Muskel rock is a small heavy metal hard rock festival about
2 ½ hrs from Copenhagen that occurs the weekend before Sweden Rock. This is the 8
th year and the first time I have ever come. They are really
dedicated to get a lot of 80s bands so it will be cool to see bands like Vardis,
Tysondog, Mindless Sinner, Satan, Deathhammer, Lonely Kamel, Sabbat (Japan),
and others… Also a good chance for young new Swedish bands to debut to a larger audience (maybe...).
12:00 I am on the train to the festival now and there are
not too many for the festival. Maybe they came last night or earlier. First
band (Seven Sisters) starts at 13 today. I really want to be settled and see
Lecherous Gaze at 17.. I will meet up with my friends Anders and Christer and
stay with them in their camper area. I met a group of 8 danes (3 girls, 5 guys)
and they are already drinking quite heavy and nearly drunk and we are not even
there yet… The weather is totally
amazing. It will be a hot weekend. Lots of sun and around 25C and only down to
10C at night… I hope to meet some
others that I know like Martin, Tiago, Nils.. We will see.
I arrived at Christer’s mobile home and he had a signup for
me, which was cool. Anders and his girlfriend would arrive around 14.. It was
really hot now but he had a great place with some shade which was nice. I must
have already drank 3 bottles of water… Mostly just people listening to music
and getting blasted. I went and got my
wristband and a small card that allowed me to take fotos up in the front for
the first 3 songs. I had a walk around the festival site. A very cool place. A
pizza place outside and once inside (no drinks allowed inside or any kind but
empty bottle to put water in was ok to take in or out), where is a stage to the
right, the main stage and then a permanent circus like tent but made of wood.
There are some booths for buying arts and crafts, a big merch area table, two
places to buy drinks and 3-4 places for buying food. A pretty small place.
 |
| Seven Sisters |
Seven Sisters
(UK) started things off. I saw the first few songs and it was dual guitar
NWOBHM inspired stuff. Young guys, played well but nothing new at all. They did
not excite me much. There was a small crowd of 60 or so watching them.
 |
| Aggravator |
Aggravator were a
four piece thrash band that reminded me a lot of Kreator or Sodom, this sort of
sound but with two guitars. The singer’s voice was a lot like this. They played
well also and I guess about the same number were watching them but it was much
hotter inside this wooden tent.. I had to get out and get some air and go help
Anders, who had arrived up the tent connected to their van (very old German
one), where I would sleep.
Anders and
Anna-Carina did most of the work as they knew how it all went together. IT was
fucking hot out.
Zex, a Canadian
melodic punky hard rock-metal band were next. I saw a few songs but this was
not my thing. The female singer was dressed very much like for a
goth-leather-sex party. They were all in the direct sun on this stage and I can
imagine how hot it was. She was off the stage ever chance she could to sit down
and drink some water. People seem to enjoy this more..
Lecherous Gaze
was the first band I was really looking forward to see. They were so much fun
last time. The singer is kind of crazy.. He came out with a hanger stuck in his
shirt behind is neck with a beer can hanging off it like an earring. Gloves on,
a cup of wine and a beer…. Uttered some crap and off they rocked…. IT was a
really fun set. The lead guitar player is really excellent. They have a
replacement rhythm guitar player at the moment from Australia. I had a talk
with the leader of Whitehorse, as he was touring with them. He said they had an
split EP out soon and a new LP next year and will tour Europe end of next year,
he hopes.
Anyway, LG totally kicked ass
and had cool songs, fun energy and bizzare and entertaining leader… People had
a lot of fun..
Set List: Animal, Birdman, Rav, Bag,Baby, Skid, New D.,
Dale, Night, Grasp/Re
Tysongdog, a old
UK band from the 80s was next on the hot outdoor stage. They were all dressed
in black and long pants and it was hot. Looks like they could have three
original members as a few of them were graying… This was straight up 80s
HR/NWOBHM stuff with ok songs. I was never a big fan of them in the 80s and
this reaffirms sort of why they never got much bigger. Songs are ok but pretty
average HM. It was not for me. Some of the crowd really loved them.
I missed Taiwaz, as I needed some rest from the sun and to
get some food so the next band I saw was Vardis!
