WARRIORS OF METAL FESTIVAL VI
Columbus and Pataskala, Ohio
June 27-29, 2013
It’s a rite of summer, or at least it’s become one over the last few
years. I pick up a rental car, pack up the wife and earplugs, and drive
820 miles north to Columbus, Ohio at the end of June to revel in the power and
glory of heavy metal at America’s premiere open-air traditional/thrash/classic
metal festival, the Warriors of Metal Fest. Of course, open air festivals
are replete with challenges and obstacles, from extreme weather conditions to
“rustic” accommodations to even (in past years) the occasional goat or other
livestock observing the festivities. But fest organizers Datis & Lea
Alaee have a dream, and they have pursued it doggedly for six years now,
cancellations and tornadoes and mud fields and all manner of financial adversity be damned.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
The first day of WOM Fest is actually a Pre-Fest Showcase, held indoors at a
cozy little bar near downtown Columbus called The Shrunken Head. This
venue is an ideal place for a festival kickoff: The size is small, the
staff is friendly, and the beer is cold. The ever-intrepid,
ever-ambitious Datis booked 8 bands for the Showcase, with a fan-friendly
admission price of just $10. Spread out over 8 acts and 6 hours of live
music (plus set-change time), that works out to $1.25 per band or $1.67 per
hour, so it’s quite a bargain actually. Today was also special because it
was Jen’s and my 15th
wedding anniversary. Can’t think of many wives who would want to spend
such a milestone anniversary (not to mention their summer vacation) in a sweaty
bar rockin’ out 800 miles from home, but Jen is no ordinary metal wife.
For her, this was no imposition, but an adventure and a fun way to
celebrate. That’s my girl. Rock on, J.
The festivities began promptly at 6:00 p.m., with the sunlight streaming in from
the windows looking out onto the sidewalk. Michigan’s Halstatt was
an unfamiliar name to me, but the quartet brought an impressive brew of melodic
thrash metal to the stage. Sure, they have typical thrash song titles like
“Chain of Command” and “Soldiers of Death,” and their guitarist wears a baseball
cap with the bill turned up a la Suicidal Tendencies back in the day, but
Halstatt have a classic metal influence too, as evidenced by the
bassist/singer’s Maiden tattoo and t-shirt, as well as the soundcheck “Rime of
the Ancient Mariner” jam. I enjoyed Halstatt’s set a great deal, and
frankly thought they were superior to many signed re-thrash acts today.
They get extra points for tackling a cover version of Megadeth’s “Holy Wars,”
and will be forgiven for the occasional miscue given the technical difficulty of the song.
Next up were Noble Beast from Minnesota. I knew this was going to
be something different altogether when the Running Wild-shirt wearing singer
soundchecked with an a capella version of the chorus of Falconer’s “Clarion
Call.” That’s not something you see every day, boys and girls. And
they proved to be something of an oddball on this bill, delivering bombastic
Euro-styled power metal all the way with plenty of witty remarks to keep the
audience laughing in between songs. One song was introduced by reference
to Venn diagrams. When Datis interrupted the proceedings to ask the
audience if anyone had seen his phone, and the phone appeared moments later,
Noble Beast did not get miffed or frustrated. Instead, they proclaimed
that the discovery of Datis’s phone was a “heavy metal miracle.” All
laughing aside, Noble Beast rocked. They excelled at their Gamma Ray /
Dragonforce-inspired brand of Euro metal, with strong guitarwork, aggressive
drums (including blastbeats on some songs), and clear vocals that occasionally
veered off into 3 Inches of Blood-type falsetto land. A band to watch for…
Band #3 of the Showcase was Oblivion Myth, hailing from Nashville,
Tennessee. My previous experiences with the band were not overwhelmingly
positive, as they’d not left much of an impression when I’d seen them at WOM
Fest III or at a Pathfinder event a few years ago. It’s not that I didn’t
like them, it’s just that they hadn’t left much of an impression. Things
went much better tonight. Other than the blond-maned guitarist, the
remainder of the Oblivion Myth lineup is completely new personnel. These
guys are good. Vocalist seemed to be going for something of a Blaze
Bayley-type vibe, and it worked. Of the songs aired, the one that
especially caught my ear was “War Child,” quite a catchy, singalong number,
even if the audience didn’t seem particularly interested in singing.
Hopefully this incarnation of Oblivion Myth can stay together because they seem
to be onto something.
The Showcase winning streak continued with Crusader from Chicago, another
band from whom I’d never heard a note of music before tonight. This
quintet falls squarely in the U.S. power metal style, albeit faster and heavier
than many of their compatriots. The dimunitive singer with the sideburns,
leather gauntlets and Samhain shirt had a voice reminiscent of Lemmy and stage
presence for miles. Pity that the guitarist with arms like tree trunks
(would love to see who would win an arm-wrestling match between him and Cage’s
Dave Garcia) had persistent technical problems with his axe constantly out of
tune. I have a feeling that Crusader made a significant number of new fans
tonight, and I look forward to checking out their new album, ‘Onward into Battle,’ posthaste.
We returned to thrash metal realms for band #5, Connecticut’s Shallow
Ground, who have just released their debut album, ‘The End of Everything,’
on Germany’s Killer Metal Records label. Led by guitarist/vocalist Keith
Letourneau (a hulking giant with a wicked sense of humor), Shallow Ground ripped
through an impressive selection of tracks from the new album, including “Whence
They Came,” “Cleansing of the Hollow,” the title track, and “Prostitution”
(whose refrain consists of the music stopping and Letourneau shouting
“Prostitution, the world’s oldest profession!”). There was more melody and
intricacy in the guitarwork than is the norm for this kind of music, which kept
things interesting and separated Shallow Ground from the dime-a-dozen thrash
acts on the scene. What’s more, the Shallow Ground guys stuck around the
festival all weekend long and were friendly and cool as hell. They
supported other bands by buying their merch, shared their fruit salad with Jen,
and could be seen up near the front of the stage rocking out to many other acts
over the weekend. Good on ya, Shallow Ground.
Pennsylvania’s Flesh Engine had been milling around the venue all night
sporting matching t-shirts proclaiming on the backprint, “Keeping It Metal
Since 2007.” I applaud the sentiment. They were cool dudes and
skilled marketers, judging by their impressive merch display both on Thursday
evening and during the weekend festivities. The crowd really seemed to
dig their mid-paced groovy thrash (think something along the lines of
‘Necroshine’ era Overkill, perhaps?). For whatever reason, they were the
first band of the evening that didn’t quite click with me. The bass-heavy
mix that drowned out the guitars did them no favors, and I didn’t find much in
the songs to latch onto. To be fair, it’s entirely possible that the
problem lies with me, not with Flesh Engine. It had been a long night of
unfamiliar metal music. There’s only so much the brain can absorb before
it becomes a blur. So I’m not going to knock Dave Orkin and his crew for
even a second. They’re obviously good at what they do and the audience
was definitely into it. But it didn’t quite work for me.
By now it was 11:30 p.m. and time for the evening’s headliner (with one more act
to follow them), perennial WOM Fest stalwarts Vindicator. The
Cleveland thrash monsters have become a staple at WOM Fest, playing in some
capacity for three years in a row. A few things were different tonight
from past Vindicator performances. Guitarist Justin Zych (talk about WOM
Fest staples, I think this guy has literally played every single WOM Fest in
some band or another, whether it be Zephaniah or Argonaut or Valhalla or what
have you) has joined the Stown brothers and bassist Ed Stephens, bringing his
flashy style of fretwork and slightly insane/cornball stage presence to the
table. Also, in lieu of the standard Vindicator set, Vic and the boys
opted to shake things up by airing some deep cuts from the Vindiscography
(“Quarry Rats,” “Deathfront Demons,” “Fatal Infection”) that aren’t typically
played. There were a few glitches and warts with these tunes, as might be
expected, but they sounded killer anyway. And the cherry on top was the
encore which consisted of James Rivera and other-planetary shred guitar whiz
Xander Demos joining Vindicator onstage for a bang-up rendition of Black
Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf.” All in all, it was a fantastic gig by perhaps my
favorite of the younger American bands playing old-school thrash metal.
All hail Vindicator! Setlist: Gears of Fate, Dog Beneath the Skin,
Quarry Rats, Bastards of Noise and Aggression, Thrash and Destroy, Gore
Orphanage, Deathfront Demons, Antique
Witcheries, Strange Aeons, Fatal Infection, Shock Trauma, Fearmonger, Fresh
Outta Hell, Vindicator, Sweet Leaf.
Occupying the unenviable post-headliner slot was Brazil’s Machinage, back
for their third consecutive WOM Fest appearance. Unfortunately, this was
the occasion for the only lengthy set changeover of the night. By now, it
was well after 1:00 a.m. We knew we needed to get some rest because we
were due at the Frontier Ranch at least a couple of hours before the 11:00 a.m.
fest start on Friday to set up Merch Central. So we gave Machinage four
songs, which included a couple of newbies and a ripping rendition of my favorite
Machinage track, “Next Victim.” Then we slipped out into the cool Ohio
night air to drive back to the hotel for a few quick hours of shut-eye before
the next stage of our adventure commenced with dawn’s light.
Friday, June 28, 2013
We were up and at ‘em early this morning. After a lovely breakfast at our
hotel on the outskirts of the Ohio State campus, we checked out of the hotel,
packed up the trusty rental Hyundai, and made the 30-mile drive east on I-70 to
scenic Pataskala, Ohio, location of the Frontier Ranch and site of WOM Fest for
the third consecutive year. Despite several days of heavy rain, the
grounds looked surprisingly good. Things weren’t nearly as muddy as I
expected (although there were some vicious waterlogged potholes on the dirt
road leading off the paved avenue into Frontier Ranch), and the area showed
obvious signs of care and attention by the property owners. Even better,
the insect- and rust-plagued bathroom and shower facilities smelled and looked
clean (at least at the beginning), thanks to proactive efforts by Datis and Lea
to take care of their guests this year by having the facilities power-washed
ahead of time. A welcome improvement, to be sure. By just after
9:00 a.m., we’d parked the car (which would double as our sleeping quarters for
the next two nights) near a stand of trees a stone’s throw from the
stage. Then it was time for the annual task of setting up Merch
Central. Having learned our lesson in previous years, we came prepared
this year, armed with twine, nearly two dozen hangars, packing tape, sharpies,
ballpoint pens, large note cards (to display prices), and a three-ring binder
with a customized form for recording each band’s incoming and outgoing
merch. It’s quite a task to keep track of more than 30 bands’
merchandise, to make sure they are properly credited for all sales, to display
everyone’s goods in a small physical space in fair and equitable manner, and so
on. The merch team of Jen, Sarah Stown (wife of Vindicator’s Vic) and I
were up for the challenge, though, as we are every year. We’ve got a
system down and have made vast improvements to the WOM Fest Merch Central setup
each year, if I do say so myself.
In terms of weather, this year’s WOM Fest was easily the best of any that we’ve
attended. Temperatures were mild and pleasant, with lows in the low 60s
and highs in the low 80s. Although heavy rain was in the forecast, there
were just a couple of brief showers during the day on Friday and none on
Saturday (although a short-lived downpour took place during the Saturday
overnight hours while we were snoozing comfortably in the Hyundai). For
late June in Ohio, you really couldn’t ask for more favorable weather
conditions than we had. Unfortunately, I think the wet weather leading up
to the Fest caused the mosquito population to multiply drastically. They
have gigantic fucking mosquitos in Ohio. Jen and I still have angry red
welts up and down our legs (and especially near our ankles) to prove it,
despite liberal use of Off! spray and (in Jen’s case) long trousers. Yep,
these blood-sucking bugs are deterred by neither bug spray nor layers of clothing. Yikes.
Attendance-wise, the official tally was 131 paid attendees, plus a couple dozen
sponsors. The hoped-for surge in the crowd never happened this
year. Maybe it was the prominent cancellations. Or maybe people are
just lazy and would rather talk about supporting this music than actually
getting their asses out there and supporting it. Maybe the festival is
cursed. For whatever reason, the much stronger-than-ever promotion
efforts and the inclusion of a bona fide, legit headliner (Flotsam &
Jetsam) did not translate into a substantial increase in ticket sales.
That’s a disappointment, and may cause the demise of this festival that so many
of us love. The Fest organizers simply cannot (and cannot reasonably be
expected to) keep absorbing significant financial losses every year to throw a
heavy metal party that is inadequately attended and funded. Sure, looking
around the area in front of the stage (especially during the headliners), one
could observe what appeared to be a couple of hundred people present. But
many of those were members of other bands, not paying customers. And
therein lies the problem.
In keeping with tradition, I’ll review each of the 24 bands that performed on
Friday and Saturday. I watched at least a couple of songs by every band
(with one exception), and could hear everything they all performed because I
was on the premises the entire time. Of necessity, however, some band
reviews will be much more comprehensive and detailed than others. I was
pretty freakin’ busy all weekend, between running Merch Central (which was
sometimes quiet but other times hellishly hectic, particularly when bands were
checking their wares in or out), talking with friends new and old, having a bite
to eat, walking over to the loo, drinking a beer, and so on. Also, there’s
the whole music fatigue factor. Listen, I love heavy metal as much as (if
not more than) anyone I know. But when you have a dozen bands running back
to back (with no more than 10-15 minute breaks between them) over a 13-hour
period, and when you’ve never heard some of those bands before, sometimes your
brain just can’t process it. Or mine can’t, at least. (I love you,
Datis, but this makes for a long damned day for even the most devout
metalhead. The Fest hours seem to grow longer each year on the front end,
subject to the same firm midnight curfew on the back end. It wouldn’t be
the worst idea in the world to cut the festival hours down from 11 a.m. -
midnight to 1 – midnight or 2 – midnight each day, either by reducing the number
of bands or shortening some of the sets.) Suffice it to say that no slight
is intended to any band. No one (and I mean no one) sucked, but some bands
either didn’t penetrate my thick skull or I was too damn preoccupied with Merch
Central responsibilities, yukkin’ it up with the Brazen Angels, fist-bumping Scott
Landon, or drinking my beer to pay attention to the music during their
set. So apologies in advance to anyone who gets short shrift. Y’all kicked ass …
Faced with the daunting task of kicking off the festival on a Friday morning
before most folks had arrived were Cleveland’s Global Warning, a
four-piece featuring two men and two women, including uber-cool guitarist Julia
Roberts. Apparently, they’re a fairly new band, as the only recorded
music they brought to sell was a 2-song demo, but their brand of female-fronted
traditional metal went over well with the audience. And the idea of
beginning and ending their set with Dio-era Sabbath covers (“Mob Rules” and
“Neon Knights,” respectively) was a sure-fire crowd pleaser. I only got to
watch them play a couple of songs because I was otherwise occupied with setting
up Merch Central (which is out of sight of the stage, albeit definitely within
hearing distance), but for my money Global Warning were a damn near ideal act to
begin WOM Fest VI on the right foot.
