The biggest metal and rock festival of Belgium was here again! With 5 stages and over 100 bands this is every year one big party celebrating the realm of the guitar riff. This year promised to be a very interesting edition with of instance the first ever appearance of much loved Rammstein as one of the headliners. Much to be looking forward to in other words…

 THURSDAY

Bands:
Brides Of Lucifer, Slayensemble, The Covering, Goe Vur In Den Otto, Thurisaz, King Hiss, Wolves Scream, Hexa Mera, Born From Pain, Off The Cross, Bear, Carnation.

The first official festival day is of course Friday, but the past years there has been the tradition that weekend visitors get to enjoy already some bands Thursday night. This has steadily been growing with often a “surprise act” included. Most of the bands tend to be Belgian talents, which we can only support… This year Channel Zero frontman Franky DSVD in cooperation with Red Bull Music did part of the selection again. This brought us Hexa Mera, Wolves Scream and King Hiss. Another remarkable return to the festival was the atmospheric black/death metal outfit Thurisaz.

We were hugely impressed with the Brides of Lucifer! Wow, what a show. This new Belgian band had the honor of closing on Thursday as the surprise act (and we would see them again Friday evening as the last band in the Marquee). Brides or Lucifer consists of a unique collaboration between Belgian musical talents including Stijn and Steven Kolacny, the girls choir Scala and Koen Buyse from Zornik. The debut of Brides or Lucifer was received more than well in a well-stocked Marquee. Classics like Dio‘s “Holy Diver“, Judas Priest‘s “Painkiller“, Pantera‘s “Walk” and Iron Maiden‘s “Fear of the Dark” were sometimes almost unrecognizable, but beautifully brought. We are already looking forward to hear new songs and see more liveshows.

Setlist: Holy Diver (Dio cover) – Walk (Pantera cover) – Painkiller (Judas Priest cover) – South of Heaven (Slayer cover) – Engel (Rammstein cover) – Futility (Scala & Kolacny Brothers cover) – Warriors of the World United (Manowar cover) – O Father O Satan O Sun! (Behemoth cover) – Fear of the Dark (Iron Maiden cover) – Burn In Hell (Twisted Sister cover) – Halo (Machine Head cover)

pictures by Graspop.