Let's get assaulted. Brutally.
| Written by: | jupitreas |
| Published: | July 26, 2012 |
| Event: | Brutal Assault 2012 (Website) |
| Location: | Old Army Fortress Josefov, Jaroměř, Czech Republic |
| Organizer: | Obscure Promotion |
Metalheads in Europe usually have a very tough choice to make every summer: which festival to go to? There are the usual 'default' choices ie. Wacken, Hellfest, Download, Bloodstock, maybe even Graspop... etc., but what if you want to go to a slightly smaller and more special festival? Surely there are few better choices for a more intimate yet still amazingly exciting experience than Brutal Assault.
Being 17 years old, Brutal Assault is not a young festival; however, due to being more specialized (most bands on the bill are of the more extreme variety) and smaller than many other fests, it has not really enjoyed as much infamy as it deserves. For shame - I've been to Brutal Assault once and rank the experience among the best festival trips ever. The people were great, the atmosphere was terrific and the music was excellent I had a great time, drank rivers of beer, talked to some completely crazy metal fans and listened to some great bands and I am going to do this again this year. I'm excited.
You see, Brutal Assault takes place at the base of the fortifications of an 18th century castle. The vibe created by this location is terrific, with the ominous high brick walls suiting extreme music particularly well. The camp site is equally unusual, with there being an ability to camp in what is basically a forest. Due to all this, Brutal Assault is not only the place to go to hear good music, it is also a nice place to be, with picturesque vistas of calm Czech fields clashing wonderfully with the aggressive architecture of the fortifications and naturally, with the bombastic music heard throughout the festival.
Finally, it also needs to be mentioned that Brutal Assault is quite a cheap and accomodating festival, with ticket and beer prices being quite low, even on he festival grounds. Even if you do get bored of the quality beer served in the stalls, the town of Jaromer is just a 15 minute walk away from the festival grounds, where you can find many ordinary stores with awesome Czech beer and many very comfortable spots where this beer can be consumed. It is also not very expensive to get to Brutal Assault, with many coach, rail and air options available at reasonable prices (check the Brutal Assault website for more details.
With two stages and over 70 bands, Brutal Assault 2012 certainly already has enough talent to make this experience one that can't be missed. Alcest, Anaal Nathrakh, Machine Head, Godflesh, Samael, Converge, Napalm Death, Ministry, Nile, Sodom and Sick Of It All are just some of the bands that will make this quite the 4 days. But there is more - Brutal Assault is a fun, relatively clean and pretty place to be and this goes a long way. I'll be there as part of a Metal Storm team in order to cover this even and I urge all of you to consider coming as well and getting in on the extreme fun.
 | Written on 26.07.2012 by With Metal Storm since 2002, jupitreas has been subjecting the masses to his reviews for quite a while now. He lives in Warsaw, Poland, where he does his best to avoid prosecution for being so cool. |
Comments
Comments: 26
Visited by: 221 users
| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15287  |
Have a blast. hopefully Godflesh and Ministry deliver... although I imagine Ministry always delivfers.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| Valentin B Iconoclast Posts: 10094  |
LOL I was looking at the review pictures and I said, "damn, he should post the ones with the two girls in underwear labeled "BRUTAL ASSault" " then I saw the final picture  I am not a big extreme metal fan but I would have definitely checked out this year's fest if I didn't run out of "holiday money", would have been my third time seeing Amon Amarth (and only the second time with good sound, sadly), Machine Head and I would definitely be excited for Immortal and Dimmu Borgir which are basically the only two black metal bands I voluntarily listen to. Hot damn now I see that the beer is actually just 1.20 euros for a half litre glass. That is seriously less than a regular pub in Bucharest and less the festivals here charge. This is definitely on my check-out list for next year. I also know the ultimate pick-up line in Czech: "szukam ?eni jak ?ílený" - I fuck girls like crazy
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| Nefarious Doom Knight Staff Posts: 5548  |
This will be my second Brutal Assault Festival in a row & I cannot wait. Just have to survive Wacken first If meet & greets are your thing then this is definitely the festival for you. Last year I got to meet Septic Flesh, Katatonia & Anathema with minimal fuss. We queued 5 minutes before each bands scheduled time & were in & out within 10 to 15 minutes every time. Additionally, if you stay at the hotel as we always do (the one negative about this festival is the camping IMO as there are very limited facilities & the campsite is kinda in a valley so if it rains the whole area floods) then you normally see a lot of band members at breakfast or in the lobby when they check in & out as BA books the bands into the same hotel  Doubt there will be much time for the meet & greets this year though, the line-up is so strong that I think we are gonna be camped at the main stages the whole time all 4 days It is also a nice contrast to Wacken as you can easily get near the front to see your favorite bands without being crushed or stuck there for hours due to the sheer amount of people that inevitably happens at the bigger festivals. So yeah, unique setting, fantastic line-up, good sound, stupidly cheap beer (and everything else), friendly but crazy people & great atmosphere. You simply can't beat it
---- "FUCK!!! You're the fucking 5th person asking me in an interview about the woman in the bathtub?The problem is that I AM the fucking person in the bathtub, and I AM a fucking MAN, for fuck's sake! I hate you all!" ~ Herr Morbid
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9155  |
Inb4 Troy ass comment. This looks sooooo fun  Need to go when I can *Legally* drink, and actually have a chance to go :/ Why must cross-ocean plane trips cost so damn much?
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| Valentin B Iconoclast Posts: 10094 |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 28.07.2012 at 06:08 No-one gives a flying fuck at festivals about who can or cannot drink (at the more popular fests like Wacken you can actually see a lot more drunk underages than older guys or 20-somethings), and especially in such a beer-loving country like the Czech Republic. Written by Nefarious on 26.07.2012 at 21:51 damn, this was the first good thing I noticed once I attended another open-air aside from Wacken. I remember I tried to get near the front row for Hammerfall in 2009 and got almost kicked in the head by about 3-4 crowd surfers during the first song only. Those first rows are "too extreme".
