Written by:	D.T. Metal
Published:	December 16, 2012
Event:	Barge To Hell 2012 (Website)
Location:	Cruise Ship, Miami, FL, USA
Galleries:	Barge To Hell Cruise - Gallery Part Four - 6th December 2012 by D.T. Metal (97) Barge To Hell Cruise - Gallery Part Three - 5th December 2012 by D.T. Metal (82) Barge To Hell Cruise - Gallery Part Two - 4th December 2012 by D.T. Metal (203) Barge To Hell Cruise - Gallery Part One - 3rd December 2012 by D.T. Metal (109)

This is what all happened during the second day of the Barge To Hell and here is the Photogallery from the bands of the day

After a very short stint in my bed the morning sun was almost unbearable when I made my way to the Pool Deck. But like a trooper I pulled myself together, since there was no way I was going to miss Artillery, one more of my "bucket list bands". Yet another new vocalist fronted the thrashers out of Denmark, but honestly, I didn't mind at all; dude fits with the band like a charm and I totally enjoyed their set. Artillery played a few songs off their 1985 debut album Fear Of Tomorrow and I was in heaven. Kick ass way to start the day; and a little birdie told me that they will tour the US next year; so keep your eyes open since you don't want to miss them.

Morgoth played next on the Pool Deck stage. Apparently I was walking around with blinders on, since I so did not see old Destruction drummer Marc Reign the day prior and I almost shit when I saw him setting up the drum kit. Now THAT was a nice surprise; haven't seen him since he left Schmier & Co. I don't know what the deal is as far as Morgoth continuing being a band, but I hope they get their shit together since their performance was flawless. Members of Holy Moses and Sodom probably thought the same, since I spotted them leaning over the railing.

The Meet & Greet sessions were about to start at the Boleros Lounge [with Enslaved and Soilwork], but I opted to finally get a bite to eat instead. It was lunchtime after all, and with only 3.5 hrs of sleep I was running on coffee and cigarettes up to this point.

Next up was the first surprise of the day; Loudblast. After inquiring on why I have never heard them before, Dan just said: "Well, they are French; that's probably why"; touché. Even here on Metal Storm those French dudes only have a handful of fans; no clue why since I really liked what I was hearing. Seriously, check them out.

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Notes from Dan:
Having nothing better to do, I headed onto the sun deck to catch some rays, lying on a pool chair listening to the waves?waves of death metal that is. Loudblast was playing, and having heard really nothing of theirs after the first album, I didn't know what to expect. I wasn't disappointed, and as for listening to death metal while chilling on a pool chair, "Cross The Threshold" actually worked nicely: a real head-bobber.

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The next band was one of the reasons I was so excited to be part of the Barge To Hell cruise in the first place; SACRED fucking REICH! Excuse the none band tag, but this had to be screamed and capitalized and OMG was I happy to see them. They have been around since the mid Eighties, haven't put out a studio album since 1996 and other than "fly-in" dates for Festivals, Sacred Reich are not touring at all since their "reunion" in 2006. They are "working stiffs" now, but they haven't lost ANYTHING and are still kicking ass live and left the audience yearning for more.

So after the high from Sacred Reich, the next band was kind of a let down; at least for me. One of the "super groups" on the Barge To Hell, consisting of members from several other bands, Brujeria was just not my cup of tea. With double and triple duties for some of their members [At The Gates Adrian Erlandsson, Napalm Death Shane Embury], and with bandanas covering their faces, they played a good set; if you like their music. One thing though, vocalist Juan Brujo did actively engage with the Spanish speaking audience and they rewarded the band with countless cheers. Oh, and I heard he also had a heck of a time getting his machete on the ship.

I didn't stick around for their entire set and ventured into the Spectrum Lounge to watch Sólstafir. I was having lunch with their bassist earlier in the day and he told me [after I mentioned I had never heard them] that they play a totally different type of music than the other performers on the cruise; and he was right. Much more "mellow" and with lots of emotion in their music they did an outstanding job and I actually stayed for their entire set.

It was getting close to dinner time and honestly I can't remember what we did, but we did miss Corrosion Of Conformity on the Pool Deck and Napalm Death in the Chorus Line Theater. Nachtmystium was supposed to play right after Sólstafir in the Spectrum Lounge, but due to one of their members literally missing the boat in Miami, their gig was canceled.

So, up next was, every time I seen him, Mr. Piña Colada slurping Attila and his occult outfit Mayhem getting ready on the Pool Deck stage. As usual, the entire stage was soaked in red [fitting, isn't it?] and thankfully it was a bit windy, since the smoke was ridiculous at times. Mayhem is, well Mayhem, but since a lot of people have never seen them live before, the audience went nuts. I on the other hand have seen them a bunch of times before, and do understand that for a true black metal elitist, watching Attila, Necrobutcher and Co. is simply a must.

Meh, I actually left since I was going to check out another German band, Hackneyed who played in front of a few people in the Spectrum Lounge. In hindsight, I should have stayed at Mayhem, since those "youngsters" just didn't do anything for me. A lot of people really enjoyed their set, but I think I am either too old for this or was severely sleep deprived.

On my way back to the Pool Deck I figured: "what the hell" and stopped by the Chorus Line Theater to check out what Sanctuary was up to. Best decision ever, since Warrel Dane brought his A-game that day; blown away - understatement. It had been a while since I had the pleasure to watch Mr. Bass himself, Jim Sheppard, shred on his axe and as usual, he did not disappoint. Last time I saw them both was with Nevermore a couple years back and Jim will forever have a special place in my heart, since he gave me a hoodie from Dew-Scented after they toured with them in Europe. Love ya, man!

Havok was playing at the Spectrum Lounge, and since I had seen them a trazillion times, I opted not to watch them.

