•
Rating: Initial Thoughts.
If you’re from the South, love metal and have never attended this event, you’re really missing out. It means you live in a parallel dimension, uninterested in what capable and willing people have been putting together for now seventeen years. Only someone from the South can understand what it means to travel for hours just to catch a concert where, if you know a couple of bands, you’re lucky. It’s called voracity. They say people from the South are sincere, and I, along with those who were there on August 20, 2011, are also voracious. We feed on music. And just as we continue to care for a friend even if they’re having a hard time, with that same spirit, southern metalheads (and not only) went to Chiaromonte, a charming village in Basilicata, for the Agglutination Metal Festival. This year, the organizers faced many challenges; it seems the Region didn't provide enough funding, and therefore the lineup was less appealing compared to last year's Cannibal Corpse. This led to other consequences, like moving to a smaller location - a middle school courtyard - and accepting it wouldn't be a success in terms of audience and criticism. For the audience, it was inevitably so; we were really few, but the criticisms towards the organizers for choosing a cover band (Abbath of Immortal and two of his followers paying tribute to Motorhead) instead of an Italian band were many and exaggerated...
But let's go in order. Let's start with the negative notes. Arriving in the village, there’s not a single sign indicating the middle school; found later by asking the few locals around at four in the afternoon. Prices of water and drinks, in general, were excessively raised at the stand inside the courtyard compared to those at the bakery adjacent to the school. However, once inside, you couldn’t reach it anymore. Lastly, the delay. I mean, there may have been technical problems, but one must consider people who traveled hours and hours for the event, not to mention the respect towards the bands performing!
The Music.
It begins. Stige. Death metal from Taranto. Their proposal is very classic, but played with mastery and passion, they are quite close to Six Feet Under, but more technical and brutal, which slightly brings them closer to the early '90s Cannibal Corpse. Like all other bands, their setlist was unfortunately cut short, but despite this, their quarter-hour was intense, their "This Is War" is ear-shattering. Hats off to drummer Peppone, who proves to be solid and effective. Unfortunately, the guitar audio is lacking, heavier and more morbid on record. 4/5
Switching genres, Aura takes the stage, prog metal from Sapri. Undoubtedly the most penalized by the song cuts. Their music needs to build up a bit before exploding. After the first track, memorable for the superb technique of the rhythm section, the impressive drummer-singer announces a shorter version of "A Glorious Day", much more immediate than the first track thanks to a splendid chorus that I still remember perfectly, even though I only heard it there. Greater personality and Aura will be at high levels. 3/5
We continue with another group from Apulia, the Tyrannizer Order, winners of the contest and here by right. They play black. I'll say this upfront, they prove to be the worst of the festival, but it's not entirely their fault. I, in the front row, can't distinguish or understand a single riff. The drummer is a beast in terms of speed, okay, the singer is adequate, but with those unlistenable guitars, everything is ruined. Sure, the group isn't blameless: sunglasses, a tan, and pants revealing their cheeks don’t suit a metal band, let alone a black metal one! Another questionable choice was speaking in English between tracks. Deferred, not failed; they needed the sound the Handful of Hate had last year. 2/5
While the Monarch buys records upon records at ridiculous prices, PTSD takes the stage, for me the most delightful surprise of the festival. A modern and unusual band grappling with fantastic crossover, which I would define as extreme nu metal. A breath of fresh air for the day. "We traveled one thousand two hundred kilometers to get here, everyone under the stage": I don’t hesitate at the singer’s encouragement and am immediately there. The guitar sound is slightly better, almost acceptable, even though to be fair, the chords are "wall-like" and the genre played is less extreme. The singer is energetic and very engaging, his performance outstanding in every vocal register used. The bassist is quite stylized and definitely out of context, but nevertheless good at supporting a drummer who never stops, rhythmically chameleonic. 4/5