Part of this year’s Massachusetts invasion, Iron Will had greatly
impressed me last year by stepping in on the fly for an impromptu short set
during the Pre-Festival Showcase when there was a last-second
cancellation. Indeed, they did so well under those circumstances that
Datis brought them back to rock the main stage this year. Iron Will gets
billed as a Ravage side project and features both of the Firicano brothers (Al
on drums, Eli on guitar), but they definitely stand on their own two feet.
Vocalist Tony Canillas is literally one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet on
Planet Earth, and his devotion to old-school heavy metal is beyond
reproach. Iron Will come across sounding very much like a NWOBHM act, from
Eli’s classic riffs to Canillas’s odd but endearing and fun vocals. Their
signature tune “Nightmares” was definitely a highlight of their set, as was the
song when Canillas held a large round mirror at waist level and sang into it for
most of the tune, before brandishing the mirror high over his head at the end of
the track. I’ve never seen a band do that before. If memory serves,
Iron Will also served up a tasty Witchfinder General cover, “Friends of hell,”
that fit nicely with their original material. I know Iron Will have a
debut album almost ready to go, so here’s hoping it sees the light of day
soon. Iron Will Rise, indeed.
Valhalla, the new band of WOM Fest guitar-whiz-in-residence Justin Zych,
were the beneficiaries of the reshuffling of the musical deck in the weeks
leading up to WOM Fest VI, as cancellations on the main stage allowed them to
migrate from their planned performance at the Shrunken Head on Thursday evening
to a main stage gig on Friday. The Indiana natives bore the distinction
of being one of only two bands all weekend long with a keyboard player (the
other being Fiakra). They also were far and away the most progressive act
of the weekend, with plenty of tinkling ivories, acrobatic guitar runs, and
errr, atmospherics. From looking at the fearsome undead bearded Viking
warrior cover artwork on their EP, one would never guess that Valhalla have
such a lightweight (and, no, I don’t mean that pejoratively) sound. It
was good to hear Zych’s former Zephaniah bandmate, Logan Detwiler, on the mike,
as I always thought he had a very good voice. Lest you think everything
about Valhalla’s performance was clinical, subtle and dignified, they offered
up a ripping version of Manowar’s “Hail and Kill” that definitely got the ol’
neck snapping. I’ll also say this: Valhalla were wildly successful in the
merch sales department this weekend, selling truckloads of t-shirts with a
witty backprint slogan about a baby making shred party or something like that.
Band #4 of the day on Friday were the enigmatic Colorado act, Vacant
Throne. Visually, these lads went all out, with a triple-axe attack,
plus medieval tunics and warpaint and capes and a sword stuck in a moss-covered
smoke-emitting stone at the front of the stage. Although one would be
forgiven for thinking them a folk metal act, Vacant Throne had this midtempo
epic metal vibe going that I thought was really cool. Their lack of live
experience was visible, but that’s often true of a young band like this and
certainly didn’t impede my enjoyment of their set. As I watched Vacant
Throne, I really wished I’d spent more time acquainting myself with their debut
CD, ‘Fall of the Feathered King,’ before the festival. Also, not to poke
fun (because I’m not), but there was an inadvertently funny moment in Vacant
Throne’s set where vocalist Jason Mortensen had a big dramatic buildup before
removing the sword from the stone and hoisting it high over his head.
Then he promptly put the sword back in the stone. Sir Lancelot must be
spinning in his mythological grave. Again, not trying to be mean, but it was funny.
“You’re messing / With the blade / The Blade of the Seax.” Damned if
Seax didn’t steal the show at last year’s Pre-Festival Showcase with an
electrifying high-energy performance of speed metal laced with a punk vibe, a la
the early 1980s. Needless to say, I was ecstatic at the prospect of seeing
them again this year, only on the main stage and after banging my fist to their
‘High on Metal’ album for a year. Seax are just a killer live band, with
simple catchy songs, piles of snotty attitude, a shoeless maniac bassist in
Matt C Axe (hey bro, got any of that dill bread?), a killer frontman in Carmine
Blades (cool Virtue shirt, dude), and the hardest working guitar player in
Pataskala, Eli Firicano, back for his second set of the day. Seax treated
us to most of the tunes on their debut album, including favorites like “Livin’
Above the Law,” “Heavy Metal Seax,” “Blade of the Seax,” and of course “High on
Metal.” They also played a few tunes off their forthcoming second album,
which definitely sounded up to par on first listen. Seax are a hell of a
lot of fun, both live and on CD, and their outstanding performance qualifies as
a Friday highlight.
Man, I love me some Brazen Angel. I’ve seen them more times than I
can count in the last few years, and the Georgia natives (and fellow
Southerners) blow me away every single time. They possess that rare
combination of awesome songs, fun spirit, and unique identity to pull me in
every time with their fresh take on the genre, mixing trad metal with power
metal and even an occasional whiff of classic/Southern rock. Oh, and did
I mention that Brazen Angel have one of the best singers in the business in
Reese Martin? ‘Tis true. They’re not afraid to wear cowboy hats and
sport rebel flags, and bassist Joey Phillips had his jar of lethal homemade
moonshine right up at the front of the stage where he invited audience members
to partake of those cleansing Southern waters. One poor unsuspecting chap
who availed himself of the opportunity staggered a few steps, then face-planted
onto a wooden palette moments later. This stuff ain’t for the faint of
heart, folks. I sure was a happy camper during Brazen Angel’s performance
today. For one thing, they were definitely getting a more enthusiastic
audience response this year than last year, when the Ohioans were kind of
scratching their heads at this Dixie metal. For another (and this is no
lie), Brazen Angel played the best setlist I’ve ever seen ‘em play today.
There were no weak links. Everything was perfect. It was Kit’s
Heavy Metal Heaven. Opening with my favorite Brazen Angel cut,
“Crusaders” (including a spine-tingling a capella bit at the beginning)
was something I’d never seen Brazen Angel do before, and it was frickin’
inspired genius. Putting “Southern Water” (maybe their best live song)
back in the set (it had been tragically missing the last few times I’ve seen
them) was simply glorious. Including “Devil Went Down to Georgia” finally
clicked with the audience this time, as hardened metalheads kicked up their
heels and danced a jubilant jig. And the two new songs (“Destroying Hope”
and “Angel Demon Killer Savior”) get better and better every time I hear
them. I love this band. And I couldn’t have been prouder of them
for kicking some WOM Fest ass for the second year in a row. Their gig was
all the more impressive, given that guitarist Chris Cannon practically moved
heaven and earth to be there without missing his flight from Atlanta to Tokyo
the following morning. Brazen Angel’s new album, ‘Confederate Soldier,’
will hopefully see the light of day in fall 2013. I cannot wait.
Setlist: Crusaders, Silver Tongue Devil, Destroying Hope, Evil of
the Night, Angel Demon Killer Savior, Southern Water, Devil Went Down to
Georgia, Mob Rules, Metal to Infinity.
The third quarter of the Massachusetts invasion was up next, as Steve “Ace”
McArdle’s mighty thrashing trio Skull Hammer graduated from the Shrunken
Head last year to the Frontier Ranch in 2013. Much was different in the
Skull Hammer camp; indeed, guitarist/singer Ace was the only remaining band
member. What remained constant, however, was Skull Hammer’s dedication to
a relentless thrash assault. Songs like “I Defy” and “Pay It in Blood”
are guaran-damn-teed to get the neck muscles moving, and they absolutely did the
trick today. I was also heartened to see so many of the other
Massachusetts band members right up front cheering on their colleagues.
(This happened for each of the Mass. acts, just as it did on Saturday with the
Puerto Ricans supporting each other onstage.) Unfortunately, I didn’t get
to watch as much of Skull Hammer’s set as I would have liked. Merch
Central beckoned, and I’d done entirely too much goofing off during the last
couple of hours, so duty called. But Skull Hammer still rocked quite hard.
In a classy move, Datis invited New Jersey’s Fiakra back for another
performance in 2013. You see, Fiakra were well and truly screwed by the
storm of 2012, which resulted in them having only a three-song set on Saturday
morning. This year they got to play their full set (sans the Stonehenge
setup around the keyboards), and they did well. As was the case at
the Pathfinder Metal Fest V in Atlanta last fall, Fiakra culled its set heavily
from their ‘Invasion’ album on Pure Underground Records, with highlights like
their anthem “Give Me Metal or Give Me Death,” speed burner “Time is My Enemy,”
and set closer “Live to Ride, Ride to Live,” replete with band members drawing
their swords and scraping them up and down the necks of their guitars in a
grand finale. Blond-maned singer Kenneth Burdge mentioned from the stage
that Fiakra were completing a short tour of the Northeast/Midwest, and their
recent seasoning as a live act shone through in the strength and confidence of
their performance today.
The fourth and final installment of the Massachusetts Invasion (at least, the
Friday portion) occurred when Ravage hit the stage at 6:45 p.m.
Like Iron Will, Seax and Skull Hammer, Ravage proved its mettle at the Shrunken
Head in 2012 and was rewarded with a slot at the festival proper in 2013.
God bless him, but Eli Firicano (again, the hardest working guitar player in
Pataskala) was back for his third set of the day with his third different
band. Don’t know if he was mainlining Red Bull or what, but the guy
seemed totally unfazed. Anyway, I’ve always enjoyed Ravage’s take on the
classic U.S. power metal style, with Al Ravage’s gritty vocals and quality
songwriting. Plus, Ravage deserve bucketloads of respect because they
formed in 1995, in the midst of the dark ages for heavy metal in the USA,
keeping the flame burning brightly in what was then a dreary, forgotten and
most unfashionable metal landscape. Their set was predictably excellent,
including the likes of “Wicked Way” and “Spectral Rider” from their debut
album, plus a host of tracks (favorites being “Freedom Fighter,” neckbreaking
“The Shredder,” “Grapes of Wrath,” and “The End of Tomorrow”) off their 2009
Metal Blade release, ‘The End of Tomorrow.’ Not sure how active these
guys are anymore, as things have been awfully quiet in the Ravage camp since
the announcement/release of that “Enter the Outbreak” song last year, but
here’s hoping they manage to release another full-length album soon.
By now, the skies over Ohio were beginning to darken, the set times and the
shadows were beginning to lengthen, and the build-up toward the headliner had
begun. Despite more than 8 hours of rockin’ out to live music, talking to
cool people, drinking beer, and selling t-shirts and CDs, I felt like I was
firing on all cylinders, with none of the exhaustion that tends to creep in
towards the latter part of the day at a metal festival. I attribute the
difference to the honestly pleasant weather conditions. The breeze was
refreshing, the heat had been only sporadic, and the conditions had been
ideal. That, plus the Festival’s food vendor was outdoing himself with
delicious pita wraps and sandwiches to give sustenance to this metalhead’s
body, just as the music gives sustenance to the soul. It had already been
an amazing day, and we still had three more high-quality bands to go
I had been wary of getting my hopes up too much for Mexico’s
Voltax. I mean, Mexico’s not very close to Ohio, geographically
speaking, and airfare must be expensive for an unsigned, independent young
band. Yet they made it, a quartet of short, skinny Mexicans with a
penchant for rocking hard and kicking ass. And did they ever. On
their albums, the band is credited as a five-piece, but only one of the guitar
players was present in Ohio. It didn’t matter. In fact, that
guitarist, Diego, was worth the price of admission all by himself. In his
80s-styled blue and black striped shirt, Diego unleashed one guitar-god pose
after another, to accompany the face-melting riffs emanating from his axe.
Singer Jerry was an amiable frontman clad in a white Accept ‘Kaikozu-Ban’ shirt,
and he didn’t allow his limited English to interfere with the proceedings at
all. I have no idea what Voltax played, and I don’t really care. All
of it kicked major ass. I would assume that they pulled a bunch of songs
from their brand-new album, ‘Hiding into Flames,’ which sold out of Merch
Central within minutes after the band delivered it to us. (Thankfully, I
stashed a copy for myself before the buying frenzy wiped out our stock.)
One hilarious moment during Voltax’s set was when Diego, obviously experiencing
some technical difficulty with his guitar, approached the mike and asked in
heavily accented English, “Does anyone have a knife?” The audience burst
out in laughter, with various shouted responses about how we didn’t have any
gangs here and such. Anyway, somebody produced a knife (no weapons allowed
at WOM Fest, hmmmm), Diego repaired his guitar and the set went on. A
little while later, Diego was again experiencing technical problems, prompting
Jerry to ask Diego with a mischievous smile, “Do you need another knife?”
Again, the audience erupted in laughter. Overall, as long as kids like
Voltax are around to play old-fashioned heavy metal the right way, we will
never have to worry about the future of our beloved music. Definitely one
of the Top 5 performances of WOM Fest VI.
With the Friday cancellations (most notably Attacker and Meliah Rage) in the
weeks leading up to the Fest, Puerto Rico’s Alas Negras found themselves
elevated to the direct support slot, with a generous 75-minute allotted set
time. Sure, that’s an honor, but it’s also a daunting challenge.
Without question, the vast majority of WOM Fest attendees (excluding the other
Puerto Rican bands) were entirely unfamiliar with Alas Negras’s material, so it
really was a difficult position for them, particularly coming on the heels of a
crowd favorite like Voltax. To their credit, Alas Negras pulled it off,
with the quintet dishing out a brand of dark, bruising heavy/power metal with
some very cool songs. Sure, the 75 minutes did seem a bit long and there
were times when their set seemed to drag, but Giancarlo Martinez and the boys
did a fine job of bridging the gap between Voltax and James Rivera. By
all appearances, Alas Negras were well received too, as I heard a number of
people speaking favorably about their gig over the course of the weekend.
