Tons of Rock Festival in Halden, Norway – June 24th 2016
Photos by Marie Solheim.
After the massive display from the godfathers of heavy metal, it’s no huge surprise that a number of fans are nursing aching heads and strained necks as the festival’s second day begins. As it turns out, however, the early bird catches the doom, and Below have come to deliver just that. Although charismatic frontman Zeb remarks upon the sparse gathering of maybe 20 dedicated fans in front of the stage, the Swedes’ towering epic doom metal brings many lost souls to the tent stage soon enough. Heavily influenced by classic acts such as Candlemass and Solitude Aeternus, the crushing riffs and Zeb’s powerful voice and stage presence are pitch perfect for a slightly hungover Friday afternoon. With only one album under the belt, Below nevertheless treat us to a sample of their upcoming album, while dedicating the bombastic “Ghost of a Shepherd” to the guitarist of the Norwegian band Devil. As the creeping Jack the Ripper-themed “The Whitechapel Murders” closes out their unjustifiably short set, the gloomy swedes have conquered the tent, more than tripling their audience.
Not quite fed up with doom metal yet, we stay close to the tent stage in wait for the Bergen-based underground darlings Kraków. Featuring members of bands including Taake, Kampfar, and Hades Almighty, musically the band are far from a typical Norwegian black metal band, something the wild-eyed vocalist Frode Kilvik’s Wu-Tang shirt further dispels. Opening with an instrumental post-rock soundscape, the atmosphere lays thick throughout the tent. As the music grows more intense, so does Kilvik, who moves around the stage while commanding an impressive presence. Moving through post metal and sludgy territories, the crowd is spellbound. Like with Blues Pills the previous day, Kraków also end on a high note, earning a well-deserved clap-along to their gorgeous closing number.
After grabbing a bite to eat at the more than adequate festival food-stands while neo-thrashers Havok talk politics in the background, we hurry up to the main stage to secure a decent spot for hardcore luminaires Converge. To our great surprise, the front of the stage is almost completely deserted, with only the Jane Doe-backdrop suggesting that the show is about to begin. For a band that are used to playing headlining tours, it is commendable that the Salem group seems unfazed by the poor attendance. They shred through their 45-minutes long setlist with gusto, with frontman Jacob Bannon jumping around like a madman, throwing his microphone around and being one hell of a frontman in general. The almost completely static audience feels like an absurd contrast to the energetic stage performance, but those who actually showed up are treated to a solid gig. The scattered and sedate crowd must be chalked down to a lineup otherwise geared toward more traditional metal, steering away most of the hardcore-fans.
Making the easy choice of skipping Nikki Sixx on the main stage, the Norwegian stoner rockers Black Debbath is next on our agenda. A satirical Norwegian group with political overtones, the band are a staple of many festivals around the country, and after having played every iteration of Tons of Rock they’ve become a house band of sorts. The lyrics and humor are untranslatable, but together with a knack for catchy choruses and silly antics on stage, it’s not difficult to see why these guys are national heroes to some. Between the songs, they manage to get in a couple of digs at their obvious inspirations in Black Sabbath, jokingly suggesting that Bill Ward is going to join Black Debbath. The atmosphere is electric in the tent, with a majority of fans who know every lyric and joke by heart. It’s a perfect palate cleanser after the disappointing audience during Converge, and people are still grinning as they reluctantly leave the tent to get to the main stage before the next headliner.
Another legend is ready to vow the crowd at Fredriksten Fortress tonight, and the spirits are audibly high before Alice Cooper appears on the stage. Performing a cavalcade of megahits, the band opens with “Black Widow”, before drumming the crowd into a frenzy with “No More Mr. Nice Guy”. With 90 minutes of stage time, the natural born performer and his band of talented freaks cover a lot of ground, to the delight of the packed fortress. The show reaches its apex as the talented Nita Strauss shreds a lengthy solo, and the rest of the band returns with “Poison”. There is still some time left of the show, and the band is apparently joined by Nikki Sixx before doing a series of cover songs, but by then we have already started the climb to the top of the fortress to get ready for the next band. No offense to Alice Cooper, but after his extravagant showmanship we have begun to hunger for something considerably less flamboyant.
After what feels like a very long climb for sore feet, we reach the summit that’s been dubbed the Huth Stage. The evening view is spectacular, and it feels like we are on top of the world as we and a handful of other diehards wait for the Polish cult Mgła to shred us to pieces. So far the festival has been somewhat lacking in the black metal department, and the masked foursome promise to be a masterful remedy. Touring on the back of their latest masterpiece Exercises in Futility, the group makes a subdued entrance to the excited crowd. What follows is a furious display of icy riffing done without any unnecessary bells and whistles, with highlights taken from Exercises and the even greater With Hearts Toward None. A chill wind tears through the damp summer night, and Mgła prove once more why they are one of the premier black metal bands of the last five years. On the small stage on top of the mountain, the sound is rougher than it ought to be tonight, but judging from the reactions all around us, this is a minor nitpick.
Stumbling back down toward the main stage, the huge crowd from Alice Cooper has grown even larger. Cooper himself left an hour ago, and this horde are here to see the Swedish ghouls in Ghost make their triumphant return to Tons of Rock. Since they last played here in 2014, they’ve released the well-received Meliora, and their already considerable following seems to have grown exponentially. Not satisfied until they reap complete world domination, Papa Emeritus and his nameless ghouls have brought another bag of seductively evil tricks to Halden. Once again appearing from the shadows to the unmistakable “Masked Ball” from Eyes Wide Shut, Papa greets the crowd to wild applause, wasting little time before launching into “Spirit” off the new album. Like Alice Cooper, Ghost are also masterful entertainers, with even the Ghouls taking great measures to pose and move around the elaborate stage.
The mood is practically euphoric as we are served the majority of Meliora, with live staples such as “Stand By Him”, “Year Zero”, and “Ritual” shuffled into the mix. Somewhere along the way, Papa Emeritus II sheds his signature satanic pope outfit, signifying the transformation to the sharply dressed Papa Emeritus III. The Swedish satanic pop maestro goofs around between songs, making silly jokes and encouraging the rather drunk audience to commit naughty acts to each other. One can say many things about Ghost and their rise to superstardom, but their extravagant live act is a spectacle to behold, and something you should see at least once. Before they take their leave for tonight, the entire fortress is chiming in to the staggeringly sing-along friendly “Monstrance Clock”, leaving everybody screaming for more. Like in 2014, we all return to our sleeping arrangements with the words “together as one” still ringing in our heads.
