Since its inception back in 2007, HARD ROCK HELL is one of the highlights of the year that I always look forward to. The layout is great, with a number of different bands on three different stages all within minimal walking distance of each other and accommodation. So, with another sold out festival, this was sure to be another highlight and one of the great ways to close 2009. This year’s version was entitled The Viking’s Ball, and plenty of people had dressed to the occasion, even if there was a severe lack of Viking themed bands in appearance.

After dumping our stuff, it was time to start getting to the business of headbanging and watching some quality rock and metal over the next two days. WAYLANDER (3.6/5.0) opened up the second stage with their brand of folk metal that seems to have become so popular in the last few years on these shores. Songs like ‘King of The Fairies’ and ‘A Hero’s Lament’ stood out as the highlights of the short but sweet 30 minute set.

After getting a great reception and putting on a great performance earlier this year at Bloodstock, German Industrial death metallers DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER (4.2/5.0) put on another outstanding performance as the crowd went wild every time the keyboardist and gimp Dr Pest went walkabouts on the stage whirling a kind of whip a fair few times. These guys don’t half make you laugh and always seems to have a good time on stage, but with songs like ‘Adrenalin’, ‘Riders On The Storm’ and ‘We Will Never Die’ all appearing in the set, can be classified as a very good songwriters too.

More folk metal ensued, and Finns KORPIKLAANI (3.9/5.0) took to the stage greeted with delight from the crowd, and played a 45 minute set full of catchy songs and very hard to resist foot tapping beats. There’s no doubt that these guys are a great festival band and they always seem to have a great time on stage and that definitely rubs off on the crowd too. I had never heard of the next band before they were announced for the festival. Mind you, considering Holland seems to be a hotspot with loads of female fronted gothic metal coming out of there in recent years with the success of the likes of WITHIN TEMPTATION and EPICA, it’s no surprise.

DELAIN (4.0/5.0) played a decent 40 minute set which drew quite a crowd, and the songs on show were solid and strong and what you would expect from a band classified in the genre. Frontwoman, Charlotte Wessels, as well as being very attractive also has a very good voice, which is a mix between the angelic vocals of Sharon Den Adel and a more classical approach of Tarja Turunen, which suits the genre and music they play perfectly. These will be definitely worth checking out again in the future, and with a new album released earlier this year, hopefully it will be sooner rather than later before they grace our shores again.

Making the way to the main stage for the first time of the night, I caught the end of GUN’s set, who had drawn a decent sized crowd despite only really having one notable song, ‘Word Up’ which was the set closer, whilst ‘Steal Your Fire’ also went down pretty well. Up next were hair metallers RATT (4.0/5.0) who despite having to cut their set, really got the crowd going with classics in the form of ‘Wanted Man’, ‘Lack of Communication’, ‘Back For More’ and ‘Lay It Down’ whilst a couple of tracks of the ‘Ratt’ EP got a showing in the form of ‘Sweet Cheater’ and ‘You Think You’re Tough’ which were both lapped up by the crowd, and when ‘Round And Round’ was played, the set was all over a little too soon for some, but RATT certainly got the party started.

I was a little worried when I heard that TERRORVISION (4.3/5.0) were playing in such a high slot, as I always associated them as more Indie style of band. I’m glad I was wrong as I ended really enjoying their hour set, and so did the crowd, and frontman Tony Wright never seemed to stop bouncing and moving all over the stage. The likes of ‘Alice What’s The Matter’, ‘Middleman’, ‘What Makes You Tick’ and ‘If I Was You’ all went down a storm, whilst the more famous tracks of ‘Tequila’ and ‘Oblivion’ got the crowd jumping and shouting the lyrics as they lapped up every second of their set. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by TERRORVISION, and glad I had an open mind when watching them.

It was a quick trip to the second stage where power metallers EDEN’S CURSE (3.7/5.0) were taking to the stage, who were in fine form and the trait like high pitch vocals that we have grown accustomed to from vocalist Michael Eden, before it was back to the main stage to catch psychedelic cosmic rockers MONSTER MAGNET (3.3/5.0). While they have some quality tracks, I don’t believe they were really headline material and it would have been better if the organisers had swapped the slots around with TERRORVISION who, in my opinion, were a better act.

