The day had turned out quite hot, and there was a desire to relax a little, drink some beer, listen to some music, and generally let loose. It was very timely, then, that a Never Old For Heavy Metal event had been planned for that day. This concert was scheduled for 19:00, with the Torba club as the venue — a place long remembered by many metalheads as the home of such events. As usual, the start of the session was slightly delayed (by 40 minutes) — connected to the fact that some bands had not yet completed their soundcheck. But the concert did begin! As a reminder, the following bands were scheduled to perform: SUNRISE, EXPRESS, DJEB, KHARON, SHADOW OF THE SUN! It should be noted that this was not the first event under the Never Old for Heavy Metal banner; the organiser of this already practically traditional event is a member of the band WITCHHUNTER.
And so it began. The turnout was quite good — all the tables were packed, and there was a fairly substantial crowd near the stage. First to play were SUNRISE; I will say straight away — the audience began getting into it from the very first composition. Though to say "composition" is slightly inaccurate, since the band was mostly playing covers, though they did perform a couple of their own tracks. The band's professional level deserves mention — the guys play tightly and in sync; there were a couple of minor slip-ups, but these can be overlooked. Let us say this: they played in the finest traditions of heavy and speed metal, and the vocals were genuinely good, which is a true rarity these days. When the band began playing a HAMMERFALL cover, the people near the stage were headbanging so enthusiastically that all you could see were flying manes of hair. The bassist of this band deserves special mention — the guy gave everything he had, and his parts were genuinely good, a very high level of playing. In short — I hope we will see and hear this band more than once again.
Second to take the stage was EXPRESS — this was the collective's second performance. They started playing — what can one say — at the beginning the band was stumbling: now the lead guitar part was sticking out from the overall picture, then disappearing altogether (though this was the sound engineer's fault — the sound was not kind, I must note), now the drummer was losing the beat. But after 2–3 compositions the guys found their footing and delivered a portion of good instrumental melodic metal; one could hear elements of thrash, with a quite pronounced progressive influence. The audience's reaction was fairly lukewarm — few were moshing near the stage, but everyone received the band's work positively. The music is better suited for creating a pleasant atmosphere over a pint of beer, but for more serious listening one really does need a vocalist.
When the MC announced this band he said: "Ladies, prepare to swoon" — I thought we were in for some special guests, but no — the well-known band KHARON took the stage. This collective plays heavy metal, though their first composition was performed more in the hard 'n' heavy vein. Vocals characteristic of heavy metal surfaced only in certain places, but overall were decent enough. A large number of female audience members were observed near the stage (swooning accordingly :-) ). The lyrics of this band were abundant with a certain sentimentality. Since the sound was not great, it was also difficult to listen closely — the instruments blended together somewhat; perhaps the instruments were simply not properly tuned during the soundcheck.
Yes indeed, and who was next — next to perform was the already well-known band SHADOW OF THE SUN. The band plays rock and hard 'n' heavy with a certain folk tinge, and even some gothic notes were discernible. Nothing to fault them on — they played technically, the musical picture was organic and cohesive; no single instrument seemed to step out of the overall character. When the song "Dyky Husy" rang out, it was as if everyone's roof caved in — people ran out to mosh, many were singing along in unison with the vocalist; in general it was evident that this band is loved and respected, and for good reason. We thank them for the pleasure they provided.
After SHADOW OF THE SUN's set, the majority of the crowd departed; the club became more spacious, some tables even stood empty — one could sit down comfortably and listen.
Closing this event was a collective called DJEB. Some no-longer-young men took the stage and unleashed heavy metal in its finest traditions. And most importantly — they played "with soul"; one could feel that these people were imbued with the spirit of this old, good style. The crowd was small — at most 15 people near the stage, still moshing without stop. In general — a good performance.
The session turned out well, in a summery spirit — just the thing, as they say. We hope the organisers will not stop and will continue the tradition of organising heavy-speed events — whatever anyone says, heavy metal always remains relevant!
Report by L'estat