Tour Title: Milwaukee Metalfest XIII
July 30-31, 1999
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Tour Title: Milwaukee Metalfest XIII July 30-31, 1999 |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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Abyss's Review:
As I left the comfortable airconditioning of the Milwaukee airport, there was only one thing going through my mind…….I'm glad it was moved inside. It was hot. We're talking hot enough for Satan himself to say, "You know, it's pretty fucking hot here." But I am a true metal warrior, and I embraced the challenge, even as the Gods tried to stop me from having a great time. Four stages, two days, a pocket full of cash, and the biggest metal party on this sorry little continent of ours. The locals knew that something was going on as an army of unkept, pierced, black shirted imps descended on their small city with a thirst for distortion, and in need of an outlet for their aggression. Metalfest has arrived, it's time to spill the blood.
Unfortunately, it's impossible to ingest all of the Metal on hand, and the first order of the day was to stake out the venue and get oriented to the new geography. That done, the next priority was to get a beer in my shaky hands. Why were they shaking? I don't know, perhaps it was anticipation for the wall of sound that would soon be bowling me over, or perhaps it was because the liquor I had on the plane was wearing off. (OK it was probably the second reason, but hey, I was still really excited for the metal) Anyway, I digress. Many of the earlier bands were unknown to me, so it is by sheer fate that I wound up first in Kilbourn Hall, listening to From the Depths. Now it is hard to be too specific when listening to a band live, for the first time, and not knowing any of their material. And I was jonesing for some metal, so hey maybe even Limp Bizkit would have sounded good, but I really enjoyed From the Depths, and I hope to hear more of them in the future. Plowing through some American style death, they were a great kickoff for me. Aggressive, with relatively good stage presence, considering many consumers hadn't arrived yet, and they put together a tight little show, showing an affinity for riff if not total originality.
"The locals knew that something was going on as an army of unkept, pierced, black shirted imps descended on their small city." Afterward, it was off to the main stage (Bruce Hall) to check out Kitty. This all female foursome did a loose interpretation of their music, and enjoyed the catcalls from the audience that any female band enjoys (whether they are attractive or not). Musically they are very similar to Human Waste Project, and with the exception of the drummer, all of the member trade off roles within the band. Very entertaining to watch, but far from a techincal masterpiece. If they are relatively new they could have a long way to go, if they have been around for awhile, ….well…..
Kitty was followed by Lungbrush, who hit the stage with their form of Urban Hardcore/Metal that I usually don't dig, but the unfettered enthusiasm and stage presence that their frontman exhibited won me over, and I found myself digging the music more with each successive song. I'm looking forward to getting their CD. I had to rush to make Dillinger Escape Plan upstairs in the Relapse Showcase. This is a band I've gotten to see a few times now, and I love them more every time I am so blessed. Their style of experimental grindcore is amazing. Now I just need them to come out with a full length album, so I can enjoy more of them at home.
Skinlab was next. After missing most of their set at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, I was very excited to see Skinlab's whole set. Although the sound seemed a little muddy, Steev and company have a great band, with a great catalogue, including the song they deemed worthy to make a video to, "Know Your Enemies". I could bask in their glory for only so long, however, as I ran to see Soilent Green deliver their Grindcore meets Pantera breed of Louisianna sludge. This band has deserved all it's achieved so far (including the mention in that mainstream mag, Rolling Rock I think it is…..). Luckily for the average Metal consumer this band has had a very active touring schedule recently, so hopefully you've all gotten a chance to see them. If you haven't be sure to buy their CDs so you know what you're missing.
"Cradle of Filth ended the festivities in all of the splendor that one would expect." I was very excited to see the Gathering for the first time ever. Unfortunately, due to a plethora of new metal, I gave only a cursory listen to their newest album, even after being floored by the first two. It's hard to stay in touch with those who drift from their metal roots, no matter how much quality is involved in the new product. The Gathering are definitely a veteran band in Europe, and it came through in their North American debut. The old songs sounded great, and the new ones benefitted from a thicker live sound, allowing everyone to hear how much better the new album would have been if they just turned up the guitar. Very impressive.
