Live Review: RockHarz Festival - Ballenstedt 2016 (Day 3)

Airport, Ballenstedt, Germany
6th to 9th July 2016
RockHarz Festival Day 3: Impressions, Nitrogods, Der Weg einer Freiheit, Coppelius, Axxis, Primordial, Kärbholz, Satyricon, Knorkator, Saltatio Mortis, Avantasia

Third festival day and in retrospect I think it was the best day. The weather was pretty perfect, an issue for other festivals in Germany some days before. I had the feeling the people reached the maximum of their condition celebrating a night with endless crowd surfers. Also I think this was the day with the highest amount of people in front of  the stages, may be because many people came for only one day or for attending a band named KNORKATOR. But for me the day started with two bands from Germany, totally different but a big surprise.

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Nitrogods

Only one drummer, one guitar and one bass, but a heavy strong sound, more Hard Rock with some Blues feelings. Claus “Oimel” Larcher at the bass looks like Santa Claus in summertime. The songs are quite sarcastic like ‘Whiskey Wonderland’, a song about a man who shot his wife because he was down in whiskey wonderland. They finished their remarkable performance with ‘Wasted in Berlin’ from the album 'Nitrogods'. // https://www.facebook.com/Nitrogods / http://www.nitrogods.de/

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Der Weg einer Freiheit

The guys of DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT were totally different. From the very beginning they celebrated pure Heavy Metal in the style of Black Metal, head-banging is a must. The songs are more or less long player, so in total they played only five songs but as an outstanding characteristic the lyrics of their songs are in German. // https://www.facebook.com/derwegeinerfreiheit / http://www.derwegeinerfreiheit.de // Setlist: 01.Eiswanderer  / 02.Der stille Fluss / 03. Zum Abschied / 04. Requiem / 05.Zeichen

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Coppelius

I noticed some top-hatted people in front of the Dark Stage - and right it was time for COPPELIUS, a German group not playing Heavy Metal but “Heavy Woods” on instruments like double bass, clarinet or cello. The band announced a rest period to relax from concerts so this gig was may be one of the last chances to see them for the next time. The members were really in a good humour, making jokes but nevertheless head-banging is also possible in a tailcoat! They also organized a “Wall of Death” with the crowd, but this wall was a “Wall of Friendliness”, where the people are shaking hands respectfully. // https://www.facebook.com/CoppeliusHilft / http://www.coppelius.eu // Setlist: 01.Bitten Danken Petitieren / 02. Der Luftschiffharpunist / 03. Get Used To It / 04. Diener 5er Herren / 05. Rightful King / 06. Locked Out / 07. Phantom of the Opera / 07. Der Handschuh / 08. Reichtum / 09.Risiko

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Axxis

AXXIS founded in 1988 is a Heavy Metal / Hard Rock band performing at RockHarz for the very first time. But lead singer Bernhard Weiss mentioned that they had heard many good rumours about RockHarz and therefore time has come for a visit. In 2014, they celebrated their 25th anniversary, ‘Kingdom of the night’ was their first album in the year 1989. Such a long history was on stage playing good old stuff. Kathi, a young girl, was part of a little funny entertainment. She had never been on a stage before but now she had to play the drums and obviously enjoyed being part of the band. // https://www.facebook.com/axxis / http://www.axxis.de // Setlist. 01. Living in a Dream / 02.Tales of Glory Island / 03.Heavy Rain / 04. Hall of Fame / 05. Akku / 06. Living in a World / 07. Little look back / 08. Kingdom of the night

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Primordial

With the words “We are PRIMORDIAL from the Republic of Ireland!” the band with the charismatic frontman Alan “Naihmass Nemtheanga” Averill entered the stage. With a new album in tow, it was only natural they began their set with the title track ‘Where Greater Men Have Fallen'. The voice of Averill together with his appearance on stage was a perfect combination impressing totally everyone.  They finished their performance with the song ‘Empire Falls’ from the album ‘The Nameless Dead (2007)’. // https://www.facebook.com/primordialofficial / http://primordialweb.com // Setlist: 01. Greater / 02. Grave / 03. Babels / 04. Rome / 05. Empire Falls