It’s no exaggeration to say that James Rivera saved the Friday night
lineup. Left without a headliner two weeks before the Festival, Datis and
Lea threw a “Hail Mary” to Seven Witches to come and save the day. For
whatever reason, Jack Frost demurred, but the Mexican Dio picked up the ball
and ran with it. In a matter of days, Rivera assembled a lineup that
included the ‘Year of the Witch’ rhythm section of bassist Dennis Hayes and
drummer Jeff Curenton, plus otherworldly shred guitar talent Xander Demos (who
actually had an iPad hooked to his microphone stand, something I’d never seen
before at a metal gig). With only one rehearsal, they feverishly worked
to put together what Rivera called a “classic Seven Witches show” laden with
material from the ‘Year of the Witch’ and ‘Passage to the Other Side’ albums
(although, curiously, nothing from the Rivera-fronted 2011 Witches album, ‘Call
Upon the Wicked’), as well as a few classic metal covers and a couple of
surprises from other aspects of Rivera’s career. Entering the stage to
the James Bond theme song (Rivera later had a stage rap pontificating on the
parallels between James Bond and metal singer lifestyles), the band tore
through a one-two punch of “Dance with the Dead” and “Apocalyptic Dreams”
before the audience could catch its breath. (I missed part of that because
I was having a prolonged conversation with a slightly intoxicated Jonny Aune
from Twisted Tower Dire about the glories of Widow, whose shirt I was
wearing.) From there, it was off to the races, and Rivera had the
enthusiastic audience in the palm of his hand. The consummate frontman,
Rivera punctuated the songs with stories and humor and, above all, gratitude,
both to the crowd for supporting him and to his amazing bandmates from coming
together so quickly and skillfully. I was almost in tears from laughing
so hard when he went into the bit about how he torments blasé, disinterested
fast-food workers at the drive-through window. Equally hilarious was his
narrative about his short-lived Mariachi career. I had a tear in my eye
for different reasons when Rivera got choked up in remembering the late, great
Ronnie James Dio. In terms of song selection, the cream of the Seven
Witches crop was presented, plus a couple of Priest covers (“Diamonds and
Rust,” “Green Manalishi”), a Dio “Holy Diver” cover (actually done as a duet
with Iron Will’s Tony Canillas), the Def Leppard “Wasted” cover from ‘Passage
to the Other Side,’ and quick nods to a couple of Rivera’s past bands, in the
form of Malice’s “Hellrider” and Killing Machine’s “Fatal Chances.” No
Helstar songs were aired, which perhaps came as a surprise to some, but was not
unexpected, given that (i) Helstar is still a living, breathing entity, such
that Rivera would not want to disrespect his bandmates by appropriating their
songs for a solo gig; and (ii) the Helstar stuff is arranged for two guitars
whereas Rivera only had one six-stringer on stage tonight. Overall, James
Rivera delivered a magnificent 90+ minute performance that exceeded the
midnight curfew by 10-15 minutes (with permission from Datis – hope the
Frontier Ranch folks didn’t get angry at him for that) and capped off the
Friday festivities in fine form. Setlist (probably not
exactly correct, but I know it’s close): Dance with the Dead, Apocalyptic
Dreams, Wasted, Voice of Jacob, Can’t Find My Way, Hellrider, Diamonds and
Rust, Mental Messiah, Passage to the Other Side, Fatal Chances, Cries of the
Living, Metal Asylum, Green Manalishi (with shred-off between guest Justin Zych
and Xander Demos), Holy Diver.
So now it was just after midnight, but there was nowhere to go. Jen and I
would be sleeping in our rented Elantra tonight, and we were in no rush to get
there. So we must have hung out at Merch Central talking to all sorts of
interesting, funny, drunk people until around 3 a.m. Then we washed up as
best we could and hit the rental car for a few hours of fitful (but
surprisingly restorative) sleep.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Sleeping in at the Frontier Ranch was simply out of the question. By 8
a.m., the morning sun was blaring in through the car windows, making things
uncomfortably warm. A short time later, Jen and I stumbled out of the
car, rubbed the sleep from our eyes, and made it over to the Frontier Ranch’s
somewhat primitive (but scrubbed clean for WOM Fest) shower facilities.
Navigating the shower was a bit of a tricky proposition, because the floor was
wet, there was no bench, and there were only a couple of hooks to hang both
dirty and clean clothes in my stall. As my still sleepy self worked
through this dilemma, I was startled to hear the sound of somebody in the next
shower stall over, puking his guts out and lamenting most piteously about how
wasted he was. It sounded disgusting. Then I heard another, quiet,
disembodied voice from the shower stall to the other side of me, saying,
“Whoever that is who’s throwing up, make sure you clean it up when you’re
done.” It was Datis. So Datis and throw-up guy started having a
conversation, with throw-up guy saying he was still so drunk that he couldn’t
even keep water down and expressing apprehension that he was in a band and was
going to have to play in a few hours. So then I started in on the guy,
telling how he’d better bring his A-game and not fuck this up because this was
WOM Fest after all. I was mostly pulling the guy’s chain, but I figured
what the hell: Don’t get plastered on Friday night if your band has to
play relatively early in the day on Saturday. Common sense, right?
I won’t reveal the guy or his band, but I will say that he came out a few hours
later and kicked ass. Watching his performance, I’d never have guessed
that he’d been that wasted so soon before the gig, if I hadn’t heard it with my
own ears in the shower stall. Ah, the glories of WOM Fest …
Now more or less clean, Jen and I made our way back to Merch Central by 9 a.m.
or so to begin setting up for Saturday. We’d broken everything down on
Friday night, so we needed to set it up anew today. A big reason for that
was to change the positioning of the band’s merchandise. As mentioned, we
were working with dozens of bands’ merch in a small physical space.
Yesterday we tried to showcase the Friday bands’ wares. Today, we changed
the layout to favor the Saturday bands. Fair is fair. But it took a
lot of time. Also had a nice chat with some of the guys from Twisted
Tower Dire, who had spent the night on the campground last night and were
basically killing time this morning until they could check into their hotel in
the afternoon. Before I knew it, it was 10:45 a.m. and the Flotsam &
Jetsam guys were on the grounds to soundcheck. For whatever reason, their
soundcheck ran past the 11:00 a.m. designated start time for Mithridium’s set
by a good 10-15 minutes, but thankfully the time was made up shortly and the
event ran on time today, just as it did yesterday.
Local metallers Mithridium had been champs all weekend long. They
provided the backline and drums for the Thursday night event, and their drummer
basically acted as a tech for every single band that performed that
night. Other band members could be viewed at various times volunteering
in various capacities. For their generous contributions to the Fest,
Mithridium were “rewarded” with the most difficult time slot of any fest:
First band on the last day. And of course, their circumstances were
complicated further by the late start when Flotsam’s sound check ran a bit
long. Still, Mithridium took it in stride and kicked in a crushing set to
start the day. Definitely one of the heavier, more aggressive bands of
the weekend, Mithridium weren’t exactly thrash, but they were very dark, very
heavy and very powerful. This was great music for waking the f**k up,
blasting out the cobwebs, and gearing up for another day of metal. The
small audience at the front of the stage wasn’t exactly awake yet, and their
singer/guitarist (foot propped up on an upside-down milk crate) acknowledged
that “it’s way too early for this,” but Mithridium made the best of the hand
they were dealt and provided a fine beginning to Saturday.
If Friday was the day of the Massachusetts Invasion at WOM Fest, then Saturday
was the day of the Puerto Rico Invasion. No fewer than three Puerto Rican
acts rocked the Frontier Ranch on this day. All of them had the same bass
player, Mr. Raly Vega, sporting a white Mercyful Fate shirt. Today’s
first Puerto Rican entrant was Stormspell Records recording artist Sacred
Guardian, who play very much in the traditional heavy metal mold along the
lines of Dio, Omen and Jag Panzer. Fantastic guitarist Jose Angel Blondet
looks like he’s about 12, and Raly Vega could pass for 50, but age doesn’t
matter when it comes to real heavy metal. Sacred Guardian were pretty
static in their stage appearance, but they played well, featuring many tunes off
their good Stormspell debut album. They also livened up Merch Central with
an absolutely stunning square patch reproducing the Dimitar Nikolov cover art
from their album, and sold the patch for just $5, one of the best merch deals of
the weekend.
Despite my best intentions, I completely missed Eden’s Fall. Their
set time collided headlong with perhaps the busiest time at Merch Central all
day long. Saturday bands were checking in merch, there was a steady
stream of customers, and Jen and I were trying to squeeze a quick lunch in
there too. So I just flat missed Eden’s Fall. From what I could
hear, they sounded like they fit into that dark Midwestern metal vibe, similar
to bands like Twelfth Gate or Sacred Dawn. Maybe I’m way off there, but
that’s what it sounded like from my distracted vantage point at Merch
Central. Anyway, sorry I missed Eden’s Fall and hopefully they kicked the
asses of those who watched them.
Repeat visitors of WOM Fest will know what I mean when I talk about the “Amadis
Award.” That’s the fictional prize that belongs to the band you’ve never
heard before that comes out of nowhere to blow you away at WOM Fest. Of
course, it’s named after the Vermont act Amadis, who I’d never heard of before
they delivered a scorchingly awesome performance last year on Saturday
morning. (For the record, I’d say that Vanlade deserved the Amadis Award
at WOM Fest III.) Anyway, I didn’t know anything about Wulfhook
before today, other than that they are from Michigan and they seemed to be cool
dudes. I’ll be damned if they didn’t absolutely RULE. Stylewise,
Wulfhook played fast, heavy, but still melodic and catchy U.S. power metal with
fantastic high pitched vocals, all tailor-made for the denim and leather
crowd. It was fascinating to watch the audience grow larger and larger
while they played, as hungover headbangers at their campsites heard the strains
of Wulfhook from the stage and thought, “Blimey, that kicks ass. I’d
better go check it out.” Throughout their set, people kept tapping me on
the shoulder with big smiles and comments like, “Holy shit, this is
awesome!” The spot-on Iron Maiden “Aces High” cover near the end of the
set sealed the deal and cemented Wulfhook’s status as Amadis Award winner of
WOM Fest VI. After they performed, there was a run on Merch Central for
all things Wulfhook, and their t-shirts and demos disappeared in short
order. Well done, Wulfhook. It’s safe to say you made many, many
new fans amongst the WOM Fest faithful, and this performance will go down as
one of the truly legendary WOM Fest gigs.
By now it was mid-afternoon, and time to take a detour into the realm of melodic
power metal, courtesy of Minnesota’s Dawn of Valor. I was occupied
at Merch Central when their set started, at which time several people asked me
questions along the lines of, “Who is that playing? They sound
awesome.” I wasn’t at all familiar with Dawn of Valor’s material before
today, but I really liked what I heard. After a few songs, I was able to
extricate myself from merch duties for a few minutes to check out Dawn of Valor
in front of the stage. My impression was that the stage presence hasn’t
quite caught up with the songwriting yet, but that’s okay and, indeed, it’s a
common state of affairs for younger bands. With catchy songs as good as
these, though, Dawn of Valor is unquestionably a name to watch for fans of
traditional melodic power metal.
The next band was Puerto Rico’s Solvo Animus. They describe
themselves as a blend of classic, speed and progressive metal, with influences
ranging from Dio to Coroner to Slayer to Vanden Plas to Thin Lizzy. If
that description seems all over the map, Solvo Animus’s live sound struck me as
more focused on the classic metal genre, with occasional nods to the other
styles. Truth be told, Solvo Animus sounded quite worthy to these ears,
and their singer (decked out in Sacred Guardian t-shirt to salute his fellow
Puerto Ricans) repeatedly expressed heartfelt gratitude for the audience’s
support and the opportunity to perform at WOM Fest. The hardest working
bass player in Pataskala, Raly Vega, was back on stage for his second turn of
duty of the day, and guitarist Dennis Torres was embarking on the first of his
two gigs on the day (with Dantesco to follow). Only a small crowd watched
Solvo Animus (which is understandable, since they were an unknown act to the
vast majority of attendees), but it was heartwarming to see the other Puerto
Ricans plus Voltax right up front to cheer them on.
Truth be told, Accept/Saxon influenced classic metallers Power Theory had
no business playing at WOM Fest at all this year. Six or eight weeks
before the festival, they added a new lead guitarist. No more than a
month or so before the festival, they brought in a new singer. And maybe
two weeks before the festival, they replaced their bassist. So this left
Uncle Bob Ballinger with almost a brand-new lineup that had never played live
together before. Yet he soldiered on, honored his commitment, and played
WOM Fest anyway. The singer was having to read the lyrics, the lead
guitarist’s all-white attire clashed with his bandmates’ image, and they
couldn’t have played more than 5 or 6 songs, so they clocked in at well under
their allotted 40-minute time. But Uncle Bob promised us that they would
do the best they could for us after last year’s debacle, and I think I speak
for everyone in attendance in saying that we all appreciated the effort.
I certainly wouldn’t judge Power Theory’s new configuration based on this
performance, but they have a lot of heart and a lot of guts, and their brand of
meat’n’potatoes mid-paced old-school heavy metal is tailormade for WOM
Fest. Look forward to hearing their new album, which I understand
is being recorded under the tutelage of Accept’s Peter Baltes.
Classic doom metal was the name of the game for Michigan’s Coven 13,
another fairly late addition to this year’s billing after Vermont’s Amadis
dropped out in late May. With Coven 13 (their guitar player instructed me
to sell their t-shirts for $13 each because, after all, “we are Coven 13”), the
name of the game is old-school doom. Indeed, Coven 13 are an 80s band
that, if I understand correctly, reunited with all original members a couple of
years ago. I was aware that they had recently reissued their ‘Worship New
Gods’ album on Shadow Kingdom Records, but I hadn’t heard a note from it.
After witnessing/hearing their live performance in Pataskala, I’ll be remedying
that oversight soon. They sounded great. For anyone who worships
old Candlemass, Trouble, Black Sabbath, etc., Coven 13 are pretty much right up
your alley. There’s enough speed and melody to keep things interesting
and out of constant dirge mode. Also, while the band members are clearly
getting up there in years (hey, nothing wrong with that - aren’t we all?
As long as we stay metal in our hearts and minds, who cares how many wrinkles
and gray hairs we have?), they still play convincingly on stage and rock hard
indeed. Plus they had a sword on stage during their gig, which always
goes over well. Looks like Coven 13 may be my second excellent discovery
of the day on Saturday.
Continuing with the doom theme was Dantesco, our third Puerto Rican act
of the Saturday lineup and, yes, Raly Vega’s third bass-playing performance of
the day. The guy had to be tired, playing three different sets with three
different bands in a six-hour span, but much like Eli Firicano yesterday, he
was unflappable. Anyway, the WOM Fest gig marked Dantesco’s official U.S.
release party for their brand-new album, ‘We Don’t Fear Your God.’
Dantesco turned many heads at WOM Fest III and were originally scheduled to come
back last year, but were unable to do so because of personal/family
issues. They proved well worth the wait today, as they turned in a
compelling, dramatic performance. As always, the visual and sonic
centerpiece of Dantesco is vocalist Erico La Bestia, who was clad in white
priestly robes with black trim, accented by a large upside-down black cross
hanging from his neck and bare feet. Erico is an operatic belter from the
Messiah Marcolin school of singing, and pours bombastic emotion and feeling
into every note. Many of the songs were unfamiliar to me, as the set
appeared to be weighted toward the new album pretty heavily. Near the end
of Dantesco’s set, I got a tap on the shoulder. It was John Falzone from
Steel Assassin. He had noticed my Wargasm shirt earlier in the day, and
he and I had become engrossed in a discussion about the glories of that
overlooked Massachusetts thrash institution. Anyway, he sought me out at
the front of the stage during Dantesco’s gig to show me his vintage Wargasm
shirt, you know, the kind that read “Don’t Orgasm” on the front, with “War
Fucking Gasm” on the back. Those shirts were ubiquitous at Boston metal
gigs in the late 1980s and early 1980s. I nodded my appreciation, and
Falzone smiled and said “old school!” This is just the kind of fan/band
interaction that is commonplace at WOM Fest, and that makes it such a special
and unique event. Sorry, I digress … Back to Dantesco, they brought
out a surprise guest singer in the person of Benedictum’s Veronica Freeman, who
had been co-emcee of the event with DJ Valkyrie all weekend. Veronica and
Erico then launched into a duet of Sabbath’s classic, “Heaven and Hell.”
