It’s the final day of Hellfest and the heatwave showed no sign of abating. The arena could now easily be mistaken for the set of the next Mad Max movie, if I wasn’t there to ruin the image by surreptitiously covering my pasty white English skin with litres of sun cream.
First up is Northlane who chug their way through a technically impressive but rather uneventful set. The band’s quieter and more atmospheric moments are much more interesting than the generic metalcore riffing sections and breakdowns; I’d like to see them focus more on this in future albums.
Shvpes take to the stage next. Their music harkens backs to the days of Metalcore and Nu metal’s dominance and brings very little new or interesting to the table. Frontman Griffin Dickinson (yes, that Dickinson) seems to spend more time trying to coerce the unenthusiastic crowd into opening pits than singing and I was left unimpressed.
A short while later and it was time for Skindred, a band I’ve now seen more times than I can count. This is likely just the fatigue of seeing them dozens of times but I feel like their set lists would benefit from an injection of new music. Despite this most of the crowd seem to be having a great time and Benji Webbe’s ability to get tens of thousands of people dancing, waving clothes and generally having fun is unrivalled in modern metal.
I’ve never really been able to get into A Day To Remember, but as so many of my friends love them I decided to give them another chance. While they weren’t at all bad seeing them live did nothing to change my mind, but they drew a large crowd and I’m glad people enjoyed them.
Devildriver was on form today and they sounded better than ever. When I heard that drummer and guitarist Josh Boecklin and Jeff Kendrick had left the band in 2014, I was doubtful that they could continue, but I’ve been proven wrong. Ex Chimaera drummer Austin D’Amond is particularly impressive driving the bands pummelling momentum. The only weak link was Dez Fafara who couldn’t seem to keep up with the pace, often singing lines off key that were recorded as screams or growls.
Prophets of Rage are a refreshing change of pace, gracefully switching between hip hop and Rage Against the Machine classics. The bands comprised of some very talented individuals and they perform like a band that have been together for twenty years rather than one. It’s a shame that “Unfuck The World” from their upcoming album doesn’t quite live up to the rest of their set.
Next up was Clutch who fill The Valley to the brim. As soon as they walk on stage their greeted with rapturous applause. Neil Fallon may well be the best frontman in the world right now with his ability to get the crowd drawn in and singing along more is more akin to a cult leader than a rock singer. Colour me converted, Clutch are a must see and win my best show of the weekend award.
Headliners Linkin Park must wonder if they’re on the right stage as they emerge to a crowd smaller than some of the early morning bands. Despite the low turnout they bravely soldier on and Chester Bennington elicited some cheers with a couple of decent metal growls. Their earlier material went down well but during the playthrough of new song “Heavy”, the band ended up staring at a sizable chunk of people putting their middle fingers up at them. One person even decides to throw a jug at them, something I’m sure they regretted when they next wanted a beer and had to pay for a new one. While the band performed well and took the abuse in their stride they seem like an odd choice of Headliner for a festival such as Hellfest and the crowd reaction was unsurprising if disappointing.
I can think of no band more fitting to end our time at Hellfest than the mighty Slayer. The absence of Jeff Hanneman can still be felt keenly but the band are incredibly tight and opener “Relentless” takes on new intensity played live. The band have never seemed more at home as they riff through “Mandatory Suicide” while the arena lights up with giant plumes of fire from the various stalls and decorations, but it’s all over too soon. Hell(fest) awaits their return.
While the festival has been incredible and certainly one of the best I’ve been too, there was one small issue during the weekend. The size of the arena and stock of merch simply couldn’t keep up with the sheer number of people. Bands playing in the smaller stages such as The Temple or The Valley frequently had crowds spilling out far from their enclosures due to lack of space and the entertainment and food areas were crammed full from dusk till dawn. We had to queue for over two hours to get the merch we wanted on Friday, as we were warned it would likely sell out, and indeed by Saturday morning, almost everything was gone. While all the larger festivals I’ve been too have queues and occasional overcrowding of stages Hellfest is the only one I’ve been too where it detracted from my overall enjoyment. The festival has grown incredibly fast in the past decade and perhaps relocating to a larger area may be necessary for the coming years.
The paired stage set up whereby one band sets up while another performs on the stage next to them means very little downtime between sets and with bands playing until two in the morning across five stages there’s always something to see. Sound quality on the main stage was the best I’ve experienced at an open-air event and the variety of musical genres and underground acts was impressive. The thought put into the arenas aesthetics, excellent sound and an extensive, varied line up elevates Hellfest above other metal festivals. Here’s hoping next year continues to be just as great. Thanks, Hellfest, it truly was a “hell of a ride”.
—
Written By,
Olli PIcken