There’s a personal feel to hardcore sets that you struggle to find anywhere else in the metal genre (except perhaps Yob, but more on that later) and you can get a sort of mass hysteria that can fizzle throughout the rest of the shows on that stage. Having a hardcore band so early-on in the day is a sure-fire way to ignite the atmosphere at any festival, with the fans guaranteed to bring 100% of their energy to the pit no matter what time of day it is. Their set begins with their most savage and raging hardcore-influenced numbers, but as their set winds on, the tempo slows down as they showcase some of their more introspective and atmospheric post-metal influenced works, resulting in a dynamic and intense set. It’s worth waking up at a semi-reasonable hour and working out how much sick you’re likely to produce as you recover from the previous night’s questionable festivities, so you can catch US sludgy hardcore outfit Cult Leader, who smash it at The Altar stage. Hellfest officially kicks off with six stages and bands running from 10am ‘til 2am. Still the highlight of the day nevertheless, but compared to the days to follow, Knotfest is merely a taster… With Knotfest done, it’s time for Hellfest proper… FRIDAY Songs from their first three records such as ‘Spit It Out’, ‘Before I Forget’ and ‘Surfacing’ go down a storm, but it’s easy to notice the momentum of the crowd dropping when newer songs are played, leading to a lopsided performance. Even a crowd full of hardened extreme metal fans can’t help put raise their voices along, conjuring much more enthusiasm than Ministry could! Slipknot dominate the whole of the stage with a very physical performance. In a weird but welcome nostalgia trip, Papa Roach are full of energy and passion today, opening with their breakthrough hit ‘Last Resort’. Nobody seems bothered that their set ends a little shy of their allotted running time. Not only is the sound uneven, but it feels like Al Jourgensen is phoning it in with lyric sheets and a guitar flopping by his waist that he barely ever touches. Our day opens with perhaps the worst performance of the weekend as a ropey Ministry take the main stage. To increase the metal feast this year, Slipknot’s own Knotfest took place on the site on Thursday and Astral Noize were there to take it in…īefore Hellfest kicks off officially, Slipknot themselves curate the Thursday with their very own Knotfest taking place in Europe for the first time. Taking place deep in the heart of France’s wine region, the town of Clisson has hosted Hellfest since 2006 and each summer thousands of hairy, scary metalheads descend upon the quiet piece of the countryside for a weekend of circle pits, questionable life choices and some of the heaviest music out there. So with the goal of doing just that for you, Astral Noize sent a reporter and some sort of barely-functioning husk of a man to France’s greatest achievement since they stopped guillotining billionaires’ heads off… Hellfest!

But it’s easy to get caught up in the world today and forget that great events like this happen.įestivals bring together people from all around the world whose only common ground is the music that makes them happy, and that’s a beautiful thing that, even in these bizarre bleak days, is hard to wipe the shine off. Festivals – a celebration of music and togetherness, what a better topic of discussion considering the entire world seems to have been populated by isolationist turbo-cretins.

Umbra clock tower stage