Metal Exposure » Metal Mean 2009

Metal Mean 2009

Oct-22-2009

It has been a couple of years since I’ve been at the Metal Méan Festival, a small festival in a very small town (Méan) in the French part of Belgium. But convinced by the line up it was time to check out this festival again.
First thing to notice was that this time the festival took place inside a tent, and not outside as the last time I was there. A good decision from the organisation, since I remember Destruction in 2006 quitting their show because of all the rain.
This year was quite the opposite. The sun was burning like hell, it was hot, and it was for sure not going to rain!

Not long after I woke up it was already time for the first band to start playing. The festival started with the final of a contest that was held by Metal Méan. It wasn’t really clear to me what the contest was about, and which band finally won, but well. There were four bands left in the contest, and the first band to play was B.O.R.G.I.A. Never heard of this band before, but it was a nice surprise to see this band opening the festival, because they were really good. Though they still have to learn how to perform as a band instead of 5 individuals it was a pleasure to watch this band. After a couple of songs it was enough of me, though they had a good show, it was a bit too much of the same music for me.

Second band in the competition was Black Bleeding. The first 2 songs I only listened to outside of the tent and it sounded pretty rough. Because I didn’t see the band during this two songs I was very surprised to see that this band only existed out of two persons. What a sound they can make with just two people, wow! Nice grindcore with some nice humour, I liked it!

Next band, still in the competition was Desakralised. Though I’m afraid I will never be able to pronounce this word in my life, I decided to watch it anyway. The music was black metal like, but nothing special about it unfortunately. Except for the singer, the bandmembers weren’t that enthusiastic. I had seen enough of it after a couple of songs.

Last band in the competition was Dead Episode. Of course I had never heard of this band before either. And well yeah, their style of music totally wasn’t my piece of cake, it was a nice band to watch and they played pretty good.

So the competition ended, I didn’t vote cause no-one explained me how I had to vote, but well, I guess my vote would have went to B.O.R.G.I.A.

So then it was time for the other bands that the festival booked!
The first band was Innerfire. It was a nice band, mainly because of their good and nice performance. Their sound was kind of blackish, but not really, it was difficult to place it. It wasn’t very special, but still a nice band to see.

Next band was D.A.M.N. also known Diary About My Nightmares. All I can say is that this band rocks! Never seen them before, but.. DAMN What a good show! It made it more special that the rough grunts were done but a cute blond girl that turns into a beast when she’s on stage. The fact that the interaction between the band and the crowd was really good made this one of the best bands of the day. All that’s left to say is: we need more chicks in metal!!

So it was time for the only band coming from my own country, Carach Angren. Though they played a really good show, there was this old sound problem that the band has. Somehow, every time I see this band the sound isn’t good. The keys weren’t loud enough and you almost couldn’t hear the singer. Fortunately most of it got fixed after a few songs and the show went really good. The audience as well as the band were very enthusiastic and there even was a moshpit!

It seemed that most people spilled all their energy during Carach Angren, because when Demonical started to play there weren’t that much people left in the tent anymore. I found this rather strange since the band played really good! They were really enthusiastic, especially their singer!

I personally really like Hate Eternal. I already saw them a couple of times this summer and they always give a good show, and this time too. It was nice to watch, but I have to say that I prefer listen to this band at home with the cd, than watching it live because then it all starts to sound a bit too much of the same.

I was mostly looking forward to see the next band, Taake. After they finally got painted they entered the stage. Though the singer seemed to be a bit drunk, they still managed to give away a good show. There were a lot of people watching and they had a lot of energy and seemed to really enjoy the show, just like the band itself.

I think Sceptic Flesh was the most popular band at the festival. It was really crowded and a lot of people came to watch it. Though the crowd really seemed to enjoy it, I think they started their show pretty weak. After a while I was happy to see (and hear of course) that it got better. Unfortunately they only played the newer songs and no old stuff.

Headliner of the festival was Finntroll. I have to confess that I’ve already seen this band too many times, but I still enjoy it most of the times. I was really happy to see that Finntroll played an amazing show. Last couple of times that I’ve seen this band they weren’t that good, but this night they were great! I heard some songs I’ve almost never heard live before. They had a lot of energy and really got the crowd moving, a good ending of the festival!

And so the festival was already ended. I had a real good time and were glad to see that some things changed thorough the years. The fact that the stage is inside a tent now is a huge plus! Besides that the festival is small and cute. I was happy that at least some of the crewmembers spoke English, though not all of them did, but well… je parle français une petite peu
Besides that some wine and vodka or whiskey instead of only beer (and jagermeister) would have nice too, but well surviving on beer isn’t torture either.
Hopefully I will be able to come back to this festival another time!