On the fifth of July, around the 8.000 metalheads travelled to Burgum for the annual Wâldrock festival. After the cancelation of Fields Of Rock, this was for the metalhead the place to be with acts like Morbid Angel, My Dying Bride and SLAYER.
While Pagan’s Mind was opening the Tent Stage, Orange County based Death Before Stereo had the honor to open the Jägermeister Stage. Unfortunately the sound engineer wasn’t fully awake during their early show, because the sound wasn’t that good. The public also didn’t seemed to be that interested, but with huge amount of enthusiasm and energy, frontman Efrem Schulz in particular, they still managed to satisfy the audience. They also succeeded to create a decent circle pit in front of stage and in the end this was just a nice and promising performance for a great festival. (Gilles)
The second band to perform at the Main Stage was the legendary Helmet, whom I saw a week earlier at the Graspop Metal Meeting. After seeing that show I was very impressed with their grooving stoner/hardcore/rock music. At that time they were the last band in one of the tents (if I remember correctly) so the atmosphere was perfect (drunk, stoned, the works). This time there was sun, a lot of sun to be precise. Still the band rocked out with a slightly shorter set-list but an equally good show and a great sound. Helmet is a band that has a deserved status and they lived up to it. Next time, I’ll be there again. (DemonDust)
As soon as Helmet finished, I rushed towards the Tent Stage to see my Australian mates of Alchemist perform. With every show I see of these guys I appreciate their music more and more, I’m gradually getting the point so to say. But especially the tracks of their latest album Tripsis really please me with their heavy stonerish sound and spaced out sample-tracks. They played a tight show that kept me in the same mood as Helmet did only minutes before. I’m utterly glad for these guys that they finally get to play some festivals instead of the tiny club and bar shows they usually have to put up with. Keep it up! (DemonDust)
Looking at the interested people standing in- and outside the tent, Morbid Angel was for a lot of people one of the reasons to travel to the little farmers town, Burgum. These pioneers of death metal haven’t released an album for 5 years now and therefore the audience totally appreciated the band when they began to play a song called ‘Nevermore’. After the summer, Morbid Angel is going to work on a new release and if it all sounds like this new track we can expect a killer one. The rest of the show was also very pleasant. Hopefully they’ll come back soon, ‘cause they still know how to play great music. (Gilles)
Shortly after Morbid Angel another legendary band hit the stage. On the Main Stage it was Biohazard on killing spree. Contrary to other bands on the Main Stage their sound wasn’t that good, but they did have the most energetic fans of all bands playing this festival. From start to finish everybody was moshing their asses of and when Evan Sienfield told the audience the German audience of the day before did a better job so far truly all hell broke loose. The monologues about respect were a bit annoying at one point, but with much old shit, especially from Urban Discipline, they pleased a lot of people with their three-quarter lasting set. (Gilles)
About a year ago Symphony X convinced a lot of Dream Theater fans, when they toured as a support act with them. Today they had the change to convince a lot more people with a longer set. Almost all songs played were from their amazing last record Paradise Lost and the audience seemed to enjoy. As a mad dog, singer Russel Allen was bouncing on stage and luckily enough he was in good shape, ‘cause it would have spoiled the entire show if we would have been out of breath the whole time. Luckily this wasn’t the case and the people saw a great show. Between the songs he joked a bit too much and therefore they almost didn’t had the chance to play their closing track, but fortunately the organization let them do their thing. Like progressive metal? Go and see these guys! (Gilles)
About Life Of Agony a lot can be said, but after their performance on the Main Stage they aren’t worth much publicity… Bit by bit Keith Caputo is losing his vocal capabilities and when people aren’t that enthusiastic about his performance he just swears at them because of the lack of dancing, clapping etc. The band furthermore played a decent show, but “Cursing Keith” just fucked up a great chance to show their talent. (Gilles)
Back in the Tent Stage Lordi did know how to entertain an audience. Lordi, a mixture between GWAR and Kiss, started with a shortened version of the intro of their latest release The Arockalypse, followed by ‘Bringing Back The Balls To The Rock’. The accent of the whole show was situated on The Arockalypse, but older hits like ‘Would You Love A Monsterman’ and ‘Blood Red Sandman’ weren’t forgotten. After a couple of songs a part of the audience left, because they only wanted to see these winners of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in real life and nothing more. The ones who stayed were treated on their most famous song during the encore, ‘Hardrock Hallelujah’. When you’ll have the opportunity to check them out you should definitely go. This show is perfect for a night of beer and good humor. (Gilles)
Closing act of the Tent Stage were the doom metallers of My Dying Bride. The organization truly saved the best for the end of the night, because My Dying Bride played a perfect show. They created a very dark atmosphere and because of the rain and the sundown it all became perfect. They put everything they got in their music and especially the new violin/keyboard-player stood out. With the unexpected ‘Vast Choirs’ they ended their set. This gig was a fierce delight and very promising for when they return to Holland on September 7th as headliner of the Ashes To Ashes… Doom To Dust 2008 festival. (Gilles)
The moment we’ve all been waiting for; SLAYER!!!!!! The legends came saw and conquered, albeit with a crappy start. They started out with ‘Disciple’ again which they’ve done too often already, but it was played slower than usual and Tom wasn’t really doing a convincing job on the microphone. The second song they played was the same, but when they kicked in ‘Chemical Warfare’ they woke up and went for it. From this point on, there are no negative things to say about this show for a Slayer fan. Yet the crowd reacted very calmly, something Tom also noticed, reacting with: “it must be zombie night”. He kept making jokes like that throughout the shows, even doing a zombie imitation which was quite funny. Best thing of the show was of course Dave Lombardo who decided he has drummed the songs in the same way enough times by now, so there was room for some improvisations. This worked perfectly and it again showed how utterly insane this guy is behind skins and cymbals. He was ripping it up like hell! The band played most of the classics they’re supposed to and quite some songs from the last album as well, and as they finished the evening with ‘Angel Of Death’ even the most hardcore Slayer fan must’ve been satisfied. In this day and age you can’t really expect more out of them. Enjoy it while it lasts. (DemonDust)