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Push to Fire Review: Hammerfest II
Sondura: Sondura are one of those bands live that you some how find yourself singing along to even though you do not properly know the words. This is part of their brilliance of being a melodic metal band- the use of catchy hooks submerge you in the music with a spine tingling ability, at the very least making you want to tap your foot.
Tom Watson (Vocals) and Jack Watson (Guitars, Vocals) both show front-man professionalism with a confident and powerful performance from Tom and Jack’s crowd relation, sparking enthusiasm and motivation throughout the room. This band would be a brilliant headliner, competent and fun, a gem within British metal music.
Cars on Fire: Star jumping, guitar spinning, bass thumping and drum smashing extravagance. Cars on Fire were most likely the liveliest band on Friday, with a punchy attitude emanating from Ali Ross (guitar/vocals), spinning his guitar and jumping in between his screams into the microphone. Similarly Steve Gregory (Bass) was moving around stage with equal energy, star-jumping within every moment as he produced some of the most exciting bass lines seen that day.
Cars on Fire are true performers with the whole band encore, exciting and moving the crowd to their punk entity. The band is defined by their enthusiasm on stage, motivation, movement, and technical artistry.
Revoker: Revoker is a balls out hard hitting metal band from South Wales and as they took stage they soon entered a full skull-crushing, head-banging flow of sound which impressed everyone in the room.
Xerath: The room darkens and Xerath approaches the stage. The synthesisers start and the enormous sounds of the bass by (Christopher Clark) and guitar (Owain Williams) swell. The light plunges onto the stage diminishing the darkness, and quickly the powerful clash of symbols and snap of drums by Michael Pitman energise the stage, followed by the roar of Richard Thomson. The intricacy of Xerath’s music is a delight to watch, with each of the band members engrossed within their instruments.
Xerath is a geyser of truly magnificent ability, flooding Hammerfest’s second stage with the spray and of mist of a truly impressive evening.
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Epica: Giving a true meaning to the work epic, the band is united as a whole under truly dramatic and theatrical music. The instrumental is akin to the work of Therion but excellently blended. The combination of deep vocals from the guitarist contrasts the front-woman’s eloquent operatic vocals but her powerful voice resonates through the building, holding the crowd’s attention on the stage, it’s a truly monumental sound. It is brilliant to see a theatrical/operatic band’s full throttle metal instrumental that doesn’t stop to give focus upon the impressive Simone Simons’s vocal work. However the attention of most men in the audience still seemed to be set upon the lovely Simone. Katatonia: Vocalist Jonas P. Renkse shrouded by his hair creates harmonic tones which seem to weep from his mouth, sending the audience into a meditative state, seducing them into the sheer impressive sound broken every time they stop. Drenching you the music pulls you inwards making anyone feel isolated amongst the crowd, as if Katatonia was playing only to you. Guitars and percussion alike both equally impress in creating a complete dark and heart-wrenching atmosphere, . DevilDriver: A room over encumbered with people, the groovy riffs sends said room into a frenzy of movement and brutality from the melodic-death metal sound. Horns and fists are thrown into the air in celebration, pits evolve and swell as the music and rhythmic vocals hit the hearts and souls of the swarm. The brilliancy of Bradley James "Dez" Fafara (ex-vocalist from Coal Chamber) accompanies the rhythmical music precisely, extenuating the energy and movement present within the instrumental alone. Asphyxiated within the energy you can not ignore that the band are as enthusiastic about their music being pumped out as the crowd itself. |
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Five Finger Death Punch: It can be simply put that Five Finger Death Punch live is one of the most heavily testosterone driven bands, causing the room to sweat from its very walls. Vocalist Ivan Moody had the control of the crowd in his very hands, commanding them to overwhelm the crowd control staff to shake his hand. As the music kicks in waves of people flow over the barriers ignoring the guards, just to touch him. This was only the beginning as floor emptied onto the sight of a colossal circle pit conjured by Ivan’s very word. Five Finger Death Punch’s disciples really showed their dedication, as the room excelled into a crusade of chaos. Napalm Death: A band established for 29 years surely had not ceased to supplement Hammerfest with some of the heaviest, noisiest, political music ever to hit the UK and the world. The spectacle which is Napalm Death pulls in people of all ages to view the band and Mark ‘Barney’ Greenway as he contorts and bellows into the microphone as he dashes around the stage. The instrumental alone blasts through the crowd shaking the very floor through the wake of its incredible fusion of Grindcore and Death Metal excellence. Napalm Death has not stopped in producing the cream of merciless music. | |||
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Swallow the Sun: Half one in the morning and Swallow the Sun endows to its audience their dark music. Sound waves drench the audience with a feeling of impending doom. Between the chugging of the guitars (Markus Jämsen and Juha Raivio) and bass (Matti Honkonen), the rolling drums and the bellowing vocals from Mikko Kotamäki, the music starts consuming the room. Think similar to that of Tiamat with vocal work and My Dying Bride with instrumentalism, but their gloomy construction still retains its individualism. The audience are amazed and after every spine chilling song they don’t fail to perform a round of applause. Shining: Shining (The progressive Norwegian Jazz-metal band) is a magnificent ensemble of sounds, time signatures, and compositions that are projected by this truly individual ‘dark jazz’ band. It is an interesting pallet of music worth seeing live, with prominent instrumental interlinked with spontaneous, energetically composed, saxophone and piano. There also is prominent industrialism conveyed through the keyboards and synthesisers which furthers the sheer mixture of sounds and brilliance that this band has assembled. Shining is a band worth watching over and over again just for the amazing musical talent from the whole band. White Wizzard: Bringing back the nostalgic sounds of the 80’s such as W.A.S.P plus Judas Priest’s Rob Halford through use of high vocals, harmonious guitar solos, and up-beat rhythmic drums and bass, they stand out as a masterpiece amongst the festival’s line up. Energetic and fun it’s hard not to enjoy yourself while watching them. White Wizzard puts the fast, turbo boosted fuel, back into their older crowd and ignites the fire in the hearts of the young. |
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| Panic Cell: The hard hitting force of the riffs and the bulky choruses are distinguished signatures of Panic Cell, ablaze with truly accomplished craftsmanship. The Front man Luke Bell has admirable stage presence, addressing the audience intimately which gives a personal, more intimate feel to the show. The music is full of vivacious dominant guitar performance and dynamic drums and bass, a band which anyone could grasp and have fun head-banging to.
