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Witnessed

Graspop 2010, Belgium: Day 2

09/08/10 || Altmer

Who: A fuckload of bands.
When: 26-06-2010.
Where: Boeretang, Dessel, Belgium.

After waking up in a pool of sweat due to the absolutely retardedly intense heat, it was time for more bands. I wasn’t looking forward to the day – it was over thirty degrees Celsius outside, the sun was burning our skins to a crisp, and to cap it all off the bands I really wanted to see were on the main stage, necessitating the venture into the warm hot desert in front of the main stage. Me and my trusty two companions (girlfriend and another friend) grabbed our Metal Festival Kit™, and left for the grounds. And with that, on to the bands.

First off on the list was Netherlands’ own Hail of Bullets, featuring the skinsman so adored here at Global Domination, Ed Warby. Now I hate to say this, but the band were rather disappointing, and through mostly no fault of their own. The sound was absolutely atrocious and muddy, rendering the details into a wall of noise and volume in which I occasionally discerned riffs and vocals. The slower parts worked slightly better because there wasn’t too much going on, but the faster parts were torture with sound. Also, I must be one of the few around these parts, but van Drunen’s croaky voice doesn’t hugely sit right with me. I expected more of these guys and they probably are better than what they offered me today, but that may have been the awful sound talking. Hail of Bullets score a 4.

The Swedes of Sabaton then lightened up the mainstage with their cheesy as fuck power metal. It was an excellent gig though. Joakim Brodén has exactly the necessary stage presence for me to dig them as fuck. They are tight live as well. Okay, so it is cheesy as all hell, but what do you want from them? They don’t take themselves that seriously, you know. All in all it’s a good show, featuring rousing renditions of everyone’s favourite cheese metal classics, such as “Primo Victoria”, “Ghost Division”, “Cliffs of Gallipoli”, and “Metal Machine”. Also, Joakim whipped his dick out on stage for one song. I know, it’s dumb, but you had to be there. The crowd was really into it, they got an excellent reception and with all the pyros, sing-a-longs and banter between songs going on – I can see why. Top of the line live act and I would go see this band again in a heartbeat. They are plain fun live. 8

Setlist is as follows:

Ghost Division
Panzer Battalion
Coat of Arms
Saboteurs
Cliffs Of Gallipoli
Attero Dominatus
Screaming Eagles
The Art Of War
Primo Victoria
Metal Machine / Metal Crüe

Sabaton were followed for me by the legendary band Carcass. Having been billed to replace Mastodon, who had canceled the gig due to an illness of one of the band members. I was not at all phased by this, though – I have seen Mastodon twice already, but the legendary Carcass have escaped me, seeing as I was raised in an age where Carcass had already broken up. But, thankfully for me, the band has reformed, and I am all the more grateful for it. Carcass are an excellent live band, riffing away like there is no tomorrow, and the (admittedly gruesome) images of autopsies and genitals with pus will put many off their evening shoarma, but not me. The riff-lords and solo-heroes in Carcass delivered a more than solid set which I enjoyed to the fullest. They covered material from a wide range of albums, but the “Heartwork” album was well represented and since that is my favourite, I was chuffed. Another 8 seems to be in order for these guys.

Setlist as follows:

This Mortal Coil
Corporal Jigsore Quandary
Incarnated Solvent Abuse
No Love Lost
Embodiment
Keep On Rotting In The Free World
Buried Dreams
Heartwork

I must be one of the few, but I went to see Cannibal Corpse, full well knowing that this style of death metal is absolutely not my thing. Technical death metal bores me to the fullest, and I was not let down by CC. The worst sound this side of…well, the worst sound I’ve probably ever witnessed on a stage and the variety…wait… there isn’t any variety. Cannibal Corpse fucking suck cocks, and that’s that. I don’t care how good Alex Webster is, this bullshit type of “lets play at 200 bpm while making Gollum noises” is not my thing at all and I fucken hate it, be sure. 2 because the band are good musicians. Fuck this bullshit.

Paradise Lost were the second to last band I saw, after eating first. Paradise Lost are not the best band in the whole world, and they too were plagued by the same issues as most of the bands on the stage they played on – shit sound. Paradise Lost were not a shit band whatsoever at all though, and managed to trudge through those issues with quite a decent setlist and some headbanging material. They are not the most spectacular thing you will ever witness, and if you’re unfamiliar with the material you will find it dull. Also, the fuck-up at the beginning of “Faith divides us – death unites us” was rather dreadful. But apart from that mistake, they managed to keep it all together and presented us with a set worth a 7.

Setlist is as follows:

The Rise Of Denial
Pity The Sadness
Erased
I Remain
As I Die
The Enemy
Enchantment
Frailty
One Second
Requiem
Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us
Say Just Words

The last band on this day of insane heat were Swiss folk metallers Eluveitie. They are not to the tastes of most people here (ehum) but as I pointed out in some previous reviews, I have no issues with their shtick for the most part, and enjoyed their set quite a bit. The crowd went completely wild for it, more than me – even performing big circle pits and walls of death (I know, that doesn’t make any sense). The sound was a bit lame, but then again – all of today was plagued by rather awful sound, and Eluveitie by far did not have it the worst. I would definitely go see them again live, they have great presence on stage and they know how to engage the crowd (although some of the metal mannerisms are out of place). A strong set from a good live institution merits another 8.

Setlist was as follows:

Otherworld
Nil
Gray Sublime Archon
Inis Mona
Dominion
Quoth the Raven
Kingdom Come Undone
Andro
Tegernako
The Liminal Passage (from tape)

All in all, although Saturday for my taste was the least interesting day of the three, it ended up being a stronger day than the Friday. Most bands today gave solid, good sets which made me want to see them again, and those that didn’t had mostly their atrocious sound to blame. Overall, that brings day 2 of the festival to a close, and it does so with an average grade of 6 out of 10 (mostly thanks to CC that).

Graspop 2010: Day 1.
Graspop: Day 3.

Witnessed