Sorry for the delay, here is a 'review' of sorts of the Metal Fest:
THE METAL FEST 2013 - CHILE
Day 1
Lock up: Missed.
Arcturus 9/10: The performance was solid in general terms - even Vortex sounded in tune - Sverd, Skoll, Knut and HH were tight as fuck. The sound had a couple of problems that were quickly fixed. The setlist had a bit of every album but I missed the first 2 songs, because the van where I was going to the gig was a piece of junk and we had to fix it in the middle of nowhere. What I saw was:
Painting My Horror
Shipwrecked Frontier Pioneer
The Chaos Path
Raudt Og Svart
Alone
Master of Disguise
Missed:
Nightmare Heaven
Hibernation Sickness Complete
Corrosion of Conformity: I went to the 'chilean' stage to see a local band instead, so I went to eat some stuff and talk with some friends, since the international stage would take a bit of a break for a while.
Sodom 8/10: The performance was good, not mindblowing. Tom's vocals were decent so far, but the bass was way too loud and you couldn't hear the riffs properly. It was way more energetic than the previous gig they played here but still it lacked some bite especially the second half. The guys look old as fuck but still they can play. The setlist was no short of classics, although I missed a couple of 90's tracks (like Tapping the Vein stuff) instead the newer material that don't do much for me.
Morbid Angel 10/10: I'm not exaggerating. They opened with Immortal Rites with no presentation and the sound was overwhelmingly heavy. Dave said they won't be talking much cause the time was too short so they could play more songs for us. He sounded simply incredible, as well as the rest of the band. Tim Yeung once again proved to the a more than worthy replacement for Pete, nailing every bit with excellence. The setlist was heavily focused on Altars, which was like this:
Immortal Rites
Fall From Grace
Rapture
Maze of Torment
Existo Vulgoré
Nevermore
Lord of All Fevers and Plague
Chapel of Ghouls
Where the Slime Live
God of Emptiness
World of Shit (The Promised Land)
The Illud tracks were played faster than the studio versions and with the huge sound of the gig they sounded truly excellent. Dave's cleans were deep as fuck (both in tone and depth) and he added some of them on the Altars tracks where you could sing along, adding atmosphere in replacement of the missing keys. Did I say the sound was crushingly heavy? A lot of people were talking before about how gay was Dave and how shitty the gig would be since they play 'disco music' now. Morbid Angel just shut they mouths and everyone was shocked about how great they sounded and played. The best band from the day 1 by a mile.
Twisted Sister 9,5/10: I wasn't overly excited for seeing them but hell, the show was inmensely fun! Dee is a great frontman, he put the crowd to his kneels with ease, sung with the confidence earned by decades of rocking and his voice was spectacular! everyone was singing along every song. The band was also tight was fuck and thanx to a proper sound, the whole set sounded quite heavy but clear enough to understand everything. This should have been the perfect closure to the first day, but 1 band left.
Down: 5/10. I'm not a huge fan of them but I don't hate them either. Twisted Sister proved that you couldn't be much into them but still they assure a hell of a time, so I waited for Down with an open and optimistic mind. The show started like 30 minutes after the programmed time (which every single band before respected as never happens here). That and being the last band settled a bad feeling about it: people was a bit of tired for being all day long into the venue. This is not the reason of my 5/10; it was Anselmo. The guy can 'sing/shout' still and the band can play but it wasn't very tight, the sound wasn't the best at all and Phil dedicated his words to trash over the crowd: the show itself wasn't very engaging IMO and after the 2nd or 3rd song he said: 'this is the last time you'll see Down here'. Some people was pretty upset about the bad reaction of Anselmo for his band not being able to earn the crowd and make them bang their songs. Anselmo insisted on crying like a baby and was a total ass.
A bit of a bad taste to finish the day but Arcturus, Morbid Angel and Twisted Sister were pure gold.
DAY 2:
This time I arrived in time!! the heat was high but it didn't stop us to band our heads against the walls.
Brutal Truth 8,5/10: Again, I wasn't there for them but they ripped. I felt unfair to have them opening for so 'few' people (like half of the arena instead fully packed) but the sound, performance and charisma of the guys were enough to provide a truly brutal and classy show. The guys were very thanful for people moshing and screaming their songs; even Kevin jumped to the crowd which was a bit funny to see, given his height. My only gripe is that the snare a bit of low in the mix so sometimes they went full on speed but I couldn't understand well some sections.
Nile 9,5/10: Nile was about to NOT play, since American Airlines missed the whole Kollias's instruments and accesories, but Tim Yeung saved the day lending him his whole kit to play. Not surprisingly, George sounded brutal and crystal clear thru all the gig. The performance was epic, majestic and utterly brutal, everyone excepting Kollias provided vocals to enchance some sections, which reminded me a bit to newer Behemoth in terms of atmosphere and brutality. The sound was mostly great, excepting Karl's leads sometimes that overpowered everything for the abuse of delay and gain, which is my only gripe. The performance was tight as a 1-month age girl pussy and to see Kollias playing was a show by itself. Karl also had some nice words for the public (in spanish sometimes) and he looked truly impressed by the ferocity of the crowd, something he praised more than once, swearing they'll return asap.
