Dynamo Metalfest
Dirk Kremers | 15.07.2017 | Dutch Brutal / Death / Metal / Thrash NL
On the 15th of July, the 3rd edition of Dynamo Metalfest was planned in the ice-skate centre in Eindhoven. With bands like White Boy Wasted, Vuur, Toxik, Prong, Entombed A.D., Exodus, Devin Townsend Project, Testament and Gojira, this year was sold out. Around 11:00 the gates would open. Dutch Brutal Death Metal Thrash arrived a bit later. The first band White Boy Wasted started at 11:30 and ended at 12:05. When I arrived at the venue, the band Vuur was playing the last notes of their set.
White Boy Wasted (that I wasn’t able to see live) won the competition to play live at the Dynamo Metalfest. Around 12:30, Anneke van Giersbergen took the stage with her new band called ‘Vuur’. It was the very first time Vuur was on stage. The band has yet to release their debut album but that is going to happen in October this year!
Around 13:30, the thrash metal band Toxik took the Dynamo stage. Toxik is a ‘80’s band because they released their two full-length albums in that period. The new EP is almost ready and the guys are really excited to release it. I can say that Toxik has played a lot of thrash classics on the fest. For the old fans of Toxik, the band played a lot of their hits and the fans really enjoyed it. A 50-minute set did the job for the fans.
Around 14:45 the next band was Prong. With a massive mix of several genres like hardcore, thrash and industrial and even some Pantera-like grooves. The fans really liked the set and the band released some violence and classics along their set. The band was really cool and I liked their set for sure.
Around 16:00, Entombed A.D. took the stage. The legends took care of the old school death metal fans. As one of the founders of old school death metal, the band had a perfect set prepared but got a little bit of a negative load because of the bad sound throughout the festival. But the band played and they played amazing. The latest two albums called Back To The Front and Dawn Dead were really heavy and they sounded great.
Around 17:15 it was time for one of the greatest thrash bands called Exodus. It was sad to see Exodus perform without Gary Holt but Exodus managed to do the job without him. The band performed many old school songs and sadly there wasn’t much to hear from the later albums. The show was amazing to see and the crowd enjoyed and showed their gratitude in the form of headbanging and countless mosh pits.
Around 18:45 the legendary Devin Townsend Project took the stage. I consider this a cooling down performance. It was different compared to the other bands but The Devin Townsend Project put on a great show with lots of entertainment and humour. During their set, they had a surprise in the form of Anneke van Giersbergen. She even completed the set more and I enjoyed the set for sure. A successful performance of The Devin Townsend Project.
After the The Devin Townsend Show show, Testament took the stage. However, it didn’t go to plan as they started 30 minutes later and they have to shorten the setlist dramatically which was an abomination for the fans. When the band played they won the fans completely. The songs they played were flawless. Luckily for the fans that are disappointed, Testament will return to The Netherlands and play a show with Death Angel and Annihilator.
The last act Gojira took the stage. The French modern day legends gave the festival his last push. The new album ‘Magma’ that appeared last year, isn’t a forgotten album. During the show, the band didn’t just play the show. Gojira brought a lot of firework with them to impress the crowd. The gentlemen has proven again that they are one of the biggest names in the modern day metal scene. They performed at their best and gave the fans an amazing ending to such an amazing festival.