Still, that didn’t seem to deter the crowd from soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying themselves. Frontman Dave Wyndorf may as well not have bothered with the guitar as he hardly seemed to touch it for any memorable period of time, as it spent most of the time around his back or hung on his neck. Highlights of their set included ‘Dopes To Infinity’, ‘Crop Circle’ and ‘Radiation Day’.

Closing the main stage for the Friday was Finnish power metallers SONATA ARCTICA (4.1/5.0), who has the unenviable task of keeping the crowd going into the early hours. Even though the crowd had dispersed a little since the last band, there was still a decent turnout as they rattled through classics like ‘FullMoon’ and songs from their new album, ‘The Days of Grays’, with highlights being ‘Flag In The Ground’ and ‘Juliet’, which sounded excellent live.

It was off to the second stage for the last couple of bands for the day. Unfortunately, an incident occurred during TRIBAL LAW’s set which brought a premature end to the evening’s entertainment. During the last song of their set, the vocalist slipped and hit his head on the stage, and while a first aider and paramedics leapt to the aid of the singer, it meant that FOUR WHEEL DRIVE didn’t get to play in their assigned slot, however they were put on the third stage on the Saturday. We just hope the vocalist from TRIBAL LAW is ok and the injury is not too serious.

After the previous night’s drama, it was time to start the Saturday off with some tongue in cheek sleaze. TIGERTAILZ (3.8/5.0), who played this festival last year in the early hours of the morning, were invited back this year with a more friendly time slot, and a large crowd had gathered to see their brand of glam metal, which the band obviously revelled in. The obvious highlight of the set was ‘Love Bomb Baby’, while a surprising cover of ‘Ace of Spades’ went down a treat.

THE QUIREBOYS (4.7/5.0) really got the afternoon started with their quality rock n’ roll tunes, and despite having a few technical problems with the microphones early on, they soldiered on to deliver a superb performance, with classic tracks like ‘7 O’Clock’, ‘This Is Rock N’ Roll’ and ‘Mona Lisa Smiled’ all going down extremely well with the crowd. The closing duo of ‘There She Goes Again’ and ‘Sex Party’ rounded off a brilliant hour set, showing exactly why THE QUIREBOYS are one of the best around.

British metallers WITCHFYNDE (2.8/5.0) were next to grace the second stage, and unfortunately they didn’t have anything special or memorable about them which made me think these guys are good, or I will have to listen out for these again. It was then time for the main stage to open with hard rock act MARYA ROXX (3.5/5.0) whose energetic performance got the best out of the rather small crowd who had gathered to watch her. I was particularly impressed with guitarist Paul Crook, who was absolutely superb during the set, even if the act is basically a better version of LAUREN HARRIS.

Back on the second stage, British metallers ANGEL WITCH (4.0/5.0) were taking to stage where they played an enjoyable hour set where the majority were made up from their self title opus. Standout tracks from their set were ‘Sweet Danger’, ‘Confused’, and ‘White Witch’ and as their set closed with ‘Angel Witch’, the crowd dispersed in one direction. To the main stage, where probably the most eagerly awaited band of the weekend was up next.

W.A.S.P. (4.9/5.0) were undoubtedly the band of the weekend as they delivered a top notch performance from start to finish and there hour set left a lot of the crowd wanting more, me being one of them. Opening up the awesome ‘On Your Knees’, Blackie Lawless never stopped moving all around the stage during the entire set. Other classics filled out the set which included superb renditions of ‘The Idol’, ‘L.O.V.E. Machine’ and ‘Chainsaw Charlie (Murders In The New Morgue)’.

The only new song on show in the set was ‘Crazy’ which had sections which sounded unerringly like they were taken from ‘Wildchild’ (which was also in the set). Well, if they are going to rip off stuff, at least it’s their own! A familiar duo of ‘I Wanna Be Somebody’ and ‘Blind In Texas’ brought a close to an excellent set which the crowd loved from start to finish, and you could tell the band also loved playing in front of a packed crowd.

