FULL Photo-album HERE (by Fani Nadki)
Finally, after this crazy years we were able to go back to our heaven: The airfield near Schlotheim. The Party San Open Air was celebrated there for the tenth time. Almost 60 bands and over 9,000 fans came to the party.
The Party San Metal Open Air has experienced a brilliant comeback after a three-year Corona break. When what was perhaps the country's most popular scene meeting had to be canceled for the first time two years ago, only a few people returned their tickets.
Always the best of the old school and underground classic thrash, death, black…Highlights: Carcass from England are there, Dismember from Sweden, Cannibal Corpse from the USA, Exhorder, Uada, Blood Incantation… And sooo many more amazing bands.
Gaerea leaves a satisfying impression and as the first black metal act of this year's festival edition, it's a really amazing performance.
High Spirits; the Americans are pretty exotic on the bill with their dotted melodic mix of Nwobhm and Scorpions. Really correct and nice performance
The Osnabrück black metal cult band Secrets Of The Moon is playing their last festival show ever today. The slot isn't exactly grateful for this: In the 45 minutes, only four songs can be played due to the general over-length of the material, while many visitors crowd into the few shady spots and have less desire to indulge in the music. I hope that the band will still remember this as a nice ending.
The audience bathes in the evening sun and the main stage is shrouded in fog. That has atmosphere and at least aesthetic meeting The Path of One Freedom before even the first note has been played, hit the mark. They deliver an enthralling atmosphere with their Atmospheric/Post-Black Metal.
The absolute highlight of the day is Alcest for so many people. The French play a balanced set at a meanwhile comfortable temperature, which presents both the dark songs and more indie-heavy material. . Even those who have seen the band live a few times are surprised at how good Alcest is on this evening and speaks of a clear highlight! And if you don't know them yet, you'll love them straight away.
Then come Mayhem. So objectively it was a good show and the crowd cheered. Visual circus, pyros, three different stage outfits, song material from different creative phases. For finishing the day Corpse Grinder comes on stage - in a t-shirt that says "Respect the Neck". The guys from Florida really pull something off, I'm pleasantly surprised, as long as I have eyes and ears for the music in addition to the considerable neck sport. They bring the classic "Hammer Smashed Face" to the end. And Esmeralda is known with their two shots at the end of the first evening.
Kadeverficker let the Grindsau out. Everyone who was able to get up so early had to obviously having fun at the exaggerated happy party to wild, rattling grindcore riffs and dildos on the bunch of keys. Confetti cannons and plastic animals in the pit are a must, while the Goreminister fires the grunting vocals out of the speakers. Drinks are still high from a masked man who throws them into the crowd.
LIK have initial sound problems, but from song three onwards they can make room for the poignant Death Metal riffs. The weather is and will not be metal. It doesn't matter how open air it is, everyone knows it, there's always something to complain about. Still too warm, but much more tolerable than the day before thanks to the light breeze, the artists stand in the relentless Thuringian summer sun at lunchtime. LIK quickly shake off the sweat. In a pinch, beer helps to cool down from the inside.
Malevolent Creation go all out to deliver their brutal Florida Death Metal. Compact, they try to use the stage as best as possible without getting lost on it, as there are only three of them today. Caught on the microphones, the range of motion remains restricted. Not the most agile show by the Americans, who have repeatedly struggled with band-related issues over the past few months.
The well-known thrashers Onslaught from Bristol in England also know troubled days. Two years ago she released her long-running album Generation Antichrist with Garnett on vocals. Well attended, the great popularity that a man should have expected is missing. Performing impeccably live, the thrashy tunes thunder through the windy early afternoon.
Misery Index brings unrest to the pitch. The rock-hard riffs crash through the close-meshed walls of sound. You can hardly stand still, unless the still full beer rocks dangerously close to the edge of the cup and threatens to fall to the ground. In quick succession, the American Death Metal advocates drag the pack by the hair until the final breaking of the neck by Traitors.
The Swiss cult group Messiah was founded in 1984 and revived in 2019 after 24 years of silence. With the mix of death metal, pounding thrash metal and progressive and doom-laden groove metal, they won't be retiring from metal any time soon. A cult remains a cult, but if it is still active, it must also be cultivated.
Uada from the USA go into battle with their Black Metal later in the evening. Jake Superchi cheekily spits out vicious salvos into the crowd. The veiled faces disappear under the hoods and masks. Above all, Uada hit the house, do justice to the high status without any problems and form the first big highlight of the still early evening.
What would Party San be without Asphyx. It is not without reason that Martin Van Drunen speaks of the second living room. Expressing the Corona displeasure, Asphyx roll down Schlotheim in headlining style.