Wow.. I really thought I would never see this band. I own most all their 80s
records and singles. A cool blues inspired with a bit of boogie at times. They
were not one of your more normal NOWBHM bands. The people who liked QUO and
Spider, were probably Vardis fans. Anyway, they were excellent and really
rocked. They played all old songs except one called Back to School from Red
Eye. Think this was a poor choice as it just a very standard rock song with a
poor chorus and nothing special. Apparently the new record is very diverse,
with rock, blues, funk, etc… My faves were If I were King and Situtation
Negative. Steve can still really play guitar took many long solos which was
great.. Best band so far of the day for me. I got the set list signed but the
whole band!
 |
| Vardis |
Set List: Move Along, Lion’s Share, Radio Rockers, Dirty
Money, Mods & Rockers, Jolly Roger (Paranoia), Situation Negative, Lose,
Back to School, If I were King, Let’s Go.
Flight, were
young 4 piece band and I thought they were playing all instrumental music as I
could not hear any singing until I came into the tent and it appears there were
some problems with the vocal mics. They had some really good songs with trading
guitar solos but I did not like the singer’s voice at all. They had a pretty
decent crowd now. Seems there was never more than 200 people seeing any band.
Rock Goddess
started at 22 and had a decent crowd but not a very good sound. The bass was
way too loud up front where most of the people are drowning out guitar. It was
all loud bass and drums to start and vocal. I had seen them at Sweden Rock
during the day and they were really excellent. I think they play the same set
more or less but today (singer, guitarist) was really off I felt. They just did
not have the groove, tightness and never caught it. I was quite disappointing
and this shit with getting the crowd to sing along every 2
nd song
was very annoying. Just play the fucking songs and rock out. That is what
people really want.
I left to go see
Black Magic in the small tent. This was
insane. The temp had dropped outside but it was still nice out but it was hot
in here and the energy level was so high. The band was playing inside a metal
cage to protect them from the audience, which they needed as the people were
wild. The music was pretty cool and good as well. I had never heard them and
heard about 20mins and it was over. I went back and joined Rock Goddess for the
rest of their set starting at HM Rock and Roll (getting audience to sing again!)
and ended. A few songs below were dropped, I think as their set was less than
an hour.
Set list: Satisfied and Crucified, One Hot Night, Two
Wrongs, This Time, You’ve got Fire, To be Betrayed, Flying, Take your love
Away, Make my Night, Drive you Away, This is the Day, My Angel, Back to You, HM
Rock and Roll.
Antichrist (US),
a US band plays here every year and the crowd must love them as well as the
tent one was packed. Crazy stuff.. Super fast thrash.. Just one song after
another of this killer tight heavy thrash. Singer was nothing special but the
drummer.. fucking hell… He had to work very hard as nearly every song is 100
miles an hour. I only saw half the set and then went and sat down and watched
Satan soundcheck and had one last beer. The festival beer is really good hoppy
ale with chili in it! Interesting for a festival beer. I liked it but spoke to
others that did not. 70kr though!! They
have cheap 30kr beer from 12-18… 500ml…
Satan was the
last band that I saw and they totally had the audience in their hand. People
really liked them a lot and they played a mix of mostly songs from Caught in
the act and their new album, Atom to Atom. They played one called Ruination
that Ross announced they had only ever played 2-3 times. It was a solid set.
The guitar stage left (not the younger guy with the strat) was much louder in
the mix, which was not that well balanced. You really noticed when he soloed
and was way out front and the other guy was more buried but you could hear him
still. A cool set but I was too tired to see Witchhazel, which my friend Anders
described as something like a folky Wishbone Ash with a blind drummer! They all
wore white as well. It was a fun day..
 |
| SATAN |
Day 2
9:30
It was insanely loud around the camp last night. Right side
of us people with a generator who never go see any bands and just party and
listen to music. Then the night rock disco thing in the tent, where Black Magic
played, was loud rock music until 5am! IT has only been semi-quiet for about
3-4 hrs. It is partly cloudy, which is nice otherwise it would be really hot
already. I need to jump in the lake or shower.. It was cool to hang out with Corey (Ex-Radio Moscow, Blues Pills) and his Swedish girlfriend some yesterday.
Live music starts at 14 with Banditios. Before that they
have some music auction and an arm wrestling competition for the macho folks..
Saw later that a Brazilian guy had his arm broken during the competition,
ouch!!
 |
| BANDITOS |
14
Banditos from
Alabama were an awesome way to start the day.A 6 piece US band playing
Americana-rock and roll. The heavy set female front singer was great. She was
so into it and had a great voice. It they were a bit more rocking they could
remind you of Big Brother and the Holding company with a banjo and two guitars.
Really good songs and the vibe was perfect for the sunny start of the day.
