Wow there's no way to be disappointed !!! The Converge show was really a killer !!







NO wonder that Jacob Bannon has to stretch himself before the show !! They are insanely fast and really, really "hard". Also it seems that they put all their life in the show. Of course they are not the only ones, but it's good to see that !!!

And it turns out that I will also see them Monday in Paris. Why ? Hmm, I had to go to the States by this time (for work), but it was canceled. The reason is entirely personal. I had problems with what could very much be a tampered cash machine on thursday. I then had no more credit card, no more cheques (what a coincidence), and approx. 20 euros of cash. Difficult to go to a country were you have to pay for your hotel, rental car, restaurants and stuff like that, considering that you can do nothing without a credit card, even if you had some cash...

However, I was able to secure some cash yesterday, but it was not easy... Enough to eat and drink for a few days, and even pay for the Converge show in Paris (which is not very expensive, as you could imagine).

Not failing

Tomorrow I'm off to London for the Converge show.

Why do you go to London to see them, when they are coming to Paris in one week ? No I'm not crazy (hmm maybe a little, but not so much). It turns out that I will be on a plane heading to the States on Monday 21st. And I only saw them on Hellfest last year. I want to see them performing once in a small venue, like the Underworld (Camden, of course). I want to see Jacob Bannon's Tattoos close. I want to go deaf by their raging hardcore (hmm no, maybe not this one).



More on that later folks.

Doomed to Walk the Earth as Slaves of the Living Dead

Last Saturday I came back home by foot, on a dark night, after having seen Night of the Living Dead, the matrix from where all horror films came out. There's funny stories about this movie. For example, their distributor forgot to put a copyright indication on the movie, and it soon fell in the public domain. You can download hordes of disgusting zombies for free, and more, you can do it legally !!! Or almost all the parts are played by pals of Romero. The little girl who (which ?) eat her father and stabs her mother to death was really their daughter in real-life. Some actors also were the producers of the movie, and they also performed the "special effects" (mortician wax for the zombies, etc...) themselves. etc...



Still... When returning home, I was listening to Carpathian Forest's Morbid Fascination of Death album. You already know the title of the song, and I swear it really was a coincidence.

Stop being so humble
Stop showing remorse
Cut it off
The hands that feed the blind
Can you move?
With those holy chains

Some Hellfest pictures

It was difficult to go back to reality after this ;-) Hope it was not too difficult for my Japanese (metalheads) friends Dai and Kyoko, who took the plane from Osaka to France (more than 12 hours, plus connexions) just for the festival (I don't forget Aki, who show me such evil pictures of her with Frost, Attila, Necrobutcher, or E). Dai also made amazing pictures from the main stage, he should put them on the net ;-) !!!!

Want some pictures now ?

Mortuus from Marduk, of course !! DOn't you think he announce times of Hell:

The duo with Allan from Primordial was amazing !!


Kvarforth (Shining) was scary !!

But as usual, the black legions of Watain spread so much evil.


(this is only some of the pictures I took there, the whole set is here)

Hellfest 2008

Yes this Mayhem had to come to an end. This was a great festival this year too !! My highlights (and biggest deceptions) are:

• The weather, no rain this time !!! And cold at night, so it was perfect to rest after one exhausting day !!


• The organization was flawless this year. Obviously the festival team did learn from their mistakes of last year

First day:

• Alchemist. This band build on atmosphere, and I don't always like that, because it sometime means weak, but not this time. Check them out !!


• Septic Flesh, excellent Greek black metal


• Job For a Cowboy. I like their albums, but I did not know how they were on stage. And I can tell you: They are not only buzz, their show was a killer !!!


• Rotting Christ. It was the second time I saw them, and I can't say they made a strong impression on me...


• Marduk did not disappoint me, and the duo with Mortuus and Alan (Primordial) was an excellent surprise !!!


• Testament were alive and kicking, hailz Trash metal !!!


• Carcass showed that they did not reformed only for money


• Venom were a big deception for me. How about kitsch ?

Second day:

• Legion of the Damned. Once more a Trash metal band, but I liked them !!


• Benighted, an excellent French Brutal Death band


• I really like Satyricon, and I liked very much this show, with insanely heavy drumming by Frost of course !!!


• Haemorrhage, funny but excellent Spanish grindcore !!! Are you a pathology ?


• Shining, this Swedish Black metal band really look dangerous on stage. The singer cut himself on stage, arms bleeding, he threw a cigarette in the middle of the public, he broke a bottle (of Jack Daniels ?) and cut himself with the remains... But they also have a very depressive but heavy sound. A discovery for me !!!


• The Watain show was just after Shining, but they really offered Black metal to remember (sorry no dead rats on stage this time)


• Ministry, the show (one the lasts) was excellent, with almost no blanks between the titles

Third day:

• Origin, insanely fast, insanely good Brutal Death. At one time, someone in the public shouted "faster !!", and the singer answered "faster ?". It was impossible.


• Primordial, I really like the Celtic / Folk Black metal of this band, and their singer really have an amazing presence on stage !!!


• Obituary, of course...


• Dying Fetus. speedy, heavy, full of integrity. And Sean Beasley had a Origin T-shirt ;-)


• Motörhead, they are always heavy, heavy, HEAVIER


• Morbid Angel show was faultless


• And finally, the Slayer show was a bit disappointing, probably because of Tom Araya's voice which seemed to never be really there (ill, maybe ?)

Pictures to come soon...

Hellfest

Hellfest looks to be really great this year:

• first the weather should be better than last year - not that it will be very difficult ;-)


• second it seems that the organization (camping sites, etc...), has been improved too - it was easy to improve too

... but what is the most important thing: the bands. Think about it:

• Satyricon. Frost, Frost, Frost !!!!


• Slayer


• Motörhead


• Marduk


• Morbid Angel


• Eluveitie


• Impaled Nazarene


• Primordial


• Dying Fetus


• Watain, beware of the dead rats ;-)


• Venom, this is history !!!


• Ministry, for one of their last shows


• The Dillinger Escape Plan


• Origin


• Job For a Cowboy


• Obituary


• Opeth


• Carcass


• Rotting Christ


• Anaal Nathrakh


• and so on...

You see the general idea...

Is it really Gaahl on Twitter ?

thanks Head Øv Metal ;-)

There's a Twitter account seemingly run by Gaahl himself. Is it a fake ?

However, these posts made my day:
Dear South American tour venues: just because we are all about satan and hell doesn't mean you shouldn't turn on the AC during our shows.

Packing for tour. I really should think of getting spiked armor and crosses made of a more lightweight material.. this shit is heavy

Lots of people staring at me today. it's like they have never seen a seven foot corpse-painted man with spiked shinguards buy groceries.

well, gorgoroth is hitting the road soon for a long euro tour. so, can anyone feed my cats, goats, pigs, cows & chickens while i am away?

Sorry i haven't twittered in a few days. a giant bear chewed through my generator lines and i could not fix it till he left. bears>satan