Muskelrock 2012 | Sweden | 31st May - 2nd June
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Dirty Rocker
- Posts: 1603
- Joined: Tue Jul 25, 2006 1:54 pm
- Location: Sweden
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Dark Stranger
- Posts: 363
- Joined: Fri Nov 13, 2009 1:43 pm
- Location: Ireland
High Spirits, Cauchemar, Vanderbuyst, Pokolgep, Raven, Manilla Roadk + Hell. Other ones did not interest me so much so rest of the time I tried keep mysel warm.
In short, really good festival and good people all around. (Ok, maybe those speed using gypsys who had no tickets or anything next our camp but I think they were thrown out of the fest after smashing down their camper.)
In short, really good festival and good people all around. (Ok, maybe those speed using gypsys who had no tickets or anything next our camp but I think they were thrown out of the fest after smashing down their camper.)
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Dark Stranger
- Posts: 363
- Joined: Fri Nov 13, 2009 1:43 pm
- Location: Ireland
Quick translation of a review I wrote elsewhere:
One of the toughest festivals I've had to endure so far, and not only in a good way. I was coming down with a cold already on Friday morning, tried to make it go away with booze, but to no avail. Unfortunately, the infection removed all my abilities to keep warm in the cold weather, and the wind, rain and the fact that this was the coldest recorded start of June in Sweden in 84 years didn't make things better. So, now I have a high fever, trying to figure out what really happened at Muskelrock 2012...
Thursday
High Spirits - Never listened much to this band before, and in retrospect I don't understand why. Felt more like they were from early 80's era England rather than being a contemporary US band. Really good and energetic performance, I'm sure these guys will improve even more with a few more shows under their belt.
Antichrist - Sounded so much like early Destruction it almost felt wrong they didn't include "Beastial Invasion" in their set. Too bad the stage banter was uninspired to say the least.
Friday
Grim Reaper - or rather Steve Grimmet + friends. He's still got the voice, that's for sure, otherwise an ok show but nothing exceptional.
M-pire of Evil - Tony Dolan really made his nickname "Demolition Man" justice, being unstoppable on stage! Apart from a few technical problems (possibly due to the pouring rain), this was actually better than the Cronos version of Venom.
Hell - incredibly tight, well rehearsed, theatrical - a killer show, by far the best of all the bands at the festival. No other band has felt more like a single unit rather than separate musicians doing their own thing on stage. I want to see them perform again and again and again. If you ever get the chance, take it!
Raven - last time I saw these guys play (at HoA 2010) the show was riddled with "technical problems", mostly due to the band members screwing things up. I was going to give them another chance, but after the guitar fell silent 3 times during the first song and one amplifier blew up during the third, I chose to go back to my tent instead for an early night to try and cure the cold. And of course, the rest of the show went fine from there. I hope to see Joey Hasselvander in any other of his bands rather than with these guys once more. He seems to be far too professional to have to put up with all these glitches caused by the Gallaghers...
Saturday
Sienna Root - awesome heavy 70's psych just the way it should sound, complete with organ and sitar, a welcome contrast to the bass/guitar/drums combos the festival had to offer.
Picture - better than last time I saw them. Good solid heavy metal with a slight tendency to boogie things up a bit too much.
Pokolgèp - amazing. The sound was great (even if it went out at one point) and the Hungarians tried their best to make themselves understood, much thanks to the young drummer, who was probably the only one in the band to learn English at school. To hear the audience sing along during the choruses in a language they had absolutely no knowledge about was both comical and spot on at the same time.
Enforcer - when I saw these guys a few years ago, their performance wasn't that tight and they still felt like a garage band, but constant touring has made its mark, they were much more competent as a live band this time. Great show, and a big thanks to the Savage cover (Let It Loose), a choice warming my old nwobhm heart.
By this time I had pain in all my muscles, I was shaking and shivering, my throat was sore and my nose congested, but the most important moment was left - Manilla Road. After seeing them perform over 90 minutes last time (I didn't have the luxury of catching them playing 2.5 hours at the Hammer of Doom festival), a 60 minute set seemed way too short for a band of this caliber. Apart from the classics from Crystal Logic and Open The Gates and the monumental "Breathren of the Hammer" from their latest album, there was no room to showcase their extensive discography, which is very unfortunate. Still, this is one of my top three bands ever, so naturally it was a fantastic experience anyway. Manilla Road played less than a 1.5 hour train ride from where I live!
