Ragnarokkr 2013

Dirty Rocker · Post by **Dirty Rocker** » Mon May 06, 2013 8:26 pm

Anyone filmed anything from the ashbury show???

Sammi Curr · Post by **Sammi Curr** » Mon May 06, 2013 9:32 pm

I wish, I was just standing there in awe the whole time...

Keir · Post by **Keir** » Tue May 07, 2013 12:21 am

Dirty Rocker wrote:Anyone filmed anything from the ashbury show???

Nope, sorry. I did take some crappy pictures with my phone though:

Here I tried to capture the enthusiasm of the audience and failed miserably:

They played all of Endless Skies in order, followed by "Evacuation Time" and "Cold Light Of Day".

Speedeceiver · Post by **Speedeceiver** » Tue May 07, 2013 6:11 am

What a great fest! Took tons of video that ill be uploading over the next few days. Gave most of money to Professor Black(whats your distros name again?) the first day and then some the next haha. Met tons of great people and drank way to much beer and Jim beam. Definitely going to go back next year.

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Tue May 07, 2013 8:30 am

What's with the Golem cut-out?

Heabymetawhunta · Post by **Heabymetawhunta** » Tue May 07, 2013 1:29 pm

Avenger wrote:What's with the Golem cut-out?

had to take a second look. Looks too present to be there on accident. I'd like to hear the story behind this.

Khnud · Post by **Khnud** » Tue May 07, 2013 1:37 pm

Golem or Gollum?

Keir · Post by **Keir** » Tue May 07, 2013 1:44 pm

Oh yeah, the event staff had a little fun on stage during "Vengeance". They put up that Gollum standee and though it's really hard to see, in the third pic Rob Davis is battling with a cloaked figure holding a dagger.

nightsblood · Post by **nightsblood** » Tue May 07, 2013 3:45 pm

glad folks enjoyed it. They've had a good line-up the past 2 years, but they schedule the fest right at the end of the college semester, so I can't really make the trip.

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Wed May 08, 2013 12:44 am

Khnud wrote:Golem or Gollum?

Whatever it's called. I'm not a Lord of the rings fan.

Element0s · Post by **Element0s** » Wed May 08, 2013 2:48 am

Part 1:

A rainy haze clouds the surface of great lake Michigan as eight Canadian bangers, leather-clad and kutte-bedecked, swarm a south-end Chicago hotel. Beers are slammed. Boomboxes are blasted. Breaded steaks and Mac 'n' cheese are noshed. Members of the speed metal band Gatekrashor secure halls, elevators and hotel rooms with six-shooter nerf guns, imitating the gameplay of Doom as hotel patrons and staff stare dumbfounded at the chaos rampant. Ragnarok has descended upon Chicago and after this true metal apocalypse, things will never be the same.

In Brief:

Earthen:
Missed due to food

Paradoxx
Missed due to food

Wrath
Listened while checking out the vendors, sounded really really good!

Gatekrashor
Local boys did me proud. Obviously shakin' in their trashy leather boots but they did a great job and the house was packed. Hail Canadia, hail Razor, etc

Blood Feast:
Liked 'em way more than expected. Heavy, angry shit, much like the one I took after that breaded steak from Rico's by the hotel

Dark Mirror:
What happened? Album sounded killer but the vocals were totally different at the gig. Live sound wasn't good either. Tried and tried but couldn't get into it

Eldritch
Felt bad for skipping these guys since they came from so far, but for some reason I just had no desire to see them. Smeldritch?

Vanlade
Total fun, better than I expected. Gotta be on main stage next time, methinkest. Tough to tear myself away halfway through their set

Ashbury:
Fuck everything except this band. Showed everyone how it's done. Pure magic, total class. MADMAN!

Tyrant's Reign
Total knockout! How can that guy still sing like that? I was worried that these old bastards turned into suits and filing cabinets over the years but they've still got it!

Inner Seige
Caught two songs, sounded really really good. My kind of prog/power. Strong vocals

Omen
Had waaaaaay too much fun watching them. Played all the tunes I wanted to hear. Kenny Powell is a legend. Vocalist sounded good though he looked like my dad coming home from the gym, and his banter was a little Anselmo for my tastes. Didn't stop me from LOSING MY FUCKING MIND!

