Masters Of Rock 2023: AMON AMARTH, ELUVEITIE, THE HU, ORDEN OGAN, WARKINGS, DRAGONS @ Areál Likérky Rudolf Jelínek, Vizovice (16.07.2023)
On the fourth day, everyone who was still able had to get up early, because as patriots it was our duty to be in front of the stage by 1 p.m. to watch the compatriots from DRAGONY. As expected, it was already or still very hot, but people were no longer deterred by that and so the scenery was quite decent for this fairly early slot. Unfortunately, singer Siegfried “The Dragonslayer” Samer and his five colleagues had to deal with sound problems right from the start, which were difficult to eliminate. But eventually it worked and it was time for not quite 50 minutes of Power Metal made in Austria.
DRAGONY are also welcome guests here and it wasn’t difficult for Sigi to encourage the crowd to sing and jump along. With “Viribus Unitis” they have an almost new album with them, from which the opener “Gods Of War” and “Made Of Metal (Cyberpunk Joseph)” were intoned together with the singer Maria Nesh (RED EYE TEMPLE). Maria didn’t leave the stage anymore and so Mr. Samer and Mrs. Nesh simply took turns singing and thus provided variety. With “The Dead Queen’s Race” the fans were able to enjoy the live debut of this single. Solid gig with a few technical flaws that were quickly forgotten.
Photo (c) Manfred Thanner
Setlist DRAGONY:
Gods Of War
Lords Of The Hunt
Golden Dawn
LOANS
Made Of Metal (Cyberpunk Joseph)
The Dead Queen’s Race(Live debut)
If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It
Legends Never Die
If you liked it a bit more warlike and harder, you got your money’s worth with the reborn fighters from WARKINGS. The tasteful stage construction with flags, shields and the impressive band cover in the background increased the anticipation of the new formation by Georg Neuhauser (SERENITY). Founded in 2018, the group was probably only known to insiders. The story told here is simple: four deceased warriors, including a Roman tribune, a crusader, a Spartan and a Viking, meet after their death in Valhalla and decide to bring heavy metal to earth with the help of Odin.
Why not? Thanks to nice costumes and a lot of pathos, the concept works very well and songs like “Maximus” and the HAMMERFALL-like “Heart Of Rage” with singer Morgana le Fay (Secil Sen) are really catchy. And if that’s not enough for you, you can take on the band’s own butcher and his oversized hammer in the circle pit.
Even if the rush of people at the MoR was unfortunately limited, the troupe put on a fine and amusing performance and the number of spectators will definitely continue to grow.
Setlist WARKINGS:
The Last Battle
Maximus
Hephaistos
Hellfire
Heart Of Rage
Spartacus
Give Em War
Fight
We Are The Fire
Sparta
Gladiator
After a short lunch break and various refreshments at the campsite, we hurried back to ORDEN ORGAN on the well-filled site in good time. Perfect German Power Metal was on the agenda and of course they didn’t want to miss it. Singer and founding father Sebastian “Seeb” Levermann, probably in a sweaty leather coat, has been active with his troupe for 25 years now, and the fan base is correspondingly large, as a look in front of the stage reveals.
The number of hits has grown a lot in the meantime and songs like “We Are Pirates” or the grandiose “Gunman” from the 2017 album of the same name go down like oil. Everyone present sang along loudly and the mood grew more and more as the concert progressed and reached its climax with the last song “The Things We Believe In”. The band managed to get the crowd in front of the stage to make waves while drummer Dirk “Dirki” Meyer-Berhorn emptied liters of water over his head to avoid collapsing. This is how German craftsmanship works and it was really fun. Hope to see you again soon.
Setlist ORDEN OGAN:
F.E.V.E.R.
InThe Dawn Of The AI
Sorrow Is Your Tale
We Are Pirates
Come With Me To The Other Side
Forlorn And Forsaken
Inferno
Heart Of The Android
Gunman
Let The Fire Rain
The Things We Believe In
The last evening of this year’s MoR was all about folk metal and you learned something about Mongolian, Swiss and Swedish history if you listened carefully. The high-flyers from THE HU, who have been bringing their musical culture closer to the world since 2016, were allowed to start the folklore class. By the way, that works really well, so you were allowed to tour as the support act for METALLICA and a look at the prices for the merch made it clear to you that they’ve reached the top. Anyone who hasn’t heard of the eight-strong troupe either lives by the moon or rarely comes out from under their stone.
The set started very down-to-earth and sympathetic with “Huhchu Zairan” and the more well-known “The Gereg”. Apparently the Czech audience was also curious, because the area was very well attended and a good mood quickly prevailed. The gentlemen from Central Asia held back with announcements and let their instruments such as the horse-head fiddle, Jew’s harp or the Mongolian guitars do the talking. Even if many songs sound similar, you never get bored and you get carried away with the mystical sound and sway down.