I wanted nothing rather than to see the final band at the festival - The Devils Blood, but at this point I had reached the end of my rope. The cold, plus a chili I had previously eaten that wasn't quite kosher literally forced me in bed (or rather, in my sleeping bag). And for the past two days I've felt like I spent 10 rounds in the ring with a pissed off Mike Tyson.
Hats off to all the nice people I met! Warepire told me I post too little, I hope this little text makes up for it.
One of the toughest festivals I've had to endure so far, and not only in a good way. I was coming down with a cold already on Friday morning, tried to make it go away with booze, but to no avail. Unfortunately, the infection removed all my abilities to keep warm in the cold weather, and the wind, rain and the fact that this was the coldest recorded start of June in Sweden in 84 years didn't make things better. So, now I have a high fever, trying to figure out what really happened at Muskelrock 2012...
Thursday
High Spirits - Never listened much to this band before, and in retrospect I don't understand why. Felt more like they were from early 80's era England rather than being a contemporary US band. Really good and energetic performance, I'm sure these guys will improve even more with a few more shows under their belt.
Antichrist - Sounded so much like early Destruction it almost felt wrong they didn't include "Beastial Invasion" in their set. Too bad the stage banter was uninspired to say the least.
Friday
Grim Reaper - or rather Steve Grimmet + friends. He's still got the voice, that's for sure, otherwise an ok show but nothing exceptional.
M-pire of Evil - Tony Dolan really made his nickname "Demolition Man" justice, being unstoppable on stage! Apart from a few technical problems (possibly due to the pouring rain), this was actually better than the Cronos version of Venom.
Hell - incredibly tight, well rehearsed, theatrical - a killer show, by far the best of all the bands at the festival. No other band has felt more like a single unit rather than separate musicians doing their own thing on stage. I want to see them perform again and again and again. If you ever get the chance, take it!
Raven - last time I saw these guys play (at HoA 2010) the show was riddled with "technical problems", mostly due to the band members screwing things up. I was going to give them another chance, but after the guitar fell silent 3 times during the first song and one amplifier blew up during the third, I chose to go back to my tent instead for an early night to try and cure the cold. And of course, the rest of the show went fine from there. I hope to see Joey Hasselvander in any other of his bands rather than with these guys once more. He seems to be far too professional to have to put up with all these glitches caused by the Gallaghers...
Saturday
Sienna Root - awesome heavy 70's psych just the way it should sound, complete with organ and sitar, a welcome contrast to the bass/guitar/drums combos the festival had to offer.
Picture - better than last time I saw them. Good solid heavy metal with a slight tendency to boogie things up a bit too much.
Pokolgèp - amazing. The sound was great (even if it went out at one point) and the Hungarians tried their best to make themselves understood, much thanks to the young drummer, who was probably the only one in the band to learn English at school. To hear the audience sing along during the choruses in a language they had absolutely no knowledge about was both comical and spot on at the same time.
Enforcer - when I saw these guys a few years ago, their performance wasn't that tight and they still felt like a garage band, but constant touring has made its mark, they were much more competent as a live band this time. Great show, and a big thanks to the Savage cover (Let It Loose), a choice warming my old nwobhm heart.
By this time I had pain in all my muscles, I was shaking and shivering, my throat was sore and my nose congested, but the most important moment was left - Manilla Road. After seeing them perform over 90 minutes last time (I didn't have the luxury of catching them playing 2.5 hours at the Hammer of Doom festival), a 60 minute set seemed way too short for a band of this caliber. Apart from the classics from Crystal Logic and Open The Gates and the monumental "Breathren of the Hammer" from their latest album, there was no room to showcase their extensive discography, which is very unfortunate. Still, this is one of my top three bands ever, so naturally it was a fantastic experience anyway. Manilla Road played less than a 1.5 hour train ride from where I live!
I wanted nothing rather than to see the final band at the festival - The Devils Blood, but at this point I had reached the end of my rope. The cold, plus a chili I had previously eaten that wasn't quite kosher literally forced me in bed (or rather, in my sleeping bag). And for the past two days I've felt like I spent 10 rounds in the ring with a pissed off Mike Tyson.
Hats off to all the nice people I met! Warepire told me I post too little, I hope this little text makes up for it.
Welcome to our dream
Welcome to our night
I can make you scream
I can make you fight
Welcome to our night
I can make you scream
I can make you fight
I was also ridden by a flu but luckily it didn't turn into a fever, even though the trunk of the finnish bus I was sleeping in was freezing during the nights... I was very surprised how relaxed and friendly the festival and its workers are, for example they offered to HOLD my bag full of beers and booze while I was visiting a bar area! In Finland they would probably throw you out for asking something like that.
The best show for me was of course Hell which was the original reason for going there but damn, Raven blew me away with the insane live show! Must see them again some day. The third best was Pokolgép, I was actually there in the front row "singing" the chorus of Tökfej when they soundchecked - They laughed and promised to play it!
Thanks for everyone on this forum I had a chat with and see you some day again!
I'll might have to go to Muskelrock next year as well...
The best show for me was of course Hell which was the original reason for going there but damn, Raven blew me away with the insane live show! Must see them again some day. The third best was Pokolgép, I was actually there in the front row "singing" the chorus of Tökfej when they soundchecked - They laughed and promised to play it!
Thanks for everyone on this forum I had a chat with and see you some day again!
I'll might have to go to Muskelrock next year as well...
The Devil is within us all...
A fellow introduced himself as War(something) from TheCorroseum. Thought it was you. My bad!Warepire wrote:I've done what now? You sure you meant me? (I was not even at Muskelrock because I had no money to buy a ticket, nor a means of transportation to get there)Khnud wrote:Hats off to all the nice people I met! Warepire told me I post too little, I hope this little text makes up for it.
Welcome to our dream
Welcome to our night
I can make you scream
I can make you fight
Welcome to our night
I can make you scream
I can make you fight
A great weekend as usual although a bit wetter and colder than usual. Brief review:
Thursday
No, didn't really watch anything except half a song from High Spirits while eating a hot dog. Got severely drunk though and had some nice chats with some nice people. I hope I was nice to them as well.
Friday
GRIM REAPER
I always found Grim Reaper's song material a bit linear and formulatic even if stellar. Nothing I listen to often or anywhere close to often but I usually like it when I do. They had somne Donald Duck sort of lineup with only Steve Grimmet remaining from the actual band. They did a meat and potatoes gig but delivered. Steve Grimmet's voice was still in good shape and that's one impressive set of pipes he has.
6/10
MPIRE OF EVIL
I was incredibly geared up to see Mantas and Tony Dolan annihilate Muskelrock with a hailstorm of Venom classics and material from their own splendid debut album. Thankfully I was so high on adrenaline and booze that neither the pissing rain nor the sound problems could take away from the joy. They opened with "Countess Bathory", the devilish "Hell to the Holy" from their debut album and then "Die Hard". Hell brought to Sweden. Then came the problems. The vocals went out completely in "Metal Messiah" and during "Leave Me in Hell" the bass died. Probably this was all because of the rain. They went on to play "In League With Satan" with the audience singing before they had to go off to take a 10 minute break to switch a fuse. Surprisingly most of the audience waited in the rain and they pretty much redeemed themselves when they came back on to play the furios "Hellspawn" and two rare treats from Venom's Prime Evil album. And of course when they closed the set with "Black Metal" and "Witching Hour" there was not a clean pair of underwears in the audience. I really want to give a higher grade but with the clitches it can only be:
7/10
HELL
I think it has been said enough times already, but this was borderline magic. David Bower has to be the best frontman I have seen in metal, at least as far as theatrics go, and all the incredible songs shone through better than ever. Oh how we bathed in the blood of the tossers to whom the Hell album was simply too metal.
8/10
I only watched a couple of songs from RAVEN. They were OK but I've never been a big fan and once they got their usual tech problems without any rain to blame for it, I went browsing for records instead. I watched most of Ram and they were great and put on a cool show with actors and shit on stage. They were on 1 A.M. and I was dead tired. When the rain started pouring again I got miserable and after sticking it out a couple more songs I went to bed. Which of course I shouldn't have done but I did.
Saturday
PICTURE
They're an old favorite band of mine and they delivered a stellar performance. They did lots of old hits and five songs, three of which were good choices, from the occasionally excellent last album. Maybe not exactly a show that will go down in history but a good start for the evening. Highlights were "Battle Plan" off the new album, "Eternal Dark" of course, and to see Rien Vreugdenhil play "Bombers" in the audience!