It was a thing of beauty, executed to perfection, and was a definite highlight
of WOM Fest VI. Well played, all the way around.
What happened next was, in my humble opinion, the best 1-2-3 sequence of bands
in the history of WOM Fest, as we were treated to a triumvirate of U.S. metal
bands par excellence. Though I was tired (and by now so hoarse from
talking and singing that I could barely croak out a whisper), this run of bands
energized and revitalized me in such a way that I shook off my weariness in
favor of a 4-hour adrenaline rush. The power of music is amazing, isn’t
it? I know WOM Fest has its share of naysayers, but I’ll be damned if I
can think of anyone else (and this is no slight on Pathfinder or ProgPower or
Ragnarokkr or anyone else) in the U.S. that can deliver world-class
performances of the quality of Steel Assassin, Twisted Tower Dire, and Flotsam
& Jetsam back-to-back-to-back to close out a heavy metal party.
Wow! It was heavy metal bliss in the Ohio woods on a Saturday night.
In many ways, Steel Assassin were my most eagerly anticipated band of the
weekend. I never got to see them back in the day. Moreover, while I
hold all 3 of their post-reunion albums close to my heart, the opportunity had
never presented itself to witness Steel Assassin play live. Until
now. I knew it was going to be a special show when the band strode out on
stage and, before playing a note, singer John Falzone said something along the
lines, “We’re Steel Assassin. We’re from Massachusetts. We play
heavy metal music, and it sounds something like this,” before the band ripped
into an incendiary version of “Breakout at St. Lo.” I gotta tell ya, Steel
Assassin’s band members may be among the oldest musicians at WOM Fest VI, but
these elder statesmen haven’t forgotten how to kick ass and take names. In
fact, they could teach a lot of these younger whippersnappers a thing or two
about energy and stage presence. With a set list that featured a lot of
their speedier, heavier songs, Steel Assassin clearly brought their A-game to
Ohio. Wraparound-shades-clad Falzone and ballcap-wearing bassist Phil
Grasso careened around the stage like pinballs, Grasso making no effort to
conceal his glee and enthusiasm. Guitarists Kevin Curran and Mike Mooney
served up the leads and harmonies brilliantly, along with those killer
fist-in-the-air riffs. And drummer Greg Michalowski was both pounding his
kit at light speed and kicking in strong backing vocals to support
Falzone. The Massachusetts bands were right near the front of the stage
with me, and at one point I found myself arm in arm with Eli Firicano singing
the chorus to “Hill of Crosses.” The hits just kept coming:
“Blitzkrieg Demons,” “Barabbas,” “Spartacus,” “Executioner.” It was simply
glorious. They played one original right near the end of their set that
vexed me because I didn’t recognize it, and I know my Steel Assassin discography
well (or at least, I think I do). I figured out later that it must have
been “CA-35,” a vinyl-only song released on High Roller Records as a single a
couple of years ago that I do not own and never heard. After “CA-35,”
things took a turn for the unexpected, as Steel Assassin played a cover of
“Metal Church” in honor of the late David Wayne. It was a killer rendition
of a killer song, but again, a surprise. When “Metal Church” ended, the
band said their goodnights and left the stage, with Curran placing two killer
Steel Assassin picks in my hand (he must have noticed me going crazy right in
front of the stage for the last 60 minutes, but it was a very kind gesture
nonetheless). But they had a few minutes left, so they returned to play
another cover. Mooney explained, “It’s different. It’s metal.
Hope you like it.” Sure enough, it was their version of Rush’s “Red Sector
A” which closes out the new album. Not what I would have chosen, but it is
a damn cool, unique sounding cover, undeniably metal and undeniably Steel
Assassinized. When “Red Sector A” ended, Michalowski chucked his sticks
into the crowd, and I caught one. Woohoo! All in all, a killer gig
from a legendary band that I’m so glad I finally got to see live.
Setlist (order may not be exact): Breakout at St. Lo, God
Save London, Blitzkrieg Demons, Barabbas, Spartacus, Wolfpack, Hill of Crosses,
Executioner, CA-35, Metal Church, Red Sector A.
I had to catch my breath quickly, because another heavyweight act was waiting in
the wings. Perhaps my biggest disappointment from the “tornado incident”
at WOM Fest V was that Twisted Tower Dire didn’t get to play. They
were on the premises, ready to go on Friday, then the storm screwed everything
up, and because of prior family commitments they had to go home on Saturday
morning. It was a huge bummer. All was made right tonight. The
Mid-Atlantic marauders were tight and sharp, playing a generous 75-minute set
that especially showcased their albums ‘Isle of Hydra,’ ‘Crest of the Martyrs’
and ‘Make It Dark’ in almost equal measure. ‘Netherworlds’ was excluded
altogether (as drummer Marc Stauffer explained to me, they have too many
negative associations with that period of the band’s existence, even though they
still like many of the songs), and only the iconic “The Witch’s Eyes” was aired
from ‘The Curse of Twisted Tower.’ Live, Twisted Tower Dire are kind of a
strange entity because they’re one of those bands where each member stays in his
designated spot, without a lot of roaming around. Sure, they headbang and
rock out mightily, but they all kind of stay put while doing so. In the
end, though, the music does the talking, and TTD’s music is nothing short of
sublime. The superb material speaks for itself, and the band’s live
renditions of tracks like “Guardian Bloodline” or “The Stone” or “Isle of Hydra”
were beyond reproach. Funny, early in their set I kept hearing a woman’s
voice from somewhere back in the crowd (I was parked right up against the stage)
yelling out “Snow Leopard” in between songs. I remember thinking to
myself, “Wow, that’s Jen’s favorite TTD song. Wonder who’s requesting
it?” Turns out, it was my rivet-headed wife. Eventually, they played
the song, presumably to shut her up, and Jen was quite the happy camper.
The audience reaction to songs like “Axes & Honor” or “The Witch’s Eyes”
rivaled any that any other band received the whole weekend, and the place went
bananas when TTD broke out their Mercyful Fate “Dangerous Meeting” cover, which
is a fantastic party trick. Only curiosity of the night was that TTD had
planned to play the epic “Beyond the Gate” closer from ‘Make It Dark’ (I know
because it was on the printed setlist, and Stauffer had talked about what a
bitch it is to play it at the end of a long gig), but they skipped it and
instead closed out the proceedings with a highly satisfactory “White Shadow”
instead. Tremendous gig from TTD, and well worth waiting a year to
experience. Setlist: Battle Cry, At Night, Daggers
Blade, Guardian Bloodline, Mystera, Snow Leopard, Isle of Hydra, Daylight Fades,
The Stone, Final Stand, Axes and Honor, Witch’s Eyes, Dangerous Meeting, White Shadow.
Euphoric from TTD’s performance, I hightailed it back to Merch Central at the
end of the set because it was the time of night when bands are checking out,
retrieving their unsold merch and collecting the proceeds, so I needed to be
there. During the bustle of activity, a younger dude came up and clinked
beer cans with me in honor of my Wargasm shirt. We started talking, and I
soon learned he was Steel Assassin bassist Phil Grasso’s son. I told him
how cool it was that he had come out to Ohio to see his dad’s band, and asked
him if he knew what a badass his dad is. Eventually, Phil came over and
the discussion turned into a total Wargasm worship service. I was torn
because Flotsam & Jetsam had already started playing, but I was enjoying my
conversation with the Grassos so much that I missed the first two songs of
Flotsam’s set before racing back over to the stage to see tonight’s headliners in action.
In its present configuration, Flotsam & Jetsam feature 3/5 of the
classic ‘Doomsday for the Deceiver’ lineup, in the form of singer Eric A.K.,
guitarist Michael Gilbert and recently-returned drummer Kelly Smith. On
bass was Michael Spencer, who had originally replaced Jason Newsted. Only
guitarist Ed Carlson was MIA, and Smith explained to me later that Carlson has
back/neck issues (stemming from many years of wielding a heavy Gibson Explorer
axe) that prevent him from touring with Flotsam these days. Still, his
replacement seemed more than up to the task. Lest there be any doubt, AK
sang superbly, his voice holding up remarkably well over the years, and he
worked the stage like a pro too. Drummer Smith was also wearing a mike,
and I noticed he was singing along with AK throughout the gig, not just
choruses, which certainly had the effect of filling out the vocal lines and
strengthening the sound of the vocals. Otherwise, Gilbert was pretty much
front and center the whole night, which is a fantastic thing in my book.
The Flots sounded great, with every instrument (and sometimes pre-recorded
keyboards and sound effects) ringing through the mix loud and clear.
Their setlist proved to be an interesting concoction, with (for example) as
many songs from ‘Cuatro’ as from ‘Doomsday’ and as many songs from ‘Drift’ as
from ‘No Place for Disgrace.’ Flotsam also made the bold decision to air
no fewer than 5 songs off their new ‘Ugly Noise’ album (which has polarized
fans somewhat because it eschews the old-fashioned thrash of ‘Doomsday’/ ‘No
Place’ for something more akin to ‘Drift,’ although the writing is so good that
I don’t mind at all). Audience members close to me were lapping it
up. Shallow Ground’s Keith Letourneau was nodding his head in approval
(and seemed thrilled when Gilbert came out for the encore wearing a Shallow
Ground t-shirt), and Skull Hammer’s Ace McArdle and I bonded over “Hard on You”
by shouting out the chorus in unison. I expected Flotsam & Jetsam to
play a professional, high-quality, headliner set. And they did.
What I didn’t expect was for them to be so effusive from the stage in their
praise of WOM Fest. But they were. Eric A.K. commented early on
that the hardest thing about playing this Fest was having to come on after so
many other excellent bands. They praised the audience, the Fest
organizers, and the overall vibe of the Fest. It was very cool to see
that F&J “got it” because, let’s be honest, they’re a prominent band that
plays much, much bigger shows than this. So for them to be so
enthusiastic and supportive was a nice bonus. Setlist: Ugly
Noise, Gitty Up, Hammerhead, Iron Tears, Swatting at Flies, Me, Never to
Reveal, Hard on You, Empty Air, Escape from Within, Smoked Out, Run and Hide,
Play Your Part, Motherfuckery. Encore: No Place for Disgrace.
When the last glorious chords of “No Place for Disgrace” rang out at a few
minutes to midnight, WOM Fest VI was officially over. Jen and I spent the
next 3 hours at Merch Central, tidying things up, cashing out bands who came to
pick up their merch, saying goodbyes to dear friends old and new, and generally
basking in the glory of another stupendous weekend. When Kelly Smith from
Flotsam came over to pick up the band’s unsold merch and collect the sales
proceeds, he and I had a long conversation about the Fest, about Flotsam (I
probably made an ass of myself by going into fanboy mode and recounting in
painstaking detail all the times I’d seen F&J in Boston, but Kelly humored
me), and so on. At one point, he asked me if Jen (who was also hovering
around Merch Central) and I were “an item.” We all had a good laugh at
that, since yeah, 15 years of marriage probably qualifies for “item”
status. Anyway, Kelly was very kind and gracious with his time. He
had to be exhausted from the gig, and his heavy maroon sweatshirt was soaked
with sweat, but he lingered and chatted anyway. Very classy.
By now, a monster after-party had broken out at the edge of the festival
grounds. Although it was so dark it was impossible to see how many people
were there, the drunken shouting and singing must have been a choir of dozens
of voices, all in the vicinity of a sizeable bonfire. Jen and I had no
interest in going over there, but it was funny to hear the roar of the party
anyway. Eventually, we slipped over to the now-unoccupied backstage area
to wash up. By now, the stage area was dark and deserted, so we walked
out there for a few minutes to survey the darkened terrain. It seemed so
peaceful to be treading on this stage that has brought us so many happy
memories from the last three WOM Fests. Will we ever see it again?
No one knows. As we were walking back through the tiny, rudimentary
backstage area on our way out, we noticed a stained Arizona Cardinals hat and
Flotsam sweatshirt sitting on a roadcase. We figured they must belong to
a bandmember, so we called Lea (who was at that moment driving Flotsam to their
hotel). Sure enough, they were Eric A.K.’s possessions. We secured
them at Merch Central, so that (hopefully) they could be returned to their
owner before the band flew home to Arizona. So A.K., if you got your
Cardinals hat back, it’s because the Ekmans took care of you and kept bandits,
marauders and giant mosquitoes from stealing it in the night.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
I finally nodded off to sleep in the Elantra at around 4 a.m. The evening
was damp and chilly, so I pulled the blanket tight around me to keep
warm. Within an hour or two, I was jolted back to consciousness by a
heavy rainstorm pelting the windshield. Until 8 a.m., I stayed in a state
of limbo, drifting somewhere between awake and asleep. When Jen started
stirring on the wet grey morning, we got out, used the restroom, washed up, and
then cranked the ignition on the mighty Hyundai to spirit us away from the
Frontier Ranch. Five minutes later, we stood in a gas station, pouring
ourselves our first cups of coffee in three days and thinking back on all the
many happy memories from WOM Fest VI. We were happy to rejoin
civilization, to be sure, but sad that our summer highlight was now over.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Datis and Lea Alaee have done
an absolutely amazing job transforming the Warriors of Metal Festival from its
humble/modest/amateurish beginnings to the top-notch, bang-up open air festival
experience that it is today. Fans and bands alike always have a terrific
time, and the friendly, relaxed, united culture of the WOM Fest is a treasured
attribute that is unlike any I’ve encountered anywhere else. Sure, there
are a few stupidly drunk people, but everyone gets along and looks after each
other. WOM Fest really is like a family (save for the one unknown asshole
that stole CDs from an unattended side pocket of somebody’s cooler during the
festival). Fans, bands, staff members, vendors … everybody gets it.
