By Santiago Rivas @rivas_santiago
Photo by Oscar Perfer.
The first day of this edition was quite boring. Maybe it's just me, but I've become cynical from seeing metalheads repeat themselves in their formulas so much., as well as the fact that I may have chosen the wrong bands to see, because I'm not a metalhead.
It wasn't so bad, either. It's just that Rock al Parque usually surprises me pleasantly, at least once, on this first day. I decided not to go near the Media Torta, because This is the day for metalheads. The other thing is a very clever move by the organizers, who are looking to increase the number of attendees. And to give the city a festival that doesn't polarize it, one that attracts fans of all kinds of music, every day. I simply believe it's necessary to stand with metalheads, who are so numerous, yet so stagnant and isolated, that some media outlet should be able to speak openly about what's available to them. Perhaps that's what those of us on this side of the metal divide are good for.
Because of my team, the glorious Independiente Santa Fe, who managed a draw in Medellín, I arrived later than planned. I started by seeing Nosferatu, and then I went to see Malón, a very old-school Argentinian band with a huge fanbase. For some reason, Nosferatu was on the first stage and Malón, who had the crowd going wild, was on the second (okay, fine, the Bio stage). Neither of them impressed me much.
Melechesh, from Israel, is a good band. Talented, and with a very fortunate way of composing. I didn't think they were fantastic (remember that Nile, Killswitch Engage, Overkill, and Anthrax, among others, have played the festival), but they're good. Very good, if you will. The crowd was happy, moshing along with them, which for me is always a good indicator. Sagros is a band of talented people, but beyond their talent, there was little or nothing that interested me.
Sacred Goat is a talented band, fronted by a great metal singer, whose voice I feared more than once. I'm a little bored with the lascivious way female singers are regarded in today's metal scene, which It has become a cliché, because every year there is at least one amazing singer on stage., But what can you do? That doesn't diminish the merit of the guys in this band, who were kind enough to pose for a photo with a real goat (you can see the interview they gave in this Zonagirante special). Blasfemia, for its part, is proud of having done the same thing for almost thirty years, and I think it's It's great that they've dedicated almost thirty years to music, but not that they continue doing the same thing. Since I haven't heard them in these three decades, I can't say if they're repeating themselves, but people loved them and sang along, and that has to count as something.
I'd like to dedicate a paragraph to my biggest surprise of the day: the metal bands from the festival partnership, whom I still believe were given too much of a slot, put on an interesting show. More than Legacía, who also did well, I liked the massive group that Serpentarium brought on stage to sing a song with a very strong pre-Columbian and Andean musical influence. Both bands were aiming to rescue the memory of our indigenous people By doing a fusion that many find abominable, they sought to prove they were up to the challenge of the time slot they were given, and to top it all off, they sang in Spanish! In Spanish! I'm glad to see that proposals like this are still being made; my opinion about one genre or another is irrelevant in this case.
Nuclear Assault retains the joy of 80s thrash, concentrating its power in its guitar riffs and fast phrases.. They're old, but they still play beautifully. What I liked most, though, was when their singer mentioned that he teaches at a school with many immigrant students, quite a few of whom are Colombian, and that they had advised him several times to visit the country. A great moment.
And finally, Behemoth. I didn't stay long either. But let their presence at Rock al Parque serve as a lesson for the Satanists and Luciferians of this country, and metalheads in general, to learn how to put on a truly breathtaking show. The first thing is to believe the story and not do what everyone else in this country does., who play more to "rock" than to make rock.
So I didn't quite get my annual dose of heavy metal and exciting surprises, but no matter: Rock al Parque continues, and tonight Atari Teenage Riot is playing. Get ready.
[metaslider id=813]
