MariaV: Exhausted from the bright Belgium sun, the summer heat and the Metal blasting previous day, we were ready for more Metal back stage discoveries and more headbanging. The Belgium beer was literally flowing accompanied by lots of pizzas, spaghetti and cola water ices that were trying to relief us during the day that reached the 32 degrees Celsius. Below, you can read the Metal adventures of the METAL TEMPLE duo at that hottest 'GMM' day.

DimK: Friday had great performances (ok, the headliner was below average) and so, Saturday was a slow start for the METAL TEMPLE team. But, the billing had some aces under its sleeve and we ignored the hot day without a single cloud to offer some shelter from the summer sun.

DimK:To be honest with you I am not a SABATON fan. Ok, "The Art Of War" was nice with great driving grooves but the latest "Coat Of Arms" did not 'touch' me at all. But this was festival time and we were convinced to watch as many bands as our endurance could handle. To my surprise the Swedish band defied the weather conditions and gathered quite a crowd in front of the main stage that as I realized a couple of minutes later they were pretty dedicated. SABATON brought with them many stage props including pyros and explosions topping off their performance. "Ghost Division" for the previous most successful "The Art Of War" was the opening song that was impressively received by the sun-burned metalheads. The band responded to this reaction giving 100% percent of their energy having Joakim Broden as the spearhead of SABATON. During "Panzer Battalion" I realized that the Swedes had quite a solid fanbase in Belgium and as Joakim informed us the band had added this country to their upcoming headlining tour. All in all, SABATON earned my total respect with their performance and made me forgot the previous day's fatigue.

SABATON setlist:

1. "Ghost Division"
2. "Panzer Battalion"
3. "Coat Of Arms"
4. "Saboteurs"
5. "Cliffs Of Gallipoli"
6. "Attero Dominatus"
7. "Screaming Eagles"
8. "The Art Of War"
9. "Primo Victoria"
10. "Metal Machine" / "Metal Crue"

MariaV: After walking around at the Metal Market to hit some bargain on vinyls, the time clocked almost five and we had to visit the Main Stage once again to watch the mighty CARCASS. Jeff Walker, Bill Steer, Michael Amott and Daniel Erlandsson were ready to bang our heads for 50 minutes and so, we grabbed the chance to enjoy them on the big 'GMM' stage with the heat on its peak and the three enormous video walls on the left and right part of the stage were showing scenes from real autopsies, during the whole CARCASS set. Cool, huh? That exactly we thought and we handled the heavy sun and enjoyed the solid show of the extreme English quartet. I had the chance to watch CARCASS before, -I think it was two years ago in Athens, Greece- but this time I enjoyed them at the most. Amott and Walker did an excellent job in guitars and bass, while Steer continues having this free style playing thing on his guitar, reminding a lot with each opportunity his other band, FIREBIRD. I don't know if it's easy for a band to perform while its last album was 14 years ago or something, but these guys still had the CARCASS flame like it was yesterday. We heard some stuff from "Heartwork" and "Swansong" albums mostly, like "Buried Dreams", "Carnal Forge", "No Love Lost" and "Keep on Rotting in the Free World", while "Incarnated Solvent Abuse" and "Reek of Putrefaction" from "Necroticism…" and "Symphonies From Sickness" albums were chosen correspondingly. I hope to have the opportunity to watch them again in the near future, only this one to include more tracks from the older stuff in their setlist.

MariaV: After CARCASS invasion, it was time to choose between some old school death Metal and some new metalcore thing that have all the spotlights these days and I mean OBITUARY vs FEAR FACTORY. But when we saw all these people going to the Marquee II tent, we chose the other side with OBITUARY, since we didn't have before the chance to watch them live. For me, OBITUARY are synonym to DEATH as a band with all these technical riffs and mind blowing drums. This band has been loyal to the fans all these years, but for some reason they has not touched the rest of the Metal community. I don't care though; we were well prepared for some extra death Metal dose, so here we were in the Marquee I, melting because of the too much heat and banging merciless with the rest of the old school deathsters. The first mosh-pits started to be created when the opening "Find The Arise" was heard and everyone seemed to be extremely happy. The Tardy brothers were in great shape and the fun didn't take that long to come. Through the 50 minutes of their set, they honored songs from their 25 years career, including only two tracks from the latest "Darkest Day", a fact that satisfied a lot their fans. The only minor in their appearance that I mighty found was the static status of the whole band that didn't make a single move on stage except headbanging in their initial positions. I can not tell if this was something bad for the fans of this genre, but for me it was something that I can not handle; so, when the last melodies of "Slowly We Rot" were shooting away, we left quickly from the Marquee I to catch the one of my two old-time loves on the Main Stage…

