By Santiago Rivas @rivas_santiago Photos by Julian Gutierrez
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The first day of Rock al Parque is very good in the press area, because there isn't that traffic jam of VIPs crashing or stopping in the way of the journalists that adds a certain special flavor. Furthermore, the park is full, which makes it easy to see how disconnected the media is from the rock audience (understood in its broadest sense), and especially from metal.
Unfortunately, I arrived late, so I can't review many groups. I did manage to see the already legendary ones. Tenebrarum, from Medellín, who have been working for many years (stubbornness will always be a virtue in the world of culture), playing his lyrical, operatic and very dark metal. They've refined their sound and their performance is much cleaner than the last time I saw them. In the end, they created a great moment, playing The Veil of Altered States, with Elvis on stage.
Time to say that the T-shaped platform they put up for the main stage is a real head-scratcher. I feel like nobody took full advantage of it, but visually it's good. And the screen and the other sets are very beautiful., But the sound has problems. Or at least he had them yesterday, and serious ones, especially because metalheads are very picky about their instrumental perfection, since those who aspire to be legends of this genre are known for being obsessive virtuosos, so that's bad.
Speaking of legends, Angra, from Brazil, stood on the stage to give a guitar and bass lesson. I don't know what they put in the water of Brazilians, but they are all talented at something or everything. I don't like their music; progressive heavy metal is unlikely to appeal to someone who, as a teenager, was steeped in Pixies and Nirvana. But they are incredible musicians. I completely understand those who follow them wholeheartedly, because it feels like they're constantly telling a story, as if we were in the middle of an '80s fantasy film. I enjoyed it until I couldn't anymore, and then I went for a walk somewhere else.
Dying Fetus is exactly what you're thinking: a death metal band. They look like a death metal band and move on stage like a death metal band, which means they barely move from their positions. But they sound like a machine. John Gallagher, their guitarist and vocalist, is a guitar virtuoso and composes very interesting songs, full of variations, in which the vocals are literally another instrument. I had to go to Wikipedia to find out what they were talking about and learn that it's a notable group, remembered for its politically charged lyrics., which don't usually appear in bands of their genre (more focused, I did know, on talking about themes of reality, existential angst, dementia, death, and sometimes sex). Good for them, I'm going to have to look up every single lyric.
I managed to see a couple of songs from Here Comes The Kraken, A very interesting Mexican deathcore band. They're a bit too polished for what they play, but at the same time, that's a very Mexican thing. Good sound, good integration, and good stage closure. I didn't hear enough to speak for myself, but they're an interesting band with a great stage presence, featuring a frontman dressed in a very Mexican style and quite theatrical. Download them.
And in the end, Deicide. They're a machine. That's all there is to it. They don't stop, they don't make concessions, they don't negotiate. They have been destroying Christian morality with their music since the eighties And finally they came to a city that desperately needs to get rid of a couple of messiahs (not literally, please). They are openly anti-Christian and Satanist, which I don't know if the 85,000 attendees (the official figure from yesterday) care about at all. But it is a very powerful group, one that confronts anyone.
The guitars alternate in the spotlight, with two monsters flanking the vocalist. There's a point where the solos are almost just texture, and another where the riffs explode, making for very interesting songs; it's no wonder they're who they are in the metal and death metal scene. Glen Benton, besides pounding that bass like he owes it money, alternates between guttural vocals and higher-pitched screams. He should be sponsored by Noraver or Robitussin. He's not a histrionic type, but his voice seems to say it all. He has about three demons inside him (Satanists don't necessarily believe this literally, but bear with me for this liberty) and each one's voice sings (is "sing" the right word?) each of his proclamations against the church, the churches. He didn't run out of breath, at 2,600 meters above sea level, which I think surprised more than one person, because you don't have much faith in the cardiorespiratory system of rock musicians. Great show.
It was a good day of metal at Rock al Parque. Let's see if this same strategy, already familiar to all the mayors of Bogotá, works for Peñalosa's administration. In his last year as mayor, he planned a gigantic and very well-organized festival to try to win over the youth vote. It's a lottery, really. I think the lineup is rubbish, but this might be the best festival many have ever seen. I hope we all enjoy it together, and that Peñalosa loses the election. That would be a win-win.