I really liked them a lot and even bought
their vinyl LP! The audience really had a good time and the version of I put a
Spell on You was amazing. The singer came down into the audience and sang part
of it. Coo…. Later, the singer wrote me out the set list and signed it a swell.
Cool people.
Set List: Waitin’, Cry baby Cry, Old Ways, Thick and Thin, Visionland, Goin’
all Night, No Good, Golden Grease, Still Sober (after all these beers), Bruce,
I put a Spell on you.
The Temple fro
Greece were first off in the tent stage. This 4 piece band played melodic doom
rock with a lot of dual melody guitar parts and not many single leads. The
opening was a slow track and then the next one was more uptempo but they were
having a lot of sound issues. PA was going in and out, singer, was not very
strong or did not have a very interesting voice. I watched a few more songs but
lost interest and went and got an ice cream. The audience was pretty small.
Salem, an old UK
band from like 1981were next. The audience was starting to grow a bit more for
some of the bands. I am still surprised that 80% of the audience are just out
in the camping area all the time. It is only in the evening that a band can get
a crowd of 500 or 1000 people. Anyway, Salem had a couple of the old guys and a
singer that reminded me Marc Storace from Krokus. They had a mix of some cool
songs and really average metal stuff. I found some shade to hear the rest of
the set. They played a mix of their really old stuff like Fools’s Gold and
stuff from the tow recent CDs they have made.
 |
| SALEM |
Second Sun, a new
young 4 piece band that sings all in Swedish was next. They are young with a
female organ/synth player who also does some backing vocals. The lead vocal by
the guitar player. They drummer really rocked. They had some cool songs with
sometimes a bit of that Swedish folky melody thrown in like Agusa.. I mostly
missed that they had very few guitar solos. I few keyboard solos but not that
many, Short songs but often some cool stuff. A lot of people showed up to see
them. Sadly, they suffered from poor sound. Drums and snare were louder than
the guitar!! Pity..
 |
| SECOND SUN |
Ambush, were a 5
piece that sound just like Accept meets Saxon…. Nothing original going here but
a true tribute to the masters of heavy metal. They were decked out in the
leathers, the studded wrist bands and all the attitude and moves. The audience
was totally into it and even knew a lot of the choruses to their catchy 80s HM…
They borrow some riffs from Saxon, Accept and Priest and turn them into their
own. Great show and energy!
Wucan from
Germany was one of the highlights of the day for sure. Four piece band with a
talented and very charismatic female singer who also played flute, theremin and
guitar. She had an awesome voice as well. They describe themselves as Heavy
Flute Rock.. They don’t overuse the flute though; it is music mostly built on
really good guitar riffs and songs. Lots
of good heavy 70s hard rocking sounds but they mix it up really well. I wanted
to buy their record but I need to save some Swedish kroner… I am sure you can
find it on the net. I especially loved this one track that had a very funky
guitar riff and she played some theremin and guitar as well Great show and
band…
 |
| WUCAN |
Set List: King Korea, Owl eyes, Franis Vikarma, Dopetrotter,
(with Crazy train tease), Looking in the past, Father storm, Wandersmann
Neon Rose are an
old Swedish band that was around from 1972-1978 and until this year had not
played since 1978! They had what looked like the original drummer and lead
vocalist/guitar player. The sound guy did a poor job here as well as the 2nd
lead guitar player could hardly be heard for most of the concert, especially if
you were even a little to the right. Sound guy is often doing a poor job. Drums
are all too loud and guitars too low where all the people are standing. Wish he
cared more about his job. Neon Rose was
a mixed bag Some good songs and then some that just did not come across well
anymore, All were good players and the band was best on the two slow songs and
then they rocked out the most at the end. Not bad but not blowing us a way
either.. The set list below is what they played in Jan 2016 and was pretty
close but not as long.
 |
| NEON ROSE |
Dead eyes, Night birds, Too long, The race for knowledge, Julia's
Dream, A Dream of Glory and Pride, Waiting for the train, We work all day, Reload,
A man's not a man, Don't mess with me, Dust and rust
 |
| LIZZIES |
Lizzies from
Spain were a fun band but musically I did not like them Four females with a lot
of attitude and great guitar riffs. The small guitar player looked a bit funny
with the large Flying V but she riffed like a master. The female singer had a
great outfit and sand with a lot of attitude but was more a pop singer than a
metal singer and their songs were all too melodic and catchy even if they had
some heavy riffs. It was not really for me but the audience loved it and had a
good time.
