[Seb] On to day two. Today, I’m looking forward to two proper death metal bangers in NILE and DISMEMBER, while others couldn’t wait to see DOOL earlier in the afternoon.
All in all, Saturday features a line-up that offers a lot of variety, there’s a whole range of styles represented. It's just a shame that, especially compared to Friday, the weather leaves a lot to be desired: Rain ponchos and umbrellas will dominate the area in front of the stage not only today but for almost the entire remainder of the festival.
:: pics :: AMETHYST ::
[BRT] Swiss youngsters and NWoBHM fans :: AMETHYST :: arrived with a lot of advance praise and their quite successful debut Throw Down The Gauntlet in tow. Despite the success it needs to be mentioned that their music is a bit too “styled”, mainstream-optimized and schematic. Anyhow, the audience has to make up their own mind. In my opinion, this is certainly a good opener for Saturday.
[Sui] AMETHYST open the second day with classic heavy metal from the late seventies. It’s very obvious which bands they picked as their role models, just like so many other RHF opener in the past. The songs are catchy, rock out well and AMETHYST are cheered accordingly. However, it's all a bit too tame for my taste. The vocals in particular seem rather timid, as if Fredric Ekbørg was afraid to really let go himself.
[Dajana] Compared to the album version, the live show seemed much more powerful and energetic. It was ok to get the first beer started ;)
Band: Fredric Ekbørg (vox), Phil Lainović (git), Yves Bradler (git), Miguel Sanchez (bass), Eldo (drums)
Setlist: Intro, Embers On The Loose, Running Out Of Time, Queen Of A Thousand, Nightstranger, Rock Knights, Chasing Shadows, Stormchild
:: pics :: THE NIGHT ETERNAL ::
[BRT] The shooting stars of melancholic-melodic metal, :: THE NIGHT ETERNAL :: are certainly an ideal warm-up for the early Saturday afternoon. Just having inked a new record deal with Metal Blade Records, I'm really looking forward to seeing what the guys around charismatic lead singer Ricardo have up their sleeves. As of now, they have yet to conquer the bigger stages.
[Sui] That’s how it’s done: local heroes THE NIGHT ETERNAL showed how to bring classic metal to the stage! This show was much more energetic and impressive than Amethyst earlier on. They still relied on melancholy and melody, but contrasted that with hard riffs and a powerful singer.
[Steen] It was just a matter of time until THE NIGHT ETERNAL would play the ROCK HARD FESTIVAL. After all, this festival is where the youngsters from the neighboring city of Essen met each other in the first place! Despite all their power and energetic stage acting, I still think they're missing that certain something to really stand out from the crowd. A committed performance, but there's still some room for improvement..
Band: Ricardo Baum (vox), Rob Richter (git), Henry Käseberg (git), Jannik Stüber (bass), Aleister Präkelt (drums)
Setlist: Between The Worlds, In Tartarus, Stars Guide My Way, Run With The Wolves, Shadow's Servants, Elysion (Take Me Over), Prince Of Darkness, Moonlit Cross
:: pics :: THE GEMS ::
[BRT] It’s nothing new that Thundermother regularly replace their entire line-up. But if you give such a strong and charismatic voice as Guernica Mancini's the boot, you have to expect some backlash. In musical terms, the Swedes :: THE GEMS :: kplay powerful and catchy hard rock, so you can definitely expect an increase in both activity in front of the stage and consumption of beer.
[Sui] THE GEMS in their shiny outfits (the only “regrettable” exception: the guitarist) do indeed look like jewels of hard rock. No frills and with rough edges, a stark contrast to the generic and interchangeable Thundermother. If you ignore a few “blue notes” during the solo part of Ease Your Pain, the THE GEMS played absolutely tight and flawlessly. I don't need to listen to their material when at home, but it was definitely fun to see them perform live.
[Chris] Classy hard rock, a bit too much mid-tempo at the beginning, and the show could have done with more grit overall. A bit too trivial for my taste.
