Articles : Hellfest 2015 @ Clisson, France – Day 1

Only when I quite literally walked through the gates of Hell, did I realize what I had just entered into; three full days packed with all the heavy metal you could possibly imagine, somewhere on the outskirts of France and away from normalcy. It was an absolute dream come true and an experience I will never forget.

Day 1 for me began with, well quite a few bands. Being at my first big European metal festival gave me enough adrenaline to last me a few lifetimes. ‘Nekrowretch‘ pulled off an absolutely brutal set for a 10.30 am slot, playing some very raw and aggressive death metal. The vocals were gut-wrenching, matching perfectly with some fierce, thrashy riffage and scattered melodies that just about kept your head together. I kid you not this is exactly what kicked off my Hellfest experience and it only went up from there. I managed to catch the last few minutes of ‘Breakdust‘ at the Main Stage, with vocalist spewing out some intensely deep growls, (definitely a band to check out) before I popped over to Main Stage 2 for a delightful, fun and cheeky few songs from Sweden’s ‘Sticky Boys‘. I’ve never heard them before but I thoroughly enjoyed the prancing around, the whole rocker vibe and their catchy music – straight up rock ‘n’ roll with an infectious energy, that was very much required to tackle the long day ahead!

French extreme metallers ‘Vorkriest’ were a refreshing start to the day as well, pummeling the eardrums of all those present at 11 am with  dynamic riffs while Swedish duo ‘Bolzer‘ were next and were arguably one of the best live acts of the day. The entire length of their set had the audience captivated and inevitably led to a mass of  flailing arms and legs. KzR commands your utmost attention with his heavily tattooed body, guttural low growls and manic guitaring. It was nothing but amazing watching the kind of sound two musicians can create on stage. Between trying to locate water in a place where beer was the primary choice of beverage, and stuffing my face with any food I could find that didn’t require me to stand in the snake-like ques, I discovered ‘The Midnight Ghost Train‘, ‘Argile‘ and ‘Vulcain‘ – each band more interesting than the previous one. But the most interesting of all were ‘Leng Tch’E‘ , one among the brilliant underground European grindcore scene. Vocalist Serge Kosongo (dat name tho), was leaping off the stage, spewing insane growls and screeches right in people’s faces and I was getting a tad bit giddy trying to watch him.

‘Samsara Blues Experiment‘, like their German doom counterparts in ‘Ahab‘ are absolutely ingenious and watching them live will prove to you how mesmerizing their music is. Playing their standard set of hypnotic tracks such as ‘For the Lost Souls’ and my favourite ‘Shringara’; it was as if they had cast a spell on everyone at The Valley. The Berlin four piece play a beautiful style of purely instrumental progressive metal coupled with, as their name suggests – a heavy, atmospheric and psychedelic blues sound. They are flawless – it was as if listening to an audio version of their music. Not wanting to leave post watching Samsara, I knew I had to get off my arse and head to the Main Stage once again to see Reading’s ‘Sylosis‘. Stoked at finally being able to see them live, they truly lived up to every expectation I had. Officially leading the first circle pit of many at Hellfest 2015 was Josh Middleton, who screamed out to the raging fans to go wild – and wild was exactly what they went!

Another quick breather was taken while watching black metal band ‘Enthroned‘ from Belgium and funeral doom ‘Shape of Despair‘ from Finland, two other bands that I got to know more of, both with an extremely intriguing aura and sound. Each of these bands had a certain something about them that just drew you to their music, (the all black outfits and corpse paint definitely helped!). Back at the Mainstage this time again was for the legendary    ‘Armoured Saint‘ who had great sound, stage presence and a killer energy that rung in the crowds during the heat of Clisson’s afternoon. I was really happy watching them and enjoyed listening to ‘March of the Saint’ and ‘Mess’ in the company of some very burly, hairy Bulgarian fans who for some reason were convinced I would never survive on just water! ‘Godsmack’ brought back memories of my teenage years with tracks like ‘Awake’ and ‘I Stand Alone’. but I have to say they’re not entirely what I expected seeing them live for the first time. The energy from Sully was quite forced but there were people who enjoyed the set nonetheless.

A 90’s moment of nostalgia ensued watching ‘Billy Idol‘ towards the end of his set and witnessing two of my favourite tracks live ‘Blue Highway’ and ‘Rebel Yell’. The man is no young blood anymore but he’s still a hardcore rocker and Clisson loved it! The folk tunes were strong all day as well, as the crowd at The Temple witnessed Latvian folk death band ‘Skyforger‘ earning some of the loudest cheers I had heard all day while ‘Melechesh‘ further established their uniqueness with their music – a blend of powerful blackened tones with the charming influence of the Middle East, despite there being obvious sound problems.

‘Sodom‘ are one of those bands that you’ve always heard about and listened to all the popular hits but haven’t actually given much attention. But when I did, the German act broke out into one of my favourite covers ever – Peter griffin’s Surfin’ Bird. Certainly didn’t see that one coming! Dying Fetus, on a whole other level of brutal were undoubtedly one of my favourite bands from the three days and although lacking a little in terms of stage presence, they made up for, playing an absolutely flawless set. The thing is even saying ‘lack of stage presence’ doesn’t really describe it, it’s just how focused this band is on their music and I guess less on their image. Brutality comes  naturally to them.

