Obscene Extreme 2012

OBSCENE EXTREME 2012. 12.-13.-14. JULY 2012, TRUTNOV – Battlefield, Czech Republic 

Obscene Extreme Festival has long been a symbol of the European, and maybe even world grindcore scene. For a few years now, I have been attending regularly and I never regret it. Although I am writing these words with some delay, the memories are still very vivid and I will gladly return to the atmosphere of those three crazy days in a year, which are awaited like Christmas…

The journey to Trutnov was very pleasant, although this time we decided to stop before the border to get some rest. We found a great spot by a pond, set up our tent, and after recharging our batteries, we continued on our way. The Czech Republic welcomed us with sunny weather, winding rural roads, beautiful landscapes, and soon enough we were at the venue. We were initially worried about the weather, which was supposed to be terrible, but it turned out to be optimal and no one seemed to complain about occasional passing showers. This did affect our decision to skip the fun in front of the stage, which was a bit muddy. Instead, we found a spot on the side of a road near the festival (we mainly slept in the car) and started exploring. Since we weren’t really interested in the opening bands, we went to the supermarket for supplies and indulged in activities not directly related to music, but I think for the vast majority of attendees, it was an integral element. Of course, beer (black Kozel rules), fried cheese, and so on.

The event was as always organized in a cool amphitheater, surrounded by trees. The infrastructure seemed perfect for a festival of this kind. There were many stalls selling merchandise, food, alcohol, and the like. I must sadly admit that the food turned out to be quite expensive, as for the equivalent of two tokens (about 10 PLN), you couldn’t really eat much. Likewise, Gambrinus, as the „official” brewery of the festival for several years, didn’t make much of an impression.

Probably the first band we saw, and certainly the one that stood out, was the local legend – Jig-Ai. A very high-quality concert, these friendly guys did a great job with their gore-grind, full of juicy vocals. But I have to admit, I enjoyed their set on the last day even more, due to the absence of another band. Next on stage was the Swedish band Splitter, who I quite like, but after watching a few songs, I left. The guys tried their best, but the sound, which was supposed to blow everyone away this edition, was, apart from a few notable exceptions, a disappointment. Renting supposedly the best stage equipment was no use when there was no one to operate it properly. Larger bands, of course, had their own sound engineers who saved the situation, but smaller bands were left with total chaos in terms of sound. Unfortunately, this is already a tradition of the festival, and one can only hope that someone competent will finally take care of it at the next edition. After Splitter, we took a short break, which had unintended consequences for me, as I fell asleep so deeply that I missed Wolfbrigade and part of Suffocation. I could live with missing the latter, as I saw them about 3 months earlier, but missing the Wolfbrigade was my second failed attempt at Obscene Extreme (I missed them due to a downpour also in 2009). Third time’s a charm, as they say. I caught the last few songs of Suffocation and sound-wise it was good. I’ve had the opportunity to see them several times and there was never a lack of professionalism in that aspect. They just know how to „spin”. The concert took place without Frank Mullen on vocals, who was on a break from touring for family reasons, and was replaced by Bill Robinson from Decrepit Birth. This was the second time I saw him in action with Suffocation, and I like the guy both for his great, dirty growl and his cool behavior and banter on stage. He knows his place in the lineup and is aware that he is just a replacement, which he often emphasizes. But of course, Mullen is Mullen and he should be the one standing there instead of him. On the other hand, I was a bit amused by people claiming they felt „cheated” watching Suffocation with a replacement. No exaggeration. Musically, it was one of the brightest points of the festival. Cephalic Carnage put on their traditional cabaret with black metal masks and a „Mario” game theme remix. Musically, of course, it was full of twists and turns. Everything was fine, but I enjoyed it more at Brutal Assault four years earlier. Origin, on the other hand, was unquestionably the best concert of the first day. A technical American tornado simply blew everyone away. Sound-wise, it was also a revelation, considering the conditions of this festival. The guys are amazing at creating their controlled, extreme, and virtuosic psychochaos, as well as in how they can have fun themselves and of course, entertain the crowd. They managed to get the audience to participate in three types of „wall of deaths”. The traditional way we all know. But for the first time, I saw this show element where the maximum number of people were pulled onto boards and at an agreed moment, a wave of stage dives fell on the unfortunate souls in front of the stage. The third version is the „traditional” wall with the exception that people were supposed to „ram” into each other and thus join the fun. The conclusion is simple – Origin made a very positive impression. Towards the end of the first day, a staple of Obscene Extreme – the Hell Show, a display of extreme piercing and body modifications, took place. It was the first time I had the opportunity to watch this spectacle from behind the scenes, and I must say, it was fascinating to see up close all these suspensions and piercings.

