The beat goes on
Nova Rock: harder than it has been for a long time
Thy Art Is Murder, Wargasm, Machine Head and Parkway Drive - on the second day of Nova Rock, the brute bands were all over the place. Things were more relaxed on the Red Stage. AUT Of ORDA, the Fäaschtbänkler and Folkshilfe, among others, competed for the audience's favor.
Unicorn costumes, living hot dogs, crowned queens or glued-on giant buttocks - the art of disguise knew no bounds at the 18th edition of Nova Rock. The Pannonia Fields in Nickelsdorf, Burgenland, also known as the Eldorado of escapism, are always available as a location for shallow fun. Just as the line-ups are repeated year after year, the costumes and masks have little incentive to change or move with the times. But this is also a striking part of the magic of this festival.
For visitors of different generations, it serves as a constant anchor point to beam themselves back to their youth or to carelessly disconnect from harsh reality. Some illuminate themselves to the point of vomiting, others cultivate a personal form of cosplay or unpack their falling-apart metal frocks to pay homage more to transient adolescence than to the horned ones themselves.
Merciless wake-up program
The weather improves considerably on the second day of Nova. Most of the time the temperatures are pleasant, a light breeze blows over the steppe and in the late afternoon the sun shines in all its glory - a first foretaste of Saturday, which is supposed to be really summery. However, the weather conditions are not the reason why Wargasm frontwoman Milkie Way opens the set on the Blue Stage in scanty clothing. Together with partner Sam Matlock, son of Sex Pistols legend Glen Matlock, the Londoners immediately deliver a performance with a mixture of The Prodigy, Slipknot and electro-punk quotes that serves as a benchmark for everything that follows. The enlarged stage area is used as well as a bath in the crowd of fans - and those who still have the long night in the audience written all over their faces are rudely shaken awake.
In general, the level of heaviness at this year's festival has been ramped up considerably. The Blue Stage in particular has rarely been as brutal as this year. After the medieval mummery of Feuerschwanz, the French collective Igorrr provided an original mixture of harsh death metal, electronics, alternative rock and vocal opera interludes by soprano Marthe Alexandre. While she sweeps across the stage in a red dress, singer JB Le Bail opts for loose hair and red and black face and body paint. His growls fire aggressively and uncompromisingly across the stage, while mastermind, band founder and songwriter Gautier Serre inconspicuously but ingeniously forms the sound foundation in the background. The future of metal could sound something like this - there are still new approaches, you just have to make an effort to find them. Igorrr are a real highlight of this festival year.
Monotonous banging
The Australian deathcore combo Thy Art Is Murder, on the other hand, blast their way through the stage in a rather unagitated and dull manner, failing to create an arc of suspense despite all the brutality on offer. Frontman Tyler Miller makes every effort to do so. He only replaced his dismissed predecessor, CJ McMahon, in the fall of 2023, when he made anti-trans comments that led to the vocal tracks on the current album "Godlike" being re-recorded. "Festivals are exhausting, but we love them because we always reach new audiences," Marsh told us beforehand in the "Krone" interview. The band has finally broken up with the former singer. "There's no more contact, the matter is over." The hour or so of blastbeat and breakdown may work thematically in the hall, but not as a warm-up on the eve of the country's biggest festival.
Meanwhile, the local style rejecters Folkshilfe delivered a performance with an exclamation mark on the Red Stage, which had been rather sparsely populated up to that point. Crowds gathered for Flo Ritt and co. for the first time and the band impressively proved with an energetic gig why they are difficult to categorize in terms of content, but why they know how to win the hearts of the masses. A few sympathetic and relevant announcements, a lot of enthusiasm, the distinctive Quetschn and sunshine - what more could you want? On the Blue Stage, meanwhile, the spiral of aggression continues. Groove thrash legends Machine Head are a shadow of their former selves in terms of line-up. Frontman Rob Flynn relies exclusively on unknown hired musicians, but successfully builds on his own legend and the brash charisma that makes its way through classics such as "Imperium", "Ten Ton Hammer" or, of course, "Halo". Here, of course, the Americans still put on a great show - and Flynn himself is a force of nature.
