Written by:	Darkside Momo, Deadsoulman, Ivor, wrathchild, Marcel Hubregtse, Baz Anderson, Bas, Moocher
Published:	July 10, 2009
Event:	Hellfest Open Air 2009 (Website)
Location:	Complexe Du Val De Moine, Clisson, France
Organizer:	HellFest Productions
Galleries:	Hellfest Open Air (Misc) - Clisson, France,19-21 June 2009 by Moocher (70) Hellfest Open Air - Clisson, France, 21st June 2009 by Moocher (188) Hellfest Summer Open Air 2009 - Clisson, France, 21.06.2009 by Ivor (123) Hellfest Open Air - Clisson, France, 20th June 2009 by Moocher (195) Hellfest Summer Open Air 2009 - Clisson, France, 20.06.2009 by Ivor (116) Hellfest Open Air - Clisson, France, 19th-21st June 2009 by Baz Anderson (237) Hellfest Open Air - Clisson, France, 19th June 2009 by Moocher (249) Hellfest Summer Open Air 2009 - Clisson, France, 19.06.2009 by Ivor (107) Hellfest Summer Open Air 2009 - Clisson, France, 19-21.06.2009 by Ivor (63) Hellfest Open Air... a few more... by Darkside Momo (80) Hellfest Open Air 2009 by Deadsoulman (24)

Hellfest Summer Open Air Festival, Clisson, France, 20/21/22 June 2008


If you wanna just jump to:

Conclusion

Aftermath

Acknowledgements







Sunday 21th

(Momo) Sunday... The last day of the fest. As always it's too short! But this was also a day full of promising shows, with the headliner that probably divided metal fans the most: Manowar. Were they good? Read on, if you want to know!







Black Stone Cherry

(wrathchild) Although the way I discovered this band is somehow painful, I would have been happy if I could have watched more than one song from Black Stone Cherry on that Sunday morning (woke up too late). This band is more of a rock band than a metal band (some might say modern rock, but I'm not an expert) and I think it was a good choice to have them kick off the last day. Anyway, nothing special to see from the little I could attend.


Hacride 11:00/11:30, Rock Hard Tent

(Momo) A quite small audience got up early to catch Hacride's set. And well, while not groundbreaking, the French guys delivered a solid and well-played show, featuring the wondrous 'My Enemy' out of their latest album Lazarus. And while the stage presence of the band members can certainly be better, they sure showed they were happy to be there.
So this was a nice appetizer for the shows to come.

(Collin) Yet another nice starter for the third day! Although the crowd was rather scarce and the musicians did seem a bit shy, Hacride's technical music goes very well live, and songs such as "My Enemy" allowed the band to display the whole range of their abilities. Not really groundbreaking, but pretty cool music to wake up to.



Band Gallery by Momo


Adagio 11:35/12:05, Mainstage 1

(Bas) Half past eleven AM (fucking early) and I stood in front of Mainstage 1 to watch Adagio. Actually I was there for only one single song though. I wanted to see them play my favourite song of all time, The Stringless Violin from their debut album Sanctus Ignus. As was to be expected they mainly played their newer - extreme metal infused - songs, instead of their earlier purely melodic symphonic progressive power metal. Still I found their whole set to be thoroughly enjoyable. The songs were great and all of the musicians were fantastic. Unfortunately they didn't play The Stringless Violin, however they did play Sanctus Ignus, title track of their first CD. Despite not being their amazing masterpiece; I was unable to do anything but gape open-mouthedly throughout the whole song. The rest of their concert was great too, but this one song was without a doubt the best song of the whole festival for me. At the beginning of their performance they had some issues with the sound, especially with the guitar, but luckily after a short while everything was fine again.

(wrathchild) I had already seen Adagio live at least 3 times before (with the 3 different singers) and clearly I was never moved by their performances. This time it was better, they seemed to be happier (including Stéphan Forte) and the show was more energetic thanks to their new Finnish singer, Christian Palin. The concert did not start ideally since the audience couldn't hear the guitar, although Stéphan played as if everything was perfectly normal. Eventually, they stopped at the beginning of the second song to fix it and a few minutes later everything got back to normal. I must say I enjoyed this moment of guitar-free Adagio, it wasn't bad, really...



Band Galleries by Ivor and Moocher


ADX 12:10/12:50, Mainstage 2

(Momo) ADX are an old French heavy/power metal band that reunited two years ago. I was really looking forward to this show, as it was one of the bands I discovered in my first years in metal, long ago, and as such I still have a special fondness for them.
I could have been disappointed, but no, they were good! The audience was full of old fans like me who gave a great response, and so the band was really happy to be these and it showed! The setlist was nice, even if they didn't play any songs out of Weird Visions (their only album sung in English); a surprising choice...
Being objective, was the show THAT good? I think so, even if they made some mistakes (as the singer easily admits), as their energy and the songs' catchiness cannot be denied. But you would probably have enjoyed it less than I (or many others) did.



