02-06-2012 Fortarock

Location:: Nijmegen (Netherlands)
By: Sabine van Gameren

THE summer Metal festival of The Netherlands brought us an extreme line up this year. Many big names so no wonder this festival was sold out.

It was honored for the French Death Metal formation Benighted to open the festival today. This start was fast, strong vicious and typical what you could expect of these guys. The vocals mixed with grind core are brought with vehemence and it comes alive when this front man moves around on the stage. The band has a technical approach that falls a bit heavy this early on the day but after a few songs the audience seems to feel more engaged with the performance of these guys. Last year the band released their sixth album called “Asylum Cave” in which they showed they know how to keep the combination of Death and Grind interesting and they did that as well at this show.

The Icelandic band Sólstafir was quite a different experience starting straight on the main stage. Melodic instrumental parts calm as they start building it up towards that heavy sound you suddenly feel yourself surrounded with. Some vocals come in, Icelandic is not a language you easily follow and the fact that the vocals were quite soft in the mix makes those fall a bit behind but it does not disturb that much as they are instrumentally interesting enough to forget about that. The band has a good drummer that is not drawing too much attention but puts in a substantial part in the music. The show itself ismuch energetic, Sólstafir is a band you can enjoy easily from the field, or become more intense to it in the frontrow which seem to be the case here at Fortarock. The guys will return to the Netherlands soon, so a visit to their show is recommended!

The band Asphyx is one that comes from our own Dutch grounds, making Death Metal for quite some years already. Their music is often quite slow in tempo but always brought up by the strong guitar parts. Some innovation an unique face that defines what the band stands for is very present. Raw vocals bring in the brutality even more. Here on stage it comes alive as well, maybe you could expect a more energetic show, but in the end the band gives you a good show. Also great is that the band has a good sound going on, which was a bit lacking at the first act in the tent.

Devin Townsend is loved by many dedicated fans that gathered in front of the stage. The band is having their first show away from their studio and they seem enthusiastic about being back on the road. Devin shows he is fully aware of his popularity here in his words between the song and shows his appreciation for it more than once. The set itself was focused on bringing the music to its highlights, choosing songs that showcase the instrumental parts more than the vocals. Although the show was entertaining and the band played well, it was not the most spectacular show that Devin got known for. Perhaps we are just getting spoiled by the many varied shows we saw from him the past years on the festivals, because most of the fans seem to enjoy themselves perfectly.

Nasum is a Grind Core sensation that made their name through the years. Right now they are on their farewell tour after they lost their singer at the tsunami in 2004. Their way to say goodbye to the world and this got done with dignity. It was up for Rotten Sounds singer Keijo Niiminaa to give vocals to this band and he certainly suits in their setting. Nasum has sharp guitar riffs, totally on the spot a bit playing around with the tempo’s. Must be said that this performance was played for the fans to say a last goodbye, it was clear the band put their fullest energy into making this last experience a good one here at Fortarock. They left the stage after all positive vibes got received, it was a show that you love them to remember for.
Steel Panther was expected to bring a remarkable show here today. In that they certainly succeeded. The American Sleaze rockers are up for quite a show entering the stage decorated with more glitter than an average Christmas tree and within a few songs asking the girls to show some tits. The guys are all over the stage, jumping around and giving a show which resulted in the question if we are looking at a true playback show here. After a few songs many people have left figuring this may not be what they paid for and getting a drink instead, but while the oddity of their show reigns through the festival area new people were walking in as well. In the end people have a great time singing along to these tracks they all know and have a good time anyway. Questionable, but entertaining it was.

In total contrast to all this sleaze we are getting ready for some Thrash heroes called Anthrax. They certainly filled the fields and while the stage was decorated very well the show itself was not much energetic. Are the guys playing on automatic pilot? Are they having any fun in playing at all? A little light into their performance arose when some newer tracks were announced. After more than 30 years of Anthrax some new tracks brought to the audience seem to enlighten the spirits quite a lot whiles playing the songs of their record “Worship Music”, but overall it seem to remain quite tame. You had to be close to the stage to get the feeling of it all, watching it from a distance makes you miss out on highlights of the show. Of course the classic tracks scored high and Anthrax left the fans satisfied, but not as fulfilled as it could have been.

The Swedish Meshuggah are no strangers to Fortarock, they played the festival before and the fact they were back here on the stage pleased many. The band uses influences of jazz into their sounds and prefers to take a technical approach. The guitarist gave you a good showcase in how to bring some refreshing riffs to the stage and make the set to a highlight. Meshuggah played a good set, an only complaint would be that their set was too short. The guys are not always the most entertaining showmen but the passion they have while bringing their music makes this performance king!

Machine Head may have suffered a bit from the same problems as Anthrax had, which resulted in a rather flat start for these Americans. They band seemed very popular and maybe even more crowded than when later this evening Slayer would enter the stage. Their aggressive Thrash seemed to heathen up the crowd, they are quite active on the stage which makes it easy believe what they are stand for. Today they seem to have chosen to play a lot of their most recent albums, which got seem to upset some of the fans that clearly would have loved to hear some more classic material from the guys, but their set brought a good representation of what the band is up for nowadays.

It would be tempting to call Lamb of God the surprise of the festival as their show was one that filled up the tent from the beginning till the end, but it does not really seem to be a surprise at all. The band has a good live reputation and that is exactly what the guys are proving today. Moshpits are starting while the band is playing some of their recent material. The band has a modern sound, and seem to very relaxed on stage, giving a very tight show.

The almighty Slayer was headlining this year’s edition of Fortarock. Any metal fan will know about his band so it was no surprise that many came to see these guys play their songs. The band’s popularity makes that they probably can’t do much wrong in the eyes of the fans. Good to say that there was not much wrong with their show either. Sure, it was not the complete band that was onstage, Jeff Hanneman is absent but Gary Holt (Exodus) is a decent replacement. The band did play some new songs, but their main success still comes fromt he good old classics that got most appreciated here at Fortarock. “Angel of Death”, “Raining Blood” and many others passed by and showed why Slayer made it till this status. A great way to close this festival, which was once again a great edition!

Links:
Fortarock