We really hate the Summer. The intense heat, the constant sweating, the annoying mosquito buzz and bites, almost everything is wrong with Summer. Everything except festivals, and that’s about the only redeemable quality that this season will ever have. And the beginning of the festival season always means one thing – we get to go back to Hellfest once again. And as tradition mandates, we went on our typical road trip to reach the wonderous landscape of Clisson, a trek that takes us an entire day. Despite it being a long road, we always manage to have some fun, whether by playing guessing games or talking about what we are most excited to see at this year’s festival. It is usually a highly enjoyable endeavour, although this time around, we did get some food poisoning along the way thanks to a Burger King that decided not to change their oil regularly. Some of us had painful stomach aches, others vomited, and one just had to shit every time we stopped. Good times, huh?
When we finally reached the unholy grounds of Hellfest, we were dead tired. But even then, we persisted and managed to get our tents up and sleep relatively well. On the following day after our arrival, the poisoning effects were still present but they were immediately fixed by a timely consumption of some veggie pad thai, our new lifesaver. We then scrounged around the Extreme Market for some merch or rarity that could be of interest to us, something we also did at the start of day one, the difference being that, at that time, we knew exactly what we wanted. As soon as we were done with that business and grabbed some grub, we went straight to the Altar stage to see Wormrot, out first band of this year’s edition of the festival. Almost immediately, Wormrot sonically assaulted our eardrums with their incredibly fast and grinding riffs and abrasive song structures, nicely accompanied by Gabriel Dubko’s ferocious growls and Weish’s insane, banshee-like wails. In fact, Weish’s vocals fit quite nicely with Wormrot’s sound and we wish they keep her around for more that just live shows. We remained at the Altar stage to catch the thick-as-hell death metal of Immolation, who were presenting their latest release, Acts of God. Indomitable as always, this was a show that was filled with a plethora of extremely heavy grooves, monolithic drum beats and Ross Dolan’s expert bass playing and earth-moving growls. Dying Wish were up next, as we made our first visit of the year to the Warzone stage, and even though their hardcore sound is both piercing and unabashedly chuggy, Emma Boster’s vocals were not up to par that day, taking a bit away from the whole experience. We returned to the Altar stage to finally see the total chaos that Brujeria induces every time they set foot on a stage. As anthems such as “El Desmadre”, “Hechando Chingasos (Greñudos locos II)”, “Raza Odiada (Pito Wilson)” and “Marcha de Odio” were being played and spouted, the audience turned into a frenzy, with violent circle pits and crowd surfing happening everywhere you looked. On the final song, “Matando Güeros”, vocalists Juan Brujo and El Sangrón brought actual machetes onto the stage, which they used to beat the stage monitors in front of them. At the very end, we even saw two grown-ass, gigantic dudes aggressively fighting over a sombrero, as Brujeria’s “Marijuana” – a very green and hazy version of the famous “Macarena” by Los Del Río -, was playing on the speakers. Only at Hellfest.
As we left the sombrero fight to solve itself somehow, we visited the second Main Stage for the second half of Babymetal’s debut at the festival. Who would have thought that this trio would conquer the hearts of many a metalhead with such ease? Mixing the happy-go-lucky vibes of J-pop with the intensity of heavy metal might not be a simple task on paper, but Su-metal, Moametal and Momometal, as well as their backing band, do it we relative ease. And whatever the haters say about them, none can truly feel indifferent to the spectacle they put on, especially during songs like the explosive “RATATATA” and the anthemic “Gimme Chocolate!!”. We made our way back to the Temple stage to see a very special show by the Norwegian avant-garde metal outfit Shining, who were celebrating the their amazing the 15th Anniversary of their iconic record, Blackjazz. Cacophony and madness are two words to describe this absolutely amazing show, where Jørgen Munkeby and company went through the entire record, from start to finish, with almost zero pauses and a lot of energy. Vibrantly lights coloured the stage as Shining pumped the volume to eleven, helping the band deliver an ectic performance that blended elements extreme, industrial and progressive metal to perfection. One of our favourite shows so far, without a doubt. Sodom played next at the Altar stage, pummeling the audience with their unmistakably heavy, teutonic thrash metal sound. Finishing the day off at the Temple stage were the legendary extreme metal gothics Cradle of Filth. With a stage filled with props that could have been taken straight from a dark theater in a lost alley that you shouldn’t have stumbled upon, the band weaved a sound that mixes the sinister soundscapes of black metal, the grandeur of symphonic metal and the dark poetry of gothic metal, creating a shadowy atmosphere that delighted and hypnotized the band’s many fans. Despite not being fans of Dani Filth’s screeching voice, one cannot deny the frontman’s presence on stage and the eloquent manner in which he creates songs for what is his life-long project. And getting to see songs such as “Nymphetamine (Fix)”, “Her Ghost in the Fog” and “From the Cradle to Enslave” is always a fun endeavour. An overall nice way to start the first day of infernal festivities at Hellfest.
Words by Filipe Silva
Photos by Alexandra Ramos
