Metalmania
is the biggest and the most prestigious
metal festival in Central-Eastern
Europe. The festival is spitted to
two stages, the main stage that hosts
some of the best and more famous
bands, and the side stage that works
as a forum for less known, but probably
equally interesting bands. With a
few exceptions, this DVD, which captures
the event that took place in Spodek,
Katowice, is mainly addressed to
the extreme metal fans, from thrash
to black metal. This might show that
extreme metal has a strong core in
Central-Eastern Europe, but also
might be an indication of current
trends. Anyway, as I said there are
few exceptions, like Korpiklaani,
Blaze Bayley and Paradise Lost. Unfortunately
I could not enjoy Paradise Lost's
part, because it included only one
track. I understand that this might
be caused by rights issue, but one
track is very little compared to
the representation of other bands.
To continue, I can't tell that Blaze
Bayley was good that night; unfortunately
his performance was quite shallow.
As far as Kopriklaani concerns, please
let me not comment their performance,
because I may be unfair.
The rest of the
main stage section is a heaven (or
would I say hell?) for extreme metal
fans as they have the chance to see
some solid performances from cult
acts, like Testament, Destruction,
Entombed and Sepultura. One thing
is certain when speaking about these
bands; that all of them are experienced
musicians, they know how to fill
the stage and create chaos underneath.
Testament proved that thrash metal
veterans can be far too better than
the various metalcore overestimated
princes. This was an awesome performance
that reminded of glorious days of
pure thrash metal. Sepultura are
like a bulldozer and despite many
changes through the years they are
a cornerstone for thrash/death metal
(Note: nice Sao Paolo shirt for Andreas
Kisser. It has just the right colors).
As far as the Entombed regards, they
were as always very persuasive on
stage, but they do need a second
guitar immediately. Their three tracks cover
indicative songs of their career
and I must say that "When in
Sodom" is an absolute stormer,
be it in studio, be it live. Simply,
it kills. Other bands like Crystal
Abyss, Darzamat, Zyklon and Vital
Remains expand the parade of extreme
metal with notable performances.
I must admit that Zyklon looked very
confident on stage and drove many
metal maniacs to their limits, just
like Vital Remains did.
As I described earlier
there is also a side stage that includes
less known bands. Of course I can't
say that Benediction or Tyr are less
known that some of the bands in the
main stage. Their tracks are among
the best in this disc, while I have
also to note that Horrorscope and
Witchking were equivalently interesting.
I can't claim the same for some metal
bands from Poland that sang in their
native language and might sound too
strange to your ears (at least they
did to mine).
The Metalmania
2007 DVD also includes detailed information
about every band, such as biographies,
and discography, the usual photo
galleries, a retrospective to the
festival's history and desktop images.
Finally you maybe able to see some
-short- interviews with all bands
that took part in the main stage.
Ok, you got a picture
of what happened that night. It now
depends on you to purchase this DVD,
because this release is associated
with a specific festival. I have
the feeling that such releases address
to people who were present to an
event and want to keep their memory
alive. Of course the timing suggests
that Metal Mind that organizes this
festival wants to tease people and
to warm them, as the new Metal Mania
Festival is near. The point is that
metal travelers have another reliable
option for their new adventures in
Europe and this DVD certifies it. |
