{"id":920,"date":"2011-06-09T19:00:04","date_gmt":"2011-06-09T18:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/?page_id=920"},"modified":"2011-06-09T19:02:40","modified_gmt":"2011-06-09T18:02:40","slug":"rock-hard-festival-2010-review","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/?page_id=920","title":{"rendered":"Rock Hard Festival 2010 Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rock Hard Festival 2010<\/strong>
\nFor another time the summer festival season got opened by the mighty Rock Hard Festival also being one of the season’s highlights. Everybody knows about the nice familiar atmosphere the RHF organizers are able to offer in the probably most wonderful festival location of the Amphitheater within the Nordsternpark of Gelsenkirchen. So the festival got competely sold out for the second time in a row.
\nThis year the Rock Hard Festival happened while the Ice Hockey World Championship lead in its deciding phase around the best four nations to which Germany sensationally belonged, after it all had started two weeks ago in the same city of Gelsenkirchen by the opening game with Germany defeating the favorites from the USA and about 80.000 enthusiastic fans creating a new world record for spectators’ attendance. So we were very busy between the great festival and the historic success of the German team.
\nThe festival had no band cancellation and the weather was wonderful, so everything was set for an amazing weekend.
\nAt the Rock Hard Festival appeared 22 bands (each band 45 minutes minimum) on one stage in three days for about 7500 visitors.<\/p>\n

Friday<\/strong>
\nKetzer<\/strong> The German Black Thrash Metal commando opened this year’s RHF edition by \u201cI Am Your Unholy God\u201d and \u201cWarlust\u201d. They entertained the punctual metalheads by all tracks from their \u201cSatan’s Boundaries Unchained\u201d debut except for one (\u201cInverted Cross\u201d) and dedicated \u201cThe Fire To Conquer The World\u201d to the departed Ronnie James Dio.<\/p>\n

Necros Christos<\/strong> The slowmotion Black Death Metal from Berlin didn’t seem to interest too many spectators. No sensation when a pretty unknown band just plays its \u201cTriune Impurity Rites\u201d material (\u201c”Red Wine Runs Out Of The White Skull Of Jesus”, “Black Mass Desecration”) without any contact to the audience.<\/p>\n

Katatonia<\/strong> To me the following quintet was one of the biggest attractions of this year’s RHF billing. Reinforced by the new Per Eriksson and Niklas Sandin replacing the Norman brothers the Swedes started by the opener \u201cForsaker\u201d of the current \u201cNight Is The New Day\u201d masterpiece they also played \u201cThe Longest Year\u201d and \u201cDay & Then The Shade\u201d from. The rest of the set consisted of material from the albums \u201cViva Emptiness\u201d (\u201cGhost Of A Sun\u201d, \u201cEvidence\u201d, \u201cA Premonition\u201d) and \u201cThe Great Cold Distance\u201d (\u201cDeliberation\u201d, \u201cMy Twin\u201d, \u201cJuly\u201d, \u201cLeaders\u201d). I also would have liked to hear some hits from the previous albums, but that is a matter of luxury: This band has too many great compositions for 45 minutes. Anyway it was a fabulous appearance which caught the attention of a respectable spectatorship!<\/p>\n

Sabaton<\/strong> Totally different was the following act. The next Swedish band played clear Power Metal. Titles like \u201cPanzer Battalion\u201d, the title track of the brand new release \u201cCoat Of Arms\u201d, \u201cAttero Dominatus\u201d, \u201cPrimo Victoria\u201d and the final \u201cMetal Machine\u201d stressed what the show was about. The astonishing huge crowd of supporters enjoyed the performance of the very agile band. Good show!<\/p>\n

Bloodbath<\/strong> After in Wacken and at Party San I was able to watch one of the very rare shows of the mighty Death Metal collaboration of members from Opeth and Katatonia. After an intro the all star band started with \u201cWays To The Grave\u201d many fans had seemingly waited for. The band acted tight during their fourth appearance ever, just fronter Mikael Akerfeldt seemed to miss his guitar. I missed the former outfit including the original corpsepaint a bit. Anyway the fivepiece animated the fan crowd to headbang for \u201cProcess Of Disillumination\u201d, the title track of their very first EP \u201cBreeding Death\u201d, \u201cMouth Of Prayer\u201d, \u201cMass Strangulation\u201d, \u201cBlood Vortex\u201d, \u201cOutnumbering The Day\u201d and the as cannibal song announced encore \u201cEaten\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Devil’s Blood<\/strong> To put the Dutch faves of Rock Hard chief editor on a headliner position was a surprise. Ordinary 70ies rock mixed with an occult show using animals’ blood added by some other effects from the parallel world of the misanthropic nerds of this planet from a new band with just one official full-length-album. Did it work? No! This show turned out completely ridiculous, musically as visually. Just those ones got impressed by the occult show who usually gets scared having the worst nightmares after watching \u201cScream 1-3\u201d. After having by Opeth the best headliner ever just one year later we saw on another friday by this unintended comedians the most horrible as boring one.<\/p>\n

