06-07-2007 Wâldrock pre party

Location: Burgum (Netherlands)
By: Wouter van de Kamp

Friday afternoon I left with a friend of mine for Wâldrock festival in Burgum, Holland.
Although the weather forecasts weren’t very promising, upon leaving everything seemed quite ok.
Unfortunately, while travelling northworth to the festival the forecasters turned out to be more right than we’d wished for. That’d become a hell to put up our tents, and yes indeed it was, even for a rather experienced festivalgoer this was one of the extremes. So much wind and so much rain. Many people really had a hard time putting up their tents and many were damaged.

Then it was time for the so-called preparty. This year not in youth center Quatrebras, but on the actual festival terrain where Waldrock itself was going to take place the next morning. First band to show their musical abilities that night was Escadron. Although musically they were quite the thing I like, they couldn’t really live up to it in their live performance. Their style asks for many headbanging and running up and down the stage. But unfortunately, none of that to support their thrashy metalcore.
Perhaps they just have to grow into that kind of performing.

What a difference did the winner of the Metal Bash 2006 show us. Chiraw burst out from their first note to never let go until the last note was played. Although their deathcore wasn’t really what one would call original, they definately got the crowd moving and I actually caught myself moving my head up and down once in a while. Playing the At the Gates cover called “Blinded by Fear” from their legendary album “Slaughter of the Soul” really made a good impression on me. We’ll have to keep an eye on this band for the future!

Then it was time for Melechesh. I saw them before on Arnhem Metal Meeting in 2006 and was quite charmed by their so-called Mesopotamian Black Metal back then. Ever from entering the stage it was clear that this band was way ahead of the first two acts, but that is, of course, to be expected from a band whose first release was in 1995. Their Eastern folk influences are their trademark and are a breath of fresh air through black metalland, which they certainly know to bring a across to the crowd. Hopefully they
 will remain together such that I can see them as a headliner somewhere in the near future.

After this musical treatise there was again an enormous genretwist. With a name based on the Stephen King novel called The Eye of the Dragon it is now wholly suprising that Delain brings gothic metal. Although their album Frozen contains many guest artists (amongst others Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation), Jan Yrlund (Lacrimosa), Ariën van Weesenbeek (God Dethroned), Marco Hietala (Nightwish)) it does sound as one entity with their own unique sound. Not in the last place because of Charlotte Wessels’ not so classical soprano, almost poppy voice which is not what we’re used to in this genre. But also because the time inbetween the bands was quite long, the night had already lasted quite long for me. They couldn’t convince me personally and I left to the campsite to let the beer flow and have fun. My tent didn’t stand quite upright but it was still waterproof and one could sleep in it, so no real worries. Let the fun begin. And so it did, but because of the bad weather many people went to bed early. And slowly but gradually the atmosphere faded out and another rain shower led me to my tent as well, leaving the world for what it is and drifting in a deep dreamless but short sleep.

  Escadron official
  Chiraw official
  Melechesh official
  Delain official
  Wâldrock