Brujeria: Skipped, went to the Chilean stage to see a couple of local bands, eat something and join some friends.
*While this happened, my wife and I were walking around and came across Dave Vincent who was just walking around. Both of us took a pic with him, which was very humble and nice to everyone - I asked about to take a picture with my wife and he said: sure, bring it on! - although not much people noticed him. After a while he went to the interviewer's set to share a couple of words and left the arena. My wife who's a huge Morbid Angel fan was frozen and the pic added to the exceptional performance of the band made her proclaim them the best of the bill so far.
Symphony X: we weren't interested on them and saw some songs but again we went to the Chilean stage. The sound wasn't the best btw but Allen's vocals were epic.
My wife to this point was very tired and she asked me if she could sleep a bit while My Dying Bride was playing. I said: sure, try it. Then they came in
My Dying Bride 10/10: I like MDB and I was waiting for this, cautiously. The last albums, while good, have lacked bite and Aaron's vocals in studio aren't the best anymore IMO, but I wasn't prepared for a such flawless, passionate and utterly crushing performance, which eclipsed even to Nile.
Kneel Til Doomsday opens and the sound greatly benefits the song, giving it a much necessary heaviness on the guitar dept. Aaron's cleans comes emotional but not cheesy at all, his mannerisms were very theatrical without looking gay or weird. He's bald now and use some creepy makeup, oddly reminding me to Nemtheanga from Primordial. When the heavy part of the song started, Aaron's growls filled the whole arena. Seriously, his growls were inmense, deep and full of anger, just like in the mid 90's. The whole band played the songs flawlessly with great conviction, both guitars were weeping while the new Violinist/Keyboardist was also incredibly good. Like Gods of the Sun came then and, as an oldie, it was sung and banged properly, especially that it was played way faster and the chorus sounded heavy as fuck.
Aaron then gave thanx and praises, announcing the title track from TLTS. Needless to say, it was overwhelmingly crushing. Aaron's growls must have come from somewhere else, the guy was possessed. I would say his growl was even better than the Darkest Eyes DVD. The whole band, again was very tight. From Darkest Skies was a beautiful addition to the setlist, it was very emotional and well played.
Aaron again gave thanx to the crowd, saying they'll return asap to play here since everything since the fans, the organization, the reception were beyond their expectatives and felt truly well. Then he announced The Raven and the Rose, which was played again a bit faster than the studio version, with Aaron's growls and almost black metal grim vocals dominating the arena, while the blastbeats of the middle section were hitting us with tons of power.
Then came the mandatory Classic 'She is the Dark'. Again, devoided of any flaws, the guitars were shedding tears harmonizing beautifully, until the heavy part was again dominated by the 'brutal' delivery of Aaron.
People were asking for Cry Of Mankind loudly, then Glencross started to play the endless tapping intro. Again, Aaron's performance was very theatrical and for a while you could really think the guy was suffering singing that song. His voice felt touched, a bit broken if I may add, which if it was true or just his ability as a singer, it was very heartfelt andwell done.
Aaron announced they had time for only 1 more song, so the drummer started 'The Forever People'. This one was delivered with full force, both Glencross and Andrew headbanging wildly, while Aaron unleashed some of the most powerful growls of the day.
The show was beyond mere words and easily the best from the Day 2. It was simply in another level. Even my wife who doesn't like MDB much said it was above everyone else's, even his favorite Nile.
Then we took a bit of a break to buy some albums and eat some stuff.
Carcass 6,5/10: Both of us were waiting for this one and after the incredible performance of MDB, Carcass should finish us off... but the show was disappointing.
First, the sound wasn't good. The drums were a bit buried in the mix and the guitars were kinda muddy. The vocals were a bit drowned, thing fixed a couple of songs after the beginning.
Second: The setlist. I don't like Heartwork and Swansong, but sadly they played more of those albums than the old ones. Even if the setlist could be considered 'balanced', it sucks when they focus on one of their worst albums. Since the setlist lacked several more worthy tracks and added those shitty groovy melodic farts from HW and SS, I was bored to tears for most of the show.
Third: The performance. Walker's vocals weren't strong enough and he lost quite of time talking in 'mexican'. Only with the oldies where Bill provided vocals I felt some real threat from the stage. The new guy (Ben Ash) was quite energetic playing tho. Steer's vocals were very good, he should have sung the entire show instead Jeff.
Setlist:
Intro/Buried Dreams
Incarnated Solvent Abuse
No Love Lost
This Mortal Coil
Reek of Putrefaction
Keep on Rotting in the Free World
Pyosisified (Rotten to the Gore)
Death Certificate
Exhume to Consume
Corporal Jigsore Quandary
Heartwork
Less HW, more Reek and Symphony could have been way, way better IMO.
DTP: Skipped, we needed to leave to return home at a decent time, since the travel was 2 hours and then I needed to wake up at 5 am to work.
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