Written by:	Baz Anderson, 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)

Jeff: Bad luck or real problems in the organization of the festival? If you were there, we're quite sure that you already understand what we mean but if you still don't know which kind of problems we got during the festival, I hope that our report will be a good way to understand what happened during this "incredible" weekend. The line-up of Hellfest 2007 was so ambitious and so amazing that it was a real dream, especially for the French Metalheads who never had the chance to have something like that in the country but unfortunately it wasn't so perfect (ho no...).

Hellfest is a festival managed by real passionate people (a lot of them don't have a wage to organize this festival) they believe in "Metal" and don't even have any financial help from the country or region (it's really different with a lot of other festivals in France but with Metal...). The team did a fantastic work with the line-up and without any exaggeration it was for sure one of the best line up of the year 2007. With bands like Emperor, Immortal, Dream Theater, Megadeth or Cynic and Atheist, this edition was perfect for the fans of extreme Metal. They tried too to "build" a friendly and cool festival (it was the case) but the gods of Metal only know why, the festival turned into a real nightmare and if the weather didn't help a lot, obviously the team was too "young" to build something perfect too.

The weather during the weekend was one of the worst that we had had in France for such a long time and the area of the festival (and the camping of course) quickly turned into a real pool of mud. A lot of the shows took place under the rain and it was really hard for us to enjoy the concerts. But we got some great concerts of course and except Korn who chose to cancel its show for some "weird" reasons (no comment) all the other bands played the game even if it was not so easy for them (and us).

The organisers didn't have a lot of luck too, especially when you know that one of the generators of the mainstage burned some few hours before the opening of the gates and when you know that this fucking rain didn't stop during the three days. No sadly they didn't have a lot of luck this weekend. But if the weather was a real problem, we cannot deny that a lot of mistakes were done too. Where were the solutions against the rain (for one of the rainiest regions of France, that's a bit funny)? Why the gates were too small to welcome 13,000 people? Where were the real toilets or the water (and we don't talk about the organisation in the camping)? Why was it impossible to find some tickets for the drinks after only some hours? Why did we have to wait 15 mins (and even more) to enter in the photographs pits to take some pictures for you (when you know that the bans only played 45 mins you can understand that it was impossible for me to take a lot of pictures, I wasn't there to wait but to enjoy the festival and chose to stop that after some tries)? And more seriously why did the bands of the discover stage didn't have the help, organisation and respect that they deserved to have? It was not good but we seriously think that it was mistakes too and that the Hellfest (we hope it!) will fix all those problems next year. It was, we think a real lack of experience.

Things must be said, this festival was all but perfect but we met a lot of great people there and we're all sure that the team will do its maximum to do something better next year. Hellfest is not a small festival anymore and France deserves to have such kind of event every year so even if we cannot be so positive we must believe in them and Metal Storm will do its maximum again next year to promote this festival. And after all the concerts were great anyway, let's hope that our report will be a good way for you.

Barry: Yes! After much anticipation Metal Storm arrives and invades the normally quiet and medieval town of Clisson, along with thousands and thousands of other metal maniacs from a multitude of nations around the world!

As 13:30 came and went on the opening Friday and there was even still no sign of life from the festival by 14:00 we realised that something was already wrong and that the festival would be delayed somewhat, but we were to later realise that all bands before Chimaira that took the stage around 17:10 had been cancelled as there had been some electronical problems. Having Lamb Of God cancelled was disappointing but the show had to go on as best as possible, and so the festival kicked off with Chimaira.





Friday

Dylath-Leen

DM: A French band which could be shortly (but incompletely) described as melodeath with two vocalists, Dylath-Leen were one of the bands I absolutely wanted to see. Well, I wasn't disappointed. The sound was good, except for Kathy's clean vocals that where really difficult to hear. The band was good, maybe a little too static, except for Magalie, the keyboard player, who cheered the audience during all the set. And the audience responded quite well!
They played four songs from their only album Insecure, mainly The Awakening (one of my favourites) and Mass Blindness And Fabrication (a song really made for live situation), and a new one (which sounded quite good!). Alas, their set, like for other bands on the Discover stage, was shortened by one song, due to delay at the beginning of the festival.
Good news: their new album should be out in September, check out the short interview!




