02-07-2011 Fortarock

Location: Park Brakkestein, Nijmegen (Netherlands)
By: Sabine van Gameren & Elvira Visser

Fortarock is a metal festival in The Netherlands and this year it celebrates its third edition. With a promising line-up Park Brakkestein in the city of Nijmegen filled up with Metalfans as soon as the festival area was opened.

Kvelertak was opening the festival and this name attracted many to come early. The band comes from Norway and mixes up the styles and comes to a metalized rock and roll. Their self-titled debut album came out about a year ago and got its impact. The guys received various awards and have been touring quite a lot since. Therefor the expectations for this early performance were a bit higher than what we got from these guys. Obviously the songs they played were known by the audience but the sound was not too great and the guys did not really make a great impression. The guys try to cover this up with a lot of walking around, but after 30 minutes they have not succeed in living up to the expectations from their album, name and fame.

On the main stage it was Valient Thorr to open this day. With their colourful clothes their frontman seems totally fashionable as colour blocking is the trend this year, but that is not where metal fans come for. The Americans are quite an entertaining band to observe. Frontman Valient Himself has quite some charisma and not only by the looks. Halfway the show he simply decides to jump into the audience and make fans sit down, which they do without hesitating. Musically the band does not disappoint either. Maybe not the most surprising band on this part but definitely one that is made for bringing a good atmosphere to a festival and therefore: thanks.

Fortarocks performance was one of the last ones for God Dethroned. After playing for 20 years the band will soon come to an end. At the end of this year. As a result of this there was a lot of interest for this gig and the tent in which they were playing was soon crowed. The band formed around Henri Sattler has seen many line-up changes and with this setting the band will come to and end. The band plays some serious death metal, the distinct God Dethroned sound was first hear on the album “The Grand Grimoire”. Their type of aggressive but still melodic metal was heard today by many. The atmosphere was very good as they were also playing for a Dutch crowd. Many songs where welcomed with cheering and screaming. The band is not one of the most entertaining ones on stage but they are one that deliver quality. They focus on what they play, playing hight, which is also something they are known for.

The known men from Agnostic Front are from New York and they are one of the founders of the hardcore scene. The band was founded back in 1980 even before many visitors of Fortarock were born. But these man still know how to play and get the audience going with their music. Which is not weird after all the experience they got. On the other hand, they way they enter the stage with an attitude that suits the band, it kind of stays that way. A little anger and attitude belongs to a hardcore band but halfway through the set you have seen it all. The band really needs the response from the audience on the old and new tracks they play to get a good performance. Many of their tracks are great to sang along to and the crowd did so. Arms when up in the air, a little moshpit began and the screaming and cheering had started. When knowing the tracks, and being able to scream along must add to the performance.

French Death Metal formation Gojira comes with a lot of groove. The tent is filled to the top and the band clearly has something to show. Some progressive sides in their songs make music often captivating and intense. The band is very precise in their work and the composition that are so stereotypical for this band come out quite well today. The band clearly puts the stress on the music and does not built a whole show with extra’s around it. Let the music do the talking and when a show is played like what the French guys showed today it is more than obvious that the audience goes with it. A very impressive performance that opened some eyes for those who have not seen the band before and one to remember for quite a while.

Parkway Drive is an Australian metalcore band founded at the end of 2002. Their name is from the band’s home town in Byron Bay, New South Wales. This is the place where the group practised in a house garage, on Parkway Drive. At the moment Parkway Drive is one of the most known metal core bands from Australia. They have grown as a band in from local to international fame. Their sound has also grown as their music has become more brutal over the years. The band on stage is a funny bunch to see, little weird hats and clothing pieces and a a guitarist playing in a wheelchair with a broken leg. Nothing seems to be too crazy for this Australian band. With their enthusiasm to play they got the crowd going and this added to their performance. It became even better. As said a lot of enthusiasm and the fun play was shown on each of these guys. The fun they had seem to have with each other but also with the audience was maybe their key to their success performance.

Ghost is a bit of a mystery. The band comes all dressed in black (except the singer) and all of them are wearing masks. Nobody knows who the hell they are. The facts that are known is that this is a Swedish formation that came with their debut album in 2010. This formation is without hesitation the one that brings the largest show element to the festival and that itself is already one thing that makes you watch them. The satanistic words coming from them may not be heard by everyone, but it has a lot of doom in them. It is not easy to put an atmosphere like this in a tent on an early hour, a quite unknown band which actually found its way to many European (festival)stages this summer. Credits for them to make it happen, it is one of the most interesting shows of the day. It seemed that most of the audience enjoyed their rather short set as well, although some of them might find too much doom in here for their taste.

