For the fourth consecutive year, the little Torcy shall be transformed into a place of pilgrimage for underground metal fans from all over Europe. For the third consecutive year, GRIMM Gent will be present as well. We’re talking of course about the ever fantastic Fall Of Summer festival, which takes place on the 8th and 9th of September. Beers, a beach and a stellar lineup await us (and you!) once again, so let me introduce you to one of the cosiest festivals and best kept secrets of the underground metal scene in Europe…
The Fest
As usual, Fall Of Summer takes place in Torcy, a bit outside of Paris. The festival is easily accessible by car as well as by public transport, since Torcy is only a 15 minute train ride from the center of Paris (Gare de l’Est). The festival also organises shuttle buses from the center of Paris. Read more about that on their Facebook page. The event is held at an outdoors activities area, called ‘Parc de Loisirs de Torcy’. For those unfamiliar with the term, one could actually compare it to our beloved ‘Blaarmeersen‘ in Gent: idyllic, lots of green and a lake where you can swim.
On the beach of this lake, the Blackwaters Stage shall reign supreme: from the hill in the middle of the festival terrain you have an amazing view on the stage and lake, wherever you stand. The Sanctuary Stage stands on the other side of this hill. These are the only two music stages, so unlike at most festivals, you don’t have to miss any bands because of clashes in the time schedule. Directly opposed to the Sanctuary Stage you can empty your wallet at the merch tent, where lots of distros (including French labels Season of Mist and Les Acteurs de l’Ombre and our Belgian friends from Immortal Frost Productions) have loads of stuff to sell.
Scattered across the rest of the festival area you can find various food and drink stalls, including a special beer bar to satisfy your earthly needs. Much to our satisfaction, last year the organisation expanded the food offer greatly compared to 2015, in quantity as well in quality. Next to the entrance there’s another big bar present, as well as the stall for signing sessions, food and drink tokens and the official Fall of Summer merch stand, where you’ll be able to find their own craft beer!
At the end of each day, there’s an afterparty as well (Friday until 3.00am, Saturday until the ‘fall of slumber’) before you head back to the camping area. The camping area is divided in two zones: on camping B there’s another bar, so if you prefer a good night’s rest, we’d recommend pitching your tent at Camping A. The camping site opens on Thursday, September 7th, at 17.00 hours.
The Line-up
Now for the most important part: the music. Fall of Summer, contrary to most bigger festivals, chooses quality above quantity. No 5 stages, not another Sabaton gig which you’ve seen 10 times already. The organisation delves into the more underground and mid-tier bands the genre has to offer and aims to present some exclusive concerts each year. They opt to give some lesser known bands a stage at a festival as well, for which I can only applaud them.
For your daily dose of pitch black riffing there’s Au-Dessus, Necrowretch, Gaahls Wyrd, Blasphemy and Primordial on Friday. On Saturday, your Satan-loving ears will be blessed with the sounds of Ende, Azarath, Melechesh and Marduk. I’ll include Saturday’s headliner Venom in this list as well because well… ‘Black Metal’.
For those who like pondering drums and gurgling grunts there’s enough to like as well: Broken Hope and Cattle Decapitation will grind your ears on the first day. If that’s not enough, Crescent, Immolation and Septicflesh will continue to slam you around on day 2.
Fall of Summer wouldn’t be Fall of Summer without a fair share of old school heavy and thrash, combined with some acts that might seem a bit ‘off’. Last year they surprised us by booking Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin, and this year they took that up a notch: No less than French legends Magma will take the stage on Friday, whereas the equally legendary occult rock band Coven will perform the day after. The bill is completed with some underground classics as well as upcoming bands. Some tunes to mosh your frustrations away to are provided by Merciless, Morbid Saint, Annihilator, Bulldözer, Toxik, Demolition Hammer and legendary crust punk band Doom. Next to that, the heavy metal classics are present too, in the form of Grave Digger and a tribute to the highly acclaimed Sortilège (with some original members). Doomy tunes will be played by Orange Goblin and Count Raven.
Last but not least, the line-up is not complete yet. Originally, doom outfit Saint Vitus was announced to headline the Blackwaters Stage on Friday. Unfortunately, they had to cancel their appearance at the festival for unknown reasons. If all goes well, the festival organisation will announce a replacement as soon as possible.
The running order has been announced already and can be found below. This running order might be subject to change when the replacement for Saint Vitus is announced.
We can’t wait for this amazing event to take place and hope to see you there too!