Metal Lucifer a
band from Japan played with three Japanese guys (Vocal, lead guitar and
drummer) and two German guys. This was the most fun I had all weekend at this
concert. The audience was crazy and really fun. All the songs were heavy metal
anthems…. HM Iron Fist, HM Chainsaw, HM Drill, HM Samurai.! IT was so funny and
intense high speed speed metal. The small singer was very charismatic and said
funny stuff… He was going down to the pit every other song to get the audience
to sing along. A lot of cliché again but super fun band. I loved it. A true
highlight of the festival.
 |
| METAL LUCIFER |
Heathens from the
North, a Greek, Heavy Load cover band was the last band I saw as I was just
too tired and needed to try to fall asleep before the others get back and party
more just outside my tent! Anyway, this band was excellent and the original
singer from Heavy Load who only sang on the first EP and had not been on a
stage for 30 years, sang two songs early in the set and then cae bk out later
for 2 other songs… This band was tight and really rocked these old songs.
Stronger than Evil Singing Swords, etc…. A great set and a large crowd.
It was a great day. Better than the first day.
Day 3
Up at 9:15.. Will go swim in the lake again to get clean. It
was not as hot yesterday and we had some clouds on an off. Still most of the
people are hanging out in the camping and not seeing many of the bands.
I should comment about the beer. Excellent.. Before 18 you
could get half liter of TT eco pilsner that was really good and refreshing for
30kr and most of the bar staff fill it to the top. Also, the Muskelrock beer
was excellent, a hoppy ale with chili. Yum..the other great choice on tap was
the St. Erik IPA. This beer was so awesome but cost 70kr so I only had two at
the festival.
They had some other good
beers in bottles as well but for 70kr also.
12
Witch Hazel
were doing an short show in the church up the road so after breakfast we walked
up there to check it out. A decent number of people were hanging out. I went
into the church and looked at the program while the guitar player was playing
some really nice music but then I realized it was really a Christian thing and
the priest was going to talk and they were going to sing psalms, etc.. and the
band was only going to play 5 songs and a few Christian things so I left. That
is not for me. I don’t believe in religion (the
Romans invented Jesus Christ…
check out the link..) it is all to control people. Always has been except the
old Norse and Pagan religions which were really intuned with the earth and trying
to explain the world and surroundings.. Anyway. I left and went for a swim in
the lake with Christor and Martin… So nice..
 |
| TORNET |
The music day started off with
Tornet on the main stage at 14. This is a new young Swedish band.
The name translates to The Tower, not to be mixed up with the other Swedish
band called The Tower.. Five piece band with a charismatic female singer that
danced and sang and played Harmonium on one or two songs. It was a bit like the
Finnish band Seremonia but not nearly as cool. Christor said they had a bit of
a Kebenkase vibe (old Swedish band). They had two guitar players but they
rarely ever played any guitar solos. I was hoping for a bit more variety in
their sound. They are young and I hope the develop a bit more.
Lonely Kamel from Oslo was next.
This is a bluesy stoner rock band that I really like but I had never had a
chance to see. This was just want I needed. The did not have that many people
watching, less than 100. The bass player had some problem with his bass and was
going to switch the E string it looked like from his other bass but then seem
to find another solution. While he was doing that the two guitar players broke
into a bit of the old Muddy Waters song, Champagne or Reefer. That was cool.
The set was a mix of songs but surprisingly not many from the new record. It
was a great set but I wished they would jam a bit. All the songs were more or
less 4-5mins each.. Christor told me they jam some if they have a longer set..
Great band.
Set List: Prophet, Champagne and Reefer (part), Shit City,
Feel Sick, Seal, Freezing, Evil Man, Stick
Maida Vale was a
huge surprise for me and one of the highlights. This all female band was so
cool. They started out with spacey jammed out track where the super cool female
singer also played a floor tom to add to the rhythm and worked great with the
tall bass player. The small blond female guitar player really played awesome
and cool leads and she likes her wah pedal!!
There was something really special about the band and especially the
singer. I loved her mix of spoken word like vocals and real singing. I really
was blown away by this band and so cool the way they groove and play and have
lots of lead guitar and instrumental sections as well. Great job girls… Nice
people as well. I spoke to them a bit and got them to write me out the set
list… They are from Stockholm.
Set List: Gallows Hill, (If you want to Smoke) Be the Fire,
Colour Blind, new song, Standby Swing, Restless Wanderer, The greatest story
ever told, Find what you love and let it kill you, Dirty War
 |
| KING WITCH |
King Witch was
next from Scotland. Anders had the CD-EP and was a big fan and played some of
it. They are a four piece with a very intense female singer. She had some
pipes!! It was a bit of doomy epic metal stuff. Some cool guitar sections on
some of the songs but mostly really heavy riffing stuff with very intense vocals.