It’s PTSD themselves who announce Node, as darkness falls. Their blend of technical thrash and death with futuristic overtones akin to Meshuggah leaves no escape. Powerful even with just one guitar due to an injury suffered by the other guitarist, they kick off with "When I Believed In God," from their latest album, sung (screamed?) aloud even by yours truly. The bassist is a madman, his funny faces amuse me immensely, even though he almost ends up face-first on the ground a couple of times... During "Das Kapital," the flamboyant singer, aware of having a moshing crowd in his hands, unleashes a nice wall of death. Node also make us sing along with a unique cover of "Rebel Yell," thus marking a memorable performance. Among the best of the days. 5/5
Something that certainly can't be said for the first foreign band of the day, the bone of contention for the agglutinated fans. The fake Snaggletooth with sunglasses hoisted behind the drum kit speaks for itself. The Bombers from Bergen, Norway, are about to take the stage to pay tribute to one of the most influential bands ever, Motorhead. Abbath tries to resemble Lemmy, both vocally and physically, but I’m not sure if that’s a good thing because he’s an exact copy or a bad thing because there’s only one Lemmy, and woe betide anyone who tries to imitate him. Bass performance by Abbath is negligible; I only hear him on "Ace Of Spades." The drummer tries to vary some parts, but not always originally. "Iron Fist," "Bomber," "Overkill," "Metropolis," "Killed by Death," and the ace of spades. Who wouldn’t want to hear them? But if they aren’t played by Motorhead, they can only be the background music for my sandwich and my umpteenth stroll among the stalls. I felt a bit sorry for those cowards who insulted Abbath in every Southern Italian dialect, which he obviously couldn’t understand. 2.5/5
The last foreign band is the German Majesty. Epic, combative, and engaging with their heavy metal, although they are conceptually blatant Manowar clones and over time repetitive (even among the few live tracks, there are two songs where "the moonlight is shining"). Solid and honest work by all musicians, especially the young lead guitarist who crafts tasteful solos. The singer borrows here and there, the "scream for me" is ridiculous if it’s not said by the titular His Majesty Bruce Dickinson, and the chorus "Hail To Majesty" is chanted exactly like "Hail, Hail, Hail And Kill" by Manowar. Moreover, he almost has no voice, making a heavy use of tiger roars like the Virgin Steele of today, only DeFeis is of a certain age, this guy seems pretty young! But he compensates for these deficiencies with a decent modus operandi on stage. The setlist isn’t perfect, favoring a bland ballad from the latest album over the epic "March For Victory." The other big absentees are "Defenders Of The Faith" and "Heavy Metal Desire" in place of "Fields Of War" and the final reprise of "Metal To The Metalheads," very (too?) similar to the preceding track, the slow-paced "Keep It True." They play with passion, and I lost my voice with them. Although when I glimpsed Abbath among the audience, I left for a few minutes their brash epic nature and rushed to get the autograph on the booklet of "Battles In The North." 3.5/5
We are almost at the end, and we know we’re about to savor a piece of Italian metal history. Bulldozer, in name and fact. The speed thrash played with the brazenness of Venom and a pinch of Motorhead clears everything out; I’m left stunned, moshing out of control with historic tracks like "The Derby" dedicated to Milan, "Ilona The Very Best," and "Neurodeliri," as well as "Minkions" (do you understand to whom it was dedicated?), sung with vigor by the audience - among which the great singer of Stige has meanwhile mingled. AC Wild is theatrical as few, the vampire - more than Dani Filth!!! - sucks all the blood out of us, perfectly proclaiming Bulldozer's lyrics and showing to be very affable with the audience and in introducing various tracks, among which the recent "Use Your Brain" and "Micro VIP" make a splash. An incredible and high-paced drummer, the hooded keyboard player frankly unnecessary. The violent riffs of the Bulldozer fully justify their position in the festival and in metal in general. Very high. 5/5
Summing up...
A festival for a few, a transitional one, towards an eighteenth edition that hopefully will be the one of rebirth.
Loading comments slowly
