{"id":2325,"date":"2018-08-25T20:22:23","date_gmt":"2018-08-25T19:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/?page_id=2325"},"modified":"2019-06-25T20:27:38","modified_gmt":"2019-06-25T19:27:38","slug":"dong-2018-review","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/?page_id=2325","title":{"rendered":"Dong 2018 Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dong Open Air<\/strong>
\nIt was time for the Dong Open Air becoming an adult: For its 18th edition it welcomed their fans for the 15th time on the Dong hill. So it was a little jubileum for ourselves following the DOA since the first time it had moved to this unique festival location.
\nThis year’s slogan \u201eParaskavedekatriaphobia\u201c dealt with the fear of a friday, the 13th. But there was no need to become superstitious, and Jason Vorhees from the so-called movie wasn’t seen over the weekend.
\nVice Versa: Lead by the Folk fan-faves Eluveitie, the national heroes Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, the Bay Area Thrash legend Exodus and the UK Crossover weirdoes Skindred these three days should become another amazing ones on the Dong hill. The weather worked well, the organization did as well, and the landscape had been mentioned for several times on this website as an incomparable one. On the Dong hill 28 bands appeared in three days for about 3000 fans!<\/p>\n

Thursday<\/strong>
\nVisigoth <\/strong>That an American band which had signed at Metal Blade opened the Dong Open Air on thursday noon showed the evolution of this festival. So it wasn’t too astonishing the festival opener attracted several fans into the tent to see True Metal tracks like \u201eThe Revenant King\u201c and \u201eDungeon Master\u201c as by \u201eWarrior Queen\u201c and \u201eSteel And Silver\u201c material from their new release \u201eConqueror’s Oath\u201c.
\nBlessed By Rhenus<\/strong> The formation from the close D\u00fcsseldorf presented Progressive meets Melodic Death Metal, a mixture that worked well. The setlist of course consisted of their debut \u201eThe End Of Silence\u201c. Songs like \u201eKing\u201c or \u201eFree Your Mind\u201c got more than just warm applause.
\nScardust <\/strong>Lead by female vocalist Noa the following act showed how Symphonic Metal from Israel sounds like. Compositions like \u201eOut Of Strong Came Sweetness\u201c and \u201eArrowhead\u201c showed their style wasn’t that far away from well-known bands as Epica without losing their own originality.
\nNight In Gales<\/strong> For the third time the Melodic Death Metal fivepiece from the close town of Voerde entered the Dong stage. After reuniting with fronter Christian M\u00fcller replacing the leaving longtime vocalist Bj\u00f6rn Goo\u00dfes the band released by \u201eThe Last Sunset\u201c an album which sounds pretty similar to their debut \u201eTowards The Twilight\u201c. The fans celebrated the new \u201eArchitects Of Tyranny\u201c and \u201eThe Spears Within\u201c as classics like \u201eSylphlike\u201c, \u201eRazor\u201c or \u201eAutumns Water\u201c.
\nBlaze Bayley<\/strong> The ex-Iron-Maiden-singer showed that he’s still hungry and acted as moved a lot on stage. New \u201eThe Redemption Of William Black\u201c material earned much applause, but singing Maiden classics from the two albums he had taken part in like \u201eMan On The Edge\u201c of course achieved much louder support.
\nDestruction <\/strong>Supported by Vader-drummer Wawrzyniec Dramowicz the German Thrash Metal icon around mainman Schmier and lontime comrade Mike enthused by a best-of-set containing \u201eNailed To The Cross\u201c, \u201eMad Butcher\u201c, \u201eThe Butcher Strikes Back\u201c, \u201eThrash Till Death\u201c and \u201eBestial Invasion\u201c. The crowd reacted by massive headbanging and a couple of moshpits.
\nKorpiklaani <\/strong>Party time for the Folk Metal fans. The Finns brought a lot of singalong songs for the better mood by \u201eWooden Pints\u201c, \u201eBeer Beer\u201c, \u201eTequila\u201c and several others in Finnish held tracks. The crowd danced and partied until the encores \u201eHappy Little Boozer\u201c and \u201eVodka\u201c. The titles even told what it was all about.
\nDie Apokalyptischen Reiter<\/strong> Not less party promised the headliner position. The formation from the East German Weimar participated on their third Dong Open Air. And so became \u201eWir Sind Zur\u00fcck\u201c the right opener to start into the show. The fivepiece succeeded on the Dong hill and got celebrated by a pretty filled tent for \u201eEs Wird Schlimmer\u201c, \u201eReitermania\u201c, the title track of their current release \u201eDer Rote Reiter\u201c, \u201eFriede Sei Mit Dir\u201c and \u201eHerz In Flammen\u201c.<\/p>\n

