28-05-2011 Dokk'em Open Air

Venue: Dokkum (Netherlands)
By: Sabine van Gameren

Up north in The Netherlands a festival has taken place. Right in the middle of nowhere in a field of grass suddenly a tent and festival area have grown and gave space to Dokk’em Open Air.

The honor to open this festival was for the local band Dimaeon. They won a band contest to earn this spot and it was certainly a deserved winner as the band was surprisingly good for a starter. Their style is not the easiest to describe as they make use of different influences. Some Death metal, some Doom but also progressive and they impressed mostly with their guitars.

Up next on the other side in the tent, yes open air does not always mean open air which is a good thing if the rain keeps pouring down as this day, Baldrs Draumar was ready. The band makes Folk metal and is coming from Friesland, and area in the Netherlands that is known for its own language. The band does not use this fact in their music, but rather takes the best from Norwegian and German mythology into their songs. The band seem to make an impression on the visitors, though it is not like the band is the most original one. But for those who are into convenient Folk Metal this may be a nice one, this early on the day.

Krakow is a Norwegian band and is currently touring with other bands playing on this festival, Vreid and Kampfar. The band makes some raw, post Metal with not too many vocals, but a larger focus on the guitars. When the guys started it seemed that not too many people were interested in them, sticking mainly to the other side of the tent, but it was impressive to see that the band got their attention through the set and got a lot of them closer to the stage when the band finished. The guys seem not to have released too much material yet, but considering the interest in them it will only be a matter of time.

From Norway to Italy with DGM. The band exist for quite some years already and have their eight full length release out already. The band has a progressive edge and brings some melody back into the tent. Their performance at Dokk’em Open Air is quite active, some running around on the stage, but the main thing is that the guys seem to do have fun in what they do. It may not have been the most surprising show of the day though. This mainly because the songs are not always as easy to catch up, if you haven’t heard them before.

The Dutch band The Lucifer Principle is one that got some name and fame in the country. In 2008 the guys were also playing on this festival and it seems like they made some fans there. For those who do not know this band it may have been a surprise, Death metal and a quite aggressive performance while their vocalist decides to jump of stage and get a little closer to the audience. In the end they got the party starting when it comes to audience participation and therefore it would not be a surprise that in the upcoming years the band will be seen at this festival’s line up again.

Another Dutch formation is up. Cirrha Niva is their name and the band makes Progressive Metal. The band makes a perfect match with DGM which was on this stage right before them, but add a little extra to it. Their music seems a little more intense and this makes their performance automatically more memorable. The strongest points of this formation is the way they make their transitions from one part to another, making a song sound smoothly and yet keep the surprise in it. For a festival the band have made a safe choice considering their show and keep that down, perhaps they are not a band that attract people with the show, but let the music do all the work.

Trigger The Bloodshed was suppose to play next, but they had to cancel. Chiraw was willing to take their place. The band recently released their album “Scarecrows & Lullabies” so there are enough bullets to shoot. The band makes Metalcore which seem to be a nice difference with the progressive material we heard before. Also the guys bring some enthusiasm in the tent and this was quite needed. The tent was pretty full due to heavy rain outdoors so the band had enough audience to impress. The impression they left does not seem to be mind blowing, but yet it was a nice show by these guys.

Pagan’s Mind seem to be one of the bands that attract a lot of audience. Also the frontrows were quite international for the band that recently released their album “Heavily Ecstacy”, which is their fifth studio album. The band is ready to make a spectacle out of it and even before the band starts playing the guys were already having some fun with the audience. The strength of the band lays surely in this playful way of performing. On their set list were of course some of the old familiar songs but quite soon it gets clear that on their latest release are a couple of songs to be found that are extremely catchy and perfect for shows. One of the first songs for example was “Eyes On Fire” which immediately set the mood for the whole show and clearly works out well. A nice show by these Norwegians!