Band Galleries by Momo and Moocher


Aborted 12:10/12:50, Rock Hard Tent

(Bas) This was another one of the bands I wanted to see really badly. Aborted is a band that I really love to listen to on album. Sadly enough they were a huge disappointment on stage. The main issue I had with them that just weren't the energetic, aggression-packed, brutal monster I had expected them to be. A tame kitten with an occasional bad mood probably fitted them better. My expectations were too high and the band failed to deliver the goods. They just weren't brutal enough. Very disappointing.

(Baz Anderson) As alarm clocks come, none are more extreme than Aborted. These Belgians were comfortable over in France both language-wise, but also being on stage in front of a whole lot of people. Aborted blistered through a set that hit almost all their albums and left people begging for more brutal death at the end. These have just grown and grown over the years and are now one of the best brutal death metal bands you could possibly want to see.



Band Galleries by Baz Anderson and Moocher


Keep Of Kalessin 13:40/14:20, Rock Hard Tent

(Bas) Even though I had been told that Keep Of Kalessin are an extremely average black metal band before the festival, I decided to check them out. After seeing them the average-statement is something I strongly have to disagree with. Their fast and tight, but at the same time melodic and epic black metal made for some fantastic live material. The songs were very good and the band's execution was flawless. Great stuff, thoroughly enjoyable. I'd definitely like to see these guys again.

(Baz Anderson) Time for some Norwegian black metal as Keep Of Kalessin controlled the stage for their alotted time. Playing a set entirely of songs from the last two albums, the band set themselves apart from any competition they may have had over the festival. The band oozed quality and the drummer especially blew everyone away with his ultra precise and tight playing. The last two Keep Of Kalessin albums have both been top quality and this is only magnified in the live environment. The music sounds so epic live while still being as fast as hell. Actually one of the best sets of the festival if not the best.



Band Galleries by Baz Anderson and Moocher


Wolves In The Throne Room 14:25/15:05, Terrorizer Tent

(Collin) Welcome to Autistland! Of course it's part of the show, but it always amuses me to see band members not looking at the crowd, not saying a single word and looking all serious and professional. It would piss me off if such an attitude wasn't accompanied by great music and an amazing atmosphere. But, like Neurosis two years ago, Wolves In The Throne Room take advantage of the complexity and the variety of their music to literally hypnotize the audience. Having the members chat and joke at the crowd would break the spell. In any case, these guys are experts at creating a sonic world of their own, a kind of vortex into which the listener is sucked up, shaken about and manhandled. After some time you're not really conscious to be standing under a tent watching a band anymore. It's exhilarating.

(Marcel) The Wolves have come a long way since the first time I saw them 1.5 years ago play in front of slightly less than 200 people. Today they play in front of a packed Terrorizer Tent at an open air festival. The tent was so packed that I decided to listen to the set from outside the tent lying in sun instead of enduring a sauna inside. Wolves In The Throne Room aren't really a band that moves much on stage. What they rely on is atmosphere and lighting. Seeing it is as sunny as can be the lighting won't be as effective as during the night. So, nothing much is lost letting their music just roll over me and envelop. In the just 40 minutes they were allotted they managed to mesmerize everyone in and outside of the tent. Nathan, though being the vocalist, once again didn't say a word to the crowd and the band just rolled from one song into another. As atmospheric and as tight as the four previous times I had seen them. Somehow this brand of black metal really does work well when lying in the sun with your eyes closed. Great performance by a band who will certainly become even bigger than they currently are. As a plus for the band they did win over some new people who were at first skeptical. Not a single soul left the tent disappointed.

(Momo) Theirs was an hypnotic show, quite Neurosis-like in attitude (as they don't speak, just play, and there's no silence at all) and pure sound energy. However, the feelings invoked by the music are quite different. WITTR definitively represents for me nature's unforgiveness and fury put in music form. Imagine yourself naked in front of a raging storm. Do you feel the primal fear and awe? Well WITTR just evokes the very same feelings. It's as intense as that.



Band Gallery by Momo


Pain Of Salvation 15:10/15:50, Mainstage 2

(wrathchild) There are times I don't feel like listening to Pain Of Salvation, and times I long for it. This music is different, it can be hard to get into if you're not in the right mood yet everytime I saw the band live I was totally carried away. You can feel how much they give to their music when you see them perform so it's hard to resist. Yet this time was the least immersive POS show I attended, even though I was extremely pleased to see Léo Margarit behind the drumkit. Rest assured that it was a good show, nothing to worry about. I was even glad they chose not to play the overrated "Disco Queen" song. There was something missing from my part, I still have no clue what it was.



Band Galleries by Ivor and Moocher


Kataklysm 15:10/15:50, Rock Hard Tent

(Baz Anderson) Kataklysm also comfortable on the French stage, the Canadian hyperblast as they like to be called did just that. Much better than my previous encounter with the band, they sounded like a genuine beast of a death metal band thundering their way through these songs. One of the most popular bands on the third stage they had a large moshpit going with plenty willing to throw themselves in to the wolves.

