Day 2 First Half
Scorpio: The following bands performed on the second day of the festival:
ACT OF GOD (Sympho Black Metal) – russia BESTIAL DEFORM (Death Metal) – russia ALTER EGO (Euro Death Metal) – Moldova POKHORONNOYE BYURO (Thrash Metal) – Ukraine FOURTH DIMENSION (Deathcore) – russia GRENOUER (Techno Death Metal) – russia X-SYSTEMS (Progressive Metal) – Ukraine
I was very interested to hear the Perm-based collective ACT OF GOD, having already been acquainted with their work through the album ...For Demon. Worth noting that the band sounds somewhat different now — heavier — and they performed without a violin. Against the backdrop of the black/death frenzy the female vocalist sounded remarkably original. Her operatic vocal is presumably the "sympho" prefix in the band's genre description. ACT OF GOD's frontwoman looked quite striking on stage: all in black, whipping her hair like the rest of the musicians (and one cannot help but note her rather attractive appearance — Nebel). The songs selected for the festival were by no means monotonous. For example, the rhythmic third track was followed by "Gods Don't Forgive" with an excellent solo, and for dessert the russians covered MAYHEM's "Frozen Land." (Read the review of the ...For Demon album here)
Next to take the stage was the st. petersburg collective BESTIAL DEFORM. Two guitars and a 5-string bass hinted that something interesting was coming. From the stage came death metal — but not the brutal variety the fest had in abundance; rather, technically played, with progressive riffs in places. And the vocalist, who also doubled as a guitarist, didn't approach the microphone stand all that frequently.
The next band from Moldova, billed as ALTER EGO, wasted no time in informing everyone that they now go by something like DAKON. It was also announced that they play euro death metal. In reality this turned out to be fairly unoriginal brutal death. The Moldovan guys did try to give it the air of something, however, by announcing songs and generally addressing the stage exclusively in English. Presumably that is the "Euro" image.
Following the ex-ALTER EGO, the collective POKHORONNOYE BYURO from Severodonetsk (Ukraine) took the stage and launched into good old-fashioned thrash. Some people just listened, some even got into it — but the band didn't make a particularly strong impression.
The next band, FOURTH DIMENSION, unambiguously delivered the goods, putting out excellent deathcore. I keep reminding people that, in my view, core styles are by a considerable margin the most live-oriented styles. Barely having stepped onto the stage, the vocalist asked everyone to press forward, promising to dish out some serious meat. The frontman was a great visual — jumping the way core-band members typically do, dropping to his knees. The metalheads went absolutely wild, and when the allotted 40 minutes were up, the crowd chanted "MORE! MORE!" It should be noted that far from all the performing bands at the festival earned that kind of response. (Read the review of FOURTH DIMENSION's Inevitability here)
The st. petersburg band gave way to another st. petersburg band, a more celebrated outfit from the post-Soviet underground: GRENOUER. Currently the band plays techno-death with industrial elements. In addition to the guitarist, bassist, vocalist, and drummer, there was on stage a fellow with distinctive dreadlocks, billed as a keyboardist but functioning more as a DJ (as you probably know, bands like LINKIN PARK and SLIPKNOT have such a person too). On his square rig sat a mixer and a small keyboard unit. All of this should, in theory, have sounded quite interesting — but due to less-than-great sound, GRENOUER couldn't fully realise their songs. Even so, they delivered quite solid material consisting of techno-death, death'n'roll, and some deathcore tracks. The charismatic vocalist Ind, as always, put on a solid show, demonstrating that he can do clean vocals as well. Twice the "Indian" assumed the role of disc-thrower, scattering copies of the band's new EP Try into the crowd (read the review here). The GRENOUER set ended too suddenly for me — honestly, I wanted more.
The honour of closing the first half of Day 2 fell to the Sevastopol progressive metal band X-SYSTEMS. The very presence of a band in this style at Metal Heads' Mission was already an event in itself (and a rather pleasant one — Nebel). The audience stood and listened, captivated, to beautiful music in the style of DREAM THEATER. The rhythmic sections of the compositions gave way to melodic passages punctuated by wonderful solos. The sound was, of course, a touch heavier than one might have expected — unsurprisingly, since the rig was set up that way. In total the "Systems" played three compositions. Two of them were part of a conceptual work, each piece dealing with a particular defect. The third song was a requiem dedicated to the great musician Chuck Schuldiner — lyrical, but also hard-hitting in places. Although only three songs were played, X-SYSTEMS used their time in full, since, as is customary in progressive metal, each composition ran for over 10 minutes. The Ukrainians were also the only band at the festival to perform without a vocalist. Having savoured the excellent études, people drifted off to eat, swim, or sleep. Though even before the X-SYSTEMS set, a good half of the audience had already left the hall. You can't call this kind of music popular… (Though it can be called music for the soul with complete confidence — Nebel)
Second Half
Agressor: Right, my turn! So I'm going to tell you about the most savage and brutal part of Day 2. And that would be… yes, yes, yes, those of you who were impatiently squealing in time to ultra-brutal growling were right — it's about the second part of Day 2 that I'll be telling you. The order was as follows:
DATURA – Ukraine EPICRISE – Ukraine VELD – Belarus NATURAL SPIRIT – Ukraine NEGLECTED FIELDS – Latvia CENOTAPH – Turkey
DATURA, who appeared on stage after the break, I knew exclusively from their demo, which I'd reviewed. I remember it didn't impress me much at the time. But having heard them live now, I've completely changed my mind. Crushing brutal death metal — twice described to me within earshot as "the most promising Ukrainian brutal band." And while the "most" part can be debated, I'm absolutely certain that the band will soon make itself heard loudly not just in the post-Soviet sphere but in Europe as well. Taking the stage, the guys delivered technical, savage brutal metal. Not much to describe — the band erected an impenetrable wall of aggressive sound in front of the stage, and despite performing first after the break, they immediately fired up the crowd. To the point that two random guys (reconnaissance reports: from russia) jumped on stage and proceeded to commit actual mayhem — involving, let's say, improvised "entertainment" of a spectacularly revolting nature. Eventually they were cleared off the stage. But I thank them for the free performance — the staging, under that music, was exactly right.
