Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - Rockhard Festival

Details: Written by: "Trolljohn"; Published: 11 June 2007

Amphi Theater, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
25th May to 27th May 2007
Rockhard Festival Day 2: Metal Inquisitor, Maroon, Turisas, Korpiklaani, Ross the Boss, Vader, Armored Saint, Death Angel

Thank *insertnameofdeityhere* we made it home early Friday night, getting up was hard enough - and I wasn't even drunk the evening before! Oh, were things going to get nasty on Saturday. If I'd known in advance I would've just stayed put and pretended I'd snared my pinky on my key holder and hurt it. But then I would've missed out on all the fun and fairies....

The best thing the festival had to offer drink-wise was coffee for 1,50 euros, which is basically the same I pay in town right here (but then this place isn't too cheap). On a note, the food prices were ridiculously daft. You had to shell out four euros for a half-stuffed “Döner” in a region where you can normally buy an overstuffed one for half the price. I've never eaten so much at a concert and still felt hungry afterwards. What a bloody joke. Someone ought to have one or two fingers chopped off as punishment! But then it was a festival after all.

Metal Inquisitor

METAL INQUISITOR formed back in 1998, recorded a demo followed by a 7“ single and another demo in 2000. The band finally found a label in 2002 and released ‘The Apparition’. They inked another deal with Hellion Records and ‘Doomsday for the Heretic’ was unleashed in 2005. http://www.metal-inquisitor.de/ / www.myspace.com/metalinquisitorfansite

Music
Traditional heavy metal with a German touch, i.e. horribly embarrassing music to have on open display in your grim true necro quality collection, but then I'm too old and too cold to give a shit anyway. I actually nearly went to the official merchandising booth to buy an album despite someone calling the band “embarrassing”, but then I reminded myself I needed all my dosh to spend on beverages and the bad joke the peddlers called “food”.

Performance
They had the difficult task of opening the second day of this year's Rock Hard, i.e. getting the first hung over head bangers to join in. According to Götz (the Rock Hard editor) they played on the camp stage last year and were so well received they wound up getting a spot on this years main billing. Not bad, not bad. As can be imagined, a band playing traditional metal in the vein of NWOBHM with a dose of Teutonic heaviness just had to wear leather. Well, they didn't. Hah! Actually, if I can remember correctly, only one of the guitarists did. The singer just wore shorts and a Death Angel tee. Now that's metal! Anyway, being early in the morning (at least in regards to a festival) my defences were down and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole bloody gig with its double guitar posing attacks and various antics. It all boiled down to buddies playing a good gig. Good stuff.

Setlist
01. Doomsday For The Heretic
02. Restricted Agony
03. Take Revenge
04. Logans Run
05. Persuader
06. Daze Of Avalon
07. Zombie Driver
08. M4-A1
09. Resistance is Futile

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: daylight
Total: 7

Maroon

Maroon's been around for some time and belong to Germany's premier Metal-core outfits. They've been kicking faces since 1998 and have been touring their butts off. And they're brutal live, as I was to find out. http://www.maroonhate.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/maroonhate

Music
Metal-core = death metal worship with hardcore moshdowns and shouting. And a good dose of thrash thrown in here and there. Plus the lyrics always hit home with criticism, which is always nice. They released their latest album ‘When Worlds Collide’ via metal major Century Media last year, and it is quite a punch in the face. They're still firmly rooted in hardcore, but with a good dose of early 90ies death metal (oh, do I sorely miss those days) thrown in. And you get a German accent thrown in for good measure, which reminds me of good ol' Sodom.

Performance
I buggered off to get a beloved coffee after the METAL INQUISITOR gig and sat down in the press tent, only to have my peace and quiet sonically shattered by the MAROON sound check. And things weren't going to get any quieter, so I did something horribly wise - I went and bought some earplugs for 50 cents, which was quite a wise thing to do. MAROON were the loudest and heaviest band of the whole bloody festival, delivering the sonic equivalent of an earthquake accompanied by a herd of elephants stampeding over your private parts. The crowd went crazy in the moshpit. Basically put, the wall of sound MAROON delivered didn't give the people right up front any other option than to jerk and mosh.

The band themselves were your typical buddy-band, i.e. no unnatural posing, just a few vegans playing the music they like and banging their heads. Shouter Andre called all the shots, joking about his gig with HEAVEN SHALL BURN two years ago at the Rock Hard when he jumped in to do the vocals. Good performance with a killer sound.

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 10
Light: daylight
Total: 8.4

Turisas

TURISAS have been playing “battle metal” since 1997, when the band got together out in the sticks of Finland, in a town called Hämeenlinna. They derived their name from a Finnish war god, played a few shows, recorded a demo CD back in 2000 and caught the attention of Century Media. Century Media signed the band in 2003 and TURISAS released ‘Battle Metal’ in 2004. Their new album ‘The Varangian Way’ was released this year. http://www.turisas.com/ / www.myspace.com/turisasofficial

Music
Well, it is folk music laden chugging pagan metal with some keyboards thrown in. You have to give them credit for having a real violin and accordion in the band, and not just a crappy keyboard. The violin is played well and it's quite nice to hear someone actually being able to play his instrument, in contrast to tons of bands out there employing third rate violin players. The music is quite okay, but unspectacular. Sounds like a band created by a bunch of live action role playing dudes without girlfriends.

