|
|
| |
 |
Concert reviews:
Here you'll find all concert reviews sorted on publish date, descending. Latest published items are on top.
|
| Page: Show all reviews |
| |
 | 2006-07-14
Venue:
(Brander-Hörnerkirchen - Germany) | Tourname:
Headbangers Open Air 2006
Support:
Metal Law, Viron, Overdrive, Brian Ross (Satan), Master, Ivory Tower, Powervice, Order Of Nine, Sheavy, Marty, Icarus Witch, Korpiklaani, Holy Moses, Powerslave, Tales Of Horror, Chain Reaction, Trinakrius, Miles Beyond, Pyramaze, Metal Inquisitor, Ulysses Siren, Praying Mantis, Metal Church, Girlschool, Blitzkrieg | What’s the best way to start the holiday season? Right, the Headbangers Open Air in Germany.
Already the 9th edition but again the bill is as impressive as always.
After a five hour cardrive Mario (www.mariosmetalmania.com) and me arrive at the festival and team-up with our friends, US metal crack Rico from Belgium Hellspawn webzine, his lovely wife Peggy and Jorid ‘the Tiger’.
The first band of the day Ivory Tower has already started their set and the progressive tunes get the audience warmed up for the NWODHM band Powervice. Maybe too early on the bill but with a real metal attitude they set the place on fire. The crowd gets wild and the band is even allowed to play an extra song. A cover version of Black Sabbath’s Die Young ends the set way too fast and next time Powervice must fight their way up higher on the bill. With a new release coming up from Powervice this is just a question of time.
After this onslaught we have time to recuperate with US metal band Order Of Nine. Musically the band plays well but the singer is a dissappointment. On the record he sounds good but live he unfortunately can’t deliver. Overall a nice gig but with a failing singer it’s fair to say that Order Of Nine wasn’t that great.
A stonerband on HOA? Why not. Sheavy from Canada is the name and with a good stage sound they even impress me although I’m not a fan of this kind of music.
After the Dutch band Martyr who deliver a good performance it’s time for another US metal band Icarus Witch. They impress the hell out of me with their powerfull sound. Responsible for this is the addition of a second guitarist and together with a great singer they convince me of their metal superiority. Great gig!!
When the folk metal from Korpiklaani kicks in it’s time for a break and with a few songs of the popular German cult thrashers Holy Moses fresh on my mind I’m watching the very good Iron Maiden coverband Powerslave. Perfect way to close off day one from Headbanger Open Air and after a short night rest we head back for part two of this great metalfest.
Twelve o’clock sharp the first band Tales Of Horror kicks in with some nice heavy metal. The singer is powerfull and energetic but fails on the high pitch vocals. With Chain Reaction I witness a not so great band with female vocals who don’t impress me much. Trinakrius from Italy continues the metal and although I never heard of this band they play some rather interesting doom/heavy metal mixture.
One of the revelations of HOA 2006 is without a doubt Miles Beyond. This American band plays old Maiden style songs with the emphasis on guitarsolo’s and double leadguitar parts we know so well from the old days. The singer has a Dickinson kind of voice without the yelling which of course fits the music perfectly. Also on the instrumental side no flaws but it’s the guitar skills together with some stage gimmicks that impress the crowd. The response is great as I expected from a mainly German audience. Fantastic performance from Miles Beyond.
Is it possible to equal this gig? I don’t know but the next band is the progressive Danish/American outfit Pyramaze. The band plays songs from both releases but it seems that the Melancholy Beast era is best received by the crowd. Although the response is not so overwhelming as Pyramaze deserves the band delivers a good show. Besides the good material it’s singer Lance King who hits the right notes perfectly. Fans of progressive metal had a blast for sure.
After a short introduction from Gotz Kuhnemund (Rockhard) the German metalmachine Metal Inquisitor hits the stage. Heavy metal in optima forma. Not that original but well played and the crowd adores the band.
I must admit I’ve never heard from the next band Ulyssis Siren from the US. The band released a few demo’s during the golden years of the bay-area thrash but never got a widespread following. I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears during this gig because the band took off where Exodus, Vio-Lence and Forbidden stopped. Great US speed/thrash with clear/rough vocals and headkicking speed riffs and a nice detail is that the son of Carl Albert (RIP) was handling the guitar. With every headbanger nearly pounded to death the next NWOBHM band Praying Mantis hits the stage with some relaxed commercial kind of songs. Without Dennis Stratton so no double leads but the rest of the band are convincing enough for most of the metalfans.
According to the ammount of headbangers Metal Church was the headliner for the second day. With the word Metal in the name the Church of Metal delivers another good show as we are used to witness during their last tour. The same setlist and the same energy and great performance of the band and naturally of singer Ronnie Munroe. With the Metal Church still ringing in our ears it’s time to see the two last bands of this 9th edition of the Headbangers Open Air 2006.
First on is Girlschool who with the addition of some younger members still know how to play rock ‘n’ metal. All hits are played and the bangers absorp every minute of this British band.
Last band is also from Brittain and is called Blitzkrieg. I didn’t expected much but they were impressive. With bandleader Brian Ross in charge Blitzkrieg delivered a great and heavy headbanger show. A lot of hard and fast songs and even a few Satan songs were played near the end. Brian Ross still knows how to sing and hit the high notes on occasion. Perfect way to close this biggest gardenparty in the world.
Thank you Thomas, family and friends for organizing this event and see you next year.
| Setlist:
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
