Brutus (***1/2) takes us back home fast with their usual post-punk parade of emotionally-laden heavy hitters. I’d seen them a few weeks before and, although they started off strong, the end of their set left somewhat to be desired. I’m sorry to say the same thing happened here. Like the last one, this was by no means a bad concert. Quite the contrary. But I don’t like the way they arranged their set list. By now they’ve gotten us used to them ending things more explosively and much more memorably, but it wasn’t to be. Nevermind that. There’s always the next one!

The Canadians of Unleash The Archers (***1/2) are one of the few overseas bands that made it to Europe. Their mix of power metal, traditional heavy metal and melodic death metal easily found its way into the audience. This band has been around for fifteen years, so the excellent control of their musical craftsmanship came as no surprise. Brittney Hayes has quite a vocal range, from high pitch to clean singing, she does it all. A performance of great quality from our Canadian friends.

It was about time we saw some heavier works and who better to indulge us but the thrashing Greeks from Suicidal Angels (****1/2)? No sirtaki here, ladies and gentlemen, but some good ol’ friendly moshing. After attending a few concerts where we couldn’t move around and were chair-bound save for nature calls, I was wondering if us metalheads would remember how to ram into one another. The answer is: yes! It was like riding a bike. No, not like at Metaldays, where I saw people riding actual bicycles in the circle pit during a Rotten Sound set, but rather in the sense that we all still had it in us. It was all there again: the big shirtless sweaty dudes, the elbows pushing back at the edge of the pit, that guy that keeps dropping to the floor, people rushing to get him up, the beer cups dropping out of the sky in your neck when you least expect it, etc.

This report continues on page 3.