It's almost 3 o'clock in the afternoon and I come running -both the rain and the hour- to the Flying Circus so as not to miss a single moment of Eyescream Metal Fest V, on a day where running will become a constant. And it is that both scenarios in the event; Both the big one - named EYE stage - and the boy - the SCREAM stage - will have bands playing continuously, so when the action ends in one, you have to run to the other so as not to lose any detail.
AND THEN IT ALL BEGINS WITH A RACE
A direct race to the main stage, Havok You are already downloading the full power of your presentation with ‘Point of no Return’ [the show opened with ‘Covering Fire’, but unfortunately, I did not manage to arrive early enough]. The Colorado thing is just amazing. They had on their shoulders the weight of opening the event and trying to light a Flying Circus that at that time was still quite empty -for the hour- and not only did it, but the way in which it was done is totally remarkable, demonstrating which is one of the mainstays in this new wave of Thrash metal, and turns Circus upside down with themes like ‘From The Cradle To The Grave’, ‘I Am The State’ and ‘Give Me Liberty …Or Give Me Death’ making the moshpit grow in size and intensity. David sanchez He presented himself with a broken hand and his green splint stands out on his arm, but that does not diminish his attitude or his rabid way of singing while Dan Gargulio of Revocation [guest guitarist] plays his chords. ‘Under the Gun’,‘Fatal Intervetion’ and ‘D.O.A.’ They are a brutal and fast download, which closes with the highly requested ‘Unatural Selection’ y ‘Time Is Up’.
I run to the Scream Stage to check out the first national proposal of the afternoon. Death Letters It is a band with a hard and heavy proposal, but which in my opinion has a terrible flaw; In their songs they put in very long solos that break the rhythm of their melodies, to the point of appearing more than a solo, an instrumental ballad within it. This made his presentation very tedious for me and to be honest he left nothing to highlight.
We are a legion of the damned!
And I run to the Eye Stage again! Only to find out that I ran for nothing. The appearance of Legion Of The Damned It is very late and there are problems with the battery that seem not to remain. It is rare for me because a characteristic of the eyescream metal fest has always been punctuality and that when one band ends, the other is already starting, but now something went wrong.
Finally the band appears on the scene, and ‘Son Of The Jackal’ it rumbles but the audience seems sleepy, as if the wait had put them into latency. Fortunately about 3 crazy guys and I wanted to see Legion of the Damned no dejamos de brincar y hacer slam en esa canción, y para la siguiente que es ‘Bleed for Me’ 3 others join us and so on, until topics like "Burn Me in a Nameless Grave" and "Pray And Suffer" The atmosphere is already ideal. "We are very happy to be here with you Mexico, we promised you that we would come and here we are" tell the public Maurice Swinkels excited for your first visit and downloading your Thrash heavy so Old school continue with topics like "Cult Of The Dead" and "Taste Of The Wipe" among others, until closing with the song of the same name.
As I said, running becomes a habit in Eyescream Metal Fest, because already in the other stage it is ready, Delirium. A well-crafted proposal originating from the Federal District; Melodic Death and the odd tint of Doom, but with voices very close to the Dark and even at Black metal. In truth they achieve a dark and melancholic atmosphere quite pleasant for those who like this type of genres.
The Faceless: With that face they appear in Mexico?
And again I run for nothing, not knowing that I am heading for the most terrible disappointment of the whole night. It is the turn of The Faceless and being already hour everything is a chaos. Nobody is ready, the audio technicians are in trouble, and when the band finally comes out, it is to announce that they will only play 5 songs! because his guitarist resigned that same day and no longer took the flight to Mexico. And also, the few songs that play like "Autheist Moment" or "An Autopsy" They sound lousy, the fault of the group's own audio engineer and also, it was noted that they played bad and forced. Days later with the dismemberment in flock of the group we would understand why. A sadness. The only redeemable is that with the cut of the set of The Faceless, the festival recovered much of the delay that was already dragging in its schedules.
By then, the Scream Stage presents Orcus O Dis, and again I was surprised, but for my liking this time is quite positive. What power and vibes these northern kids dressed in Havok t-shirts are loaded, bursting the stage with pure Thrash and Speed metal. The slam is inevitable is formed and from the voice of Alfredo Rocha a party atmosphere is created in the moshpit. Incredibly Flying Circus It does not turn on the stage lights, but that does not stop this band that lit only with a white light reflector that a staff person is holding left me with a great taste in my mouth.
