Hard Features

Brave Words and Bloody Knuckles Six Pack Weekend 3

by Jonathan Mariante

Brave Words and Bloody Knuckles magazine's Six Pack Weekend Festival celebrated its third anniversary in May of '05 in Cleveland, Ohio. The metal festivities kicked off Thursday May 5 with a warm up show. The first band to take the stage were Malaki's Reign, from New Jersey, who played traditional/progressive metal, like Iron Maiden meets Fates Warning, and did a pretty damn good job of it. They were followed by a death metal band (whose name I can't now remember) who were really nothing special, just your typical death metal band, with a bit of classic thrash in their sound. After them came local heroes Wretch, who have been going at it since the 80s. They played classic style heavy metal, in the Maiden/Priest/Accept/Manowar vein. Their singer was a short, barrel chested guy, clad in leather, studs, and chains from head to toe, and he has a hell of a powerful voice. Wretch kicked some serious ass, blasting out the metal for all they were worth. Next up were a Canadian power trio called Goat Horn. Their name might suggest a doomy sound for this band, but that was not the case. These guys were old school all the way, looking and sounding like they were straight out of the 80s! A metal powerhouse! And finally, the night was rounded out by Beyond Fear, a band recently put together by Tim "Ripper" Owens (former Judas Priest/current Iced Earth vocalist) as a side project for his Iced Earth duties. Tim is well-established in the metal community by now, and with Beyond Fear he now has a band that is all his own. Tim was his usual self, singing in his earth shattering, Halford-like voice. Beyond Fear are a very heavy band who played well, and actually reminded me of "Jugulator"-era Priest, playing classic style, twin-guitar heavy metal with a hint of modern flavor and aggression. They seem to be off to a good start, as was the third Six Pack.

I actually missed a large part of the first main day of 6 Pack (May 6), which was made up mostly of black/death metal type bands, which is not really my cup, so my friend and I decided to take our time. When we got there, Soilwork were on stage. This band are currently very popular, particularly with younger fans. Their style is in the death/thrash vein, with some modern elements to their music. The last two bands of the night were up next, and as they say, the best is saved for last. First there was Exciter, a long-standing classic metal band from Canada. In the 80s, Exciter were a trio fronted by drummer/vocalist Dan Beehler, but now they are a four-piece, with guitarist John Ricci as the only remaining original member. They let loose and thrashed out at breakneck speed, playing classics like "Long Live The Loud", "Heavy Metal Maniac", "Violence And Force", "Pounding Metal", "Rising Of The Dead", a few songs from their more recent albums, and even treated us to a couple of brand new, not-yet-recorded songs. Exciter ripped, giving their performance 110%! The night was then concluded with a performance by Savatage guitarist Chris Caffery, who has just released his first solo album. I have not yet bought this album so I was not familiar with the songs, but Chris is a great guitarist, who has made many classic albums with Savatage, and he and his band put on a great show. Chris also sang lead vocals, and did a good job of that, which is something he never did in Savatage. His solo material sounds basically in the same vein as Savatage. It's classic style heavy metal with some touches of prog. He also threw in a few Sava-classics, which is to be expected. Chris's solo career seems to be off to a good start. However, if anyone is wondering about a new Savatage album, don't hold your breath. I spoke to Chris briefly and asked him about that, and he said he didn't know when that might happen.

On Saturday the 7th, I unfortunately missed the first band, Deadly Blessing, but I got there just in time to see Raven. A stalwart NWOBHM power trio who have been playing for donkey's years, Raven are led by the Gallagher brothers, bassist/vocalist John and guitarist Mark, respectively (In the 80s they featured wildman drummer Rob "Wacko" Hunter who was known for sporting a football helmet and demolishing his drum kit with his bare hands but he has long since left the band). Raven once described their sound as "athletic rock" and that's a good description. It's muscular old school metal in the vein of Priest or Motorhead. Raven cranked out the jams like it was still the 80s, proving they've still got it in them, even after almost thirty years! They focused mainly on their early material, like "All For One", "Hell Patrol", "Live At The Inferno", "On And On", "Rock Until You Drop", "Break The Chain", and "Mind Over Metal". Raven certainly don't come to this side of the Big Pond very often (and they generally don't play live very frequently) so to see these guys play was a treat indeed!

