So today I made it out to another day of France's wonderful Warm Up Festival. Initially I had some problems getting there, with Unscarred's Nelly we found out the hard way the train had a split route. Yet once we got their things heated up quickly. Suffice to say, the bands I got to see where all impressive and showcased some of their best performances. Toss in the fact that my cassette sales went super well and I score a first edition copy of Saxon's Denim and Leather (Yes, there are all sorts of great stands at this festival, yet another reason to go!) and things were definitely going well.
The first band I got to see was Barrakuda, a group who deliver a unique and violent brand of rock and roll anarchy. Their music is powerful and passionate, a sort of mixture of Motorhead and French metal heroes ADX. One important thing to note about their music is that their lyrics tend to be much more mature than most of their partners on the scene. The end result of this was a show that was fun to watch but also provoked the mind. This is the sort of band I'd love to go see again and again, they have a great live energy and know how to destroy a stage. Their set, while short, was a lot of fun, and I could definitely see these guys going places in the future.
After that came my longtime favorites Unscarred who delivered with an impressive dedication to violence. Their songs were powerful and well delivered. The blazing speed of the riffs opened up some crazy circle pits and brutal moshes. The wall of death, while small was vicious, and definitely a lot of fun to participate in. Sure they didn't have as big an audience as they did at the Mennecy Metal Festival, but they connected with everyone and executed most professionally indeed. As a whole, Unscarred is a band who I go to see again and again because every time I see them they are a highlight of my day and this performance was no exception. Even though they had a substitute guitarist it was impressive, as always, to see them play.
Then I took a bit of break to sell some cassettes before going back to the stage to catch Slave Machine's dynamic and powerful set. Their music is definitely a unique mix of metalcore, industrial, modern metal and death metal. It's the kind of thing that is hard to put into a real genre box, but is still enjoyable nonetheless. This band was very tight live and I really dug the way they connected with the audience. While the clean vocals could have been improved a bit I think it was more of a mixing issue than anything else. In short, Slave Machine have a pretty interesting take on metal madness and seeing how they develop should be exciting and fun.
After another dinner break I got on to the last two bands I could see tonight. First was Heart Attack, now here is a cool thrash metal band who bring something powerful to the genre. With a groovy attack that sounds like a mix between Lamb of God and Metallica there is something strangely addictive about their music. I got their album too, so expect a review soon. In short, their set had about five walls of death, and they had never played in the Paris region before. So that pretty much tells you how much the people enjoyed their music. I think that they will be seeing a lot more action around my home city in the near future if they can continue to get such a great crowd reaction.
And now we are on to the last band of the night. Northland. Now these guys were especially cool for me to see because they are one of the bands who really got me into extreme metal as a whole. Speaking to them beforehand was a really cool experience for me. Their set was even better. With tons of jig pits and lots of line dancing Northland are the kind of band who understand the heavy rocking magic of metal and refuse to let it die. Their pagan derived melodies were fun to dance too and these guys definitely know how to bring the party and the bring it hard. Explosive and dynamic the sheer magic of this bands set will hold a special place in my heart for a long time to come.
In conclusion, my second day at Warm Up was a great one indeed. All five bands I watched were exciting and powerful and I could see big things happening for all of them. The main highlights of the day were Unscarred and Northland, both bands I was already very much looking forward to seeing. The other bands though very much impressed me, especially Barrakuda whose crazed energy came out of nowhere, it's hard to play in front of a dozen people yet they did it with pride. To finish, this was another crazy day at one of the best festivals I've ever been too, if you can, come tomorrow!
Find the bands on Facebook!
Barrakuda: https://www.facebook.com/barrakudagroupe
Slave Machine: https://www.facebook.com/slavemachine.band
Heart Attack: https://www.facebook.com/heartattackmetal
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