7/10
POKOLGÉP
So fucking perfect. The band went on and tore everybody's face off by way of a parade of hits from the albums from the years 1986-1991. I recognized all the songs and so did many others. I was surprised to see how crazy the audience went. It was insanely cool to sing along to "Gep-Indol", "Ujra Szuletnek", "Adj uj Eröt" and all the others on completely homespun Hungarian. Also great to see was that the band seemed overwhelmed and motivated by the response from the audience, despite the fact that they're used to crazy audiences at home. So fucking perfect.
9/10
MANILLA ROAD
If something was going to measure up to Pokolgép it had to be Manilla Road of course. And yes, I immediately got into that religous state with puring tears that Manilla Road along with few other bands can put me in. As far as performance and sound quality goes, this was probably the best Manilla Road show I have seen (it was my fourth). The sound was incredible. Even in front row everything was crisp and well balanced and for once both the lead vocal microphones were equally loud in the mix so there was not the awkward difference in volume when they switched from Hellroadie to Shelton vocals. Speaking of Shelton this was the best I ever heard him sing live. The only downside was the short festival set. 65 minutes is not enough of Manilla Road, especially not when I have seen them play around 110 minutes twice before. Nevertheless they got to squeeze in three songs I've never heard them do live before - "Heavy Metal to the World", "Taken By Storm" and "Brethren of the Hammer". So in conclusion these were some pretty damn perfect 65 minutes.
9/10
Thursday
No, didn't really watch anything except half a song from High Spirits while eating a hot dog. Got severely drunk though and had some nice chats with some nice people. I hope I was nice to them as well.
Friday
GRIM REAPER
I always found Grim Reaper's song material a bit linear and formulatic even if stellar. Nothing I listen to often or anywhere close to often but I usually like it when I do. They had somne Donald Duck sort of lineup with only Steve Grimmet remaining from the actual band. They did a meat and potatoes gig but delivered. Steve Grimmet's voice was still in good shape and that's one impressive set of pipes he has.
6/10
MPIRE OF EVIL
I was incredibly geared up to see Mantas and Tony Dolan annihilate Muskelrock with a hailstorm of Venom classics and material from their own splendid debut album. Thankfully I was so high on adrenaline and booze that neither the pissing rain nor the sound problems could take away from the joy. They opened with "Countess Bathory", the devilish "Hell to the Holy" from their debut album and then "Die Hard". Hell brought to Sweden. Then came the problems. The vocals went out completely in "Metal Messiah" and during "Leave Me in Hell" the bass died. Probably this was all because of the rain. They went on to play "In League With Satan" with the audience singing before they had to go off to take a 10 minute break to switch a fuse. Surprisingly most of the audience waited in the rain and they pretty much redeemed themselves when they came back on to play the furios "Hellspawn" and two rare treats from Venom's Prime Evil album. And of course when they closed the set with "Black Metal" and "Witching Hour" there was not a clean pair of underwears in the audience. I really want to give a higher grade but with the clitches it can only be:
7/10
HELL
I think it has been said enough times already, but this was borderline magic. David Bower has to be the best frontman I have seen in metal, at least as far as theatrics go, and all the incredible songs shone through better than ever. Oh how we bathed in the blood of the tossers to whom the Hell album was simply too metal.
8/10
I only watched a couple of songs from RAVEN. They were OK but I've never been a big fan and once they got their usual tech problems without any rain to blame for it, I went browsing for records instead. I watched most of Ram and they were great and put on a cool show with actors and shit on stage. They were on 1 A.M. and I was dead tired. When the rain started pouring again I got miserable and after sticking it out a couple more songs I went to bed. Which of course I shouldn't have done but I did.
Saturday
PICTURE
They're an old favorite band of mine and they delivered a stellar performance. They did lots of old hits and five songs, three of which were good choices, from the occasionally excellent last album. Maybe not exactly a show that will go down in history but a good start for the evening. Highlights were "Battle Plan" off the new album, "Eternal Dark" of course, and to see Rien Vreugdenhil play "Bombers" in the audience!
7/10
POKOLGÉP
So fucking perfect. The band went on and tore everybody's face off by way of a parade of hits from the albums from the years 1986-1991. I recognized all the songs and so did many others. I was surprised to see how crazy the audience went. It was insanely cool to sing along to "Gep-Indol", "Ujra Szuletnek", "Adj uj Eröt" and all the others on completely homespun Hungarian. Also great to see was that the band seemed overwhelmed and motivated by the response from the audience, despite the fact that they're used to crazy audiences at home. So fucking perfect.
