Well, it's not easy to create a new scene for metal in this long country and last year's success wasn't going to repeat itself for 'Monsters Of Mora', at least not when it comes to visitors. Though a strong, but perhaps not so unique line up should have attracted more people, perhaps not fill the whole arena but it should absolutely have been a little hotter than it was. Maybe the traditional painted wooden horses and cute red cabins don't mix with metal but I encourage everyone to try this event out at least once. I got hooked and will definitely go back if Joachim Cans and his team can present an equally strong lineup for next year.

(Almost) Local heroes BILLION DOLLAR BABIES were the first ones out. Again they showed up with their BON JOVI -esque Arena Rock and once more their performance caught my full attention.

The declaration from vocalist Frankie Rich that BILLION DOLLAR BABIES didn't have any cool amplifiers, backdrops or other stage props, that they were just 5 cool guys ready to rock were actually right on. When you do it good you don't need anything more than the music. It all will speak for itself. Well, it was a little more than that. It is so great to watch bands that put effort in the stage performance, walk that extra mile to amuse the crowd. Unfortunately, due to the time the crowd was quite thin when BILLION DOLLAR BABIES played. The few ones present weren't hard to satisfy though; they were following the bands every move on stage. When it's like that it's easy to look past the music, all because it was too much fun watching. And BILLION DOLLAR BABIES deserve all credit they get for their appearances on stage. Everything looked so easy, so spontaneous. And that separates the amateurs from the pro's, when a band owns the stage and looks like it's the most natural thing in the world. Remember this came from a band that hasn't released their debut yet. An action-filled performance together with a massive light-rig can't fail really. But to look a little further, BILLION DOLLAR BABIES have some really catchy songs and musically their performance was almost as good as the visual. Still, I don't think it holds all the way through; at the end of their set I started to think I've heard it all before, possibly even on this gig. Most of their songs had the same structure, in the same key, using too similar melodies so in the end my impression wasn't as strong as it was at the start.

Sometimes, I wonder how some bands get the support from promoters and companies. Sure, a lot has to do with my taste but I don't think it's the right bands that get pushed.

I had hardly heard of AMMOTRACK before they were announced to play in Mora. After that, their name has been popping up a little here and there. Musically they were a mixture of all the big names in the Swedish Hard Rock scene. They had a little touch of MUSTASCH, BACKYARD BABIES and HELLACOPTERS so I'm sure they're a good product to work with. This type of half-noisy and quite anonymous Rock Music seems to appeal to a lot of people here in Sweden, at least. And to start with I kind of liked it. Vocalist Mikael De Bruin had something that's hard to describe but it was impossible to look away when he started claiming people's attention. That is one good feature to have if you're fronting a band. But to me this was ok for about 15 minutes, then I'd lost interest and started to look around instead. Guess the best way to be introduced to AMMOTRACK would have been at a sweaty club with a much smaller stage where their show should be enough to heat up the place.

PRIMAL FEAR did what they always do. Everything sounds perfect and looks cool, sure... But this evening they were outclassed by the previous two bands on stage.

I don't mind seeing bands over and over again and I'm not asking for much of a change. Normally it's not needed, the spontaneous reactions from night to night are enough most of the time. This was a perfect replica of the last show I saw and I started to wonder if they even have fun playing. PRIMAL FEAR were the first band to get a really loud response from the still quite small crowd. Even before they entered the stage the first rows of people where chanting PRIMAL FEAR, SINNER, Ralph and so on. I hoped that should boost them some but this was just another day at work for PRIMAL FEAR. The one who stole the show here was drummer Randy Black; he was a monster behind his kit. And when a drummer can steal the show there's not enough action in the frontline. But Seventh Seal was just as mighty as it use to be and it felt like Ralph Scheepers put more effort into the slower songs. Fighting The Darkness was also really striking and the overall feeling was a lot stronger in these songs. Sure, I absolutely prefer the progressive material from PRIMAL FEAR over the more plain Power Metal songs but the dynamic nature really came to life on this stage and these songs were absolutely the highlight of this gig.

BLAZE BAYLEY was the reason for me to go to this event and of course this was what I was looking forward to also. Could he live up to my expectations?

The numerous lineup changes this band has been going through have of course affected both the music and the performance. It took a while for The Man That Would Not Die to settle, besides the single Robot that struck me like a flash from a clear blue sky of course. I don't know if the negative things people around me were saying about this album affected me to start with or it's just that type of album you need to listen to for real before the impressions settles. Of course it's different, mainly the structure of the guitars that are a lot darker and more brutal this time.

Jay Walsh and Nico Bermudez gave John and Steve a good match this time. Both visually and musically this band has come together a lot since this summer, they really felt like a unit now. And they seemed to have a really good time too. Blaze himself of course spread the usual hysteric energy over the venue as he always does. He sure can stir up a riot in the crowd and everyone was on edge all the way through the concert. There's no doubt IRON MAIDEN has been a good school for him when it comes to manage a crowd and the best thing is it doesn't seem to matter what place it is, how many people show up or the nature of the stage. He always gives 100%. Maybe the sound of the guitars were a little bit too raw this evening, more towards Death Metal rather than classic Heavy and that was a little unfortunate. It actually worked fine in the songs from the new album but the older material lost a little of the edge under this brutal sound. This though are just some nonsense remarks; everything was absolutely great even if the band didn't agree with that fully afterward. Sure, there were a few mishaps and mistakes that even I noticed but that's not really important when the rest was close to perfect. The only thing to complain about is the setlist. Of course, the IRON MAIDEN songs are mandatory if you ask most metalheads but with just an hour gig time I would rather have had more of BLAZE's own songs.

Headlining the first night was HARDCORE SUPERSTAR; a band I really can't see the greatness about. Musically they don't appeal to me at all and then it has to be an extremely good show if I shall be impressed.

Ok, it's wrong to say they were bad because even I could appreciate this for half the concert at least. And with HARDCORE SUPERSTAR and of course BLAZE BAYLEY the place started to heat up. But the crowd was absolutely up for this so I guess they have something it's just that I have a hard time seeing it. New guitar player Vic Zino (ex CRAZY LIXX) sure filled his spot really good. He sure is an amazing guitar player and it was good to see him in a band that holds the same standard as him. The step-up to the big stages wasn't a problem either. He moved comfortably around the stage and really took advantage of his position. But compared to other bands on this night they felt distant and perhaps that's the way it supposed to be with the headlining act but it's more fun to watch if the band has a good connection with the crowd. The best place for HARDCORE SUPERSTAR is an absolutely filthy and sweaty club, not an ice cold Hockey Arena. Ok, it got warmer the longer the evening went but it never got hot enough.

Then it was only the after-party left... All three bars served a nice selection of Metal and everything you can buy in a good bar. Unfortunately the evening passed way too fast and we were kicked out in the cold but that's not a problem when the party can continue just around the corner. One more benefit with this one, camping, cabins, hostel and hotel just around the corner. If you can find the way in the dark that is!

(photos by the woman who wouldn't die Erika)

BILLION DOLLAR BABIES

AMMOTRACK

PRIMAL FEAR

BLAZE BAYLEY

HARDCORE SUPERSTAR