Performance
The five gnomes with their miniature troll on bass (not drums, as one might have presumed) appeared clad in fur and painted red all over. I must say they had a quite unfortunate spot on the running order, having to play after MAROON laid waste to everyone's guts. The sound was a bit of a problem, not only with TURISAS but also afterwards with KORPOKLAANI, presumably because the bands just don't only use guitars, bass and drums. The band tried their best to put on a good show, but I fear they just didn't hit the mark - at least in my case.

There were enough people down in the moshpit however. Near the end of their gig the singer complained that not everybody was joining in the fun, whining they're not clowns. Well, if you appear in body paint and caveman furs and play somewhat cheesy pagan metal, what can you expect? That some people won't grin? Either you play it straight and ignore the rest, or you don't appear in costumes.

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 6
Light: daylight
Total: 6.8

Korpiklaani

KORPIKLAANI were the second folk metal band to play on Saturday. The band was signed by Napalm Records and released ‘Spirit of the Forest’ back in 2003. Things have been steadily growing for these six hillbillies since then. http://www.korpiklaani.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/korpiklaaniofficial

Music
Like TURISAS, KORPIKLAANI also employ a violin and an accordion, yet they refrain from using keyboard-based orchestral sounds. In a sense, their humpaa-laden folk metal is more true to the core, or at least sounds more natural in sound. As a matter of fact, I can actually take a jovial song like ‘Beer, Beer’ despite having been constantly bombarded with FINNTROLL and tons of folk and humpaa metal copycats. On top of it all, the guys can play their instruments well.

Performance
Wearing their somewhat folk-ish outfits, KORPIKLAANI looked more like a hippie folk band than a metal band. Their appearance on stage reminded my somewhat of the untouchable Latvian powerhouse Skyforger, yet with a touch of hillbilly thrown in. Apparently the guys live out in the sticks and they seem to enjoy showing it. As I mentioned earlier, the sound lacked pressure and overall volume. Nonetheless, the music was still enjoyable to a good degree and the crowd enjoyed banging their heads to KORPIKLAANI’s minor hits. All in all, quite enjoyable stuff and fun to see on stage.

Setlist
01. Journey Man
02. Korpiklaani
03. Cottages & Saunas
04. Tuli kokko
05. Orbina
06. Pellonpekko
07. Let's Drink
08. Karhunkaatolaulu
09. Wooden Pints
10. Hunting Song
11. Beer Beer
---
12. Happy Little Boozer
13 Ii Lea Voibmi

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Sound: 6
Light: daylight
Total: 7.3

Ross The Boss

Ross once played in a very scary band called MANOWAR. Not only that, he also invented the guitar sound which was his (and MANOWAR's) trademark, until he left the band after recording the first six MANOWAR albums. http://www.ross-the-boss.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/officialrtb

Music
Ok, it's prototypical, early 80ies heavy metal. They wear leather, they wear spikes, they rule the night. That sort of thing. Macho macho loincloth music which people still enjoy listening to in their early teens, until they get exposed to grindcore or death metal. If later exposure to different music is to no avail, they grow a moustache and wear a mullet. Nonetheless, I have to give ROSS THE BOSS credit for a) the guitar sound (which I really like) and b) for playing in The Dictators.

Performance
I ran away. I just couldn't take it. Too much of something I just didn't want to see or hear that day. The crowd loved it though.

Setlist
01. Manowar
02. Shell Shock
03. Death Tone
04. Gloves Of Metal
05. We Will Kill
06. Thor
07. Fighting The World
08. Hail And Kill
09. Kill With Power
10. Hail To England
11. Gates Of Valhalla/Defender

Rating
Music: -
Performance: -
Sound: -
Light: -
Total: -

Vader

VADER formed way back in 1986, which means they probably were one of the first death metal bands out there. What made them very special in the early nineties when they inked a deal with Earache Records was the fact they came from Poland. That was something most people thought unimaginable - a death metal band from the East. They released their first album via Earache in 1992 and I can remember watching the video for the track ‘Dark Age’ on Headbanger's Ball.

Vanessa Warwick did an interview with them, and they left quite an impression on my young mind back then - wearing black turtlenecks and pentagram pendants they looked less quite untypical of a metal band. Their album ‘The Ultimate Incantation’ was brutal as fuck back then. You can download the video from their webpage - I always love it when bands do that. http://www.vader-deathmetal.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/vaderpanzer666

Music
VADER play straight-down, balls to the wall Death Metal. No big melodies, just unadulterated brutality and heaviness. Any young gun listening to metalcore ought to fall on his / her knees. Listening to them back in '93 made me a few years older.