Saturday<\/strong>
\nOrden Organ<\/strong> For friends of Blind Guardian as similar Power Metal sounds this group from Arnsberg was the right sound to get awake. Supported by pretty much pyros and smoke in the sunny noon they played the title track of their new output \u201cEaston Hope\u201d and the Running Wild hommage \u201cWe Are Pirates\u201d which found its applause.<\/p>\n

Evile<\/strong> The new wave of Thrash Metal acts brought several interesting bands. The British fourpiece played a refreshing show for all the still tired visitors by \u201cInfected Nation, \u201cNow Demolition\u201d and \u201cEnter The Grave\u201d. To me it became too montonous after a while, but most spectators enjoyed.<\/p>\n

Bulldozer<\/strong> Italy got their own Thrash Metal heroes back. After 21 years they reunited to publish \u201cUnexpected Fate\u201d last year and to play live. It was interesting to watch fronter AC Wild suited as a priest perfoming from behind a pulpit. \u201cMinkions\u201d, \u201cFallen Angel\u201d and \u201cWhisky Time\u201d satisfied the Trash fans, but I’m not quite sure if more spectators got convinced.<\/p>\n

Artillery<\/strong> And the Thrash Metal day continued by the well-known Danish fivepiece. They seemed to interest more fans than their predecessors which celebrated \u201c10000 Devils\u201d, \u201cBy Inheritance\u201d, \u201cWhen Death Comes\u201d and \u201cTerror Squad\u201d, but finally the band should have invested more in their stage performance which got missed a lot.<\/p>\n

Raven<\/strong> The NWOBHM legend from Great Britain is a phenomenon: As older they get the better live shows they play. So the Gallagher brothers and drummer did in Gelsenkirchen by \u201cTake Control\u201d, \u201cLive At The Inferno\u201d, \u201cAll For One\u201d, \u201cOn And On\u201d and the final \u201cBreak The Chain\u201d containing a cool short Dio-dedication.<\/p>\n

Exhorder<\/strong> It’s been a very long time since the last show of the Thrash Metal weirdos. In the meantime fronter Kyle Thomas released the very cool Floodgate album. The band started with \u201cSlaughter In The Vatican\u201d into a set presenting by \u201cThe Law\u201d, \u201cDeath In Vain\u201d, \u201cLegions Of Death\u201d and the self-titled \u201cExhorder\u201d classics from both studio albums. Cool nostalgic appearance, just a little bit too less stage action.<\/p>\n

Accept<\/strong> Accept without Udo Dirkschneider? The first try with David Reece and \u201cEat The Heat\u201d in the 90ies didn’t work. So this time Wolf Hoffman, Peter Baltes & Co tried their luck with Mark Tornillo and this time many fans got surprised by a pretty Udo-compatible, but still own voice being able to interpret new material by \u201cThe Abyss\u201d and \u201cTeutonic Terror\u201d as the classics \u201cMetal Heart\u201d as opener, \u201cRestless And Wild\u201d, \u201cSon Of A Bitch\u201d and the amazing final consisting of \u201cI’m A Rebel, \u201cBalls To The Wall\u201d, \u201cPrincess Of The Dawn\u201d and \u201cFast As A Shark\u201d. To me this kind reunion didn’t really feel authentic, but no reproval to the new vocalist. The big majority considered this gig as one of the best at the amphitheatre 2010.<\/p>\n

Kreator<\/strong> But the Trash Metal legend from Essen was supposed to exceed this at their home game. After beginning with \u201cChoir Of The Damned\u201d and \u201cThe Pestilence\u201d Mille and his companions set a clear thrashing statement by the following \u201cHordes Of Chaos\u201d, \u201cPhobia\u201d and \u201cEnemy Of God\u201d who was the powerhouse of the saturday billing. After this beginning the quartet performed by \u201cEndless Pain\u201d, \u201cPleasure To Kill\u201d, \u201cTerrible Certainty\u201d, \u201cExtreme Aggression\u201d and \u201cComa Of Souls\u201d a classic section of title songs from their first five albums in the right chronologic row. Supported by video projections which didn’t work for a while the band succeeded without any doubt and played by \u201cWhen The Sun Burns Red\u201d, \u201cFlag Of Hate\u201d and \u201cTormentor\u201d three much celebrated encores. Awesome!<\/p>\n

Sunday<\/strong>
\nSacred Steel<\/strong> Aaah! True Metal at 12.00 a.m., as known as in the deepest night, wasn’t that I was looking for. And the voice of sympathic fronter Gerrit P. Mutz who took a short trip into the audience was horrible. So there were just very few purists having fun while the opener \u201cMetal Is War\u201d, \u201cHeavy Metal To The End\u201d, the title track of the current \u201cCarnage Victory\u201d release and the set closing \u201cWargods Of Metal\u201d.<\/p>\n

Keep Of Kalessin<\/strong> Black Metal of its better kind followed. The Norwegians didn’t need any corpsepaint shit. Therefor they presented interesting hard music by the highspeed new \u201cReptilian\u201d tracks \u201cDragon Iconography\u201d as opener, \u201cJudgement\u201d, \u201cThe Awakening\u201d and the eurovision song contest input \u201cThe Dragontower\u201d besides more familiar tracks like \u201cArmada\u201d or \u201cCrown Of The Kings\u201d.<\/p>\n

