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Back from another perfect weekend! Sod the naysayers & cynics, this is still the one festival I'll keep going to for as long as I have the time and ability to go to places..

Starting off w/ the bands:

TAIST OF IRON: I had a listen to the album for the first time in 10+ years on the flight over, enjoyed it a lot more than I remembered and so they became the first must-see of the festival. I was not disappointed. This looked like it could have been an all original line-up, and I was especially impressed with Lorraine's performance. You'd never think there were 34-or-so years between this gig and the recording of their album. An old-farts reunion at its best!

ALIEN FORCE: Another great experience. Great vocals & playing, a very solid set, lots of fun!

BLASPHEME: As much as I enjoyed the 2 prior shows this made me realize how important The Songs are. Blaspheme are such brilliant hitmakers I figure on this merit alone it would be impossible not to enjoy them live. Top-points, both vocalists included.

SIREN: My highest expectations ...and yes, this was the highlight of KIT 2018 for me. These guys are such amazing, unique songwriters and Doug Lee was all coolness, hat, witches broom, ruby slippers and all. There were some technical difficulties and I would have loved to hear more "No Place Like Home" material but under the circumstances I couldn't have been more pleased.'

I had to skip Grim Reaper for a much needed beer/food/socializing break, watched some Raven, they're kinda fun and ott but I wasn't really in the mood...

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM: What can I say? You just can't fail when you're playing such a flawless 10/10 debut in its entirety. We also got a few good'uns from "No Place..". More perfectness.

DEMON: I ended up watching most of the show mainly because of fatigue and being too tired to lift my arse from the balcony. They did a great show and everything but I'm not so much of a die-hard fan of them I needed to hear their 2 first albums in their entirety. I guess I've enjoyed them more on previous occasions thanx to the diversity of their material...


DAY 2 and more soon...

wicked keeper wrote:

More comedy gold from the village idiot...

Another single line post of ignorance from the peanut gallery...

" "




Did I do it right?

Khnud wrote:

Avenger wrote:I can't for the life of me understand why a non-metal band in demon are headlining the first day.

Didn't we go through this a year ago when you were complaining about Ashbury?

We've established many times here that tastes vary. Taking a look at the first page of the newly replied to threads makes that obvious on The Corroseum. Those of us with an IQ higher than "wicked keeper" understand that.

However, demon are not metal and that's the focus of this festival. So the inclusion on the bill much less as a headliner is troubling especially when you have far more significant bands both historically and metallicly below them or playing the second day with less play time.

Anyways, Day 2..

GATEKEEPER: I caught the 2nd half of the gig since I didn't have anything better to do that early in the day and I was pleasantly surprised. Might just give that upcoming album a chance..

SARACEN: Just as perfect as the last time they played 5-or-so years ago, the sound, the songs, the playing - and the happiest vocalist ever

EXHORDER: I've barely listened to this band at all, but by now I felt I had skipped a few shows to many, so I caught the last 30 minutes and regretted I didn't see more. Reeeally energetic, intense stuff and luckily I seem to have missed the rumoured proto-groove-met'l bits.

..and so, HEAVY LOAD(!): So many speculations and discussions on what to expect had been going on during the weekend, but the opening "Heavy Metal Angels" seemed to blow all skeptics out of the water. Then came trouble... I don't know what happened during "Son Of The Northern Light", the guitars turned silent and the song was cut brutally short. Then there was the fatal mistake of bringing up some guy from the Greek tribute band Heathens From The North for a few songs, causing a very fragile system to completely collapse for 10 absolutely cringing minutes. I'm NOT blaming the guy in question - it was just a very poor decision to mess with the flow of the performance this way and I think it ultimately lead to some technical difficulties. The final 3rd of the show was all smiles & hails tho', with "Singing Swords" as my personal highlight of the evening. I really do wonder how the show was perceived by other members here? It definitely wasn't a perfect reunion and the inexperience of the band was ever so evident and overall this was quite different from last year's CIRITH UNGOL my-doG-time-has-totally-been-standing-still! experience..

