It sure was possible to mend swords for a whole army using all steel and metal from the band-names, song titles or lyrics at this year's edition of 'Swordbrothers Festival'. This festival was absolutely in the same style as 'Keep It True' but with mostly new bands, not really the same trip down memory lane as KIT is. Well, fate (Named Hurricane Ike) took away some of the nostalgia and left OMEN at the airport in Huston. A real bummer since they were one of the headliners. That and another odd story concerning the other headliner must have been a real turn-off for the promoters. Still, this turned out to be a really cozy event in the same spirit as the similar ones in Germany.

First up, was the German band METALHEAD. With that name it was no surprise that they played Heavy Metal. And with one foot in the NWOBHM-land and one in their native soil they offered a nice start of the day. The songs were really cool especially the dark and suggestive parts. They created a really dark atmosphere in the venue even though the daylight leaked through the window-covers. The high pitched screams felt a little misplaced most of the times but ok, the sound was really unbalanced so that can be the reason for this; they didn't feel like a part of the music that came out of the speakers. The sound was never really straightened out and that's odd for an event like this. One reason for that could have been the band and their ability to play because for at least half of the bands on the bill had crystal clear sound. When it's like that, the sound-tech can't be blamed for not doing his job right. Even if METALHEAD's musical skills had a lot to wish for, this was an interesting band and that's absolutely enough. Good songs are the key to success, the rest you can always work on. And to have the Grim Reaper to do promotion for you, that's a trick that will earn a lot of kudos on an event like 'Swordbrothers'.

The line between brilliance and parody is really thin and playing this type 80's Heavy Metal and giving it all can either be IRON MAIDEN-class or SPINAL TAP. UK based CONQUEST OF STEEL actually manages to stay on the MAIDEN side of that line. Their performance was super energetic and perhaps a little too much of everything but their naivety was really charming. Sure, the Bruce Dickinson-posing from vocalist Dan Durrant could have been a little toned down since the music has similarities with their landsmen too the copied poses almost pushed them over the edge to parody. But musically it was very good. The songs were well played and they all had an individual touch without sprawling in different directions. And the set held high standard all the way through, a lot higher than at least half the bands on the bill. Steel Is The Law was claimed to be a conquest Of Steel-classic. Still, a really good song but I don't know if it qualifies as a classic. The only thing that wasn't fun to watch or hear was the total slaughter of DIO-classic Holy Diver; it sounded more like Eye Of The Tiger with the choirs from an English soccer derby. But apart from that I'm absolutely intrigued to dig deeper into the history and future of CONQUEST OF STEEL.

Is it possible to take a band with D.O.A printed all over the back of their shirts serious? Nope, not Dead On Arrival, DRUNK On Arrival that is! STEEL PREACHER kept up the party-mood for the entire set. And no matter how good the music is these bands that are up for stirring up a good party or some reaction from up-tight adults they get tiresome after a while. But I have to give them credit for the music. Even if it reached from Old-School German Thrash in the likes of SODOM all the way down to basic Boogie influences Aussie Rock the songs were really, really good. And then it felt even worse. If they have that kind of talent why waste it, why don't do something real of it? But the crowd loved STEEL PREACHER and I guess they'll boost any party they're set to play on.

One of the bands I was looking forward to the most to see on the bill was CROM. Their doom-influenced Pagan-Power Metal sounded truly amazing and the fact that it doesn't sound like anything else makes it really interesting. The really atmospheric intro started right on time and the band took their poses getting ready to rock but the intro went on and on. The length of the intro was certainly a disadvantage because on stage the CROM-members started to look a bit awkward. When they got started it was half really good and half terrible. The new material, including superb Wings Of Fire sounded awesome and didn't need much of a movement on stage. The nature of the songs spoke for themselves and then the music was absolutely enough. When CROM put the pedal to the Metal they turned over to a completely different band. Crom himself master the growls and the really soft and emotional vocals really well but all those parts in between sounded really crappy and out of tune. But the most annoying thing about CROM was the feeling of them not being a band and that's a real shame because the music is really interesting and with the real approach and devotion this would have been great.

From time to time you're expectations on something is boosted to the max and when you see the result it all turns over in a huge anti climax. In the middle of the evening it was said Surprise Act on the Running Order. The band booked but not announced was RITUAL STEEL, another band I've planned to check out but never gotten there so this came to be a really good opportunity to see if I've missed something or not. The first two songs I didn't react so much because it always takes a while before the sound is sorted out and everything can be judged fairly. It's not so often the band sounds worse and worse the better the sound gets though. I probably can appreciate RITUAL STEEL's music because they have some really nice features and fit right into my taste but the performance they put on here was really terrible. Musically it was uninspired and pretty poorly played and the vocals were out of tune all the time. It felt like watching American Idol, one of those audition that sounds so bad you don't know if you should cry or laugh and thought, copuldn't they hear it sounded that terrible? It's not often I've walked out of a concert but 20 minutes of RITUAL STEEL was all I could take this time.

