Written by:	Baz Anderson, Marcel Hubregtse, Jeff
Published:	August 01, 2007
Event:	Hellfest Summer Open Air 2007 (Website)
Location:	Pays de la Loire, Clisson, France
Galleries:	Hellfest Summer Open Air 2007 by Darkside Momo (19) Hellfest Summer Open Air - Clisson, France, 22.06.2007 by Ivor (57) Hellfest Summer Open Air - Clisson, France, 22nd-24th June 2007 by Baz Anderson (71) Hellfest Summer Open Air - Clisson, France, 22nd-24th June 2007 by Deadsoulman (7) Hellfest Summer Open Air 2007 by Jeff (15) Hellfest Summer Open Air 2007 by Ivan (27)

Barry: The night had been one of amusement, humour, tiredness and annoyance for myself and Amine after searching for our tents in the dark and failing miserably. A lesson can be learned here for all new festival go-ers, make certain you know where your tent is and you know you can find it in the dark - take a picture of its location if necessary. Because of our festival inexperience we ended up staying up all night in the precence of drunk French people and only after a phone call to Cyrille at 06:00 to help us find the tents, we finally managed to get our heads down. A few hours later and the hope for a dryer day seemed to have come true although the mud was still inevitabely as bad as ever. Mud that you started to sink in and covered your shoes if you allowed yourself to stand in one spot. Alas, I finally got to meet Ivan and Ivor, the two latecomers on Friday - and we were off! The day had begun like there was no night, just one continuous consciousness.





Saturday

Grum Lee

Barry: We headed off into Clisson town to where Grum Lee would perform and waited. Eventually he turns up and gives us his funny routine. He plays metal songs all by himself singing with his heavy French accent and playing just an acoustic guitar. He is more of a comedian than a musician working his little audience well and making us all laugh with his vocal guitar solos and comedy of errors (wind blowing book of lyrics pages over, etc.) and really put a positive outlook on the day ahead for us.




After Forever

Barry: First band to play on the main stage in the festival site - and that was pretty much the main reason why I was watching this band. I didn't know them prior to the festival but one night was long enough to get my yearning for more metal and these here were providing it. After Forever played an enjoyable symphonic metal set that was similar in many ways to the Nightwish sound with the female vocals, etc. but didn't really produce anything original. They played an enjoyable show but nothing to really make you step back in amazement.




Vader

Barry: The first band of the day I was really up for seeing. These Polish death metal veterans know what they are doing and even playing rather early in the day got a considerable number of people in the audience to really give them their undivided attention. Mosh pits were running wild down there at the front, it was all very violent, the people and the music but of course that just made the music so enjoyable to listen to. Starting with "ShadowFear" and including "Helleluyah!!! (God Is Dead)" to the set as well as old classic and favourite "Carnal" and closing with the brutal "Wings" made it an intense set and a set that would be very very hard to follow.




Korpiklaani

Barry: The mammoth task of following Vader was unfortunately left to Korpiklaani on the Gibson stage. After such a battering of death metal it isn't easy to follow with something like this that isn't very extreme but they tried their best and played a good set. It was really great to see a band play the real instruments on the stage instead of using a keyboard to make the sounds, etc. and so this makes the band very original live and makes the sound feel so much more real as well. I was quite surprised though, they didn't play an awful lot from the new album at all and I was looking forward to that - but still, the set was bouncy and entertaining and closing the set with "Beer Beer" gave a good opportunity for the audience to participate as well. Unfortunately the set may have been a little overshadowed by memories of Vader just minutes before.




Epica

Barry: Epica took the main stage and gave an average performance, similar to After Forever in ways but then I must say that this kind of music isn't the first sort of music that I reach for when yearning for metal. The set did show flashes of some really impressive stuff, but on the whole for me personally they were just passing time. Like After Forever, I could tell the fans of these bands, mostly young females, really enjoyed the sets and so in that respect the band put on a good show.




