The Intro of RMF

Royal Metal Fest or just RMF, began back in 2008 in Aarhus, which is the capital of Jutland. I was there the first time it is was held and now, many years later, I have returned for their 9th edition of RMF! And it was about time. It was the result of Fee Metal Festival, that the prior season had to shut down and is the local dialect of saying Fed = Cool or Fat which most. The local beer, Ceers Royal then jumped in and sponsored the event, hens the name, Royal Metal. 

((...fordi vi elsker hegn!) - the subtitle of the festival, I can't really translate, directly it means, “...because we love fence” - but in the dialect of Aarhus, Jutland, fence in reference to the guitar, guitar riffs and solos.) 

 

The scenery in Aarhus is small and has always been it. Which also means, it's a tight returning crowd of local metalheads that's makes more than 90% of the audience. That also means, that you are totally in the hands of people who know each other down to the most personal type of dildo they use, and here we are taking about the men also. Short, I visit Aarhus back in 2012 and was kinda weirded out how much the metal guys (most play in the bands of the area too) used dildo during sex or just masturbated with something up their arses, and talked freely about it. Really, that's is a thing in Aarhus. 

 

RMF
The line-up looks quite interesting on paper and I was looking forward to see my old town again, people I knew then and that also means the good ones and less good ones. 

 

Day 1
Arriving late in Aarhus means I missed the first couple of bands, but time was fast used to take a look around, talk the to nice people behind the festival and check the new additions. It is now 2 stages, the main place is called VOXHALL, where all the big artists play, where you get your wristband and just sit and hang out. They build a new concert place very close to VOXHALL called ATLAS. Here you could find some light merchandise, a small stage, tables, sofas to fall asleep in and it's also where the nights ends and the last bands play. Even if it's small, if you don't really know where Atlas is, you will have to ask for directions, because there are no signs up at all. Now it's only a few hundred meters away, so when you turn the corner, just look for the crowd of people and walk that way or ask and the locals will answer polite and help out in a hurry. They are very nice.

 

Small look around to find out that the prices are what I remembered. High. I never understand why it always have to be so expensive in Denmark to drink. When you think about it, Metalheads do drink a lot, they are not the most rich people in the world = so of course, you go nearby to buy cheaper beer and honestly, I did so and had mostly no troubles getting the beers in past the security.The Security was really nice and we had a lot of talking and laughing to do, since many had a talk with them and that was really nice to see. 
 

The food was a typical danish sausage wagon, Pølsevogn, with good options, if of course, you wanted to pay or could pay. Great metal sausages! Local grill with good greasy burgers next door and it wasn't far to the central if you wanted something else. Which was really nice, since you get really hungry when you drink. This part of town or scenery is a meat loving bunch and they eat a lot of meat. Me, I love meat, but in case you didn't, I wouldn't even know where to go. It's possibly to get vegan based food... but where? Not close, that's for sure. Again, I don't really mind it, since I have been at small festivals in Copenhagen where they only served vegan food and I was sooo hungry, this was more my kind of place. There was a small stand inside Voxhall from Ceers Royal that sold cheaper beers, but they only took cash, so I had to go down town to find an ATM. That was weird since we most of the times never carry cash in Denmark. It's really close so I didn't mind the walk much and I got to see a bit of the town again. 

 

Deströyer 666
Getting ready for the first concert of the evening, beer is finally bought and friends and I are getting ready. But I wasn't quite ready for Deströyer 666! I power demonstration blew the crowd away and the band took it's rightful place as not only the head-liner but also than band I just wanted and needed to see. Here is also the main force of Voxhall that really showed it's strength, the sound. 

The Sound of Deströyer 666 is incredible. Their mixed style of thrash metal rythmes and the dark evil sounds from Black metal makes them a joy to see and with their 80'ties black clothes, moves and nits, a bit kinky too. The atmosphere was dark, dirty and satanic. With a new full-length record, the first in 7 years, they are once again ready for new brutal get togethers and sing-alongs. They play tracks of the new record and they are brutal to the bones. 

Great to hear  “I Am the Wargod (Ode to the Battle Slain)” and I think they ended with “Trialed By Fire”, at that moment I was pretty blown by the show and I was really just enjoying it. I couldn't help smiling a bit looking at the guys standing in formation of three and doing there stuff, because it's just so lame, but it worked. They could pull it off. The crowd afterwards agreed, that the sound from Voxhall, their technicians did an amazing job on the show and I could only agree with it. The first concert was a success and the need for more beer grew. Also I wanted to see what the hell Atlas was and first of all.... where it was. 

 

Trepaneringsritualen
I heard a few muttering words about this next act, but I think almost nothing could had me prepared for what I had coming. 

I finished my beer and went in. The main room was dark and the all dominating smell of burned incense sticks was a weird since I was sure there wasn't that many hippies around me. Moving towards the stage I could see why. I man was walking on the stage, almost as a shadow, there were two tables on the stage, one with a mixer he controlled and one with candles and a skull that had 3 incense sticks in it. The lightning was dark in the sense it was mostly greenish with some changes to red once in a while, but low lightning. Really creepy atmosphere and I really liked it. Trepaneringsritualen is a one man band, Thomas Martin Ekelund from Sweden. Large dude, with big dreadlocks, sweaty as fuck and almost like in a trance, the guy started to scream in the mic. 

The sound of his electronic sound collage filled the room with this mysterious tone of atmosphere that was really interesting and at the same time weird. It wasn't really Doom metal, more like Death, but it was slow as hell, and with the occasional “boom” beat it had a touch of Industrial over it. Like techno music in a ultra slowmotion tease set in a dysfunctional dying world. Most of the times he looked like a drunk bum trying to hold on to his trash bin aka home and I couldn't help to find it interesting musical art, but I also could only take a certain potion of it. So after 20-25 minutes or 50 beats later, I had enough and needed fresh air. 

 

That RMF booked him was impressive of them, but it was too avantgarde for me even if I liked it, I couldn't listen to that for an whole hour. 

 

1349
It's time for the main show at Voxhall, the Black metal guys from the dark and deep forests of Norway, 1349, dressed to kill! One was dressed in a heavy brown cowled, others in black leather as it's custome and in corpse paint and they blasted their way into the crowd from the first second and the crowd began to move! They played a set show, full of satanic dismemberment of everything that was in front of them and there wasn't a finger to put on their performance.

Because they played brutal, fast and faster and more brutal for each number given it hell like if Satan himself was breathing down their necks. It was a joy to see them play and even if it at times feels like a chaos of an inferno of sounds, it had order in it. But not as much as on record, because many of the small details sometimes gets lost in the live shows and here it was the same. After a while it got a bit boring or monotonous and the power seems a bit lost. Not that the energy lacked, but the sound collage got a bit too crowded. They finished as the main band of the night for a reason and they really kicked some brutal arse and the crowd turned their attention into the night and looking for pieces of themselves here and there. 
 
The night at RMF wasn't really over, there was still one little act left at Atlas, so after a few beers and talk with friends about the last party band, I took a big sip and walked to Atlas. 

 

Ronnie Ripper's Private War
Last band of the day was a nice little rock metal band, that mostly played for insane drunk people and gave it hell with all kind of classic rock and pop songs, of course played with their style. It seems like a fun after party where the most important thing was to hear yourself sing and scream along with the band or headbang to whatever they had to give. Which was fun and a smiling blast for the superdrunks, but I wasn't really in the mood for much happiness and covers, so I slowly thanked RMF for the great evening and night and tried to find my way home to the place I called bed. That wasn't easy at all.

Royal Metal Festival
…...fordi vi elsker hegn!