You are all Satanists, ain’t you? [Slime]
[Psycho] Damn, it’s still scorching hot. Judging by the temperatures, this was shaping up to be the toughest day of all. Due to the weather conditions - and certainly the early hour as well - the venue was pretty empty. Still, a relatively large number of the few people there gathered in front of the stage - because that’s where the shade was…
[Sui] True. Looking from the stands, there was a noticeable shift to the left through the crowd as people followed the shade. However, I didn’t find the heat as bad as I’d feared, since the air was very dry, and we could moisten our throats with various cold drinks.
[Dajana] In the morning, I still found it pleasantly fresh. A wonderful summer day. By the afternoon, even my blood pressure was plummeting. The first festival where I consistently wore a hat…
:: pics :: THE GREAT SEA ::
[Dirk] :: THE GREAT SEA :: didn't really grab me on record, which is why I arrived at the stage a little late, but I did end up listening to at least a few songs live. Unfortunately, I can't say much about the gig, except that my attention was mostly focused on conversations about the previous day of the festival, but that’s maybe just because I'd had such an awesome day.
[Seb] Having the only (sort-of) black metal band play right when the sun is at its highest is kind of mean ;) I had to take my health into consideration a bit, and for all my love of the genre, the debut album, Noble Art Of Desolation, didn’t impress me enough (too much “banter” and dragging parts) to make me want to head out there in the morning, just like the previous speaker mentioned. Another time…
[Psycho] I thought the debut was okay, though it did drag on a bit. I liked it much better live; the sound was tight and like the slow yet steady lapping of the waves. So, the start of the second festival day was as relaxing as a day at the beach and at the same time as deep as the sea…
[Dajana] The Arctic Ocean would have been nicer. Especially around noon, the sun was beating down on the amphitheater with temperatures hitting 31°C…
[Sui] Doom-tinged black metal, heavy and powerful with vocals that I didn’t actually find that bad. THE GREAT SEA would have been an interesting choice as the opener if it hadn’t been for some serious connections at play. Regardless, aside from a few lulls, a convincing performance. Things are off to a good start.
[BRT] I agree with everything my colleagues have to say about THE GREAT SEA. A bit too melodic for black metal; on record, probably a bit too polished and, in some places, a bit too leisurely. The mid-tempo stomper at the end was definitely the strongest song, and it really had some bite to it. I’ll definitely give the album a listen.
[Dajana] It’s also worth mentioning that the duo of Hacky and Janosch had been joined live by the guys from Secrets Of The Moon (soon to be seen live at Prophecy Fest). Even Thrawn Thelemnar was there (but not behind the drums ;)). And I also liked the family vibe - Janosch, for example, had his wife and kids with him :)
Band: H (guitar), JR (drums), sG (vocals), Kevin Olasz (guitar), D (bass)
Setlist: Upright In Nothing, Eden Unfolded, No Peace Among Men, The Maze, Walking At The Edge Of Death
:: pics :: WYTCH HAZEL ::
[Dirk] They certainly looked a bit odd in their elf boots, capes, and white or gold leggings. Some might find that embarrassing, but if you look at it objectively, it isn’t more embarrassing than what many a black metal bands pulls out of their wardrobe - except that the occult just looks way cooler. As a fan of tight pants, I certainly won’t be the first to cast a stone. Anyway, it’s really all about the music, and :: WYTCH HAZEL :: have been close to my heart ever since their powerful Pentecost album (oh, that’s an album, haha…when I saw their patches I thought they were made for the occasion/date… - Seb), from which they included plenty of tracks in their setlist. With songs like I Am Redeemed, Archangel, and especially Dry Bones, the band knew how to spread plenty of positive energy live as well. And for anyone wondering whether Colin Hendra can pull off his high screams - like in the chorus of Dry Bones - he can! And in exactly the same quality as on the album, which, by the way, also applies to his bandmates.
[Psycho] Well, they just weren’t my cup of tea. Not only did the guys look way too clean-cut, but their music is just too nice for my taste and the melodies too cute. Live, it didn’t sound any sharper than on the record either. Sure, they’re all good musicians, but it just didn’t grab me at all. But maybe it was just too hot…
[BRT] Didn’t someone there feel like they were being spiritually grabbed by the butt?
[Sui] Yep, that was me. I’m just not really into Christianity, especially when it’s as over-the-top as Satanism is with some black metal bands. Since I view outfits, stage decor, music, and lyrics as a total work of art, it left me with a bit of a mixed impression. Musically, things started off a bit slow and conventional. It got better, more varied, and more exciting when the first songs from the new album V: Lamentations kicked in. All in all, not bad at all, especially since the return of the ’70s-style outfits was already on the horizon.
[BRT] WYTCH HAZEL don’t preach, so I don’t really care about their beliefs. The fact is, they have great records and songs and manage to spread a whole lot of positive energy. The gig on the main stage was great, but unfortunately not quite as fantastic as in the club. Still, a great band, awesome sound, and a bit too early in the lineup.
Band: Colin Hendra (vocals, guitar), Alex Haslam (guitar), Andy Shackleton (bass), Aaron Hay (drums)
Setlist: I Am Redeemed, Still We Fight, Dry Bones, Archangel, The Citadel, Run The Race, Elements, Spirit And Fire, Healing Power
:: pics :: AMBUSH ::
[Psycho] Do all the Priest warriors have illegitimate children in Sweden? :: AMBUSH :: certainly went all out to emulate their great role models, but unfortunately, they only succeeded visually (thanks to an entertaining show with plenty of true-metal posturing); they lacked good original songs, though.
[Sui] Yet another true-metal band from Sweden *yawn* AMBUSH were neither better nor worse than earlier protagonists of this genre. Everything was competently performed with plenty of verve, but also interchangeable and really nothing new. What was annoying, however, was the vocals, which repeatedly soared into Rob Halford’s shattering-glass territory, without, however, possessing Rob Halford’s class.
[Dajana] Between Wytch Hazel and Hällas, I found utterly boring, AMBUSH was an extremely refreshing moment…
Band: Oskar Jacobsson (vocals), Olof Engkvist (guitar), Karl Dotzek (guitar), Oskar Andersson (bass), Linus Fritzson (drums)
Setlist: Evil In All Dimensions, Maskirövka, Possessed By Evil, Heading East, Hellbiter, Firestorm, I Fear The Blood, Desecrator, Natural Born K(thr)illers, Don't Shoot (Let 'em Burn)
:: pics :: HIRAX ::
[Psycho] The Californians were really fired up, right from the start. Introduced by Andy Brings, who turned out to be a die-hard fan, :: HIRAX :: took no prisoners. The whole set was frantic, chaotic, brutal - a total carnage. Right in the middle of his gang of his (supposed) grandchildren stood a seemingly ageless Katon W. de Peña, who was constantly ploughing the stage, cheering on the frenzied fans, and - as if it were nothing - singing really well. As if 1985 had been just yesterday… But there was no variety; just fast songs played fast. Katon’s quote of the day fit the mood perfectly: “What time is left? 20 minutes? Ok, time for 20 more songs!” They didn’t quite fit them all in, but almost. Toward the end, the musicians (except for the drummer, of course) wandered into the photo pit and just kept playing there. Right up close to the fans, who were rightfully going completely wild. For listening at home, the music would be (and is) too one-dimensional for me, but as a full-on live thrash experience, it was seriously awesome.
[Sui] HIRAX and Katon W. de Peña are practically synonymous. The other musicians were no less motivated, but all eyes were on the 63-year-old “Diablo Negro.” Sixteen songs in 55 minutes is a record-breaking feat. The dervish wasn’t just motivated down to the tips of his gray hair, but also in excellent vocal form (and physically so fit - many 30-year-olds can only dream of - Dajana). Musically, it was a total thrash massacre without much variety, tempo changes, or highlights, which also reveals why HIRAX never made it into the big leagues. Live, it’s a blast, but musically, it’s just not a highlight. At least Mr. Sui finally threw himself into the mosh pit again and picked up some bruises.