Band: Guernica Mancini (vox), Mona “Demona” Lindgren (git,bass), Emlee Johansson (drums)
Setlist: Aurora, Queens, Send Me To The Wolves, Domino, Silver Tongue, Undiscovered Paths, Maria's Song, Ease Your Pain, Running, P.S.Y.C.H.O, Kiss It Goodbye, Force Of Nature, Fruits Of My Labor, Live And Let Go, Like A Phoenix
:: pics :: DOOL ::
[BRT] If you only know :: DOOL :: from their records, you might be surprised how aggressive and rocking the Dutch band around Raven Van Dorst comes across on stage. The current material, The Shape Of Fluidity, is the strongest of the band, and so far, I am curious if the subsequent, more introverted bands will manage to keep the energy level as high as DOOL will rise it.
[Dajana] DOOL are simply an unbelievably great band. Live, as well as on record.
[Sui] I was particularly looking forward to DOOL. They have a lot of charisma and despite the deep emotionality of the songs, the sound is also often very powerful and intense. Just like Geoff Tate the day before, the Dutch band gave me goosebumps. Not even the onset of heavy rain could detract from this experience..
[Chris] DOOL were one of my absolute highlights of the festival, the sound was immaculate, the level of heaviness was much higher than with earlier bands and the stage acting was great throughout. Not even the massive downpour did deter the most committed fans, many got soaked down to their underwear. I had to go to the car and put on dry clothes after the show was finished.
[Dajana] To quote some very fitting words from singer Raven van Dorst: “we are not made of sugar” ;) For me - as expected - THE highlight of the second festival day!
Band: Raven van Dorst (vox, git), Nick Polak (git), Omar Iskandr (git), Job van de Zande (bass), Vincent Kreyder (drums)
Setlist: The Shape Of Fluidity, Self Dissect, Wolf Moon, The Alpha, Venus In Flames, House Of A Thousand Dreams, Hermagorgon, Oweynagat
:: pics :: THRESHOLD ::
[BRT] I was just about to write that :: THRESHOLD :: have gone a bit quiet lately, but oops - that's not true. The 2022 album Dividing Lines simply passed me by, no idea why. The Brits have always been among the best when it comes to music and vocals, now they “just” have to translate that to the big stage.
[Dajana] The band were actually supposed to play last year’s RHF, but had to cancel. I used to like THRESHOLD very much, but had totally lost sight of them in recent years. And the quick catch-up listen to the current album Dividing Lines was rather... Let's put it this way: good album, no question, but there have been better ones ;) And then THRESHOLD start directly with one of my all-time favorite tracks of the band, Slipstream...
[Seb] While the others were already getting rained on the amphitheater, I was - in order to act at least sort of responsible and conserve my stamina - still on my way to the grounds, so that THRESHOLD were my first band of day two.
This was the Brits' fourth time at the RHF, with current vocalist Glynn Morgan (who had already been on the mic for THRESHOLD in the 1990s) appearing on stage for the first time. The show seemed fairly routine to me, but I'm not enough of a fan to be able to judge that properly…
[Chris] THRESHOLDwere super solid as usual, but Glynn Morgan simply isn't comparable to the much more charismatic Damian Wilson and the band did also lack a second guitar. As always, drummer Johanne James was the eye and ear-catcher, bringing at least some life to the gig by way of his powerful drumming.
[Steen] I hadn't listened the British band THRESHOLD previously, turns out that the music is a bit too tame and too smooth for me. The performance was excellent on a technical level but at the same time a bit static. And their idea of stage acting does not seem to go beyond staring at their own shoes for the most part. At least the drumming was top notch.
[Sui] Musically absolutely top notch, THRESHOLD still had a hard time keeping up the thrill and interest after Dool. And so, despite their flawless performance (perhaps too flawless?), they were “only” a kind of transitional band between the outstanding Dool and the next wrecking ball.
Band: Glynn Morgan (vox), Karl Groom (git), Richard West (key), Steve Anderson (bass), Johanne James (drums)
Setlist: Slipstream, Silenced, The Man Who Saw Through Time, Mission Profile, Falling Away, Snowblind, King Of Nothing, Small Dark Lines
:: pics :: NILE ::
[Seb] There have been editions where I complained that harder styles had been somewhat neglected at the RHF: there's no way that can be done (apart from perhaps the fact that it's “only” death metal) on this year's day two.
