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Gig reports, Various

(gig report) 3FF Festival – Day One

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Finally there is an open air festival in our hometown. Great 3FF and Prostor Cezam crew organized 3FF festival after a one year pause. Of course, there is a two day event like previous editions and it is again situated under the walls of ancient Čakovec castle making magic surroundings to enjoy the music and just relish in a fact that the festival is back although with some restrictions due to covid shit still being active. Festival started just after seven pm and first band to hit the stage were VOSTOK. I personally never heard about this band until this gig and I think that this was their first live performance. Frontman/guitarist looks familiar and if I recall good, he used to play in a band called Feuacid. Vostok play a mixture of post rock, melodic rock with some old school Yugo rock influences thrown here and there and lyrics in Croatian. They gave us a great set, although not many people were present during their still early set. But, they played like they play in front of hundreds of people and I found this band interesting, especially because they have great lyrics and stage persona.

 

Night fell and more people started to gather as second band hit the stage, being SFUMATO from Zagreb. This is a trio which is a part of Jeboton collective and they play instrumental rock with lots of noise and psychodelia influences at least that is how I heard it. I must admit that this music is really not my cup of tea, but the musicianship was massive and superb. My friend Lesar told me that the bass player of Sfumato also plays in Pips, Chips & Videoclips.

Then came the band that I personally eagerly waited and the main event of the evening as far as I am concerned and that is KANDŽIJA. I saw Kandžija and his band couple of years ago at Špancirfest and was blown away. Kandžija is a rapper from Slavonija and together with his band makes awesome shows full of fun, great songs and lyrics and this one was not an exception. The set started somehow shy because all of us were kinda far from stage, but somewhere around half of the set we all got in the front rows and everybody was dancing and singing along to all of Kandžija´s hits like Crkva, Đuro, Nema Labavo, Seljak or Magična Butra. Kandžija and his band really enjoyed playing and it warmed my heart to see them all smiling and delivering so much energy. It was very emotional and nice when Kandžija gave a shout out and tribute to our friend Emil who passed away last Autumn. Best of the evening in my opinion.

Last band to play the first evening of the festival and kinda headliner were BRAIN HOLIDAYS from Zagreb. There are a lot of people in this band hehe, I counted eight people on stage if I am not mistaken. I remember this band from like twenty or so years ago from tv show Briljanteen, I think their song was at the top of the chart in that show. Brain Holidays play melodic reggae with trumpets, triple or more vocals and lyrics in Croatian and English. At some moments they reminded me a bit of Mad Caddies, but less punk rock and more reggae. The crowd enjoyed it much and there was dancing, smiling and band played an encore after the end of their regular set. This was a great choice for a headliner of the first day. Day two brings more punk hardcore side of things and stay tuned for that.

News, Various

Brutal Assault added 20 new bands in the line-up for 2021!

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Bandsupdate10_19

20 new bands in the Brutal Assault 2021 line-up!

This crazy year already wrapped, we are more than thrilled to announce a new batch of bands confirmed for the upcoming BA 2021! We are adding more than 20 bands to the line-up covering a whole spectrum of genres, without forgetting any essentials!

If any of you orthodox metalheads do not have a ticket yet, do not waste any more time as we have confirmed a thrash legend from the Bay Area, the forerunner of Machine Head – yes, Phil Demmel will bring the re-united VIO-LENCE! By the time of the festival their new EP should be out, so you can be looking forward to some new stuff! The thrash unit of our line-up is further joined by British ONSLAUGHT, who are taking the genre to a next level of brutality with their new album “Generation Antichrist” and technical death thrashers REVOCATION, who are extremely cleverly oscillating between the 80’s tradition and more technical modern!

Brutal Assault’s line-up is not just about destructive power. Regardless of the genre, everybody just wanna have fun and the trio of stoner rock bands, who will take over our stages, will undoubtedly make the beer flow. Get ready for a huge moshpit at the popular jokers RED FANG as well as at the vital heavy rockers CLUTCH. The third to rock the stage is JOHN GARCIA and his The Band of Gold, the owner of the unforgettable voice of the legendary Kyuss!