And everybody has a blast. I do not know what the future holds for the
financially beleaguered festival. Datis & Lea cannot continue digging
themselves an enormous financial hole, underwriting a hugely expensive heavy
metal party whose revenues are vastly outstripped by its expenses. What I
do know, however, is that long after our festival-going days are over, Jen and
I will be sitting in our rocking chairs at the old folks’ home, deaf blind and
toothless, and we’ll reminisce about those summer heavy metal trips to
Ohio. And we’ll smile. Here’s hoping for more summer heavy metal
memories to be made in Ohio in summers to come …
~ Review by Kit Ekman ~
Columbus and Pataskala, Ohio
June 27-29, 2013
It’s a rite of summer, or at least it’s become one over the last few
years. I pick up a rental car, pack up the wife and earplugs, and drive
820 miles north to Columbus, Ohio at the end of June to revel in the power and
glory of heavy metal at America’s premiere open-air traditional/thrash/classic
metal festival, the Warriors of Metal Fest. Of course, open air festivals
are replete with challenges and obstacles, from extreme weather conditions to
“rustic” accommodations to even (in past years) the occasional goat or other
livestock observing the festivities. But fest organizers Datis & Lea
Alaee have a dream, and they have pursued it doggedly for six years now,
cancellations and tornadoes and mud fields and all manner of financial adversity be damned.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
The first day of WOM Fest is actually a Pre-Fest Showcase, held indoors at a
cozy little bar near downtown Columbus called The Shrunken Head. This
venue is an ideal place for a festival kickoff: The size is small, the
staff is friendly, and the beer is cold. The ever-intrepid,
ever-ambitious Datis booked 8 bands for the Showcase, with a fan-friendly
admission price of just $10. Spread out over 8 acts and 6 hours of live
music (plus set-change time), that works out to $1.25 per band or $1.67 per
hour, so it’s quite a bargain actually. Today was also special because it
was Jen’s and my 15th
wedding anniversary. Can’t think of many wives who would want to spend
such a milestone anniversary (not to mention their summer vacation) in a sweaty
bar rockin’ out 800 miles from home, but Jen is no ordinary metal wife.
For her, this was no imposition, but an adventure and a fun way to
celebrate. That’s my girl. Rock on, J.
The festivities began promptly at 6:00 p.m., with the sunlight streaming in from
the windows looking out onto the sidewalk. Michigan’s Halstatt was
an unfamiliar name to me, but the quartet brought an impressive brew of melodic
thrash metal to the stage. Sure, they have typical thrash song titles like
“Chain of Command” and “Soldiers of Death,” and their guitarist wears a baseball
cap with the bill turned up a la Suicidal Tendencies back in the day, but
Halstatt have a classic metal influence too, as evidenced by the
bassist/singer’s Maiden tattoo and t-shirt, as well as the soundcheck “Rime of
the Ancient Mariner” jam. I enjoyed Halstatt’s set a great deal, and
frankly thought they were superior to many signed re-thrash acts today.
They get extra points for tackling a cover version of Megadeth’s “Holy Wars,”
and will be forgiven for the occasional miscue given the technical difficulty of the song.
Next up were Noble Beast from Minnesota. I knew this was going to
be something different altogether when the Running Wild-shirt wearing singer
soundchecked with an a capella version of the chorus of Falconer’s “Clarion
Call.” That’s not something you see every day, boys and girls. And
they proved to be something of an oddball on this bill, delivering bombastic
Euro-styled power metal all the way with plenty of witty remarks to keep the
audience laughing in between songs. One song was introduced by reference
to Venn diagrams. When Datis interrupted the proceedings to ask the
audience if anyone had seen his phone, and the phone appeared moments later,
Noble Beast did not get miffed or frustrated. Instead, they proclaimed
that the discovery of Datis’s phone was a “heavy metal miracle.” All
laughing aside, Noble Beast rocked. They excelled at their Gamma Ray /
Dragonforce-inspired brand of Euro metal, with strong guitarwork, aggressive
drums (including blastbeats on some songs), and clear vocals that occasionally
veered off into 3 Inches of Blood-type falsetto land. A band to watch for…
Band #3 of the Showcase was Oblivion Myth, hailing from Nashville,
Tennessee. My previous experiences with the band were not overwhelmingly
positive, as they’d not left much of an impression when I’d seen them at WOM
Fest III or at a Pathfinder event a few years ago. It’s not that I didn’t
like them, it’s just that they hadn’t left much of an impression. Things
went much better tonight. Other than the blond-maned guitarist, the
remainder of the Oblivion Myth lineup is completely new personnel. These
guys are good. Vocalist seemed to be going for something of a Blaze
Bayley-type vibe, and it worked. Of the songs aired, the one that
especially caught my ear was “War Child,” quite a catchy, singalong number,
even if the audience didn’t seem particularly interested in singing.
Hopefully this incarnation of Oblivion Myth can stay together because they seem
to be onto something.
The Showcase winning streak continued with Crusader from Chicago, another
band from whom I’d never heard a note of music before tonight. This
quintet falls squarely in the U.S. power metal style, albeit faster and heavier
than many of their compatriots. The dimunitive singer with the sideburns,
leather gauntlets and Samhain shirt had a voice reminiscent of Lemmy and stage
presence for miles. Pity that the guitarist with arms like tree trunks
(would love to see who would win an arm-wrestling match between him and Cage’s
Dave Garcia) had persistent technical problems with his axe constantly out of
tune. I have a feeling that Crusader made a significant number of new fans
tonight, and I look forward to checking out their new album, ‘Onward into Battle,’ posthaste.
We returned to thrash metal realms for band #5, Connecticut’s Shallow
Ground, who have just released their debut album, ‘The End of Everything,’
on Germany’s Killer Metal Records label. Led by guitarist/vocalist Keith
Letourneau (a hulking giant with a wicked sense of humor), Shallow Ground ripped
through an impressive selection of tracks from the new album, including “Whence
They Came,” “Cleansing of the Hollow,” the title track, and “Prostitution”
(whose refrain consists of the music stopping and Letourneau shouting
“Prostitution, the world’s oldest profession!”). There was more melody and
intricacy in the guitarwork than is the norm for this kind of music, which kept
things interesting and separated Shallow Ground from the dime-a-dozen thrash
acts on the scene. What’s more, the Shallow Ground guys stuck around the
festival all weekend long and were friendly and cool as hell. They
supported other bands by buying their merch, shared their fruit salad with Jen,
and could be seen up near the front of the stage rocking out to many other acts
over the weekend. Good on ya, Shallow Ground.
Pennsylvania’s Flesh Engine had been milling around the venue all night
sporting matching t-shirts proclaiming on the backprint, “Keeping It Metal
Since 2007.” I applaud the sentiment. They were cool dudes and
skilled marketers, judging by their impressive merch display both on Thursday
evening and during the weekend festivities. The crowd really seemed to
dig their mid-paced groovy thrash (think something along the lines of
‘Necroshine’ era Overkill, perhaps?). For whatever reason, they were the
first band of the evening that didn’t quite click with me. The bass-heavy
mix that drowned out the guitars did them no favors, and I didn’t find much in
the songs to latch onto. To be fair, it’s entirely possible that the
problem lies with me, not with Flesh Engine. It had been a long night of
unfamiliar metal music. There’s only so much the brain can absorb before
it becomes a blur. So I’m not going to knock Dave Orkin and his crew for
even a second. They’re obviously good at what they do and the audience
was definitely into it. But it didn’t quite work for me.
By now it was 11:30 p.m. and time for the evening’s headliner (with one more act
to follow them), perennial WOM Fest stalwarts Vindicator. The
Cleveland thrash monsters have become a staple at WOM Fest, playing in some
capacity for three years in a row. A few things were different tonight
from past Vindicator performances. Guitarist Justin Zych (talk about WOM
Fest staples, I think this guy has literally played every single WOM Fest in
some band or another, whether it be Zephaniah or Argonaut or Valhalla or what
have you) has joined the Stown brothers and bassist Ed Stephens, bringing his
flashy style of fretwork and slightly insane/cornball stage presence to the
table. Also, in lieu of the standard Vindicator set, Vic and the boys
opted to shake things up by airing some deep cuts from the Vindiscography
(“Quarry Rats,” “Deathfront Demons,” “Fatal Infection”) that aren’t typically
played. There were a few glitches and warts with these tunes, as might be
expected, but they sounded killer anyway. And the cherry on top was the
encore which consisted of James Rivera and other-planetary shred guitar whiz
Xander Demos joining Vindicator onstage for a bang-up rendition of Black
Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf.” All in all, it was a fantastic gig by perhaps my
favorite of the younger American bands playing old-school thrash metal.
All hail Vindicator! Setlist: Gears of Fate, Dog Beneath the Skin,
Quarry Rats, Bastards of Noise and Aggression, Thrash and Destroy, Gore
Orphanage, Deathfront Demons, Antique
Witcheries, Strange Aeons, Fatal Infection, Shock Trauma, Fearmonger, Fresh
Outta Hell, Vindicator, Sweet Leaf.
Occupying the unenviable post-headliner slot was Brazil’s Machinage, back
for their third consecutive WOM Fest appearance. Unfortunately, this was
the occasion for the only lengthy set changeover of the night. By now, it
was well after 1:00 a.m. We knew we needed to get some rest because we
were due at the Frontier Ranch at least a couple of hours before the 11:00 a.m.
fest start on Friday to set up Merch Central. So we gave Machinage four
songs, which included a couple of newbies and a ripping rendition of my favorite
Machinage track, “Next Victim.” Then we slipped out into the cool Ohio
night air to drive back to the hotel for a few quick hours of shut-eye before
the next stage of our adventure commenced with dawn’s light.
Friday, June 28, 2013
We were up and at ‘em early this morning. After a lovely breakfast at our
hotel on the outskirts of the Ohio State campus, we checked out of the hotel,
packed up the trusty rental Hyundai, and made the 30-mile drive east on I-70 to
scenic Pataskala, Ohio, location of the Frontier Ranch and site of WOM Fest for
the third consecutive year. Despite several days of heavy rain, the
grounds looked surprisingly good. Things weren’t nearly as muddy as I
expected (although there were some vicious waterlogged potholes on the dirt
road leading off the paved avenue into Frontier Ranch), and the area showed
obvious signs of care and attention by the property owners. Even better,
the insect- and rust-plagued bathroom and shower facilities smelled and looked
clean (at least at the beginning), thanks to proactive efforts by Datis and Lea
to take care of their guests this year by having the facilities power-washed
ahead of time. A welcome improvement, to be sure. By just after
9:00 a.m., we’d parked the car (which would double as our sleeping quarters for
the next two nights) near a stand of trees a stone’s throw from the
stage. Then it was time for the annual task of setting up Merch
Central. Having learned our lesson in previous years, we came prepared
this year, armed with twine, nearly two dozen hangars, packing tape, sharpies,
ballpoint pens, large note cards (to display prices), and a three-ring binder
with a customized form for recording each band’s incoming and outgoing
merch. It’s quite a task to keep track of more than 30 bands’
merchandise, to make sure they are properly credited for all sales, to display
everyone’s goods in a small physical space in fair and equitable manner, and so
on. The merch team of Jen, Sarah Stown (wife of Vindicator’s Vic) and I
were up for the challenge, though, as we are every year. We’ve got a
system down and have made vast improvements to the WOM Fest Merch Central setup
each year, if I do say so myself.
In terms of weather, this year’s WOM Fest was easily the best of any that we’ve
attended. Temperatures were mild and pleasant, with lows in the low 60s
and highs in the low 80s. Although heavy rain was in the forecast, there
were just a couple of brief showers during the day on Friday and none on
Saturday (although a short-lived downpour took place during the Saturday
overnight hours while we were snoozing comfortably in the Hyundai). For
late June in Ohio, you really couldn’t ask for more favorable weather
conditions than we had. Unfortunately, I think the wet weather leading up
to the Fest caused the mosquito population to multiply drastically. They
have gigantic fucking mosquitos in Ohio. Jen and I still have angry red
welts up and down our legs (and especially near our ankles) to prove it,
despite liberal use of Off! spray and (in Jen’s case) long trousers. Yep,
these blood-sucking bugs are deterred by neither bug spray nor layers of clothing. Yikes.
Attendance-wise, the official tally was 131 paid attendees, plus a couple dozen
sponsors. The hoped-for surge in the crowd never happened this
year. Maybe it was the prominent cancellations. Or maybe people are
just lazy and would rather talk about supporting this music than actually
getting their asses out there and supporting it. Maybe the festival is
cursed. For whatever reason, the much stronger-than-ever promotion
efforts and the inclusion of a bona fide, legit headliner (Flotsam &
Jetsam) did not translate into a substantial increase in ticket sales.
That’s a disappointment, and may cause the demise of this festival that so many
of us love. The Fest organizers simply cannot (and cannot reasonably be
expected to) keep absorbing significant financial losses every year to throw a
heavy metal party that is inadequately attended and funded. Sure, looking
around the area in front of the stage (especially during the headliners), one
could observe what appeared to be a couple of hundred people present. But
many of those were members of other bands, not paying customers. And
therein lies the problem.
In keeping with tradition, I’ll review each of the 24 bands that performed on
Friday and Saturday. I watched at least a couple of songs by every band
(with one exception), and could hear everything they all performed because I
was on the premises the entire time. Of necessity, however, some band
reviews will be much more comprehensive and detailed than others. I was
pretty freakin’ busy all weekend, between running Merch Central (which was
sometimes quiet but other times hellishly hectic, particularly when bands were
checking their wares in or out), talking with friends new and old, having a bite
to eat, walking over to the loo, drinking a beer, and so on. Also, there’s
the whole music fatigue factor. Listen, I love heavy metal as much as (if
not more than) anyone I know. But when you have a dozen bands running back
to back (with no more than 10-15 minute breaks between them) over a 13-hour
period, and when you’ve never heard some of those bands before, sometimes your
brain just can’t process it. Or mine can’t, at least. (I love you,
Datis, but this makes for a long damned day for even the most devout
metalhead. The Fest hours seem to grow longer each year on the front end,
subject to the same firm midnight curfew on the back end. It wouldn’t be
the worst idea in the world to cut the festival hours down from 11 a.m. -
midnight to 1 – midnight or 2 – midnight each day, either by reducing the number
of bands or shortening some of the sets.) Suffice it to say that no slight
is intended to any band. No one (and I mean no one) sucked, but some bands
either didn’t penetrate my thick skull or I was too damn preoccupied with Merch
Central responsibilities, yukkin’ it up with the Brazen Angels, fist-bumping Scott
Landon, or drinking my beer to pay attention to the music during their
set. So apologies in advance to anyone who gets short shrift. Y’all kicked ass …
Faced with the daunting task of kicking off the festival on a Friday morning
before most folks had arrived were Cleveland’s Global Warning, a
four-piece featuring two men and two women, including uber-cool guitarist Julia
Roberts. Apparently, they’re a fairly new band, as the only recorded
music they brought to sell was a 2-song demo, but their brand of female-fronted
traditional metal went over well with the audience. And the idea of
beginning and ending their set with Dio-era Sabbath covers (“Mob Rules” and
“Neon Knights,” respectively) was a sure-fire crowd pleaser. I only got to
watch them play a couple of songs because I was otherwise occupied with setting
up Merch Central (which is out of sight of the stage, albeit definitely within
hearing distance), but for my money Global Warning were a damn near ideal act to
begin WOM Fest VI on the right foot.
