Transmissions From Beyond: Hellfest 2023 – Day Three
A good night’s sleep is, more often than not, a great recipe to get rid of certain maladies that might torment our body, mind and soul. Unfortunately, getting comfortable enough to be to rest at a festival is a near-impossible task – too much noise, too many pointy sticks on the ground and not a charming mattress in sight make it so. But it might be a tiny bit our fault too as we constantly refuse to go to bed early and instead, turn our attention to the Brutal Caddie sessions taking place at the campsite around the time of the afterparties. We can’t say we didn’t enjoy ourselves, but lesson learnt, perhaps? Probably not. Whatever the case, we started the day with a small but fulfilling breakfast, and headed back towards the Main Stage II to see a band that has been conducting a hype train as of late. We are talking, of course, about Bloodywood, the Indian trio that have been in the mouths of many in the past few months. While their name is an amusing play on words, their performance is much more promising, equivalent to the sudden burst of energy unleashed by birth of a star. Mixing nu metal with traditional Indian folk music, Bloodywood managed to captivate the flocked over time to check them out. We are sure that no one was left indifferent. After that initial banger, we made our way back to the Warzone for another banger, albeit one that walks a different path. Hailing all the way from Los Angeles, Zulu are a relatively new group to emerge from the hardcore punk scene, but they did so with tremendous passion and vicious aggression. Considered to be one of the most vital groups in the genre nowadays, Zulu incorporate elements from reggae, hip hop and R&B into a nice serving of beatdown hardcore, all the while transmitting messages against racism, disenfranchisement, racial injustice and police brutality, as can be heard on their brand-new record, A New Tomorrow, and from which they played songs such as “For Sista Humphrey”, “Fakin’ Tha Funk (You Get Did)” and “From tha Gods to Earth”. On stage, the visceral chaos of their music is translated to the perfection, with chunky riffs beating our bodies to a pulp, while vocalist Anaiah Lei calls for those motherfucking pits to keep moving. A brilliant performance from a band that is becoming increasingly more important, especially nowadays.
We had a moments rest after such brutality before we headed back to the Temple too catch Svalbard, the UK quartet that exhibits a sound reminiscent of post-metal and post-hardcore. Presenting their latest release, When I Die, Will I Get Better?, Svalbard delivered an impressive and highly emotional performance, with vocalist and guitarist Serena Cherry sharing an heartfelt message on mental health and her own experiences with depression midway through. It made us cry, as we’ve been on similar roads before. “Open Wound”, “Click Bait”, and “Throw Your Heart Away” were some of the songs that made their presence felt throughout Svalbard’s set, and there was even time for two brand-new songs, “Faking It” and “Eternal Spirits”. This was one of the bands we wanted to see the most and we were not disappointed. May they return quickly to the unholy grounds of Hellfest. With the sudden cancellation of Mindforce, which would have been our next thing to see, we stopped by the Altar to verify the hype that surrounds a band called Loathe. And yes, the hype is very real – imagine Deftones without the horniness, but instead with a will to tell tragic stories of torment, loss and desolation, always with an overarching sense of positivity in the end. Sounds much better than Deftones, right? On a live setting it works just as well as it does in the studio, so they are definitely ones to watch out for in the future. A stop at the Temple was our next destination as we prepared ourselves to finally see Saor live. And goddamn, what a phenomenal show. Playing only four songs, as theirs tend to be over ten-minutes-long, the group led by vocalist and guitarist Andy Marshall assaulted the stage with their highly atmospheric and Scottish folk-inspired form of black metal. On the epic and well-known “Tears of a Nation”, the audience simply erupted, as evocative riffs, melancholic violins, intensely precise drum beats and Marshall’s howls could be heard. One of the best shows of the day, without a doubt. We returned to the Mainstages to catch Maynard James Keenan and Carina Round in formal attire as they spouted about alien abductions and men in black during an extremely weird but oddly satisfying performance by Puscifer.
