Hellfest Summer Open Air Review 2010

This June saw me returning to Clisson in France for the fourth time in four years, for the extreme music festival Hellfest. From Friday 18th - Sunday 20th June 2010, I would be immersing myself in a plethora of live acts.

Day 1 - Friday 18th 


The day began with France's own Gorod, a brain-bendingly technical bunch of death metallers on Mainstage 2. The precision in their music did not compromise the brutal nature that is frequently associated with death metal. Unlike 'riff salad' tech death bands that rely on a barrage of hundred riffs per song, Gorod maintain a great sense of memorable composition, complete with a melodic edge that compliments the music. Frontman Guillaume Martinot raged across the stage, barking his rasps admirably. A great wake up call for the early morning start.

The next stop was Ortagos in the Rock Hard Tent. These French black metallers are signed to Season of Mist, a label I usually associate with quality,  and after around four songs, I left their set. They were simply a hybrid of monotonus, double-bass black metal ala Marduk with simplified ideas akin to a watered down Secrets of the Moon moments.

Returning to the second Mainstage, Swallow the Sun's melancholic doom swarmed over the sun-drenched audience. It was difficult to watch them in the heated environment. Their cold and bleak melodies were lost in the festival atmosphere, particularly outdoors on a large stage. Nonetheless, the members avoided compromising and put on a decent show. The best moment was closing number 'Swallow', which provoked more action from the audience.

In the Rock Hard Tent, one of Norway's premier lesser known black metal acts Urgehal were about to commence spewing rabid blasphemy all over the festival. An austere performance, the band pumped out new songs from Ikonoklast, including 'Stetsolid Self Destruction' and 'Dodelagt'. The crowd were treated to the staples 'Satanic Black Metal in Hell' and 'Goatcraft Torment' alongside the non-album anthem 'Nekromisanthrop'. Despite the anti-human exterior these Norwegians have been successful in portraying in the past, they frequently thanked the audience, which destroyed their credibility. Nonetheless, Urgehal were still vastly enjoyable and entertaining.

I watched a little of Crowbar on the second Mainstage. They were quite amiable with their gritty sludge metal and were certainly enthusiastic to be playing live even after over twenty years.

On the smallest stage of them all, the Terrorizer tent, Sigh took the audience by storm with their innovative black metal and avant garde songs. With Dr. Mikanibal in a skimpy white outfit, embellished with bloodstains and angel wings, they had the entire audience focussed on their performance. However, the absence of a keyboard removed one of the dimensions of their music and songs like 'Death Before Dishonour' were seriously lacking their quirk. In spite of this, the band terminated their show with a grim rendition of the Venom classic 'Black Metal' with Mikanibal pouring candle wax all over herself.


Necrophagist were clearly comfortable exercising their technical prowess in front of the large multitude gathered at the Rock Hard Tent. Muhammed Suiçmez was a wonder to behold with his progressive slant on technical death metal. The quintet stormed through prime cuts from both of their full-lengths, such as 'Extreme Unction', 'Fermented Offal Discharge', 'Epitaph', 'Foul Body Autopsy' and 'The Stillborn One'. 'Stabwound' and 'Only Ash Remains' received particularly notable reactions from the audience and for good reason. There was little movement from the band on stage but with so much concentration needed to effortlessly execute their delicate music, they cannot be blamed.


More black metal was presented in the Rock Hard Tent with Norwegian four-piece Kampfar. The introduction of 'Valgalderkvad' looped through the PA before the band took the stage. When they did (save frontman Dolk), the members launched into 'Vantro' from their latest full-length offering Heimgang and exploded into 'Inferno' when Dolk joined them. Dolk was highly charismatic, racing around the stage to get the pulses of the audience pumping, even during the lengthier numbers like 'Hymne'. The setlist was fairly representative of all the Norwegians' four albums and very well selected, even if they were no major surprises.The crowd reacted solidly to their Viking metal embossed formula and judging from Dolk's reaction, he was appreciative of it. Closing with 'Ravenheart' was a particular highlight, sealing a remarkable appearance at the festival already.


