Sunday, Day 3 of the Graspop Metal Meeting started with the sudden urge to stagedive and throw beer cups around – Sick Of It All were in town and ready to spread some nasty hardcore punk over the Belgian fields. Few fans were still able to stand on both feet on the third day of the festival, but Lou Koller chased the hangover away and with Pete’s massive jumps, the crowd suddenly felt inspired to try the same and soak up all the energy for one more day of Graspop madness.
And that’s what they needed for Germany’s priests from Powerwolf, since the time had come to confess the sins of the last two days and pray for forgiveness. Of course Attila Dorn knew how to absolve them with his symphonic Power Metal and epic hymns, and form his “Army Of The Night“, while Matthew Greywolf delivered highspeed solos on his Flying V. An entire sea of fans seemed to enjoy the theatrical performance and immediately joined the religious ceremony by raising their hands up to the sky and screaming their lungs out.
Few years ago, people rumoured that Trivium would be the new Metallica, but Matt Heafy and his crew developed their own style over the years and delivered their modern US metal with such power that one day they might even surpass their Thrash Metal idols. After the legendary show of Black Sabbath on Friday, the expectations for Iron Maiden were high, but the Eddie keepers never let down. Bruce Dickinson might not have been at his best with the vocal performance, but it was his stage presence and constant urge to move around the ancient Egyptian scenery that made the massive rock show so spectacular. The choirs during “Fear Of The Dark“ and the howling guitar solos caused such a heat over the masses that it became easy to forget the evening cold.
Although Maiden were hard to mess with, Behemoth took the challenge and nailed it, just as brilliantly as Cradle Of Filth did last year. From “Blow Your Trumpets, Gabriel“ to “O Father! O Satan! O Sun!“, the Polish institution grabbed the audience by its neck and forced them down on their knees. These guys don’t play shows, they celebrate rituals and therefore the entire set was pure perfection, as one would imagine Graspop’s last show to be.
For their 20th anniversary, Graspop Metal Meeting definitely delivered its best line-up and if this is the scale for the upcoming editions of the Belgian festival, you might as well leave your tent on the camping space and sit there patiently until next year.