Next on the bill were power metal masters Jag Panzer. Although they've been around since the 80s, it's only in more recent years they've found their niche in the metal world. They've become one of the most recognized names among fans of traditional/power metal, and have just recently released their latest album, "Casting The Stones", arguably their best yet. They played a few songs from this album, as well as classics like "Battlezone", "Iron Eagle", "Take To The Sky", "King At A Price", and "Thane To The Throne". Their performance was nothing short of amazing! These guys are stellar musicians, and vocalist Harry "The Tyrant" Conklin has a mountain-moving voice! The band lived up to their name (A Jag Panzer being a German WWII tank) as their performance was like being assaulted by a war machine! They had every note down to a T, and there is a lot of technicality in their music. They were like a musical blast furnace, almost blowing the roof off the house! In my opinion, their performance was the best of the festival! Unfortunately, it wasn't very long (just under an hour) so they didn't get to play some songs I would have liked to hear, but they more than made up for in quality what their show lacked in quantity. Jag Panzer are, without a doubt, a world class metal band!

Next up were a kind of weird band, Mors Principum Est. Their sound reminded me of Moonspell, kind of death/doom, with keyboards to give it a haunting atmosphere. I was not familiar with this band at all, and their style just ain't my cup, so I checked 'em out for a bit, just to get a feel for them, then went record shopping. They were followed by popular Dutch death metal band God Dethroned. Although I'm not much a death metal fan, these guys did do a decent job. They are very aggressive, and put on a rip-roaring performance, their playing tight and technical. They're very influenced by Slayer and Cannibal Corpse. God Dethroned can certainly do it. However, their performance was a little lengthy. I guess that's not a problem if you're a fan, though.

Finally, we got to the band so many had been eagerly anticipating, Death Angel. These classic Bay Area thrashers re-united a few years back, much to the delight of many a metalhead, and everyone was pumped about their appearance at Six Pack. From what I saw, Death Angel did not disappoint. They tore through every song they played like a Texas chainsaw massacre, thrashing for all they were worth, never missing a beat, like they'd never been away. They sounded as fresh and full of energy as they did back in the day. These guys were basically a bunch of kids when they started, which means they're still quite young now, and have still got it in them, and then some! They played like wild animals that have been caged for too long, blasting through classics like "Voracious Souls", "Evil Priest", "Kill As One", "Ultra Violence", "Bored", "Seemingly Endless Time", and "Final Death", as well as some of their newer material. The crowd went wild, some of them forming a mosh pit. I had to keep my eyes peeled to make sure I didn't get knocked off my feet or my toes crushed! But that didn't stop me from digging Angel's show. They put on a blitzing performance, proving that thrash ain't dead, and anyone who thinks so is gonna have to deal with the Death Angel! Their show went over very well, but...What? No "Thrashers"?

The third Six Pack was capped off by another much anticipated classic metal band, Trouble. These guys are known for being pioneers of the doom metal sound. If was to describe their style, I would say it's like Black Sabbath with dual guitars. I must confess I've never owned a Trouble album so I was only familiar with a handful of their songs, and they have a good number of albums to their credit, having been around for over twenty years. They played songs spanning their entire career. The ones I recognized were "Memory's Garden", "End Of My Daze", "Excuse Me", "Run To The Light", "Psalm 9", and "The Skull". Of course they played many more and their performance was very good. They are a talented and heavy band who can kick it out on stage, and given their style of music, they cast a bit of a dark aura on things-not a bad thing by any means.

And that wrapped it up for the third round of Six Pack. Every band I saw put on a great performance and I would call it a success. My one criticism is that I think they had a few too many death/black metal bands on the bill this time around. A bit more variety is needed next time. Aside from that, well done.