The biggest disappointment for me was Twin Obscenity. I am a big fan of their warmed over Viking, black sound, and was looking forward to their first North American performance. Unfortunately, there were huge problems with the guitar sound, and even after a great amount of time and attention was spent on the problem, the tech people were never able to fix it. Aside from the technical problems, the band did little in the way of stage presence (although with such problems who could blame them). The crowd was surprisingly receptive though.
This brings me to the best band of the weekend. In Flames. You can ask anyone who was there, and if they name another band, that means they missed this Swedish powerhouse. Combining commanding stage presence, an amazing set, an energetic crowd, and technical prowess, In Flames laid waste to the puny Kilbourn Hall, and made whomever kept them off of the main stage look utterly foolish. They even sounded better than they do on their albums.
A good deal of the second day was spent at the Relapse stage enjoying many quality bands in a row. Benumb, Cephalic Carnage, Exhumed, and Nasum went on one after the other. Cepalic Carnage played such a frantic show that I couldn't believe that they were able to play such intricate stuff while they were flailing as wildly as they were. They found a new fan. And my favorite of this bunch was Nasum. Despite the first few songs having a low guitar volume, the Swedes ripped through a good number of tracks that were taken off, in my opinion, the best grindcore album of all time.
Cradle of Filth ended the festivities in all of the splendor that one would expect. A great light show accompanied a set comprised of the best sound I think I've ever heard a black metal band pull off live. They ripped through their set and took no prisoners. This band's star is definitely on the rise, and deservedly so (no matter what black metal purist say). Catch this band on CD and live whenever possible. The theatrics alone are worthwhile, and the polished black metal just makes it sublime.
This weekend was, of course:
Death's Review:
Relatively disappointed by this year's Ozzfest, and having become increasingly involved and immersed in the metal underground, I felt that this year it was time to throw down some of my hard-earned cash for a plane ticket to Milwaukee to take in the grandaddy of all that is underground metal: the Milwaukee Metalfest. A weekend of metal starring some of the underground's marquee names was on the menu. Excitedly, I tucked my napkin in my shirt and ordered the king size meal.
Then the cancellations began. Whatever the reasons or explanations, the original list of acts I saw when I bought my plane ticket was significantly more impressive than the lineup I actually saw that weekend. A significant portion of the blame for that falls on the Wisconsin government officials who forced the last minute move indoors to the Milwaukee Auditorium. Nevertheless, one couldn't help but be disappointed by the noticable absence of former "headliners" like Manowar, Machine Head, Marduk (must have been the curse of the "M" bands or something!), and Satyricon.
"Then the cancellations began." Well, OK, the food didn't look as good when it arrived at my table as it did in the picture on the menu. Fine. I still gorged myself on a veritable two-day metal feast. In Flames, Skinlab, Candiria, Flotsam and Jetsam (although their placement late-night on the third stage was indefensible and disgraceful), Dying Fetus, Pessimist, Monstrosity, Nile and Pissing Razors all made the trip unquestionably worthwhile.
Truth be told though, it was the stellar presence of Relapse Records which made the event for me. Without the Relapse stage, which featured awesome performances by Soilent Green, Nasum, Bongzilla, Exhumed and Benumb, among others, the festival's lineup might have descended to second-rate status. The company deserves whatever promotional value it got out of this event -- they really were the glue that held this Metalfest together.
"Truth be told though, it was the stellar presence of Relapse Records which made the event." Sure, Cradle of Filth played, but really, the straight black metal stuff (even the more commercially-oriented varieties) just ain't my thing. And don't even try to tell me I'm supposed to be psyched about the Misfits. I didn't even watch 'em. Instead I found the beer areas often held the stronger attraction. And with so many lovers of metal gathered in one place, cups raised together to salute the triumph of metal, you got the feeling that hanging with the gathered metal bretheren in the beer garden was what the essence of Metalfest was really all about.
