Returning to the Effenaar venue on day two of Eindhoven Metal Meeting, logistical issues with trains sadly meant I missed the opener on the main stage, Izegrim. As I arrived I decided to do my best to at least catch Dervaza, but it quickly becomes apparent today is the “meat” of the fest for most people, and somehow it is even busier than the day before. Watching the bodies trying to squeeze into the small room, a line forming of metalheads craning their necks to see the band, I’m left to strike pretty much everything I wanted to cover in the small room off my itinerary today.
Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Jonathan Davis, Body Count, Zakk Sabbath, DevilDriver, Wednesday 13: This was the lineup that rocked in the new year at Ozzfest New Year’s Eve 2018.
The festivities began in the parking lot of The Forum, located in (not so) sunny Los Angeles directly below one of LAX’s flight paths. The gloomy weather and high-flying airliners, however, were no match for the onslaught of heavy sounds so graciously provided by the fest’s openers: Wednesday 13 with their horror punk antics and crowd-dusting snow blower; Dez Fafara of Coal Chamber fame brought his current heavy hitting band DevilDriver and killed it as usual; and finishing out the outdoor portion of the fest was Black Sabbath cover band Zakk Sabbath, fronted by a purple-kilted Zakk Wylde.Continue reading →
December, for most a time of going home and seeing family, retrospectives, lists and copious amounts of food. However, for many in the European metal community, it’s also the time for the magnificent Eindhoven Metal Meeting. For many it’s the final party of the year, a place to see friends, network, hang out and lift the horns up one last time before the dead space at the end of the year when we all ascribe to the forced merriness we call the holidays.
As every year, the line to get in trails quite a way before the doors even open. It’s cold this year though, and very much sold out solid. It has been for several weeks. Progress inside is somewhat slow because security meticulously checks everyone. But once we get inside the familiar maze of the Effenaar venue the pace quickens, at least for now. Continue reading →
Days of Darkness, Ram’s Head Live, Baltimore, MD 10/28/18
Brought to you by the minds behind Maryland Deathfest, Days of Darkness Festival held their 2018 edition last month in the same hallowed halls that host MDF: Rams Head Live and Baltimore Soundstage. Once again, Ghost Cult was on hand with our intrepid photographer supreme Hillarie Jason on hand to capture the moods and the moments from the fest.Continue reading →
Once again it was time to convene the holy church of rock and metal that is the Rock Allegiance Festival. We have gone to ¾ of these fests, the North East’s biggest heavy music event every year. This years lineup was good, but perhaps not as stacked since the fest became a one-day affair in 2017. Still, even with the loss of Avenged Sevenfold (they canceled their entire tour due to illness), the fest was heavy on young talent, solid mid-level bands and big draws like Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, GWAR, Insane Clown Posse, Fozzy and more.As we mentioned the early day was just packed with great young bands, maybe more than any fest Ghost Cult attended worldwide in 2018. From Blacktop Mojo’s soulful grungy metal, Badflower, Stone Broken, Bad Omens, Sylar and Knocked Loose bringing the hardcore, and even local Philly area openers Siravo are worth investigating. These bands are the bright future of music we have to look forward to.
We split the team into two so we could interview a slew of bands (check out our YouTube channel) and also see the show and take in the fest. BB&T Pavillion is a fun venue on the water with a real Naval battleship to hang out on for the VIP’s. Cool to see bands framed against the Schuylkill River, overlooking the beautiful Philadelphia skyline.
Besides seeing some of the early bands mix it up, there were impressive amounts of fans for Fozzy (in a rare American fest appearance), From Ashes To New, ICP, and the mighty GWAR who brought their “A game” and their full show to the Pavillion stage. They pulled no punches, murdered people, bled and came on fans (not really) and upstaged every other band. GWAR seemed to be playing to a brand new audience this day, which is always rad to see. ICP predictably had a ton if heads in the house, many who seemed to be there just for them. They were never my thing personally, but you have to respect what they have put down. Whoop whoop, indeed.
Expected high energy sets from Fever 333, Beartooth, Motionless In White made up that solid middle of the bill we spoke of. Bullet For My Valentine has taken a lot of flack over their new album Gravity being too far out of the box for fans. Still, they rule live and those in attendance today got the full the BFMV experience in person, and a great one at that.
Skillet is one of the hardest working bands in the world and when I ever I see them live I feel like they ought to be headlining these festivals. They have a deep catalog and frontman John Cooper is amazing!
