SATURNUS CONFIRMED FOR CHICAGO POWERFEST 2007

[GateXII]

Denmark's melodic doom metal masters SATURNUS have just been confirmed for CHICAGO POWERFEST 2007. The 5th annual metal festival will take place on Friday, April 20th and Saturday, April 21st at The Pearl Room in Mokena, IL.

Saturnus will be playing in support of their critically acclaimed new album, "Veronika Decides To Die", which was produced by Flemming Rasmussen (METALLICA, ARTILLERY), features a guest appearance by MERCYFUL FATE guitar legend Michael Denner, and was also nominated in four catagories (Best Metal Album, Best Metal Track, Best Metal Production & Best Metal Artwork) at last year's Danish Metal Awards event. This will be their US debut performance, which has been slotted for the Saturday night of the fest.


Current Powerfest lineup:

SOLITUDE AETURNUS
MARTYR
SATURNUS
NOVEMBERS DOOM
BENEDICTUM
SHATTER MESSIAH
THURISAZ

The remaining bands, which also include both headliners, will be announced by early next week. Ticket information will also be made available within a week or two following lineup completion.

For more information regarding the fest and the bands, please visit www.ChicagoPowerfest.com or www.myspace.com/chicagopowerfest

 

[GateXII]

Ask, and you shall receive...

Well, only today really.

 

[johnfrank1970]

Chicago Doomfest...

Based on no data whatsoever, I would think doom would attract fewer people than the Eurocheese Rob and Chris are moving away from. Of course, I know the Eurocheese did not bring in the crowds, so it's cool they are taking a different approach. I hope it works out for them.

 

[The Invisible Guest]

Ask, and you shall receive...

Well, only today really.

Thanks for the announcement. While personally not familiar with the bands material I have heard some good things. I'll need to do some investigation into this bands in the very near future. That's part of the fun of these festivals ... becoming familiar with some bands you were previously unfamiliar with.

Britt

 

[The Invisible Guest]

Chicago Doomfest...

Based on no data whatsoever, I would think doom would attract fewer people than the Eurocheese Rob and Chris are moving away from. Of course, I know the Eurocheese did not bring in the crowds, so it's cool they are taking a different approach. I hope it works out for them.

I think the idea might be to draw fans from more genres, or perhaps get a wider number of people to appear based on lineup diversity. If one of both of the headliners are known quantities from the Prog/Power genre they could draw prog/power fans there, while also pulling in some Doom, Death, and Tech fans from previous announcements. We'll see what happens.

Britt

 

[Jasonic]

Not a big surprise.
You guys have been hyping Saturnus since the Novembers Doom tour.
Looking forward to checking them out.

 

[ShadowLioness]

Oh dear gods, YES!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can die a happy woman now.

*faint*

 

[johnfrank1970]

I think the idea might be to draw fans from more genres, or perhaps get a wider number of people to appear based on lineup diversity. If one of both of the headliners are known quantities from the Prog/Power genre they could draw prog/power fans there, while also pulling in some Doom, Death, and Tech fans from previous announcements. We'll see what happens.

Britt

So far, there's not much in the lineup that would appeal to the majority of the fans of the previous fest lineups, so it seems like they will be trading audiences - the Eurocheese folks stay home, and the doom fiends show up. I don't know if there are more doom fiends or more Eurocheese folks out there who will go to shows. Certainly, Eurocheese sells more records than doom does.

If the remaining bands are significant draws from genres other than doom, then the overall fest crossover appeal might yield a larger audience. It depends on the band's ability to draw, of course. I am thrilled I get to see Martyr, the only band I like in the lineup so far, but I am only aware of perhaps one person who might go this year due to Martyr but would not have gone otherwise. As long as some of my metal friends were going, I would go even if I disliked the entire lineup, so my attendance is almost a given.

I look forward to seeing the rest of the fest roster next week.

 

[Jasonic]

I agree with the poster above.
I am actually very surprised that another doom band (esp one from overseas) was chosen.

I am not unhappy with the selection, just surprised from a logistics point of view.

 

[GateXII]

IMO, Saturnus is the only true doom metal band on the bill, and the best at it than most bands I've ever heard.

All the other bands that some might consider "doom" (Solitude Aeturnus, Novembers Doom & Thurisaz) only really have doomy elements anymore, and even though some of them may have been considered doom at one point, they no longer really are.

I wouldn't really consider Thurisaz doom...don't expect more than maybe one doomy song from Novembers Doom...and Solitude only really has a slight doom vibe, but not much more than say Trouble or even Black Sabbath for that matter.

So to say that we have too much doom metal would just simply be incorrect...unless of course you judge things in black & white...so, do you?

Although, if you were to say that we've invited a generous amount of "dark" sounding bands...then yes, I would agree.

Darkness will always overpower cheese!!!

Death & Doom on you, Cheese........DOOM...ON...YOU!!!!!!!

 

[Chris Lotesto]

Yep, what he said...nice work, Rob!

There is an excellent mix of styles and powerful music
here that will really kick some major ass in the live setting!
Hopefully, people will not make a blanket pre-judgement
about the bands or they will certainly miss out on a killer
weekend of music.