(Bas) On CD Kataklysm is a band that always gets really boring really fast for me. Sure, they have some fantastic songs like 'In Shadows & Dust', but most of their songs start boring me after two minutes. Having heard a lot of praise about their live performances I was tempted to check them out though. They actually were quite a beast on stage. Fast, heavy and brutal; that's what Kataklysm is about and they did manage to put it into action in a live setting. Although their performance was good, the music did bore me after a while. However I can say that it took a lot longer than on CD.



Band Gallery by Baz Anderson


Dragonforce 15:55/16:35, Mainstage 1

(Baz Anderson) Bands can either be blessed or cursed with reputations of how they play live. Either they are a fantastic live band that sound better on CD, or they can't play what they have recorded and always fail live. Unfortunately Dragonforce have the curse of having the latter tagged to their name when the people who say these things really miss the point. Dragonforce are a fun band and a great band to watch, on CD they make you smile and make you sing along with them, live they do the same but they make you laugh out loud at their antics and because you are being entertained by the jokers on stage you don't care to be anal enough to wonder if a guitar solo was played as it was on CD or not. Dragonforce are a great band live, and anyone who says otherwise needs to get over it.



Band Galleries by Baz Anderson and Moocher


Ufomammut 15:55/16:35, Terrorizer Tent

(Collin) Treble is immensely overrated. Really, it is. I don't understand why most bands would bother with treble when they can just use bass. Sorry, I meant BAAAAASSSSS. Italian doomsters of Ufomammut got that right. And having almost only bass helped them create a vibrant, hypnotic, sometimes almost eerie atmosphere. Simple as that: once you stepped inside the Terrorizer tent, you were engulfed in all the ultra bass and couldn't take your eyes off the stage. Ufomammut were almost more mesmerizing than WITTR, and that's saying a lot. The French audience did understand that something huge was going on, and they cheered the hell out of the band. Judging by their surprised looks, these guys were apparently not used to that kind of reactions, and so they even came back for a much deserved encore that made us miss the first song of Pestilence. A great, great show.




Destruction 16:40/17:20, Mainstage 2

(Bas) Unfortunately I only got to see a small part of the set, but the part I did see was solid as hell. I already saw Destruction live quite a while back and already knew that they're a strong live band and they confirmed it again here at Hellfest. Their thrash might not be all that technical, but it's really fun to make up for that. And especially if we're talking about a concert, I'll definitely pick the latter of those two attributes. It's obvious that these German fellows belong on the stage, and when they're on it, they're a blast.



Band Gallery by Moocher


Pestilence 16:40/17:20, Rock Hard Tent

(Collin) Another band I would have never dreamed to see live! Although I'm not particularly fond of their new album, I must say the new songs worked very well on the audience. But of course everyone was waiting for "The Secrecies Of Horror" and all the old tracks. Pestilence didn't disappoint, it was even amazing to see them playing so tightly after 15 years of absence. Tony Choy confirmed that he is a beast and Patrick Mameli sounded even more brutal than he used to. Pestilence will stay as one of the very good shows of the festival.

(wrathchild) Not a band I would usually listen to but I was very impressed by their sound, so compact and precise, rich, etc. That's pretty much all I can say about Pestilence, but I really had to say it. They were great.

(Baz Anderson) Who would have thought they were ever going to get the chance to see one of the best and perhaps important death metal bands from The Netherlands, Pestilence. What an absolute treat it was to have songs from "Consuming Impulse" and "Testimony Of The Ancients" blasted at us at great volume. Unfortunately the people sorting the running order of the festival must have gone a little dumb for the moment they decided to make Destruction and Pestilence play at the same time as both bands will have similar fans. Because of this, numbers were not at their highest and so Pestilence were greatly underappreciated by the people at the main stage, but all the more loved by the ones who knew where to be. "Hate Suicide" from the new album fitted in perfectly with the oldies such as "Out Of The Body" which almost created the illusion of taking an audience back in time. Quite a special set.

(Momo) I was impressed by the brutality of Pestilence's set. While the technical level was wonderful, but not really surprising (as it was what we wanted anyway), the sheer aggressiveness of it all blew me away. In fact, Patrick Mameli's vocals just sounded more harsh and extreme live than on any studio recording! Also, both Patricks were great on guitars, Tony Choy impressive (and soooo evil looking) and Peter Wildoer just mindblowing.
Because of all this, the show was really enjoyable, moreso considering that they played a song out of Spheres (Mind Reflections).



