DAY 2
Morte Incandescente
Unfortunately we missed Lisbon’s powerviolence act REVENGEANCE, and so our night started with necro black metalers MORTE INCANDESCENTE. Now with Angel-0 replacing former member V-Kaos, they gave a competent concert. “NecroCulto” and “Black Crushing Metal”, where some of their main tracks. There’s nothing better than to start a festival day with a black metal concert, and this one was no exception, even if it gets better for everyone when they play at night.
GWYDION proved with their show that Santa Maria Summer Fest audience knows how to party, providing great reception to every band. These Portuguese Viking metalers created a significant party pit, inclusive with a wall of death execution.
Crise Total
And then: Punk mode on!: Veterans CRISE TOTAL started the punk party with their old school sound, before headliners DOOM invaded the stage with a demolishing performance. We believe that they conquest the audience even before the gig started, but nevertheless their spirit and fuck off attitude was there, creating the biggest and more violent mosh pit of the weekend. For the end of the show, dozens of headbangers invaded the stage, making the last two songs a home crust event. We understand the party felling, mostly because Doom haven’t played in Portugal for more than 20 years.
These legendary UK crust metalers can certainly create empathizing and brutal shows, and this one no one present in that festival ground we soon forget.
Portuguese heavy metal stars MIDNIGHT PRIEST had the tough task of ending the night, playing after crust legends Doom. But they have already thousands of miles covered with live shows, and so it seems easy to perform in every condition. And the reaction of the crowd was also according, closing another good metal night at Beja.
Doom
Midnight Priest
DAY 3
Irae
The last festival day started with experimented black metalers IRAE, playing still under a strong daylight, which made the task harder for them. But they were able to put out an intense performance, making this one of the best recent shows we’ve seen from them. “Fátima em Ruínas”, “As Noites de Sintra” and their already usual black metal medley were the higher points of that 40 minutes blasphemous show.
Gore Grinders HOLOCAUSTO CANIBAL came next, presenting their new frontman, and a inevitable sound direction. It’s difficult to see them without their former longtime vocals, and the style is now naturally different. And we couldn’t stop thinking that the music sounded sometimes more close to death core that their real grind gore. It was not a bad show, and we believe they did their best, so let’s wait for future developments.
Veterans SACRED SIN went on stage right after them, for what it turned out to be the concert with the best sound quality during the entire festival. It was not an event that benefited from a general clear sound, but these Portuguese death metal pioneers were able to catch the audience with some classic covers and invited artists.
As the festival was approaching its end, Sunday headliners IBERIA presented their traditional heavy/power metal to a tired audience, in a concert that seemed to have last more than an hour. Despite the technical quality that these heavy metalers have, gained through decades of music experience, we couldn’t stop thinking that this is not the kind of band to put playing in the last quarter of a three day metal festival. On those occasions, everybody needs weight to be able to continue standing, and weight is something those veterans seem to miss.
And so, acclaimed doomsters PROCESS OF GUILT had to wake up the audience for their interrupting Faemin experience. Here, the weight is almost everywhere, crushing your mind with fatiguing violent riffs, that tri to be eased by some melodic compositions. But the thing is, when you realize, you are already in an inner struggle demolishing journey that doesn’t stop. In that trip, everything you get to see is darkness and despaired anguish, allowing the light to enter only after the last chord is pulled. I just hope that everybody can experience something similar to this once in a life. As for us, we need this drug much more often than that.
Sacred Sin
Process of Guilt
After this, ALCOHOLOCAUST closed the festival with their old school, uncompromised thrash metal, surely keeping everybody awake while we were already returning to our shelter place.
The day after, our head and body was telling us how entertaining the festival turned out to be. If the sound was generally not that good, the audience response to every band performance was great, always in a great party mode. We’ve been informed about one next year’s international headliner, and we can only say: please get the party started!
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