Breakfast is a must to be able to rock and what can be better than a nice steak from the Sailor's Grill? Perhaps not a classic breakfast but who am I to waste the dinner coupon on the breakfast buffet when I could pick anything from the Ala Carte menu.

F.K.U kicked off the homeward journey and started shaking the party-mood back into people unfortunately most people were still sleeping in their cabins. Of course everyone can't be a fan of Thrash Metal with a Horror gimmick but at a place like this a band like F.K.U can't fail.

Sure, it's not music with a message like many on the bands in the genre but it's not a parody either. F.K.U are absolutely extremely well played Thrash Metal with tasteful riffs. It's just their image that perhaps put people off. To me it's an addition to the show and makes them stand out a little and horror and gore is as much a part of Thrash as the more serious and sometimes very society critical lyrics does. This gig introduced new hit-single Horror Metal Moshing Machine, all introduced in the grandiose way any pop-star would do it. The words were the same, sure but Larry Lethal sounded like a mixture of Shagrath and the evil toon from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The crowd grew with every song but most people still looked like they've been dragged out of bed way too early. The Moshoholics Anonymous confessions didn't work too well, guess everyone's heads were pounding too hard from last night's party still. No one wanted to confess anything.

Last year NWOBHM legends DEMON announced they were throwing in the towel and booked some last gigs to say good bye. The break up didn't hold for long and the new declaration was that DEMON were going to take gigs if the right opportunities showed up. Guess this was one then. And I'm glad they've put the quitting thoughts on the shelf for a time because it was awesome to see a band have fun on stage. During the signing-session people were requesting songs but every suggestions was met with a No, we're not playing that one and a laughter, even for the really obvious songs that they always play. And that feeling was kept up for the entire journey, sort of mischievous attitude and contagious smiles.

Perhaps not so much Metal over that but if you've been in the business for more than 30 years and clearly stated you're only in it for fun nowadays you can do pretty much what you want, as long as the music doesn't suffer of course. DEMON started their set with Night Of The Demon and the hits kept coming. Ok, I'm not too fond of everything with the DEMON label on it but when they're good; they're kick-ass good. Dave Hill still has an awesome voice so that can't have been a reason for them quitting. Of course many of the songs requested earlier that day did show up on the setlist with the absolute highlights being Don't Break The Circle and Remembrance Day. I thought this was a killer gig, a perfect one for the event but my impressions wasn't shared with everyone. There were nagging about some false singing and lack of songs in the set. Of course it will, they only had an hour to play. I guess all elements were absolutely right for me, I was absolutely satisfied whit what I got and I hope DEMON get more good offers to play because I'm up for more of this.

So, 2800 Metalheads, 6 great bands and unlimited supply of quite cheap alcohol always is a great concept and this new boat sure made it all much better. The food was better, the service faster. Well, besides the Tax-free shopping on the outbound journey I suppose. That place had the biggest crowd on the whole journey. That's a little unfortunate, that it's more about the party than the music for too many.

So who won then? All bands were actually great but there's only one I couldn't find anything to complain about, only that their setlist was too short. And yes, DISMEMBER were the best ones on stage for this trip, they won!

(photos by holding the circle Erika)

F.K.U.

DEMON