Band Galleries by Baz Anderson and Momo


Stratovarius 18:15/19:00, Mainstage 1

(Bas) Stratovarius without Tolkki? Polaris is definitely a stinking heap of elk-poo, I listened to it with very low expectations and the album turned out to be more boring and soulless than I could possibly have imagined. Anyway, let's talk about their live-performance instead. Luckily they only played two songs off Po(o)laris if I remember correctly, however it was easy to see that most of the crowd was just waiting for those two songs to finish. Their older hits on the other hand were eagerly swallowed up, digested and transformed into a burst of appreciation by the fans. The band seemed very comfortable standing on the stage without Tolkki, but still the concert wasn't much different than any other of their concerts. Stratovarius is a band you don't need to see live more than once. They always play pretty much the same songs - which aren't too different from each other anyway - and the show they put on isn't really worth writing a whole article about either.

(wrathchild) Stratovarius without Tolkki, I wondered what it would be like. I had given only a very quick listen to the new album so I didn't know what to expect. I was disappointed that they choose to open with the uninspired hit song "High & Low" and to close with the overrated hit song "Black Diamond" but apart from that I must confess that the show was better than most of the Stratovarius shows I had seen in the past. So yeah, this Tolkki-free Strato is good, perhaps even better... And I also liked the songs from the new album.

(Baz Anderson) So it is the afternoon on the last day and as some might say the shell of Stratovarius took the stage. Yes yes, "Black Diamond", double bass drumming here and there and the odd wailing vocals. We've all heard it before and this Stratovarius performance didn't spark with any imagination at all. Next.



Band Galleries by Baz Anderson and Moocher


Queensrÿche 19:05/19:55 Mainstage 1

(wrathchild) Nothing from Mindcrime... Never a good choice to ignore your best known songs at a festival. I could have forgiven Tate for his weakened voice, although I really don't know whether it was his voice or his choice of microphones, cause contrary to all the other singers at Hellfest it seemed he couldn't get anything out of the mic while holding it just a few centimeters away from his mouth. Really, weird. But yeah, even a perfect Tate couldn't have lift this frustration... no Mindcrime... And even the bassist didn't impress me as much as he does on CD. And no Mindcrime...

(Marcel) The single biggest letdown of the festival. Mötley Crüe and Manowar were absolutely mindblowingly brilliant compared to what was once one of the best bands around: Queensrÿche. A band which played totally uninspired and turned everything they touched today into top-40 pop tunes back with a vocalist who didn't hit a single note right. Simple three word suffice to sum up today's performance: What a disgrace!



Band Galleries by Ivor and Moocher


Mastodon 20:00/20:45 Mainstage 2

(Marcel) Would the band that started off brilliantly two years ago but then lost the plot after three songs take revenge today? Mmm, I am still torn up on that one.
Yes, they played a quite inspired tight set. But where was the fire that shone through two years ago? Is the Mastodon that delivered this year's, much praised (though not by all), Crack The Skye the Mastodon we'll see more often in future? A laid-back almost stoner like Mastodon instead of the furious beast that I personally have come to love? For me personally I am afraid that that will be the case, but judging from the crowd's reaction I will be in a minority on this one. Well, a loss for me, but gain for everyone and also the band who do deserve the amount of fans they are currently reaching.

(Collin) I am a bit undecided on this one. Having missed Mastodon at least four times since Graspop 2005, they were one of the bands I absolutely did want to catch. They made me happy for most of the show, because their old songs are still fucking heavy and sludgy. "March Of The Fire Ants" and "Blood And Thunder" will never disappoint, for instance. But. Yes there is a but. As much as I love Crack The Skye, I couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated by the new songs. Somehow they sounded a little soft compared to the rest, and the vocal harmonies weren't rendered very well (especially on "The Czar" they sometimes sounded terrible). Unfortunately the new songs didn't stand the test of the scene for me, they lacked the power and the fire of the other songs. So, it was altogether a very good show, but I can't say I am completely satisfied.



Band Galleries by Baz Anderson and Moocher


Europe 20:50/21:50, Mainstage 1

(Momo) I heard the set from afar, and they had far more energy and conviction than what I glimpsed of Quennsryche before (to my ears at least). And I was there for the last song of their show, which was of course The Final Countdown. It is something to see all the metalheads on the site get up, and rise their hands in the air, as one. Yeah, everyone has heard this song one time or the other, and so everyone, black, death, heavy fans, reacted. Awesome.

(Collin) Now that I've seen Europe, I know that it is physically impossible to die of boredom. Else I wouldn't be here complaining. Or did they manage to kill me and I am currently in total denial? That's an interesting point of view... What do you mean, "no"? Let me tell you one thing, bro, it is at least as interesting as the Europe show. Anyway. So, Europe was boring me to death, and yet I stood and endured one hour of cheese without complaining (ok, almost). I absolutely wanted to be there for "The Final Countdown", you see. I should have guessed it would be the last song. That one was great, because this was probably the only song everyone at the festival knew by heart. The rest was really soft and cheesy, without any real highlight or anything that would jump out of the usual. At least Joey Tempest seemed to really enjoy being there, but I really didn't. I haven't seen Mötley Crüe or Queensrÿche or any of the other bands that were judged "extremely boring" by my fellow metalheads, so for me Europe won the "Worst Show of the Weekend" contest hands down.