Interlock

DM: My step inside the discover stage for the day, to see the only indus metal band of the Fest.
Interlock play a varied and quite aggressive kind of metal, with two dynamic vocalists. And well, they are really able to transpose the aggressiveness of their music in a live situation! The band wasn't static (a good point), particularly Hal Sinden, the male vocalist, who was overactive, shouting, urging the crowd to respond, and so forth ; he's already a quite good frontman. A microphone breakdown was handled quite correctly by the two singers who had to share the one left, while the audience was cheering them.
The set featured the most violent songs of their album Crisis//Reinvention - Skinless, Creed, Straight, Eradication, Cause? - plus a new song, which sounded promising, even if the bass lines where quite like nü metal.
After the show, I had the opportunity to talk a little with Hal Sinden, who told me that that they were recording the new album, which is scheduled for April 2008. In the meantime, don't miss them if they play near you!




Amon Amarth

Barry: Second time in a few months I was seeing this band, Amon Amarth. Last time they were cramped in a small venue inside a pokey basement but this time they could spread their wings and give us the full visual live show that they should have been allowed to have done before. The stage was decorated with two large shields and before the band entered the stage we had a couple of warriors, sword and shield in hands fighting it out to the death in an epic battle - and then enter the band and kick us off with "Valhall Awaits Me" and gave a good set as best they could with the time restrictions with numbers such as "Asator" "Runes To My Memory" "Death In Fire" and of course "The Pursuit Of Vikings". Johan always looking very happy to be there making lots of eye contact with the audience and being the nice, charming man he is made it an enjoyable set like always. You can always rely on Amon Amarth to produce a solid, entertaining performance.




Cynic

Barry: The very first Cynic show in thirteen years and it was a pleasure to be there. All them years ago these guys released one album and even now people still know and remember it. I quite liked the album but it didn't leave the same impression on me as it did some other people, so I was there to see Cynic maybe more out of curiosity then the music but I left their set with only their music in my mind. I was wondering how the music so technical and progressive would come across live and not just live, but in a festival environment - but it came over very well indeed, but that isn't to say it might be better in an enclosed environment. The audience really appreciated the music, it was like they had all been eagerly waiting these fourteen years to see them live and all of a sudden this dream had become a reality. The only snag really was that the death metal vocals had been pre-recorded and Paul was just taking care of the funky machine type vocals, but nevertheless it was all great. As well as the songs from their album, they played us a new song they had written that was warmly received as well, maybe it wasn't so technical, not so fancy bass lines but perhaps easier for people to get into. Overall Cynic played a very nervous set but they played it very well and seemed very touched that all these people were so hungry for them after all these years.

Marcel: Originally, Cynic together with Atheist were the sole reason for me to endure four nights of camping hardships for the first time in 30 years. But the question hovering in my head before the show was: Can they live up to the expectations when the hit the stage today for the first time in thirteen years? Yes, they can, was the answer after about 40 minutes of pure bliss. They started off nervously but soon redeemed themsleves when they noticed the energy they got back from the crowd. Though Tony Teegarden wasn't on tour with them his original grunts off the Focus were used (triggered by Sean reinert's drum). only minor gripe I had was the duration of the gig and the omission of Textures on their setlist, but what we did get was a new song in the form of Evolutionary Sleeper, which bodes weel for the future. The timeslot and ope air stage they had to play at wasn't perfect, for a band such as Cynic should be witnessed in the dark and preferably in an intimate club (which I was lucky enough to do five days later).
All in all a great performance. 5/5

DM: The long awaited reformation is coming at last! And this show was their first one in more than thirteen years.
The aggressive voice was sampled, and overall the sound seemed not perfect (the voice was difficult to hear). But I didn't care. Hey, that was Cynic, the legends, and I was in a state of bliss. No, I'm not really objective, but it was one the bands that made me come to Hellfest, and I was not disappointed in the slightest. Forgive the expression, but it was fucking awesome! The musicians seemed quite shy, and also really moved by the really warm welcome they received. YES! They even played a new song! Imagine the surprise! We were the first lucky one to hear it.




