What’s better than starting the day with some sun beams and wonderful Depressive Suicidal Black Metal? Sweden’s Shining were not the ones to mess with and even though Niklas Kvarforth seemed to be more at peace with himself than he was ten years ago, he still is the master of selfhate and destruction and it would have been nice to see a longer set from the capturing misanthropes.
Paradise Lost were barely less depressing, after the return to their roots with the critically acclaimed opus ‘The Plague Within’. Doom, death and beauty collided in this show, that prove the diversity of singer Nick Holmes who switched between ghost-like melancholy and harsh Death Metal moments within minutes and once again anchored their status as one of Britain’s most influential music acts.
After such depressing melodies, it was time to cheer up with some Irish drinking songs and even though the Dropkick Murphys are hailing from Boston, USA, they were the ones you want to raise your Guinness to. May it be with “Shipping Up To Boston“ (the song you find in basically every movie soundtrack on this planet) or the sing-along “Rose Tattoo“, the guys around Al Barr rocked Dessel with their mixture between punk rock and traditional instruments like the banjo or accordIon and chased the clouds away. But since Satyricon haunted the dry Marquee, the weather didn’t matter anyway. What a relief to see frontdevil Satyr in action again, after he recovered from his brain tumor and for the 20th anniversary of their classic ‘Nemesis Divina’, the Norwegians sailed under the flag of their older songs and chaised Frost’s blastbeats through the sweaty tent – of course not without “Mother North“ and its massive choir from the Belgian fans.
Those in the mood for singing delivered a little sprint to the second Main Stage, where Papa Emeritus III welcomed his followers and opened up a truly spectacular ceremony – you either hate or adore Ghost, but watching this coloured circus with its capturing Depeche Mode melodies made it nearly impossible to dislike those unique Satan worshippers. But while Papa and his Ghouls gathered the fans of hard rock and melancholy, the upcoming Slayer made no prisoners and destroyed the entire field. The Ferris wheel fell over, the beer cups imploded and the “Angel Of Death“ levitated over the massive Main Stage. Kerry King will never get old and even though the songs seemed like one massive thrash inferno with few particular highlights, Slayer tore the flesh off the skulls of their fans, just like everyone expected.
But the night ended with pure beauty. Nightwish were once again in town to promote the fascination for Mother Nature and evolution and with their latest masterpiece ‘Endless Forms Most Beautiful’, they started their epic set with a massive bang and “Shudder Before The Beautiful“ – frontwoman Floor Jansen seemed happy to play a show close to her Dutch home and with wine, pyros and epicness, they created a bombastic highlight for this Saturday night. Especially the ten minutes of “Ghost Love Score“ never lost their intensity and once again, Floor proved that she morphed Nightwish into their best possible form.
