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FESTIVAL SPECIAL: Tons Of Rock 2014, Day 1 (Halden,Norway)Posted on June 23, 2014 by Ailo Ravna

Tons Of Rock Day 1, June 19 2014

Photos by Eivind Nakken

Relative to its small population, Norway is host to an amount of summer festivals that borders on the absurd.Every one horse town has its potato-, sheep-, cabbage-, or pop festival. It’s strange, then, that the country haslacked a proper open air metal festival to rival neighbors Sweden Rock and Finland’s Tuska. Luckily someentrepreneurial spirits with experience from other rock festivals have entertained similar thoughts, and today wecelebrate the birth of the heavy juggernaut Tons Of Rock.

Situated in Halden, a tiny city in the very southeast of Norway, Tons Of Rock could hardly have found a betterhome. The festival is being held at the towering Fredriksten fortress, a 1600′s structure built to defend againstpesky Swedes. Rich with history and impressive to behold, the site has been rigged with two large main stagesand one smaller tent-stage. Now metalheads from all over Europe are congregating for three days of beer,sunlight, and live music. For the first, but hopefully not the last time, Fredriksten is successfully conquered by athrong of black-clad invaders.

th

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The scenic Fredriksten Fortress

Thursday

Climbing the hill up to the old fortress, we are met by a mediocre rendition of Iron Maiden’s “Fear Of The Dark”.Rather awkwardly, it turns out to be the aging pipes of former replacement-frontman Blaze Bayley. A smallgathering of fans have amassed to hear the man play Maiden songs from albums he didn’t even originally performon. Much has been said elsewhere about these washed up frontmen, so we’ll move on.

On the opposite end of the main stage area, London’s creepy crawlers Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats are gearingup. The sunny weather is briefly joined by strong winds as the opening notes of cultish anthem “Mt. Abraxas”erupts from the speakers. Though I’m normally an eager drinker of their sinister Kool-Aid, the band’s usuallytremendous live presence is diminished in the afternoon sunlight. The disappointing attendance is surprising;while only a few months ago they were selling out Oslo-venues, today the attendants number less than a hundredlost souls. Subsequent inquiry reveals that many fans were still stuck waiting at the festival camp when theDeadbeats departed the stage. Such are the logistical hurdles of a newborn festival.

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With petty criticism out of the way; Uncle Acid are welcome guests even if they’ve had better days. Tracks like«Mind Crawler» and «13 Candles» are stomping flashes of brilliance, while the eerie psychedelia of «DesertCeremony» would make Charles Manson proud. From the foggy streets of London, by way of the Spahn Ranchand remote California deserts, the Deadbeats have finally conquered Fredriksten Fortress. Although theirghoulishness is dampened, the sheer strength of their songs goes a long way to get us primed for the rest of thefestival.

18.11.2015 Tons Of Rock 2014, Day 1 (Halden, Norway) | The Metal Observer

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Another dosage of heavy psych comes courtesy of Oslo-rockers Spirits Of The Dead. My familiarity with theband stems only from their excellent stint warming up for Uncle Acid at an absolutely packed Oslo-venue lastyear. Playing the mid-sized tent stage, the band is met by only a handful of fans, leaving the tent all but empty.Making the best of the situation, their bluesy Sabbath-meets-Deep Purple combination hits the spot and gets thetiny crowd moving. Vocalist Ragnar Vikse looks like he’s performing for a packed arena, and the raw energy ofthe band makes this feel like an exclusive gig for us chosen few. Spirits Of The Dead have a lot of potential, butapparently still needs to find and establish a proper audience.

My hipster-sense is tingling

As the clock approaches seven, the fortress is finally getting crowded. Having seen a remarkable rise to stardom

18.11.2015 Tons Of Rock 2014, Day 1 (Halden, Norway) | The Metal Observer

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in Norway and abroad during the last few years, Kvelertak have reached fans far beyond the confines of theextreme metal world. While the weather has taken a turn for the wet, the crowd is growing exponentially as theband launches into their oddly poppy black and roll. Renowned for their energetic shows, Kvelertak practicallyhave the audience eating out of their hands. As the skies open with heavy bouts of rain, many are moving aroundlike men possessed. This is practically party-metal, and while the atmosphere is getting fired up, we take ourleave in favor of the unknown.

