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Review: Rise Or Die Fest - The Cold Edition

posted by: David on 22 February 2008

Unfortunately, none of us were able to go to Essen for the Rise Or Die Fest - The Cold Edition. So we asked some visitors of the festival to write a review for AsIce. Here it is!

Rise or Die Fest, The Cold Edition. 16/02/2008

GSR, a record label [with acts like Madball, Knuckledust and Backfire] and organizing force of several festivals in the Netherlands is now crossing the Dutch borders. Rise and Die Fest is now already expanding to the German area of Essen. Watching a folder that announced that the festival was sold out assured the fact that this festival is going to be quite the hit.

The Platoon
“Initiated in 2004 The Platoon’s members come from a long list of bands such as Drift, Prophecy of Rage, Coronation and Swords and Sails. Influenced by everything heavy music comes up with The Platoon blend it all into their personal soundtrack to the end of the world with enough heart and aggression up their sleeves to get their point across.”

Opening for these kinds of festivals can be quite bothersome for some bands since an early place on the schedule can lead to a small audience.
Even though the start-up is early, The Platoon is placing itself out there and is delivering a show that seems to be flawless. The band produces hardcore and is influenced by, well, anything that is heavy. A distinct thing that is noticeable is that the sound has been set up really well. Kudos on that since it’s quite hard to achieve that in an old school cafeteria.

Anticops
“In the year 1998 the city of Berlin gave birth to a new ugly monster, known as Anticops. Their musical background shows a rich history and understanding of hardcore music in a live and studio atmosphere, having previously been members of various bands in the Berlin scene. Their sound sticks to the classic hardcore roots, moving effortlessly from brutal mosh to hi-speed ‘knock-you-out’ parts, building solid verse passages up to gang-like chorus singalongs.”

The next band on the roster is the German old skool moshcore band Anticops. The band has been doing their thing for some years now, nine to be precise, and is still going strong. Sadly this band also faces the same issue that The Platoon was facing, a lack of an interested audience since the arrival of the crowd still hasn’t fully commenced. Nevertheless, a few folks out there are dancing on the breaks of this German collective.

Your Demise
Your Demise is a band from St. Albans (UK), hardcore that can even be appreciated by any person that enjoys some good metal. Positive lyrics and vibes? No, not with these 5 kids. What’s the use of positive influences when there’s nothing positive to be inspired by?

The band is taking its place on the same tour as Blood Stands Still (USA) and Furious Styles (USA). Where the previous two bands got little response Your Demise is able to shake up the crowd and wake every sleeper that was still in the audience. Noticeable is that the crowd has expanded and you can surely see them enjoying this band. A few that knew the songs weren’t shy in any way to take part in some singalongs and Your Demise delivers well, as is seen by the audience.

Blood Stands Still
“Originally formed back in 1999, Blood stands still has stayed true to the hardcore scene continually progressing musically while helping out others in need. Before the last line-up change, the band released 3 demos and a full length CD. The new line-up had recorded 2 demos and is working on the next full length which will hopefully be out sometime this summer.”

Last time seeing Blood Stands Still one could say that there wasn’t much to be impressed about. The sound wasn’t all that and the presentation of the band was lacking as well. But this time Blood Stands Still seems to be rejuvenated and the band is delivering quite the show. This American band will present their new full-length on the beginning of spring/summer 2008 with the title ‘Salvation Thru Struggle’ and tonight we’re being served to some of the new songs from that record.

Furious Styles
Headliner of the tour with Your Demise and Blood Stands Still is Furious Styles. These band performs hardcore in the style of Madball, Death Treath, Biohazard and Fury of Five with, indeed, hip-hop influences. Frontman Michael knows how to keep up with the fast-paced tracks and is also being supported by the audience in the refrains of several tracks. Can anyone say-/or sing singalong?

Furious Styles are a young band and is presenting the tracks of their latest record ‘Life Lessons’ which clocks in on no less than 25 minutes.

In Blood We Trust
For In Blood We Trust this is a game on the home field. These Germans reside in the Ruhr area and live 40 kilometers next to the festival. The band is German and that seems to be in their advantage since they have access to the biggest spot available on the festival for a sum of 30 minutes. For In Blood We Trust is able to perform a good and heavy show that is based on simplistic moshparts and a solid display of performance.

Nasty
Another good band on the bill is German/Belgium act Nasty, this band tries to come over as aggressively as possible by creating a huge breakdown in each track. The expectations of this band are high whereas they can’t live up to them – so, sadly enough a tad disappointing. The band isn’t set-up correctly which results in perceiving that the volume of the guitars is too low. Also the audience doesn’t seem to connect with the band and the energy that is out there seems to be minimal – this not to be blamed on Nasty since they seem to be giving it their best. The day after the Rise or Die Fest Nasty will present their CD, entitled ‘Aggression’, in Belgium which will surely be a blast.

Backfire!
“Not too many hardcore bands last more than a couple of years and it is with this longevity of more than 12 years that has kept Backfire! as one of the leaders of the European hardcore scene, which has seen them through hard times, yet still come out on top by playing numerous support tours with hardcore legends such as Biohazard, Warzone and Madball, release albums that are a staple of many a hardcore kid’s record collection, utlimately making them a force to be reckoned with within hardcore.”

One of the oldest bands on the bill, Backfire!, is presenting a new album called ‘In Harms Way’ and will be released by GSR, the organizing force of this festival. This legendary band from Maastricht (The Netherlands) lets us witness that Europe still has some prime-quality hardcore to serve.

Knuckledust
The collective Knuckledust from London is a personal favorite of this day. Frontman Pelbu definitely has the throat for the job and surely is making this one hell of an aggressive show. The new album, ‘Promises Comfort Fools’ (which also was released on GSR), is strongly present on this very day and the vibe of this album is definitely being reflected on their performance of today. Knuckledust apparently enjoys to include the audience today and half-way during the set he throws the mic. into the crowd and the lucky ones that were able to get a hold of it had the chance to scream along.

Heaven Shall Burn
Now it’s time for Heaven Shall Burn, the headliner of the Rise and Die fest. This German metalcore band is also presenting its newest CD – its 6th album, here, in Essen.

It’s no surprise that this band has an entire different posse, it’s quite apparent that this band is the odd one out here on a festival filled with breakdown’s etc. Nevertheless, Heaven Shall Burn isn’t having any trouble filling up the ZE Papestrasse for a nice metalcore party.

The first few tracks that are being performed are from their latest record, ‘Innocolast’. Personally I think it’s a wise decision since the crowd is obviously loving the shit out of it and headbanging folks are spotted anywhere from a quarter inch from your own face while others are trying to climb the stage while being assisted by others to land safely again.

Heaven Shall Burn also succeeds in creating the biggest circle pit of today but after a track or 6 the energy of the crowd starts to run low and yes, even humans grow tired after having a few moments of fun.


Review by Willem Schutte, Michel de Jong, Marinka in het Veld.
Pictures by Nikki Love

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