OBITUARY setlist:

1. "Find The Arise"
2. "List Of Dead"
3. "Blood To Give"
4. "On The Floor"
5. "Threatening Skies"
6. "Dying"
7. "Chopped In Half"/ "Turned Inside Out"
8. "The End Complete"
9. "Slow Death"
10. "Evil Ways"
11. "Slowly We Rot"

MariaV: …and I mean Slash of course, with his black half-tall hat, his non-stopping burning cigarette and his trademark Gibson Les Paul guitar. 'Are you ready to Rock 'n' F**king Roll?' Fifteen minutes before 7 o'clock, the Main Stage was in purple with the big SLASH logo (taken from his last solo album's cover) on the back, waiting for Mr. Hudson and his team for a great welcome. So we did, even though that TANKARD were at the Metal Dome and their old-school thrash tunes were waiting to crash us hard; on the other hand, Slash is my first love since high school, so, I had to stand in front of the Main Stage for a while and watch if he can manage on stage without a full time band – just himself and his session musicians.

I have to admit that I was confused a couple of times, watching Slash going up and down on the big stage inside his black tight pants, imitating Angus Young's trademark step with the guitar, since I am used to see him on the left part of the stage, standing arrogant, smoking and playing his brilliant solos. Instead of that, I saw an extra-kinetic Slash and that was weird a bit. The opening "Ghost" achieved to gather all the fans on the first lines and for a while, I forgot TANKARD. However, soon I recovered from this hypnotic shock, when Myles Kennedy didn't reach Ian Astbury's vocal standards and the Slash project casted away at once. The situation became worse when Kennedy tried to sing the all-time-classic songs of GUNS N' ROSES; the high vocal tunes of "Nightrain" and "Rocket Queen" seemed to be unreachable for the young singer, a fact that became much worst in the encore part with the rousing "Paradise City". Kennedy tried really hard and seemed that the many rehearsals weren't enough to reach Axl's vocals. So, the old-time ghost of GNR that came instantly in my mind flied away and left them in peace. It was nice though seeing all these thousands of people shaking in the Paradise's rhythm.

Slash setlist:

1. "Ghost"
2. "Back From Cali"
3. "Nightrain" (GUNS N' ROSES cover)
4. "Rocket Queen" (GUNS N' ROSES cover)
5. "Sucker Train Blues" (VELVET REVOLVER cover)
6. "Nothing To Say"
7. "Starlight"
8. "By The Sword"
9. "Civil War" (GUNS N' ROSES cover)
10. "Sweet Child O' Mine" (GUNS N' ROSES cover)
11. "Rise Today" (ALTER BRIDGE cover)
12. "Slither" (VELVET REVOLVER cover)
13. "Paradise City" (GUNS N' ROSES cover)

DimK: After watching Slash and his session musicians performing in the Main Stage for a couple of songs, we rushed into the Metal Dome tent for the first time to watch the alcoholic Metal band TANKARD. After the chilling atmosphere during Slash's set a large dose of traditional Thrash was sight for sore eyes and as we were entering the tent, TANKARD were doing "Need Money For Beer".As expected they did not manage to gather such a big crowd since the GUNS 'N ROSES tracks were more tempting especially for the younger metalheads. So, only the die-hard fans were gathered and they had already got into mosh-pitting and dancing all around. Everything was looking just perfect apart from the vocals that were most of the times lost into the excessive echo that added a certain amount of noise in the overall sound. Now, I was not expecting a crystal sound in a Thrash gig but at least I wanted to easily identify the tracks. Nevertheless, Geremia did his thing running up and down the stage while the rest of the band seemed to enjoy the set pretty much unaffected by the sound problems. "(Empty) Tankard" was the logical ending to the setlist welcoming all the beer lovers to sing the killer chorus lines and consequently thank TANKARD for the nice set they delivered!