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Kärbholz

KÄRBHOLZ is a German Rock / Punk / Indie band founded in the year 2003. Because the band played in the past as part of “F.E.K.9” together with FREI!WILD, the band was criticized to be in touch with the right Neo-Nazi scene. But on RockHarz lead singer Torben Höffgen gave a clear statement against the “brown shit” and the band played the song ‘Kein Rock'n'Roll’ - a song against “brown” bands wanting to be part of the Rock’n’Roll culture. With the song ‘Tiefflieger’ and attended by some rain they finished their performance and I had the feeling that people really enjoyed the fact having an alternative to Metal music for some minutes. // https://www.facebook.com/Kaerbholzoffiziell / http://www.kaerbholz.de/

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Satyricon

20 years ago, the Norwegian Black Metal band SATYRICON released their album ‘Nemesis Divina’ and for this reason they dedicated the first songs of the setlist to this album, with ‘Mother North’ as the crowning glory. In the second part they played actual songs finished by ‘K.I.N.G’. from the album ‘Now, Diabolical’. The crowd in the infield was deeply touched to get something like a lesson in Black Metal music! // https://www.facebook.com/SatyriconOfficial / http://www.satyricon.no // Setlist: 01. Intro  / 02. Dawn / 03. Forhekset / 04. Du som hater gud / 05. Transcendental / 06. Immortality / 07. Nemesis / 08. Mother North / 09. Black crow / 10. Fuel / 11. K.I.N.G

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Knorkator

After SATYRICON and the lesson of Black Metal something totally different was coming up on the Rock Stage. Like J.B.O. on Wednesday, KNORKATOR is more a funny Metal band and performed at RockHarz for the sixth time this year. In my opinion it was the performance with the biggest crowd and the mood was indescribable. Endless crowd surfers were coming in more than one line to the front and even two wheelchair users were riding over the crowd, an extraordinarily experience accompanied by great applause. Lead singer Stumpen (Gero Ivers) is educated in classical vocals but the songs are more funny stuff. Stumpen himself is always in action to do foolish things but the people just like this. The songs like ‘Ding inne Schnauze’, ‘Ich hasse Musik’ or ‘Wir werden alle sterben’ are well known but they played a new song called ‘Zähneputzen, Pullern und ab ins Bett’, similar senseless in context like the other ones. They finished this unbelievable performance going along by big applause. // https://www.facebook.com/knorkatormusik / http://www.knorkator.de/

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Saltatio Mortis

The German Medieval metal group SALTATIO MORTIS is also a very good friend of RockHarz. Their mix of different historical instruments combined with pyrotechnics and the powerful performance by the lead singer “Alea der Bescheidene” was greeted with enthusiasm by the crowd. A traditional act is the long crowd surfing tour, Alea is taking during the performance and it was hard to differ between Alea and all the other surfers. With the song ‘Spielmannsschwur’, sung with true passion by the whole crowd the fascinating show ended. // https://www.facebook.com/saltatiomortisofficial / http://www.saltatio-mortis.com // Setlist: 01. Wo sind die Clowns? / 02.Willkommen in der Weihnachtszeit / 03.Wachstum über alles / 04. Prometheus / 05. Worte / 06. Früher war alles besser / 07. Idol / 08. Nachts weinen die Soldaten / 09. Satans Fall / 10. Koma / 11. Rattenfänger / 12. Eulenspiegel / 13. Spielmannsschwur

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Avantasia

For the second time AVANTASIA, the German super group rock opera project created by Tobias Sammet, was as a guest on RockHarz. For real Heavy Metal fans this may be not really desirable, however AVANTASIA is either liked or disliked, but judging by the reaction of the audience, AVANTASIA got the full good enjoyment back from the audience. For me it was time to leave RockHarz, going back homewards. I was still impressed by the outstanding support during KNORKATOR’s performance, with moments one will never forget. // https://www.facebook.com/avantasia / http://www.tobiassammet.com // Setlist: 01.Mystery of a Blood Red Rose / 02. Invoke the Machine / 03. Ghost Lights / 04. Avantasia / 05. The Great Mystery / 06. The Scarecrow / 07. Promised Land / 09. Dying for an Angel / 10. Twisted Mind / 11. Farewell / 12. The Story Ain't Over / 13. Reach Out for the Light / 14. Let the Storm Descend Upon You / 15. Lost in Space / 16. Sign of the Cross / The Seven Angels

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All Pictures by Chris W. Braunschweiger (https://www.facebook.com/ChrisWBraunschweigerPhotographie)