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~ The Private Side Of Rock'n'Roll

Psychorizon

Tag Archives: Manowar

ROCK HARD FESTIVAL 2017 – Dinner For One

07 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by psychorizon in Live

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Adam Nergal Darski, Alia O'Brien, Amen, Amphitheater Gelsenkirchen, André Kvarnström, Angel Witch, Battle Hymn, Behemoth, Blood Ceremony, Blood Of My Enemies, Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel, Blues Pills, Bochum Total, Carcass, DAD, Deep Purple, Devil Man, Dinner For One, Dorian Sorriaux, Dust Bolt, Electric Wizard, Elin Larsson, Fighting The World, Furor Divinus, Hail And Kill, Hammong organ, Helene Fischer, Helvete Oberhausen, High Class Woman, Horisont, Iron Maiden, Jefferson Airplane, Jethro Tull, Ketzer, Kill With Power, Lady In Gold, Lord Of Misrule, Lucas Gadke, Manowar, Messe Noire, Michael Carrillo, Michael Kelso, Miss Sophie, Ora Pro Nonis Lucifer, Queen Of Spades Photography, Robert Pehrsson’s Humbucker, Rock Hard Festival, Rockspektakel, Ross The Boss, Sean Kennedy, Somebody To Love, Steven Hyde, That Seventies Show, The Dead Daisies, The Eldritch Dark, The Satanist, The Vintage Caravan, Ván Records, Wasted Years, Welcome To The Night, Zack Anderson

Same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie? Same procedure as every year, James – Skål! This is not an untimely attempt to awake year festive spirit, which should be the case at least if you have the same country of origin as I do, but a bit of a nostalgic retrospect on the past 13 years of my annual event highlight. Though I missed the very first time of it, Rock Hard Festival has become the only event I have been visiting since 2004, skipped it three time between 2006 and 2008 (for very different reasons) and have been to every single year since 2009. This makes a total of eleven and nine consecutive years now and nine passes as well. Pretty excited to find out what bands will perform at my personal anniversary in 2018. But let’s take a look back on this years‘ event: The weather was amazing for the most, I watched quite some more bands than last year and met many old and new friends.

Love that Carcass shirt!

My plan for the first day was to hike all the way from my place in Essen to the Amphitheatre on Gelsenkirchen. But to the weather being at its very best, I feared to melt while in the sun and decided to drive as far as I could, using public transportation and just walk about half an hour through the Emscher Park. Thanks to the metal „dress code“ I didn’t even walk alone and arrived right on time to catch up with Susan – my sweet partner in crime, Queen Of Spades Photography. After a first bit of sight-seeing, it was time for the first few bands. Dust Bolt turned out to be a legit opener, while Robert Pehrsson’s Humbucker are more on the laid back side. A bit to „harmless“ if you ask me. Our great expectations regarding Mantar ended up sorely disappointed. This is just not the kind of music/band/stage acting, I enjoy and it’s not even that they are bad at what they do. It’s just not my thing. The Dead Daisies are the living proof that you can rock hard and enjoy yourself on stage even past an average age of 30. The current US „supergroup“ are easy on the ears and know how to entertain a sophisticated audience. After a rather sloppy dinner – well yeah, my pulled pork burger was really sloppy and lukewarm – it was time for Friday nights‘ headliner and my first must-see item: Blues Pills.

Don’t need anything to get high but their own music: Blues Pills

Can’t even say it for sure, but the last time I’ve seen Blues Pills must have been at Freak Valley Festival 2014 – the very same year they first appeared at Rock Hard. Back then they were a sweet afternoon treat and have been touring, promoting and working relentlessly for three years. Many discussions if they are worthy of headlining one of Germany’s most important metal festivals started upon their announcement. As someone who has known this band pretty much from the beginning and has worked with them in the past, I know that they do „deserve“ it. It’s not only that Blues Pills deliver, you can see, hear and feel during every single who how much they enjoy it themselves and not I single time I’ve seen them did Elin’s voice sound wornout. But let’s focus on what really matters: they were great! The setlist featured a very well selection of their two full-length records, EPs and two cover songs. Kicking off with the title track of their current album, „Lady In Gold“ which cracked the official German album charts on #1! Elin truly if a lady of gold with a golden voice and tonight she was also a lady in black, earning her the name „Helene Fischer of Metal“ from someone at the Deaf Forever forum. This is a great comparison, cuz both are blonde beauties from the north (in case you didn’t know, Helene was born in Siberia), great vocalists, talented performers and look amazing. Unfortunately I had to leave early, to catch a bus and missed out „Somebody To Love“ and one of my faves „Devil Man“. But I’ll be catching up with them at Bochum Total and Rockspektakel in Hamburg.

