Saturday 20th Dec 2008
MetalFest, Essen Written by Taake999. Photos by Katrin Reschke
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Much has been said about this tour in the lead up, and now we are about to find out if all the high expectations are kept true. This winter MORBID ANGEL, Kataklysm and Marduk with a rather unknown band Keep Of Kalessin as well as Arsis are united under the banner of the MetalFest to destroy the clubs throughout Mid-Europe.
Arsis was the opening act, whom I unfortunately missed due to a slightly longer journey to venue. At the time of arrival, the atmosphere in the club was great and I felt the gig will be a massive event. My arrival at the unholy ground is accompanied by the sound of Keep Of Kalessin. The Jugendzentrum Papestrasse is well-stocked and a superb blast beat storm disgorges into my ears. The sound of the Swedes was superb and their long lasting experience on stage, which they obtained during the promotion of five full-length CDs, becomes more than apparent. Keep Of Kalessin appear hard-boiled and professional, yet still radiate the verve of the underground. It remains a mystery why this band isn't more popular throughout Germany.
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After the obeisance of death-thrash metal the show continues in a much darker shade with Marduk. Without question, Marduk are one of the bands with the biggest influence on black metal in the past years and the latest output Rom 5:12 is already hailed by many as something legendary. During their distinguished performance, Marduk delighted with songs out of their whole creative period and are highly celebrated. The frenzy here: Marduk's bass drum is tempered so low that you can barely hear it. You feel it instead! Something like that doesn't happen very often. After a little more than 40 minutes this musical pleasure regrettably comes to an end.
But there is no time to fret. Northern Hyperblast is coming! Kataklysm enter the stage as co-headliner trying to fuel the audience even more and also trying to escalate the straightedge for the famous Morbid Angel. The main attention is laid on Kataklysm's latest CD Prevail which did not convince me as studio output in the first place. Well, played live the album is astonishing. Kataklysm's sound is set - like the sound of the bands before - on highest levels and the assortment of songs played does the rest to elate their gig to one of the highlights in the concert year 2008. Next to the new material, songs like the almost legendary Shadows And Dust or the newer Crippled And Broken aren't missing. Of course, there were some songs which I would have liked to hear, but due to the wide range of superb songs it was easy to get over it.
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The completion and highlight of the evening was about to be set by true legends: Morbid Angel! The band whose 1989er release Altars Of Madness might be THE death metal album par excellence! No doubt that this album also marked the recurring fix point of their show this evening. And the show isn't less awesome than the album itself. Full of vim, highly professional and with a sound which fathoms the limits of the technically feasible. For a little bit more than an hour, Morbid Angel offer death metal on highest and most brutal levels. It's pure joy to watch these musicians perform and whatever Trey Azagthoth and Thor Anders Myhren on the guitars with Pete Sandoval at the drums play, is sheer frenzy!
The gig of Morbid Angel truly marks a crowning closure for an absolutely awesome metal night! The MetalFest as the most fierce and brutal tour of the year just let's you long for more. It was for me the most awesome concert of 2008!