Kampfar's setlist: Vettekult / Inferno / Norse / Troll, Dod og Trolldom / Hymne / Vettekult / Ravenheart.


With large banners at either side of the stage, Secrets of the Moon's innovative black metal emanated from the Terrorizer Tent. Despite their diligence, the band looked somewhat subdued and following Kampfar's performance, the quartet appeared somewhat sedate. Still promoting their latest full-length Privilegivm, a decent flavour of the album made the setlist, including 'Sulphur' and 'Queen Among Rats'. The newer songs were bolstered among typical staples, such as 'Lucifer Speaks' and 'Seraphim is Dead', painting a strong representation of what these Germans have to offer.


The Rock Hard Tent was fairly crowded with a congregation eager to witness Ihsahn's first live appearance outside his native Norway. Those expecting Emperor covers were fools as the prog mastermind layered prime cuts from each of his albums for the audience to feast on, backed by the entire line up of fellow Norsk prog metallers, Leprous. The dark progressive metal was a welcomed change of pace from the extreme metal I had been ingesting previously. Opening with the first song from After, 'The Barren Lands', Ihsahn demonstrated his musical dexterity. Handling guitars and vocals meant limited stage presence from him but the music was too emersive to notice. The particularly tender songs like 'Unhealer' were received solidly by the audience and Ihsahn's entire attitude to the live show was nothing but positive. Closing with another new track 'Frozen Lakes on Mars', it is clear to see why Ihsahn will be relevant to the current metal community, even after the demise of seminal black metallers Emperor.


Ihsahn's setlist: The Barren Lands / A Grave Inversed / Misanthrope / Scarab / Emancipation / Invocation / Called By Fire / Unhealer / Frozen Lakes on Mars.


A gathering swarm at Mainstage 2 awaited Hypocrisy. Opening with 'Fractured Millennium' from their self-titled album, Peter Tägtgren appeared completely confident wheeling his guitar and growling along to the large mass of people who appeared mostly curious of what the highly acclaimed band had to offer. In an attempt to perform as many songs in their allocated time, a medley of 'Pleasure of Molestation', 'Osculum Obscenum' and 'Penetralia' attempted to satiate as many Hypocrisy fans as possible. Despite the universal great reception that the Swedes' latest full-length A Taste of Extreme Divinity received, only 'Weed out the Weak' was played from it, this compromise obviously in favour of dishing out the much loved songs such as 'Fire in the Sky', 'A Coming Race' and 'Adjusting the Sun'. Despite their efforts, I found the band to become somewhat tiresome after some time. Closing with 'Warpath' and 'Roswell 47' was actually quite relieving. 


Hypocrisy's setlist: Fractured Millennium / Weed Out the Weak / Eraser / Pleasure of Molestation/Osculum Obscenum/Penetralia / A Coming Race / Adjusting the Sun / Let the Knife Do the Talking / Killing Art / Fire in the Sky / Warpath / Roswell 47.


Having heard plenty about their latest album, Watain were unsurprisingly vomiting their blasphemy over a commendably-sized crowd in the Rock Hard Tent. Their gritty black metal with digestible melodic strains were a clear crowd pleasure. Bedecked in their corpsepaint, the band handled the entire performance seriously with no pandering to the attendees. Only 'Reaping Death' was heard from the new Lawless Darkness but with lengthy songs like 'Stellavore' and 'Legions of the Black Light' hitting the setlist, the black metallers had little time. Conversely, the brief 'On Horns Impaled' closed the set, the oldest song they conjured up. 


Being their only European show, matters grew painful for Godflesh at the Terrorizer Tent. The British industrial group got off to a slow start with impeding technical issues that bit into a portion of their set. However, like most industrial groups, Godflesh's live show was devoid of enthralling elements and felt repetitive just staring at the band members doing very little on stage. I am sure they are more accessible on CD. The entire experience was quite a disappointment over all.