 

[johnfrank1970]

I am not a fan of the genre, so I will defer to you, Rob, in categorizing the bands. In general though I think you are splitting hairs. All four bands you mention are close neighbors in sound, and that sound has a relatively specific appeal. Certainly, I don't think they cross over into any of the extreme genres I prefer such as melodic death or thrashy death, nor are they anywhere near the brutal death or goregrind bands. The only crossover I see is perhaps to the heavier end of the goth/atmospheric world.

 

[johnfrank1970]

Yep, what he said...nice work, Rob!

There is an excellent mix of styles and powerful music
here that will really kick some major ass in the live setting!
Hopefully, people will not make a blanket pre-judgement
about the bands or they will certainly miss out on a killer
weekend of music.

I also hope people check out the bands prior to making any judgment. I certainly have. As I said, my attendance is a given.

 

[booB]

IMO, Saturnus is the only true doom metal band on the bill, and the best at it than most bands I've ever heard.

All the other bands that some might consider "doom" (Solitude Aeturnus, Novembers Doom & Thurisaz) only really have doomy elements anymore, and even though some of them may have been considered doom at one point, they no longer really are.

I don't necessarily agree here... I think SA is still doom, but that they have "elements" of other genres. Alone is more straightforward doom than Adagio was, IMO. And I haven't heard the newest November's Doom stuff, but I'd call their back catalog, up to and including To Welcome the Fade, "doom", with prog and death elements.

I'm still not at all familiar with any of Thurisaz' or Saturnus' material, but if they're doom (or doomy), then that makes me a happy guy, because doom and dark power metal are my favorite genres.

Solitude only really has a slight doom vibe, but not much more than say Trouble or even Black Sabbath for that matter.

Black Sabbath is the inventor of doom metal, and the archetypical doom band. They have given rise to tons of near-clones that echo their general sound, such as Pentagram, Count Raven, and even Trouble. Saying that SA is only a little bit more "doom" than those bands is certainly no way to suggest that they're not doom.

I have to say, this year's lineup isn't shaping up quite the same way I had expected it to... I was expecting the lineup to go more in the direction of death/black metal, plus maybe one or two big power metal acts to sell tix... but I'm pleasantly surprised.

 

[The Invisible Guest]

IMO, Saturnus is the only true doom metal band on the bill, and the best at it than most bands I've ever heard.

All the other bands that some might consider "doom" (Solitude Aeturnus, Novembers Doom & Thurisaz) only really have doomy elements anymore, and even though some of them may have been considered doom at one point, they no longer really are.

I wouldn't really consider Thurisaz doom...don't expect more than maybe one doomy song from Novembers Doom...and Solitude only really has a slight doom vibe, but not much more than say Trouble or even Black Sabbath for that matter.

So to say that we have too much doom metal would just simply be incorrect...unless of course you judge things in black & white...so, do you?

Although, if you were to say that we've invited a generous amount of "dark" sounding bands...then yes, I would agree.

Darkness will always overpower cheese!!!

Death & Doom on you, Cheese........DOOM...ON...YOU!!!!!!!

I don't know what you guys are considering "Cheesy" Eurometal these days, but I'd sure like to see something like Mystic Prophecy, Machine Men, or Sabaton on the bill. I'd still like me a little more Powermetal on the Chicago Powerfest bill. Ofcourse King Diamond, Jag Panzer, and Nevermore, or someone of that ilk would also make me happy.

Britt

 

[General Zod]

I'm not familiar with these guys. Can anyone recommend a good disc to start with?

Hey Rob... surprised you wouldn't consider SA Doom. While I'm hardly an expert on the genre, I would have actually considered SA one of the foremost Doom bands. As for ND, I'd agree, not really Doom at all. However, Thurisaz describe themselves as "Avantgarde Doom/Black" on their web page.

That said, I'm very much looking forward to the show. I don't agree with the assessment that this is a "Doomfest". There are simply way too many other elements here...

MARTYR - Technical Death Metal
NOVEMBERS DOOM - Melodic Death Metal
BENEDICTUM - Power Metal
SHATTER MESSIAH - Dark Power Thrash
THURISAZ - Black

Personally, I think the line-up is very solid, especially given they haven't announced the headliners.

Zod

 

[Jasonic]

I would LOVE to see a band like Machine Men as well.

I think we all knew that the fest wanted to shake the power metal tag, and they are definitely doing a good job of that. I am not complaining as I have been getting into a lot more doom and death/doom these days myself.

 

[General Zod]

I don't know what you guys are considering "Cheesy" Eurometal these days, but I'd sure like to see something like Mystic Prophecy, Machine Men, or Sabaton on the bill.

I'm going to guess, that to those who don't enjoy Power Metal, all the bands you mentioned probably have elements they would consider "cheesy".

I'd still like me some Powermetal on the Chicago Powerfest bill. Ofcourse King Diamond, Jag Panzer, and Nevermore, or someone of that ilk would also make me happy.

While I doubt Nevermore is a possibility, Panzer would be a nice addition. You'd have to think, that given budgetary restraints, they can't be flying too many more bands over.

Zod

 

[Jasonic]

The budgetary constraints are the number one reason I am surprised with the SATURNUS announcement (considering the number of bands who were dismissed for budgetary reasons who have a draw here in the states)

 

[Dolamite S. Biffle]

So do we have an actual running order of the bands yet?