Friday<\/strong>
\nTriddana <\/strong>An Argentinian Folk Metal band you can just discover at the Dong Open Air. Their sound was supported by a bagpipe(r) and became the right wake-up call. So the sound of this quartet got their first German fans pretty fast.
\nFabulous Desaster<\/strong> The fourpiece from Bonn played a Thrash Metal sound which was definitely not my cup of beer. Especially the voice was much too high. But a few headbangers seemed to enjoy this.
\nTyler <\/strong>Leads The Heavy Rock formation understood how to attract the metalheads to the stage. Their rocking sound as their performance left no other option than to move to \u201eElectric Wasteland\u201c and \u201eCall Of The Wild\u201c.
\nInfected <\/strong>Rain I was curious about the quintet from Moldavia. And what followed was one of the definite highlights of the weekend. A technical varied young band with a good asskicking sound and a charismatic singer. Lena wore the first message on her pretty short shirt by \u201eEat Pussy Not Animals\u201c. And while a few men might have thought \u201eHm, why not?\u201c they got suddenly blasted by \u201eSerendipity\u201c, \u201eMold\u201c and \u201eOrphan Soul\u201c supported by an astonishing numer of fans in the sunny afternoon.
\nAntilles <\/strong>Instead of the canceling French Impureza short-term replacement Antilles from the close M\u00fcnster entered the stage. They performed songs from their debut \u201eThe Inticrate Path Of Creation\u201c, and their varied Thrash Metal inspired more and more headbangers to take part in. I hope to see them again.
\nVogelfrey <\/strong>The sixpack from Hamburg welcomed a lot of fans in front of the stage. Their Folk Metal was obviously popular at the Dong hill. So the crowd sang and danced to \u201eHeldentod\u201c and \u201eSchuld Ist Nur Der Met\u201c.
\nMotorjesus <\/strong>Very popular indeed was the following band on the Dong hill. Playing for about the fifth time on the DOA the tent was pretty filled, and many of them wore shirts of their seemingly faves. And those ones rocked the hill by \u201eMotor Discipline\u201c, \u201eFist Of The Dragon\u201c as \u201eRe-Ignite\u201c and \u201eSpeedway Sanctuary\u201c from the brandnew album \u201eRace To Resurrection\u201c. Lead by the agile fronter Chris \u201eHowling\u201c Birx this performance became another complete triumph at the DOA.
\nMoonspell <\/strong>For the first time the Gothic Metal institution from Portugal appeared at the DOA. They started with \u201eIm Nome Do Medo\u201c, the title track and \u201eIn Tremor Dei!\u201c from the recent album \u201e1755\u201c while mainman Fernando Ribeiro wore a strange bird mask to stress the dramatic factor of their compositions. But he put the mask down for the first classics \u201eOpium\u201c and \u201eAwake\u201c which raised the motion in the audience. The quintet convinced completely and finished their performance by the jubilated classics \u201eVampiria\u201c, \u201eAlma Mater\u201c and \u201eFull Moon Madness\u201c
\nExodus <\/strong>To watch the Bay Area Thrash Metal legend was one of the biggest surprises of this year’s billing. Lead by the fronter Steve \u201eZetro\u201c Souza as the guitar-veterans Gary Holt and Lee Altus the fivepiece played a smashing best of set including the newer \u201eBlood In, Blood Out\u201c as \u201eParasite\u201c, \u201e A Lesson In Violence\u201c, \u201eBlacklist\u201c and \u201eThe Toxic Waltz\u201c. The Thrash fans freaked out headbanging and moshpits creating. So \u201eStrike The Beast\u201c marked the end of an amazing hour of pure Thrash Metal.
\nEluveitie <\/strong>This day started with a bagpipe and it ended with one. The ninepiece from Switzerland populated the stage to get the still motivated crowd in action. And so they did by \u201eA Gaulish War\u201c, \u201eThe Call Of The Mountains\u201c,\u201eA Rose Of Epona\u201c, \u201eThousandfold\u201c and the encores \u201eRebirth\u201c as \u201eInis Mona\u201c. The fans gave the rest of their reserves, and the band had a wonderful comeback on the Dong hill.<\/p>\n

