Metalcamp 2012

[Ärväthyyll]

Finntroll confirmed.

The rest of the bands so far: Amon Amarth, Eluveitie, Heathen, Kataklysm, Korpiklaani, Machine Head, Pain, Paradise Lost, The Black Dhalia Murder and Sabaton. But it is still very early.

This year, Metalcamp is in August. From 5th to 12th.

(The new date kinda sucks for me as that is usually the time-frame of my traveling, thanks to collective vacation dates of many companies here. But ATM too early to tell. I hope all works out fine and I can make it both to go to some vacation and see the trolls.)

I've checked the festival web and it seems they have a few more additions. I have to say it looks good, maybe I'm having the metalhead holidays . If they have Wintersun it'd be perfect!

[Ärväthyyll]

If the running order (nothing official yet, just circling around the internetz) is to be believed, Finntroll is playing on the main stage on the 7th (Tuesday). What's even better - all the bands I wanted to see are apparently playing that day. One-day fest, here I come!
If this turns out not to be true, I'll be super sad

And BTW, the new owner of that ruin of a hotel (if you've been to MC, you'll know what I'm talking about, Zwerg likes to call it a brothel) is demanding too much money for rent (he's renovating it now). And he is complaining the noise might disturb his guests. Wot?

Zwerg likes to call it a brothel

once it was one

[Ärväthyyll]

Zwerg likes to call it a brothel

once it was one

Well, it is being renewed now so I guess the price of hookers there will go up as well

Anyway, the running order for the main stage is official now: Finntroll are playing, as said, on Tuesday on the main stage at 6:30. Sadly, only for an hour. Is anyone else going this year?

[Routa]

Dudes and dudettes. Don't forget Trollfest. They even have their own tent over there.

[Ärväthyyll]

Dudes and dudettes. Don't forget Trollfest. They even have their own tent over there.

Where was this? According to the map it was at the beach, but I couldn't see anything but the usual couple of bars.

Anyway, MetalCamp. This year we only went for one day, Tuesday. First thing that tells you something awesome is going on is when you're driving through Most na Soči and you notice a certain Routa sitting on a bench by the road playing with his cellphone (?). After that we went to get coffee, then tried to get lunch at a place that was shut down just for the time of MC (someone doesn't like metalheads in their restaurant?), ended up back in Most na Soči where Routa was still camping by the road (writing this makes me feel like a stalker, but there's only one main road through the area ), finally found a restaurant that had OK food but their juice was way pass expiration date ("Madam, is everything al-right?" "Err ... My juice is lumpy?" "Oh - I'll bring you a spoon." WHAT?)

Then to the festival area. This year it was slightly changed due to the problems with the hotel owner. The stages were the same but the path from one to another had to go slightly more around the area. No worries. The junction is still beautiful although there's less beach on this side of the river every year. This year it seemed less crowded to me than the previous years, could be because the weekend part of the festival hasn't even started.

First band we went to see was Brezno. I like them, my fav Slovenian band actually, but from where I was standing (= in the shade) the sound was pretty bad. Solid gig though, I guess.

After a couple of drinks at the beach there was time for Finntroll. I was happy at first that they were playing "late", outside the major heat, but it turned out that 18:30 was still very hot and the sun was setting so it shone directly into their faces. I had to move back to the shade again, my skin is just not made for standing in the sun for an hour. I don't think I've ever stood so far from the stage at a Finntroll gig. But this had it's advantage: at least I saw that the crowd was very alive back there as well.

Setlist goes as follows (I think): Blodmarsch, Jaktens Tid, Blodnatt, Dråp, Ett norrskensdåd, Under Bergets Rot, Slagbröder, Nattfödd, Nedgång, Korpens Saga, Mot Skuggornas Värld, Solsagan, Trollhammaren, and at the end they had a spare minute and played I'm not sure what but it was fast If I made any mistakes writing this down, let me know.

Vreth demanded moshpit (and wall of death, I think) during Solsagan. Moshpit did happen, not sure about WoD. And them playing Slagbröder made me the happiest person there for those 5 minutes. Vreth did the clean vocals for that song.

During Jaktens Tid the keyboards seemed too fast and somewhere during Dråp you couldn't hear them at all, but at least the latter wasn't the band's fault. It seemed through all the gigs I saw (other bands at 2012 MC) that the sound people were having trouble (and I've read several complains about that already). Either way, one of better Finntroll gigs of late.

Also thanks to Tundra and Vreth for all the shown kindness.

After Finntroll, more drinks, Paradise Lost (who gave a solid performance but nothing special for me), waited for At The Gates who had the worse situation with adjusting the sound - And so during their gig I went to see the junction again because I got really sad - apparently this was the last MetalCamp and I hate that thought. I have so many great memories of it. They already played commercials for next year's fest and it read "From the ashes of MetalCamp rises MetalDays" or something - so I guess it really is finished? Rumour goes that Rock The Nation is moving out of the organisation and that local organisers will make these MetalDays. The date is set, but the location isn't. Could be Tolmin again, but highly unlikely. I just hope this all turns out well (either that this is a false panic or that this new festival finds a good spot and keeps organisation at a high level).

Anyway, So Long and Thanks for all the fish, MetalCamp.

***

Edit: Oh look, Slagbröder <3: