{"id":326,"date":"2011-03-07T17:02:37","date_gmt":"2011-03-07T16:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/?page_id=326"},"modified":"2011-03-07T17:02:37","modified_gmt":"2011-03-07T16:02:37","slug":"dong-2008-review","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/?page_id=326","title":{"rendered":"Dong 2008 Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

DONG OPEN AIR 2008<\/strong><\/p>\n

After discovering the Dong Open Air for several times the time had come to the point we decided to present you a smaller festival. The reason for this decision is pretty much the same as why we had visited it the times before: The Dong Open Air is unique and totally incomparable to all other festivals! It\u2019s placed on a hill where 1.500 visitors have comfortable place to camp, to watch and buy Metal merch, to enjoy the wonderful panoramic view and to watch Metal shows at the Tent Stage. The Dong Hill is placed in the countryside close to the town of Neukirchen-Vluyn northwestern from the Ruhr Valley. The closest bigger cities are Moers and Duisburg. The festival has raised over the latest years. The organizers evolved the standards and the festival became earlier sold out each year. So this year it was sold out after a weekend. But the organizers don\u2019t want to change the place to grow in seize and budget income, they prefer to take care about the familiar festival atmosphere! This attitude is Metal!!!<\/p>\n

Friday<\/strong>
\nPath Of Golconda<\/strong> Usually the opening band of a small festival has the bad job to play in front of nearly nobody. So the opener of the DOA actually didn\u2019t. The fivepiece from the close city of Oberhausen was able to rock a pretty crowded tent. Its first side was completely filled by motivated metalheads saluting the golcondrians. The first five, six rows completely banged to Death Metal \u2013 killers like the opener \u201cMetropolis Rotting\u201d, \u201cCatafalque\u201d and \u201cA Cannibal Crusade\u201d which got celebrated by the whole audience. The band stayed for the weekend partying on the Dong hill. Sympathic!<\/p>\n

Enemy Within<\/strong> After the female-fronted Rock-formation Scarlet Fire had canceled their Dong-appearance it was on to Enemy Within to replace them. Anyway the band which appeared with one guitarist less because of the short-term confirmation played standard Thrash which didn\u2019t excite me as most of the spectators. So in comparison to Path Of Golconda the tent became much emptier after a few minutes.<\/p>\n

Roots Of Death<\/strong> Another Thrash-attack was up to follow and the five Swiss guys did their job better than their predecessors. Their material owned an ear-catchy variety and their performance was agile and sympathic. Even more sympathy the Thrashers earned by the Sepultura-cover \u201cTerritory\u201d which of course caused the loudest jubilation. Anyway the band was celebrated for 45 minutes of pressure and fun.<\/p>\n

Lyriel<\/strong> The only left female-fronted group in the billing after the cancelation of Scarlet Rose performed Folk Rock which usually always has a high acceptance in the common Dong-audience. Visually the dress of singer Jessica Thierjung blinded my eyes for a short moment in a negative way. So I concentrated on the music which didn\u2019t convince me as the outfit did. Their songs supported by a cello and a violin were as unspectacular as their appearance. The singer\u2019s voice combined with some sound problems displaced me.<\/p>\n

Moder<\/strong> The next formation showed up a total contrast to the act before, but that doesn\u2019t mean it became better. Ordinary Black Metal the band around the physical Mikael Akerfeldt \u2013 wannabe fronter presented and reached positive ractions in the first few rows which seemed to had been waiting for some harder stuff. Anyway, the motionless stage-action of its corpsepainted protagonists bored as their material. The so-called show effects consisting of a huge turned cross and the two micro-pyros became the ridiculous visual background appropriate to the show.<\/p>\n

Civilization One<\/strong> The Dong \u2013 program stayed very diversified, so the following fivepiece presented Melodic Metal. Although this is not my favourite music genre it\u2019s members coming from three different continents showed a professional performance. The charismatic vocalist Chitral \u201cChity\u201d Somapala whose vocals could have been mixed better while the first tracks communicated with the audience and earned respectable applause by \u201cWelcome To Paradise\u201d, \u201cTime Will Tell\u201d and \u201cLegends Of The Past\u201d (its starting riff reminded me on that one from M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce\u2019s \u201cLive Wire\u201d).<\/p>\n