Questionable and dispensable
The performance by Yaenniver aka Jennifer Weist is less grandiose. In front of a handful of hard-core fans, she adds a pop touch to the festival in a quirky 80s suit and is well received by the small but enthusiastic crowd. She has less fond memories of her last appearance at Nova Rock nine years ago. Back then, she bared her breasts at the start of the concert, which was captured by professional photographers and found its way into the media. She refers to the photographers that afternoon as "sons of bitches" with little charm, only to coquettishly grab her crotch and breasts again later in the concert. The forced focus on her primary and secondary genitals takes a lot of the drive out of the concert. The quality of the song material is also miles away from the Jennifer Rostock songs of the old days. Midlife crisis, need for recognition or weird narcissism? We don't know. As a tip for the future, we generally recommend: Let The Music Do The Talking.
The hype surrounding the Swiss Fäaschtbänkler, who have exploded on social media, has long since reached Austria. It feels like the collective from rural Kriessern in St. Gallen plays a concert every three months, and after 2022 they will be taking their "new folk music" to the Pannonia Fields for a second time. In practice, this means a mixture of brass band music, folk music, cheap Ballermann set pieces and stage hopping, which serves as an ideal mood enhancer for a festival, but has little substance behind it. The beer tent atmosphere creates a great atmosphere right from the start and pleases especially those fans who also rejoiced at the medieval rockers Feuerschwanz. Nova Rock, brass band festival or Schlergarten Gloria? You don't know exactly. The secret headliners on the Blue Stage are the Australians Parkway Drive, who already caused a stir last year and only marginally adapted their show.
Pyro and video effects
The most important thing: there is even more fire, even more explosions, even more noise. While the songs of Thy Art Is Murder suffer from a consistent uniformity, Parkway Drive impress with their catchy breakdowns, Swedish death metal school melodies and immense joy of playing, which is not hidden behind openly displayed coolness. Frontman Winston McCall has his vocal problems of the last few days well under control and delivers a confident performance. At the end, of course, the band is on fire again - the fans are thrilled. Avenged Sevenfold, who deliver their first headlining show in six years, do without pyrotechnics altogether and instead rely more on digital video effects. Frontman M. Shadows occasionally struggles with vocal problems and songs such as "Game Over" or "Mattel" from the current album "Life Is But A Dream..." seem unwieldy at times, but are exciting for this very reason.
Guitarist Synyster Gates played one parade solo after another, while partner Zacky Vengeance kept the basic rhythm in mind. Of course, classics such as "Bat Country" or "Nightmare", which undoubtedly have a different kind of mass appeal than the more progressive newer material, are the biggest cheers. Avenged Sevenfold sound fresh, different and sometimes a little difficult to access - and that should be seen as a compliment in the face of metal's uniformity. Just two days after their rendezvous in the Simm City, the local all-star band AUT Of ORDA are now performing on a large open-air stage for the first time. Christopher Seiler, Paul Pizzera and Daniel Fellner know how to make good use of the extended band and a mixture of what feels like 122 musical styles. Cover versions of Rage Against The Machine or Linkin Park with "dubbed-in" lyrics are of course perfect for the festival setting - especially if you follow the Fäaschtbänkler.
A little more direction please
The songs, most of which are staged by Fellner, meander between dancehall, reggae and pop, with the two singers letting their proverbial hair down in sportswear and with plenty of agility. There are no limits. It is politically critical ("Life's A Party"), fits in with the upcoming European Football Championship ("Hoch gwimmas (n)imma") or refers to problems with depression ("Nebel"). And therein lies the crux of the evening. If you celebrate a hedonistic party, the serious topics inevitably get lost. Uplifting messages about existential hardships only fit in to a casual funk guitar and a cover of Bomfunk MC's classic "Freestyler" to a limited extent - especially when the fans want to detach themselves from such problems for less than a week. Musical boundlessness is fine, but certain occasions need a certain direction.
The festival's traditional late-night act comes from Friesenland and celebrates his 75th birthday in July. Even at an advanced age, the indefatigable Otto Waalkes is imbued with an enviable youthfulness, which is reflected not only in his mischievous smile and well-known cap, but also in a comedy concert show lasting more than an hour, consisting of his own classics, medleys and humorous cover versions of everything from "Schifoan" to "Griechischer Wein".
With his musically adept Friesenjungs, who sometimes slip into jazzy territory, he sometimes slips into Viennese, while the iconic Ottifanten flank him on the screens. The fact that acts such as Thy Art Is Murder, Folkshilfe and Otto Waalkes can be programmed in equal measure on one festival day is a distinctive and popular feature of Nova Rock. It is also important not to feign tiredness. Today, Måneskin, Avril Lavigne, Alice Cooper, Body Count ft. Ice-T or Sum 41 on their farewell tour.
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