Though they would have looked no less appropriate alongside the next of our compatriots — EPICRISE. After a relatively long setup, the band unleashed another charge of mega-porno-grind at the crowd, which hadn't yet recovered from the previous band. The vocals alternated from a piercing pig-squeal to a growling slam delivery, with the bassist helping the vocalist narrate all the finer points. The band's stage behaviour also deserves high praise: the bass player charging back and forth while somehow managing to shout and play at the same time, the spasming guitarist, the leaping vocalist (the guy could get his legs nearly to chest height in a jump). From the very start of the set a pit opened up that looked, from outside, like some kind of cyclone or vortex — people flying in a circle, clockwise, not forgetting to shove each other with full force. The band had also clearly structured their setlist for maximum impact, each composition heavier than the last: "Terror in the Rear" was followed by "Menstrual Evenings," then "Prostate Massage." And at the end the guys apparently decided to finish off the poor metalheads once and for all with what I consider one of their finest compositions — "Faggots on Little Bicycles." It was an absolute hurricane; even I, standing on the second floor by the shop, couldn't help but headbang. The vocalist impersonating a cyclist, the bassist bellowing the song title as the chorus. In short, of the less famous bands at the festival, this one unambiguously claimed first place in my personal ranking. Special respect for flying the Ukrainian flag.
The Belarusians VELD, who followed and are billed as simply playing death metal, looked comparatively pale and nondescript. As many people noted, the guys are clearly VADER fans — but even in that style they come across as somehow too monotonous and dull, lacking the drive and originality of the preceding bands. Though in my view the situation may partly be that they followed bands who had all of those qualities, and I may subconsciously have been expecting more of the same. The sound wasn't great either, with the vocals clearly drowning out everything else. On balance, I'll have to find the time to listen to them properly at some point — as it was, even their BEHEMOTH cover of "Antichristian Phenomenon" — heavy and powerful though it was — didn't really rescue things.
This time, evidently, the decision was made to leaven the death-metal overload with the Chernihiv pagan formation NATURAL SPIRIT. The first thing I noticed was the new keyboardist, who turned out to be none other than Bonya (for those in the know — we ran into each other again that night in the bar, where we had a great time dancing to disco-trance =)). As for the music itself: they sounded heavier and more powerful than at their Kyiv shows, which I liked more — but at the same time it no longer felt quite like pagan metal. The keyboards were barely audible, resulting in minimal atmosphere. Particularly noteworthy was the fire-show staged by some young pyromaniacs (you can spot their kind by Kyiv's History Museum in summer — they're at it there practically every evening). If Scorpio manages to upload the video he shot during the set, you'll be able to judge for yourselves, but in my opinion it looked great.
Next came one of the bands I'd been most looking forward to — the Baltic act NEGLECTED FIELDS. After a long setup they decided to treat everyone to techno-death. The hall was packed by this point, and the pit that had run continuously throughout the day gained new recruits. Honestly, I expected a bit more from the set. The material from the older work was fine, but the new stuff didn't ignite anything. In short, their performance left me a little disappointed — and the sense of unsatisfying material was compounded by less-than-ideal sound.
And then the second day's headliners took the stage — the Turks, CENOTAPH. I'm embarrassed to admit that before MHM I knew nothing about this band, nor about the Turkish scene in general. As it turned out, they have some serious acts. CENOTAPH took the stage as a reduced lineup (3 people instead of 5), dressed in medical gowns, and began their set with a somewhat melancholy demeanour. By my observation the crowd's initial reaction was also subdued — whether from exhaustion or from having been absorbed by the band's mood. But after a few songs they managed to get the crowd moving quite seriously, and after that the energy seemed to transfer back to the musicians. Of course it would — powerful, fast death metal is not something to be taken lightly. Though the "Turkish-ness" or some other "Eastern flavour" I'd been expecting was nowhere to be found. This was American-school death metal, plain and simple. At the end the fired-up crowd demanded more; the band came back and played two "extra songs specially for you." Among the songs played: an unrecognised-by-me cover of SUFFOCATION and CANNIBAL CORPSE's "Hammer Smashed Face" (well, you can't do without it).
And so ended the second festival day — in musical, or rather mytological, terms. Because having quickly eaten whatever was to hand (mostly tinned food and various alcoholic beverages), Scorpio, Lestat, a couple of our support crew, and I made for the nearest bar, from which the sweet sounds of… trance already carried. Running into some acquaintances there, we set off to "exchange experiences," which turned into a rather heavy after-party, drawing in not only the forces of underground journalism but also the Moldovans (including, at the end, just me and the vocalist of… DISENTOMB, I think — I can't remember precisely), and various otherwise interested parties. I went to bed when it was already getting light.
Scorpio: For my part, I went to sleep earlier than everyone — I wasn't drunk enough to cut loose to disco music or get absorbed in trance…