The Swedish Dark Tranquillity has name and reputation and this is exactly what they live up to. Melodic Death Metal, but those who have seen these guys play before are most likely a bit disappointed. The band did not seem to be completely motivated and it must be said that when you see on of their shows, you have not much of a reason to see it again and again as the band never really comes with a surprising element in their show. Although the guys have their musical skills on board and are not ashamed to let it be heard, there is a fury missing in this performance. What a pity. Of course a little enlightment comes when the band plays their most known material, but overall this performance could have been so much better than it was today.

Thomas Gabriel Fisher (a.k.a. Tom Gabriel Warrior) formally known from Hellhammer and Celtric Frost has been busy with a side project for some years: Triptykon, which is a homage to the religious themed paintings of the dark ages. Triptykon’s lyrics deal with themes such as history, occultism and nihilism. Their occult metal plays with the lines between doom, death and black metal. The band is capable of creating a very dark and dull atmosphere. This darkness is created by crushing pouding drumming, great guitar parts and that combined with the whispers and deep groaning and moaning from Thomas Fisher. The dark bass line was very present at their performance. The set started out slowly and was build up pretty good. The atmosphere was right, dark and doomy. It was not too crowded in front of the stage and after Ghost’s performance I guess it was hard for Triptykon to show what they are about. Those who took the time from beginning to end have seen a great performance with a good flow to a great climax.

Channel Zero is one of those bands that play crossover metal, influences from many genres and a good focus on their guitars. There was a lot more expected from this band, that recently sold out 6 nights in a row in Belgium. The band that has rejoined forces after a break where undoubtedly not the kings on the stage this day. There was a little problem with the bass or the cables, which took quite some time. Singer Franky was trying his best to entertain the audience and was trying to prevent the crowd to get bored. Some of this attempts were good and some were not so good. Finally when the everything worked like it should the band got back to their show. The show was good and their stage presence as well, but there was something missing. Maybe I expected to much from this band but the wow factor was not there. Although I believe the show must have been tons better in a venue with a good light show. At the end of the show the band and the crowed sang “Happy Birthday”to Mikey Doling.

Sacred Reich is a Phoenix, Arizona-based metal band that was formed back in 1985. Singer Phil Rind’s interest is found in socially-conscious and political speed metal. They distinguish themselves by more grooving slower character of the songs. This was also one of the things that cached my eye at the gig the guitarist. They give away a damn good show. Focussing on what they are playing, making sure they deliver the best they can but still strike poses to entertain the audience. But also singer Phil knows what he is doing on stage, a quite charismatic man. It is a pleasure to watch these musicians play and perform for you. Many enjoyed the songs they played. Part of their songs were more melodic and less extreme, there for more accessible for all at the festival. It helped that the band showed an honest passion bursting from the stage. A great performance from this band.

One of the bands that keep amazing me is Immortal. The band founded back in 1991 in Bergen Norway. Started out as a four piece band they have been around with the three of them for quite a while. Horgh, Apollyon and Abbath are the members of Immortal. A band that is known not only in the metal scene, a little immortality maybe? Well at least that is what they proved on stage again this day. Fortarock visitors had gathered in and outside the tent stage, waiting for the show. The guys from Immortal put on a very intense stage show, like a performance should be. Everything is right. They have an amazing light show and the presence of a lot of smoke just add to the atmosphere for this band. Sometimes smoke was all you saw on stage though. The sound was not perfect at some places in the tent it sounded a little bit more dull then it was. Fortarock visitors had gathered in and outside the tent stage. Waiting for the show. Immortal delivered a great and energetic show with firework to make it even better. One of the great shows from this day!

Closing the day is Arch Enemy. Metal lady Angela is there to make an impact and although many often talk about the band as if she is the one who attracts the guys with her appearance, her throat and her energy, it is the guitarist who is making a just as big impression. The riffs are often drawing a lot of attention and when a solo is coming in, this is exactly the moment that most of the audience has their eyes on the stage. Only a few weeks ago the band released their latest album called “Khaos Legions” and obviously the band does a good job in promoting it. During this show they gave plenty energy, in the start it seemed a little tame, but soon the band seemed all enthusiastic on it and then the party comes. Waving flags, Angela talking to the audience and telling how thrilled she is to be back in The Netherlands, not everyone may have been close enough to the stage to see it, but on their facial expressions it seems like they really mean it and the fact that they perform with such a joy makes this a really nice close of a festival.

Fortarock brought a great festival, which has been very well organized. Visitors are taken good care of with the supply of decent toilets, plenty of choice in food and drinks, a spacious festival area and a lot of festival stands to buy merchandise and albums of bands. The weather was on our hands as well and left us without rain during the day. What a wonderful festival day.

More photo’s of this event can be found at Sabinevangameren.com & photographicretentions.nl

Links:
Fortarock website