All in all, Metalfest is a must-do event for the true metal-afficionado. Organizational nightmare or not, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
Hel's Review:
My first Metalfest. It's about fucking time. I enjoyed my first experience so much, I'm kicking myself more than ever that I'd never been before. I was able to attend the press conferences while I was there, and hung out in the Relapse Room with the bands playing the Relapse stage. I got a great look at some of metal's inner thoughts, so to speak, and saw a lot of great music.
Friday: So much metal, so little time was our theme throughout the weekend. The Relapse stage in Plankington Hall was the place to be in the afternoon with Bongzilla, Dillinger Escape Plan, Today is the Day, and capped off with a stirring set from Soilent Green. The small, red, movie theater-esque room the stage was housed in was the sole area you could not take a beer into.
"So much metal, so little time." Bruce Hall was a popular destination in the evening with Skinlab, Candiria, The Gathering (I missed almost all their set and I was PISSED!) and Neurosis gracing the stage in the high school auditorium-like room.
Kilbourne Hall was more like a grade school gym, and the only outstanding band to grace this stage on Friday was In Flames. They were playing to their first U.S. audience (a tidbit I picked up from the press conference) and they scored big. The highlight of the day.
Juneau Hall was the size of your grade school classroom. I was appalled to walk in and find less than 50 people watching the legendary Flotsam & Jetsam. To add insult to injury, the priceless schedule of all the action that Relapse was handing out, MISSPELLED their name. Tell me, were the metalheads just being wimps and crashing early or was Death of Millions that good? I don't believe it.
Saturday: So much metal, so little time. Feeling like we missed a lot the day before, we marked up our schedules and set to work.
Back to the Relapse stage with Benumb, Cephalic Carnage, Exhumed and Nasum for some afternoon mayhem. Between sets there, we dashed over to Kilbourn Hall for the most unexpected performance of the 'fest. Pessimist. We found a spot on the side of the stage and I had perfect view of the drummer. I was amazed at his ability to bang his head in a perfect swirl, double bass, etc., all at the same time. What a treat.
"The most unexpected performance of the 'fest. Pessimist." We needed to juggle between the packed to overflowing Kilbourn Hall and more sparsely populated Bruce Hall for the rest of the night to see the best stuff.
We squeezed in to see Dying Fetus and Monstrosity in Kilbourn Hall. We had run over to catch a little Criminal in Bruce Hall when I noticed above the stage a huge eagle - written on it's chest: "Milwaukee Auditorium, dedicated to the progress of our community". That's when it hit me. We came from all over because we're dedicated to the progress of our metal community. Unfortunately, I had to cut my musings short to catch Nile and Morgion in hot, overcrowded Kilbourn Hall.
Again back to Bruce Hall and Immolation. Seeing the eagle again and thinking once more about our metal community, I recalled a remark from the press conference that evening. Ross from Immolation said, "It's two different worlds between here and Europe - two totally opposite sides of the coin". And Cheif from Nile agreeing, "In Europe, every show is a great show - we can really learn a lot from the Europeans". Is Metalfest our Europe?
Cradle of Filth then came on and yanked me away from my thoughts. Then, back one last time to Kilbourn Hall for Mortician. We wandered around a bit more and stumbled back to the hotel.
Milwaukee Metalfest is a mecca. Everyone is somehow involved in the scene and we are all buying something or lots of somethings metal to take home with us. Networking, trading, buying - we all were supporting our scene.
I won't talk about the lawsuit shit and the cancellations, we ended up indoors in semi-air conditioning in an evil heat wave and that was great. There were actual concession areas, so it was just like stuff you'd get at a sporting event. And it was Milwaukee, for god's sake, everything's kinda cheap. OK, the lineup wasn't amazing. Lots of underground, underground bands and if it hadn't been for Relapse, there'd have been hardly any bands at all.
"Milwaukee Metalfest is a mecca." So, tired and overflowing with metal fliers and mags and tapes and our purchases, we made our way home. I think we all carried away a sense of community that will, hopefully, sustain us until next year. There's no other U.S. festival quite like it.
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