Exhausted and also decapitated.
Aerobic exercise will not stop all night, while the Eye Stage is what I believe is the most brutal presentation of the event. Yes The Faceless it was disastrous, Cattle Decapitation made him forget in a jiffy. They are a steamroller, a merciless beast on stage. No matter what song it is, it could be Lifestalker, "Do Not Resuscitate", "Kingdom of Tyrants"; It does not matter, it does not matter, because everything is a sick delusion of mosh and guttural of the hand and voice of Travis Ryan, a mad demoniac who sings with his eyes rolled while strangling himself with the microphone cable, or while demonstrating his ability to spit into the sky and catch them again with his hand or in his mouth. Without half measures, Cattle Decapitation marked my taste positively and bloodily the Fest.
Back on the small stage I meet the band Acrania and I am immediately surprised to see a trumpet and a small saxophone. And indeed, the curious and original thing about this band is the combination they make of the most extreme and harsh sounds of metal, with the inclusion of wind instruments and Latin sounds that may even seem festive and carnival. Proposal sui generis no doubt that by the way was very cheered by those present.
And then I run again because little by little the members of The Agonist They take the stage leaving the expected one for the last Vicky Psarakis, who in black leather pants and a ripped gray blouse plus long, well-groomed blonde hair immediately steals attention while playing Disconnect Me. After this song, one of the most deeply rooted classics of the band plays, and Thank You Pain It is one of the highest points of the presentation with a good slam where curiously the youngest attendees of the event meet. Other topics like "Panophobia", "Dance Macabre" or "Gates of Horn and Ivory" are executed, and I can tell that Vicky has a much better clean voice than that of Alissa White-GluzAlthough he must still work on his gutturals to make them more rabid and powerful. That if, in charisma and humility, he takes the now vocalist of the street Arch Enemy. "The Tempest" and “…and Their Eulogies Sang Me to Sleep” are the most chorused posteriorly, for an excellent closure with the martial and powerful Business Suits and Combat Boots
Running has taken its toll on me, so I decide to save energy because I remember that it's still missing. Exodus, and I decide to sit for a few moments in the stands of the Flying Circus, and I can only hear from afar the Americans from Black trip. but I guess it went well, let's say yes.
Exodus destroys. It's that simple.
It is not worth it, gentlemen. It really is totally unfair that suddenly and without even a little respite, Exodus arrive and burst the stage with Bonded By Blood. A little mercy, for heaven's sake! There are few bands that can afford to open with a classic like this and Exodus He has no qualms about unleashing his power with this song demonstrating his greatness. "Hello Mexico, how are you?" he asks in bad Spanish, confusing the word "Are" with its meaning of "being" and not of "being" - Steve "Zetro" Souza, But who cares about the error? If the Lord comes to his own business, which is to unleash chaos with topics like "Scar Spangled Banner", "And Then There Were None", "Iconoclasm" and "Metal Command".
Everyone is tired, but everyone understands who is in front of them. With Exodus There is no luxury of resting or standing still. Californians have the gift of infecting with violence and rage those who are close to them, and people pick up their spirits to slame as if it were the first band with songs like "Fabolus Disaster ”,“ Children of the Wortless World ”, the very classic "Piranha" and "Pleasures of the Flesh".
It must be said that I was very curious to compare live to Souza with Rob dukes, the previous vocalist and I can say that Exodus maintains its power. The voices are similar and brutal, and although Rob dukes is more imposing and aggressive in his image, the truth is that Exodus It is a machine gun that works the same way with either one. Gary Holt He is a beast on the ropes and makes it very clear in his excellent way of playing on songs like "A Lesson in Violence" and "Blacklist" a little more rhythmic, and then bring your skill to faster topics like "War Is My Shepard" or "Toxic Waltz" and the invitation printed on their lyrics, to crash the one next to the wall.
The clear closure, had to include "Strike Of The Beast", a hymn of the band famous for generating the Wall of death most epic and giants on the planet -in the Wacken Open Air-, and after a brief encore still remove the last rest of the sweaty but euphoric present with "The Last Act Of Defiance" and in case there was still any uninjured bone, give a final bolt with the tremendous "Good Ridance".
A night full of contrasts, with high points such as the brutal and dismembered performance of some national and foreign bands, but which also had no flavors particularly in the audio and some production details -ah yes ... and that of The Faceless-, but that in the final balance it leaves you with a very good taste in the mouth and a pain in the legs the next day indeed, therefore running.