Day 2 of Hellfest Open Air had a good start with The Lumberjack Feedback, a French group from Lille, whose visual and auditory impact was prominent due to the 2 drummers on stage. Next, the black Metal group Undead Prophecies arrived dressed in a sort of black monk gown and wore masks with false red eyes. To reinforce the grim side of the atmosphere and their heavy music, the microphone stand was a scythe. The French guys from Otargos went up, playing powerful and efficient black metal while Drowned spread their classy, violent death metal over the venue.
On the side of the main stage, Thy Art is Murder gave the audience a deathcore sound coming straight from the shores of Australia. Energy-packed and warmly welcomed by their fanbase, the Australians opened the day in a memorable way. At lunchtime, British metalcore group Bury Tomorrow played their catchy music, enthralling the crowd. Next up was Les Vieux Enragés, who offered a performance where the public was concentrating more on the lyrics and messages then the music itself! Employers, youngsters, politics and so on, a lot of subjects were covered and the crowd was captured.
August Burns Red, at the Main Stage 2, where the crowd stuck together to listen to the American metalcore played by the band, had some neat, progressive parts that brought out their musicality –a very percussive and original set. On Main Stage 1, Glenn Hughes, at 65, showed his class with an incredibly accurate and controlled bass/vocal performance. Coming to the warzone for a high dose of hardcore was Strife. The Americans proposed a powerful sound with a lot of blast beats and halting riffs. Mosh pits ensued over songs like “Carry the Torch”, “Next” and “Blistered”.
From the punk hardcore of Discharge to the flashy headbands or exuberant guitars of Atreyu, or even to the folk metal of Heidelwok, Hellfest had a lot of diversity going on. Next up, Fleshgod Apocalypse plundered through a very theatrical, symphonic death metal set, in the company of an operatic singer; the band played a solid set including “Cold as Perfection” and “The Fool”. Coming back to the main stage was Sick of it All, with a set full of classic titles like “Scratch the Surface”, “Uprising Nation”, and “Step Down”. It was a powerful performance with an amazing crowd containing alternating circle pits and a wall of death.
The big headliners began to play, with Disturbed and then Within Temptation giving fans a dose of their popular music. The public was present in large numbers to warmly welcome the alternative metal of Disturbed, who marked this 2016 edition with an energy-packed set. They also included some surprises like a cover of Motley Crue’s “Shout at the Devil” and a cover of “Killing in the Name” by Rage Against the Machine, before leaving the stage with an ovation from the crowd.
Within Temptation gave a show full of hits, with their songs articulated around Sharon’s voice complemented by the pyrotechnics and other stage effects throughout. After an interesting mix of style with bands like Terrorizer , Ludwig Von 88 and Bring me the Horizon, it was Twisted Sister who set the stage on fire playing famous songs like “Burn In Hell”, “Believe In Rock n’ Roll” and “You Can’t Stop Rock n’ Roll”.
Soon, it was time for Korn to jump on to the main stage. The guys from the US played a set full of famous songs like “Right Now”, “Here To Stay”, “Somebody Someone”, “Falling Away From Me”, ” Freak on a Leash” and “Coming Undone”. Jonathan Davis motivated the crowd to scream louder and to jump around and always interacted with numerous headbangers at the front of the stage. Finally, Dark Fortress ended the day with a brutal and dark set –a perfect end to a perfect day. The public really appreciated this performance that ended what was an eventful day 2 at Hellfest.