Setlist Blues Pills

Lady In Gold
Little Boy Preacher
Black Smoke
Bliss
Won’t Go Back
Little Sun
Outro
Elements And Things (Tony Joe White-Cover)
You Gotta Try
Astralplane
High Class Woman
Ain’t No Change
Gone So Long
——————
Somebody To Love (Jefferson Airplane-Cover)
Devil Man

Sweden’s sweetest temptation of Rock: Elin Larsson

Saturday started off as a wonderfully warm day with just two bands catching my attention. Not so much a day for a band like Ketzer to enter second one might think, but the Colonge-based five-piece. But hell, did they deliver. It might not have gotten dark across the waterside venue, but the spirit of their blackened trash was received by the masses. Weird to admit, but this was my first time watching and consciously hearing Ketzer and yes, they do have at least one new fan: me! And this will clearly not be the last time. Random note: Guitarist Chris has a cool The Devil’s Blood shirt and vocalist Gerrit (and yes, his last name is Schwarz, meaning „black“ in english!) has a pink kiddy umbrella, so cute!

Setlitst Ketzer

Satan’s Boundaries Unchained
Starless
The Fevers Tide
When Milk Runs Dry
Godface
He, Who Stands Behind The Rows
The Fire To Conquer The World

Master of Black Masses & Black Metal: Nergal

Taking the rest of the afternoon to relax on my couch, I return to the dusty grounds of RHF just as Exodus finished playing. Round two of festival food turns out to be a slightly overpriced case of asian noodles with hot sauce and a hint of veggies. Could have been worse, but it could have been better as well…And three songs and no flash of D.A.D. later, we find ourselves preparing for the second headliner. Another first time sees the night, as I finally see Polish Black Metal masters Behemoth for the first time (those few minutes at Wacken 2014 while passing by in the Hell band bus do not count!). And even though I haven’t really been that big of a fan in the past, I am totally intrigued by their 2014 massive musical monument „The Satanist.“ Right in time at dusk, the trio states its first plead with „Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel“, followed by „Furor Divinus“ and „Messe Noire“. My personal black mass peaks with the infernal hails of „Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer“. If my neck and fiercely flying hair won’t summon the dark lord, vocalist and guitarist Adam „Nergal“ Darski most certainly will. „Amen“ to that and yes, this pun is of course intended. And if you haven’t guessed it yet, the band is playing ist current record in its entirety. Nothing to complain imho, cuz it really is the only one I know song by song and happen to love it! Can’t even say at what point I leave the scene, but it’s my bus call again…worn-out, tired and sweaty, I take off happy as one full-time music nerd can possibly be.

Setlist Behemoth

Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel
Furor Divinus
Messe Noire
Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer
Amen
The Satanist
Ben Sahar
In The Absence Ov Light
O Father O Satan O Sun!
Ov Fire And The Void
Conquer All
Chant For Eschaton 2000

Gone pro with stage props: Behemoth

The final festival day begins with a band I just recently discovered. While they were on tour with Angel Witch, Susan and I have been hooked on Night Demon. They are such an awesome live band and some of the greatest people you’ll ever meet, if you have the chance to. After their show at Helvete metal club, we partied with them till 4:30am. Oh yeah! Starting their appearance with the opener of their latest output “Darkness Remains” might seem a bit strange, cuz it’s a bright sunny day. Still „Welcome To The Night“ is inviting the slighty zombified masses to join them to one heck of a show. If you enjoy straight forward Hard Rock with a touch of NWOBHM, Night Demon from Ventura is your new favourite band. Last into their set is a very well-known and heartwarming received Maiden classic: „Wasted Years“. But this time the Amphitheatre has an audience that some headliners will not attract and only few bands to play first on the last day will ever see.

Welcome to the Night Demon!

