As is usually the case in these live reports of ours, mentioning the final day as the saddest day of Hellfest is a tradition. What is also a tradition for us is to pack in the morning for a quicker and smoother exit at the end. But even if we were soon to depart the unholy festival grounds, we would make the most of this amazingly sunny day – a stark contrast to the previous one, where rain dominated almost entirely. Most of our time was spent between the Warzone and Altar stage, with two visits to the Temple Stage – you will see why further down – , and a bit of an overstay at the Main Stages. So, let’s go stage by stage, shall we? Starting with the Warzone, the hostilities commenced with the fury of New Jersey’s new hardcore punk darlings Gel. Led by the gnarling voice of Maddi Nave, the band focused on presenting their debut record, Only Constant, from which they played songs such as “Honed Blade” and “Out of Mind”, without forgetting their past EP and split releases, with “Predominant Mask”, “Vibefucker” and “Bitchmade” also making an appearance. Bands like Gel are the ones pushing hardcore punk forward and it is an amazing sight for our eyes. Another band that is breaking boundaries when it comes to this aggressive genre we love so much, is Scowl. Led by the charismatic and frantic frontwoman Kat Moss, the Californian quintet brought everything they had on their debut at Hellfest, delivering an incredibly potent and no-bullshit performance, playing material from their three releases to date, Reality After Reality, How Flowers Grow and Psychic Dance Routine.
After a brilliant showcase of two great promises in the hardcore punk scene came one of the current standard-bearers of post-hardcore, the New Yorkers Drug Church. This was a highly entertaining and energetic performance that sent the entire audience into a frenzy. Oftentimes during their set, the band’s frontman Patrick Kindlon took the opportunity to thank the audience for coming out to see them, inviting them to crowd surf even more and without fear, as the security guards would carry them safely like newborn babies in a maternity. The audience took no time to respond in kind, and we witnessed to an authentic wave of bodies flowing rapidly and constantly to the photo pit, as the band continued to play songs such as “Avoidarama”, “Unlicensed Hall Monitor” and “Myopic”. An amusing show all-around, which was followed by the “punk meets noise rock and hip hop” musical stylings of Show Me The Body. Carrying nothing more than a banjo, a bass guitar, a drum kit and Julian Pratt’s abrasive voice, the trio set their focus on presenting their latest release to date, Trouble The Water. Our team had mixed feelings about this one, as one half enjoyed the show and the other half lost interest over the course of the band’s set. It is what it is.
In between shows at the Warzone, we paid a visit to the Altar stage to see two bands. On the one hand, we had the Berserk manga-inspired deathcore outfit Brand of Sacrifice, who delivered a visceral performance, reaving destruction left and rightc cutting through even the toughest of sinews. On the other hand, we had the symphonic deathcore quartet Shadow of Intent, who brutally massacred their audience with a savage wall of sound that mangled bodies. After that, it was time to revisit the Temple stage for the ritualistic ceremony that was about to happen. Long ago, before the pandemic happened, the mighty Batushka had a fallout, with one member trying to steal the band from its founder. Luckily, as time went on, the truth came out, and multi-instrumentalist Krzysztof Drabikowski won the case, retaining the band he founded for himself. Naturally, a celebration needed to be had and Hellfest was the perfect place for it. A cloak of smoke and incense enveloped a stage set-up that included various altars, a coffin, an assortment of candles, skulls and much more. Entering on stage to the sound of “We Bow Down Before Your Cross” – an orthodox chant sang by the The Orthodox Singers’ Male Choir and directed by Georgy Smirnov -, the eight members of Batushka, Drabokowski included, presented themselves clad in orthodox vestments and with their faces covered, as they lit the stage candles one by one. After the initial ritual was concluded, the band commenced the true ceremony by playing their sophomore record, Панихида, in full. As the chants were heard, accompanied by the rigorous drumming and blistering guitars, the audience watched in total awe and admiration, banging their heads accordingly but remained where they stood, as if in actual black mass. After the aforementioned was played, Batushka still had some time to revisit their debut record, playing “Yekteniya I: Ochishcheniye”, “Yekteniya V: Svyatyy Vkhod” and “Yekteniya VII: Istina”, the latter ending a phenomenal performance that became one of our favourites of the festival as well.
The remainder of our time at this year’s Hellfest was mostly spent at the Main Stages, starting with a very wasted performance by Queens of the Stone Age. Well, not the band itself, only Josh Homme was drunk out of his mind with all the alcohol he ingested throughout the band’s set. But hey, at least he still played and sang well, even though he stumbled all over the place. All that being said, however, getting to see “You Think I Ain’t Worth a Dollar, but I Feel Like a Millionaire”, “Go With The Flow” and “A Song For The Dead” is still a privilege we would say. After that came the horrifying experience of seeing The Offspring playing live, a band whose members are well in their 60s and still sing about being young, trying to drag their carcasses into the relevance they had in the 90s and 2000s. For the end, we were graced by the definitive debut of Foo Fighters at Hellfest, who started their set with the vigorous “All My Life”. Despite some definitely fun moments throughout, we became a bit bored of the band’s performance as it seemed to drag on and on for an eternity. As the last chords of the magnificent “Everlong” were heard, we patiently waited for the fireworks that never came on, and so we quickly moved back to the Temple stage one last time to catch the end of Dimmu Borgir’s 30th Anniversary performance, of which we saw the last two songs, “Progeny of the Great Apocalypse” and “Mourning Palace”. It would have been a better use of our time if we had been there since the beginning to be quite honest, but again, it is what it is. As we walked back to our car in order to begin our trip back home, we remembered the fun times we had all throughout this year’s edition of Hellfest. With our bodies demanding rest, we started to dream about what next year will bring to us. Nobody ever knows, but one constant remains true – we shall return to Hellfest once more.
Words by Filipe Silva
Photos by Alexandra Ramos