Up next was Evile. Unfortunately they did not attract that many people compared to Pagan’s Mind but maybe this had to do also with the fact that the guys were playing around dinner time. A bit of a miss out for those who went eating though as the British guys have a good show. Maybe it is not the most outstanding as the Thrash Metal they make is not the most original around, but it has the typical Evile stamp on it. Some nice riffs were played on this stage and maybe too many people underestimated what these guys can do.

Alestorm was ready on the stage after that. The guys make pirate Metal, a sort of folk with a pirate team. Their appearance is a bit weird, color taped instruments and further more a quite empty stage. The band did not seem to bother to put too much attention on their theme in other ways than their music and this felt a bit empty. Could have been a bigger show than what was presented now. The music self will be quite depending on your personal taste in which way you like them or not. If you enjoy this pirate theme and folk metal shows it may be a band you want to see, but overall I found their performance disappointing.

Some more Norwegians were around and this time it was Vreid to enter the stage. The guys make Black Metal and the guys released their album “V” earlier this year. (review) In my review of it I said that the songs were very inviting for a live show of them and that made the expectations high. These were not broken down to the floor because the guys played a magnificent show. The songs are really driving you into their mood and with the guitars being quite present in the mix here the music quite came alive. The audience was enjoying this just as much and the Norwegians had victory all over them. One of the best performances of the day!

Vicious Rumors is quite a changeover again, but the guys seem to be excited to be here. The American Power Metal band have been around for quite some years and recently came with a new album “Razorback Killers” which got released about five years after their previous one. The band set themselves on the stage as a large formation, obviously the many years of experience make them aware of how to make a show look large. Currently their vocalist is Brian Allen and he is a man that comes with mimics. He seem to have attention for every individual in the audience and yet know how to make the words come alive as a whole. Interesting act for this festival.

The last Norwegians we would see on stage today are the guys of Kampfar. What was most remarkable of them was the fact that the Folk/ Black Metal band had one girl in the audience that went insane for them. Screaming, drooling climbing on the fence and making herself be noticed. Luckily she didn’t faint and the guys on stage seem to ignore her to give their attention to the whole audience. The band stood out mainly with the vocals which seem to be quite important in their show. And have their dark, sinister sound as a steady background the guys managed to get a lot of audience on their hands.

The Swedish guys of Evergrey were the firsts of the day that kept their fans waiting. Seem to be some trouble with their sound and maybe it got them a bit on their mood cause the start of their performance was not really a strong one. A bit too rushed and forced, which made it a bit of a disappointment at first, but throughout the set the guys got themselves back on the right trail and make the show come alive a little bit more. Their latest release seem to stand apart from the records released before that and this may have been noticeable in the set as well. It has its experimental parts and the band played some different songs of different albums that may have lost the red tread in it. Higher expectations were for this show, but after all it was just sufficient.

Another killer show came from the Polish band Vader. Of course they have a strong reputation and therefore many people came to see them, but living up to it is just a second thing as we learned with Evergrey. The Death Metal formation played some of their strongest songs, with a little surprise here and there. Strongest points in the performance were the vocals and guitars. Leaving the front man Peter with his pride and the rest of the band which got added quite recently to the band, drummer and bassist both in this year, to impress the audience. The band is working on their release “Welcome To The Morbid Reich” at the moment and this show warmed up all metal fans for it. Their show was definitely one of the highlights of the night.

Hammerfall was the last band to enter the stage here tonight. They let their fans waiting for quite some time but apologize for it later. The Swedish Power Metal formation made quite a strong show and let the audience know that they were not going to finish the show any earlier than planned. The band played around with some audience participation on the song “Let The Hammer Fall” and overall were quite entertaining. Even the people who are not into Power Metal may enjoy a performance of Hammerfall like this as it has a lot of show and the enthusiasm of the guys is motivating people to keep watching. No wonder that the audience kept shouting for more at the end, which they got. A nice way to end this festival which was tortured by a lot of rain. The organization was done well and there was a quite relaxed atmosphere. A festival to recommend to everyone who does not mind travelling up north.