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Wed May 08, 2013 3:15 am

Did anyone actually see Paradoxx and can comment on the performance? I'd think with the price of the EP there would be more hype around this one.

Element0s · Post by **Element0s** » Wed May 08, 2013 2:08 pm

Day two in brief:

Vindicator:
Heard one song while checking vendors again. Sounded tight and high energy.

Olorin
My boys! Cool tunes, but they've got a few live kinks to work out. Must have been tough trying to work the real small crowd they had. Master Yoda was having some pitch issues throughout. Nothing a little extra practice wouldn't fix! Shake off them nerves!

Seax:
Figured these dudes would bring it in a live setting and I suppose they did. Kind of boring after 3 songs though. I bailed when I realized every song was gonna sound the same. Cool vocals and good energy though

Ancient Dreams
Pretty fucking good. Vocals were spot on. The demo tunes are deffo not the best of the bunch, but the rest of the set was pretty fucking cool. “Medusa's Stare” is a winner. Hope to hear more soon. Great choice on the Angel Witch cover. Dude with the skelator guitar was slippin' and slidin' all over that intro lick, hah!

Sleepy Hollow
Heard a song. Very “middle of the road”, couldn't get into it. Good singer, though that's not saying a whole lot when you're talking about this fest...

Demon Bitch
Just what I needed to kill the bland band syndrome next door. Vocultist was utterly insane, virile tunage. Band was a little loose at times. They'll mesh as they mature. Killer Priest cover. Hail Satan!

October 31
Caught a few tunes, glad I did. Fowley is a total nuthouse and knows how to keep the metalheads a'bangin'. Pure, unadultrated badassery. Had to pack up and head to the second stage again

Borrowed Time
I believe this band is the top of the heap when it comes to new band from my generation, and they proved me right. They've grown into a powerhouse band with great performance energy, tight chops, excellent vocals and above all, MAGICK FVKKING SONGS. Keepers of the modern US-metal underground.

Gates of Slumber
Heavy. Greasy. Bearded. Awesome. Felt myself gaining weight just by listening. Glad I caught the last half of the set.

Winterhawk
Dinos knew how to tear up a stage. Could barely get close, so I enjoyed them from the bar over some onion rings. Awesome sound. Loads of tunes from “Revival". Like a gangbang between Geddy Lee, Martin Turner, Brian Downey and Scott Gorham, except catchier

Shok Paris:
Totally missed them. Would feel worse about it if Winterhawk hadn't been so enrapturing

Viking
Final Vendor run. Sounded pretty good actually. “Darkness Descends”, anyone?

Central Disorder
lol, who?

Lords of the Trident
Was too busy having my ears lovingly manhandled by the Finnish fuckers

OZ
OZ, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL; Singer sounded better than he ever has, the band was rippin', the tunes were immaculate. It was punk as fuck when the singer was like “This song's from 'Burning Leather.' Oh, yeah. It's called 'Burning Leather'”. Could have gone for a few more songs in the end, I was having so much fun. Awesome sound, too.

Keir · Post by **Keir** » Wed May 08, 2013 5:20 pm

Avenger wrote:Did anyone actually see Paradoxx and can comment on the performance? I'd think with the price of the EP there would be more hype around this one.

I got there just in time to see Paradoxx. They were only the second band, playing fairly early on Friday (I think the second stage hadn’t even started yet), so there was not much of a crowd. I think they played well but it was a really short set (5 or 6 songs). They opened with a new song called “Unbroken” which I quite enjoyed, but I didn’t really care for the other new song they played. The old songs were well done. I remember being really thrilled with “Night Ryder”. Also talked with the guys after the show and they were really cool. They said they are working on a new CD which will also be an EP and will feature some new songs and some rerecordings of old songs.

texasmetalunderground · Thu May 09, 2013 2:36 pm

Looks like an awesome fest.
Found a few vids posted here: https://www.youtube.com/user/DryGuillot ... eos?view=1