TANKARD setlist:

1. "The Morning After"
2. "Zombie Attack"
3. "Slipping From Reality"
4. "Stay Thirsty!"
5. "Chemical Invasion"
6. "Need Money For Beer"
7. "Octane Warriors"
8. "Rectifier"
9. "666 Packs"
10. "(Empty) Tankard"

MariaV: Since PARADISE LOST's last visit in Greece, I had promised to myself that I would never watched them again in a future appearance. Regarding the fact that SICK OF IT ALL were on Marquee II tent at the same time, we preferred Mr. Holmes' team to slow down a little and take some breaths because the night seemed to be long. I noticed that a big number of the young fans didn't do as we, so, the Marquee I tent filled with some die-hard fans of the English band and the atmosphere was quite pleasant, including the spare air inside that cooled us a bit. Don't forget that the sun in Belgium (at least on summer) doesn't go down till one hour before midnight!
"The Rise Of Denial" was the chosen track from the new album to open PARADISE LOST set and the response of the crowd was more than positive; the awesome sound and Holmes' good mood in combination to Mackintosh's non-stopping headbanging created the perfect atmosphere for a filling live appearance that reminded a lot the good live days of the band. With no doubt, "Pity The Sadness" and "As I Die" were the two highlights of the evening, when everyone was singing loud and clear, giving more strength and courage to Holmes to perform so damn well. "The Enemy" was the most touching moment of the show, where the spotlight-playing was perfect in every detail and the crowd seemed to accept it as the new PARADISE LOST classic song.

One track before the show's end, Holmes promised to buy us all a beer for being so cordial and "Say Just Words" dropped the curtain of that hourly appearance in the Belgium ground, with non-stopping rhythm claps and screams. Concluding, that night made me re-consider what I was thinking about PARADISE LOST evolution and their career for now on and see their new album from a different optics. I am waiting to watch them again soon, in a headlining show this time.

PARADISE LOST setlist:

1. "The Rise Of Denial"
2. "Pity The Sadness"
3. "Erased"
4. "I Remain"
5. "As I Die"
6. "The Enemy"
7. "Enchantment"
8. "Frailty"
9. "One Second"
10. "Requiem"
11. "Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us"
12. "Say Just Words"

MariaV: Ten minutes after 9 o'clock it was time for some dancing! The Swiss folkstersELUVEITIE were already standing at the Metal Dome stage in front of the video wall that was changing folk images following each song theme and the atmosphere was too suffocating. Thousands of people were trying to steal a little space in any way inside the tiny Metal Dome tent and watch the eight piece band from Switzerland that dominates in the European music market. Chrigel with his whistles and his team gave us a non-stopping dancing and singing night through their 50 minutes' show and no one seemed to have a single complain. Patrick Kistler helped a lot Chrigel with whistles and the two female presences were blameless as always.

"Nil" and "Gray Sublime Archon" that opened that memorable night, heated even more the atmosphere from the first minutes, when "Thousandfold" made everyone to dance and headbang. Mr. Glanzmann thanked all of us and welcomed us in this year's 'GMM' saying that ELUVEITIE love to play live there and "Inis Mona" was at the gates. I must had fever or something because my body temperature had rose above normal since the heat inside Metal Dome was unbearable, but my feet had a different opinion than the rest of my body. So, I jumped up and down with the entire crowd in the tunes of my beloved "Inis Mona" till my favorite "Tegernako" came up and put an end in this fantastic appearance of ELUVEITIE. "Quoth The Raven" was an excellent choice from the new songs to be in the setlist and, in my opinion, definitely one of the highlights of the show. You see, ELUVEITIE have begun their career with high standards and their fans could not expect something less. Every ELUVEITIE concert is a guarantee for those who love folk Metal and one time is never enough to watch them live. I hope to have the opportunity to enjoy them again in a future 'Pagan Fest' or something like that, very soon. The new wave of folk Metal is here to stay!

ELUVEITIE setlist:

1. "Intro"
2. "Nil"
3. "Gray Sublime Archon"
4. "Thousandfold"
5. "Inis Mona"
6. "(Do)Minion"
7. "Quoth The Raven"
8. "Kingdom Come Undone"
9. "Bloodstained Ground"
10. "Tegernako"

DimK: Ok, I have to admit the fact that AIRBOURNE have managed to book a spot just before the headliner faced my skepticism. I mean how could they justify this position with just two albums? Well, the first indications that their success could give the ultimate answer to my question were the packed Marquee II that we faced entering the tent. It seemed that AIRBOURNE had already a die-hard fan base around them.

