One location, two stages, three days, and nearly 50 different bands – that’s the Rock On! festival in a nutshell. The heaviest weekend of the autumn will kick off on Friday, September 2nd with the face-melting noise rock attacks of Uzipov. The trio has just released its second album, and they are already regarded as one of the most furious Hungarian bands in terms of live performances. Highlights from the first day also include Ektomorf, which is a master of Soulfly-ishly catchy and ferocious groove metal – not surprisingly, some of their best albums were released by Nuclear Blast. Auróra plays old-school punk rock, in the vein of the Exploited or UK Subs, with lyrics about the darker side of the current state of things. Just like Omen, who performs before them, they are quite legendary – except that the latter band plays classic heavy-metal that sounds like it was transferred to the present from the ’70s or ’80s. But if you don’t really want to leave your mental batcave, our recommendation is the Goth On! Minifestival, where the music will get darker with the day, thanks to acts like De Facto, Dying Wish, or Leecher.
Our first recommendation for Saturday is Alone In The Moon at the TrackTerrace stage; their sound could be described as Queens of the Stage meets Alice In Chains meets Tool, with some doom-metal flavors also added to the mix. Sounds unique, doesn’t it? Believe us, it is. Agregator’s take on Scandinavian metal will surely warm up your head-banging muscles for what is coming after them: for example, a black sheep of the festival, the German Perzonal War. Penge’s very own genre definition – violent metal – is pretty much self-explanatory, and when it comes to firing things up, they never disappoint. With a career spanning over four decades, Lord counts as one of the oldest Hungarian bands that is still active. They play traditional hard rock in the vein of their idols; their routine, passion, and songwriting skills have earned them cult-like status, and they’ll once again prove that you are never too old for rock ’n’ roll. The same goes for Kalapács, fronted by the singer of the first Hungarian metal group, Pokolgép’s József Kalapács. Prepare yourself for some throat-ripping verses and monsterous riffs, because the band’s in top shape and they have no intention of slowing down. This day’s special stage will focus on the local doom scene with bands like Magma Rise, Hot Beaver, or Wall Of Sleep slowing things down with some mammoth riffs straight from the swamps of New Orleans.
On Sunday, there will be more than enough outstanding bands to help you end the week with a bang. Take the performance of Metal Konzilium, for example: it will be an all-star jam session, at which the members of Kalapács, Wisdom, Omen, Lord, Pokolgép, P. Box, and other local favorites will gather together for a rocking and rolling concert. We hardly doubt that it will happen again anytime soon, so you’d be a fool to miss out on it! The same goes for the concert of Pandora’s Box, which was formed by the members of P. Mobil, a legendary hard-rock band whose hits are an essential part of any Hungarian jukebox’s tracklist. Although the latter band won’t reunite for a number of reasons, the follow up to it also has everything that a fan of the genre can ask for. Phoenix Rt. is a bit of everything: it is too rock ’n’ roll to be called metal, too complex and metal to be called punk, and too punk to be called rock. We wouldn’t be surprised if there would be an unexpected eclipse during Christian Epidemic’s concert, as their blackened trash/death metal would chase any light away. There will be two international acts, Power Theory from America and Mateo Colon from Poland – but we will stick with the Magyar bands until the end!
For more information, check out the festival’s Facebook event or its homepage.