(Baz Anderson) Everyone seems to have an opinion about Europe playing at these European metal festivals, but whoever got them to play is a genius. Everyone knows Europe for just one song which is quite unfortunate really when the band have a catalogue of quality albums and some other cracking songs such as the catchy "Rock The Night" or "Cherokee". The band put on a brilliantly rocking show if only hindered slightly by a few keyboard problems during that song to finish the set off. The audience went crazy, and why not. Such a superbly enjoyable set, it will be a pleasure to bump into the band again.



Band Galleries by Baz Anderson, Ivor and Moocher


Suicidal Tendencies 21:55/22:45, Mainstage 2

(Collin) Oh, the memories? ST is the first metal band I have ever seen live, and that was 13 years ago. I had never seen them again since then. The lineup has changed (for the good, the bass player and drummer are monstrous) but the music has stayed. Although Mike Muir's banter was sometimes a bit too long, once they started playing "You Can't Bring Me Down", "War Inside My Head", "Possessed To Skate", "Subliminal", "Send Me Your Money" or "We Are Family", you had no choice but fall in love with their funky hardcore punk / thrash crossover. The only thing is, Mike Muir is now too old and too fat to be able to sprint around the stage and sing at the same time, and so his vocals weren't always very precise. But he showed so much energy that I forgive him for that. Oh, and I also thank him for calling everyone on stage during "Pledge Your Allegiance", even though they always do that I really appreciate that such an old and renowned band tries to stay close to their fans. Respect.

(Marcel) ST is in da house, mothefucka.
Suicidal always delivers with their brand of hardcore thrash crossover. Mike Muir was backed by an extremely proficient tight blistering band, probably musically the best band of the three days Hellfest. A jazz (I guess) drummer who gives every metal drummer a run for their money, a bass player who can let it rip and groove at the same time, and guitarists who shred with the best of them and can play all that jazz and more.
What we got was an extremely energetic set with Mike running all over the stage constantly. But because of his stage antics he did have to take a breather in between songs, that resulted, alas, into a lot of talk, and also a drum solo. Who in his right mind plays a drum solo during a 50 minute set? This together with the closer where the crowd was invited to join the band on stage resulted into only seven songs being played. What was played was delivered in such a way, even the new song, that all in all I did leave the festival ground with a positive feeling.

(Momo) Yes, their show was too short. Yes, Mike Muir spoke too much - I'm sorry Mike, but I think that 99% of the French people out there didn't understand anything you said. But yes, the audience was nuts, crazy, loco, whatever from start to finish! It was maybe the best (read: most violent) response of the whole fest; as soon as 'You Can't Bring Me Down' started the mosh-pit was in full swing, huge clouds of dust rose in the air and numerous crowdsurfers landed in the photographers' pit (seen from the pit, it was like waves crashing over the barriers). And this, of course, lasted for the whole show.
Those who know ST are used to see them, in clubs, joined by the fans onstage for the last song 'Pledge Your Allegiance'. Would they do the same in a big fest like this? Hell yeah! It was really impressive to see a hundred fans or more shouting and jumping on the mainstage of the Hellfest; it's just fantastic.
So, in the end, the show was an awesome and fantastic memory!



Band Gallery by Moocher


Moonspell 21:55/22:45, Mainstage 2

(Bas) This being the second time I saw them, these Portuguese guys still managed to but on a fantastic show for me. Everyone who's seen them live before knows that there aren't a lot of bands with the impressive stage presence of singer Fernando Robeiro and the rest of Moonspell. The music was great of course and the execution flawless. These guys simply know how to put on a good show and how to get a big deal of atmosphere into it. I don't think I need to say much more about them, just make sure you get the chance to catch them when they play live in your area, you won't regret it.



Band Gallery by Ivor


Dream Theater 22:50/23:50, Mainstage 1

(wrathchild) The more I see them, the better they get. Jordan Ruddess' typically noiseful solo was hopefully shortened and turned into a duel with Petrucci, for what was a very enjoyable instrumental moment (I do think it was not "wankery") during Metropolis part I.
They played "A Rite Of Passage" from the new album and I happen to like it more than when I heard the studio version a few weeks earlier although it was one of the weakiest songs on the setlist.

(Momo) This wasn't a show for the DT newbie I think! With its mostly-instrumental, show-off approach, it could well rebuke the uninitiated.
It's no news that James Labrie has some difficulties with the live vocals now. Well, this time, it seems the setlist was arranged to let him rest a lot, with songs featuring long instrumentals parts; he shared the stage with the others for, at most, 20 minutes of their 1 hour set! Another proof, Voices was amputated of its most aggressive part. Well, all this seems to have been well thought, as James was great in his delivery this night.
Apart from this, the setlist was great, mixing old and new stuff, with a pure technical show-off jam during Metropolis...
As an old fan, I had a blast (for the first time with Dream Theater live)!