Setlist Night Demon

Welcome To The Night
Full Speed Ahead
Maiden Hell
Curse Of The Damned
Ritual
The Chalice
Screams In The Night
On Your Own
Night Demon
Black Widow
Wasted Years

I’m under their spell: Blood Ceremony

Up next my favourite Canadian export enters the stage to bring some early darkness to the city of Gelsenkirchen. Blood Ceremony are the ever so charming and living proof that a Hammond organ and flutes do contribute to contemporary music and are still as present as Deep Purple and Jethro Tull. Throw in some of the most endearing female vocals you can imagine and you know what to expect from these four musicians. Their six track setlist features songs from the 2013 album „The Eldritch Dark“ and their latest creation „Lord Of Misrule“ from 2016. The latter one sounds like something a 60s garage rock band could have done and all members of the band totally live the spirit oft he hippie era throughout the show: Guitarist Sean Kennedy with his blue jeans, BC band shirt and brown suede vest ist he epitome of cool and let’s me think of „That Seventies Show“ – just image Hyde with Kelso’s head! Michael Carrillo changed his shirt in favour of w black wife beater; good thinking cuz as the drummer he might be sweating the most and with arms like that he might as well show the (off). Bassplayer Lucas Gadke took off his shoes and rocks the barefoot style, way to go bro. And last but clearly not least there the enchanting chanteuse, flutist and organist Alia O’Brien. To quote Susan on this: I realised my closet is in need of a blue velvet turtleneck onesie!

Setlist Blood Ceremony

Old Fires
Goodbye Gemini
Drawing Down The Moon
Half Moon Street
Lord Of Misrule
I’m Coming With You
The Magician

Ready to fight for any battle hymn: Ross The Boss

The final serenade for me will be that one band playing songs from that other band no one wants to admit to like but in the end everyone will go all crazy when any of their songs will be played in any metal club. You know that one, the one with the fur bikinis, striking poses and high-pitched vocals many opera singers will be totally jealous of. In one word: Manowar. And in three words today: Ross The Boss. So very bosslike the old hymns work at this very present day. With „Blood Of My Enemies“ I just let go and get lost into the music like there is no tomorrow. Night Demon’s Armand who watches the band along side Susan and me is no stranger to those metal anthems either. Some „Kill With Power“, „Fighting The World“ and „Battle Hymn“ later, I’m good to go (home that is). And what better note to end the event than „Hail And Kill“?

Setlist Ross The Boss

Blood Of The Kings
Death Tone
The Oath
Blood Of My Enemies
Kill With Power
Thor (The Powerhead)
Sign Of The Hammer
Fighting The World
Metal Daze
Battle Hymn
Hail And Kill

The event for the whole family: Rock Hard Festival!

All pictures courtesy of Queen Of Spades Photography

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ROCK HARD FESTIVAL 2016 – Kicking Ass, All Seasons Included

16 Sunday Oct 2016

Posted by psychorizon in Live

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

All Our Thoughts, Amphitheater Gelsenkirchen, Bartelt, Berlin, Black Sabbath, Black Trip, Bouteloup, Come Back Life, Deep Purple, Deserted Fear, Dismember, Doomsday Machine, Enforcer, Entombed, Fredrik “Trisse” Liefvendahl, Gateway To The Antisphere, Goddess Of Dawn, Grand Magus, Grave Pleasures, Hammer Of The North, JB Christofferson, Kadavar, Linda Åkerberg, Lindemann, Manowar, Mats “Fox” Skinner, Melancholia, Necrophobic, Nifelheim, Queen Of Spades Photography, Rock Hard Festival 2016, Sulphur Aeon, The Children Of The Night, The Wailing Dead Tour, Tribulation, Triumph And Power, Vampire, Ván Records, Wayne Stock, Waynes World, Year Of The Goat

Sometimes Germany becomes a land of wonders, as the 2016 edition of Rock Hard Festival features all four seasons in just one single weekend, whereas the remaining 362 days seem to know but a warm and a cold rain season…Friday has little to offer for me, as I have never been that much into Thrash Metal. But on the plus side, there is much time to stroll around for some sight-seeing (not that anything much changes, but just in case). This year also marks the second time, Psychorizon teams up with our partner in crime, Queen Of Spades Photography. So we did stroll and strut around and ran into all kinds of folks. One, who caught our attention right away, was the owner of the battle jacket displayed below, due to one certain patch. Guess you’ll figure out which one it is yourselves.

RHF_2Party on Wayne!