Chimaira

Barry: This band was the very first bigger band I ever saw, so to be kicking off the very first open air festival I have ever been to was quite special as well. Chimaira has just released their fourth full length album but played a very enjoyable, diverse half hour set consisting of songs from all of their albums from "Severed" off the first album through their discography to songs like "Resurrection" that have just been released this year. I was in bliss watching them as a combined mixture of them being the first band of the festival, the first band I have seen live in a few months at all, and also because of the relief of not waiting outside in a huge mass of people any more. Other people seem to be feeling the same way as even with Chimaira playing as the first band we had mosh pits going down at the front so you had to keep your wits about you. They were a really good way to open the festival, very enjoyable live and did their job well.




Mastodon

Barry: Mastodon took the stage and they looked like they meant business as they played a varied set of songs from their last three studio albums. The music on CD is very original and complex in places and I wondered how this would come across in the live environment but it actually came over really well and the longer solos and progressive side to the music was really enjoyable to behind. It all turned a little nasty at the end though, they had been having some problems, I am not sure what exactly but for pretty much the whole set Troy had not been giving the audience a whole lot of attention and then at the end he just briefly said that they were off with no prior warning, and the band left the stage.

DM: A quite enthusiastic crowd cheered but the show quickly turned into disaster. First of all, the sound was bad, and the wind blowing all over the place only made it worse. And next, technical problems accumulated, with one guitarist after the other changing guitars (nearly for no reason it seems). As Marcel put it, the band seemed to lose interest after that. Too bad, because it started so promising that I really want to check their records now.
The songs played? March Of The Fire Ants as an opener, and I'm only sure of Circle Of The Cysquatch later on.




Hatebreed

Barry: By this time we could really confirm that the weather of the day was not going to be one of the better points of the experience of the festival, it was raining on and off and the floor was getting to be the mud-fest that it eventually did turn into. Alas, Hatebreed bounded onto the stage and raised the mood with their adrenaline filled set of thrashy hardcore style metal and really dragged the morale back up. Even if Hatebreed were not one of the top bands I wanted to see over the festival they really made me feel better, especially with the classics "This Is Now" and "Live For This" - it was a really good set, full of energy and just what we needed at the time.




Brutal Truth

Barry: Brutal Truth were the first band I gave all my attention to at the festival that I did not previously know a lot of apart from they were a grindcore band and that I thought I had to check them out. They didn't disappoint at all. The early stages of the set didn't seem all too fascinating, but as they got into the swing of things and got their adrenaline pumping they gave us a really good show. Fast drumming, fast everything else and good stage show. Their vocalist is crazy, it was clear these insane people were under the influence of something, I suppose you have to be to create music like this. Their frontman was constantly bashing his microphone against his head and hard as well! By the end of the set blood was dripping down his face and as they reached the end of the last song on the setlist he said "no one is telling us to get off - lets do another!" which was great, and is the perfect way of showing these guys attitudes. I am glad I didn't miss this.

DM: I've only seen the end, which was a pure invigorating grind assault. With a muddy mosh-pit, and a crazy frontman who banged his head on the microphone so much that he bled and didn't care!




Machine Head

Barry: Onto the bigger bands now and Machine Head took to the main stage and gave us a set of their alternative-ish thrash metal, playing songs from just the "Burn My Eyes" "Through The Ashes Of Empires" and "The Blackening" albums. The band played a generally very upbeat and fast set apart from probably the worst choice they made by playing the long and sombre "Descend The Shades Of Night" that didn't seem to fit really. "Davidian" of course got the whole audience into the swing of things and was by far the highlight of their set although "Old" and "Imperium" were also great live. Overall the set maybe lacked a bit of aggression though, the sound system was set up perfectly, we could hear every thundering bass drum kick but still something seemed missing. Overall it was an enjoyable set and glad I made the effort to watch their set.

DM: The first really great show of the fest. An excellent setlist, a powerful sound, coupled with a really moved Robb Flynn (or so it seemed), all this made for a really intense moment. In fact, the tone was set at the very beginning, with Clenching The Fists Of Dissent.
They also played Imperium, Davidian, Old, Halo, Aesthetics Of Hate? And Descend The Shades Of Night, dedicated to all those who've dealt with depression, suicide or death. The emotions were really, really intense on this one, Robb conveyed so well the feeling that made him write this song ; knowing what he was speaking of (and loving this song), I was really moved. Thank you!