Performance
Men on stage moshing and hammering out intense brutality. What is there to say? No bollocks, just straight in the face death metal. Brilliant! The sound wasn't as ass-thumping as MAROON's, but then MAROON probably used some BBE unit to kick the bass up and deliver more thump. Nonetheless, they destroyed the Rock Hard and I jumped into the moshpit for the first time during the whole festival. VADER also demonstrated how to absolutely lay waste to a festival - play a SLAYER song. They covered ‘Reign In Blood’ and turned the entire amphitheatre into helpless mass of banging heads. A great sight to behold!

Setlist
01. Xeper
02. Sothis
03. Helleluja (God Is Dead)
04. Epitaph
05. Reign In Blood (Slayer Cover)

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: daylight
Total: 8.5

Armored Saint

Thank God ARMORED SAINT never made it real big. They would've turned into a joke of a band employing a psychologist to keep their rock star egos from colliding, churning out complete bollocks on CD and entering the charts as a result. Nope, these guys kept it real. ARMORED SAINT formed back in the very early eighties and was spawned by a nucleus of school mates, namely singer John Bush (who also sung for Anthrax), Joey Vera and Gonzo Sandoval.

They met their guitarists Phil Sandoval and Dave Prichard and started blowing the lid of L.A.'s metal scene. They inked a major deal with Chrysalis Records, yet got kicked and signed with Metal Blade. Dave Prichard tragically died of leukaemia in 1990 and the Saints disbanded two years later. John Bush started singing with Anthrax. They released two more albums in 2000 and 2001. http://www.armoredsaint.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/armoredsaint1

Music
L.A. heavy metal. If you're even slightly interested in heavy metal and its history, then ARMORED SAINT simply have to be heard. Dave Prichard's riffs were a trademark. The songs are well thought out and composed. The riffs basically just catch you and make you nod along. And on top of it all, they have the remarkable John Bush on vocals. Just brilliant stuff.

Performance
The band started playing, John Bush hopped on stage, started singing and ARMORED SAINT stood and delivered the best gig of the entire festival. They played their songs down straight and tight. No bollocks, no stupid grinning posing. I really, really, really enjoyed their entire gig. It was simply a pleasure to behold. I can remember buying ANTHRAX's ‘Sound of White Noise’ when it was released in the nineties and thinking of how fucking cool the vocals were.

Seeing John Bush perform with his original band - the band he declined an offer made by METALLICA for - was something close to a revelation. I must confess that I don't yet own any ARMORED SAINT album. This was the one gig which made me order the band's backlist. You can't really say more. Brilliant.

Setlist
01. Intro
02. Can U Deliver
03. The Pillar
04. Glory Hunter
05. Last Train Home
06. For The Sake Of Heaviness
07. Upon My Departure
08. Symbol Of Salvation
09. Raising Fear
10. March Of The Saint
11. Reign Of Fire
---
12. Lesson Well Learned

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: daylight
Total: 9

Death Angel

Next up were a further heavy metal legend and institution, namely the formidable DEATH ANGEL. DEATH ANGEL have had nearly as many ups and downs like ARMORED SAINT, having disbanded back in 1990 after the tour bus was involved in an accident. Drummer Andy Galeon needed a year to recuperate, singer Mark Osegueda left the band.

They guys kept themselves busy with a few different projects (the most known being The Organization), but they were cool enough to get together again and released ‘The Art of Dying’ in 2004, which was a more straight forward thrash metal album than it's predecessor. http://deathangel.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/deathangel

Music
Thrash metal with an edge, the edge being DEATH fucking ANGEL themselves. Shit, Andy Galeon was 14 years old when they released their produced debut album ‘The Ultra Violence’ back in 1987. DEATH ANGEL is just brimming with energy. They're the thrash metal equivalent to Asterix and Obelix high on their potion. They just simply kick major butt.

Performance
Some idiot bought a bloody litre of Long Island Ice Tea and memory lapse starts about the same time DEATH ANGEL entered the stage. Nonetheless, there are faint memories of DEATH ANGEL on stage and an SMS containing just one word – “madness”! Shit, their gig probably was a delightful frenzy of insanely thrashing madness and I can hardly remember it. Damn it!

Setlist
01. Intro
02. Seemingly Endless Time
03. Voracious Souls
04. Mistress Of Pain
05. Ex-Tc
06. 3Rd Floor
07. Thrown To The Wolves
08. 5 Steps Of Freedom
09. Thicker Than Blood
10. The Devil Incarnate
11. Disturbing The Peace
12. Veil Of Deception
13. Stagnant
14. Tuv-Carnival
15. Bored
16. Kill As One

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: -
Sound: 9
Light: -
Total: 9

Apart from being hammer smashed face drunk, the weather went wild and thunder and torrential rainfall collapsed onto the festival. Having to drive back and forth (good bloody thing we weren't camping in that storm) and having a few thousand euros of photo equipment to look out for, we decided it'd be best to scarper and drive home instead of staying for the last band AMMON AMARTH. Driving 80 km/h and sliding half the time thanks to the Autobahn being turned into a swimming pool apparently wasn't a delight, but then I was snoozing stark raving mad drunk on the front passenger seat so I didn't even notice a rain drop. Shit, was getting up the next day going to be difficult....