On Friday March 5 and Saturday March 6, 2010 the fifth UP THE HAMMERS festival took place. Every year I try to attend at least one of the two days and support the heavy metal underground. So this time, due to the bands playing and my work schedule, I ended up attending only on Saturday.
So here’s what I thought of it…
First of all I must say that this was probably the best incarnation of the Festival and overall one the best concerts I’ve ever attended, period. The reason being that each band raised hell and kicked huge amounts of ass.
Unfortunately, I missed the opening band, Raging Storm, so I will start with the next in line.
In Solitude: When I entered the venue, these guys were playing their first track. Upon looking at them I almost burst laughing. Here were these teeny-boppers playing obscure metal, while their lead singer looked like an Alexi Laiho clone, totally posing with badly applied corpsepaint and D&G underpants showing off over his jeans… Needless to say they didn’t make a very good impression image-wise BUT I decided to stick around and watch their show. What I heard was honestly performed heavy metal in the vain of Portrait, Ram, etc, ie. Mercyful Fate revival. It’s a trend for sure, but they seem to pull it off pretty nicely, without even trying to foolishly imitate any King Diamond falsettos. 7
Dexter Ward: This is the new band of Manolis (ex-Battleroar) with Marco (also ex-Battleroar). Manolis is also the organizer of the Festival. I saw these guys a couple of days before this show, during the festival’s warm up party but on Saturday they put out a much better performance. They play classic U.S. metal with elements of rock n’ roll. Marco kicked ass on the vocals and the rest of the guys didn’t fall short either. It’s pretty energetic music and I can’t wait for their first full-length. 8
Atlantean Kodex: I didn’t know what to expect from these guys live. Their EP is pretty decent but didn’t drive me crazy either. However, they surprised me positively as they put on a really good show, great crowd interaction, fantastic renditions of their songs, filled with passion. They recreated their epic metal in a way fitted to such kind of music. Much better than on disc. 8.5
Overdrive: I must be honest and say that I had never heard of them before. When they came out on stage, I saw a bunch of old fat grandpas, looking like some forgotten washed-up late ’70s beer rock band. Apparently, most of the audience got a similar impression as the pit emptied fast. This gave me the chance to watch the show from up close. As the band kept playing I was pleasantly surprised with their simple, albeit catchy, NWOBHM, infused with some pomp rock elements, mainly due to the keyboards present. I was especially moved by the astonishing ballad All Souls Night and its heartbreaking solos. All that aside, they did have a Spinal Tap moment. They had a mascot, another old man dressed up in white wearing a hockey mask, who got up a stool and kept trying to get the audience going, when the singer pushed and he fell head down into the crowd. Everyone had a good laugh, including the band. By the end of the show, the old timers had won over the audience and they were cheered quite loudly. Special mention must be given to the Famous Grouse bottle that kept making rounds onstage and was almost emptied by the time they closed their show. 8
Enforcer: Words cannot describe the hell that broke loose during these guys’ performance. Their debut album, a mix of old school ’80s/Maiden influences but in a more speed/power presentation, was really good but I had absolutely no idea what a powerhouse they are live! Some bands fake the rockstar attitude, others acquire it along the way, others never, these young Swedes are born with it! A crushing show that got all the audience feeding off their palm, filled with rock excess that one would expect from a young LA band in the ’80s. They were pumped up like they had done a kg of coke each…! The icing on the cake was at the end when the singer stage-dove and crowd surfed until the very end of the venue! As I watched this band perform I kept thinking if that’s how Maiden played during the late ’70s when they were paying their dues in the club-circuit… I’m sure they were not far from this. 10
Slauter Xstroyes: Alright, what can I say here… words can do no justice. This is a band of mythic status among the underground metal scene. Disbanded for years, having released only the uber-cult classic Winter Kill in the late ’80s and a compilation of unreleased material in the ’90s, they reunited for a few shows in the last year. Everyone was extremely curious how these guys would recreate their extreme progressive obscure U.S. power metal. After all, the original vocalist is gone and it seemed like an impossible feat to replace him. Well, we became witnesses of not only the perfect reproduction of all their instrumental and vocal acrobatics but in fact of a performance that exceeded the 25 year old recorded material! Their new vocalist is a dead ringer for the original and easily pulled off the mad and powerful vocal lines of the songs. This was an absolutely devastating performance, certainly one to remember for many years to come. 10+
Doomsword: THIS.IS…..DOOMSWORD! THIS.IS…..WAR! This band is easily the best and most important flag-bearer of the Epic Metal genre in the ’00s. Certainly worthy successors to the almighty Manowar. And war is what we got. The not so great sound did not stop 300 madmen to march into battle at the sound of Deathmaster’s horn. The small venue suddenly turned into a great Nordic hall and the few hundred attendees turned into an army of ten thousand warriors screaming their battle cries and slaughtering the enemy. One hour and fifteen minutes was all it took to storm into Valhalla and conquer the crown from Odin himself. As a devoted warrior I will wait for their return to our shores to march into battle again. Our fate is written sword and shield, born to die on the battlefield! 9
Plus I managed to grab a Doomsword tee when Deathmaster threw a couple in the crowd
Overall twas a great night and jolly good fun. Here’s to next year!
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