Part of this year’s Massachusetts invasion, Iron Will had greatly
impressed me last year by stepping in on the fly for an impromptu short set
during the Pre-Festival Showcase when there was a last-second
cancellation. Indeed, they did so well under those circumstances that
Datis brought them back to rock the main stage this year. Iron Will gets
billed as a Ravage side project and features both of the Firicano brothers (Al
on drums, Eli on guitar), but they definitely stand on their own two feet.
Vocalist Tony Canillas is literally one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet on
Planet Earth, and his devotion to old-school heavy metal is beyond
reproach. Iron Will come across sounding very much like a NWOBHM act, from
Eli’s classic riffs to Canillas’s odd but endearing and fun vocals. Their
signature tune “Nightmares” was definitely a highlight of their set, as was the
song when Canillas held a large round mirror at waist level and sang into it for
most of the tune, before brandishing the mirror high over his head at the end of
the track. I’ve never seen a band do that before. If memory serves,
Iron Will also served up a tasty Witchfinder General cover, “Friends of hell,”
that fit nicely with their original material. I know Iron Will have a
debut album almost ready to go, so here’s hoping it sees the light of day
soon. Iron Will Rise, indeed.
Valhalla, the new band of WOM Fest guitar-whiz-in-residence Justin Zych,
were the beneficiaries of the reshuffling of the musical deck in the weeks
leading up to WOM Fest VI, as cancellations on the main stage allowed them to
migrate from their planned performance at the Shrunken Head on Thursday evening
to a main stage gig on Friday. The Indiana natives bore the distinction
of being one of only two bands all weekend long with a keyboard player (the
other being Fiakra). They also were far and away the most progressive act
of the weekend, with plenty of tinkling ivories, acrobatic guitar runs, and
errr, atmospherics. From looking at the fearsome undead bearded Viking
warrior cover artwork on their EP, one would never guess that Valhalla have
such a lightweight (and, no, I don’t mean that pejoratively) sound. It
was good to hear Zych’s former Zephaniah bandmate, Logan Detwiler, on the mike,
as I always thought he had a very good voice. Lest you think everything
about Valhalla’s performance was clinical, subtle and dignified, they offered
up a ripping version of Manowar’s “Hail and Kill” that definitely got the ol’
neck snapping. I’ll also say this: Valhalla were wildly successful in the
merch sales department this weekend, selling truckloads of t-shirts with a
witty backprint slogan about a baby making shred party or something like that.
Band #4 of the day on Friday were the enigmatic Colorado act, Vacant
Throne. Visually, these lads went all out, with a triple-axe attack,
plus medieval tunics and warpaint and capes and a sword stuck in a moss-covered
smoke-emitting stone at the front of the stage. Although one would be
forgiven for thinking them a folk metal act, Vacant Throne had this midtempo
epic metal vibe going that I thought was really cool. Their lack of live
experience was visible, but that’s often true of a young band like this and
certainly didn’t impede my enjoyment of their set. As I watched Vacant
Throne, I really wished I’d spent more time acquainting myself with their debut
CD, ‘Fall of the Feathered King,’ before the festival. Also, not to poke
fun (because I’m not), but there was an inadvertently funny moment in Vacant
Throne’s set where vocalist Jason Mortensen had a big dramatic buildup before
removing the sword from the stone and hoisting it high over his head.
Then he promptly put the sword back in the stone. Sir Lancelot must be
spinning in his mythological grave. Again, not trying to be mean, but it was funny.
“You’re messing / With the blade / The Blade of the Seax.” Damned if
Seax didn’t steal the show at last year’s Pre-Festival Showcase with an
electrifying high-energy performance of speed metal laced with a punk vibe, a la
the early 1980s. Needless to say, I was ecstatic at the prospect of seeing
them again this year, only on the main stage and after banging my fist to their
‘High on Metal’ album for a year. Seax are just a killer live band, with
simple catchy songs, piles of snotty attitude, a shoeless maniac bassist in
Matt C Axe (hey bro, got any of that dill bread?), a killer frontman in Carmine
Blades (cool Virtue shirt, dude), and the hardest working guitar player in
Pataskala, Eli Firicano, back for his second set of the day. Seax treated
us to most of the tunes on their debut album, including favorites like “Livin’
Above the Law,” “Heavy Metal Seax,” “Blade of the Seax,” and of course “High on
Metal.” They also played a few tunes off their forthcoming second album,
which definitely sounded up to par on first listen. Seax are a hell of a
lot of fun, both live and on CD, and their outstanding performance qualifies as
a Friday highlight.
Man, I love me some Brazen Angel. I’ve seen them more times than I
can count in the last few years, and the Georgia natives (and fellow
Southerners) blow me away every single time. They possess that rare
combination of awesome songs, fun spirit, and unique identity to pull me in
every time with their fresh take on the genre, mixing trad metal with power
metal and even an occasional whiff of classic/Southern rock. Oh, and did
I mention that Brazen Angel have one of the best singers in the business in
Reese Martin? ‘Tis true. They’re not afraid to wear cowboy hats and
sport rebel flags, and bassist Joey Phillips had his jar of lethal homemade
moonshine right up at the front of the stage where he invited audience members
to partake of those cleansing Southern waters. One poor unsuspecting chap
who availed himself of the opportunity staggered a few steps, then face-planted
onto a wooden palette moments later. This stuff ain’t for the faint of
heart, folks. I sure was a happy camper during Brazen Angel’s performance
today. For one thing, they were definitely getting a more enthusiastic
audience response this year than last year, when the Ohioans were kind of
scratching their heads at this Dixie metal. For another (and this is no
lie), Brazen Angel played the best setlist I’ve ever seen ‘em play today.
There were no weak links. Everything was perfect. It was Kit’s
Heavy Metal Heaven. Opening with my favorite Brazen Angel cut,
“Crusaders” (including a spine-tingling a capella bit at the beginning)
was something I’d never seen Brazen Angel do before, and it was frickin’
inspired genius. Putting “Southern Water” (maybe their best live song)
back in the set (it had been tragically missing the last few times I’ve seen
them) was simply glorious. Including “Devil Went Down to Georgia” finally
clicked with the audience this time, as hardened metalheads kicked up their
heels and danced a jubilant jig. And the two new songs (“Destroying Hope”
and “Angel Demon Killer Savior”) get better and better every time I hear
them. I love this band. And I couldn’t have been prouder of them
for kicking some WOM Fest ass for the second year in a row. Their gig was
all the more impressive, given that guitarist Chris Cannon practically moved
heaven and earth to be there without missing his flight from Atlanta to Tokyo
the following morning. Brazen Angel’s new album, ‘Confederate Soldier,’
will hopefully see the light of day in fall 2013. I cannot wait.
Setlist: Crusaders, Silver Tongue Devil, Destroying Hope, Evil of
the Night, Angel Demon Killer Savior, Southern Water, Devil Went Down to
Georgia, Mob Rules, Metal to Infinity.
The third quarter of the Massachusetts invasion was up next, as Steve “Ace”
McArdle’s mighty thrashing trio Skull Hammer graduated from the Shrunken
Head last year to the Frontier Ranch in 2013. Much was different in the
Skull Hammer camp; indeed, guitarist/singer Ace was the only remaining band
member. What remained constant, however, was Skull Hammer’s dedication to
a relentless thrash assault. Songs like “I Defy” and “Pay It in Blood”
are guaran-damn-teed to get the neck muscles moving, and they absolutely did the
trick today. I was also heartened to see so many of the other
Massachusetts band members right up front cheering on their colleagues.
(This happened for each of the Mass. acts, just as it did on Saturday with the
Puerto Ricans supporting each other onstage.) Unfortunately, I didn’t get
to watch as much of Skull Hammer’s set as I would have liked. Merch
Central beckoned, and I’d done entirely too much goofing off during the last
couple of hours, so duty called. But Skull Hammer still rocked quite hard.
In a classy move, Datis invited New Jersey’s Fiakra back for another
performance in 2013. You see, Fiakra were well and truly screwed by the
storm of 2012, which resulted in them having only a three-song set on Saturday
morning. This year they got to play their full set (sans the Stonehenge
setup around the keyboards), and they did well. As was the case at
the Pathfinder Metal Fest V in Atlanta last fall, Fiakra culled its set heavily
from their ‘Invasion’ album on Pure Underground Records, with highlights like
their anthem “Give Me Metal or Give Me Death,” speed burner “Time is My Enemy,”
and set closer “Live to Ride, Ride to Live,” replete with band members drawing
their swords and scraping them up and down the necks of their guitars in a
grand finale. Blond-maned singer Kenneth Burdge mentioned from the stage
that Fiakra were completing a short tour of the Northeast/Midwest, and their
recent seasoning as a live act shone through in the strength and confidence of
their performance today.
The fourth and final installment of the Massachusetts Invasion (at least, the
Friday portion) occurred when Ravage hit the stage at 6:45 p.m.
Like Iron Will, Seax and Skull Hammer, Ravage proved its mettle at the Shrunken
Head in 2012 and was rewarded with a slot at the festival proper in 2013.
God bless him, but Eli Firicano (again, the hardest working guitar player in
Pataskala) was back for his third set of the day with his third different
band. Don’t know if he was mainlining Red Bull or what, but the guy
seemed totally unfazed. Anyway, I’ve always enjoyed Ravage’s take on the
classic U.S. power metal style, with Al Ravage’s gritty vocals and quality
songwriting. Plus, Ravage deserve bucketloads of respect because they
formed in 1995, in the midst of the dark ages for heavy metal in the USA,
keeping the flame burning brightly in what was then a dreary, forgotten and
most unfashionable metal landscape. Their set was predictably excellent,
including the likes of “Wicked Way” and “Spectral Rider” from their debut
album, plus a host of tracks (favorites being “Freedom Fighter,” neckbreaking
“The Shredder,” “Grapes of Wrath,” and “The End of Tomorrow”) off their 2009
Metal Blade release, ‘The End of Tomorrow.’ Not sure how active these
guys are anymore, as things have been awfully quiet in the Ravage camp since
the announcement/release of that “Enter the Outbreak” song last year, but
here’s hoping they manage to release another full-length album soon.
By now, the skies over Ohio were beginning to darken, the set times and the
shadows were beginning to lengthen, and the build-up toward the headliner had
begun. Despite more than 8 hours of rockin’ out to live music, talking to
cool people, drinking beer, and selling t-shirts and CDs, I felt like I was
firing on all cylinders, with none of the exhaustion that tends to creep in
towards the latter part of the day at a metal festival. I attribute the
difference to the honestly pleasant weather conditions. The breeze was
refreshing, the heat had been only sporadic, and the conditions had been
ideal. That, plus the Festival’s food vendor was outdoing himself with
delicious pita wraps and sandwiches to give sustenance to this metalhead’s
body, just as the music gives sustenance to the soul. It had already been
an amazing day, and we still had three more high-quality bands to go
I had been wary of getting my hopes up too much for Mexico’s
Voltax. I mean, Mexico’s not very close to Ohio, geographically
speaking, and airfare must be expensive for an unsigned, independent young
band. Yet they made it, a quartet of short, skinny Mexicans with a
penchant for rocking hard and kicking ass. And did they ever. On
their albums, the band is credited as a five-piece, but only one of the guitar
players was present in Ohio. It didn’t matter. In fact, that
guitarist, Diego, was worth the price of admission all by himself. In his
80s-styled blue and black striped shirt, Diego unleashed one guitar-god pose
after another, to accompany the face-melting riffs emanating from his axe.
Singer Jerry was an amiable frontman clad in a white Accept ‘Kaikozu-Ban’ shirt,
and he didn’t allow his limited English to interfere with the proceedings at
all. I have no idea what Voltax played, and I don’t really care. All
of it kicked major ass. I would assume that they pulled a bunch of songs
from their brand-new album, ‘Hiding into Flames,’ which sold out of Merch
Central within minutes after the band delivered it to us. (Thankfully, I
stashed a copy for myself before the buying frenzy wiped out our stock.)
One hilarious moment during Voltax’s set was when Diego, obviously experiencing
some technical difficulty with his guitar, approached the mike and asked in
heavily accented English, “Does anyone have a knife?” The audience burst
out in laughter, with various shouted responses about how we didn’t have any
gangs here and such. Anyway, somebody produced a knife (no weapons allowed
at WOM Fest, hmmmm), Diego repaired his guitar and the set went on. A
little while later, Diego was again experiencing technical problems, prompting
Jerry to ask Diego with a mischievous smile, “Do you need another knife?”
Again, the audience erupted in laughter. Overall, as long as kids like
Voltax are around to play old-fashioned heavy metal the right way, we will
never have to worry about the future of our beloved music. Definitely one
of the Top 5 performances of WOM Fest VI.
With the Friday cancellations (most notably Attacker and Meliah Rage) in the
weeks leading up to the Fest, Puerto Rico’s Alas Negras found themselves
elevated to the direct support slot, with a generous 75-minute allotted set
time. Sure, that’s an honor, but it’s also a daunting challenge.
Without question, the vast majority of WOM Fest attendees (excluding the other
Puerto Rican bands) were entirely unfamiliar with Alas Negras’s material, so it
really was a difficult position for them, particularly coming on the heels of a
crowd favorite like Voltax. To their credit, Alas Negras pulled it off,
with the quintet dishing out a brand of dark, bruising heavy/power metal with
some very cool songs. Sure, the 75 minutes did seem a bit long and there
were times when their set seemed to drag, but Giancarlo Martinez and the boys
did a fine job of bridging the gap between Voltax and James Rivera. By
all appearances, Alas Negras were well received too, as I heard a number of
people speaking favorably about their gig over the course of the weekend.