Following Godflesh were another experimental, non-metal band: Ulver in the Rock Hard Tent. Of course, none of their older, metal or folk songs would be showcased in their hour-long slot but their music came complete with their projections. Captivating both visually and musically, the Norwegians sped through their post-metal, avant garde numbers including 'Porn Piece or the Scars of Cold Kisses', 'Little Blue Bird', 'For the Love of God', 'Let the Children Go' and 'Like Music'. The experience was aurally overwhelming with so many beautiful nuances that grafted a strong personality into the music. It is a shame that the crowd appeared to dwindle in number as the set progressed but perhaps Ulver were not heavy enough to appear at an extreme metal festival for some. As the set closed, Garm graciously thanked those present, in a way that was devoid of pretence. 


Concluding the night for me was The Devil's Blood, a psychedelic rock group in the Terrorizer Tent. The band are familiar in black metal circles because the Dutch group consider themselves an occult group and make appearances at many metal festivals. Their music was very seventies influenced with a female singer who does not possess a 'typical' female voice. The music was thick with atmosphere and, although the band were only allotted an hour long slot, they played for approximately an hour and a half. I struggled to endure the music for this long and think that they would be a richer listen in solitude as opposed to the live environment. Nonetheless, I am glad I caught their performance, even if it grew a little tiring during its tail end.


Day 2 - Saturday 19


The second day began with death thrash metallers Dew-Scented on Mainstage 2. The only original member, Leif Jensen, literally barked out his vocals in such a commanding manner that it shook off the cobwebs of the morning. Their brand of thrash socketed with death metal was aggressive and uncompromising with sinews of melody although ultimately unvaried throughout. Having said that, for a thirty minute set first thing in the morning, this was not a particular point of contention and it was relieving to enjoy 'Soul Poison' so early.


Kalisia released a debut last year (that took fifteen years to make) that received such striking attention, nominated as one of the best debuts of last year by many. Cybion is essentially a concept album formed of one song (but divided into tracks on the CD) and it was impossible its entirety would fit into the half hour slot they had in the Rock Hard Tent. Nonetheless, the astral progressive metal melodies swept over the audience in a captivating fashion with growls providing a brutal undertone. The keyboards were particularly atmospheric and swamping, truly envisioning the sci-fi universe the plot of the CD takes place in. Plenty of effort was put into the album and the band appeared grateful to be playing Hellfest. I presume Kalisia live to be a rarity.


Kalisia setlist: Reception/Translation / Union/Construction / Declaration/Revolution / Division/Integration / Lost Soul / Activation/Production / Confusion/Resurrection / Realisation/Penetration / Disconnection/Comprehension / Salvation/Connection.


After a break, it was time for German drunkards Tankard to play on the second mainstage. Opening with 'The Morning After', Tankard's coarse brand of old school thrash metal was clearly popular with the observers. Frontman Gerre bounded around the stage at such a frequency that was rare for a man of his size (although, admittedly he had lost weight since my last encounter with him in September of last year. At this Hellfest show, he kept pulling his shirt up to reveal a shrunken stomach yet plenty of loose folds of skin...) and really suited the frantic pace of the music. With only 'Octane Warrior' and 'Stay Thirsty!' from their latest album Thirst, there was  room for older favourites such as 'Chemical Invasion' and 'Zombie Attack'. Not to be seen as a band twenty years past their glory days, newer songs 'Rectifier' and 'Slipping From Reality' we poured on to the audience, meaning they ignored their nineties days ('Beermuda' felt missed). Closing with another staple '(Empty) Tankard', it felt like the entire audience were singing along "Wanna drink some fucking beer, wanna drink some whiskey!" over and over again and indeed even after the performance, large groups of people were still singing it, long after Tankard had left the stage. Brilliant.