[BRT] Thrash metal and I haven’t really gotten along in recent years. At least on record, almost everything bores me. But HIRAX, especially in the person of the professional madman Katon, showed what a proper live show is and how to just sweep everyone in the audience along. I’d almost call it spectacular - everything was spot-on here, from the vocals to the sheer joy of playing.
Band: Katon W. de Peña (vocals), Geremi Perez (guitar), Allan Chan (bass), Matthew Morales (drums)
Setlist: Hellion Rising, Blind Faith, Drill Into The Brain, Warlord's Command, The Plague, Black Smoke, Faster Than Death, Lightning Thunder, Hate, Fear And Power, Drowned Bodies, Hostile Territory, Vigilante, Destroy, El Diablo Negro, Bombs Of Death (with Andy Brings as guest guitarist)
:: pics :: HÄLLAS ::
[Psycho] Hats off to the musicians for performing in those costumes in this heat. In contrast, Wytch Hazel were dressed as skimpily as the stars of an evangelical porn movie. But that’s about it, because all they served up was boring ’70s rock with vocals that were sometimes really weak. No idea why the band is so popular right now.
[Seb] How tastes drift apart, hehe… compared to some other bands, I actually found the vocals pretty tolerable!
[Sui] 70s outfits, part 2: I didn’t think :: HÄLLAS :: were half bad, though you have to like 70s hard rock with a prog twist. The influences from Yes or Wishbone Ash were unmistakable, but HÄLLAS are significantly heavier than the prog heroes of yesteryear. They’re definitely good musicians.
[Dirk] Progressive ’70s rock isn’t my usual hunting ground either. But after listening to it on the recommendation of many, I actually found their current album Panorama quite enjoyable. They aren’t reinventing the wheel, but they’re very skilled in their musical style. Just like on the album, some parts inevitably caught my attention. The songs are simply too playful for a real live fireworks display. Instead, HÄLLAS offered a change of pace between Hirax and Slime - something to wind down to and, at times, to enjoy.
[BRT] HÄLLAS are light-years away from just making noise; despite their progressive style, they still play songs with a solid structure and a chorus, without getting too out of hand. They definitely rock, too, albeit in a more subtle way. You’ve got to admire the fact that they’ve written songs like Star Rider! Wishbone Ash, yes; Yes, not so much - I actually hear more of Uriah Heep in their sound. But I always welcome a slightly chillier band in the lineup. For me, their performance was one of the highlights of this year’s ROCK HARD FESTIVAL, and I’m a bit annoyed that I missed the band on their last tour.
[Dajana] They’re on tour again in October… ;)
Band: Tommy Alexandersson (vocals, bass), Richard Swahn (guitar), Marcus Petersson (guitar), Kasper Eriksson (drums), Nicklas Malmqvist (keyboards)
Setlist:
:: pics :: SLIME ::
[Dirk] Without much prior knowledge of them, but all the more excited, I was looking forward to this set - which, when I first saw the lineup, I thought was scheduled a bit too high in the running order. But :: SLIME :: knew how to wow the crowd both with their playing and as frontmen, and any band that generates that much positive energy from the audience deserves to be third from last on the bill. Things really got going in the mosh pit, and I’ve decided to check out their albums before my bruises even have a chance to heal. Thanks so much for this surprise, and best regards from a left-wing bourgeois!
[Seb] Did you miss that? Those present were explicitly excluded from the term “left-wing bourgeois,” “[…] otherwise you wouldn’t be here!” ;)
[Dirk] Actually, yes. I read through the text afterward just to be safe and got the feeling that I was included. But that’s okay.
[Psycho] Lyrically, they were indeed great, as were the announcements. Combined with the loud “Antifascista” chants from the audience in between, it might have dawned on one or two RH editors that, for example, the Onkelz or other right-wing trash shouldn’t be given a platform. Musically, however, I found it surprisingly mainstream and predictable. Not a trace of rebellious punk rock. Did someone say Tote Hose(n)?
[BRT] No, nobody did… Where on earth did you get that idea? Just because punk can be melodic and dramatic sometimes? SLIME didn’t sound nearly as watered-down as the Düsseldorf band. SLIME really got the crowd going, cranked out some seriously catchy tunes, and put on a fantastic show. Lyrically, they were also in the right city – Gelsenkirchen - I hope you were listening.