Saturday<\/strong>
\nDirty D’Sire<\/strong> The quartet from the close city of Duisburg had the excersize to wake up for the last morning\/noon (depends on the point of view), and solved this more than well. Their catchy as variable Metalcore from their debut album \u201eWe Own The Night\u201c attracted more and more visitors into the tent. Jubilated highlight was their Imany-interpretation of \u201eDon’t Be So Shy\u201c.
\nTorian <\/strong>Five years after their DOA-premier the Power Metal band from Paderborn returned to the Dong hill. Several fans waited to support \u201eStormbringer\u201c, the self-titled \u201eTorian\u201c as further hymns. The guitars as fronter Marc Hohlweck became the main factor for their live power.
\nThe Monolith Deathcult<\/strong> The Dutch Neighbors emphasized the Death Metal element in the billing and motivated a couple of headbangers to take part in. The fourpiece could choose out of six albums, and the seventh one is about to come.
\nAlvenrad <\/strong>The next formation from the Netherlands was about to follow. But this one was a lot less brutal although their Folk Metal wasn’t less successful. Many spectators applauded and danced to tracks like \u201eBoum Des Gouds\u201c from their recent record \u201eHeer\u201c.
\nDrone <\/strong>The first Metal Battle winner of Wacken returned to the Dong hill and knew hot to entertain: Sixstringer Marcelo managed a part of his guitar-soundcheck while getting beers playing his instrument at the beer-station next to us. The show startet with the \u201eBaywatch\u201c melody and two Mitch-Bucannan-lookalikes. After this the fourpiece performed a thrashing set with an enthused audience and many headbangers as moshpits. In the end they put some festival friend as ballgagged madman in a cave onto the stage which lead into the classic \u201eTheopractical\u201c.
\nJinjer <\/strong>The quartet brought for the first time their innovative sound to the DOA. \u201eWords Of Wisdom\u201c, \u201eI Speak Astronomy\u201c as \u201ePisces\u201c were no easy-listening, but energized by the performance and the variable voice of fronter Tatiana many supporters celebrated the band from the Ukraine.
\nGrailknights <\/strong>The funny fivepiece searched for another time for the holy grail at the Dong Open Air. The fans partied and sang along with \u201eNameless Grave\u201c as \u201eGrailquest Gladiators\u201c, and in the end the enemy Dr Skull got defeated.
\nMantar <\/strong>Stage time began with further ten minutes soundcheck. Honestly: What complex sound does their noisy music need in their eyes? It felt a bit like arrogance after the duo had been hyped for a while. The performance consisted of guitarist Hanno being orientated to his drummer Erinc and so showed the fans his back. So the spectators mainly had to deal with \u201ePraise The Plague\u201c, \u201eCross The Cross\u201c and \u201eEra Borealis\u201c.
\nSkindred <\/strong>The Welsh co-headliner filled up the tent with the most supporters of the whole weekend. And the atmosphere they created became unique as well. All fans sitting down and jumping up on vocalist Benji’s commando, collective own T-shirt in the air holding and other actions as adviced by the fronter. Their Reggae-influenced Crossover itself animated the spectators to jump and party. Probably the band with the most won new fans after the show on this weekend!
\nBetontod <\/strong>The Punk Rock fivepiece returned from their very close town to appear for the second time at the DOA. And although the tent wasn’t as full as it had been the band before they got supported by motivated fans singing along with \u201eViva Punk!\u201c and \u201eKeine Popsongs\u201c. So this home game worked very well and became a worthy final show of the Dong Open Air 2018.<\/p>\n

Conclusion:<\/strong>
\nFor another time the weather god was okay with the Dong Open Air although a few degrees less wouldn’t have disturbed anyone. But anyway, the conditions were good. The organizers had to manage one cancelation of Impureza replacing them by Antilles. The rest of the organization worked well, too. Stage area, securities, showers and toilets, nearly no matter anywhere. Besides the usual drinks the DOA offered another festival craft beer called \u201eRinderwahn\u201c. So there were no wishes left. Thanks go out to Benjamin \u201eColamann\u201c Munsch and the DOA-team!!!!!At the Dong Open Air drank, rocked and partied Tobi Wan Kenobi, Dumbo & Dennis!!!!! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dong Open Air It was time for the Dong Open Air becoming an adult: For its 18th edition it welcomed their fans for the 15th time on the Dong hill. So it was a little jubileum for ourselves following the DOA since the first time it had moved to this unique festival location. This year’s … <\/p>\n

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