Most importantly though was meeting up with old friends and acquaintances, chatting about Metal, bands, records and life in general over plenty of beer with mah' krew Stefan, P-O, Paddan and Daniel. Also special hails to Sander (w/ Belgian entourage) and Matt - KIT won't be KIT without you guys


Edit:...which reminds me how

Avenger wrote:

Khnud wrote:

Avenger wrote:I can't for the life of me understand why a non-metal band in demon are headlining the first day.

Didn't we go through this a year ago when you were complaining about Ashbury?

We've established many times here that tastes vary. Taking a look at the first page of the newly replied to threads makes that obvious on The Corroseum. Those of us with an IQ higher than "wicked keeper" understand that.

However, demon are not metal and that's the focus of this festival. So the inclusion on the bill much less as a headliner is troubling especially when you have far more significant bands both historically and metallicly below them or playing the second day with less play time.

...annoying I find this constant nagging. I've never used the Banning-function but I'm looking into it now.

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM video from the fest on youtube. Damn, impressive sounding on their early and best shit after all these years.

Sounds like yet another great KIT fest. I really must get my act together & attend it one of these years.

DaN wrote:TAIST OF IRON: This looked like it could have been an all original line-up

Sadly not, as their guitarist Steve Gale was murdered last July.

"It is with great sorrow and devastation that we have to report that our brother, long time friend, and amazing guitarist for Taist Of Iron Steve Gale, was killed at his home on Tuesday night, the fourth of July. At this point, we are in shock and don't really have the words."

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/loca ... 67094.html

There were bands this weekend??

Best part of the weekend for me is the social side of it. As always it was great to catch up with many people and share many a beer and laughs.

Bandwise I enjoyed F&J, Exhorder, Gatekeeper, Ironflame. Saw bits and pieces of some others. No real stinkers.

Record shopping: picked up a few nice bits but no major rarities. Less sellers there this year too.

Also introduced Dan to Charly Kogler. I've seen a photo of this moment and it looks like love...

Tell us what you think of the Heavy Load performance. I've heard that there were some complaints and dissapointment. Do they have a point?

Here are my thoughts;
Anyway without the recordfair and without the possibility to meet all those people once a year i would not be there anymore:

Day 1
STALKER
missed, i was still stuck in the cue for the entry. what i heard from other people it was one of the best on this years festival. Heavier than on record.
TAIST OF IRON
Surprisingly nice! It's not the most tight or professional band, but everything was very well executed and had a lot of charm. Especially the female singer and the blind (or nearly) blind guitarist!!!
ALIEN FORCE
missed
BLASPHEME
missed
SIREN
The songs from No Place Like Home where great, the rest soso. Some technical problems and some strange (stupid) gag's from Doug Lee. Venice mask, Harry Potter hat and broom, bloc-note)
The No Place Like Home where the best from this years festival
GRIM REAPER
Very nice, Steve Grimmets singing is still great even when sitting in the wheel chair
RAVEN
missed
FLOTSAM & JETSAM
Largely the most professional band on the festival!
DEMON
Saw them better already. Did'nt like Dave Hills singing really.

Day 2
IRONFLAME
One of the best gigs, this band has some real potential.
GATEKEEPER
missed
CEREBUS
Very good drummer, good singer and motivated young band around them. Just the songs are not really memorable, just like on their album.
BLIND ILLUSION
missed
SARACEN
Very good as usual. Best frontman!
WINTERHAWK
I just heard once their album before some years ago and was not impressed. The concert was quite good. Some songs where quit heavy others a bit too much Jimi Hendrix-like. Means the guitarist is very good! At the other hand a friend of mine who loves the album was very dissapointed because it sounded absolutely not like on the album.
HITTMAN
Very nice concert
EXHORDER
I was absolutely not interrested by this band but i saw 3 song anyway. I have to say it was much better than expected.
HEAVY LOAD
The biggest fiasco i've ever seen! It started well with Heavy Metal Angels but without Eddie Malm! The second song was OK. Then from the third one it was just a mess. On top all the musicians where standing in the back of the scene and as Eddie was not there, there where no frontman! The guitarist was whearing a headset and was bubbeling alot between the songs. This was for shure for gaining some time. As fifth song he was playing a horrible and very long solo! Then finally came Eddie Malm on scene at it was a bit better because finally they had a frontman. But still the songs where barely identifiable, just thanks to the lyrics! After 30 minutes i left the hall.

