cotter (bass) and Fabian Bickel (drums). http://www.firereign.de/

Music
The five guys from Esslingen had half an hour to perform, and they used it to full capacity. Sometimes fast and harsh, then melodic and soulful - the sound of FIREREIGN is diversified and catchy - Metal that you just have fun listening to.



Performance
FIREREIGN delivered a very energetic performance. Especially vocalist Christian ran and jumped around on stage like a whirlwind. From time to time he stood still, and seemed completely lost in his music. The audience rewarded the band's effort with cheering and enthusiastic banging, though not too many had crowded in front of the stage, as FIREREIGN were the evening's first act to perform. 

Setlist
1. Shadow’s Empire
2. Speed Junkies Heaven
3. Club of Sin’s
4. Firedevil
5. Firereign

Rating
Music: 5
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 6.2




SCRATCHED SURFACE

In 2004, Michael Babic, Jens Lindmaier and Magnus Damstra, who had already played together in a band called LOD, have started SCRATCHED SURFACE. In August 2005 they recorded their first EP, "Look Away Blind". They have also established an underground Metal festival, the Spread Infection Festival, which has taken place on November 11th for the second time. SCRATCHED SURFACE are Michael Babic (vocals), Jens Lindmaier (guitars), Branimir Plesic (guitars), Simon Lindmaier (bass) and Magnus Damstra (drums). http://www.scratchedsurface.de/

Music
The sound of SCRATCHED SURFACE from Göppingen can be denoted melodic Thrash-Metal with influences from Death- and Doom-Metal and also Hardcore - or as they call it, Melodic Thrash-core. Singer Michael’s vocals vary between growling and aggressive shouting but also clean parts.   



Performance
The guys from Göppingen presented a good show on stage. Especially vocalist Michael was putting his heart and soul into the performance and screaming his lungs out. One can be curious what to expect in the future from this on average relatively young band. 

Setlist
1. Bleed the Sky
2. Choke Down
3. Not to Breathe
4. Worn Out
5. Never Born
6. Let Down

Rating
Music: 4
Performance: 7
Sound: 6
Light: 6
Total: 5.5




MINDEAD

MINDEAD has been founded in 2001 by Timo Fielker, Marcel Grashei and Benjamin Hölle to - in their own words - "turn their most heartfelt pain and anger into the best music that they could". To the present day, they have released two demos, and are currently working on their first long-player. They have just made it into another online-voting, so if anyone wants to support them, just check out their website. MINDEAD are Timo Fielker (vocals), Marcel Grashei (guitars), Benedikt Wagner (bass) and Benjamin Hölle (drums). http://www.mindead.com/

Music
The sound of MINDEAD is defined by low-tuned guitars, a hard pounding bass and Timo’s melodic, emotional vocals. This evening, they were only allowed to play four instead of six songs, but nevertheless they managed to convince the jury of their skills and come in first. 



Performance
 As this was a home match for the band, the audience knew them and also seemed very enthused about their performance. Timo, being a very impressive appearance on stage, and his band mates gave their best, which was worth while in the end.

Setlist
1. Dark Places
2. Still Empty
3. Until I scream
4. Resignation

Rating
Music: 5
Performance: 5
Sound: 8
Light: 6
Total: 5.6




SOULSICK

The German band SOULSICK has been established by former schoolmates and has managed to gather quite a few fans around them during the last six years. Their first album, "Feeding the Sin Eater", is to appear this year and already got some good critics from the music press. SOULSICK are Thomas Melchert (vocals/guitars), Benjamin Galster (guitars), Tamara Schäfer (bass) and Andreas Hazotte (drums). http://www.soulsick-metal.de/

Music
SOULSICK’s music is quite entertaining, their songs contain interesting melodies and especially Thomas’ voice can really elate. Their influences, especially METALLICA, are however clearly audible in their music, which is a little disadvantage.



Performance
For the first time this evening a female musician could be spotted on the stage – SOULSICK’s bass-player Tamara. She seemed a little bored during the whole performance, but the rest of the band from Zwiefalten really pushed, especially vocalist Thomas with his distinctive voice, and also drummer Andreas. The light show was not the best, but they delivered all in all a solid set.

Setlist
1. Be
2. Erase Me
3. Virus Live
4. Welcome to the Pain 
5. Pretty Mean Tattoo Machine

Rating
Music: 5
Performance: 5
Sound: 6
Light: 6
Total: 5.3




CROWD IN ANGER

In summer 2003, four guys from Southern Germany founded at first METALMANIA, a Metal cover band, but soon started writing their own stuff; their first self-written song was "Black Death". In 2004, they have changed the band’s name into CROWD IN ANGER. To the present day, they have done numerous gigs and recorded a demo CD. CROWD IN ANGER are Michael Santos (vocals, guitars), Felix Rentschler (guitars), Christoph Stückel (bass) and Philipp Schock (drums). http://www.crowd-in-anger.com/



Music
CROWD IN ANGER’s music can be characterized as traditional Metal with some modern influences, full of energy, stirring, and melodic in parts. With their good sound and enthusiastic performance they could convince not only the audience but also the jury and came in third this evening.



Performance
The guys from Ostelsheim had gathered quite a lot of fans in front of the Longhorn stage, which is always an advantage, when you get such a direct support. Their performance was what you expect of a felicitous Metal concert. The band exhibited such fun while playing, and they animated the audience to sing along, bang their heads and to simply bring an adequate party to the venue. Some fans even climbed on stage and celebrated the songs next to the band, just to do some stage diving to return back to the crowd. When the jury announced the contest’s winners, shouts saying "CROWD IN ANGER - the winner of hearts" were audible from the public.

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 9
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7.6





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