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Hammer Open Air 2013 - Day 1 - 7/19/2013 - Mannin Navetta - Lieto

This year was my third time at Hammer out of four (I still regret not knowing about this festival the first edition), and for the second time the festival was arranged at this Mannin Navetta, in the small town of Lieto. Pretty much in the middle of nowhere outside Turku, which makes it a very nice place for this kind of events. I can’t say the same for the camping area. Last year it was in a "real" camping nearby some kind of zoo (if I recall properly), while this time it was arranged somehow near an old school, in the fields by the old road to Tampere. Nice area, but seemed a bit "improvised" for the camping. Nonetheless if you are getting drunk and partying, you don’t really mind about it at all.



Now that we got rid of the negative part, let’s get into the festival: this year featuring some very interesting acts and specialities, from Venom to Hell, from the Japanese act Sigh, to Candlemass and Gorgoroth. This made the impression that the 2013 edition was the most crowded ever. Or maybe the festival area is just small (but actually rearranged more effectively than last year - you have to appreciate the work done for example to remove all those holes and plants from the ground!).

Some small queue was forming already outside at the beginning of Friday: due to the strategical decision to have Horna play very early, with a certain addition on which we will get back very soon. Jumalation has the difficult task to start the festival, the guys pull it off nicely with their thrash metal, and despite the weather doesn’t look so promising, some few people begin to gather in front of the Metallihelvetti stage. I should see them again when they perform in Helsinki.



We then come back to Horna, and in the meanwhile it starts raining. Not much, but it’s just that typical very annoying light Scandinavian rain which purpose is only to bother people. This doesn’t stop the fans, for the reason that today Horna performs with their old vocalist Nazgul (better known nowadays as Satanic Tyrant Werwolf, see Satanic Warmaster), focusing on their classics from the early albums. The show might have actually been more effective in a later time on the schedule, but it gets the audience warmed-up enough for getting the day started. The singer himself shows some attitude against a couple of random insults from the audience after tripping because of the rain.



I am a bit puzzled instead about the show of Cataleptic. They have actually been quite good on a few occasions while opening for bigger act in club gigs, while here the whole thing didn’t really have the same effect. I think this kind of doom metal probably is more suited for an indoor setting rather than an early afternoon in summer...



Funerary Bell stands out more for the blue/purple clock of the guitar player, not to mention the strange faces of vocalist, holding onto is Olvi Reino beer can for most of the time. Occult black metal is their bread, but the band, which has just released a new EP, seems it has to convince a bit more on the live aspect to fully wake up the crowd, now completely wet from the increasing rain. In the meantime it’s nice to taste a good drink below the crowded tents, watching the stage and the people running in the rain (how great were those upside-down decorated bins in the field, by the way?).





First foreign act of Hammer 2013 is the Swedish black/death metal band Kill. The guys from Gothenburg focus partly on the latest material, without leaving out of course some oldies in the forty-five minutes of their set. The result is quite OK, not the best gig of the day though. At the end there is also a surprise guest vocalist, whom identity I couldn’t make out from the distance (also the sunglasses and hoodie didn’t help me much in the "Guess who" game).



Things start to become a little more folk-ish when the German duo Morrigan, composed of Balor and Beliar, finds its way on the Kvlt stage. I always had an interest in these pagan black metal bands from Germany, and I must say it sounded quite interesting, but usually they sing about german tribes, while this one, like their compatriots Suidakra for instance, have an interest on Celtic mythology. It’s one of those bands that either you like or you don’t. I do, and I did enjoy the gig, at least the part I managed to see.



Deathchain is for sure much more popular here in Finland, and in fact I just saw them again a couple weeks ago at Tuska festival. I think they played better here than in that occasion. This kind of event probably suits them better, plus the latest "Ritual Death Metal" is actually quite a good album, well representing what the band has become nowadays (I must confess I didn’t really listen to it before mid-June though…). The band has usually a lot of energy, and you see the fans in the first row headbanging for most of the concert. Not bad.