[Sui] The obligatory Punk slot this year was filled by the German punk classics SLIME. A good choice, because the explicitly left-wing band didn’t mince words and had a lot to say. Great lyrics, sometimes painfully honest, but the humor wasn’t left out either. Musically, Punk isn’t exactly groundbreaking. From my perspective, they were surprisingly heavy, nice and straightforward, and clearly distinguishable from the mainstream sound of Die Toten Hosen.
[Seb] It’s been eight years since I last saw SLIME in Essen at the Turock Open Air (RIP), back then, of course, still with the de facto original singer. The band was naturally aware that they were a bit out of place at the RHF, and they made that clear every now and then with a few jokes (“we’re the ones who came in the short bus” and “you’re all Satanists, aren’t you?”), but they really didn’t have to worry: I’ve almost never been to a metal festival where (real) Punk bands were given a hostile reception. Conversely, you can’t be quite as sure about that, though there are certainly fewer fans who make the leap from Metal to Punk than the other way around (for example, I still have the first albums on my shelf from back when I listened to punk as well - around sixth grade or so…).
The new frontman, Tex Brasket, did a pretty good job; it was a very energetic performance, and not just from him. The old classics made me feel nostalgic a time or two, but so did the newer songs, in which Tex processes his experiences as a homeless person and street musician (the band signed him, so to speak, straight “off the street”): following Dirk Jora’s departure, the “newcomer” has been primarily responsible for the lyrics on the two SLIME albums released since then. I can understand my colleague Psycho’s criticism to a small extent, specifically regarding the new material: it is, in part, significantly more mainstream and catchy than the subversive old “hits”; otherwise, they likely wouldn’t have achieved the highest chart position in the band’s history by a wide margin. But on the whole, that doesn’t detract from a very successful performance that outshone a whole host of the metal bands at RHF 2026.
[Dajana] I found it telling that, in the run-up to the event, there were concerns about whether this show would spark (left-wing) unrest and whether masked Antifa members would “stir things up” at the amphitheater and cause trouble…
Band: Tex Brasket (vox), Michael „Elf“ Mayer (git), Christian Mevs (git), Nicole "Nici" Perkovic (bass), Alex Schwers (drums)
Setlist: Komm schon klar, Armes Deutschland, Alle gegen alle, Wer du bist, Sie wollen wieder schiessen (dürfen), Lieben müssen, Alptraum, Evolution, Weil fickt euch alle, Schweineherbst, Monster, Linke Spießer, Störtebeker, Sein wie die, Religion
:: pics :: DARK TRANQUILITY ::
[Dirk] “Yeah, melodic death metal - now I can finally go grab a bite to eat!” I thought to myself when :: DARK TRANQUILITY :: took the stage. But after returning full and satisfied, I found myself quite taken with the band after all. A cheerful Mikael Stanne won over the crowd with his natural charm, and the rest of the band also came across as a top-notch live act. Not that I feel the urgent need to listen to their album right now, but next time I’ll watch the whole set.
[Sui] Melodic death metal à la DARK TRANQUILITY isn’t really my thing: It sounds a bit like the desire to be extreme, but please not too extreme. Musically, there was nothing to complain about. The clean-vocal passages were a bit too melodic for my taste, though. Sure, the Swedes’ music thrives on the contrast between blast beats and melancholy. And the performance was definitely convincing.
[BRT] Yeah, as expected, DARK TRANQUILITY were once again polished and perfect, with great sound and all that… But as always, they didn’t move me at all. Sorry, we’re not going to be friends.