The next day was supposed to be the main event, as we were most interested in the bands playing that day. However, the festival atmosphere greatly influenced us, and we indulged in quite a party from early morning. Our main goal was to see Nasum, who were scheduled to play around 10 PM. The first band we had the opportunity to see on Friday was the Turkish band Sakatat, who performed very good grindcore in its original, raw form, if I can put it that way. Lots of screaming and wild pounding. The crossed-out note on the banner hanging on the stage was quite suggestive in this case. Swedish M:40 was one of the priorities of this year’s edition and at the same time one of its better moments. Perfectly played d-beat/crust with two vocals and the right amount of melody sweetened my missed Wolfbrigade. I hope that something similar will be present at the next edition as well, because this type of music works very well at Obscene. Another band we had to check out was Weekend Nachos, who delivered energetic power violence/hardcore with lots of feedback. The dynamic racket generated by the Americans was skillfully mixed with numerous slowdowns and cool transitions. We took a short break and caught Leng Tch`e. The Belgians are a decent grind/death band with a modern twist, but let’s not kid ourselves – they still have a long way to go to the top of the genre. They were closest to the top with their first two albums, but that’s a different story. The concert was fine, the black vocalist was a great frontman, but they left a better impression on me at Gore Galore in Wrocław. One of the favorites of this year’s edition was the Singaporean band Wormrot. The extremely unassuming trio wreaked such havoc that it took me a long time to pick up my jaw from the ground. A maximally intense set, blistering speeds, a lot of energy and brutality. I hardly felt the lack of a bass guitar, it may even have added a certain wildness to their performance. Short, concise songs during which so much happens that it could make your head spin. No questions asked. Right after them, the French band Benighted took the stage, and they seem to be doing better and better. In this case, the sounds were more death metal-oriented in a quite modern way. I enjoyed watching them, especially since a lion’s share of their concert was filled with tracks from their awesome latest album „Asylum Cave”. They also played probably their most famous song, namely „Slut”. A very interesting performance, lots of tempo changes, diverse vocals, good sound. Thumbs up. I was curious to see how the veterans from Discharge would perform, and I must say that I expected a better show. Everything was fine, but after the chaos of the previous concerts, I couldn’t really fit in here. You still can’t deny the musicians’ energy and spontaneity in their performance. However, I, Obscene Extreme 2012, was living a concert that was about to happen right after Discharge. I was already on the verge of endurance, as the day had been rich in good concerts, and socially also quite intense. However, the highlight was so close that I didn’t even consider the option of giving up, dozing off, or anything like that. When the sirens sounded from the speakers and a young couple in gas masks took the stage, a shiver ran down my spine. And a moment later, Nasum began their incredible concert. The first blow came with „Mass Hypnosis”, followed by a whole bunch of „hits” – „Corrosion”, „Scoop”, „Relics”, „Shadows”, „Just Another Hog”, „I Hate People”, „Wrath”, „I See Lies”, and many, many others. The setlist was perfect for me. I heard all my favorite tracks, although I would prefer the live version of „Fury” to be the one recorded during the sessions for „Helvette” (released on „Grind Finale”), rather than „Shift”. But that’s just a detail. Rotten Sound’s vocalist fit in perfectly, and when I first heard that he would be the replacement, I thought it was a great choice. It turned out to be a hit. A cool idea was changing the lyrics in „Inhale/Exhale” to „Obscene Extreme”. I can honestly say that this was the best grind concert I’ve had the pleasure of attending so far. I have a somewhat emotional connection to this band, and I never thought I would be able to hear these tracks live. After the concert, I thought I might not be objective because I was as excited as a child and time seemed to stand still for me. But the truth is, I didn’t hear any opinion discrediting this performance. Maybe this reunion was motivated by financial reasons, but the way this concert blew me away allows me to overlook that. It was a fantastic conclusion to the second day, and I no longer had the energy, or even the desire, to stay for anything else, so I went to sleep.

