Loudpark 2016 Report – Day 2

The morning of the second Loudpark day saw heavy rain and again: thank goodness that the festival is indoors! I went there before opening, due to wanting to line up for signing session tickets and the guides and guards made us wait in front of the hall. They are changing the layout of things a slight bit every year in the attempt to improve I suppose, and while it was easier this year to get from the main hall to the side stage, they let people only in through gate A in contrast to opening gate B for the two-day ticket holders the year before. To open both gates is definitely the better choice, I don’t know why they didn’t do that this time.

Anyway, once inside I lined up for getting a ticket for the signing session of amorphis. Got one after an hour, which was nicely spent with chatting to other people waiting in line. Due to that, I missed most of the Savage Messiah show, a power metal/melodic thrash formation from the UK. The bit that I heard sounded nice. Next up were two Japanese bands “Kuni”, some musicians supporting a Japanese guitar legend and on the side stage, which that day was devoted to “extreme” metal, a band called Nocturnal Bloodlust, also Japanese only. I sampled them both, but they weren’t knocking my socks off. Neither did the Dead Daisies, a “super” band formed from members of bands like INXS, Guns N’ Roses and others. More hard rock than metal to my ears.

But then a first highlight. I pretty much liked Lacuna Coil from Italy. They go with a two vocal strategy, a lady singing clean vocals and a guy with rough vocals. Unlike most metal bands they dress in white and kinda look like staff from the asylum ward of a horror movie. The lady on vocals was excellent and I liked the whole atmosphere and sound of the band. I shall sample some of their albums.



I had seen “Riot” before, didn’t care much for them and took a lunch break, then watched the beginning of “With the Dead”, a doom metal band with members of other former doom metal bands, but oddly their sound was “too slow” for my taste! So I went to sample “Sixx A.M.”, the second band of Motley Crue’s bassist, but guess what, my general fatigue took over again and I dozed off sitting in the ranks… lol.

I woke up in time for the amorphis signing session though and got that done, then rushed to the extreme stage hall where Enslaved was playing which I wanted to see and to get a good spot for amorphis.



Enslaved turned out to be the second discovery of the day. Enslaved is a Norwegian black/progressive metal band and very much of the kind that I like. They also have a two vocalist strategy, with one guy on the guitar doing rough vocals and the keyboardist doing clear vocals. Yes, I have a weakness for that combination