Grind Inc.<\/strong> Death Metal from the close city of Krefeld was the next attraction on the Dong Hill. The fivepiece including two grunting shouters rocked the tent. Material from the brand new release \u201cSudden State Of Hate\u201d like \u201cCollateral Body Count\u201d or \u201cCertifiably Insane\u201d) activated the moshpit as classics like \u201cInhale The Swarm\u201d did. Especially the rhythm section did a great job and its band held the crowd in action jubilating a cool sympathic appearance. Well done!<\/p>\n

Suidakra<\/strong> After the Irish shooting stars Primordial canceled their Dong-appearance for the second time in a row they became replaced by the Melodic Deathers from the close town of Monheim. Of course they\u2019re not Primordial, but Dong-fans know the band around fronter Arkadius had played a sweeping headliner gig four years ago after they had been forced to wait for an hour because of an electric blackout. This time they had more luck: After some light problems the formation started into a best of – set considering most albums. Assisted by a bagpiper \u201cDead Man\u2019s Reel\u201d, \u201cWartunes\u201d, \u201cPendragon\u2019s Fall\u201d, the regular set closing \u201cForth Clyde\u201d and the encore \u201cThe IX. Legion\u201d earned the support of numerous fans.<\/p>\n

Dark Tranquillity<\/strong> So the time had finally come for the almighty headliner. The Swedish Melodic Death Metal \u2013 institution and innovators of the well-known Gothenburg-sound are the most popular band being confirmed for the Dong Open Air and so the expectations were high \u2013 and became fulfilled totally! When the instrumentalists entered the stage the whole crowd yelled and in the tent ruled a fantastic atmosphere. The band opened with the new hit \u201cTerminus\u201d. The quintet played a well-balanced set between songs from the current \u201cFiction\u201d-masterpiece (the opener, \u201cThe Lesser Faith\u201d, \u201cInside The Particle Storm\u201d, \u201cFocus Shift\u201d, \u201cMisery\u2019s Crown\u201d) and their classics (\u201cLost To Apathy\u201d, \u201cHedon\u201d, \u201cThe Numbers At Your Feet\u201d, \u201cDamage Done\u201d, \u201cMy Negation\u201d, \u201cTherIn\u201d). Mikael ran and jumped the stage up and down and interacted with the crowd creating a fans\u2019 choir singing \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d for drummer Anders Jivarp. The band acted tight and enjoyed the special Dong festival a lot. With \u201cFinal Resistance\u201d they finished an overwhelming show. Dark Tranquillity rocked the Dong!!!<\/p>\n

Saturday<\/strong>
\nGrailknights<\/strong> Usually the band with the earliest position in a festival schedule is the unluckiest one because the fans just wake up fighting with their hangover instead of watching the first act of the next day. So didn\u2019t the fourpiece from North Germany. The tent was completely crowded by fans of which several ones prepared for this gig by bringing different gimmicks which fit to the party character of the band. Its musicians wore Power Rangers \u2013 uniforms and used many show gimmicks themselves. In search of the holy grail the quartet introduced a few guests on stage. So they defended a unicorn and fought and defeated an ork, some guy looking like Skeletor and a dragon. The loyal fanship called battle choir got animated to headbang by commando by a \u201cHold!\u201d \u2013 game reminding on a battle scene from the \u201cBraveheart\u201d \u2013 movie and moved down on their knees to celebrate the warriors and their tracks like \u201cMoonlit Masquerade\u201d or the final \u201cReturn To Castle Grailskull\u201d! What a show, and by the way their songs rocked, too.<\/p>\n

Commander<\/strong> Of course it became a hard job for the following Death Metal \u2013 quartet to act right after the fans\u2019 fave. The tent became much emptier pretty soon. The band from Munich reacted with a motivated performance considering material from their new \u201cThe Enemies We Create\u201d \u2013 output (\u201cVengeful Angel\u201d, the title track) as from their full-length-debut \u201cWorld\u2019s Destructive Domination\u201d (\u201cSalvation Of A Dead World\u201d). So the few people staying in front of the stage watched a good Death Metal \u2013 show which should have deserved more fans.<\/p>\n