Setlist : In The Presence Of Enemies Part 1 / Beyond This Life / A Rite Of Passage / Erotomania / Voices / Metropolis Part 1



Band Galleries by Ivor and Moocher


Electric Wizard 22:50/23:50, Terrorizer Stage

(Collin) Instead of watching yet another boring performance by Dream Theater, I went to see the masters of creepy doom, Electric Wizard. Once again, I had an excellent idea (I only have excellent ideas, it's just that no one else believes it). Electric Wizard delivered one hour of soul-torturing, gloom-inducing stoner doom. If that is possible, they were even heavier and more crushing than on album, and Justin Oborn managed to sound more menacing than he usually does. The atmosphere was suffocating, perverse, almost evil. To cut it short and for lack of better words, like the other doom bands at Hellfest, Electric Wizard totally slayed the audience. For me, possibly the best show of a day that had its share of great performances.


Amon Amarth 23:55/00:55, Rock Hard Tent

(Momo) Just one hour of catchy, melodic Viking death metal from Sweden. One hour of great musicianship, good mood, and a nice moshpit in the center. The Rock Hard Tent was fully packed with metalheads, all cheering and responding to Johan Hegg. Some people even climb up the pillars supporting the tent to have a better view!
The setlist featured quite a few songs of Twilight Of The Thunder God, including Guardians Of Asgard, Free Will Sacrifice, among others. But of course, the most anticipated moment was Death In Fire, a song the band wisely played at the very end of their show. Damn, my glasses were almost broken at that time (and I wasn't the only one). Whatever, that was another fantastic moment!

(wrathchild) I couldn't see the show. Simply because I couldn't enter the Rock Hard Tent, it was so densely packed that I was trying to watch it from the fifth row outside the tent! In vain, of course... But I stayed for four or five songs, mostly because I wanted to see if either the security would get the pole climbers down, or if those people would simply fall in the crowd. But I left before it happened.

(Collin) I've seen Amon Amarth a number of times, and they've always been true to themselves, like on their albums one might say. When you go see Amon Amarth, you know you're going to get one hour of catchy tunes, fast riffs and really deep vocals. And above all, you know you're never going to be disappointed. At Hellfest, Amon Amarth didn't disappoint. They played every one of their anthems with infectious enthusiasm and energy and managed to win over the few people that weren't already fully supporting them. One hour of sheer fun.



Band Gallery by Moocher


Manowar 01:00/03:00, Mainstage 1

(Bas) After an annoying as hell fire siren going on for a couple of minutes, while Mainstage 1 was emitting a flood of red light onto the area in front of it; Manowars' ridiculous "Whimps and posers leave the hall!" message was blurted out of the speakers. "Hall? Whatever" I thought, as I listened to the recording with a mixture of amazement and amusement (the amazement coming from the fact that some people actually really do take the band seriously). When the intro (which took up over 5 minutes, I actually checked my watch) was finally over and a large mass of "Manowarriors", many of them bearing flags, had assembled, the band with one of the most enormous egos of all time claimed the stage. Partly out of curiosity, partly out of an unfounded goodwill, but mainly hoping they would do something unbelievably stupid, I watched two full songs of the set of the "Kings Of Metal". Well people, it seems like the time has come to count me out of the league of extraordinarily true gentlemen. All the prejudice and jokes aside, completely ignoring that they would still have been laughing matter if dragons really existed and we lived in the time of knights and kings, blocking out the hype about them and trying to give them an objective ear; their music was just dull. Plain and simple as that. Nothing epic about it. Just dull.

(Baz Anderson) It was time for all the posers and losers to evacuate the festival arena, as the siren sounded before the band took the stage. You know it is very easy to say that Manowar are not a good band for whatever reason, take your pick, there are enough out there. But you have to look at it like you would if you were watching Spinal Tap on stage. These guys take the whole true heavy metal thing seriously, but they don't take themselves as unpleasantly seriously as you might imagine if you haven't seen the band. Eric did a great job of greeting the audience and didn't appear "up himself" or up anything else for that matter, he seemed like a very friendly guy who likes to enjoy his time on stage with Manowar. So Manowar's songs are by a long way not the most technical or thought provoking, and the lyrics are most of the time quite laughable, but you understand the concept of how even if you play some music you don't like really loudly, it might just sound quite good. Well this was loud as hell, they have the record remember, and having your ears torn apart hasn't felt so good in a long time. Okay you might need to take Manowar with a pinch of salt and learn to lighten up a little bit, but when you become a Manowarrior you know what is right. Putting aside all the long breaks and talking in between songs and all the shenanigans of pulling a guy onto the stage to play guitar, Manowar pleased the audience and gave all they had with songs such as "Kill With Power" and "Kings Of Metal". "Sleipnir" sounded great with the heavy bass and was the only visit to the last album, and the set was closed with the epic "The Crown And The Ring" and a ton of fireworks burning in the sky to give Hellfest probably the most bombastic closing it has ever had.

