Metalfest 2012

Metalfest, the popular heavy metal festival born from the merger of several pre-existing events and organizations, reaches its third edition – the first on Italian soil. After the initial announcement of the Stadio Brianteo in Monza, the definitive location for our country turns out to be the Alcatraz in Milan: a more contained space, but certainly adequate in terms of stage and sound quality.

Work commitments keep me busy for the first part of the day on June 5th, so by the time I walk into the venue's main hall, Legion Of The Damned are already playing; I therefore miss the performances of, in order, Skull Fist (heavy metal), Fueled By Fire (thrash-metal), Triptykon (doom/black-metal) and Alestorm (folk/power-metal).

The Dutch band serves up a death/thrash sound that's fast and just angry enough; the crowd responds with a pretty lively pit and even a "wall of death". A great live set, tight and no-frills, from a convincing band with many years of activity behind it (previously under the monicker Occult).

After a rather long changeover between stages (as will be the case for all such changes throughout the festival, which ensures a consistently high sound quality across every performance), it's time for Hypocrisy.

Peter Tägtren's band, the man behind the sound of Sweden's Abyss Studios, delivers its death-metal laced with electronic/sci-fi touches, handled for the occasion via pre-recorded backing tracks; whenever the "atmospheric" element is lacking, the band makes up for it with sheer aggression; the set closes with a classic: "Roswell 47".

Next up is one of the biggest draws of the evening and of the whole festival: Anthrax, veterans of American thrash. The band puts on a genuinely gripping show, clearly having a great time themselves, as does the crowd, who enthusiastically join in as the New York outfit runs through several classics.

The first night closes out with Blind Guardian; the German power-metal group hold nothing back, playing for a full two hours, with the crowd acting as an extra member of the band in a deeply felt, epic sing-along.

Hansi Kürsch, sporting short hair and a minimal look, lets his voice do the talking on stage; the crowd goes wild for the German "bards", who respond with heartfelt thanks.

On the second day I'm there from the start, so I get to catch the set from Vader, the Polish death-metal quartet known for their decidedly "square" sound. Still few spectators, but a very engaged crowd: they give a historic band the appreciation it deserves, despite its somewhat "awkward" slot.

Next up are Germany's In Extremo, a medieval-metal band making their debut on Italian soil despite having been active for a full 17 years. Less Rammstein-esque than I expected, once they break the ice they conjure up a decent "pagan village" atmosphere, working better on the faster tracks than on the more melodic ones.

A total shift in imagery and sound with Grand Magus, a Swedish trio with strong seventies influences; despite playing very well, their stoner-metal is certainly not my favorite genre, so the performance doesn't grab me all that much.

Once again a radical shift in aesthetics and sound with Powerwolf, dedicated to a power-metal steeped in dark/religious themes; a sound and attitude that's decidedly "over the top" and just isn't for me: this is definitely the set I follow with the least interest, unlike most of those in attendance.

Next up are Poland's Behemoth; even though their blackened death-metal is a genre too "technical" and "clean" for my taste, the band's live performance is remarkable, with some truly "killer" moments underscored by the crowd's pogo.

Of the original W.A.S.P. lineup, the first "headliner" of the night, only Blackie Lawless remains; their performance is almost entirely devoid of horror/shock-rock elements, perhaps due to Blackie's conversion (he's a born-again Christian, just like Dave Mustaine). The voice and the sound, overall, are there, and their live show can be called a success.

Megadeth close out the second night; Mustaine's band plays for a good hour or so, considerably less than Blind Guardian the night before. The songs are performed flawlessly, alternating between the band's classics and a few more recent tracks; at the end the blond frontman thanks a sparse crowd - at least by the standards of one of the "Big 4" - but a decidedly engaged one.

On the third day, having missed the sets by Steelwing (heavy metal), Brainstorm (power metal) and Death Angel (thrash metal), I walk into a half-empty Alcatraz; this was clearly the least appealing day, where even the headliners - historic bands though they are - feel more "niche" compared to the other nights; in particular Kyuss Lives! are quite far removed from the festival's concept, but let's take it in order.

I arrive in time for the tail end of Dark Tranquillity's set: the Swedish band, pioneers of the melodic death-metal style, are on form and clearly thrilled by the crowd's reaction; they hold nothing back, delivering a technically flawless show, even if it's a bit lacking when it comes to the earlier part of their discography.

Next up are Ensiferum, a band I wasn't familiar with and who remind me of a sort of more epic Children Of Bodom with folk elements; the combination of harsh vocals and melody has never really won me over; judging by the enthusiasm of much of the crowd, they enjoy a solid fanbase.

Next up are Kyuss Lives! Although the crowd is engaged, it's particularly spread out during their set; their sound makes the whole of Alcatraz shake over an hour and a half of flawless concert, even if the setting isn't exactly ideal for them.

It falls to Kreator to close out this "three days": Mille Petrozza's band takes the stage with a highly theatrical setup, an apocalyptic backdrop framing the German quartet's violent thrash.

The Italian-German frontman hams it up with the crowd (a bit too much, if anything), but in the more relentless tracks the full, devastating force of a sound that helped forge the foundations of black and death metal from the 80s onward comes through.

And so ends a fine festival, held back by low attendance, probably due to too many events happening at once in the same city during the month of June.

Great execution and organizational skill marked every performance I attended. Definitely a remarkable "compendium" of three decades of international metal.

(17/06/2012)

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