Our day of recovery. The almost empty bottle of French Chartreuse I discover on the table that morning made the promise of a late arrival to the festival; faithful to that one, we reach the Kick Kafé late enough to only hear the final riffs Trendkill gratify the audience with that evening. For the poor souls who haven't had the chance of seeing them, Trendkill is Norway's hottest Pantera cover-band, and that always delivers madness onstage. Highly recommended for you who mean masters like Dimebag and his mates should be hailed. They use to perform in Kr.sand every year around the 8th of December to commemorate Dimebag and will be playing at På Hjørnet this year also.
Benea Reach is next on the list. They' ve been touring a lot, thus making a name, the last couple of years. The band play a kind of nu metal not quite compatible with my tastes; so be it, but their allright show gets one-tracked and leaves me with a shrug of indifference.
Rating: 55/100
The evening's headliners are Mnemic, not an unknown name either. The Danes hold a solid show with lots of metal attitude and enthusiasm. The music is sometimes quite original and cool, and they manage to wake up the traditionally half-hearted audience with their good contact abilities.
Rating: 80/100
Venue: Klubb Belsebubb
At 11 o'clock the choice has to be made between joining most of the crowd at the second venue På Hjørnet, or visit the Belsebubb Klubb. We head for the club: DJ Grutle (Enslaved) is doing another thing he does best tonight, that is playing some of his favourites, which happen to be mine too when they are not a good introduction to some old black-thrash I realise I should listen to more often. Old pearls from Metallica, traditional Norwegian black-metal, old thrash, some other crazy stuff are on the menu tonight.
There is a very laid-back atmosphere in the little black-walled underground club and sitting there with a beer in the hand discussing music couldn't make the moment more complete.
Rating: 95/100 (the music is too loud)
After a while, we get to know Pain Solution, the act of a cosy artist who sticks needles through his skin to clown music. The absurdity of this setting is extremely compelling.
Rating: 90/100
Venue: På Hjørnet
Now it's time to check the small scene at our local metal pub right the corner (and of the same name). Atrox, the evening's last band is playing and I think that this is the opportunity to check them out, as I've heard of them several times. The place is not crowded as crowded should be and I promptly understand why: the sound is way too loud, and we can't manage to stand there, even with our strongest ear guards, and thus leave at the middle of the show.
No Rating for this reason.
To the sound guy: Skjerpings, lydmann, om du leser dette!
Saturday
This day the menu is filled with the real gourmet chumps. We warm up with delightful dark brew, the bands of the day and 80's videos (non metal). Civilisedly loaded, we head for Kick Kafé, the venue with more restrictions on the sound level, always a kick-ass sound as far as I've experienced, and the place of choice for bigger indoors shows in Kristiansand.
Venue: Kick Kafé
She Said Destroy, second band of the evening, is the one we have high expectations towards. The East-Norwegian band plays a mix of technical black and death-metal, spiced with some thrashed parts, on a progressive ground. Unfortunately, they don't impress that much live. They are very absorbed by their own performance, to the limit of autism, except for the vocalist who strives to connect to the audience.
Rating: 65/100
At the completely opposite, also playing a form of progressive extreme metal, Enslaved is next to hit the stage and they embark us on a wild adventure. Today they give us a modern sounding show, based on the three last releases; the sound is fantastic, they play with their own songs, experimenting on the fly, and give us a very memorable experience. They are the only band at the festival to be able to come back onstage for an encore, and WHAT AN ENCORE we get!
Their choice has fallen, again and not surprisingly, on "Slaget i skogen bortenfor"; the most haunting of all the ones I've ever heard them perform. The entire venue is Enslaved, and most necks are consequently stiff and sore for several days.
Rating: 99/100
After the big act we've just witnessed, we've got an hour to kill before the concerts at the next venue. The best thing at SD this year is actually the rhythm, the pauses that allow you to experience the atmosphere in the town, and rest your thoughts. This is at least the benefits I get from strolling through the awakening city.
Venue: På Hjørnet
Eon is a good start at the little club; they play an original death-thrash, enhanced by a big charismatic vocalist who I would situate between Tömmermenn's Geir and good thrash vocals. A visual band they are also, half Ninja-Turtles, half-executioners; I still haven't got it, but at least they don't go unnoticed.
Rating: 75/100
Ørkenkjøtt are the ones I really wanted to check. I'd come over them on their Myspace, been intrigued by their strange name (desertlands meat), and found the music appealing. The band's very young members have probably not been onstage that many times but their musicality impresses; they can still become tight later anyway.
Rating: 80/100
The headliners at the club, Krakow, are recommended by Enslaved themselves. My musical taste is instantly compelled: I love thrashlike metal from Bergen (The Batallion, I, Immortal anno 2003, and now Krakow).
Here again the sound is so loud that the pressure coming out of the amps could easily have made one come...
Really I wonder how deaf the sound people were that week-end.
Rating: 85/100
Overall a very enjoyable music festival and a wonderfully laid-back metal gathering, what came for the mood and meeting with my Kr.sand metal crowd. May even be the event of the season!
Links:
http://www.southerndiscomfort.no/ <- for more, bigger and better pictures
http://www.pahjornet.no/ <- Kristiansand's metal pub
http://www.kickcafe.no/ <- Kick Café is famous for its good acoustic and live sound engineering
Attending: Laurence
Takk til Rasmus for uunnværlig selskap.