Pain Of Salvation

Barry: It was getting to that point in the experience where things started to ache, the body needed a bit of food and I just wanted a sit down really - so I sat with Amine facing the main stage and watched Pain Of Salvation not knowing anything about them before the festival. The music seemed just rather average to me although it was bizarre in the way that I was not certain which subgenre of metal they would fall into. The frontman didn't make any great impressions though telling us that they would kick the asses of all the bands that were to come, at times he also sounded like he was trying to convince himself that the band deserved to be playing at Hellfest. Then the ultra quirky "Disco Queen" started blasting out of the speakers and I really didn't know what we had in front of us. It sounded rather annoying, but after maybe five minutes of the song it was burrowing it's way inside my head to the "catchy songs" category. When I listen to that song now it obviously reminds me of the festival but it has certainly grown on me, although I still can't say that Pain Of Salvation are particularly for me. For me the set was there just to pass time.

Cyrille: Pain Of Salvation had started to play when I was still by the Gibson stage after the Cynic show. At first, I didn't recognized the band - because Daniel had cut his hair and also because they were probably playing a song from their latest album I'm not really fond of. Later on they would play other songs from that album (namely "Scarsick" and the now famous "Disco Queen") that I was a lot more interested in. As usual, the band members gave everything, especially the guitarists whose performances were quite intense. I, for one, only moved to a few songs of their early albums ("Inside" is an example). I guess the time wasn't right for such a band, the impact of their music is probably greater by night than in the middle of the afternoon. Or perhaps the other bands were so great they made me forget about this show, who knows...




Napalm Death

Barry: The only English band on the bill and we pretty much knew what to expect from Napalm Death - but even so we all had to take a step back when Mark took to the stage and started shouting down the microphone like a madman. Pretty much like Brutal Truth the day before, it either took them a few songs to really get going, or it took me a few songs to get used to this live, but whichever - when it got going it was a good show. Fast drumming where it needed to be, a crazy frontman to show the crowd how to flail around, and the audience really did seem to enjoy the set - even back where I was there were mosh pits and whatever else breaking out. After the insanity of one song, we would get a clear explanation as to what the next song was about, and then it would all kick off again. We got quite a few songs from the last couple of albums, and of course we all wanted to hear them do "You Suffer" live and we were not disappointed with that either. By the end of the set maybe it all started to sound the same, but overall they put on a convincing performance that seemed to really thrill the true fans of grind.

DM: They started with Weltschmerz, then Sink Fast, Let Go. Barney seemed as overactive as ever! But I didn't see any more than that.




Children Of Bodom

Barry: Children Of Bodom are one of those bands that you would want to go and see out of curiosity even if you aren't a fan of their music on CD. I do like them on CD anyway, so I was definitely present at their show as soon as Napalm Death finished. Alexi seemed pretty drunk and was running his mouth off inbetween songs swearing as many times as you possibly can but was still capable enough to play his guitar and do his vocals fine during the set. The set wasn't all too surprising at all - you could have probably predicted most of the songs they did play as they were nearly all from the last two albums. The set wasn't as constantly speedy as I imagined it would have been and wished it would have been, but still "Needled 24/7" and "Trashed, Lost & Strung Out" were great highlights of the set. The set wasn't without its controversies though, some people took it upon themselves to throw lighters at Alexi to which he said he would "question their hearts" and also later in the set Alexi pulled his keyboard player's head towards his with a scythe and kissed him - quite bizarre stuff really but they put on an entertaining set overall but maybe I feel not all of the band's full intentions were there to make it an unforgettable show.

DM: A good show, with a classical playlist. It was the first time that I saw them, and I was maybe a little disappointed. But I had a good time anyway.




Moonspell

Cyrille: Although I wasn't familiar with their music, I enjoyed Moonspell's show at MetalWay in Spain in 2006. I'm still not familiar with their albums but once again that didn't prevent me from enjoying their show at Hellfest. They started with Finisterra, a simple song but a really excellent opener that gets you in the mood. They also played Vampiria, a song praised by many of their fans so I guess this was quite an intense moment for them. It was just another great concert to me and I hope next time I'll have listened to more of their stuff so I can fully enjoy Moonspell live.

DM: I missed nearly all the show, because I seen just two months ago. It seems it was as good as always! They finished with Vampiria, then Alma Mater and Full Moon Madness.