Short version: :: NILE :: = awesome ;-)
Long version: Although standards may differ, NILE are probably the most “brutal” band to have played at the RHF so far. All around us, quite a few visitors “fled” during the first couple of songs. Hard rock, prog etc. are obviously much easier for death metal fans to tolerate than the other way around, at least when it comes to the extreme varieties, haha.
NILE opened with two tracks from their latest album The Underworld Awaits Us All, which are by no means bad, but a tad underwhelming by their own standard. Afterwards, however, NILE played a successful cross-section of their previous and older work, with the four tracks from Annihilation Of The Wicked and Black Seeds Of Vengeance in particular inciting a whole lot of movement in front of the stage as well as spinning heads in the stands.
Unfortunately, the show finished early at 19:07. The (obvious) finale Black Seeds Of Vengeance was only followed by the outro droning on for a while, leaving the fans hoping in vain for an encore. It seemed a bit as if Karl Sanders in particular had run out of steam towards the end. It's easy to forget that the man is already in his early 60s - how time flies...
A little treat on the side: A ship called “ISIS” sailing along the Rhine-Herne Canal behind the stage while NILE played was a particularly fitting coincidence :-)
[Sui] Death metal just isn't my thing and NILE couldn't change my mind either. The sound was brute, but at a level where most of the nuances were drowned out in a high-gain thunderstorm. Time for Sui's obligatory stroll through the community.
[Steen] As always, NILE are tight to the max, but also a little lost on the big stage. The windy weather did also not help and caused some details to be lost. I prefer to see the men around Karl Sanders and George Kollias in a small, sweaty club, where the band's energy comes across as more immediate.
[Chris] NILE, by far the heaviest band of the festival, gave an Egyptian lesson in death metal. With the crowd firmly in their grip, they blasted and riffed for dear life, interspersed with all the more effective mid-tempo parts. The outro shook the amphitheater with its low-frequency drone. An intense performance.
Band: Karl Sanders (vox, everything), George Kollias (drums), Brian Kingsland (vox, git), Dan Vadim Von (vox, bass), Zach Jeter (vox, git)
Setlist: Intro, Stelae Of Vultures, To Strike With Secret Fang, Sacrifice Unto Sebek, Defiling The Gates Of Ishtar, Kafir!, Vile Nilotic Rites, In The Name Of Amun, Sacrophagus, Lashed To The Slave Stick, Black Seeds Of Vengeance
:: pics :: CRIMSON GLORY ::
[Seb] To give the more sensitive portion of the audience a chance to recover from Nile, :: CRIMSON GLORY :: were slotted in as a buffer between the two death metal bands.
During the gig, the band announced that tonight's performance was not only the last European gig of the year, but that keyboardist John was parting ways with the band. The RHF show would be his final gig with the band (“He's going out with glory!”). Accordingly, he gave a short speech in which he thanked both his band colleagues and the audience/fans in general (“you guys kept me alive [...] but times got to move on [...]”).
After their fourth comeback in 2023, CRIMSON GLORY are now with new singer Travis Wills. While I can appreciate and judge how well the old chaps on the instruments (all of them but guitarist Mark are playing together since the early 1980s) did their thing (very well), I have to concede the floor to my colleagues as far as the new vocalist is concerned: The kind of singing is just not my cup of tea and it will forever remain a mystery to me, why the audience fell into collective, quasi-religious rapture during Lost Reflection (the one where Travis was alone on stage at the beginning and end) ;)
[Sui] The second 80s prog classic (Geoff Tate being the other one) followed in form of CRIMSON GLORY And somehow the two are now related by marriage: Todd la Torre, the third of the four different CRIMSON GLORY singers, went on the become Geoff Tate's worthy successor in Queensrÿche. Travis Wills had a few real highlights in his own right (first and foremost the celebrated Lost Reflection) but you could tell he had his limits when it comes to the really high notes. Nevertheless, a great gig from a band that has repeatedly tripped itself up on its way to the top.