American progressive metallers QUEENSRYCHE (4.8/5.0) headlined the main stage in what was an exclusive UK appearance of 2009. They decided to play a selection of songs from three of their albums, ‘Empire’, ‘Rage For Order’ and new opus, ‘American Soldier’. Unfortunately, this meant that classics like ‘Queen of The Reich’ and ‘I Don’t Believe In Love’ were not going to be played, but a surprise omission from the set was the lack of ‘Jet City Woman’.

The crowd had dispersed a little, but still a healthy sized crowd saw a wonderful performance from the talented musicians. My only gripe would be that Geoff Tate’s vocals were a little too low at times, but this didn’t really detract from the enjoyment, with plenty of quality songs in the set with the likes of ‘Neue Regel’, ‘I Dream In Infrared’ and ‘Walk In The Shadows’ all standing out in the ‘Rage For Order’ section of the set.

The new material on show tonight in the form of ‘Man Down!’, ‘Sliver’ and ‘If I Were King’ all went down a storm with the crowd and sounded brilliant in the live arena, while the ‘Empire’ section of the set produced some cracking renditions of ‘Best I Can’, ‘Another Rainy Night (Without You)’ and ‘Silent Lucidity’ before the awesome ‘Empire’ finished things off with a high as QUEENSRHYCE pulled off another brilliant performance despite some technical difficulties and surprise omissions.

A very quick walk to the second stage was necessary as the main stage was running behind schedule and UK thrashers ONSLAUGHT (3.8/5.0) were finishing off their set to a crowd that seemed to being loving every second of some quality thrash metal. ‘Seeds of Hate’, ‘Burn’ and ‘Power From Hell’ were the standout tracks of what I heard.

It was that time of the day and during what has become known as the graveyard shift, it was time for the first of three extreme metal bands of the weekend as GOATWHORE (3.9/5.0) took to second stage. They had plenty of technical difficulties, more so than any other band on that stage over the weekend, and because of this they had to cut their set short. Still, the faithful crowd who had turned up to witness them seemed very happy nevertheless and tracks like ‘Shadow of A Rising Knife’ and ‘Carving Out The Eyes of God’ went down fantastically well with the headbangers in attendance.

SKELETONWITCH (4.4/5.0) have a very thrashy sound to them and along with the last band on this stage, are considered part of the thrash revival movement. Vocalist Chance Garnett reminds me somewhat of Cam Pipes, but seems to have a more varied range than Pipes, which is great as he really can deliver the goods. Tracks like ‘Upon Wings of Black’, ‘Beyond The Permafrost’ and ‘Vengeance Will Be Mine’ are absolutely cracking tracks and are awesome live too, and while hardly anybody was in attendance to watch these guys, the ones that did headbanged to every single note. Set closer ‘Within My Blood’ wrapped up a great set, and I for one will be checking these guys out again in the future.

Closing the second stage for the weekend were American thrashers TOXIC HOLOCAUST (4.4/5.0) whose 45 minute set went down a treat with the night owls and as they headbanged their way through tracks like ‘March From Hell’, ‘In The Name of Science’, and ‘Endless Armageddon’, which were guaranteed to give you neck ache the following morning. Seen as the main stage was running late, I decided to check out SPIT LIKE THIS (3.7/5.0) whose punky shock rock kind of style seemed to be keeping the party going until the end, and wrapped up a wonderful weekend of headbanging and partying.

The organisers of HARD ROCK HELL yet again have put on another awesome festival full of great bands, who delivered great sets, a great atmosphere and a great party all weekend. Only in the UK could a festival be held at a Holiday Camp, in the middle of winter and be a huge success. So until HARD ROCK HELL IV, and until next December, Hi De Hi Campers!

Rating: 4.8/5.0

Photography By Alexander Shaw

(Friday’s photo Gallery)

(Saturday’s photo Gallery)