Rocketchief<\/strong> The following band showed the variety of the Dong program. The fivepiece from M\u00fcnster performed Rock in the tradition of acts like Mustasch, Motorjesus, etc.. Their refreshing good time \u2013 Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll as their agile performance won lots of supporters just within a few minutes celebrating catchy songs like \u201cDevil In My Head\u201d, \u201cGlad To Be Sad\u201d, \u201cSpaghetti\u201d and \u201cRight Time\u201d. So the sympathic guys reached the goal to get all fans in front of the stage in motion. Cool gig!<\/p>\n

Raintime <\/strong>The next formation was familiar with me knowing one song from some former Rock-Hard-Promo-CD. Anyway it became a funny coincidence it rained while the Italians started their set. The second track was the mentioned hit \u201cRolling Chances\u201d after which the Melodic Deathers let follow \u201cAnother Transition\u201d. Many Dong-visitors took care about their tent being afraid of a storm warning in memory of the 2004 – \u201churricane\u201d. Besides those tracks from their current \u201cFlies & Lies\u201d \u2013 album the band around sympathic fronter Claudio Coassin who sometimes played the air guitar also rocked with material from their debut release \u201cTales From Sadness\u201d like \u201cFaithland\u201d to which the first five rows completely banged their heads to. So the very motivated band won many new fans under those who didn\u2019t wait for the storm which should never come with their sound reminding a little bit of Children Of Bodom, just which much more variety on the voice as on the instrumental side and finished their set with the newer \u201cMatrioska\u201d.<\/p>\n

Drone<\/strong> The following band is well-known for their victory of the Wacken Metal Battle 2006. The music as the performance of the quartet from Celle remembered pretty much on Machine Head. Nevertheless the guys sounded independent enough to catch the tent visitors which could have been much more like before by \u201cStampmark\u201d, their hit \u201cTheopractical\u201d and \u201cChainsaw Symphony\u201d from their breakthrough album \u201cHead-On-Collision\u201d. Fronter Mutz first seemed a bit arrogant, but then showed humor by announcing they wanna be more chavy than Manowar. Anyway the four guys showed a very active performance including a stunt jump from Mutz. This band rocks!<\/p>\n

Torian<\/strong> From then on Power Metal from Paderborn prevailed the tent. Although their sound is not my cup of tea Torian knew how to entertain the crowd. The fronter Marc Hohlweck seemed to live his music all the day and performed with much passion. Both guitarists showed their high skilled talents and the band rocked presenting with \u201cStormbringer\u201d and \u201cDragonfire\u201d new tracks from their forthcoming release \u201cThunder Times\u201d. So they finished a celebrated appearance with their self-titled hymn \u201cTorian\u201d from their \u201cDreams Under Ice\u201d-debut.<\/p>\n

Nohellia<\/strong> France has brought us several very talented as innovative formations at last. So I was pretty curious about the four boys and one girl from Nizza and I got totally disappointed. Their Symphonic Black Metal with some rare female vocals (A tape would have been cheaper than to transport the actress for these few words!). The instrumental passages sounded interesting, but their songwriting hopfully hadn\u2019t reached its climax. The songs were much too unstructured.<\/p>\n

Persefon<\/strong>e Have you ever heard about a band from the little state of Andorra? So I hadn\u2019t done till this appearance which should become one of the biggest Metal recoverings of the latest years. The sixpack presented a very variable sound which may be defined as Progressive Black \/ Death Metal. In contrast to the group before every detail fitted into the epics created with a very high approach. Besides the screams and grunts of fronter Marc Martins keyboarder Miguel Espinosa assisted him with his distinctive clean voice. Besides all the technics and high approach the band showed its sense of humor by performing a Metal version of Star War\u2019s \u201cImperial March\u201d combining it with the \u201cStar Wars Theme\u201d itself. The spectators got caught by the hammer appearance and celebrated the opuses from their albums \u201cCore\u201d and \u201cTruth Inside The Shades\u201d. Another great discovery by the Dong-\u201cscouts\u201d! Please bring them back!<\/p>\n