[Steen] Wow, the new singer is fantastic, even though he's obviously taking a lot of inspiration from Midnight and still lacks a bit of his own identity. Restricting themselves to songs from the first two albums only, CRIMSON GLORY played it a bit safe, but also excellently. A triumphal procession.
[Chris] Yesyesyes! The (my) real headliner of the day. CRIMSON GLORY were in a fantastic mood and one hit from the Transcendence album after the other. The singer was good, even though he did not hit the high notes with a 100% success rate. Great gig, please come back to the clubs as soon as possible.
Band: Travis Wills (vox), Jeff Lords (bass), Dana Burnell (drums), Ben Jackson (git), Mark Borgmeyer (git), John Zahner (keys)
Setlist: Intro, Valhalla, Dragon Lady, Lady Of Winter, Where Dragon's Rule, Painted Skies, Masque Of The Red Death, In Dark Places, Eternal World, Azrael, Lost Reflection, Lonely, Red Sharks
:: pics :: DISMEMBER ::
[Seb] The second top-class death metal act in just one evening: fans of the genre got really spoiled during this year’s edition of the RHF. Especially, as this would be the one exclusive gig the Swedish legends are playing in Germany this year. The band has been rather quiet in recent years: The last studio album Dismember dates from 2008 and as far as live shows are concerned, they have also made themselves scarce. After almost a dozen years without any gigs at all, :: DISMEMBER :: have become sort of semi-active as a “festival band” with around ten selected gigs a year since 2019.
Right at the beginning and in keeping with the opener Of Fire, DISMEMBER were the first (and only) band at RHF 2025 to unpack the pyros. Unfortunately, the sound left a little to be desired in the beginning, but both the mixer and the band gained in precision as the show went on.
Singer Matti said between the songs: “we're doing a lot of old shit tonight”, which is a bit funny considering the age of the “current” album, but there were actually quite a few rarely heard old tracks on the setlist. DISMEMBER played a whopping six songs from the classic 1991 debut Like An Ever Flowing Stream, among them audience favorites Skin Her Alive (“a song about my neighbor who killed his wife”) and Dismembered. And that would not be the end of “old shit”, two other past-millennium albums (Indecent And Obscene and Massive Killing Capacity), were featured with several tracks. You can tell that DISMEMBER most likely don't rehearse as much as they used to, and here and there the odd track sounded a little unpolished, but fortunately this doesn't detract much from the death metal steamrollers. As Matti aptly said: “The time is always right for Swedish old school death metal”.
A successful headliner, and for many non-death metal fans despite the genre much more “digestible” than Nile early in the evening ;-)
[Sui] To my ears, the Swedes DISMEMBER offered nothing but undifferentiated full-throttle rumbling. I could still remember the band because one of their early band photos showed them as blood-drenched and mean mugging little boys, which I found rather amusing at the time. To give their pioneering status in Swedish death metal its due, I listened to the first three songs, but that was all I could stomach. The pyros didn't necessarily add anything for me, the only made the impression of “As a headliner, we need pyros, so we'll let off a few now and then”. I wasn't disappointed, but that’s mostly because I had no expectations in the first place.
[Steen] Oh, how much I missed that guitar sound. The Swedes have aged considerably since I saw them, but the performance was tight, brute and delivered with a lot of joy. What a shame that they didn't play Skinfather, though. But otherwise, it was a perfect show in my opinion.
[Chris] DISMEMBER needed a little time to settle in and that’s why the opener Of Fire was a bit off. From the second song onward, however, the HM2 machine ran like a clockwork and one Swedish death classic after another got fired at the audience. However, the empty rows at the end of the day were once more a sign that DISMEMBER aren’t headliner material (for the RHF).
Band: Matti Kärki (vox), Robert Sennebäck (git), David Blomqvist (git), Richard Cabeza (bass), Fred Estby (drums)
Setlist: Of Fire, Sickening Art, Fleshless, Pieces, Casket Garden, Tragedy Of The Faithful, Skin Her Alive, Collection By Blood, Dismembered, Where Ironcrosses Grow, In Death's Sleep, Override Of The Overture, Soon To Be Dead, On Frozen Fields, Dreaming In Red, Life - Another Shape Of Sorrow
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