Enslaved

Barry: Enslaved took the place over Mayhem on the Gibson stage and gave us a set of their own brand of black metal playing songs all from "Frost" "Isa" "Ruun" and one treat of a song from the 1993 "Hordanesland". The newer Enslaved music I feel tends to rely a little on atmosphere and mood but even still the music came across really really well. "Bounded By Allegiance" and "Return To Yggdrasil" for example really imposed themselves on us and when comparing these to the 1993 and 1994 songs they played you can really see the change Enslaved have taken over time. All songs, whatever era really left an impression on us, the audience. Anyone watching them that didn't know them prior I can almost guarantee they will go back and take a good look into this band's history. They gave a superb, solid performance that left me wanting to hear more.

DM: Originally, Mayhem should have played at this time, but they cancelled, so Enslaved filled the spot. A good change to my tastes, even if I was curious to see Mayhem live (another time maybe).
Enslaved did a wonderful job, and their show was really intense. Starting with Path To Vanir and Fusion of Sense and Earth (both from the Ruun album -the title track appeared later in the set), they also played oldies (Slaget I Skogen Bortenfor, Jotunblood) and of course songs from the Isa album (Isa, Return To Yggdrasil, Bounded By Allegiance). The vikings seemed really happy to be there, with Ivar, Grutle interacting with the audience, and Icedale playing poser - with class! A really, really good moment, proving again that Enslaved are a top-class act!




Slayer

Barry: Slayer have been doing this metal thing for years and years now and have so many albums but still always seem to perform the same songs live, and so I was expecting a carbon-copy performance from these guys that I could just watch on a DVD or something, but I was wrong! These guys know what they are doing and I won't question Slayer again, they blew me away and raised the bar so high I thought it would be quite a while until another band came on and blew me away so much. The sound on the main stage was utterly fantastic, it was perfect - every bass kick was amplified so loud you felt it through the floor standing a long way away, and when you have Dave Lombardo behind the kit drumming to "War Ensemble" for example, it is just insane. They started the set with "South Of Heaven" and then followed up with personal favourite after personal favourite of mine. The set included "Silent Scream", both "Angel Of Death" and "Raining Blood", "War Ensemble" and old favourites and classics such as "Dead Skin Mask" and "Die By The Sword" and of course we had a couple of new songs as well. Being soaked by the rain was not even in my mind, these guys really blew me away - first time seeing Slayer live and I have a re-newed respect for them. Tom doesn't do so much talking any more and there isn't much action on the stage but there really doesn't need to be when they can pull these performances out of their arsenal.

DM: I was probably too tired to really enjoy the show, which was good with songs from all eras of the band's history, starting with South Of Heaven. There were also (not in order)
Disciple, War Ensemble, Cult, Mandatory Suicide, Raining Blood, Angel Of Death, Dead Skin Mask? But I can't say anything more, because I was really in a haggard state after all this mud.




Cannibal Corpse

Barry: These guys are a long time favourite band of mine and I have wanted to see them live for a long long time. I was so excited just before the set you can't imagine. Eventually the band took to the stage and gave us an hour of pure death metal. Until you have seen Cannibal Corpse live you do not know what kind of machine they are. Fronted by George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, this guy is like the death metal messiah, he just stands there and headbangs, spinning his head around for the entire set, performing his vocal parts perfectly in the breaks. The set full of classics and favourites really made this a mindblowing set, "Hammer Smashed Face" "I Cum Blood" "Fucked With A Knife" "Stripped, Raped And Strangled" "Devoured By Vermin" and more recent numbers "Decency Defied" "Make Them Suffer" and "Five Nails Through The Neck" came over to the audience perfectly. I couldn't have asked for a better set, they played the set and the audience perfectly - these guys have been doing this a long time and I can tell they are true professionals playing the part of the real life Dethklok. Corpsegrinder, the perfect death metal frontman sprung one last surprise on us at the end of the set after he told us "Hammer Smashed Face" was the last song, by telling us that he lied, and they actually finished the set with "Stripped, Raped And Strangled". I wouldn't have missed this band for the world so I am thrilled that they entertained and blew my head off more then I imagined they would. One of the best bands I have ever seen live. With Korn pulling out at last minute, Cannibal Corpse were the last of the Friday, and there can't have been many better ways to end a day than on this bludgeoned, death metal note.