Tankard's setlist: The Morning After / Zombie Attack / Stay Thirsty! / Chemical Invasion / Rectifier / Slipping From Reality / Octane Warriors / (Empty) Tankard.


Tankard would be a near-impossible act to follow but it was up to Y&T to do so. On Mainstage 1, the American hard rockers attempted this task. They were in good spirits and that emanated into their live show. However, it felt strange that they ignored some of their better known tracks in favour of others. I assumed 'Summertime Girls' was a staple but I suppose they had newer material to play. They did play 'Mean Streak' though but the set was lacking in something, lacking in the sing-along atmosphere that plenty of eighties hard rock acts captured. Perhaps they were swamped by Tankard's performance.


Swapping over to Mainstage 2 again, it was time for some classic NWoBHM in the form of Raven. Opening with 'Take Control' from their much loved All for One album, I was completely taken back by the freshness and power of vocalist John Gallagher. His falsetto was stunning, certainly mistakable for the voice of a twenty-something year old. He was clearly very proud of this feat and frequently stole the opportunity to show off many a time as he added in falsetto cries that were not on the original. Although they are not a widely known band, they successfully invited the crowd to sing along to some of their catchy choruses as they ripped through a slew of classic tracks including 'Break the Chain', 'All for One', 'Breaking You Down' and 'Live at the Inferno'. The trio were a fantastic afternoon treat and a prominent reminder that Britain's heavy metal was premier at some point in history.


Returning to the light-deprived Rock Hard Tent, Dutch classic death metallers Asphyx were also proving to the festival why they were still relevant. Vocalist Martin Van Drunen essentially had his audience in the palm of his hands from the get-go as the quartet sliced with vicious death metal and hammered down with their unique doom metal groove. From their latest full-length album Death...The Brutal Way, Asphyx displayed a sense of purpose in the modern metal scene with the title track and 'Eisenbahnmorser' particularly storming through the venue. 'M.S. Bismarck', 'Wasteland of Terror', 'Asphyx (Forgotten War)' provided a bounty of headbanging opportunities and an atmosphere of chaos. Of course, no Asphyx set would be complete without the stunning 'The Rack' and this received a rightfully thunderous applause. Asphyx certainly secured the title of one of the best acts of this year's installment of Hellfest.


Anvil would have to do plenty to top Asphyx's performance. On the second Main Stage, the Canadians had attracted a large audience, no doubt on the strength of their documentary. Nonetheless, their music was too stale and their stage presence was fairly plain. Playing songs from their latest album This is Thirteen, the three-piece sounded desperate with dull tracks that plodded along to no tasteful climax. I ended up leaving their set early because their heavy metal was doing absolutely nothing for me.


With a good number of people watching them in the Rock Hard Tent, Sadist from Italy were a very impressive band from a technical point of view. With the guitarist handling guitar and keyboard duties simultaneously. Their progressive death metal was intricate and intriguing, particularly with the in-your-face keyboards. The quartet were quite comfortable on stage and after this performance, further investigation into this band beckons.


Returning to Main Stage 2 for further extreme-tipped prog metal, Nevermore opened their set with the older 'Beyond Within' with their devoted fanbase singing along. Following this track, the Seattle band begin to unleash songs from their new album The Obsidian Conspiracy on to the audience, beginning with 'The Termination Proclamation' and later including 'Emptiness Unobstructed', 'Your Poison Throne' and the title track. These new tracks received a great ovation but, naturally, less so among the other classics hand-picked for the set. Warrel Dane poured his emotional sentiments into his vocals with guitar virtuoso Jeff Loomis providing backing vocals as best he could. 'The River Dragon Has Come' was a sing-along affair to the fans; 'Born' was an emotional spectrum that reigned supremely in the outdoor environment; 'The Heart Collector' saw the band showcase their softer side with just as much appreciation as the heavier 'Inside Four Walls'. The Americans were in good spirits and put on such a fantastic show with Dane seemingly interacting with the audience on an individual basis. Closing with the muscular 'Enemies of Reality' was a spectacular finish with an eruption of mainstream scorn - what Nevermore are best at really.