It’s no exaggeration to say that James Rivera saved the Friday night
lineup. Left without a headliner two weeks before the Festival, Datis and
Lea threw a “Hail Mary” to Seven Witches to come and save the day. For
whatever reason, Jack Frost demurred, but the Mexican Dio picked up the ball
and ran with it. In a matter of days, Rivera assembled a lineup that
included the ‘Year of the Witch’ rhythm section of bassist Dennis Hayes and
drummer Jeff Curenton, plus otherworldly shred guitar talent Xander Demos (who
actually had an iPad hooked to his microphone stand, something I’d never seen
before at a metal gig). With only one rehearsal, they feverishly worked
to put together what Rivera called a “classic Seven Witches show” laden with
material from the ‘Year of the Witch’ and ‘Passage to the Other Side’ albums
(although, curiously, nothing from the Rivera-fronted 2011 Witches album, ‘Call
Upon the Wicked’), as well as a few classic metal covers and a couple of
surprises from other aspects of Rivera’s career. Entering the stage to
the James Bond theme song (Rivera later had a stage rap pontificating on the
parallels between James Bond and metal singer lifestyles), the band tore
through a one-two punch of “Dance with the Dead” and “Apocalyptic Dreams”
before the audience could catch its breath. (I missed part of that because
I was having a prolonged conversation with a slightly intoxicated Jonny Aune
from Twisted Tower Dire about the glories of Widow, whose shirt I was
wearing.) From there, it was off to the races, and Rivera had the
enthusiastic audience in the palm of his hand. The consummate frontman,
Rivera punctuated the songs with stories and humor and, above all, gratitude,
both to the crowd for supporting him and to his amazing bandmates from coming
together so quickly and skillfully. I was almost in tears from laughing
so hard when he went into the bit about how he torments blasé, disinterested
fast-food workers at the drive-through window. Equally hilarious was his
narrative about his short-lived Mariachi career. I had a tear in my eye
for different reasons when Rivera got choked up in remembering the late, great
Ronnie James Dio. In terms of song selection, the cream of the Seven
Witches crop was presented, plus a couple of Priest covers (“Diamonds and
Rust,” “Green Manalishi”), a Dio “Holy Diver” cover (actually done as a duet
with Iron Will’s Tony Canillas), the Def Leppard “Wasted” cover from ‘Passage
to the Other Side,’ and quick nods to a couple of Rivera’s past bands, in the
form of Malice’s “Hellrider” and Killing Machine’s “Fatal Chances.” No
Helstar songs were aired, which perhaps came as a surprise to some, but was not
unexpected, given that (i) Helstar is still a living, breathing entity, such
that Rivera would not want to disrespect his bandmates by appropriating their
songs for a solo gig; and (ii) the Helstar stuff is arranged for two guitars
whereas Rivera only had one six-stringer on stage tonight. Overall, James
Rivera delivered a magnificent 90+ minute performance that exceeded the
midnight curfew by 10-15 minutes (with permission from Datis – hope the
Frontier Ranch folks didn’t get angry at him for that) and capped off the
Friday festivities in fine form. Setlist (probably not
exactly correct, but I know it’s close): Dance with the Dead, Apocalyptic
Dreams, Wasted, Voice of Jacob, Can’t Find My Way, Hellrider, Diamonds and
Rust, Mental Messiah, Passage to the Other Side, Fatal Chances, Cries of the
Living, Metal Asylum, Green Manalishi (with shred-off between guest Justin Zych
and Xander Demos), Holy Diver.
So now it was just after midnight, but there was nowhere to go. Jen and I
would be sleeping in our rented Elantra tonight, and we were in no rush to get
there. So we must have hung out at Merch Central talking to all sorts of
interesting, funny, drunk people until around 3 a.m. Then we washed up as
best we could and hit the rental car for a few hours of fitful (but
surprisingly restorative) sleep.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Sleeping in at the Frontier Ranch was simply out of the question. By 8
a.m., the morning sun was blaring in through the car windows, making things
uncomfortably warm. A short time later, Jen and I stumbled out of the
car, rubbed the sleep from our eyes, and made it over to the Frontier Ranch’s
somewhat primitive (but scrubbed clean for WOM Fest) shower facilities.
Navigating the shower was a bit of a tricky proposition, because the floor was
wet, there was no bench, and there were only a couple of hooks to hang both
dirty and clean clothes in my stall. As my still sleepy self worked
through this dilemma, I was startled to hear the sound of somebody in the next
shower stall over, puking his guts out and lamenting most piteously about how
wasted he was. It sounded disgusting. Then I heard another, quiet,
disembodied voice from the shower stall to the other side of me, saying,
“Whoever that is who’s throwing up, make sure you clean it up when you’re
done.” It was Datis. So Datis and throw-up guy started having a
conversation, with throw-up guy saying he was still so drunk that he couldn’t
even keep water down and expressing apprehension that he was in a band and was
going to have to play in a few hours. So then I started in on the guy,
telling how he’d better bring his A-game and not fuck this up because this was
WOM Fest after all. I was mostly pulling the guy’s chain, but I figured
what the hell: Don’t get plastered on Friday night if your band has to
play relatively early in the day on Saturday. Common sense, right?
I won’t reveal the guy or his band, but I will say that he came out a few hours
later and kicked ass. Watching his performance, I’d never have guessed
that he’d been that wasted so soon before the gig, if I hadn’t heard it with my
own ears in the shower stall. Ah, the glories of WOM Fest …
Now more or less clean, Jen and I made our way back to Merch Central by 9 a.m.
or so to begin setting up for Saturday. We’d broken everything down on
Friday night, so we needed to set it up anew today. A big reason for that
was to change the positioning of the band’s merchandise. As mentioned, we
were working with dozens of bands’ merch in a small physical space.
Yesterday we tried to showcase the Friday bands’ wares. Today, we changed
the layout to favor the Saturday bands. Fair is fair. But it took a
lot of time. Also had a nice chat with some of the guys from Twisted
Tower Dire, who had spent the night on the campground last night and were
basically killing time this morning until they could check into their hotel in
the afternoon. Before I knew it, it was 10:45 a.m. and the Flotsam &
Jetsam guys were on the grounds to soundcheck. For whatever reason, their
soundcheck ran past the 11:00 a.m. designated start time for Mithridium’s set
by a good 10-15 minutes, but thankfully the time was made up shortly and the
event ran on time today, just as it did yesterday.
Local metallers Mithridium had been champs all weekend long. They
provided the backline and drums for the Thursday night event, and their drummer
basically acted as a tech for every single band that performed that
night. Other band members could be viewed at various times volunteering
in various capacities. For their generous contributions to the Fest,
Mithridium were “rewarded” with the most difficult time slot of any fest:
First band on the last day. And of course, their circumstances were
complicated further by the late start when Flotsam’s sound check ran a bit
long. Still, Mithridium took it in stride and kicked in a crushing set to
start the day. Definitely one of the heavier, more aggressive bands of
the weekend, Mithridium weren’t exactly thrash, but they were very dark, very
heavy and very powerful. This was great music for waking the f**k up,
blasting out the cobwebs, and gearing up for another day of metal. The
small audience at the front of the stage wasn’t exactly awake yet, and their
singer/guitarist (foot propped up on an upside-down milk crate) acknowledged
that “it’s way too early for this,” but Mithridium made the best of the hand
they were dealt and provided a fine beginning to Saturday.
If Friday was the day of the Massachusetts Invasion at WOM Fest, then Saturday
was the day of the Puerto Rico Invasion. No fewer than three Puerto Rican
acts rocked the Frontier Ranch on this day. All of them had the same bass
player, Mr. Raly Vega, sporting a white Mercyful Fate shirt. Today’s
first Puerto Rican entrant was Stormspell Records recording artist Sacred
Guardian, who play very much in the traditional heavy metal mold along the
lines of Dio, Omen and Jag Panzer. Fantastic guitarist Jose Angel Blondet
looks like he’s about 12, and Raly Vega could pass for 50, but age doesn’t
matter when it comes to real heavy metal. Sacred Guardian were pretty
static in their stage appearance, but they played well, featuring many tunes off
their good Stormspell debut album. They also livened up Merch Central with
an absolutely stunning square patch reproducing the Dimitar Nikolov cover art
from their album, and sold the patch for just $5, one of the best merch deals of
the weekend.
Despite my best intentions, I completely missed Eden’s Fall. Their
set time collided headlong with perhaps the busiest time at Merch Central all
day long. Saturday bands were checking in merch, there was a steady
stream of customers, and Jen and I were trying to squeeze a quick lunch in
there too. So I just flat missed Eden’s Fall. From what I could
hear, they sounded like they fit into that dark Midwestern metal vibe, similar
to bands like Twelfth Gate or Sacred Dawn. Maybe I’m way off there, but
that’s what it sounded like from my distracted vantage point at Merch
Central. Anyway, sorry I missed Eden’s Fall and hopefully they kicked the
asses of those who watched them.
Repeat visitors of WOM Fest will know what I mean when I talk about the “Amadis
Award.” That’s the fictional prize that belongs to the band you’ve never
heard before that comes out of nowhere to blow you away at WOM Fest. Of
course, it’s named after the Vermont act Amadis, who I’d never heard of before
they delivered a scorchingly awesome performance last year on Saturday
morning. (For the record, I’d say that Vanlade deserved the Amadis Award
at WOM Fest III.) Anyway, I didn’t know anything about Wulfhook
before today, other than that they are from Michigan and they seemed to be cool
dudes. I’ll be damned if they didn’t absolutely RULE. Stylewise,
Wulfhook played fast, heavy, but still melodic and catchy U.S. power metal with
fantastic high pitched vocals, all tailor-made for the denim and leather
crowd. It was fascinating to watch the audience grow larger and larger
while they played, as hungover headbangers at their campsites heard the strains
of Wulfhook from the stage and thought, “Blimey, that kicks ass. I’d
better go check it out.” Throughout their set, people kept tapping me on
the shoulder with big smiles and comments like, “Holy shit, this is
awesome!” The spot-on Iron Maiden “Aces High” cover near the end of the
set sealed the deal and cemented Wulfhook’s status as Amadis Award winner of
WOM Fest VI. After they performed, there was a run on Merch Central for
all things Wulfhook, and their t-shirts and demos disappeared in short
order. Well done, Wulfhook. It’s safe to say you made many, many
new fans amongst the WOM Fest faithful, and this performance will go down as
one of the truly legendary WOM Fest gigs.
By now it was mid-afternoon, and time to take a detour into the realm of melodic
power metal, courtesy of Minnesota’s Dawn of Valor. I was occupied
at Merch Central when their set started, at which time several people asked me
questions along the lines of, “Who is that playing? They sound
awesome.” I wasn’t at all familiar with Dawn of Valor’s material before
today, but I really liked what I heard. After a few songs, I was able to
extricate myself from merch duties for a few minutes to check out Dawn of Valor
in front of the stage. My impression was that the stage presence hasn’t
quite caught up with the songwriting yet, but that’s okay and, indeed, it’s a
common state of affairs for younger bands. With catchy songs as good as
these, though, Dawn of Valor is unquestionably a name to watch for fans of
traditional melodic power metal.
The next band was Puerto Rico’s Solvo Animus. They describe
themselves as a blend of classic, speed and progressive metal, with influences
ranging from Dio to Coroner to Slayer to Vanden Plas to Thin Lizzy. If
that description seems all over the map, Solvo Animus’s live sound struck me as
more focused on the classic metal genre, with occasional nods to the other
styles. Truth be told, Solvo Animus sounded quite worthy to these ears,
and their singer (decked out in Sacred Guardian t-shirt to salute his fellow
Puerto Ricans) repeatedly expressed heartfelt gratitude for the audience’s
support and the opportunity to perform at WOM Fest. The hardest working
bass player in Pataskala, Raly Vega, was back on stage for his second turn of
duty of the day, and guitarist Dennis Torres was embarking on the first of his
two gigs on the day (with Dantesco to follow). Only a small crowd watched
Solvo Animus (which is understandable, since they were an unknown act to the
vast majority of attendees), but it was heartwarming to see the other Puerto
Ricans plus Voltax right up front to cheer them on.
Truth be told, Accept/Saxon influenced classic metallers Power Theory had
no business playing at WOM Fest at all this year. Six or eight weeks
before the festival, they added a new lead guitarist. No more than a
month or so before the festival, they brought in a new singer. And maybe
two weeks before the festival, they replaced their bassist. So this left
Uncle Bob Ballinger with almost a brand-new lineup that had never played live
together before. Yet he soldiered on, honored his commitment, and played
WOM Fest anyway. The singer was having to read the lyrics, the lead
guitarist’s all-white attire clashed with his bandmates’ image, and they
couldn’t have played more than 5 or 6 songs, so they clocked in at well under
their allotted 40-minute time. But Uncle Bob promised us that they would
do the best they could for us after last year’s debacle, and I think I speak
for everyone in attendance in saying that we all appreciated the effort.
I certainly wouldn’t judge Power Theory’s new configuration based on this
performance, but they have a lot of heart and a lot of guts, and their brand of
meat’n’potatoes mid-paced old-school heavy metal is tailormade for WOM
Fest. Look forward to hearing their new album, which I understand
is being recorded under the tutelage of Accept’s Peter Baltes.
Classic doom metal was the name of the game for Michigan’s Coven 13,
another fairly late addition to this year’s billing after Vermont’s Amadis
dropped out in late May. With Coven 13 (their guitar player instructed me
to sell their t-shirts for $13 each because, after all, “we are Coven 13”), the
name of the game is old-school doom. Indeed, Coven 13 are an 80s band
that, if I understand correctly, reunited with all original members a couple of
years ago. I was aware that they had recently reissued their ‘Worship New
Gods’ album on Shadow Kingdom Records, but I hadn’t heard a note from it.
After witnessing/hearing their live performance in Pataskala, I’ll be remedying
that oversight soon. They sounded great. For anyone who worships
old Candlemass, Trouble, Black Sabbath, etc., Coven 13 are pretty much right up
your alley. There’s enough speed and melody to keep things interesting
and out of constant dirge mode. Also, while the band members are clearly
getting up there in years (hey, nothing wrong with that - aren’t we all?
As long as we stay metal in our hearts and minds, who cares how many wrinkles
and gray hairs we have?), they still play convincingly on stage and rock hard
indeed. Plus they had a sword on stage during their gig, which always
goes over well. Looks like Coven 13 may be my second excellent discovery
of the day on Saturday.
Continuing with the doom theme was Dantesco, our third Puerto Rican act
of the Saturday lineup and, yes, Raly Vega’s third bass-playing performance of
the day. The guy had to be tired, playing three different sets with three
different bands in a six-hour span, but much like Eli Firicano yesterday, he
was unflappable. Anyway, the WOM Fest gig marked Dantesco’s official U.S.
release party for their brand-new album, ‘We Don’t Fear Your God.’
Dantesco turned many heads at WOM Fest III and were originally scheduled to come
back last year, but were unable to do so because of personal/family
issues. They proved well worth the wait today, as they turned in a
compelling, dramatic performance. As always, the visual and sonic
centerpiece of Dantesco is vocalist Erico La Bestia, who was clad in white
priestly robes with black trim, accented by a large upside-down black cross
hanging from his neck and bare feet. Erico is an operatic belter from the
Messiah Marcolin school of singing, and pours bombastic emotion and feeling
into every note. Many of the songs were unfamiliar to me, as the set
appeared to be weighted toward the new album pretty heavily. Near the end
of Dantesco’s set, I got a tap on the shoulder. It was John Falzone from
Steel Assassin. He had noticed my Wargasm shirt earlier in the day, and
he and I had become engrossed in a discussion about the glories of that
overlooked Massachusetts thrash institution. Anyway, he sought me out at
the front of the stage during Dantesco’s gig to show me his vintage Wargasm
shirt, you know, the kind that read “Don’t Orgasm” on the front, with “War
Fucking Gasm” on the back. Those shirts were ubiquitous at Boston metal
gigs in the late 1980s and early 1980s. I nodded my appreciation, and
Falzone smiled and said “old school!” This is just the kind of fan/band
interaction that is commonplace at WOM Fest, and that makes it such a special
and unique event. Sorry, I digress … Back to Dantesco, they brought
out a surprise guest singer in the person of Benedictum’s Veronica Freeman, who
had been co-emcee of the event with DJ Valkyrie all weekend. Veronica and
Erico then launched into a duet of Sabbath’s classic, “Heaven and Hell.”