[Dajana] They moved me all the more :) I loved the Swedes in their early days, still like them, but I’d lost track of them over the past few years and was initially stunned by how much the lineup had changed. But the guys have pulled themselves together and really click on stage. Mikael was grinning from ear to ear and radiated so many positive vibes that it was genuinely contagious. And when they played songs from my favorite album, Projector, I was happy :)
[Seb] I’d like to add a quick final thought: another band I enjoy seeing live, yet I haven’t seen them on stage in many, many years. “Extreme but not too extreme” sums it up pretty well, but especially when it comes to RHF, I’m always up for something a little heavier ;)
Band: Mikael Stanne (vocals), Johan Reinholdz (guitar), Peter Lyse Karmark (guitar), Christian Jansson (bass), Joakim Strandberg-Nilsson (drums), Martin Brändström (keyboards)
Setlist: The Wonders At Your Feet, Hours Passed In Exile, Unforgivable, Atoma, Nothing To No One, The Emptiness From Which I Fed, The New Build, Cathode Ray Sunshine, Terminus (Where Death Is Most Alive), Not Nothing, Punish My Heaven, Lost To Apathy, ThereIn, Misery's Crown
:: pics :: PARADISE LOST ::
[Psycho] The Brits are always a bit of a mixed bag when they play live. It could be great, but often it isn’t. But this year, the new album seemed to breathe new life into the band: :: PARADISE LOST :: haven’t sounded this good live in years. Backed by a massive wall of sound, they delivered a tasteful mix of new and old songs, blasting them into the crowd with raw power. Nick Holmes sang incredibly well (by his standards), albeit with a bit of backing track support. Thus, an almost perfect performance; I just would have liked to hear True Belief as an encore. There would have been time, but apparently the promoter wanted to clear the venue well ahead of schedule. Too bad.
[Sui] PARADISE LOST, on the other hand, should be exactly my thing: Gloomy heaviness, rock-inspired elements, a hefty dose of melancholy - a bit like Dark Tranquillity, but slow and heavy. And the performance really wasn’t bad. For me, though, it was musically too monotonous to fill 1.5 hours. Most of the songs seemed to have long passages with continuous eighth notes - too few memorable riffs for my taste. And the stage presence was just so-so.
[Dirk] I’d already heard plenty of reports from reliable sources about the band’s poor performances at festivals, but since I’d recently seen PARADISE LOST deliver a nearly perfect show at Cologne’s Live Music Hall, I was optimistic that things would be different this time. And they didn’t disappoint: With the immortal melody of Serpent On The Cross and his usual magnificent tone, Greg Mackintosh kicked off a gig that, in my view, left (almost) nothing to be desired. A strong setlist, top-notch sound, and a Nick Holmes who effortlessly navigates all the vocal styles from the band’s many creative periods. Okay, the banter could be more rousing, but that’s just how he is - better than trying to be an entertainer. My highlights besides the opener were As I Die, Ghosts, and Salvation, which, as an extremely slow-paced track, isn’t an obvious choice for a live set, but came across as incredibly heavy! In this form, PARADISE LOST are absolutely worth seeing!
[Seb] PARADISE LOST have the potential to either delight me (when they play almost exclusively ancient material) or drive me away (when they play the stuff that had the selfie-taking goth girls sitting in droves on the train…)
[BRT] Best PARADISE LOST gig in 35 years - change my mind if you can. No one doubts that these British guys have great songs, but actually bringing those qualities to the stage - while delivering solid vocals and in-tune guitars - has been far too rare in recent years. Aaron Aedy was once again a standout. P.S. Nick Holmes does have a British sense of humor after all - why do we get so little of it? Otherwise, top-notch - it really is a good reason to check out the band’s later work.
[Dajana] Yep, best PARADISE LOST gig in ages and a worthy headlining show! But Greg Mackintosh does worry me, even if he downplays it himself. One inevitably wonders if all this is still good for him. In any case, I wish him all the very best!
Band: Nick Holmes (vocals), Greg Mackintosh (guitar), Aaron Aedy (guitar), Steve Edmondson (bass), Jeff Singer (drums)
Setlist: Serpent On The Cross, Tragic Idol, Embers Fire, Gothic, The Last Time, Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us, As I Die, Salvation, Pity The Sadness, Tyrants Serenade, Requiem, Once Solemn, Say Just Words, No Celebration, Ghosts, Silence Like The Grave
[Dajana] And so, the second day of the festival comes to an end. The fans are enjoying the pleasant cool breeze and everybody would love to stay a little longer, but security is mercilessly “sweeping” us out… We don’t have the energy for the party tent, though. After all, we’re getting on in years… ;) |