While the crowd was getting bigger and bigger the lights went out and bang! Four Aussies entered the stage running with high levels spiking over the max level. I tell you these guys were looking so pumped that no one could resist this energy flow and stand still. Joel O'Keeffe, David Roads and Justin Street were in constant motion and I could not but to think that they should have been drinking from the same well with AC/DC's Angus Young sharing the same moves and similar on-stage 'madness'. During the rhythm break of "Girls In Black" Joel climbed on the left side of the stage up to the light cranes just to play the song's solo leaving all of us with our jaws dropped! This looked totally insane and after he had climbed down he started running up and down driving the crowd even more crazy! The Australian band left us no room to breathe and hit us with all the hit songs from their two most successful albums! But all good things have an end and when the clock stroke the programmed finale of the band's set AIRBOURNE just came for more!Without caring that SOULFLY were already on the stage, the Aussies keep everyone inside Marquee II and hit them with "Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast" and "Runnin' Wild" draining the last drop of energy left inside us. Joel had more energy inside him and thus he started hitting his head with beer cans until they 'exploded' spraying the 'precious' liquid and waves of enthusiasm all around! I dare you to search for fan filmed footage of that performance… So, the band's excellent and totally honest live performance made feel kind of stupid about my initial skepticism. But this just made feel even more satisfied while exiting the tent with the rest of the smiling metalheads! I am so glad that I will watch this band again live in Chicago!

AIRBOURNE setlist:

1. "Raise The Flag"
2. "Hellfire"
3. "Chewin' The Fat"
4. "Diamond In The Rough"
5. "Girls In Black"
6. "Cheap Wine & Cheaper Women"
7. "Blonde, Bad And Beautiful"
8. "Born To Kill"
9. "No Way But The Hard Way"
10. "Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast"
11. "Runnin' Wild"

Everyone was leaving Marquee II feeling extremely satisfied after the impressive set by the AIRBOURNE strolling in a slow tempo despite the fact that SOULFLY were already pounding the Main Stage with "Blood Fire War Hate". And if you add my initial skepticism about having SOULFLY on the headlining then you'll realize why I had second thoughts about this gig. But it seemed that the Brazilian band had the balls and –of course– the attitude to hold the headlining spot at ease. The impressive light show did create an impressive atmosphere that combined to the loud volume and the crystal clear sound gave the band the boost they needed to meet the festival's needs and eventually wipe out most of my negative thoughts.

Every time I watch SOULFLY on stage I come to the same conclusion; there is absolutely no reason for SEPULTURA to reunite. I mean, this band has a strong fan base and very strong back catalogue so, there is no space for turning back. The band was in a great mood and the 'GMM' audience reacted by getting into the mosh pit action right away that looked pretty violent and that's of course was 100% cool. "Kingdom", "Babylon" came and then it was time for the first SEPULTURA song "Refuse/Resist" during which Max's son Zyon stepped behind the drum kit. After the initial enthusiasm I took some time to have a second look on Max. The additional pounds and his almost vacant look could probably hide a problem that he has been facing and I really hope this is a simple misjudgment. On the other hand Joe Nunez and Marc Rizzo were looking totally pumped and gave the usually energetic performance especially the latter with the killer guitar playing the trademark round kicks. I left Bobby Burns the last one to comment on since he just underlined my belief that his looks simply did not fit the band. The punk hairdo had gone but the blond color on his hair had the same result.

After the fast "Frontlines" the band went into a break bringing on the stage the traditional percussion instruments and got into the trademark drum jam during which he had the chance to catch our breath for a while. And then another SEPULTURA track came to take the energy level to the previous levels followed by the killer "Lethal Injection" that Max introduced by simply saying: "We did this one with Tomy Vixtor from PRONG" . When "Unleashed" was next on the setlist Richie Cavalera from INFLIKTED took over most of the vocal duties proving that he has learned many things from being in the road besides his dad. As the set was approaching the end the Brazilian band chose to finish us with "Roots Bloody Roots" the killer "Jumpdafuckup" (yep everyone was jumping up and down) and the faster "Eye For An Eye". The band exceeded my expectations and did overtime from their usual 70 minute stage feeling with grandeur the headlining missing band and I believe left everyone feeling satisfied. After all SOULFLY did put their souls in that performance!

SOULFLY setlist:

1. "Blood Fire War Hate"
2. "Prophecy"
3. "Back To The Primitive"
4. "Kingdom"
5. "Babylon"
6. "Refuse/Resist"
7. "Bloodbath & Beyond"
8. "Frontlines"
9. Drum-Jam
10. "Attitude"
11. "Lethal Injection"
12. "I And I"
13. "Carved Inside"
14. "Frontlines"
15. "Territory"
16. "Unleash"
17. "Defeat U"
18. "Roots Bloody Roots"
19. "Jumpdafuckup" / "Eye For An Eye"