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| Promonex Cathemeral Elite Posts: 9720  |
Had actually planned to go as well, but destiny had other plans. Have fun, the lot of you!
---- All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu... This is the truth! This is my belief! ...At least for now. - The Mystery of Life, Vol. 841 Ch. 26
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| Lamahe Posts: 57  |
I'm wondering whether there will be some Metalstorm meeting point? Official or unofficial? 
---- “And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15287 |
Written by BitterCOld on 26.07.2012 at 19:26 wow. sorry. seems i voodoo hexed uncle Al.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9155 |
Written by BitterCOld on 31.07.2012 at 01:14
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| Arsen Posts: 33  |
I've been going to this festival since 2007 every year in a row. It's like a curse now, at the beginning of the year I plan summer trips to different European festivals to see more countries and I always end up at Brutal Assault because the line-up is heaps ahead of any other festival at any given year. I don't get a chance to travel to Europe more then once in a year and would like some variety but it's always Prague, Prague, Prague... Damn!!!
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| Valentin B Iconoclast Posts: 10094 |
Written by Arsen on 01.08.2012 at 08:59 Haha, the passport controllers in Prague must know you already.. "So what will you be doing in the Czech Republic?" "I'm going to a music festival" "Oh yeah you're the guy who goes to Brutal Assault every year, my bad"
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| Brodd Posts: 14  |
It will be my third time there, but first time driving there. I'm not looking forward to the 10 hour trip from Denmark, but its going to be worth it. Brutal Assault is always great!
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| Valentin B Iconoclast Posts: 10094 |
Written by Brodd on 01.08.2012 at 21:32 Going with a car with no cargo and stocking up on cheap alcohol in Poland or Germany I presume?  at least that's what I would do
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| Brodd Posts: 14 |
Written by Valentin B on 02.08.2012 at 17:44 There is going to be a little cargo, but other than that you're completely right 
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| Barbar Posts: 6  |
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| D.a.n Posts: 42 |
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by D.a.n on 12.08.2012 at 14:38 I have seen Paradise Lost numerous times over the last 10 years and not once did Nick Holmes have a good day. At best he was very very mediocre. Before that he was a lot better live.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| D.a.n Posts: 42 |
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| D.a.n Posts: 42 |
Written by [user id=109246] on 13.08.2012 at 17:47 Funny to read this mate. I heard AA's guitars alright down near the stage. Where were you exactly? Maybe too to too many bands before? Moonspell had a rather short slot and yes: they played primarily older stuff. But hey - songs like Opium, Alma Mater, Vampyria and Fullmoon Madness are great live. Frankly, I can totally understand their song selection: some new stuff to promote AN/OW (BTW: leaving the album as a whole aside, I would never dare to call Axis Mundi and Em Nome Do Medo shitty...), the rest mainly songs from the early era - since this is what most fans like. Scorpion flower is a great song but Anneke was not around as far as I know 
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| RobertNowhere Posts: 49  |
Im not sure if id be cool with the stages set side by side and two bands playing at the same time...does that work? it may be a stupid question, but ive never been to a huge festival with 923086902762 bands, where they felt the need to cram em in like that....
---- http://robertnowhere.blogspot.com
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| Arsen Posts: 33 |
Haha, exactly that, but with the consul at the embassy. This year they gave me a visa till 2015 so that I leave them alone for couple of years The festival was good as always. Highlights for me were Shape of Despair and Gorguts. Written by Valentin B on 01.08.2012 at 20:20
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| Maxx666 Meshuggahian Posts: 376  |
Fucking great show.. Maybe next to Wacken, definitely going next year..
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| Nefarious Doom Knight Staff Posts: 5548 |
Written by RobertNowhere on 14.08.2012 at 00:14 Two bands don't play at the same time obviously. Once a band finishes it's set, the next band on the bill plays on the alternate stage. This means that while one band is playing, the next band on the schedule can set their stage & sound-check etc, meaning they are ready to start as soon as the band before them finishes. And with the two stages next to each other it means the crowd don't have to move much to see the next band. This means no time is wasted sitting around waiting for the bands to set up, meaning more time actually listening to music & more room on the bill Most big festivals follow this set up nowadays.
---- "FUCK!!! You're the fucking 5th person asking me in an interview about the woman in the bathtub?The problem is that I AM the fucking person in the bathtub, and I AM a fucking MAN, for fuck's sake! I hate you all!" ~ Herr Morbid
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| Spirit Molecule spirit molecule Posts: 1918  |
Written by Nefarious on 22.08.2012 at 07:53 Can you hear the other band sound check?
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| Nefarious Doom Knight Staff Posts: 5548 |
Written by Spirit Molecule on 22.08.2012 at 17:51 Not really. You may, on very rare occasions, hear a little when the band on the other stage is quiet i.e between songs, but it is never loud enough to clash with the band playing & won't effect your enjoyment at all. Having sets ruined by guys sound-checking nearby wouldn't be in the festivals best interest really
---- "FUCK!!! You're the fucking 5th person asking me in an interview about the woman in the bathtub?The problem is that I AM the fucking person in the bathtub, and I AM a fucking MAN, for fuck's sake! I hate you all!" ~ Herr Morbid
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| Spirit Molecule spirit molecule Posts: 1918 |
Written by Nefarious on 28.08.2012 at 09:02 Well true, it doesn't make sense otherwise. I've never been to an international festival, but I've heard that sometimes in the tents you can hear the bands on the mainstage, but then again, only between songs.
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