Katatonia are likely to cause the biggest debates. This is not due to the progressive and melodic vein of their Metal with various Doom Rock peaks, but to the choice of songs and their performance. Opinions differ widely between grandiose and completely lame. Admittedly, I belong to the camp that celebrates the selected numbers of this year's festival tour. The sound is great and definitely not too quiet between the stage and the tower. And now for the end of the day: brightly lit, Carcass climb in front of the backdrop to reduce Schlotheim to rubble and ashes. After the quieter predecessors, the banging pushes out of the system immensely. Carcass are in the mood for absolute Armageddon. Again and again they ask for interactions and do justice to the headlining burden. Strong solos on the guitars lift the mood. The mild summer night is ideal for resting. Bang bang, that was Friday.
Saturday it starts with Slaughterday. Also on board is Tom "Horrified" Hoffmann, who some might know from the Westerstede death metal band Graveyard Ghoul. The first gig with the band from Leer runs smoothly and conjures up wonderfully crashing death riffs in Schlotheim. Fortunately, the flow of viewers is growing. As with the successors Purgatory, the popularity could be greater, but both acts did everything right for the early hour.
The first surprise comes with Panzerfaust. The Black Metallers from Canada come to Germany with a strong performance. Although small clouds gather, they make a detour around the runway due to the noise of the North Americans. The mud on the musicians' faces dries quickly and crumbles away. Singer Goliath presents a mask with three faces. Panzerfaust hit hard, leaving Nunslaughter with a pumped-up crowd wanting to keep gasping.
Founded in 1987, the American death metal machine Nunslaughter is drawn to the Party San stage. Death and ruin are at the top of the list. Singer Don Of The Dead walks across the stage in his robe and growls from the first hour of Death and Thrash Metal fly out of his mouth. The sound goes in the same direction. Towards the end the ranks thin out a bit; nevertheless a successful gig.
Saor around mastermind Andy Marshall thrives on the attention to detail. The Scottish multi-instrumentalist will be at Party.San with his live line-up for 45 minutes to show his thoughts on Post Black Metal. In addition to the post elements, there are excursions into dark folk metal realms. Sensational! The calm foundations are only too happy to shake and especially when Andy intervenes vocally. With excellent support, Andy Marshall can carry his emotions into the afternoon. If you have the opportunity to see Saor live, don’t miss it!
It remains emotional - Fleshcrawl come with a lot of anger in their stomachs. Their singer Sven Gross died unexpectedly last summer and must not be forgotten. The two banners with the words "Gone But Never Forgotten" don't let Sven go missing on stage. Dealing with the loss pushes the Deather, which was actually founded light years ago in Bavaria, audibly. Even if nobody wants to hear it, time flies – only a few acts are still on the program.
this is followed by Manegarm from Sweden. As a contrast to the Death and Black Metal, the pagans are once again allowed to pull out their horns to pay homage to Odin and the other gods. Erik Grawsiö gets to the heart of the distinctive vocal colors in the 45 minutes. The sound isn't quite as brilliant due to the wind, but it's still on a level for an open air event that other events can't beat. According to the motto "Odin belongs to all of you" they hand over to the next act: Blood Incantation. The men from Denver, Colorado are going all out. The first crowd surfers fly towards the photo pit as soon as the first tracks are played. Well frequented, the Americans live from a crowbar sound that opens every door for them without a hint of a problem. The technically inclined Death Metal blasts deep craters in the rock faces like dynamite. you have to like it, really special band, amazing.
The Finnish Impaled Nazarene come off the quark rather heavily. The musicians lumber across the stage. That seems more than successful, I always love to see the band live, they always break it!
For this Dark Funeral go forward and outweigh everything. Singer Andreas "Helharmadr" Vingbäck is absolutely convincing live. The set thunders mightily over the runway, so good black metal has to be there - with fog, fire and boom. Dark Funeral flags later wave in the flickering light of the warm summer night. That was a very intense 60 minutes.
Penultimate act of the day: Benediction. It should be well known that a captivating singer can lift a whole band, what's going on with Benediction today is simply entertaining and the quartet is in the best of moods. From zero to one hundred and back again, Benediction single-handedly turn the Party.San inside out.
Last but not least: Dismember. Matti Kärki with blue cast on his arm, brings the growls down to the bare bones like sharp razor blades. A blessing for many to be able to experience the Swedes live. The very large Interesse at the end of Party.San 2022 should therefore hardly come as a surprise. After enjoy this amazing show at OEF last month, we were so lucky to see this machines breaking it again at PSOA. Even after an expected hiatus, don't think you can fool Dismember. The Scandinavians release the party's last reserves of strength. Sanen, who, after two years, are making 2022 an extremely successful event thanks to their general satisfaction and desire for hard sounds.
That was it for this year, a fucking amazing days with great old and new friends, incredible shows, beer and perfect party!
And of course we closed every night the party tent and cry like kids when “thank you for the music” from ABBA was sounding, because we know that means the end of one of our favorite paces in the world.
Thanks a lot for another year full of happiness.
See you all in 2023!!!!
Hell is calling <3