As a 15-year-old just learning the ways of the metallic world,’Motorhead‘ is one of those bands that you only dream of seeing live. Lemmy’s hanging in there and in between the hilarious British banter that went on between him and you can’t help but wonder/admire how these guys still do what they do even after 40 years. It was surreal to say the least. Motorhead took to Mainstage 1, playing to thousands of people as there were people covering the entire length of the Mainstage 2 area as well just to watch the Brit Rockers. It was clear that Lemmy’s not in good health but admirable how the man is still able to play 40 minute sets in the heat, in all that leather. Classics like ‘Shoot You In The Back’, ‘Over the Top’ were definite highlights as was the constant humorous banter that Lemmy and Phil kept going throughout. We were definitely lucky to be able to watch Motorhead.

That was barely the end of Day 1 for me. ‘Lamb of God‘ stormed Mainstage 02 with their usual relentless brutality ripping through their new songs ‘Still Echoes’ and ‘512’ as well as the usual classics such as ‘Redneck’, ‘Walk With Me In Hell’ and more. The very presence of the five Richmond metallers instills some sort of courage and strength within you as you watch them. The sound was impeccable to say the least (I’ve probably already mentioned that a dozen times till now) which made Lamb of God a whole other experience. Needless to say, the walls of death and the circle pits were in full force I thought I may just lose a limb in there. Dani Filth and his posse also left quite a mark on the crowd, his banshee-like screeches quite literally shaking the very earth we were standing on. ‘Cradle of Filth‘ has an amazing on stage persona to boot – and although their style may seem dramatic to most, they make the whole thing work to their advantage. It goes well with their music!

Shock rocker ‘Alice Cooper’ was a fun watch and I made it just in time to catch that familiar opening of ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’  but Finnish melodeath legends ‘Children of Bodom‘ were the ones I was leaping bounds to see, as I forged my way through the now 100,000 strong crowds of Hellfest.  Running back to The Altar stage, I made it just in time for the cheeky Alexi making his presence in front of the people of Clisson. There is no doubt in that fact that Children of Bodom are definitely one of the best Finnish and melodeath metal acts there is. Joining them for the first of many live shows was keyboardist Janne’s brother Andii Wirrman, their current session guitarist who joined the band after the departure of long time member Roope Latvala. But change is obviously no big deal at all as Bodom are not a force to be reckoned with – they played a flawless set of classics and there was nothing but devoted cheer from the crowd throughout.

As I write this review, I’m starting to realize all the more how massive the very first day of Hellfest was, as by this time, it was only around 10 pm and there were still a whole list of bands to go – the headliners mind you. ‘Mastodon‘, as always blew me away with their perfect live performance – it’s always as if you’re listening to them on audio but of course, with a much greater impact.  Their set was primarily tracks from their recent album ‘Once More ‘Round the Sun’, but older fans were treated to the classics such as ‘Aqua Dementia’, ‘Megalodon’ and ‘Crystal Skull’.  You will never get tired of watching this charming and cheeky Atlanta outfit. On my search for water and my people yet again I caught ‘Satyricon‘ last year at Soundwave in Sydney, I thought I’d see them again – their dark and eerie persona leaving me in awe as has some of their music. However this time around I seemed to realize that quite a few of their songs have a repetitive sort of rhythm going on which can get quite boring.

‘Meshuggah‘, needless to say ripped everyone at The Valley a new one, the crowd erupting into moshpits and windmills the moment the Swedish djents kicked off their set. But the moment ‘Demuirge’ and ‘I Am Colossus’ came on, I lost it myself. There’s a reason Meshuggah are regarded as one of the greatest bands of our time and once again to me, they proved why. The lighting was brilliant and added to the madness of the crowd that was going apeshit. At this point my legs had a mind of it’s own and I walked towards where the other leather-clad God was singing classics to the masses  I only managed to catch a couple songs of Priest’s set but lucky I was, nonetheless and it became clear as to why they are regarded as one of the pioneers of the entire genre of heavy metal and why Rob Halford is indeed, the God of it all. Time and age are just words to the mighty vocalist whose high pitched screeches and vocal extremities are unmatched. There was a point at which you could hear the crowd of thousands singing along to the power-packed that was ‘Judas Priest‘s. At this point you must be wondering how much longer this review is going to stretch out for. That’s exactly what ran through my head as I made my way to the Mainstage again for one the coolest bands in the world. Slipknot’s set started exactly at 12.45 and the sheer build up to the band’s entrance on stage was mind-blowing to the extent that I despite my having been awake for over 20 hours, I was still charged up and ready to witness them unleash, hell! Clisson erupted to the sounds of ‘The Heretic Anthem’ and ‘The Devil in I’. All members in their deadly masks collectively going stark-raving mad on stage, drumkit spinning around in circles, a majority of Slipknot’s members running up and down before the stage quite literally burst into flames. It was magnificent, insane and one of the best times I’ve had watching a band!

Picking up my jaw and the rest of me after watching a few songs of Slipknot, I was heading out but not before one last band. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Shining once already and being close to 1.40 AM, my neck, legs and back having not the slightest sensation, I just about managed to catch two songs from the Norwegian jazz metallers and luckily enough, they were new ones. Jorgen Munkeby is an absolute treat to watch, one of the most charismatic musicians I’ve ever had the pleasure to see perform as is the rest of the band. However, at this point I had to be hauled out of the festival site and I left reluctantly with the biggest, stupidest grin on my face knowing that there was still two days left of all of this. Hellfest is where the metal is at.

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