9/10
MANILLA ROAD
If something was going to measure up to Pokolgép it had to be Manilla Road of course. And yes, I immediately got into that religous state with puring tears that Manilla Road along with few other bands can put me in. As far as performance and sound quality goes, this was probably the best Manilla Road show I have seen (it was my fourth). The sound was incredible. Even in front row everything was crisp and well balanced and for once both the lead vocal microphones were equally loud in the mix so there was not the awkward difference in volume when they switched from Hellroadie to Shelton vocals. Speaking of Shelton this was the best I ever heard him sing live. The only downside was the short festival set. 65 minutes is not enough of Manilla Road, especially not when I have seen them play around 110 minutes twice before. Nevertheless they got to squeeze in three songs I've never heard them do live before - "Heavy Metal to the World", "Taken By Storm" and "Brethren of the Hammer". So in conclusion these were some pretty damn perfect 65 minutes.
9/10
Chroming Rose “Pressure” LP found! 
No worries. The impostor must however be found!Khnud wrote:A fellow introduced himself as War(something) from TheCorroseum. Thought it was you. My bad!Warepire wrote:I've done what now? You sure you meant me? (I was not even at Muskelrock because I had no money to buy a ticket, nor a means of transportation to get there)Khnud wrote:Hats off to all the nice people I met! Warepire told me I post too little, I hope this little text makes up for it.
Great festival, great week spent in Sweden!
Highlights of the festival were High Spirits, Antichrist, Eliminator, Grim Reaper, Eliminator, M-Pire of Evil (even with all the technical mishaps!), Hell (who ruled supreme!), Raven (I was too drunk to notice their technical problems), Ram (second best stage show of the festival and killer band). Picture, Pokolgép and Manilla Road made the second day worth it for me, I think those are the only bands I checked out on Saturday, apart from Cauchemar and bits of Spiders.
The guys in Pokolgép were nothing short of in awe at the reception the crowd gave them, big grins on their faces present throughout the whole gig. I had no expectations to what they going to pull off, but they totally lived up to the high standard of performances that weekend! Manilla Road played a good set with no fillers, all killers, which made the crowd go bonkers.
Lastly, hello to all the forum members I bumped into from here, I am afraid my constant state of drunkeness over the weekend only allows me to recall DaN's nickname!
A must go in 2013!
Highlights of the festival were High Spirits, Antichrist, Eliminator, Grim Reaper, Eliminator, M-Pire of Evil (even with all the technical mishaps!), Hell (who ruled supreme!), Raven (I was too drunk to notice their technical problems), Ram (second best stage show of the festival and killer band). Picture, Pokolgép and Manilla Road made the second day worth it for me, I think those are the only bands I checked out on Saturday, apart from Cauchemar and bits of Spiders.
The guys in Pokolgép were nothing short of in awe at the reception the crowd gave them, big grins on their faces present throughout the whole gig. I had no expectations to what they going to pull off, but they totally lived up to the high standard of performances that weekend! Manilla Road played a good set with no fillers, all killers, which made the crowd go bonkers.
Lastly, hello to all the forum members I bumped into from here, I am afraid my constant state of drunkeness over the weekend only allows me to recall DaN's nickname!
A must go in 2013!
Luis wrote:Raven (I was too drunk to notice their technical problems)
Well done! Raven still sort of ruled! As for the others I saw, Grim Reaper and Picture did alright, The Wounded Kings delivered the goods, while Pokolgép, High Spirits and especially Hell were all very impressive. Then there's the magic of Manilla Road. Again I was TAKEN BY STORM!Raven were really really good. They always reminded me of an actually good version of Anvil. Same Spinal Tapishness, less of the horrible playing. It was pissing it down, my voice was going (it would eventually finally die with RAM), I was drunk and it that was the perfect wake up call gig I could have had.GJ wrote:Luis wrote:Raven (I was too drunk to notice their technical problems)
The Wounded Kings were especially good, even though I didn't know what to think of their new line up. As soon as they played "Baptism of Atlantis" my fear were laid to rest. Also had a chance to have a nice bit of a chat with Steve Mills afterwards.