A brand new venture, the Swedish/Danish project IAmFire features ex-members of various hardcore andmetalcore bands, most notably Hatesphere and The Haunted’s former frontman Peter Dolving. It’s surprising,then, that their music is pure red-blooded stoner rock. Bearing the torch of Kyuss about as subtle as a stonerelephant, the groovy and fuzz-laden tunes are performed with refreshing vigor. A far cry from their musical roots,IAmFire are not revolutionizing the genre, but simply put their own intense spin on a well-oiled wheel.

18.11.2015 Tons Of Rock 2014, Day 1 (Halden, Norway) | The Metal Observer

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Once again, the tent is almost completely deserted, but those of us who showed up are witness to a memorableperformance. Dolving even pulls off a dead on John Garcia-imitation, his better known snarls only making theoccasional appearance. These bursts of aggression give even Matt Pike a run for his money, and it will beexciting to see this project evolve (their debut album is forthcoming). As they finish their short but sweet set, thesun is shining again and all is well at Fredriksten.

Next up is the Norwegian doom metal ensemble Sahg. With their 2004 debut lauded as a an actual musicallysuccessful supergroup, largely due to the then-involvement of several Gorgoroth-members, they have sinceevolved into a powerful entity on their own. Finally the tent-stage is becoming crowded, and the audience ismesmerized by the charismatic founding duo of frontman Olav Iversen (also of pop sensation Trucks) and leadguitarist Thomas Tofthagen (also of Audrey Horne), who both have a cool rock star-swagger going on.

18.11.2015 Tons Of Rock 2014, Day 1 (Halden, Norway) | The Metal Observer

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Playing material spanning all of their four albums, the greatest response is garnered by “Godless Faith” and “TheExecutioner Undead”, both off their debut. Sahg have honed their performance to the point where it’s pureunadulterated fun, and their catchy and surprisingly upbeat brand of doom is perfect for a summer festival.Natural showmen from beginning to end, they cap the doomy escapades of the day with the explosive“Pyromancer”. It’s pretty good stuff, to be frank!

18.11.2015 Tons Of Rock 2014, Day 1 (Halden, Norway) | The Metal Observer

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So far so good. We still have one more band to go before we call it a night though; Denmark’s Volbeat areThursday’s headliners and have drawn the biggest crowd of the day. With their rockabilly spin on modern hardrock, they apparently have an immensely broad appeal, evident by the many Volbeat-shirt-and-fedora-wearingguys that have been spotted around the fortress all day. The stage is decorated to suit the western-theme oftheir latest album Outlaw Gentlemen, and the host of fans are chanting for their heroes.

18.11.2015 Tons Of Rock 2014, Day 1 (Halden, Norway) | The Metal Observer

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Charismatic singer Michael Poulsen and his outlaws have recently been joined by former Anthrax guitarist RobCaggiano, and by the looks of it they’re all having a blast on stage. Personally I don’t have much to add aboutthe music; their mix of post-1989 Metallica meets Elvis and Johnny Cash is gimmicky but consistent. Those whoalready love the band are ecstatic, the rest of us are left feeling like grouchy geezers who hate fun. To me it’sbaffling that the party-loving Danes are headlining the festival above both Slayer and Anthrax, but at least they’vepulled a decent crowd. As we head back to our humble abodes, the sound of the Danish invaders still rings outover Halden.

Day 2: Ghost, Obliteration, and more! >>>

18.11.2015 Tons Of Rock 2014, Day 1 (Halden, Norway) | The Metal Observer

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Author: Ailo RavnaRaised in the cold wasteland of northern Norway, Ailo has a penchant for cheesy movies and nebulous music. Asidefrom penning the occasional pretentious review, he is a part-time student and a full-time bastard. He lives in a tinyapartment and has no pets.

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This entry was posted in Featured Review, Live Review, Specials and tagged black and roll, Blaze Bayley,doom metal, featured, festival, Halden, hard rock, Hardcore, Heavy Metal, Iamfire, iron maiden, Kvelertak,live, norway, Peter Dolving, psychedelic rock, rock and roll, sahg, Spirits Of The Dead, Tons Of Rock, UncleAcid & The Deadbeats, Volbeat.

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