SATURDAY

Bands:
Marilyn Manson, Bloodbath, Volbeat, Living Theory, Subliminal Verses, Megadeth, At The Gates, Rise Against, Baroness, Underoath, Kreator, Marduk, Sons Of Apollo, Arch Enemy, Exodus, Kadavar, Miss May I, System Pilot, Accept, Skillet, Amaranthe, Planet Of Zeus, Crossfaith, Boston Manor, Asking Alexandria, Vixen, Asphyx, The Vintage Caravan, Seether, Backyard Babies, Batushka, Bölzer, Thundermother, Our Hollow, Our Home, Stray From The Path, Stone Broken

Batushka

When talking about bands who keep some mystery about them and focus on the project as a whole in stead of showing themselves as individuals you need to mention Batushka.

One of the more popular black metal bands for a couple of years now because of their killer release ‘Litourgiya‘ they kept on building on the path and were very active in the festival seasons and on smaller stages throughout Europe.

When witnessing a congregation from this band you will notice that the Gregorian singing blend in perfectly with the blast beats and the power the guitars.

The imagery is striking and does not feel like a cheap gimmick, the show is well thought out and a truly enjoyable performance.

Skillet

Skillet is a very popular band with younger generations and it shows. We see many teens strolling to the Main Stage to take pictures and updating their social media profiles.

As children of their time so does the sound of Skillet envoy a new kind of modern metal. Some progressive, heavy stuff and this all with a Christian rock vibe. In almost all songs they mention or put in a good word for this religion making it one of the few bands on GRASPOP to come out as believers.

Accept

This German power and speed metal band has been conquering stages all over the world since 1968. Accept (being one of the most influencing but underrated metal artists from Germany) does not give in when it comes to riffs and vocals. Shrieking like the good old times we get a standard power show from them.

Is this bad? Of course not, a solid performance gets you a long way in the music industry and fans are rewarding this. We see lots of fans singing all the hits you expect. ‘Metal Heart‘, ‘Teutonic Terror‘ and of course ‘Balls To The Wall‘ will always be in the hearts and on the playlists of metal fans.

No error to be found in this show!

Crossfaith

It is time for something completely different!

Metal and electro have always been two genres hard to combine and many bands do not stick the landing. Crossfaith on the other hand have mastered the ability to mix it in a blend of phenomenal showmanship.

We were glad a packed crowd (most did not know what was going on and where there for the drinks) at the Jupiler stage had the chance to see this happen live.

The eclectic mix of hardcore and electro was energetic and abruptly wakes you up in a positive way. With songs like ‘Wildfire‘ and the cover ‘Omen‘ we saw a band who performs just like Slipknot (we imagine that this is an influence for them).

Impressive sound and a more exuberant show. Check them out!

Arch Enemy

A band loved by almost all metalheads a couple of years ago, a bit less in the current line up. We do not know why. But it gained some criticism for a while now. Still one of the leading female fronted bands in the world is taking its toll. Allissa could no get the grunts out the way she wanted.

Everybody can have an off day off course. The show itself was OK and the professional behavior was there. Al tough the voice was not sublime, the stage presence was on point and the mosh pit was getting started at the first note Arch Enemy played.

Seeing the security work there butts off is always a good indicator for a metal festival so we believe GRASPOP will be glad Arch Enemy gave all it had on the Main Stage.

Marduk 

How to sum up Marduk?

BLASTBEATS! PANZER! KRIEG!

In short it is black metal that want to crush the skulls of the fans, the war theme goes in well with the sound and look on stage. Singer Mortuss has a voice of a graveyard.

The sound guys had a rough time but surely managed to get this on the road and as streamlined as possible into our ears.

Awesome to watch, not pretty to see.

Megadeth

GRASPOP this year seemed to be a battle of the oldies, the pioneers of the genre or the bands that shaped a generations. We have Guns ‘N Roses, Judas Priest, Accept, Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, Doro and today on the Main stage we get Megadeth.

One of those bands who regularly comes on top must have great hits and we begin with ‘Hangar 18‘. The vibe in the crowd wonderful and Megadeth gets a reception from the crowd like a headliner band like this deserves.

Unlike other festivals we have seen Megadeth is better with a shorter setlist for us. Not many talks no filler guitar solo’s. Just epic songs from one of the best bands alive!

Volbeat 

Danish metal music headlining on a Belgian festival, we live in a small world! Volbeat has beaten many records over the years, has a recognizable sound and a charismatic vocalist.

Starting the show we yet again get a tribute to Vinnie Paul followed ,up with ‘The Devil’s Bleeding Crown‘. At this moment the whole crowd went nuts and we were off.

Sadly we had to part at the middle of a show because of an emergency.

Later on we learned that this was a rather boring Volbeat show, no pyro and only music. We guess not all shows need it?

SATURDAY RECAP GMM

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