It’s time to turn the heat up with Amon Amarth – report of the third day of the festival 16.08

Three, as you might know, is a great number. It’s even greater for me because I was born in the third month of the year, and the digits of my day divided by themselves also account for 3. This is probably one of the reasons why great stuff happens in or around three, and since this is the third day of the festival, we were in for a fantastic treat.

Amon Amarth

It is quite unusual that my reports begin with the headliner band, but this day it’s like this. A couple of minutes later than scheduled, the German ensemble is ready to take over the main stage, Summer Breeze and everyone else in between. I’m not saying this lightly, I’m saying it literally! The fire originating from the stage during “Guardians of Asgaard” was so sudden and hot, it seemed like we were in a sauna. I was just scared by it, which is sort of okay because frankly, almost everything scares me, but the poor photographers in the pit were almost turned into barbecue meat. Luckily they were not, but this is definitely a memory that won’t be easily forgotten. I have never seen such a huge crowd with Architects and Meshuggah, they are so far the band that gathered the most people under the stage. You had to walk quite far to reach freedom and breathe some fresh air! People were crowd surfing already from the first songs, and then they happily walked out of the pit area, some of them ready to do it all over again. Amon Amarth is without a doubt one of the strongest and hottest (verbatim) acts at the moment. Be sure to catch them in a city near you!

Photo: Silvio Colombo.

Cradle of Filth

While Amon Amarth were still playing, we moved to the T-Stage to see someone who I have been wanting to witness live for a long, long time. I’m talking about Cradle Of Filth, one of the UK’s talented bands in the gothic and extreme metal world. You might rightfully remember (or you might not) that they were also playing in Wacken Open Air about 10 days ago. I was there, but they were playing at the same time with another headliner, so I had to unfortunately miss their performance. I am so glad that I got the opportunity to instead catch them here because their live shows are layered, structured and very atmospheric. The band is capable of delivering some intense songs without a mistake, kudos to Mr. Filth for bringing with him these talented people! Their set was short but enjoyable and varied, which is not something that all artists do. Another great act to add to our rich festival programme!

Photo: Silvio Colombo.

Lordi

I know I always say this when we’re about to see a Finnish band play live, but well, you might know the drill. Lordi graced the main stage a couple of minutes later than scheduled, but if I knew how awesome their set was going to be, I wouldn’t have minded waiting even more. Dressed in their extravagant and unique outfits, this Finnish group is a first-class act; so many people knew the lyrics to their songs, further proving their consolidated place in the metal scene. We also got treated with a couple of tracks off of their latest release “Screem Writers Guild”, without forgetting classics like “Hard Rock Hallelujah” or “Blood Red Sandman“. I said it before and I’ll say it again, the third day has given us spectacular shows that will go down in history!

Photo: Silvio Colombo.