Dinner time was then upon us and following the repast, we went out for a dance with our favourite trolls. We are, of course, talking about Finntroll, those fine gents that hail from the frigid areas of Finland and are always ready for a swampy ball. Intent on presenting their latest opus of trollish delight, Vredesvävd, Finntroll entertained a nearly-packed Temple with songs such a “Att Döda Med En Sten” and “Ylaren” from the aforementioned record, as well as some goldie oldies like “Nedgång”, “Solsagan” and the anthemic “Trollhammaren”, the latter receiving chants from the audience and a whole lot of dancing, in all its various forms. A quick visit to the Warzone was up next, as we wanted to witness Stray From The Path, a band that, like Zulu before them, is becoming increasingly important in the hardcore punk scene. One can easily see why; not only is their music potent as fuck, their message and activism are as powerful as their music. And unlike more than a few bands that shy away from speaking their mind on the subject, preferring the cloak of apoliticism, Stray From The Path speak loud and fucking proud their discontent towards capitalism, discrimination, police brutality, racial injustice and far-right ideologies, professing messages of unity and solidarity towards the LGBT community. All of these are the perfect ingredients for an absolutely ferocious show, during which vocalist Andrew Dijorio teased the Hellfest audience, asking if they were better at moshing and crowdsurfing than Download and Graspop. The answer? Oh, hell yeah, we were! Our attention got divided afterwards – half of our team wanted to see Faun over at the Temple, the other half wanted to see Monster Magnet at the Valley. The first was a beautiful showcase of pagan folk music in its finest form. The latter was a rather disappointing endeavour, and a very strange one too. It wasn’t so much the band itself, they were performing fine as a whole, but the whole posture of vocalist and guitarist Dave Wyndorf was noticeably off. He seemed wobbly at times, and can we really say he was a guitarist this time around, when his instrument wasn’t even plugged in? Clearly, some of us made a terrible choice.
To cleanse the palate, we headed straight to the Warzone to witness the living legends of hardcore punk, Black Flag. Survived by their sole founding member and guitarist Greg Ginn – the rest of them aren’t dead, they just left the band for other pursuits -, Black Flag has been rejuvenated countless times with an ever-revolving lineup, this one being the best they’ve had since the times of Keith Morris or Henry Rollins. That being said, its no secret the band hasn’t been what it used to since those glorious and raucous days, but they still managed to give a highly competent performance. And let’s be honest, getting to witness classics such as “Six Pack”, “Slip It In” and “TV Party” live with any original member of the band is a treat in and of itself. After a quick detour to a tremendously packed Valley that didn’t allow us to fully enjoy the onstage brilliance and goofiness that is Clutch, we turned our bodies towards the Altar to receive incoming extraterrestrial transmissions from beyond. That’s right, the Meshuggah mothership had finally landed and we were all too ready to bask in its eternal and otherworldly light. Describing a Meshuggah concert is an arduous task, mostly because we are always left speechless after witnessing a band performance in such a dissonant, yet flawless manner. Everything is done in a precise manner, the rhythms are pitch-perfect, the lights are insanely vivid, the vocals are hollowed, the drums and bass are trance-inducing. It all ends as quickly as it began, but the aftermath feels like an entire life was just witnessed. The setlist itself is carefully chosen; based around their brand-new record, Immutable, from which Meshuggah picked “Broken Cog”, “Ligature Marks” and “The Abysmal Eye” to perform, a few other classics such as “Rational Gaze” and “Demiurge” also made an appearance. At the midpoint, the Swedes abandon the stage as the interlude of “Mind’s Mirrors” comes out of the speakers, mere moments before Meshuggah return to continue the onslaught with the sequence of “In Death – Is Life” and “In Death – Is Death”. The iconic “Future Breed Machine” is, as usual, left for the end, which grinds our bones to dust just a bit more. As soon as they leave, we look around us and see not just the Altar but the Temple as well, both filled to the brim to witness the majestic chaos and disorder imposed by Meshuggah’s music. The devastation that we are left with cannot be described, as like a Meshuggah show, it can only be witnessed. We are sure that we witnessed one of the shows of year, as topping such a crushing experience is not an easy task to accomplish. We limp away back to our tents, barely getting a hold of our very souls, hoping a night’s rest will fix the damage done.
Words by Filipe Silva
Photos by Alexandra Ramos
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