As much as the event itself has become well established within the past twelve years, things do change in time, like the short-lived Metal Karaoke, that vanished into oblivion and the rather new trade of featuring at least one up-and-coming local act. Just where Deserted Fear left off last year, we now become victim of an evenly brilliant onslaught delivered by Sulphur Aeon. Being part of the constantly growing Ván Records family, this band got an instant reputation and easily proves it to be just. Though I’m not too much into this particular vocal style, the brutal three-piece manages to gather a pretty massive crowd in the early afternoon, presenting its very own blend of Death Metal with lyrics based around the Cthulhu myth.

RHF_Sulphur AeonSetlist Sulphur Aeon

1. Cthulhu Rites (Intro)
2. Incantation
3. Abysshex
4. Titans
5. Swallowed By The Ocean’s Tide
6. Inexorable Spirits
7. Gateway To The Antisphere
8. Onwards… Towards Kadath!

RHF_1RHF kicks ass!

Up next with  the sun is still relentlessly shining bright from the sky, another pathway to darkness opens with Swedish sensation Tribulation (rhyme intended). After they caused quite a stir in late January, touring alongside the recently reformed Grave Pleasures, audiences at club TuRock, Essen totally fell in love with their slightly punkish style – regarding both sound and looks – and are eager to relive the sweaty atmosphere of a fully packed venue today. The Arvika-based Quartette is looking back on over a decade of band history already and has gained international success with ist most recent releases “The Children Of The Night” (2015) and the 2016-EP “Melancholia”. Emerging from the darkness of the Swedish Death Metal abyss in 2004, the band immediately stood apart from what was already a crowded scene, betraying an uncompromising vision that refused to be shackled by any genre stereotypes. With a willful drive, an irresistible groove, bewitching melodies and a haunting atmosphere, “The Children Of The Night” captures a true sense of drama and heaviness despite the strangely accessible nature of its compositions.

RHF_Tribulation_1 RHF_Tribulation_2 RHF_Tribulation_3 RHF_Tribulation_4 RHF_Tribulation_5Setlist Tribulation

1. Intro
2. Strange Gateways Beckon
3. Melancholia
4. In The Dreams Of The Dead
5. Rånda
6. Ultra Silvam
7. The Motherhood Of God
8. When The Sky Is Black With Devils

RHF_Grand Magus_1 RHF_Grand Magus_2 RHF_Grand Magus_3The band Manowar will never be!

Another part of this years’ Swedish invasion might have taken the train from Stockholm or came riding down on hooves of gold – either way, Grand Magus embody the spirit of Heavy Metal in a most authentic manner. Founded by frontman JB Christofferson and bassplayer Mats “Fox” Skinner in 1996, the band was completed two years later with drummer Fredrik “Trisse” Liefvendahl joining and the first two demos were released. In 2001 the self-titled debut album – obviously inspired by the late creative period of bands such as Black Sabbath or Deep Purple came out. 15 years and seven records in their books, Grand Magus just got their latest attempt out in time for the festival season – on Friday, May 13th 2016.

Setlist Grand Magus

1. I, The Jury
2. Sword Of The Ocean
3. Like The Oar Strikes The Water
4. Varangian
5. Steel Versus Steel
6. Arv
7. Triumph And Power
8. Iron Will
9. Hammer Of The North

RHF_Kadavar_1 RHF_Kadavar_2 RHF_Kadavar_3 RHF_Kadavar_4 RHF_Kadavar_5 RHF_Kadavar_6Berlin, Baby!

Sometimes the basics is all you need: One guitar, a bass, drums and one voice – or in other words: Kadavar. It‘s the enormous emotional energy that is unleashed show after show, combined with unforgettable memories and impressions of continuous touring one can feel on “Berlin” in every line and every strum. Though recorded live in the studio on the band‘s own analog gear again, it‘s distinctly audible that this time round the record turned out even deeper regarding songwriting and arrangements – and that Lindemann, Bartelt and Bouteloup have actually spent more time on the recordings than ever before.

Setlist Kadavar

1. Lord Of The Sky
2. Pale Blue Eyes
3. Doomsday Machine
4. The Old Man
5. Last Living Dinosaur
6. Living In Your Head
7. Black Sun
8. Goddess Of Dawn
9. Thousand Miles Away From Home
10. All Our Thoughts
11. Come Back Life

And that’s all for this year – see you all again in 2017!!!

RHF_3All pictures courtesy of Queen Of Spades Photography

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