(wrathchild) They told me I was a wimp and a poser. Fuck them and their boring music and immense ego! Still, I have to admit that Manowar and their fans did bring something special to that 2009 edition of the Hellfest.

(Collin) I have never laughed so much during a concert. From the "This is not a warning! Wimps and posers leave the festival! Manowarriors march to the front of the battlefield!" announcement to the symphonic introduction that failed at being epic but instead summoned images of little Ewoks running in the forest, to the final fireworks, I laughed so much that all my muscles really hurt the morning after. I didn't laugh at Manowar's music of course, because that part was really bad and quite sad. The sloppy musicianship killed the few good ideas they had, and let's face it, Manowar has never been more than a subpar Judas Priest ersatz. The music sucked really bad but the rest was hilarious, in a pathetic kind of way. I mean, all the banter about true metal vs. false metal, the interlude with Joey DeMaio ranting against French promoters, calling some random guy up on stage ("Brother, we are here to take you away from that Pirate metal crap"), offering a Balls of Steel trophy - a piece of metal looking like a sports trophy, only with two massive balls of steel on it - to Ben, the boss of Hellfest, because he was the only French guy who had the balls of steel to bring true metal back to France? All that was really funny but I just couldn't help wondering if these guys actually are as serious as they say they are. Because you can't really be that shallow, can you? Ok, even though the guys of Manowar are petty and insignificant to me, I am happy I had the opportunity to see them for the first time. They were so unbelievably funny, you know.



Band Galleries by Baz Anderson, Ivor and Moocher


Brutal Truth 01:00/02:00, Terrorizer Tent

(Collin) I've said it before and I say it again: planning the most brutal band of the weekend as the last band of the festival was really not a good idea. My perceptions were undoubtedly jaded because of exhaustion, but Brutal Truth was way too chaotic for me. An impression reinforced by the fact that the singer was completely wasted and seemed to have only a blurred idea of what he was doing. It was really too much for me to take and so I carefully retreated before the end of the show to the relative harmlessness of the masters of infernal lulz, I mean Manowar. I've heard that a lot of people really enjoyed Brutal Truth though, so it was probably just me being a wimp (leave the hall! ok, ok).


Sunday bonus recap by Marcel
I don't know what it was with me, but once again only saw four entire sets. And today even less part sets.
ADX These French old school metallers mix it up nicely with some thrash and saw to it I will be checking them out pretty soon.
Satan Jokers Now, this was pure nostalgia for me, since Satan Jokers was one of the very first bands I ever did see live all the way back in 1983. I think their gig back then was actually the second concert I ever attended. First one being a 5 band metal festival. Watching a couple of songs with a beer in hand sure did bring back great memories, but also made me realize that Satan Jokers play a standard sort of Eighties metal. Fun to play at birthday parties with the old guys, but that's it.
Europe A band that broke huge with their worst album of their first three just because of that single single everyone knows: The Final Countdown. Europe did give a great show here with Joey Tempest running around like he were Mike Muir. A band that actually didn't butcher their own songs unlike another band today. All I wanna say is Queenrÿche I hope you were watching cause you could learn a lot from these guys.






Want some more pictures of bands we haven't written about? Check Baz Anderson's gallery, Ivor's gallery and Moocher's gallery!


Conclusion

(Momo) So yeah, this year's bill was less appealing to me than the previous ones (as in: 'just enough to go crazy all over it, but not more' ;P ). But this was as always a (pardon the offense) fucking great fest! I really had a blast with all these great shows, and so did everyone.
But, in my eyes, this year's real highlight was in the audience. They were fucking awesome, all bands (with few exceptions) received good if not awesome response; this of course bolstered them and pushed them to their best, and so this made for truly great shows?
Also, all the shows I wanted to see were great, and I never was really disappointed, as I knew what to expect, good or ill, for most of the bands (and for those I didn't, each time was a great surprise). So maybe, maybe, this year's is the one edition of Hellfest I enjoyed the most...

