Actually the first band/act was supposed to be The Helmut Bernecker Noise/Gore Experience from Austria, but I think they must have cancelled because the first band to play was Devangelist from the USA. I watched their performance with my jaw dropped to the floor. Is that good? Not in this case, because I was utterly amazed about how crappy these guys were. The drummer used triggers on his bass drum (which he couldn’t play tight so it sounded like a herd of horses running downhill) which is pretty common these days. Yet he also has a trigger on his snare drum for his hyperblast, which sounds so retarded (and it was too loud in the mix) I felt a bit sorry for this band. For the rest I did hear some nice riffs here and there, but the sound was so fucked up and they played so far from tight, I couldn’t enjoy a single moment of Devangelist. Yuk!

 

Up next was Sacrificial Slaughter, which was a bit better but still far from good. Another band that paid to be on tour, just like the previous one. The sound was a bit better here, if it wasn’t for one of the venue-speakers destroying the whole sound with a rustle throughout their set. The death metal they played was so cliché I very quickly lost my interest as well. What a horrid way to start this afternoon, two shitty bands in a row. I guess it meant that the good stuff was yet to come.

 

Up next was the Swedish black/death metal band Insurrection, who were the first to play a tight set. Especially the drummer impressed me by staying on track, contrary to the fools that performed before him. This three-piece played some good grooving death metal with black metal melodies entwined though it. A reasonable band to listen to, yet far from original and still not very impressive to watch for a full show. Perhaps in a couple of years.

 

After this Hellbastard played, but I really needed to eat something so I unfortunately missed their show.

 

I had some expectations for Waco Jesus, and boy were they crushed and exceeded when they took the stage. Ultragrooving deathgrind is what these guys spew on stage, performed with a great sound and tight playing. A good dose of humour makes the show even more enjoyable. It seemed like the crowd was glad to finally have a quality grind band on stage, for Waco Jesus received loud cheers and applause after every song. Even the first moshpits of the evening occurred, but nothing too exciting. The band was a bit scared to play longer than they were supposed to and take some time of GUT’s show so they ended a bit early. During their grand finale the drummer took out huge novelty drum sticks which looked hilarious. Great sense of humour in this band. The crowd kept cheering for an encore, which they got after a couple of minutes. Definitely the best band of the day which I hope to see in Europe more often.

 

Headliners GUT came to bring the porn/gore/noise/grind to some willing insane fanatics who engaged in a moshpit for the entire show. Kind of funny to see a man with a dildo mask sing to a group of sweaty men smacking each other though. The primitive gore with a large dose of humour seemed a bit childish after the excellent performance of the previous band, and I must say it didn’t really catch on to me. Which is weird considering I usually enjoy myself perfectly with retarded music like this. The masked foursome from Germany pleased the people that were really into them, but I don’t think they gained a lot of new fans this evening. Perhaps if I see them again under different circumstances I will think differently.