Hi all, I'm
Andrej Romić. This is my very first live report of a show and I'm happy to present to you the mini (mostly) Brutal Death Metal-oriented festival entitled
Sounds of Awakening!
The event took place between May 19th – commencing at around 9 PM and ending in the morning of the next day - May 20th – once again stating the same day at around 9 PM. The festival was organized by Sava Stojanović, who is a student in the city of Sombor (Serbia), which is also the place where the festival took place. The first day was a bit empty when it came to the attendees, but the crowd was nevertheless substantial (since I have seen much worse) and it was still amazing. The bands started sharp, and the first one from the lineup was the Hungarian, Brutal, and a slightly Technical Death Metal-oriented group called GUTTED!
GUTTED's performance was incredible. The vocalist, the guitarist, and of course the drummer, the whole band was incredibly loud, despite the fact that they had to "break the ice" - given that they were the first ones to play, which can be difficult sometimes. Still, their sound was incredibly crystal clear, and I loved the fact that they sounded so close to their studio work! Amazing band, give them a chance!
The next band was CLITGORE from Romania - the brutal kind of metal-ish Grindcore/Goregrind-oriented band. This trio showed some real brutal music to the people who were hungry to hear their favourite genres live. The main vocalist's growls were deep and brutal, whilst the female bassist had some real savage screams. The drummer deserves a highlight too, since his performance was as good as the other two members'. After these two bands, I can proudly say that the festival was almost on fire from all those brutal growls and ferociously loud instruments! Let's just say: everything was lit.
In the meantime, in the outer area of the festival, the organizator himself was cooking some really good meals - cheap, yet incredibly good.
The third band on the setlist was
VxPxOxAxAxWxAxMxC. Don't make me say the full name, ha! Those who are fans of the band will know why. Basically, this band truly blew everything up and made an incredible show. I would like to highlight that the guy who can be seen on the picture was just a guest vocalist; the actual vocalist was hard to picture since the band performed the first few songs whilst laying on the floor! Incredibly cool dudes! Brutal music, weird intros, some Techno at the beginning, and some ultra sick Slam later on. Austrian people. Really good!
The next band was my favourite of that day, and it was
EPICARDIECTOMY from Czech Republic. They were the final band for the first day and delivered and incredibly brutal performance, with enough time for a lot of songs, a lot of brutal vocals and riffs. Everything was perfect, low and sick. Basically, a good performance from these guys.
DAY 2Day two was slightly more crowded, with a lot more bands and a lot more countries being represented. Another really good Hungarian band started this day and they were KRAMPÜS. With some touches of Black Metal, it remained mostly a brutal maze of sub-genres in the Death Metal genre. It was a wicked performance that started up the crowd and prepared them for the next band's assault.
Next on were the Croatian Black and Death Metal force
DEFIANT, who played a decent set.
That day's highlight for me was the Slovakian, incredibly Slammy and Brutal Death Metal-oriented
CRANIOTOMY, who are famous for working with Amputated Vein Records. The guys took slightly longer than others in getting ready to play but I can assure everyone that it was very much worth the wait! The performance blew us all away; the vocalist was active the entire time, calling for the people in the back to come forward and jam with the rest of us, the bassist was also legendary with him being active all the time - mostly showing the people when to jump with his hands, but it was no big deal to follow the rhythm of all the local Slam enthusiasts, including me.
Somewhat unusual, but still very much appreciated was the fact that the next band was the Serbian Thrash and Black Metal-oriented band
WOLF'S HUNGER. With a new album out and a sick lineup, they proved that the fest was very much a cool mix of genres. It was a decent and overall great set from those guys.
The next band was one of those I knew from even before the fest and was really excited to see, and they were
FORMLESS TERROR from Macedonia. The guys appeared at the festival sharper than ever, even a few hours before the start. I must say that although I was already really tired, I still gave my last drops of energy to jam with these legendary people! The band consisted of 4 members and all of them knew their jobs so perfectly and precisely, that I was standing shocked and in awe. The vocalist's brutal and raging vocals, the drums that were crystal clean and sharp (and fast of course), the beautiful bass sound, and the guitars - which provided the incredibly deep guitar riffs - they were all incredible. My friend was standing next to me and said something that I agreed with a lot, and it was the following: "Those who wear
SUFFOCATION shirts can't be bad at their playing!" He referred both to the guitarist and bassist who wore
SUFFOCATION shirts, and that was something that I really appreciated! No doubt I heard some influences here and there. Still, an incredibly good performance; I really want to see these guys sometime again.
Lastly, the local band from the same city and the band that features the organizer of the event (which had not more than 20 minutes to play) was LOWER PARTS OF HUMAN SLUDGE At this point the festival was coming to its end and had to close due to authorities, and yet the band hurried up and delivered maybe the sickest playing and atmosphere that day. It was awesome Brutal Death Metal and Slam, and given that this was the last set, they played some classic and some newer songs, providing a cool list of songs to blast.
The band finished and thanked everyone for coming, following which the crowd shortly split.
It was awesome. I haven't been to a gig for a while before this, but this proved everything I knew about such festivals, and it's the fact that if people from the underground stick together, this is what they can accomplish. Thank you all!