The competition this evening wasn't really on top. Most of the bands for the first half of the night sounded ok, nothing more and I was really starting to give up on everything. Then SNAKE EYES happened. If you take the heaviness and groove from bands such as PANTERA and BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, add the drive from GUNS'N'ROSES, the melodies from classic 80's metal and top that with a Rob Halford-clone you have SNAKE EYES. How can these criteria fail? They didn't and after the torture that RITUAL STEEL put us through this was a true relief. And it's always great to be blown away by a band you expect nothing from. Even if nothing was new in SNAKE EYES's music they were a really fresh breeze in the rain-soaked night and when a band can bring out that feeling they're on to something good. From the performance perspective there's of course more to wish for, apart from vocalist Anthony Meachen, SNAKE EYES felt a little stiff and locked on their spot on the stage. Guitar player Wizard Oz did his best to make a permanent mark on everyone but after the show I hardly remembered bass player Dave De La Haye at all. So if they can find the same drive in their performance as they have in their music this band will hit the big stages really soon.

HOLY MARTYR sure sounded promising while doing research for 'Swordbrothers'. But Italian Power Metal has disappointed me before. Could HOLY MARTYR stick with the album-standard or would they fall flat like their landsmen? (Referring to ELDRITCH at SRF -07). Well, I had goose-bumps all over my body during the entire first song. They were just perfect. When this type of music is performed as great as HOLY MARTYR does it the stage-lights and massive volume a PA-system provides just makes it better, more emotional and greater than life. It was really amazing to just stand and watch them take over and own the stage. Vocalist Alex Mereu looked completely crazy in the yellow light, his mimic and charisma really came to life and his rather anonymous appearance from off-stage was wiped out of my memory. HOLY MARTYR released their new record Hellenic Warrior Spirit the day before the festival and they were really excited to share the material from that album. The only thing negative about this was that everything sounded a little too much the same. Absolutely great songs and flawlessly played but the experience could have been even greater with a little more variation. But HOLY MARTYR sure proved that great Power Metal can come out of Italy too.

Well, CONQUEST OF STEEL did their best but they were still out-posed by BULLET. They're the new titans of 80's Metal and all what comes with it. It takes devotion, practice and a lot of humor to pull it off. BULLET masters that perfectly! Just the tiny little detail that they, in perfect synch with the music posed, using the back of their instruments, from Erik via Adam to Hampus showing Bite The Bullet. The text was printed on the back of their instruments and everything looked absolutely natural. BULLET's new album Bite The Bullet takes over where Heading For The Top ended; not much has changed but that's not necessary when a band can deliver rock songs that's bound to stay in your mind forever once you've been exposed to them. The traditional encore Bang Your Head worked fine without Lenny Blade and the response from the crowd was deafening. Perhaps not the most tuned choir but it's the volume that counts. Right? BULLET are always a pleasure to watch and their on-stage time passed way to fast this Saturday night and it's absolutely a good grade when a band makes you wanting more.

Apparently Steve Kachinsky decided playing Metal in Germany wasn't for him anymore and skipped his flight over the pond. That STEEL PROPHET managed to pull off a gig anyway was impressive. Their music is absolutely created for two guitars but most of the time Horacio Colmenares's was enough. Two parallel-connected Marshall guitar-amps really do wonders. The only times it got a little weak was during the solos. That's not at all unique for STEEL PROPHET, one guitar means no rhythm playing behind the solos, that's just the way it is.
And occasionally it got a little strange too, Horacio played his parts flawless but since Steve wasn't there the lead melody was missing on a few occasions. And of course the second pitch was missing too when Horacio played the lead. But besides that their performance was astonishing. Rick Mythasin is an amazing singer. He has a really unique voice and a sense for melody that few can match. Again I wondered, why the hell isn't this band bigger than they are? Ok, their stage-show could have been better, it felt more like a rehearsal than a real performance. On the other hand that behavior made it really intimate and cozy instead. And I could understand why too, it's not easy to adjust to diversions in a second and I still think it's amazing that they played. But the show must go on... On one occasion bass player Vince Dennis asked what the crowd wanted for STEEL PROPHET to do next. Get a new guitar player was the absolute clear response. And I hope they can and continue playing. The brand new track Trickery of the Scourge sounded amazing, absolutely in class with the rest of their material.

I'm embarrassed to say that I discovered STEEL PROPHET just a couple of months ago, they have completely passed me by. But when they actually hit me, they hit hard and crabbed me so deep I can't for my life understand how they've passed me by in the past.

Rick made excuses for his voice that wasn't top notch a few times during the night. If he was sounding that good out of shape I wonder how he sounds when he's satisfied with himself. Ok, he might be a little out of shape because he was coughing after almost every vocal line and it looked like he was going to puke a few times too. His excuses were completely out of place though because he sounded great and even the really high pitched notes were in place. There's no way he can hide behind the music in a song like Earth And Sky. When Six Was Nine is no picnic either but still it sounded super.

So? Who won? It was a hard one I tell you, musically STEEL PROPHET shined brighter than all but from a live perspective BULLET was in a much higher class than the rest of the bands. Well, it's a draw, I can't pick one out of the two. And yes, if Volker, JP Higgins keep doing this, in the same style this too will be an annual event in my calendar. The lineup for Swordbrothers 2009 was a killer, there's no way I'm going to miss that one.

(photos by Die By The Sword Erika)

METALHEAD
CONQUEST OF STEEL
STEEL PREACHER
CROM
RITUAL STEEL
SNAKE EYES
HOLY MARTYR
BULLET
STEEL PROPHET