I'll be there next year anyways!

About Heavy Load:
They haven't been the best musicians in the 80s either, so I wasn't expecting a technically perfect show.
But obviously a lot of people were not aware of that fact since there was a lot of negative feedback afterwards.
Anyway, if you've had a few beers and have been waiting for this to happen for half of your life like me, you should have enjoyed it a lot. I celebrated and escalated so much that I got a blocking in my spine after 2/3 of the show so I had to leave...
Now I am looking forward to their show in Athens, perhaps they'll have a few more rehearsals until then

Sad to hear that Heavy Load didn't work out. Yeah, DR, hopefully they sort it out by Athens!

Are Siren playing more shows? Would live to get a chance to catch them.

Ruby slippers! I'm such an idiot, I never got that Oz reference. I was thinking "Why the hell is the guy wearing red sneakers with blinking lights on them?" Anyhoo...

After a rather troublesome and exhausting drive (we got stuck in stau twice on the way down), I knew I was going to have to take it easy during the first day. Spent a lot of time in the record tent too...

Day 1
STALKER: I only got to hear the last few songs as we were entering the hall. They were both tight and energetic. I'll be sure to check this band out more in the future.
BLASPHEME: Pretty enjoyable gig. I like the idea with having two vocalists and the songs are of course great. 3/5.
SIREN: Yeah, I was having huge expectations too. And for the most party they delivered the goods. Loved the witch hat and broom. 3.5/5
FLOTSAM & JETSAM: Absolutely awesome gig. My highlight at the festival both before and after the gig. We arrived late, but just in time for "Hammerhead" which was unbelievably good. 5/5.
DEMON: I have absolutely no issue with Demon playing at KIT, but I can't really understand their headliner status (again!). Ok, so this set was supposed to be different than last time, but all in all they might as well have played for an hour. Enjoyed it anyway but heard the last song outside of the hall to avoid getting stuck with the crows leaving. It was then I discovered that there were a lot more people in the audience during the Flotsam gig. 3/5

Day 2
CEREBUS: I love their LP but live this was a bit too much like an American Saxon for my tastes. Saw just a few songs. 2/5
SARACEN: Just as great as last time. And what a vocalist he is, Steve Bettney. 4/5
WINTERHAWK: Not sure why, but this didn't affect me at all in the same way as Ashbury last year. Saw just a few songs. 2/5
EXHORDER: I was hoping for the same intensity as with Flotsam & Jetsam the day before, but sadly this wasn't anywhere near as good. 2/5
HEAVY LOAD: A fiasco for me too. The first two, three songs were kinda good, mostly because the audience was going nuts. But after four, five songs the energy just vanished. No front man, several band members looked like they were trying to hide behind each other on stage, inaudible stage banter etc. I had to leave, I couldn't watch any more. And then they went on to play for almost two hours? Incredible! 1/5

Cheers to everyone I met, Sander, Matt, Dan, Paddan, P-O, Holger, Andi, etc. Would like to write more, but I have to go to a children's party now.

Was Jason playing with the Flots?

Prowler wrote:Was Jason playing with the Flots?

No, he left the band many years ago.

Khnud wrote:

Prowler wrote:Was Jason playing with the Flots?

No, he left the band many years ago.

Did he do something else in music after he left?