It was a thing of beauty, executed to perfection, and was a definite highlight
of WOM Fest VI. Well played, all the way around.
What happened next was, in my humble opinion, the best 1-2-3 sequence of bands
in the history of WOM Fest, as we were treated to a triumvirate of U.S. metal
bands par excellence. Though I was tired (and by now so hoarse from
talking and singing that I could barely croak out a whisper), this run of bands
energized and revitalized me in such a way that I shook off my weariness in
favor of a 4-hour adrenaline rush. The power of music is amazing, isn’t
it? I know WOM Fest has its share of naysayers, but I’ll be damned if I
can think of anyone else (and this is no slight on Pathfinder or ProgPower or
Ragnarokkr or anyone else) in the U.S. that can deliver world-class
performances of the quality of Steel Assassin, Twisted Tower Dire, and Flotsam
& Jetsam back-to-back-to-back to close out a heavy metal party.
Wow! It was heavy metal bliss in the Ohio woods on a Saturday night.
In many ways, Steel Assassin were my most eagerly anticipated band of the
weekend. I never got to see them back in the day. Moreover, while I
hold all 3 of their post-reunion albums close to my heart, the opportunity had
never presented itself to witness Steel Assassin play live. Until
now. I knew it was going to be a special show when the band strode out on
stage and, before playing a note, singer John Falzone said something along the
lines, “We’re Steel Assassin. We’re from Massachusetts. We play
heavy metal music, and it sounds something like this,” before the band ripped
into an incendiary version of “Breakout at St. Lo.” I gotta tell ya, Steel
Assassin’s band members may be among the oldest musicians at WOM Fest VI, but
these elder statesmen haven’t forgotten how to kick ass and take names. In
fact, they could teach a lot of these younger whippersnappers a thing or two
about energy and stage presence. With a set list that featured a lot of
their speedier, heavier songs, Steel Assassin clearly brought their A-game to
Ohio. Wraparound-shades-clad Falzone and ballcap-wearing bassist Phil
Grasso careened around the stage like pinballs, Grasso making no effort to
conceal his glee and enthusiasm. Guitarists Kevin Curran and Mike Mooney
served up the leads and harmonies brilliantly, along with those killer
fist-in-the-air riffs. And drummer Greg Michalowski was both pounding his
kit at light speed and kicking in strong backing vocals to support
Falzone. The Massachusetts bands were right near the front of the stage
with me, and at one point I found myself arm in arm with Eli Firicano singing
the chorus to “Hill of Crosses.” The hits just kept coming:
“Blitzkrieg Demons,” “Barabbas,” “Spartacus,” “Executioner.” It was simply
glorious. They played one original right near the end of their set that
vexed me because I didn’t recognize it, and I know my Steel Assassin discography
well (or at least, I think I do). I figured out later that it must have
been “CA-35,” a vinyl-only song released on High Roller Records as a single a
couple of years ago that I do not own and never heard. After “CA-35,”
things took a turn for the unexpected, as Steel Assassin played a cover of
“Metal Church” in honor of the late David Wayne. It was a killer rendition
of a killer song, but again, a surprise. When “Metal Church” ended, the
band said their goodnights and left the stage, with Curran placing two killer
Steel Assassin picks in my hand (he must have noticed me going crazy right in
front of the stage for the last 60 minutes, but it was a very kind gesture
nonetheless). But they had a few minutes left, so they returned to play
another cover. Mooney explained, “It’s different. It’s metal.
Hope you like it.” Sure enough, it was their version of Rush’s “Red Sector
A” which closes out the new album. Not what I would have chosen, but it is
a damn cool, unique sounding cover, undeniably metal and undeniably Steel
Assassinized. When “Red Sector A” ended, Michalowski chucked his sticks
into the crowd, and I caught one. Woohoo! All in all, a killer gig
from a legendary band that I’m so glad I finally got to see live.
Setlist (order may not be exact): Breakout at St. Lo, God
Save London, Blitzkrieg Demons, Barabbas, Spartacus, Wolfpack, Hill of Crosses,
Executioner, CA-35, Metal Church, Red Sector A.
I had to catch my breath quickly, because another heavyweight act was waiting in
the wings. Perhaps my biggest disappointment from the “tornado incident”
at WOM Fest V was that Twisted Tower Dire didn’t get to play. They
were on the premises, ready to go on Friday, then the storm screwed everything
up, and because of prior family commitments they had to go home on Saturday
morning. It was a huge bummer. All was made right tonight. The
Mid-Atlantic marauders were tight and sharp, playing a generous 75-minute set
that especially showcased their albums ‘Isle of Hydra,’ ‘Crest of the Martyrs’
and ‘Make It Dark’ in almost equal measure. ‘Netherworlds’ was excluded
altogether (as drummer Marc Stauffer explained to me, they have too many
negative associations with that period of the band’s existence, even though they
still like many of the songs), and only the iconic “The Witch’s Eyes” was aired
from ‘The Curse of Twisted Tower.’ Live, Twisted Tower Dire are kind of a
strange entity because they’re one of those bands where each member stays in his
designated spot, without a lot of roaming around. Sure, they headbang and
rock out mightily, but they all kind of stay put while doing so. In the
end, though, the music does the talking, and TTD’s music is nothing short of
sublime. The superb material speaks for itself, and the band’s live
renditions of tracks like “Guardian Bloodline” or “The Stone” or “Isle of Hydra”
were beyond reproach. Funny, early in their set I kept hearing a woman’s
voice from somewhere back in the crowd (I was parked right up against the stage)
yelling out “Snow Leopard” in between songs. I remember thinking to
myself, “Wow, that’s Jen’s favorite TTD song. Wonder who’s requesting
it?” Turns out, it was my rivet-headed wife. Eventually, they played
the song, presumably to shut her up, and Jen was quite the happy camper.
The audience reaction to songs like “Axes & Honor” or “The Witch’s Eyes”
rivaled any that any other band received the whole weekend, and the place went
bananas when TTD broke out their Mercyful Fate “Dangerous Meeting” cover, which
is a fantastic party trick. Only curiosity of the night was that TTD had
planned to play the epic “Beyond the Gate” closer from ‘Make It Dark’ (I know
because it was on the printed setlist, and Stauffer had talked about what a
bitch it is to play it at the end of a long gig), but they skipped it and
instead closed out the proceedings with a highly satisfactory “White Shadow”
instead. Tremendous gig from TTD, and well worth waiting a year to
experience. Setlist: Battle Cry, At Night, Daggers
Blade, Guardian Bloodline, Mystera, Snow Leopard, Isle of Hydra, Daylight Fades,
The Stone, Final Stand, Axes and Honor, Witch’s Eyes, Dangerous Meeting, White Shadow.
Euphoric from TTD’s performance, I hightailed it back to Merch Central at the
end of the set because it was the time of night when bands are checking out,
retrieving their unsold merch and collecting the proceeds, so I needed to be
there. During the bustle of activity, a younger dude came up and clinked
beer cans with me in honor of my Wargasm shirt. We started talking, and I
soon learned he was Steel Assassin bassist Phil Grasso’s son. I told him
how cool it was that he had come out to Ohio to see his dad’s band, and asked
him if he knew what a badass his dad is. Eventually, Phil came over and
the discussion turned into a total Wargasm worship service. I was torn
because Flotsam & Jetsam had already started playing, but I was enjoying my
conversation with the Grassos so much that I missed the first two songs of
Flotsam’s set before racing back over to the stage to see tonight’s headliners in action.
In its present configuration, Flotsam & Jetsam feature 3/5 of the
classic ‘Doomsday for the Deceiver’ lineup, in the form of singer Eric A.K.,
guitarist Michael Gilbert and recently-returned drummer Kelly Smith. On
bass was Michael Spencer, who had originally replaced Jason Newsted. Only
guitarist Ed Carlson was MIA, and Smith explained to me later that Carlson has
back/neck issues (stemming from many years of wielding a heavy Gibson Explorer
axe) that prevent him from touring with Flotsam these days. Still, his
replacement seemed more than up to the task. Lest there be any doubt, AK
sang superbly, his voice holding up remarkably well over the years, and he
worked the stage like a pro too. Drummer Smith was also wearing a mike,
and I noticed he was singing along with AK throughout the gig, not just
choruses, which certainly had the effect of filling out the vocal lines and
strengthening the sound of the vocals. Otherwise, Gilbert was pretty much
front and center the whole night, which is a fantastic thing in my book.
The Flots sounded great, with every instrument (and sometimes pre-recorded
keyboards and sound effects) ringing through the mix loud and clear.
Their setlist proved to be an interesting concoction, with (for example) as
many songs from ‘Cuatro’ as from ‘Doomsday’ and as many songs from ‘Drift’ as
from ‘No Place for Disgrace.’ Flotsam also made the bold decision to air
no fewer than 5 songs off their new ‘Ugly Noise’ album (which has polarized
fans somewhat because it eschews the old-fashioned thrash of ‘Doomsday’/ ‘No
Place’ for something more akin to ‘Drift,’ although the writing is so good that
I don’t mind at all). Audience members close to me were lapping it
up. Shallow Ground’s Keith Letourneau was nodding his head in approval
(and seemed thrilled when Gilbert came out for the encore wearing a Shallow
Ground t-shirt), and Skull Hammer’s Ace McArdle and I bonded over “Hard on You”
by shouting out the chorus in unison. I expected Flotsam & Jetsam to
play a professional, high-quality, headliner set. And they did.
What I didn’t expect was for them to be so effusive from the stage in their
praise of WOM Fest. But they were. Eric A.K. commented early on
that the hardest thing about playing this Fest was having to come on after so
many other excellent bands. They praised the audience, the Fest
organizers, and the overall vibe of the Fest. It was very cool to see
that F&J “got it” because, let’s be honest, they’re a prominent band that
plays much, much bigger shows than this. So for them to be so
enthusiastic and supportive was a nice bonus. Setlist: Ugly
Noise, Gitty Up, Hammerhead, Iron Tears, Swatting at Flies, Me, Never to
Reveal, Hard on You, Empty Air, Escape from Within, Smoked Out, Run and Hide,
Play Your Part, Motherfuckery. Encore: No Place for Disgrace.
When the last glorious chords of “No Place for Disgrace” rang out at a few
minutes to midnight, WOM Fest VI was officially over. Jen and I spent the
next 3 hours at Merch Central, tidying things up, cashing out bands who came to
pick up their merch, saying goodbyes to dear friends old and new, and generally
basking in the glory of another stupendous weekend. When Kelly Smith from
Flotsam came over to pick up the band’s unsold merch and collect the sales
proceeds, he and I had a long conversation about the Fest, about Flotsam (I
probably made an ass of myself by going into fanboy mode and recounting in
painstaking detail all the times I’d seen F&J in Boston, but Kelly humored
me), and so on. At one point, he asked me if Jen (who was also hovering
around Merch Central) and I were “an item.” We all had a good laugh at
that, since yeah, 15 years of marriage probably qualifies for “item”
status. Anyway, Kelly was very kind and gracious with his time. He
had to be exhausted from the gig, and his heavy maroon sweatshirt was soaked
with sweat, but he lingered and chatted anyway. Very classy.
By now, a monster after-party had broken out at the edge of the festival
grounds. Although it was so dark it was impossible to see how many people
were there, the drunken shouting and singing must have been a choir of dozens
of voices, all in the vicinity of a sizeable bonfire. Jen and I had no
interest in going over there, but it was funny to hear the roar of the party
anyway. Eventually, we slipped over to the now-unoccupied backstage area
to wash up. By now, the stage area was dark and deserted, so we walked
out there for a few minutes to survey the darkened terrain. It seemed so
peaceful to be treading on this stage that has brought us so many happy
memories from the last three WOM Fests. Will we ever see it again?
No one knows. As we were walking back through the tiny, rudimentary
backstage area on our way out, we noticed a stained Arizona Cardinals hat and
Flotsam sweatshirt sitting on a roadcase. We figured they must belong to
a bandmember, so we called Lea (who was at that moment driving Flotsam to their
hotel). Sure enough, they were Eric A.K.’s possessions. We secured
them at Merch Central, so that (hopefully) they could be returned to their
owner before the band flew home to Arizona. So A.K., if you got your
Cardinals hat back, it’s because the Ekmans took care of you and kept bandits,
marauders and giant mosquitoes from stealing it in the night.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
I finally nodded off to sleep in the Elantra at around 4 a.m. The evening
was damp and chilly, so I pulled the blanket tight around me to keep
warm. Within an hour or two, I was jolted back to consciousness by a
heavy rainstorm pelting the windshield. Until 8 a.m., I stayed in a state
of limbo, drifting somewhere between awake and asleep. When Jen started
stirring on the wet grey morning, we got out, used the restroom, washed up, and
then cranked the ignition on the mighty Hyundai to spirit us away from the
Frontier Ranch. Five minutes later, we stood in a gas station, pouring
ourselves our first cups of coffee in three days and thinking back on all the
many happy memories from WOM Fest VI. We were happy to rejoin
civilization, to be sure, but sad that our summer highlight was now over.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Datis and Lea Alaee have done
an absolutely amazing job transforming the Warriors of Metal Festival from its
humble/modest/amateurish beginnings to the top-notch, bang-up open air festival
experience that it is today. Fans and bands alike always have a terrific
time, and the friendly, relaxed, united culture of the WOM Fest is a treasured
attribute that is unlike any I’ve encountered anywhere else. Sure, there
are a few stupidly drunk people, but everyone gets along and looks after each
other. WOM Fest really is like a family (save for the one unknown asshole
that stole CDs from an unattended side pocket of somebody’s cooler during the
festival). Fans, bands, staff members, vendors … everybody gets it.
And everybody has a blast. I do not know what the future holds for the
financially beleaguered festival. Datis & Lea cannot continue digging
themselves an enormous financial hole, underwriting a hugely expensive heavy
metal party whose revenues are vastly outstripped by its expenses. What I
do know, however, is that long after our festival-going days are over, Jen and
I will be sitting in our rocking chairs at the old folks’ home, deaf blind and
toothless, and we’ll reminisce about those summer heavy metal trips to
Ohio. And we’ll smile. Here’s hoping for more summer heavy metal
memories to be made in Ohio in summers to come …
~ Review by Kit Ekman ~