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Notes from Dan:
Though I've known Havok for many years (they only live about 80 miles away from where I live), and have met frontman David Sanchez several times, I'd never seen them live before. When I told this to David, he looked at me and said, "Really? Wow! Well then you gotta check us out here." I did, and I was pleasantly surprised. Now I'm not a fan of the retro-thrash scene; on the whole I find it all filler and no killer. But Havok might be one of the few exceptions. They play thrash pure and simple; nothing mind-blowing, but even in the Eighties very few bands were. Not bad, especially coming from Denver, CO.

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At The Gates, another "must see at least once in your life" band was just fixing to start their set when I walked onto the Pool Deck. I actually had the pleasure of seeing them live after they reunited, and while they are called the "originators" of the gothenburg sound, in my opinion there are much better bands in that genre than At The Gates. Don't get me wrong, I like what they are doing, and they had a huge crowd during their set, but well - been there, seen it, next.

And next was Municipal Waste in the Spectrum Lounge and they stayed true to their statement: "Municipal Waste is gonna fuck you up!". Holy crap! I have seen the Waste about a million times already and their energy on stage is just unbelievable. But playing in the same time slot as Moonspell did hurt as far as audience present. Oh well, those who weren't there, sure as hell missed a great show, in part since Mark "Barney" Greenway from Napalm Death sang one song with them as well.

Later on he told me that since both bands just finished a tour together, he actually sang with Municipal Waste every day. Pretty cool I think. I was going to leave early to catch the next band on the Pool Deck but decided to stick around, and I am glad I did. The total highlight, and remember, we are in a cruise ship lounge, with comfy chairs and couches - the audience decided to mosh while sitting in their chairs! Being comfortable while moshing was THE SHITS!

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Notes from Dan:
Another retro band, though of a totally different caliber. I'm talking about Municipal Waste. Very punky and crossover, one word describes their set: energy. These guys go crazy, and you can't just stay still when they're up, even if you're sitting in a lounge chair. The crowd definitely proved this, even taking their chairs in the middle of the floor and moshing while sitting. Their show is tons of fun, and definitely worth seeing.

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Then, and for me, the highlight of the day, Sepultura was just beginning to play on the Pool Deck stage. And right off the bat, Max left a million years ago and Derrick is now longer in the band than Max ever was - so GET OVER IT - NEVER going to happen that Max [or Igor] will be in Sepultura EVER again!

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Notes from Dan:
To add to the rant, and note, this is coming from a die-hard thrash fan. The Sepultura of today is much better without Max. Derrick is a great frontman, and a much better fit for the post-Arise sound of the band. For all those (and this includes me) who think Sepultura sold out or went to shit, they did so while Max was still in the band, so there you go. Therefore it was no surprise that they didn't play many old school thrash monsters. Nevertheless they sounded great and put on a hell of a show; the crowd REALLY got into them.

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Now that this is out of my system, Sepultura was just flat out amazing that night. I have seen them shit loads of times over the years and they never, ever disappoint. While the sound on all of the stages was great and extremely heavy with the bass mix, the sound during Sepultura's set was beyond good; holy crap! And one thing I noticed right away was that Paulo Jr. was actually standing in the front [gasp] compared to his usual lingering in the back by the amps. Since all of their songs are very heavy in the bass department it was a total orgasm to my ears, what came out of the speakers.

"Sepultura, do Brazil, um, dois, três, quarto" - "Roots Bloody Roots" - FUCK YEAH !!! I think the ship was actually bouncing since EVERYBODY was jumping in place. Best.Show.Yet. Unfortunately they are done with the touring cycle for Kairos and it's going to take awhile until I will be able to see them again.

Still on cloud nine I ventured into the Spectrum Lounge to watch Rotting Christ. I can't even remember the last time I saw those Greek adonises but it had been way to long. Even though Possessed was playing in the Chorus Line Theater, a lot of people were at the Lounge and we all had a great time. Rotting Christ played something for everyone's taste, from old to newer stuff and I am looking forward to their upcoming album in 2013.

The last band for me that night was Grave. I regrettably missed them when they played in Denver last month and was so looking forward to finally seeing them live. Well, their performance was good, but I want to say that they played some of the songs too fast; sounded better on CD. But then again, it was 2am in the morning, on the windy Pool Deck. I did stick around for most of their set and was actually on my way to watch Headcrusher in the Spectrum Lounge - well - never made it there since I took a detour through the Boleros Lounge and got stuck watching Karaoke.

Tom Hunting from Exodus was the Karaoke whore; and I mean this with the upmost love and affection for the man. He is GREAT singing whatever song there has to be sung; hands down a pro. Google his name and karaoke on the Barge To Hell and you will see what I mean.

Other highlights were LandPhil from Municipal Waste singing "Love Gun" by KISS and Attila bursting into Judas Priest. Yes, ladies and gentleman, karaoke was NOT just for us mortals.

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Notes from Dan:
The bands I enjoyed the most that day were Municipal Waste because of their sheer energy, Sepultura for their great performance, and Havok since I didn't expect much from them [because they are retro-thrash] and they proved me wrong and I totally digged their set.

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My top 3 bands for the day were without a doubt: Sepultura, Sepultura and last but not least, Sepultura. HaHaHa, seriously, they blew me the fuck away, and mind you, I have seen them plenty before. But other than the aforementioned I would have to say Sacred Reich and Artillery.

Oh, and now I remember what I did after Sólstafir; interview with Exodus. As a matter of fact, I did a couple interviews during the cruise and as soon as I have some breathing room, I will transcribe and post them; hang in there.

Part Three will follow soon; so feast yourself on the Pictures from Day Two in the meanwhile.