That night Limeira trembled in fear due to the two epic bands that came to town. MANILLA ROAD formed in 1977 and OMEN formed in 1983, so after all these years conquering worlds and spreading mayhem across the land this time was the turn of the local Headbangers and those who travelled from miles away to bow before them and pledge their alliance to the mighty kings, Hail And Kill. Before arriving in Limeira they played in Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Sao Paulo and Rio De Janeiro and thus far the tour was going just great and would Limeira live up to the high standards set out along the tour? The answer was:  yes, and to make sure that would happen, two great bands from Brazil were in charge of opening the gates of hell to unleash those two demons upon the diehards maniacs that turned up to the show which were around 250 lost souls.
 

The first band invited was EM RUINAS, a band formed in 2002 in Sao Paulo by Igor Lopes a crazy maniac who have pledge to fight for Metal here and beyond the grave. For those who do not know much about EM RUINAS their music is pure Metal, or shall I say Speed Metal old school to the core with a unique sound. They came to Limeira promising to destroy and they did just that beginning their holocaust with "Nuclear Nightmare" a very fast song with harsh vocals and followed by "Son Of Hell, Hammer's Trial" yes the crowd was going insane a perfect way to begin the massacre, this show was for "Only The Brave Ones"  I had the chance to see EM RUINAS before and they were amazing, at this time my expectations were high and they did live up to it, Igor and his partners in crime were in for no jokes, their set was very tidy and at times he spoke to the crowd letting  them know what was going on and what they were up to and so forth, EM RUINAS is about Metal and nothing else, they were in for a special night and had the chance to share the stage with other three great bands, and to close their set with golden keys they played "The Third Of The Storms - Evoked Damnation" by the kings of hell HELLHAMMER a great way to close their set and go on to their tour across Brazil and spread more terror.

Setlist:
1. Nuclear Nightmare
2. Son Of Hell - Hammer's Trial
3. Morbid Pits
4. Only The Brave Ones
5. Burn In Hell
6. No Speed Limit
7. Somente A Morte E Real (Only Death Is Real)
8. Headbanger Race
9. The Third Of The Storms - Evoked Damnation (Hellhammer Cover)
 

The second band to take the stage and give the warm welcome to our guests were the mighty warriors from Sao Paulo CLENCHED FIST a band formed in 2000 with a medieval theme and playing classic and true Heavy Metal to the core. I mean CLENCHED FIST is one of those bands that when you listen to them for the first time and if you are a true Metalhead then you are hooked, that's right, our promoter Edson Moraes chose the right bands to open a such event like this, having released two full - length albums "Tribute To The Brave Ones" and "The Gift Of Death" their set is all about war, honour and spill the blood of the false ones, and they begun their ordeal with "Codex Gigas" an anthem of the warriors ready to take on the battle and the crowd was ready for "Bang Your Head" and they did just that, vocalist Vagner Fist really knows how to entertain the crowd and his skills are amazing, great voice and charisma, I can see their influence coming from RUNNING WILD, RITUAL STEEL, MANILLA ROAD, OMEN, they felt honoured to have the chance to share the stage with their masters and their performance were just great, "Speed Metal Attack", "Into The Fire" all classics were played and they even honoured PICTURE by playing to perfection the classic "Heavy Metal Ears".
 

CLENCHED FIST is one of those bands that plays from the heart thus making us proud of being Metalheads and not forgetting the golden years when Metal was about leather, denim and chains and a life with honour, I had not seen them before and I was glad that I saw them, in Brazil we do not have lots of bands like CLENCHED FIST, a band with no impertinency attitude or stereotypes with buzzwords, instead just being simple people playing real music from the heart. A very good set indeed, hope to see them again soon.