Nevermore setlist: Beyond Within / The Termination Proclamation / The River Dragon Has Come / Born / Emptiness Unobstructed / Your Poison Throne / Inside Four Walls / The Heart Collector / The Obsidian Conspiracy / Enemies of Reality.


I half-watched Slash on the first Main Stage. His music was fairly inoffensive with Velvet Revolver and Slash's Snakepit but when he arrived at the Guns 'n' Roses songs, I had to depart because they are musically terrible.


Eventually, Canada's Annihilator arrived on the second Main Stage and many were eagerly anticipating the older material, specifically 'Alison Hell'. Opening with 'The Box' from King of the Kill was a little surprise but not necessarily a particularly positive one. Jeff Waters and Dave Padden appeared quite austere on stage and it was interesting to see them both handle vocal duties. From their new album Annihilator, they were doing the fans a favour by only selecting two songs: 'Ambush' and the lengthy 'The Trend'. 'King of the Kill' and 'Set the World On Fire' may have appeased some but certainly myself. However, ears perked up when the undeniably thrash classic 'Fun Palace' from Never, Neverland made its arrival. When it came to the closing number, Waters cheekily said "I suppose we have to play 'Alison Hell' now..." which had the audience in roars of ovation. The song was totally stellar, destroying the rest of the set. The pair's vocals were a great replacement of Randy Rampage's, sounding identical at times. This is why Annihilator's earliest efforts should be loved.


Annihilator's setlist: The Box / Ambush / King of the Kill / Hell is a War / Set the World on Fire / The Fun Palace / The Trend / Alison Hell.


Twisted Sister were to continue the vein of heavy metal/hard rock on Main Stage 1 and they would do so in a fantastic fashion. Frontman Dee Snider demanded all eyes on him for the entire duration of the set. Opening with 'Come Out and Play', the party atmosphere was installed into the audience. There were plenty of sing-along opportunties, including 'Stay Hungry' and 'You Can't stop Rock 'n' Roll' but most importantly, 'We're Not Gonna Take It', which was elongated for the fan's amusement. It was quite surprising to hear Twisted Sister's most popular song come in the middle of their set but they had other plans. In a tribute to Dio, Snider announced the band would play the Rainbow song 'Long Live Rock 'n' Roll', which had the audience singing the tribute to the fallen metal superstar. The cover was performed excellently with a truly celebratory atmosphere. After the sinister 'Burn in Hell', the band vacated the stage only to return for an encore of 'I Wanna Rock' and 'S.M.F.'. All in all a fanastic set and Snider was a very likeable frontman who truly understood how a rock 'n' roll show should be executed.


Twisted Sister setlist: Come Out and Play / The Kids Are Back / Under the Blade / Stay Hungry / Captain Howdy / We're Not Gonna Take It / Shoot 'em Down / You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll / Long Live Rock 'n' Roll / The Price / Burn in Hell / I Wanna Rock / S.M.F.


According to Twisted Sister, Abbath from Immortal was watching their show. Next up on Main Stage 2, were these second wave black metal superstars. Opening with 'All Shall Fall' from the album of the same name, had people excited over seeing the band more than the music itself. Unfortunately, this mediocre comeback album populated the setlist strongly, with 'The Rise of Darkness', 'Hordes to War' and 'Norden on Fire'. The setlist on the whole was somewhat disappointing (possibly due to time restraints?) with nothing from the debut, no The Call of the Wintermoon', 'The Sun No Longer Rises', 'Blashyrkh (Mighty Ravendark)' or 'At the Heart of Winter' - and these are just the popular, older Immortal tracks as opposed to my favourites. Nonetheless, the fans were overjoyed with 'Pure Holocaust', 'Grim and Frostbitten Kingdoms' and 'Sons of Northern Darkness'. Abbath's fire-breathing was entertaining and you could literally feel the heat. Closing with 'One by One', I considered the show somewhat lacklustre (especially compared to last time I saw Immortal), I believe people were just happy to see the corpsepainted caricatures themselves.