Immortal

Barry: Black metal legends Immortal took the main stage next and opened with a blast of fire. Well there was a blast of fire but it took four attempts for the band to get started properly as the drum microphones kept annoyingly cutting out. Alas they eventually got going and played more determined then ever to put on a good show for us. After just a year or so ago thinking I would never get the opportunity to see this band live as they had split up, this was an amazing experience - these three black metal warriors performing before my eyes - and perform they did, and not just with music! Abbath brought onto the stage a flaming torch and some liquid to do some fire breathing for us all at both ends of the stage. Not just that but the infamous Immortal poses are not just kept for the photo shoots, Abbath seemed thrilled to be pulling his grim and frostbitten poses in front of all us people and it really was a delight to see for many reasons. Abbath really showed us he has a great personality, he really enjoyed playing with the audience raising his arms up and down as if he was adjusting the audience's volume and also telling us "it's only black metal... or is it?!". The set included the usual numbers that you would expect, as well as quite a few older songs. "At The Heart Of Winter" "Sons Of Northern Darkness" and "One By One" of course all went down superbly and ended the set in spectacular form leaving me wishing there was more. We haven't seen the last of Immortal just yet!

DM: Well, well, well? As I always say, I'm not a black metal fan. But, curious nonetheless, I attended Immortal's show. I can't say it was bad (for it was not), but neither was it great in my opinion. Just quite static, and the icy feeling supposedly associated with Immortal just felt like emotional distance to me.




Therion

Amine: The gibson stage background was totally transformed, waiting for Therion to come in (or rather for Immortal to finish), this show was bound to be very special, both for the band and for the audience, since it was Mats Leven's last show with Therion. Amazingly they did not play any tune from Gothic Kabbalah, rather focusing on their hits from Theli to Sirius B and Lemuria. Snowy Shaw, Katarina Lilja and Lori Lewis were absolutly amazing, giving a more "active" feeling to Therion than was the case before with the choir on stage, especially Katarina which had a heavy presence. Their performance only made the songs better. To note also that Christopher Johnsson said that the Hellfest organisation was the worst they have ever witnessed in 20 years of Therion. They weren't the only band complaining about this in fact. They still managed to put an almost magical show, everything was perfect, if not for them, at least for me.

DM: I was really tired after Immortal, so I decided to see only one or two of Therion's songs before going to sleep. The first song began (Rise Of Sodom And Gomorrah), and the energy of the band was so communicative that adrenaline surged through my veins and I stayed to see the show, singing along, all weariness forgotten. The mark of a great set!
The stage was maybe a little small for the band, 'cause they were eight! So each one moved back and forth to the front, when they were the ones to sing, playing the solos, and then retreating to the back of the stage. Therion had also a beautiful backdrop, like a church's stained-glass window ; they also had the best lights of all the week-end.
This Therion show was also unique for another reason: it was the very last show with Mats Leven. At the very end, Christofer Johnsson took him in the arms, wishing him good luck. A really emotional moment.
Yes, Saturday was the Gibson stage day! Even if Christofer Johnsson said Hellfest was "the worst organised festival I've seen in twenty years."




Type O Negative

Barry: This is where things started getting a little off track. Type O Negative took a long time getting to the stage and pretty much as soon as they started, Pete was gesturing for the sound people to turn the bass down on his monitor but they would not respond. He got more and more annoyed, he would be shouting in between lyrics "turn it down!" but still nothing. About half an hour through the set Pete was so frustrated he gestured across his neck to his band to cut the set, and they did. Five minutes later and after a bit of audience chanting and persuasion from people backstage the band came back on the stage but for some reason the sound was not right for Pete and he ended up getting so frustrated he flung a metal stand across the stage and at the end of the set Pete snapped all the strings on his bass and left it totally unusable. Through the whole set the rest of the band kept the show going like the professionals they are, and also even Pete when clearly irate kept on with his vocals perfectly through the entire set. The band played a few up-beat songs that you could easily get your head behind but and also played their trademark slower, doomier sounding material where you cannot tell whether the music is beautiful or haunting. "Anesthesia" was a personal highlight of mine and after finishing their set with "Black No.1 (Little Miss Scare-All)" the band did actually play for a long time, well over the normal time for the headliner to finish. I don't know exactly what was going on, but I do know that it is always more enjoyable to watch a band that are enjoying themselves and that was not entirely the case here - but even still, they put on a good show long into the night.