Papa Roachhad the fans amped as the crowd filled in the amphitheater for the last few bands of the day. They put on an excellent show, played some new jams, and had an amazing g light show. It was sick to hear fans sing and rap along to the band that is creeping up on 20 years I the scene. Of course, they closed with ‘Last Resort’ and of course people went apeshit.
Limp Bizkit put on their customary big show. Coming on with a tribute to Prince, complete with all purple lights and “Purple Rain” played over the speakers. Opening with ‘Full Nelson’, complete with a several minute elongated opening, so Fred Durst could pump up the crowd. And the crowd didn’t flag, they loved it, which shows the power of the band, even after all this time. Next was their short cover of Ministry classic ‘Thieves’, and this set the stage for many covers and medley breaks in the set. For the third song ‘Hot Dog’, Durst ran into the crowd and to the barricade between the pit and the seats and sang with the crowd. This was mere feet from me and it was pretty awesome how Fred touched ever hand he could, shared the microphone and seemed to make a personal connection to everyone near him. People can hate all they want, but he was awesome on this night.
The band rolled (pun intended) though some of their legit hits like ‘Rollin’. ‘Nookie’, followed by more covers like ‘Cowboys From Hell’ and ‘Creeping Death’ followed by more originals like ‘Take A look’ around’. With songs like these, the crowd was pretty hyped.
After a fast run through of their ‘Faith’ cover, the infamous “dropkick that wasn’t” happened where ICP’s Shaggy 2 Dope tried to attack Durst. It was pretty weak and dumb, although I can see why people thought it a PR stunt with all the beef between the two groups over time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OoHI3vF1mk
Still, LB pressed on and finished the set with even more covers like ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, and ‘Killing In The Name Of’, and before closing with ‘Break Stuff’ and ‘Take A Look Around’. It was a pretty fitting end to a fun day. See you next year Rock Allegiance!
The first ever Quebec Deathfest took place last month, from the folks that brought you Maryland Deathfest, Netherlands Deathfest, and more. Taking place across several venues in the metal capital of Canada, Quebec, the fest had many of the highlights of other festivals (multiple stages, vendors, lots of beer) that make this a worthy inclusion of your annual concert calendar. Bands on the bill included death metal greats like Autopsy, Demolition Hammer, Exhorder, Uada, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Malignancy, Unleashed,Skinless, Skeletal Remains, Outre-Tombe, Bell Witch, Dehumanized, Tomb Mold, and many more. Check out these EXCLUSIVE photos by Hillarie Jason Photography and we’ll see you next year! Saluer et tuer! Continue reading →
In the face of trying financial times for bands and gig-bookers alike, the fact that Damnation Festival still pulled off another sell-out edition is both impressive and heartening. Despite their own admissions about a couple of missed opportunities this year, Damnation always manage to bring an unmissable line-up that caters for a wide fan base, be it lovers of Extreme or the more Progressive, and once more they have done so with love and more than a few surprise additions!Continue reading →
As 2018 nears its close, Danny Wimmer Presents and crew once again graced California’s capital with the very popular (and very sold-out) Monster Energy Aftershock Festival, now in its seventh year. How sold-out, you ask? Oh, you know, just a mere 60,000 plus humans—the festival’s biggest turn-out yet.Continue reading →
Sojourning to the Steel City, where the steel these days is mostly from the music, Descendants of Crom Festival enjoyed a second annual event recently and Ghost Cult was there. From the pre-fest gala and parking lot party (think of a modern “Heavy Metal Parking Lot” with stoner rock and doom fans), three nights of badassery at both Howlers and the Cattivo club, it was a rager. Shout out to the sponsors Blackseed Records and Riff Relevant among others. Highlights of the weekend included sets from Heavy Temple, Howling Giant, Doomstress, Come to Grief, Thunderbird Divine, Toke, Geezer, Duel, but really you can’t really go wrong with a deep lineup like this. We can’t wait for next year and round three! In the meantime, check out these photos by Dante Torrieri of Useless Rebel Imaging for Ghost Cult. Continue reading →
Once again we return to the frozen north, Norway to be exact. Norway and its many metal festivals are becoming like a second home to Ghost Cult. We are thankful that we get to be part of the international metal community, covering festivals in Europe, Scandinavia, America, Canada and elsewhere. For this year’s epic Beyond The Gates, intrepid photographer Daniel Nyman traveled across the sea and over to the motherland of all that is and honest and true about black metal, and really other great kinds of metal too. Taking place at both The Garage and USF Verftet, these world-class kvlt bands With a keen eye for the grim, please enjoy Daniel’s highlights for the fest. Continue reading →
