FESTIVAL REVIEW: SUMMER BREEZE OPEN AIR 2017 Live In Dinkelsbühl – Day 3 (Friday)

The third and the last day of Summer Breeze Open Air 2017 was in my opinion, filled with acts from all different genres. And all of these were big bands in today’s contemporary metal scene.

The last day for me started out with watching Spanish Thrasher’s Crisix as they played an early afternoon set on the Camel Stage. It was a power packed performance which had major impressive highlights. On the last song of their set, which was called “Ultra Thrash”, taken from their debut i.e. ‘The Menace’ album, saw the band go inside the crowd in the middle of the circle pit and play while the crowd moshed around them. This group’s music style was amazing which had a touch of the typical 80s (Thrash Beat) metal filled with new age rhythmic patterns. They presented a good show as a starter band on Day 3.

All eyes were then again drawn on the Tent Stage with killer acts back to back on it just as the previous days. Benighted from France took the stage by storm, belting their Death/ Grind attack like none other. Their drummer was nearly a sounding like a drum machine at least when the Double Bass playing was concerned. They were really glad that there were so many people who turned up for their set. They mostly played songs from their new album and also some older ones.

After a crushing performance by them the next band which I saw was Havok on the same stage. This Denver New age Thrash act didn’t fail to disappoint as well. Every line the vocalist said about the state and the society and the present condition of the world was so meaningful. The singing style of the vocalist is also something which I felt was really unique. His tone felt like a fusion between Joey Belladona and Bobby Blitz. It was a super performance. I hadn’t listened to them before but after watching them on that day, I was sure that they were a band that will definitely be on my playlist soon.

The next band which I saw after Havok was U.S. hardcore act Terror. I am a huge fan of the band since a few years now. One band that knows how to party and have a good time with fans is definitely Terror. Plus they love Germany and keep touring here. The slam dancing was pretty much visible around the time when they played their tracks like “Put your Mouth Shut’, “Overcome” etc. I enjoyed their set thoroughly.

After Terror ended, I realised to my surprise, the next band to play is Asphyx. This influential Dutch Death metal band has been respected all across the world in the extreme metal movement. They were pretty much responsible for the whole Dutch Death Metal explosion in the 90s. Martin Van Drunen is one of the best Death Metal vocalist’s in the world. His growl tone is exceptional. Also they played a big set list. But deep inside my mind I also had this thought going when Asphyx was about to end that the next band on the main stage was the legendary Korn who were the headliners of this festival on the last day.

As soon as Asphyx was done I started moving towards the main stage. Korn started off with songs from their new album. They also had a fantastic set list from songs including from nearly all of their epic albums. It was also pretty cool to see Brain Head Welch play with them again and he has again fit in so good that it doesn’t even feel like he was not in the band for many years. From “ Blind” to “ Falling away from me” to “ Clown “ to “ Somebody Someone”. Name any hit songs by them and they played it. I was enjoying my time in the pit listening to those classic songs. I was struck by the moment of nostalgia as I felt about those times back in the day when this whole Nu Metal movement was happening and how we grew up with that. Korn actually played a big role in the metal scene for nearly years. Korn was for me one of the best bands in the festival. Munks, Fieldy and Jonathan never disappoint. The crowd was a little low but that’s okay.

In total Summer Breeze open air and especially the final day was a blast.