Immortal's setlist: All Shall Fall / The Rise of Darkness / Sons of Northern Darkness / Hordes to War / Pure Holocaust / Grim and Frostbitten Kingdoms / Norden on Fire / Withstand the Fall of Time / Damned in Black / Tyrants / One by One.


Still keeping in tune with the theatrical side of music, Alice Cooper on the first Main Stage put on a fabulous show. The legend commenced with an abridged version of 'School's Out', which set the mood perfectly. What followed next was a show consisting of Cooper's best known hits (except 'Bed of Nails') and a theatrical show that included Cooper being killed in a variety of ways, such as by guillotine, being hanged and injected by an over-sized syringe. The guillotine trick was particularly convincing as his head fell into the basket and later he would be dancing around with it. His outfits changed numerously, all flashy and demanding of attention. 'No More Mr. Nice Guy', 'I'm 18', 'Poison', 'Only Women Bleed', 'Billion Dollar Babies', and 'Elected' were particularly highlights to this glitzy show. During 'Dirty Diamonds', Cooper threw out plenty of silver necklaces into the audience, which were snapped up quickly. Vocally, he sounded on form and suitably dark and twisted. He put so much effort into the show that his age seemed irrelevant. Even those not familiar with most of the set would have certainly appreciated the theatrical entertainment that accompanied the music. After 'Elected', the band vacated the stage only to return with the full length version of 'School's Out', another remarkable performance. It is clear to see why Cooper is such a household name as his show was unforgettable and it was very fortunate that he had the opportunity to play Hellfest. Such a fantastic headliner.


Alice Cooper's setlist: School's Out (abridged) / No More Mr. Nice Guy / Under My Wheels / I'm 18 / Wicked Young Man / Ballad of Dwight Fry . Go to Hell / Guilty / Cold Ethyl / Poison / From the Inside / Nurse Rosetta / Be My Lover / Only Women Bleed / I Never Cry / Black Widow Jam / Vengeance is Mine / Dirty Diamonds / Billion Dollar Babies / Killer / I Love the Dead / Feed My Frankenstein / Elected / School's Out.


If Alice Cooper wasn't horrific enough, the next band would take horror to a more realistic edge. The temperature had dropped for Carcass on the second Main Stage - the final band of the night. After their intro, the English gore connoisseurs launched into a hybrid of 'Genital Grinder' and 'This Mortal Coil'. Vocalist and bassist Jeff Walker radiated confidence with his English sense of humour. He was indeed quite a likeable man. Having appeared at Hellfest two years previously, the grind stars wanted to do something a little different and so they performed the vast majority of their seminal Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious release, breaking up the set with two other classics: 'Buried Dreams' and 'Heartwork'. The music was dark and heavy with headbanging rhythms leaking all over the place. 'Corporal Jigsore Quandary', 'Incarnated Solvent Abuse' and 'Carneous Cacoffiny' unsheathed riffs that were worth salivating over. However, the montage of infected penises projected behind the band may have contradicted this. After the show, Carcass left the audience wanting more...and in some ways, they got a great shot of gore with an autopsy video being shown in its entirety. A very appropriate way to end a Carcass set and the second day of Hellfest.


Carcass' setlist: Genital Grinder/This Mortal Coil / Inpropagation / Corporal Jigsore Quandary / The Sanguine Article / Symposium of Sickness / Pedigree Butchery / Incarnated Solvent Abuse / Carneous Cacoffiny / Buried Dreams / Heartwork / Lavaging Expectorate of Lysergide Composition.


Day 3 - Yes, I was here but out of laziness and a sheer lack of desire, I cannot be bothered to write a review for it. It was fun and I managed to see KISS bisected with Bloodbath.