MDM VI is past now - just great memories remain, supported by plenty of photos, as well as recording and filming! As usually, Ill write some of our impressions from the festival, and as always we wont even try to be politically correct. But I have to say that practically all the bands that performed at this edition presented a really high level, being well rehearsed - this of course doesnt mean that we liked them all. Ill start with my/our personal highlights... MANILLA ROAD... what can I say... Theyre one of my all-time favourite bands and seeing them live is always a big emotion... not as big the 9th time as the first -tears-in-my-eyes- time in 2004 (KIT II fest) but always... Love these guys! Banging my head against the stage, taking photos... the usual stuff at a great show. :) Simone also enjoyed their gig a lot. OUTRAGE... thats what wed been waiting for most of all! The first gig of these black/thrash veterans for us - and what a blast it was! We have to admit we were not sure what the reaction of the fans at the doom festival will be for their music, but the audience proved to be all-round old school metalheads! The Germans got a really hot welcome, with plenty of headbangers in the front rows and a mosh-pit from time to time. It was awesome to hear their classics live and see their show finally! Frank the Voice of Hell is one helluva performer - hes quite an actor and makes the show all the more exciting with little details (costumes/masks...) - even though I know they had only a part of their usual stage props with them, as they couldnt fly with a throne or a big cross for example. ;) FORSAKEN... the Maltese doom institution and pride didnt disappoint for sure! They seemed really hungry for playing and it was obvious they enjoyed themselves a lot. They played a couple of songs from their upcoming album - it was great to hear something new from these doomsters! Another band weve seen many times but we can watch them again and again without ever getting bored! IN AEVUM AGERE... what a precise doom attack by these Italians! Simone said it was like a thrash band playing doom. Their riffs and guitar playing in general was quite thrash style indeed. But their overall style is more epic doom, in the Candlemass territory, so in effect this mixture is quite original. We saw them once before (at Play It Doom fest) and they werent so impressive then (bad day, I guess). This time they were perfect! These were the 4 absolute highlights for us. Now about the other bands... FANGTOOTH from Sicily jumped in on the billing on Friday as Maltese IT CAME FROM THE DESERT pulled out at the last moment. Like I wrote in my previous post, we enjoyed them at the warm-up, but now they gave a much better show! Better stage and sound and overlall impression. DESOLATION ANGELS was another (together with Outrage and Manilla Road) good band for a change of mood and style - melodic NWOBHM played by seasoned musicians. FIRELORD from Italy gave a really enjoyable show, very in-your-face playing - raw energy! Hard to classify stylistically (they used to be more stoner in the past, but not anymore... maybe acid-doom now? ;) ). Oh, and what a great drummer they have! CRIMSON DAWN - another Italian band, this one more on the melodic doom side, with keyboards, so not exactly what we like most but they were definitely professional and had a good stage presence (with costumes). VICTIMS OF CREATION - these Maltese scene veterans played as the closing act, after Manilla Road, so it wasnt an easy position on the billing, but they had a great local support. Good show in spite of a few technical hiccups. OFFICIUM TRISTE - these doom/death veterans from Holland are a very solid and tight band live. Personally were not so much into the MDB-style bands but we enjoyed their show nevertheless. FACADE - another Dutch band, this one very young. They played really slow doom/death... too depressive for Simone ,but I somehow enjoyed it (good growls!)... in a bigger dose they could have been too much for me too though. REINO ERMITANO - well, their music is great but we just cant stand these vocals (and its not just me whos in general not into female vocals... this woman had quite a terrible voice). But of course its a matter of personal taste. :) MIST - Slovenian almost-all-female newcomers played traditional doom, not so tight yet but promising (although the vocals - even though much better than of R.E. - are still a problem for me personally). The only band we thought was total crap (as far as their style is concerned... perhaps theyre good musicians but we couldnt be bothered to analyze this) was SOULSTEEL from Cyprus. Whatever hybrid of styles they played - melo-doom (well, I wouldnt even call it doom... the melodic vocals were just way too much), with additional extreme vocals, and some industrial (or techno?) parts - was totally not digestible for us! We just stayed outside, enjoying some Cisk and Blue Label and a chat with our friends. TO SUM IT UP: One of the best editions of MDM so far! The festival has grown, the lights and sound are better, theres 3 professional camera team filming (they plan to release a DVD!) but one thing stayed the same: its like a great family meeting... and doom pilgrims from various countries come to the small island and enjoy the Maltese hospitality. We cant wait for the next MDM! There are already a few bands confirmed, among them M-PIRE OF EVIL and STONEGRIFF! :)
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 18:29:05 +0000
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