BRUTAL ASSAULT FESTIVAL 2008

Pleasurable Adventure

14-16.08. Jaromer (CZ)

Second day kicked off for us with quite heavy rain which forced to stay in a car for more than two hours. When we finally reached the stage we could hear the beginning of SOILWORK's last album's title track. Nice opener I must say. I was little disappointed with „Sworn To A Great Divide – especially with the sound of that record which is not as powerful as „Stabbing The Drama” but I was really surprised with the energy of the tracks during that show. Maybe I owe this to great sound. Swedish melodic metallers were the first band which had a really great sound. Guitars were clear and powerful. There was nothing to complain about quality of Speed's vocals, too. SOILWORK played few tracks from the last album: „Exile”, „20 More Miles” and dedicated to guys from BEHEMOTH - „The Pittsburgh Syndrome”, however old school maniacs could enjoy a few older tracks – for example „Bastard Chain” from „The Predator's Portrait” but the peak of that show was the amazing title track from „Stabbing The Drama”. That record without any doubts became a SOILWORK's classic.

Coming up next were Irish epic, doom metal masters from PRIMORDIAL. From the very beginning people's attention was attracted by the vocalist. Naihmass Nemtheanga. His mimic performance was something that is hard to forget. He led us through the mists of old pagan times during epic tracks like „As Rome Burns”. Unfortunately the sound wasn't as good as it was during SOILWORK's show For fans of „To The Nameless Dead” creator's it must have been a good show, but for fans of more extreme and brutal sound it was a good opportunity to take a break before the storm.

I've seen ENTOMED for a few times during last two years. So I already knew what can I expect. But it is always a great thing to pay a tribute to Swedish death metal legends. When you hear tracks like: „Chief Rebel Angel”, „Crawl”, „Stranger Aeons”, „When In Sodomn”, „Left Hand Path” or „Suppose To Rot' there's no other way, you can only rise your horns and bang your head together with LG Petrov. That guy is true. I know that meaning of that word is devaluated. But this is the best word to describe his dedication and sincerity. It's a living legend. There's no fucking image. Wearing SADUS longsleeve – exactly the same as in Berlin during „Masters of Death” tour – he walked through the stage and forced us to bang our heads. Beautiful.

So it was no easy way for polish black/death leaders BEHEMOTH to beat that performance. And however music is not an olympic games, it's always a challenge to be at least as good as the band which played before. Nergal and his dressed in leather friends started with video hits „At The Left Hand ov God” and „Slaves Shall Serve”. However it's quite extreme music, without any problems we could hear the riffs and interesting arrangements – hello Malta!. The band followed the path of annihilation with „Conquer All”, furious „From The Pagan Vastlands”, ”Antichristian Phenomenon” and majestic „As Above So Below”. Nergal is a real stage animal . The guy had a great contact with a crowd. Especially when ha announced Big Boss from czech black legends ROOT. Together with that bald, crazy, corpsepainted old fucker he performed the cult cover of MASTER'S HAMMER „Jama Pekel” (Hell's Abyss – MM). Czech maniacs went crazy and when „Chant For Eschaton” finished their work it was clear that we've seen one of the best shows of that festival.

After that brutal experiience we had a chance to calm down our nerves during ANATHEMA's show. Cavannagh brothers from Liverpool delivered a really nice performance, starting with a classics from „Alternative 4” (”Fragile Dreams”, „Empty”). They've played also some stuff from – still last album - „A Natural Disaster”. But band decide also to satisfy old fans with „Sleepless” and „A Dying Wish”. It was a good idea, but performeace turned out into a little disaster. Vincent's tearful voice ruined the songs. I don't know if he doesn't want or isn't able to scream a little stronger, but it was a big mistake to treat those songs in that way. Fortunately their version of “Orion” was as instrumental as the original one ;)


I must confess that it was my first contact with CRALDE OF FILTH playing live. I've seen DVDs – so boring - so I must say I didn't expext too much. One hour at Pevnost Josefov didn't change my opinion. For me it's a paradox, but I can't help that. I really like to listen to their CDs, but it's hard to stand their pompous show. The main actor is of course mr. Dani Filth – dressed in a black coat, with shortened hair. It seems impossible to extract such a extremely high scream from human's throat, it's rather a sound from an animal kingdom. But furthermore the guy has nothing special in store. Walking around a stage, sometimes jumping like a kid with ADHD, that's his whole performance. Both guitarists – Paul and Charles - and playing bass Dave Pybus were only a supernumeraries during the show, showing almost no interest in what's happening. Standing in the back Sarah Jezebel Deva was hardly seen. The sound wasn't perfect as well. Too loud keyboards dominated the guitar sound. The only thing that really worked was stage light fitting. Quite impressive I must say. Band played – among others - „Under A Huntress Moon”, „Gilded Cunt”, „Nymphetamine”, „Dusk And Her Embrace” - dedictaed to all the old schoolers, „Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids”. „The Principle of Evil Made Flesh” and „The Forest Whispers My Name”.

NEUROSIS' awesome performance showed that choosing COF as a headliner of Friday's show was a huge mistake. Oakland's masters of sounds that are hard to describe took us on a journey through the deepest abyss of our minds. Black and white negative movies were displayed on a big screen behind the blue lighted musicians. Steve Von Till let the music do the talking. There was no single word of announcement during the whole show. NEUROSIS played: Given To The Rising”, „At The End of the Road”, „Distill {Watching The Swarm)”, „Water Is Not Enough”, „Left To Wander” and ”Stones Fron The Sky” and left us with our mouths wide open. Amazing show.