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Metallsvenskan 2015

Metallsvenskan is a rather small 2 day activity taking place in Örebro, Sweden. For various reasons I personally couldn't make it to the festival on the first day, but still I was kind of excited to go back at least one day to a place at which I have had a good time before. I started my 2 hour trip Eastbound from Stockholm before noon and rest assured, it wasn't more than a few minutes until rain showers were upon me. Even if those showers weren't really heavy, the rain kept falling for almost the entire day and most people who have attended any kind of festival know that the weather in the end is an important factor to the total experience.

The stages:
Stora scenen = The main stage.
NEMIS-scenen = The middle-sized stage. (New Music In Sweden stage.)
Lilla scenen = The small stage.

//Tobbe

Reviews and photos by Tobbe

Saturday - May 30

Band: Frantic Amber
NEMIS-scenen 14:50-15:15

Earlier this spring I listened to and reviewed Frantic Amber's debut record Burning Insight and therefore I decided to check them out to see what they would be able to bring out on a live performance. I must say that the band come out kind of intense with the title track of that record and that they're really trying to deliver the best possible show at this somewhat early hour. At the same time, although all they get is a set of 25 minutes, the songs overall aren't good enough to really make me focused.

The vocalist, Elizabeth Andrews, is trying hard to put on a good show and even if she is interacting with the audience in a great way and indeed seems to have a good time on stage, she is more or less unable to lose some of the pretty monotonous tones. I wouldn't say that this outfit is bad whatsoever, but as I'm standing on the wet grounds in front of the stage, I can't help looking at my cell phone a repeated number of times to check what time it is and this is naturally never a good sign, but rather an ominous one.

Performance: 4 chalices of 10
Stage sound
: 5 chalices of 10
Best
: Burning Insight
Worst
: The band as a unit is unable to rise to the occasion.

Setlist:
Burning Insight
Soar
Awakening
Ghost
Self Destruction


Band: Powerwolf
Stora Scenen 15:30-16:25

The German metallers Powerwolf for some mysterious and unexplained reason entered the stage 15 minutes before their scheduled time and a few fans missed out on a couple of songs because of this rather unwise decision. Early on into the show I had my hopes for a longer set because of this, but it would later prove that my hopes were in vain unfortunately.

This band is definitely a theatrical act. All from guitarist Matthew Greywolf's facial expressions to lead singer Attila Dorn's kind of unfocused talk between the songs and to keyboarder Falk Maria Schlegel's unquestionable urge to run up front and cheer with the crowd. The face painted unit delivers a set of basically good entertainment, although I personally think that they could have shaken up the setlist a little, because even if I enjoyed what was eventually given, I think that they ditched a few great songs in favor of some decent ones.

The band is really able to keep things attentive almost all throughout the set. They certainly have a knack for bringing out the best of close to each moment on stage and their performance was really effective and diligent and perhaps this outfit finally will reach a bigger audience in the country of Sweden as well, even if their lyrics about wolves and Satan maybe aren't totally applicable to suit the masses.

Performance: 7 chalices of 10
Stage sound
: 7 chalices of 10
Best
: Guitarist Matthew Greywolf and the songs Amen & Attack and Coleus Sanctus.
Worst
: Lupus Dei came out quite tedious as the set's closing song.


Setlist:
Intro
Sanctified With Dynamite
Coleus Sanctus
Amen & Attack
Raise Your Fist, Evangelist
Resurrection By Erection
Werewolves Of Armenia
In The Name Of God (Deus Vult)
We Drink Your Blood
Lupus Dei


Band: ShadowQuest
NEMIS-scenen 17:40-18:25

Performance: 5 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)


Band: Twilight Force
Lilla Scenen 20:30-21:00

Performance: 5 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)


Band: Motörhead
Stora Scenen 21:20-22:30

After some initial mumbling words, our beloved bass player and vocalist Lemmy Kilmister opens up the show by saying "We are Motörhead and we play rock 'n' roll." and from that point pretty much the whole show is a display of the trio's well attained experience and their standard routines. The list of songs has been rather similar for a long time now and in this case I can no longer see any kind of a bigger change of direction.