Hollenthon<\/strong> After Morgana Lefay had canceled their Dong-appearance the Austrians around Pungent Stench \u2013 mastermind Martin Schirenc got confirmed to replace them. Of course they don\u2019t represent the same style, but Hollenthon should become a big gain for the festival. Very motivated the banging quartet started into their set combining material from the new longplayer \u201cOpus Magnum\u201d like the opener \u201cOn The Wings Of A Dove\u201d or the new video-single \u201cSon Of Perdition\u201d and classics like \u201cTo Kingdom Come\u201d or \u201cOnce We Were Kings\u201d. By the way fronter Martin showed much self-irony as he noticed he had considered the on the floor taped setlist from the band before most time of the set. So with the final words in Austrian dialect (\u201cSooo, jetz spuiln wer noch zwaa Songs und dann schleich ma uns!\u201d) Martin and his comrades dismissed from the jubilating fans. Great performance!<\/p>\n

Sadist<\/strong> \u201cSometimes They Come Back\u201d: This song title describes the wonderful return of the Italian Prog Death Metal \u2013 legend whose sound can be described right in the middle between Cynic and Atheist. The geniuses around guitarist \/ keyboarder Tommy presented a well-balanced set considering songs from the different band eras like \u201cTearing Away\u201d from the current self-titled \u201cSadist\u201d \u2013 masterpiece as the familiar creations \u201cChristmas Beat\u201d, \u201cI Rape You\u201d and the instrumental \u201cFrom Bellatrix To Betelgeuse\u201d. Besides the intelligent music the actors didn\u2019t take themselves too serious. Fronter Trevor put half of the microphone in his mouth still grunting very effectively. In another situation he took both stringers with one arm each into a headlock. So the fourpiece showed an excellent performance which just found a few fans, but those got really banished by the excellent show.<\/p>\n

Sabaton<\/strong> After Morgana Lefay had cancelled their show their fellow countrymen rose one position higher in the billing becoming Saturday\u2019s headliner. Despite all their lyrics about war the Swedes fulfilled their image as a positive party-band. And the fans reacted feeling more than okay with it. So within all the headbangers and many stagedivers the band didn\u2019t have any matters to keep the crowd in motion by the new \u201cThe Art Of War\u201d-material (the opener \u201cGhost Division\u201d, the title track) and tracks from the former two releases (the second played \u201cPanzer Battalion\u201d, \u201cPrimo Victoria\u201d, \u201cAttero Dominatus\u201d). Besides that vocalist Joakim Brod\u00e9n had much fun with the word \u2018Dong\u2019 and its different meaning in English, especially when a crowdsurfer without any pants arrived the stage. So the Swedes partied with their numerous supporters into the night with a totally dignified headliner performance.<\/p>\n

Conclusion:<\/strong>
\nWell the Dong Open Air definitely rocked! Although the organizers had billing problems losing important names by Primordial and Morgana Lefay the billing promised and held high quality between well-known acts and hopefuls for the future discovered by the seemingly talented Dong-\u201cscouts\u201d. And they got rewarded for their cool attitude: Although their festival was already sold out the Dong team presented (and payed) by Dark Tranquillity the biggest Dong-band so far. Our respect for this attitude which helped a lot after the mentioned formations had cancelled their Dong-appearance!<\/p>\n

The Dong Open Air spread out a totally familiar atmosphere on a beautiful location you can\u2019t ask for more. The mobile Dixi-toilets got cleaned continuously, the security was nice as uncomplicated and the catering situation was different. While the D\u00f6ner snack bar sucked the other caterer offered nearly everything for fair prices and reached high demand which nearly all Dong-visitors found out after a short while. Another hint: Don\u2019t bring your own beer on the hill. You get 0,5 l \u2013 bottles for 1,50 \u20ac which is very fair and needs to get supported!
\nWe enjoyed our time on the Dong hill and want to return next year to experience the event and to report about again! Thanks go out to Benjamin \u201cColamann\u201d Munsch, Dennis Strillinger and the DOA-team!!!!!<\/p>\n

At the Dong Open Air rocked, drank and partied Tobi Wan Kenobi, Nic and Dumbo!!!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DONG OPEN AIR 2008 After discovering the Dong Open Air for several times the time had come to the point we decided to present you a smaller festival. The reason for this decision is pretty much the same as why we had visited it the times before: The Dong Open Air is unique and totally … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Dong 2008 Review”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":26,"menu_order":10,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/326"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=326"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327,"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/326\/revisions\/327"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}