After having a not-so-great night of sleep, as is the usual at Hellfest once the party starts, we moved our corpses to grab a much-needed refreshment and breakfast, before heading out back into the unholy grounds of the festival. Our first stop as soon as we arrived was at the Warzone, where we saw Béton Armé bring that oi! spirit. It served well to wake our asses up properly, and it was just in time too, as we relocated to the Valley to catch Castle Rat live. Some have described Castle Rat before as being “Black Sabbath but with swords and chainmail”, and that assessment isn’t without its merit. Evoking the best qualities of doom metal, and blending it with medieval fantasy and LARPing, Castle Rat deliver tight and crunchy riffs, intricate drum play, and hypnotic, siren-like vocals, the latter provided by the band’s leader, The Rat Queen. On a live setting, Castle Rat expand their world-building vision with a full-blown performance, where each member interprets a character, just like on their debut record. We’ve already mentioned the Rat Queen, and there is also The Count, The Druid and The Plague Doctor, as well as The Rat Reaperess, death herself. The atmosphere created is amazing, the storytelling is both corny and engaging, and despite it being early in the day, we truly felt entranced and transported to a world of sorcery and peril. Another highlight of the entire festival, for sure. Back at the Altar, we saw performances by The Night Eternal and Burning Witches, with none being much to write home about. Lion’s Law was up next at the Warzone, who managed to keep us moving, before we witnessed a very weird performance by Årabrot. Celebrating ten years as a band, as well as ten years as married couple with a special set called Rite of Dionysus, Kjetil Nernes and Karin Black performed songs from the record that gives the set its name, as well as from their previous record, Of Darkness and Light. Maybe the fact that the Valley stage has been without a tent for a while now took a lot of the ambience that Årabrot tried to create, or maybe the band weren’t feeling as comfortable with a larger audience, but the fact is that the whole thing seemed strange and out of place. Perhaps a more intimate setting would be better for such an intimate celebration? Back at the Warzone, we witness another complete mindfuck called Leftöver Crack, and we wondered if were actually sleeping back at the tent, while having a fever dream. Like, what the fuck was even that? The heat on this day definitely did not help in the slightest; our heads were pounding from being exposed to the sun, and even water didn’t seem to help much.
Spiritbox was to be our godsend, but as much as we wanted to see the Courtney LaPlante-led band, the heat did not allow us to enjoy the show as we would’ve liked. That being said, from the brief moments of lucidity we had, Spiritbox were delivering a top-notch performance, playing songs from their brand-new record, Tsunami Sea, as well as their debut record and EP, Eternal Blue and The Fear of Fear, respectively. As the heat started to slowly die down, we returned to the Altar and caught Tankard, the indomitable masters of beer-related thrash metal. As one part of the Teutonic Four, alongside Kreator, Sodom and Destruction, Tankard is a force to be reckoned with, and the spent little downtime, preferring to unleash a barrage of riffs that kept people moshing, crowdsurfing and headbanging throughout their performance. And since we are talking about beer, how about another beer-friendly band called Trollfest? While not just focused on drinking beer and telling tells of trolls hunting priests – they do talk and dress like flamingos from time to time -, Trollfest is a name that is significant with partying, like most folk metal, honestly. But the Norwegian lads are special in the sense that they never play a bad show, the humour is ever-present, and you will be compelled to shake your booty during the whole thing. Afterwards, it was time for another thrash metal beatdown provided by both Exodus and Sacred Reich. Legendary bands in their own rights, both played with the aggression and mercilessness that is so characteristic of the genre, mangling the bodies of all present with their sonic brutality. Special note to Exodus, that were performing with Rob Dukes on vocal duties once again, the man is an unparalleled beast. In between both performances, we caught Wind Rose, a name that is making waves in the folk and power metal scenes, and for good reason. Epic stage presence, chants about dwarfs and a wondrous selection of garments? Wind Rose check those ticks and even more, as they managed to fill the Temple to the brim, while presenting their latest record, Trollslayer. We just hope that Trollfest didn’t take offense to that. For the end of the day, we would witness a very special reunion, that of the Sex Pistols. And with Frank Carter on vocals, no less! But despite the vigour of the charismatic vocalist, the band truly demonstrated why they shouldn’t have been playing in the first place. Old age is a hell of a thing, and even more for old timers like the Sex Pistols. With a packed Warzone, they didn’t do much more than play the simple riffs present of Never Minds The Bollocks, while Carter was doing his darn best to keep the audience’s attention live. In fact, we need to give a big, fat udos to Carter for his tremendous effort and amazing vocal delivery, as he carried the entire show by himself, whereas the rest of the band just looked tired and entirely without energy during the entire performance. Again, old age is a hell of a thing, but when there are musicians around the same age that still perform at a somewhat top level, it becomes a non-excuse that the original members of the Sex Pistols act slowly and decrepitly. It sounds sad, and it is sad, but a part of us didn’t expect much else, unfortunately.
Words by Filipe Silva
Photos by Alexandra Ramos
