|
By
now all knowledgeable metalheads know that Poland is like
Disneyland for fans of extreme music. The Central European
country has for long been overlooked in this camp. Shadowed by
the spotlight grabbing electricity of their Satanic Northern
neighbors, Poland has in the last decade seen its native bands
such as the exact Decaptitated and the prolific Vader do the
rounds across the globe, introducing their form of extremity to
the foreign masses. Along with their sound, labels such as SelfMadeGod and the fabulous reverential work of Metal Mind seem
to be the guarding dogs of all things, extreme, putrid and
classic.
But what
could be of a metal country without an extreme music festival?
Metalmania has been quenching the Polish thirst for metal music since 1996 and
as Metalmania 2007 attests, the line up included presents bands
that adhere to a very strict metal diet. Be it thrash, death, or
classic heavy metal, none of the bands included this year
represents the newer breed of extreme musicians. For a taste of
that Polish fans will have to wait until this year’s version of
the festival which will include the likes of Dillinger Escape
Plan, Stolen babies and Poison the Well alongside more classic
sounding bands such as Mortal Sin and Flotsam and Jetsam.
Before I get
into the bands presented in the DVD version (there is also a CD
that includes songs by second stage acts like Benediction,
Horrorscope, TYR, Root, etc), I want to say that the fine folks
at Metal Mind once again deserve the horns for presenting such a
professional package. Neatly captured with cameras from all
angles and a crisp sound Metalmania 2007 delivers a bang for its
buck. My only complaint is that quite frankly the stage is too
big; not only taking some of the intimacy out of the performances
but dwarfing the musicians and making them look like tiny
plastic soldiers in a vast battlefield.
To the
bands: everyone’s
favorite Finnish folk drunks Korpiklaani open up the
celebrations with three festive, and at the same time, melancholic
tunes. I am still not sure what the fuss is about. I
just don’t get these dudes. Russia is represented by Crystal
Abyss who play average black metal and Darzamat who are playing
their own homeland also represent traditional black metal. Their
songs are heavily orchestrated through the use of keyboards and
in the live setting come off as way long. In the absence of
Emperor, Zyklon is present. Smoth and Trym’s death metal is the
first act to really kick things into gear. Rhode Island’s Vital
Remains follow suit, with their blackened death metal coming off
better here than in the Live Evil Death DVD also issued
by MVD. Maybe they are easier on the ear when taken in small
doses. The first massive letdown of the show is Entombed who
with only one guitar on the attack sound like half the band they
are.
Number of
members doesn’t seem to be an issue for Teutonic powerhouse
Destruction who speed up through three classics like 2007 is
1987. Cheers for Schmier and his vintage thrash attack. Time
hasn’t really passed for them. Unfortunately, we can’t say the
same about Blaze Bailey, the former Iron Maiden vocalist has
aged as bad as a raisin in the sun. And Sepultura are in rare
form; the form of some other band not named Sepultura that is.
No one will deny Paulo Jr and Andreas Kisser the right to play
under that name, but the band playing classics such as “Dead
Embryonic Cells” simply isn’t the Sepultura we've come to know
and love. One song from the always formidable Paradise Lost is
not enough, but considering the contrast they represent against
the other bands, maybe that’s for the best. Closing the
festivities in proper form are Testament, whose classic line up
at hand delivers the classics the only way they know.
|