Setlist:
1. Codex Gigas
2. Bang Your Head
3. Spirit Of The Death
4. Adaga
5. Speed Metal Attack
6. Heavy Metal Ears (Picture Cover)
7. Trombetas Da Destruicao (Trumpets Of Destruction)
8. Into The Fire
9. Valhalla
 

So after seen two great bands performing it was time for the main course and everyone was anxious about it and all of sudden OMEN entered  the stage greeting the crowd and announcing that the "Death Rider" was ready to collect his souls, I was feeling goose bumps all over, it was the first time that I was face to face with this legendary band, I remember back in the days when we used to exchange cassette tapes and I had "battle Cry" on one of those, man that was a long time ago and now I was face to face with my heroes, "Dragons Breath" were next, Kevin Goocher did a very good job indeed, of course it is impossible to replace J.D. Kimball but Kevin is doing a fucking great job, all songs were played with precision, Kenny Powell is a legend, a very nice person indeed, I got drunk with him and we talked about all sort of things and the other guys also Steve, Andy and Kevin all good guys, great musicians and humble people, the crowd was in ecstasy and so was I, there were people crying it was amazing, "Ruby Eyes Of The Serpent" another classic, what can you say really? the crowd was screaming and singing along, an spectacular site, "Don't Fear The Night" Kenny a crazy guy on the stage running from left to right all the time delivering killer solos and riffs, OMEN have an unique sounding as well, out on the battle all enemies will be crushed like insects by "The Teeth Of The Hydra".
 

OMEN ruled then and ruled as they were performing right before my eyes, after defeating the enemies the crowd were chanting for "Die By The Blade" and that was what they got, last song for night, I mean what a night, an awesome performance by kings of the battle field.

Setlist:
1. Death Rider
2. Dragons Breath
3. Ruby Eyes Of The Serpent
4. The Axe Man
5. 1000 Years Reign
6. Last Rites
7. Warning Of Danger
8. Be My Wench
9. Don't Fear The Night
10. In The Arena
11. Termination
12. Battle Cry
13. Teeth Of The Hydra
14. Die By The Blade
 

It was after midnight and MANILLA ROAD were ready to finish chopping down the heads of those who betrayed us, after spending with them a long time in the dressing-room something that I could say as, remarkable and unforgettable, a  hell of a good time and they were ready to smash the hammer down and end what was an amazing night, Mark Sheldon and company are amazing, great musicians with charisma, humbleness so cool if you have the chance to ever see them live don't think twice go on and meet them, also it is a good idea to bring along some good shit for them, if you know what I mean...

 

MANILLA ROAD  have been kicking asses since 1977 and tonight's show it was no different, they played all the classics and carried on tireless during the whole performance showing us how it is really done, opening the set was "Flaming Metal Systems" most headbangers were going crazy wondering if what they were seeing was actually true, Bryan Patrick on the vocals was doing the job in great style, perfect vocals, I could not believe  how his voice does sound like Mark's, in the dressing-room I asked Mark where did he find Bryan and the answer was: I didn't find him, he found me, awesome!! next track was  "Masque Of The Red Death" another classic and it was delivered with perfection, Mark's guitar was unleashing notes and riffs and solos just like if you were listening to the records in your room, perfect and tidy and Joshua on the bass doing a perfect job, this crazy guy with Mexican blood running in his veins is a hell of a nice guy and great musician and Neudi on the drums did an amazing job as well and  a very nice guy as well I even shared my wine with him and guided him to his hotel room, MANILLA ROAD simply rule!!! all tracks were classics really if you are a fan of their music then you know what I Am talking about, Crystal Logic, Necropolis, Open The Gates all were there, after the set MANILLA and OMEN took the time to see everyone, took pictures and signed CDs, what a bunch of nice guys and great musicians, as I said before it was an epic night indeed.

Setlist:
1. Flaming The Metal System
2. Masque Of The Red Death
3. Death By The Hammer
4. Hammer Of The Witches
5. Witches Brew
6. Open The Gates
7. Only The Brave
8. Road Of Kings
9. Divine Victim
10. Ninth wave
11. Gate Of Mirrors
12. The Ram
13. The Riddle Master
14. Crystal Logic
15. Necropolis
16. Up From The Crypt
17. Heavy Metal To The World