The celebrated frontman looks a bit healthier than when I last saw him perform, but he has for sure lost some weight at this point, which on the other hand isn't exactly revolutionizing when someone has passed the age of 70. His voice has deteriorated quite a bit lately as he has lost a good share of his strength and his movement pattern is definitely limited nowadays and therefore guitarist Phil Campbell makes a few, yet unavailing, attempts to cover both sides of the stage occasionally.

I don't wanna come out too condescending, but without Mikkey Dee behind the drum kit, I believe that Motörhead would have a hard time to come out solid at the end of the day. Nevertheless, they have a big name to rely on and they still draw much attention to their live performance and in fact they had the largest audience on the entire event.

Sometimes I don't know which side to place myself on. One thought tells me that this band is still something awesome and that I should just shut up and be happy that the formation still exists. My second thought on the contrary tells me that it was a long time ago since these guys were able to fire things up on a large scale. As far as I'm concerned, it's definitely up to each man his own to decide whether you find pleasure or pain out of seeing a Motörhead show in 2015.

Performance: 6 chalices of 10
Stage sound
: 7 chalices of 10
Best
: The Chase Is Better Than The Catch, Overkill and drummer Mikkey Dee.
Worst
: Ace Of Spades, because I'm so unutterably sick of it.

Setlist:
Shoot You In The Back
Damage Case
Stay Clean
Metropolis
Over The Top
Guitar Solo
The Chase Is Better Than The Catch
Rock It
Do You Believe?
Lost Woman Blues
Doctor Rock (w/ Drum Solo)
Just Coz You Got The Power
Going To Brazil
Ace Of Spades
--------
Overkill


Band: Blind Guardian
Stora Scenen 23:40-00:50

As time was approaching midnight, the German metallers Blind Guardian made their entrance with jackets covering their stage clothing. It was definitely getting chilly on the grounds of Örebro and I believe that a lot of the band's followers in some way just wanted to see the show in a rush and then get the hell out of there as quick as possible.

The band has the ability to come out massive in the front with 2 guitar players and with lead singer Hansi Kürsch leading the troops. Still it's a little too structured as well, because they continue to have their bass player in the back of the stage and the guitar players almost never leave their own side of the stage to change places.

The band was nevertheless indeed focused to bring out the best possible under these given circumstances and to please a festival crowd they decided to perform a sort of best of set in a mixture with a few new songs. A good part of the songs are really awesome and most of them came out powerful and viable and to me this was the most enjoyable performance of the day.

Performance: 8 chalices of 10
Stage sound
: 7 chalices of 10
Best
: Guitarist Marcus Siepen and the opening with War Of Wrath/Into The Storm and Banish From Sanctuary.
Worst
: I still don't fancy the idea of having the bass player stationed way in the back beside the drums.

Setlist:
War Of Wrath (Intro)
Into The Storm
Banish From Sanctuary
Nightfall
Tanelorn (Into The Void)
Prophecies
The Last Candle
Lord Of The Rings
Bright Eyes
Twilight Of The Gods
Mirror Mirror
Valhalla

To the top

The closing words

The almost constant rainfall and the quite chilly weather, with maximum temperatures of 12 °C (54 °F), made this festival a rather tiresome experience. The major part of the audience had a hard time getting started and was unable to bring forward some energy on the muddy and wet grounds in front of the stages. Many people left the location right after Motörhead's gig; maybe because they simply had been given what they came for, but most likely because of them being pretty fatigue. I can however definitely see myself returning to this event next year, because it's actually a nice place to be in, if the conditions are all right.
//Tobbe

Related links:
www.metallsvenskan.com
www.facebook.com/metallsvenskan