Now let’s add up a bit of death metal. Its melodic and atmospheric offshoot will be represented twice by Finland: INSOMNIUM and MORS PRINCIPIUM EST! The faster and more progressive position is taken by Americans – Trevor Strnad with his melodic THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, striking progressives RIVERS OF NIHIL and NEKROGOBLIKON with their crazy little green goblin. And on top of all of these we can’t forget the Danish quartet adoring a shamelessly rotten sound – UNDERGANG! Ugh! Our list wouldn’t be complete without a dash of experimental. The pioneers of industrial / electro rock DIE KRUPPS surely do not need a further introduction. However, we are also adding the pioneers of the Czech EBM – the masters of provocation, messengers of evil and kings of Czech hard electronics VANESSA! You can also look forward to the Norwegian MANES, whose unique mix of rock, electronic genres and heavy guitars has no borders whatsoever. No less interesting will be the reunited death/doom PHLEBOTOMIZED from the Netherlands.

Hardcore punk hybrid from Northern California, balancing consciousness with total chaos and elements of metal ferocity, will be brought to you by DEATH BY STEREO!

We are nearly finished. But have no worries, black and doom metal is not to be forgotten! Melancholy from Germany will get over you with funeral doom AHAB and their murmur as deep as the Marian Trench. Furthermore, and epic mixture of atmospheric black metal with sludge / post-hardcore will be spread acroos the fortress by REGARDE LES HOMMES TOMBER. The atmospheric wave will also come across with English WINTERFYLLETH, whose black metal uncovers doom and pagan-folk sceneries.

Brutal Assault 2021 will take place in five monstrous days on August 10-14. 2021. As for now, ⅔ of the festival’s line up of 150 performers are confirmed, so there are more names to be added still! If you’d like to support us, get your ticket as soon as possible. We are looking forward to all of you!

Tickets: https://brutalassault.cz/en/tickets

FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/493050868165392

News, Various

New additions to Brutal Assault line-up!

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BA25_update_02_24

The Finns LOST SOCIETY have already introduced themselves in our fortress. This bunch of four skillful musicians has slightly moved away from the classic thrash sound on the new album “No Absolution” and incorporated more melodies with a lot of groove on top so the final mix can stand comparison with the likes of Trivium, Sylosis or Devildriver.

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM are one of the first bands whose music led to creation of the post-black metal label. The focus on atmosphere and the strong use of calmer elements in the long-flowing compositions channel the energies of the Pacific Northwest’s landscape into the musical world of WITTR. Since 2002 the band has gained an unprecedented reputation and toured the world including appearance at BA and now looks forward to bring in even more intensive show.

The very distinctive but genre-ambiguous music of the Danes in VOLA represents a promising fresh blood. They can draw inspiration from polyrhythmic kings Meshuggah but also incorporate 80’s synth-pop at the same time. And they are no copy-cats but rather heavy metal chameleons who can twist and tweak all the inspirational sources and merge them into something new and unique and add beautiful vocal lines on top.

The members in the Belgian band BRUTUS including the singer-drummer Stefanie Mannaerts are actually no brutes at all as they demonstrated on the tours with Cult of Luna or Chelsea Wolfe. Well, since the fans first started to take notice of their catchy and groovy rock and intense live energy, they’re now starting to headline their own tours and interlace their basics with post-rock elements, charismatic vocals and bit of speeding thrashy vibe.

Even though Arizona’s GATECREEPER will represent the young American death metal generation, many would be guessed they’re some veterans from Sweden judging from the music alone. They build on oldschool base, the classic Swedish sound and rolling mid-tempo of the likes of Bolt Thrower or Asphyx.

The Oregon wrecking crew VITRIOL on the other hand intends to punish you with their violent blackened death metal from start to finish. Their metal fury is closely related to Hate Eternal but does not lack the raw cruelty of Gorguts or Ulcerate and also you surely have guessed by now that they pay a lot of attention to precise composition.

BAEST hail from Denmark but they again build on strong Swedish death metal foundations. However with their recent recording „Venenum“ their sound evolves towards a more diverse approach, further embracing elements reminiscent of Morbid Angel or Death, mounting in a whole batch of crushing anthems.

BIRDS IN ROW is an experimental hardcore punk/metal trio who write punitive, exasperated tunes with exquisite, dark textures. Their members maintain a level of anonymity to pin the focus on the music itself rather than those who create it. Birds in Row is committed to a true DIY ethic, placing all their efforts into the creation of a deep fan-to-artist connection.

GOD MOTHER also branch out from hardcore roots. But their aggressive, energetic and fast-paced HC is further seasoned with death metal, sludge and tasty breakdowns.

Tickets:

https://shop.brutalassault.cz/

FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/493050868165392