(Bas) This year's Hellfest was actually my first big festival. I had been to a couple of smaller one day festivals before, and also to one of the z7s three-day-fests, but I've never been to a really big one like Hellfest, Wacken, Graspop, or Metal Camp yet, until now. Furthermore getting to Clisson was quite a trip for me. On the way there it took me 16 hours and on the way back 14 (although that still doesn't rival the trip of some other people of course [for example you can check out Ivor's Helltrip here]), partly by train and partly by car (a big thanks to Collin for not having to use the stinky, unreliable French trains for the whole journey). The fact that there was only one single person at the whole festival that I had ever met before didn't make the whole thing less adventurous (this one person being Ivor who I already met 1.5 years ago, although at the time we didn't get the opportunity to talk much as I was kind of distracted by various circumstances(?)). Apart from the people, I didn't know most of the bands either. Of course I had heard of almost all of them before and of the majority of bands I knew what style they play, but I had never actually listened to them. Of the bands I did know and wanted to see, there were a few disappointments (especially Aborted who disappointed me extremely much) but I can tell you that the fulfilled expectations and good surprises definitely overweighed. Some shows will be remembered by me as being awesome moments in my musical life, while others will soon be wandering off to vaguer regions of my memory. What will stay with me for a long time is the great mood and the whole experience of the festival though. I finally got to know people I had wanted to meet for a long time already, but also people I had never had any contact whatsoever with before the festival. The camping, the great (as long as you didn't expect anything exquisite) food, the thousands of metalheads, meeting new people and metal music from the moment you wake up until late at night; that's what Hellfest was for me. One big, fantastic metal experience. I thoroughly enjoyed it and if I can manage I'll be there again at Hellfest '10!

(Marcel) And so all good things must come to an end. As did this year's Hellfest. That came to an end with a huge bang waking me up. Yes, the fireworks. I had left early on during Manowar's wimpy poser false metalset to catch some sleep before setting off the next day on a nearly 1000 kilometer journey of which I had to drive the first part.
All in all a great festival with loads of great bands, but once again proving my theory that the lesser known bands are always more interesting and at festivals better than the big well-known bands.
Once again, I didn't see half of what I wanted to see due to all sorts of circumstances (usually the chilling with people whilst enjoying a couple of drinks)
The size of Hellfest (20,000 max) guarantees once can still see and move properly. I for one am of the opinion that Hellfest shouldn't want to grow bigger than its current size. Perfect what you've got now and Hellfest wil be the best festival of this size in the world. This is still manageable whereas bigger festivals such as Graspop and Wacken are an accident waiting to happen.

That's all folks...

To quote Warrior Soul (maybe a tip for next year, together with Trouble, at Hellfest?)
"In conclusion
Say a prayer for us
We must say goodbye
If we meet again
Please remember
Why we say goodnight

Take good care now
All earth's children
Learn from wisdom's cry

Hear the unspoken
See without sight
Learn yourself inside

Media children pacified
Information classified

Goverments hide behind religion
Kids like us get thrown in prison
We come to
We come to
We come to this conclusion
In conclusion
Please be wary
Where authority reigns
Control tightens
As we sleep
A false security

All our leaders Answer to silent bosses
Where profit fills their greed

Think before action
Learn before acceptance
Decide what you should be

Media children pacified
Crosses stand where the dead man died
Goverments hide behind religion
Kids like us get thrown in prison

We come to
We come to
We come to this onclusion

Say a prayer for us
That we don't lose our way
While freedom lies there dying
We are there to hold its hand

Take all the children holy
To the river of dead
Make them drink it's waters
Lonely so they can learn what we had

Media children pacified
Information classified
Goverments hide behind religion
Kids like us get thrown in prison

We came to
We came to
We came to this conclusion

Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye-freedom
Goodbye"



Aftermath

(Momo) And so once again another perfect Hellfest ends. One of the lasts on this site, as it's official, a school will be build upon the site in 2012. But for now, all that matters is that Hellfest continues to thrive, and it sure will!
Hellfest 2010 promises to be quite a beast too, with already Immortal confirmed on the bill! So be sure to stay tuned, as Metalstorm will still be a partner, and we're sure to keep you informed.

But as now, we all came back to our homes, full of images, sounds and memories. For most of us it went pretty normal... but Ivor had quite a terrible epilogue of his own. Read all about it here!



Acknowledgements
Many thanks to the bosses of Hellfest, Yoann and Ben, for putting up again such a great festival. Thanks a lot to Roger Wessier and to all the Hellfest team, too!
Thanks to our very own Jeff, and congratulations (of course)!
Thanks to the Metalstormers who were there with us.
And finally thanks to all the people that we met during the weekend, we really hope that we will see you again there next year!


Barry, Bas, Collin, Ivor, Marcel, Momo, Moocher and wrathchild






Previous:
Introduction

Friday 20th
featuring reports about: Orakle, Karma To Burn, Melechesh, Eyehategod, Soilent Green, Pentagram, Misery Index, Torche, Voivod, Samael, Papa Roach, Kylesa, W.A.S.P., Entombed, Down, Anthrax, Repulsion, Heaven And Hell, Saint Vitus, God Seed, Mötley Crüe

Saturday 20th
featuring reports about: Trepalium, Offending, Grand Magus, Dagoba, Vader, Skinless, Devildriver, Heaven Shall Burn, Aura Noir, Cradle Of Filth, Clutch, Moonsorrow, Soulfly, Betrayed, Amebix, Immolation, Gojira, Enslaved, Machine Head, Killing Joke, Sacred Reich, Marylin Manson, Nanowar Of Steel



Photos by Baz Anderson, Darkside Momo, Ivor and Moocher. All right reserved, do not use without permission.