Photo Credit: Maryleen Guevara
A stormy sky welcomes the crowd on the second day of Rock Am Ring. The bands will have to work hard to keep the crowd distracted from the rainstorm that towered on everyone on this busy Saturday in Nürburgring!
First up for us on the Saturday is Sweden’s Imminence on the Mandora stage. This is the first time the band has played Rock Am Ring but, from the crowd gathered, it’s clear people have been waiting for this set. The band have set themselves apart in the metalcore scene by adding violin to their tracks and today they also bring a hooded backing vocalist making them sound even bigger. Whilst this was their first time at Rock Am Ring it feels certain it won’t be the last. 8/10
If you like the sort of sub-Nickelback, American Radio Rock that often clogs up the main stage of Download then you probably love Skillet. If you don’t, then there is probably still enough showmanship and spectacle to make them worth watching. The songs stomp by from one chorus to another without leaving any lasting impression but the sight of singer John Cooper wearing co2 cannons on his wrists like a budget Iron Man will live long in the memory. 6/10
Despite only releasing their debut album four years ago, Spiritbox have already played Rock Am Ring three times. That should give some idea of just how much demand there is for the Canadian metalcore heroes in the making. Spiritbox are dealt a bad hand by the weather gods as the clouds that have been threatening the last two days finally break open and torrential rain falls throughout their set. Fortunately though, the band don’t let it break their stride and power through with confidence that they can carry on smashing main stage even the wettest conditions. Front woman Courtney LaPlante looks and sounds like a superstar and, on today’s evidence, this won’t be the last time she commands the RAR main stage audience. 10/10
Early in their set Bullet announce that they will be playing their debut album, The Poison, in full. The announcement is met with cheers from the crowd but about thirty minutes later the reality has set in. ‘Album in full’ sets are tricky at the best of times, where all the singles are in the first half are even tricker and Bullet unfortunately aren’t able to overcome that today. No offence but nobody in the world is buying a ticket to hear 10 Years Today or The End and when far better and more popular tracks (like Scream.Aim.Fire and Your Betrayal) are left out to accommodate twenty year old album filler it doesn’t result in the best festival set. Bullet are as tight and professional as ever but the crowd energy dies half way through and people start to remember they are still soaked. A closing run through of Waking The Demon only serves to remind us of what we could have had. 8/10
Up next on the Mandora stage are Australian metalcore band Northlane. The band are part of a great rising scene coming out of Australia and are starting to make big waves in Europe. Fresh off selling out their latest UK tour, they have picked up great slots on many of the major EU festivals, including Download and Graspop. It’s obvious from the second they take the stage why Northlane are picking up so many new fans. This is perfect metalcore with just enough of a commercial edge. Fans of all ages are going crazy in the crowd and there is a constant stream of crowd surfers keeping security busy. A great set that even members of Knocked Loose were spotted enjoying from the crowd. 10/10
Next on the Mandora stage are Swedish metal legends In Flames, playing Rock Am Ring for the eighth time. Rising out of the Gothenburg Death Metal scene in the 90s, In Flames, alongside At The Gates and Dark Tranquillity, created the template that all modern metalcore is based on. So many of the bands on this weekends line up owe much of their sound to In Flames and the Rock Am Ring crowd receives them like the icons they are. The UK has always been a difficult market for most Euro Metal bands and In Flames are no exception. Whilst they play reasonably intimate venues in the UK, Germany loves In Flames and the crowd they draw more than justifies their high billing on the festival. 8/10
Headlining the Mandora stage on the Saturday night are Chicago Punk Rock legends Rise Against. Fresh from a series of intimate acoustic shows in the UK, they grace the RAR stage for the fourth time. Rise Against are another band that have always been bigger on the continent than in the UK and that is evidenced by the huge crowd they draw tonight, even when their set overlaps with that of Slipknot. For most bands clashing with the biggest name on the festival would be a death slot but Rise Against make it feel like a massive celebration. Frontman Tim McIlrath jumps down into the crowd for their third song, Give It All, and for a minute you might think Rise Against are the only band playing this weekend. A great set that packs in all the hits and also gives the audience two tastes of their forthcoming album Ricochet. 9/10
The biggest set of the weekend, the most important metal band of their generation, the moment the huge audience have endured hours of rain for. Could it possibly live up to the hype? Of course it could, it’s f*****g Slipknot. On their most recent tour Slipknot celebrated the 25th anniversary of their debut album by playing it in full. Fortunately, unlike Bullet, they don’t make the mistake of trying to present that same show to a festival crowd. Instead, we get a career spanning set that includes all the highlights from that debut album but also sees the return of hits like Duality, Psychosocial and Unsainted. The reactions to each track prove that Slipknot pitched this set just right. Closing a festival set with a nine minute long, twenty-five year old, deep cut like Scissors is a bold move but that desire to constantly be challenging and confrontational, even when in ‘Greatest Hits’ mode, is what keeps Slipknot so far ahead of all of their nu-metal contemporaries. 11/10
Check out our review of Friday here.
