Laurus Nobilis Music Famalicão 2017 – metal day
Holocausto Canibal, Amorphis, Heavenwood, Urban War, Final Mercy, In.Verno, Skinning, Stucker
Louro, Famalicão (PT)
28th July 2017
The 3rd edition of Laurus Nobilis Music Famalicão experienced a few changes but having its metal day on Friday wasn’t one of them. And with the addition of a second stage, the number of heavy acts doubled. First one on the “breakthrough stage” was Stucker. It was around 5 p.m., the crowd wasn’t exactly massive, but when you’re in a thrash metal band playing in a metal fest, chances are that you’ll get a good feedback, no matter how scarce the number of people giving it. And Stucker have improved their posture quite a lot since I’ve last seen them, more committed. Musically they sound stronger too. They’re currently in studio, recording an EP which I was told it’s a “back to the thrash roots” ride; promising.
https://www.facebook.com/StuckerPT/
After two albums, Skinning’s death metal is quite praised among the national underground – therefore the feedback was more intense, even if the crowd was just a little larger than before. But a seven, maybe eight-year-old kid was eagerly headbanging, and for what I could gather, he was no relative of any member of the band – that alone was worth as much as a vicious mosh pit.
https://www.facebook.com/SkinningMetal/
Then from Spain came the “dark metal” of In.Verno – meaning heavy melodies spiked with synths, with a beautiful female voice mingled with male growls. This was still part of the band’s Insanity Tour, promoting their second album “The Reasonable Choice Of Insanity”, and it was a pleasant and refreshing way of closing down the so-called first part of the day.
https://www.facebook.com/invernospain/
The action moved to the bigger stage, with Final Mercy literally storming it. It had been about seven years since I’d last seen them and probably as many line-up changes since the first, a decade ago; and while some bands may look unstable after so many adjustments, this was probably the best that could have happened to Final Mercy. Guitarist Ricardo Ribeiro and bassist Arcélio’s technical skills made the music more mature, and singer Dan’s posture filled their live performance with much more vitality. A couple of days before the fest they released a video for the title-track of their latest album, “Revival” (June 2017), which I strongly recommend.
https://www.facebook.com/FinalMercy/
Despite being announced on the fest website that Urban War would close the bill of the smaller stage, it seems the plan was for them to play on the prime one all along. Well, the energy of singer Márcio Pinto needed indeed a bigger space to be fully discharged and so there he was, jumping all over amidst smoke and strobe lights, promoting “Flesh Upon The Feelings”. Pretty vibrant groove metal, well-deserved of the main stage
https://www.facebook.com/urbanwar/
I dare saying that Heavenwood were awaited just as eagerly as the headliners – and that eagerness was rewarded. In the 25 years they’ve been around, there’s close to nothing in their songwriting that one can finger-point; their live performances, however, have always been their weakness… until a couple of years ago. Don’t know if it was something about the conceptual latest album “The Tarot Of The Bohemians”, if it was the new line-up or simply the natural process of growing up… but who cares? They now kick ass on stage and that’s all that matters. I was just a bit disappointed that Equaleft-Miguel didn’t join them on stage. Due to his day job, there were a few shows that singer Ernesto was forced to miss and it was Miguel who replaced him. Given the difference in styles, I was really curious to see how that worked out. My curiosity wasn’t fulfilled, but still my satisfaction reached the top.
https://www.facebook.com/HeavenwoodOfficial/
When Amorphis last played in Portugal, it had been in celebration of “Tales From A Thousand Lakes” 20th anniversary and about a month before “Under The Red Cloud” was out, so despite such release has occurred two years ago, the title-track, “Sacrifice” and “Death Of A King” were performed live for the first time in our country – and they were welcomed accordingly. But then again, all songs caused similar thrill. Always addressing us as “my friends”, Tomi Joutsen asked for our help in “House Of Sleep” and our opinion about playing “Into Hiding”, now that original bass player Olli-Pekka Laine was back. Without surprise – but obviously with loads of emotional feedback – the gig ended with “Black Winter Day”.
https://www.facebook.com/amorphis/
Death-grind isn’t for everybody’s ears, so having Holocausto Canibal closing the bill was the right decision – the ones who couldn’t endure such extreme sound could leave (and a lot did…) and those who enjoyed it had the chance of seeing a great band of the genre on a big stage. As singer Ricardo said himself, it doesn’t look like but they’ve been around for 20 years. They’ve released a vinyl re-recording of both their debut demo and album under the inkling title “Catalépsia Necrótica: Gonorreia Visceral Reanimada”, which is Portuguese for something like “necrotic catalepsy: reanimated visceral gonorrhea”. Musically and lyrically, the brutality prevails, but they’ve toned down the theatrics a bit – less blood and entrails, that is – focusing more on sound than image. Whether you like it or not, one must acknowledge the big act they are.
https://www.facebook.com/hcgore/
And so the metal day of Laurus 2017 came to an end. I tip my hat to everyone involved in this venture, not just from an event-promotion point of view but also for the support given to national metal, still so underestimated by many.
Text & photos by:
Valkyrian Music 
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