G.U. Medicine: G.U. Medicine is a rock band to admire; containing distorted thumping guitars and a groovy bass line that could make anyone dance and move. Vocalist and guitarist Lee Storrar injects grit and dirt into the band with his fuzzy guitar and rough vocals, giving the band a grubby stoner rock edge. Any fans of Winnebago Deal and Dozer should promptly see this band live, giving an energetic and enjoyable show with band members dashing across the stage, truly making them the focus of the room. Orange Goblin: As the lights dim and intro music builds up, strong beams of blue light cascades down upon the members of Orange Goblin. The sensational bass lines kick in from Martyn Millard and are quickly accompanied by frankly intuitive guitar by Joe Hoare, only to be pushed further by the spirited symbol smashing drummer Christopher Ian Turner and, finally, the gravelly and bold vocals of Ben Ward which thunder into the room. As Ward looms over, peering into the front rows it’s hard not to be astonished at the height and stature of the vocalist, giving no doubt where the earthly rumble to his voice arises. An impressive performance was given by the whole band pulling out all the stops for a heavy, fun and stupefying event. | |||
Skindred: An extravagant twist of reggae, metal and drum and bass that pushes the barriers of any modern music further. The hybrid use of punk and thrash influences fused with reggae whelmed up a storm of movement within the audience, with fast blood pumping guitar and bass from Mikey Dee and Daniel Pugsley and head banging excellence from drummer “Dirty” Arya Goggin. The reggae influences shine through from vocalist Benji Webbe with his social-political lyricism bringing brilliant choruses and rhythm to the music. Benji’s stage presentation is just as brilliant, with great interaction with the audience, causing an ensemble of cheers, screams and shouts, which soon turn into a competition for “which side can cheer the loudest.” Overall Skindred are a band you can not find fault with, and more than enough to please any listener at Hammerfest. Akercocke: Akercocke’s performance was everything as successful as their audio, from the fast thumping sound of drums and clash of cymbals by David Gray, to the low deathly growl by Jason Mendonça (unfortunately his new short haircut has given him a less intimidating look). Despite this the dark aura of Akercocke was still projected as they stood in suits as the demoniac and inhuman sounds were cast upon the audience. Akercocke’s mixture of death and black influences are definitely a monument of soul wrenching music artistry amongst the British scene with a live performance which was amongst the best in Hammerfest. Dark Funeral: It could be said that Dark Funeral was amongst the most evil, Mephistophelian, and hellbound bands to play at Hammerfest. From the mist surrounding the band, lit by the red and incandescent light that pierced the darkness, to the blood soaked leather and macabre of their corpse-painted faces, it t’was truly unhallowed to the heart of its blackened form. As the guitars screamed and the ungodly voice of Caligula called to the fans to raise their horns in sacrament. Unfortunately the sound balance on the speakers was not as impressive. Too much guitar and not enough vocal sound from the left speaker, diminished the sound quality and the effect of Dark Funeral’s unholy performance. However the audience was still immersed within the music and the band nevertheless taking their ominous and sinister hold over the room. Sabbaton: At one o’clock in the morning, at the main stage of Hammerfest, Sabbaton take stance and begin to play their triumphant power metal- playing through the night till early morning. Although the turnout was not as large as their predecessors, the band continued to play with soul and talent, honourable of any band. They were particularly appreciative of the turn out; Joakim Brodén (vocals) continually applauding the audience. This was a gig undoubtedly dignified by the band’s happiness of playing for their fans and joking about with one another whilst we watched. All photos are copyright Sean Pattison 2010: top image of Cars on Fire, second image down of Epica, third image down of Orange Goblin and bottom image of Skindred. For more photos from the day head over to the Hammerfest photo album. Interviews coming soon. Thanks go to out to Jon for sorting out access for Sean and Jason to photograph and review the festival. Also thanks to Adam and Nelly for organising the interviews. | |||