She was a bit too intense for me. They played and rocked hard for sure.
 |
| LETHAL STEEL |
Set List: Shoulders of Giants, Carnal Sacrifice, Full Moon King, Solitary, Hunger, Lucid
Lethal Steel are
a new Swedish classic five piece metal band. IT was a mix of classic dual
guitar metal and hard rock. They had all the dress and moves for sure but the
music was too average for me. Ambush were much better at it. People had fun and
liked it but not too many people were there.
 |
| HÄLLAS |
I went to get some food and had a nice chat with some
Swedish guys and ate a pizza and then went back to the camp and had a beer with
Anders, Christor, etc..
Hällas was next.
I did not know them at all and only caught their last two songs. It was more of
a classic prog rock with two guitars, and a keyboard player who also had a MS20
mini. This was really good actually but I did not like the singer at all (he
also was the bass player).
 |
| MINDLESS SINNER |
Now was a band that I had waited 30 years to see,
Mindless Sinner.
I was a big fan of this band and even pulled
out my 30 year old Turn up the Power t-shirt. I met the singer, Christians, son
when we noticed my old shirt. I covered them in three issues of my magazine,
Metal Madness in the 80s and even put them on the cover in 1986.. I loved Turn
on the Power and this year was the 30
th anniversary and the band
actually played the entire record (but not in order)as well as one or two new
songs and they ended the set with …. Of evil from the first EP.. It was a great
concert. He can really still hit the notes and the guitar players are great.
Funny to see these kids that were not even born singing along to some of the
songs. Great concert!
Next was the 2
nd secret artist of the festival
and I was blown away that it was
Slough
Feg… I had never heard this band live before but I was turned onto them by
my friend Ray Dorsey years ago.. The band was really happy to be back to the
festival and really enjoyed themselves a lot. They play full on galloping epic
battle metal… Fun lyrics and stories and just high energy all the way with cool
guitar solos from both guys.
The tent
was really packed.
They played for
75mins and this really threw the schedule off as
Diamond Head was supposed to start at 22 but there were like 25
people in front of the big stage so they waited until 22:15 when Sloug Feg had
just finished to come out and play.
They have released a new album that got
good reviews. I met the new Danish singer, Rasmus and Brian Tatler earlier in
the day and had a chat. I have to say I was not impressed when I saw them as
Sweden Rock in 2005 and hoped they would be better today but sadly that was not
the case. I have to say this was the most disappointing band of the whole
festival. I love the old Diamond head records and 7” releases but this sounds
like a bad cover version of the original band. They are much heavier with the 2
nd
guitar player but I also think he ruins the original sound. The old songs just
don’t sound right. IT is like the band is trying to sound like Metallica
playing Diamond Head and it just does not work for me at all. I think the 3
rd
song of the set was a new song and some guy yelled out that was the worst song
I have ever heard and the singer yelled back and you have the worst face I have
ever seen…. Play it Loud, Shoot out the Lights (I think) started the show. I
heard the whole show but I thought it was awful and sounded nothing like
Diamond head. When they played Am I Evil, the new singer sings it just like
James Hetfield and not at all like Sean Harris… a paraody.. sadly…
Deathhammer from
Norway was super intense. Wow.. this is a band that sounds like Slayer with the
Kreator singer, Milli… I only saw a few
songs but they were really intense thrash metal. People were really into it and
they had a great crowd.
 |
| DEATHHAMMER |
The last band for me was Sabbat. The old Japanese band, sort of. I also wrote about these
guys in my fanzine in the 80s. It was only the drummer and bass player from
Japan. I think the other two guys were from Germany. This was a band that
played classic black metal songs but with really tight bass and drum grooves.
IT was a powerful sound and people were also into it. Pretty cool..
 |
| SABBAT |
Sadly for me, the festival ended with
Kikagaku Moyo, also from Japan playing at after 01 in the morning.
I had to get a train early in the morning so I did not see them but Anders said
it was the best band of the festival and they blew everyone away. People loved
the heavy guitars with the sitar and more spaced out sound. Pity. I did buy the
new record at least..
It was an amazing festival and I highly recommend this one.
So relaxed and a great program. Congrats to Jacob the organizer. My friend Jim
Powell would love this festival. Great
times and thanks to all my friends and people that I met and stayed with. I had
a great time… Peace…