Crashdiet<\/strong> After innovative Black Metal the complete billing contrast got done by Glam Rock. The quartet started with their Sleaze hymn \u201cRiot In Everyone\u201d into a typical Hardrock show referring to the music as to the stage posing action. But also the material from the brandnew \u201cGeneration Wild\u201d album (\u201cSo Alive\u201d, \u201cBound To Fall\u201d and the final \u201cGeneration Wild\u201d) rocked.<\/p>\n

Orphaned Land<\/strong> What definitely didn’t rock was the following act. The band from Israel is sympathic for sure, but their oriental Metal stuck on my nerves as especially the ridiculous female dancer did. \u201cThe Kiss Of Babylon\u201d, \u201cOcean Land\u201d and \u201cNorra El Norra\u201d found their audience, but to me this was no Metal at all.<\/p>\n

Virgin Steele<\/strong> The next slot was announced as Classic Metal set. And the Power Metal institution from New York City held this promise musically renouncing all the instrumental classic music parts. Hopefully nobody had understood anything wrong before. But the setlist wasn’t classic at all: By \u201cSymphony Of Steele\u201d, \u201cRain Of Fire\u201d and \u201cNoble Savage\u201d which got dedicated to Ronnie James Dio and Peter Steele they just played three older songs While guitarist Edward Pursino looked a bit like Al Bundy vocalist David De Feis showed an awesome vocalist performance interpreting \u201cThe Wine Of Violence\u201d, \u201cKingdom Of The Fearless (Destruction Of Troy)\u201d and \u201cWings Of Vengeance\u201d while he reonounced his keyboard which got sampled as the bass got. Good show which could have been much better!<\/p>\n

Nevermore<\/strong> Supported by new guitarist Attila Voros who did a very good job Seattle’s finest began by \u201cBeyond Within\u201d and \u201cThe River Dragon Has Come\u201d in front of a pretty filled up amphitheatre. The band considered by \u201cYour Poison Throne\u201d, \u201cEmptiness Unobstructed\u201d and the title track \u201cThe Obsidian Conspiracy\u201d three songs from the forthcoming new album which made curious. The crowd reacted with massive headbanging action especially celebrating \u201cBorn\u201d, \u201cInside For Walls\u201d, \u201cThis Godless Endeavor\u201d and the final \u201cEnemies Of Reality\u201d. Best show of the day!<\/p>\n

Sonata Arctica<\/strong> To let play the Finish band after Nevermore was a wrong decision. It became much emptier in front of the stage. But Toni Kakko & Co didn’t get disappointed and opened motivated after the intro by \u201cFlag In The Ground\u201d and \u201cBlack Sheep\u201d. So they earned more and more support during their co-headliner slot like Melodic Metal hits as \u201cFull Moon\u201d or \u201cDon’t Say A Word\u201d deserved it.<\/p>\n

Rage & Lingua Mortis Orchestra<\/strong> Before the festival I wasn’t quite sure if the reanimation of Rage’s classic concept was worth a festival headliner. But I was wrong. Covered in a nice light show and supported by a brilliant sound the trio from Herne and the orchestra showed from the beginning by \u201cTurn The Page\u201d and \u201cFrom The Cradle To The Grave\u201d this will be a wonderful RHF 2010 closure. In the set they got supported by a female singer performing a \u201cLingua Mortis Medley\u201d and the following songs together. So this show turned out to a fabulous event finished by \u201cAlive But Dead\u201d and \u201cHigher Than The Sky\u201d.<\/p>\n

Conclusion:<\/strong>
\nThe eighth Rock Hard Festival should have become another big success. As I mentioned all confirmed bands were able to appear, the weather was wonderful and our little trips away from the festivalsite to watch the phenomenal German team were excellent. For another time the festival organizers were able to hold their high standards offering a very good as clean toilet \/ restroom-situation for free and an uncomplicated security. The Rock Hard – members were always close to the fans as to their questions. The RHF-organization kept the prices for food and beverages constant (e.g. from 2,30 \u20ac to 2,50 \u20ac for a 0,33l beer or softdrink). By the way: The Rock Hard Festival won a new media partner by the popular WDR TV channel and its show \u201cRockpalast\u201d presnting a special of the Rock Hard Festival in the end of july. So be prepared!
\nSpecial Thanks go out to Dani Lipka, Jenny R\u00f6nnebeck and the RHF-team!!!!!
\nAt the Rock Hard Festival rocked, drank and partied Tobi Wan Kenobi, Lotte and Dumbo!!!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rock Hard Festival 2010 For another time the summer festival season got opened by the mighty Rock Hard Festival also being one of the season’s highlights. Everybody knows about the nice familiar atmosphere the RHF organizers are able to offer in the probably most wonderful festival location of the Amphitheater within the Nordsternpark of Gelsenkirchen. … <\/p>\n

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