The most patriotic act of the whole festival is certainly Stormheit, you see that from the two big Finnish flags in front of the drums. At their second apparition in Hammer Open Air, the band lead by this shirtless guy who goes by the same name, features as a live drummer the singer of Goatmoon. Their music is actually quite nice, focusing on the pagan culture as well as ancient Finnish traditions and poems. This is when things begin to get really interesting in the festival, with great songs from their latest "Chronicon Finlandiae" or older material like "Snake And Thunder", acclaimed by the audience while the sun finally comes out.



Another convincing band is Sacrilegious Impalement. The guys have changed line-up several times through the years, and now they find themselves again with a new singer and a new album. Nonetheless they seem to become better and better with time, the new record is really good, and you can see it also when watching the band performing live. The new singer has definitely less presence than his predecessor, but he appears to fit quite well into the band. Today’s gig is so much better than the unfortunate after show of Steelfest in May, where repeated technical issues (and the extremely late hour) ruined it for the guys. One of the best gigs of the day, concluded with their famous "Blessed To Resist".



It is now time to load the "big guns", as Gorgoroth is awaited on the main stage (this year where the last time there was actually the smaller one, part of the reason I guess is due to the pyros of Venom on the last day). The band of Infernus, after all the legal issues that I don’t want to discuss here, is one of the most awaited of this year’s Hammer. On vocals, the omnipresent Hoest, which makes it interesting already by itself, since the guy always has a great stage presence, regardless from the band he plays with. That’s what you call a frontman! To note that this is the only show that the band has booked for 2013, and the band doesn’t seem to disappoint the expectations of their fans. Not that the people had huge expectations, but this is one of those bands that you just have to see at least once if you are into black metal. The gig is actually entertaining, and while some people keep shouting Infernus’ name, when it comes to the classics, all the fans in the front are absolutely excited. Nice atmosphere, and the band did its job properly, before leaving space for their Greek colleagues of Dead Congregation.
The Hellenic formation is more straight-in-your-face with their attitude, so to speak, and their death metal reminds me sometimes about Incantation. At this point I have to find my way to the long queue at the food stand, and cannot focus much on the actual gig, but it did sound quite good for what I have seen.



Last band of the first day: Candlemass! Of course everyone will say that the Swedish band was at its best with Messiah Marcolin (and I think so too), but who would say no to Candlemass because he is not with them anymore? Besides Mats Levén is doing his part quite well, and he seems to be pretty energetic on stage - which is, by the way, decorated with tombstones, candles and so on. I honestly didn’t pay too much attention to the last record, but the focus of all people is of course on the classics, starting from the early "Bewitched", used to ignite the audience already near the get-go. And it worked, since you see the Candlemass fans really fired up at that point, and while the sun is setting down and the sky becomes darker, the atmosphere is now right for the show that is being unleashed. The gig is actually intense enough to make you forget for a moment that your favorite former Candlemass singer is not there, especially as people call for "At The Gallows End". Even before that you have to give credit to Levén for involving the audience with his speeches, like when he introduces "Waterwitch" linking it to Finnish folklore. The end of the show is all applauses and people singing along, when "Crystal Ball" gives space to the final "Solitude". And how can you not define this ending Epicus Doomicus Metallicus?



After the gig there would have been time for a drink or two in the area, but the people were actually more than expected, so the fest ran out of drinks (and food) very quickly! Still the organizers have been doing a good job in solving the problem in time for the second day, so no big deal really. And besides most people had their own drinks outside the festival site.
The first half is now over, and the next will be still another long day (it would have been really nice to be able to sleep in between the two…). Surprisingly the Saturday will also be one of the best days of Hammer Open Air to date, so stay tuned for part II of this report!

See all the photos from Friday here:
Hammer Open Air 2013 - Day 1 (19.07.2013)

Report a cura di Marco Manzi