The third day, of course, started with a mandatory shower in the morning, followed by a trip to town for lunch. As a consequence, I didn’t see much that day. I regretted missing out on the Brazilian band Baixo Calao, which played at 11 AM. I wanted to see them mainly because the vocalist is disabled – he has no legs and one arm. It must have been a very powerful performance. We only arrived for Carnal Diafragma and I was a bit disappointed, as I liked their stuff on record, but it didn’t really grab me live. Cocklush was a bit better, their riffs reminded me of Gronibard, but it didn’t excite me particularly. I was disappointed with the performance of Internal Suffering from Colombia, as their sound was disastrous, and their performance was chaotic. They sound decent on record, but live it’s a musical mess. Only the veterans from Extinction Of Mankind showed a very decent level of play. Concrete, filthy crust Obscene Extreme 2012seeped through the speakers and finally, after a wave of crappy bands, you could hear real hardcore screaming and feeling. Finally, Jig-Ai’s unexpected second concert was the pure essence of Czech grindcore. A much better performance than the one they did two days ago. I don’t know what influenced this – better sound, enthusiasm from the crowd, or more energy and looseness on stage? Probably a bit of everything. The vocal vacuum cleaner combined with the danceable, „polka” rhythms mixed with blast beats got the maniacs in front of the stage into a frenzy of fun. Guys in helmets, pig faces, in sado-maso masks, whatever you like. I must say, I had a blast at this crazy freak show. Fans of Swedish death metal (to which I also belong) were surely satisfied with Demonical, who showed how to play death metal in the style of Entombed. Great grave-like vocals, medium-fast tempos, and grim tar oozing from the speakers delighted my ears. Music with a much more negative and dark character compared to Centinex, whose members were also in this band. The concert was on a similar level to Entrails at the previous year’s edition. And finally, it was time for the final blow (for me) on the third day. Looking For An Answer. The vegan band from Spain arrived with such fierce and devastating grindcore mixed with death metal that they completely swept away everything and everyone that day. Killing, precise blasts, apocalyptic breakdowns, aggressive riffs, and menacing growls interspersed with screams took over the Trutnov amphitheater. Looking For An Answer is primarily well-thought-out grind, not some hasty-sloppy stuff, just to get ahead. Their performance was also super solid, so it must have made an impression. After their concert, an unfortunate decision was made by me to take a „temporary” nap in the car, which resulted in me missing the rest of the bands. I am most sorry for missing Asphyx, Yacopsae, and Poison Idea, but life sucks and you have to get used to it. It also hurt a bit that the advertised bands Exhumed and Disgorge didn’t perform, but maybe next year…

In conclusion, every trip to Trutnov yields a wealth of great memories, as Obscene Extreme is synonymous with madness, and there is probably no other festival with such an atmosphere. At least I haven’t heard of one. Crossing its gates can make you feel like you are in a kind of human zoo or at a grindcore amusement park. Despite some recurring inconveniences, I will try to be there next year, and the year after, and so on. So, there’s nothing left but to say – until next time!