The day after Speedfest all kinds of metal filled ‘Klokgebouw’ on Distortion Fest.

Slightly hungover from the day before was Darkrise the first act that came to the opportunity of checking out. Not that I was especially present to witness them but since The Charm The Fury didn't start yet I took the opportunity. Their latest release RealEyes did raise some eyebrows here and there, but to be honest it's not completely my cup of tea so I was pretty curious if they could persuade me live. Well being one of the first bands of the day they certainly did a nice job but since the total amount of people was still below one hundred the whole thing was a bit strange. The rather static stage performance of the band didn't exaclty help either. (Niamen)

While Darkrise was playing, The Charm The Fury got another opportunity to destroy this venue just like they did two weeks ago at Vans Warped Tour. While the band played even better than at Warped, the crowd wasn't that full of "core" people, so there was hardly any movement. The band kept trying to wake people up and they sold a lot of merch after their show, because they were very tight and even got the non-core lovers on their hand. The best show I've seen by this awesome band, but I'm sure they will grow even more. (Tukker)

Right after TCTF, Obscura started at the Skull stage. This technical death metal band plays as tight as you can hear on album. Therefore it is quite the same as there isn't as much movement on stage. Nevertheless it is still worth to see this band because they are tight as fuck and they still manage to get some heads banging. As stated before, if you don't like this band you will not like it live probably, but if you do like this band go check them out, they can really play it live. (Tukker)

If there's one band that gives alot of other bands a taste of how it's done it's certainly Dying Fetus. These guys are not only capable of creating some nice, ass tight tunes on album but also on CD. Entering the venue when Dying Fetus just begun their set was immense. The double bass was fired as precisely as a machine gun and the music was cristal clear. If I was blind I would probably say that someone put on a CD of the band. Within the next hour it was only a matter of drinking a beer and staring to perfection with a little bit of drool from the corner of your mouth. (Niamen)

After seeing a few songs of Dying Fetus it was time for me to go to the Dynamo stage. I've seen Adept once before and would've seen them two other times but they were forced to cancel those shows. On the first show however, they convinced me that they are a good live band. Today on the other hand they proved that they aren't always good live because today was a big disaster. For the first few songs I already saw people leaving, but didn't notice that the band fucked songs up until they got to an older song. The whole song was ruined for me and I just walked away because of their performance. When I walked away they weren't even a hundred people left either... (Tukker)

Normally I don't listen to grindcore, but I heard that I just had to see Rectal Smegma on the Dynamo stage. The bass player and guitar played walked on stage in their undies and it was the beginning of a fun performance. Mooning the crowd, laughing at band members and the crowd, a slow mosh, circle pit etc. etc. everything was there during this show. I haven't seen it this crowded at a show at Dynamo stage today and everybody was enjoying themselves. Not the hardest music, but well-played and definitely one of the best moments today.

Last year at Fortarock Heaven Shall Burn did quite convince me of their latest effort called Veto. The album has the opportunity of not only pleasuring metalcore fans but also the occasional metalhead. Back than I was standing outside the tent and probably listening with one ear. Today I was quite curious if they were able to rise up to my expectations. Well I can be quick about that. They failed miserably, where Dying Fetus had a perfect sound these guys had hired some guy who was probably tone deaf. After a couple of songs the sound did improve a bit but it's certainly never got to the level of perfection, which resulted in a venue that certainly was emptier at the end of their set. They sure missed out on that opportunity. (Niamen)

 

Satyricon’s new self-titled album was remarkable because of its analogue sound (even no guitar pedals were used) and strong songs such as ‘Our World, It Rumbles tonight’. Choosing the natural way in sound also paid off on stage, the band had one of the best sounds of the festival. So both the newer Black Metal songs with a rock edge as well as the classic anthem ‘Mother North’ sounded powerful in the venue. (Niamen)
 

Satyricon showed how to come up with a bunch of songs that have strong hooks, perfect breaks but most important catchy parts to bang your head on. A small remark goes out to singer Satyr who’s busy to crank up the crowd a bit too much. The songs suffer from this approach although this time he was as busy with it as in the past. (Maurosis)
 

During Papa Roach it was eating time. The ravioli with spinach was as metal as Papa Roach is. It tasted a bit dry and the cooking staff could’ve filled the bucket a bit more for the price of three tokens. Nevertheless it was the most healthy food and also vegetarian. (Maurosis)
 

Death or Death to All started as a tribute to Chuck Schuldiner who is no longer with us. He was Death so it’s strange the members never paid any respect to him on stage today. It still feels like a cover band although some members were in Death when some of the songs they are playing were written. Towards the end the better and catchier songs are played. Even two guys of Obscura joined on stage to pay respect to their heroes. It was kinda cool to hear the song like ‘Flesh and the Power it holds’ but the show also had a bitter taste in it. (Maurosis)
 

Drama with keyboard and a violin combined with metal could’ve been a Doom Metal band. And yes, one of the masters, My Dying Bride is ending the festival. In the beginning the move from technical Death Metal to the slow melancholic Doom Metal is a bit strange. In the end with classical songs such as ‘The Cry of Mankind’ the band shows how to end the festival in a decent way. And it’s of course cool to hear the never ending melodies on guitar, violin and keyboards together with the dramatic pose and vocals of singer Aaron Stainthorpe. With these repeating tones still in my head I leave the festival to enter the cold dark night. Next year again a Distortion fest? (Maurosis)