Thanks to two strong albums, they already have a few hits in their luggage, “Mother Nature”, the powerful “Black Thunder” or the good mood song “Yuve Yuve Yu” caused enthusiasm and headbangers as far as the eye could see. Great praise also goes to the people who were responsible for the sound, because the power with which the eight gentlemen presented themselves here was great. Even if there was little space available, the musicians kept taking turns in the front row, so you could get a good picture of the band members.
Two more hits followed with “Wolf Totem” (great video) and “This Is Mongol” before METALLICA was honored with the cover “Through The Never”. THE HU are not where they are at the moment for nothing, because there are truly talented and passionate musicians at work here.
Setlist THE HU:
Huhchu Zairan
The Greek
Shock Shock
Shihi Hutu
Bii Biyelgee
The Great Chinggis Khaan
Mother Nature
Eseerin Vasahina (The Agasar Cover)
Tatar Warrior
Upright Destined Mongol
Black Thunder
Yuve Yuve Yu
Wolf Totem
This Is Mongol
Through The Never
After that, the Swiss from ELUVEITIE were allowed to tell their stories. The mixture of folk, melodic and death metal is very well received here, which is why multi-talent Christian “Chrigel” Glanzmann and his regularly changing supporters are welcome guests at the Masters Of Rock. Anyone who thought that THE HU was already a bit cramped on stage was able to experience an increase here, because ELUVEITIE arrived with nine people. Here, too, a certain amount of female power could not be missing and so singer Fabienne Erni, cellist Nicole Ansperger and newcomer Annie Hurdy Gurdy on the hurdy-gurdy were able to bring some female charm to the crowd of men.
It’s been four years since the last album, but with “Deathwalker” and “Ategnatos” two tracks from this disc found their way into the set list and added seamlessly to the somewhat older material. Surprisingly, mastermind and singer Chrigel held back quite a bit that evening and left the vocal helm to the red-haired Fabienne Erni from the fifth song onwards. The lady has a wonderfully enchanting voice that caused goosebumps, especially in her native language with “De Ruef vo de Bärge”. The mood at sunset was correspondingly good and seemed almost kitschy with the various folk instruments.
Chrigel, wearing a black hood as usual, always grabbed his guitar and supported his colleagues. The grand finale followed with the brute and already cult “Inis Mona”, in which the bagpipes and flute could not be missing. Here everyone let it all out again, the crowning glory of this year’s festival should follow.
Setlist ELUVEITIE:
Exile Of The Gods
Epona
Deathwalker
Thousandfold
Ambiramus
Breathe
King
The Ruef Vo De Bärge
–
aid
Ategnatos
Inis Mona
After a classic intro it was time for brute Swedish Viking Metal from AMON AMARTH. The northerners stormed the stage like a bunch of Vikings gone mad, carrying a lot of pyro madness with them. If RAMMSTEIN are Olympic champions in this discipline, then at least Sweden are world champions. The long-haired gentlemen have been perfecting their melodic death metal for 30 years and, thanks to their hard work, are allowed to headline one festival after the other.
The 90-minute battle was properly opened with “Guardians Of Asgaard”. AMON AMARTH haven’t been idle in the last few years either, and so three songs from their latest work “The Great Heathen Army” could be admired. The almost calm-sounding “Heidrun” or the catchy “Find A Way Or Make One” have everything a song by this band needs, so these numbers were celebrated accordingly. The fire pillars provided the necessary heat, which alternately sprayed their heat forwards or upwards. To cool down, Chief Viking Johan Hegg always took a sip from his mead horn, which he carried on his belt.
The fans escalated to “Death In Fire” and “Destroyer Of The Universe” and one stage diver followed the next, so that the security almost couldn’t keep up. A word about the stage set-up, which was without question the most beautiful of this year’s festival: A huge Viking helmet in the middle of the stage surrounded by two gigantic warriors provided the necessary visual support. A feast for the eyes!
The hour and a half flew by and “Twilight Of The Thunder God” was the dignified, hot and loud conclusion of an almost perfect festival. The parting of the musicians from their fans took a little longer, which the musicians couldn’t be blamed for. AMON AMARTH came, saw and prevailed in battle.
Setlist AMON AMARTH:
Guardians Of Asgaard
Raven’s Flight
The Great Heathen Army
Heidrun
Death In Fire
The Pursuit Of Vikings
Deceiver Of The Gods
Find a Way Or Make One
Put Your Back Into The Oar
Destroyer Of The Universe
The Way Of Vikings
The Berserker At Stamford Bridge
First Kill
Shield Wall
Raise Your Horns
–
Twilight Of The Thunder God
The Masters Of Rock 2023 is likely to go down as one of the hottest in history and thanks to sunburn and tinnitus, many will remember the hardships for a little longer. But all in all, as always, things went smoothly and without major incidents. Even if you missed the big hit on the set, the variety and the great diversity provided for many great moments and smiling faces. The Czech Republic will welcome us again next year.
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