Headbangers Open Air Ground Report Make This Garden Burn WRETCH (one of last year's highlights) sang on a special song for this festival. And this is a very special festival. It's called the world's biggest gardenparty. My idea about that was a Festival in connection to someone's backyard, not ON someone's backyard but that's exactly what it is. It sure is a huge gardenparty, name one more Festival that actually has appletrees on the Festival area for example.
After the left turn in the T-crossing, drive 800m and turn right at the bus-stop the road description said. There was absolutely nothing there but cornfields. Looking a bit closer we saw a tractor-path through the corn. Ok? 2km down that road I was sure we were lost but there it was! Headbangers Open Air is small but in the vein of Keep It True, Swordbrothers and Thrash Assault (to mention a few) a very genial Festival. You can always count on some really good music, you will make a bunch of new friends no matter you want it or not. Everyone is here for the same reason, great music and a good party.
The atmosphere is very friendly and it's like that pre-party you had at home before going out to the bar. You know, it's so nice to just sit home and talk and have a few drinks and when you get out to a bar that nice feeling always goes away for some reason... But not here, it's that warm up before the bar-feeling all the time. And there's one more reason this Festival is harder and tougher than any other Metal Festival. The tickets are made of solid steel, yes 1mm steel. And instead of ripping the tag off there's this blacksmith-looking fellow with a hammer smacking it good at the entrance to make sure it's not used again. Who beats that? Can it be harder and more metal than that? I could easily recommend all bands on the bill, I know I will appreciate most of it but these are my absolute must-see on this festival; LETHAL is one of the best bands in the US-Metal scene but they never got the recognition they deserved. LETHAL is progressive metal in the style of QUEENSRYCHE and FATES WARNING with a singer that's just completely out of this world. It's not many singers that can pull off this type of music the way Tom Mallicoat can, never a missed note, not even the ones in the highest pitches. One review about their gig at Keep It True said From the opener Fire In Your Skin until Killing Machine sixty minutes later, LETHAL clearly were one of the best bands ever to have played at KIT and I can't do anything but agree with that.
LETHAL has spent the spring in the studio to record a new album. Do we dare to hope for some new material at Headbangers Open Air? RESISTANCE, More US-Metal but more towards Thrash this time. RESISTANCE from California has released two really nice albums up until now Lies In Black from 2004 and latest effort Patents Of Control. Both mighty fine and listening to RESISTANCE always makes me feel good. I sure hope they can pull it off live too and serve a powerful doze of Power_Thrash. MORTAL SIN, Aussie Thrash veterans still deliver and with last years awesome An Absence Of Faith they proved they still got it. They did an awesome job opening for OVERKILL this spring. With very limited stage space they delivered attitude, joy and groove that made it impossible to stand still. I have no doubts they will be as excited about the festivals, if not even more. PICTURE absolutely blew me away at SwedenRock Festival. They delivered Metal with energy early in the morning, both classics songs and new material. It's not always reunited bands can write new material as good as the classics but Fill Your Head With Rock and Blood Out Of Stone sure sounded very promising and as much fun as PICTURE seemed to have I'm sure this will be an hour of party!
ABANDONED, mighty fine Bay Area Thrash with a German touch. Why shouldn't it be, they're from Germany. With two great albums Thrash Notes and Thrash You and a new drummer (Sven Vorman ex-DESTRUCTION) in the line-up they will kick everyone's butt at Headbangers Open Air.
