Manowar, Vëlla, Rhapsody Of Fire, Jardim Letal, DarkTribe, M.E.D.O., Via Sacra
Louro, Famalicão (PT)
Promoted by Associação Ecos Culturais do Louro
21st July 2022
The two-year hiatus COVID-19 forced into Laurus Nobilis Music Famalicão – now Laurus Nobilis Music Fest – is over and they’re back… well, not stronger than before, but just as strong. Sure, Manowar is probably the biggest name they’ve had in all their six bills and their fans gathered the biggest audience so far, but it’s just one band – it shouldn’t define a whole festival.
Portugal has a rich rock and metal underground, so promoters try not to repeat names as much as they can. But Via Sacra is a local band and has been working on some new material (finally, as “The Road” is still their one and only full-length album after 10 years of its release), so it made perfect sene that they were back at opening the festival, just like they did in 2016. A more vivid performance (more because of the line-up changes rather than experience acquired) which ended with the new single “Rock ‘N’Roll”. This should be worth of mentioning just for the novelty itself, but the real highlight stands in the fact that little Gabriel (singer Jimmy’s son) got on stage to play guitar, with such a rock star attitude that melted everyone’s hearts.
Despite the two stages, the slightly bigger one was destined just for the two “main” bands (Manowar and Rhapsody Of Fire) of this first day, meaning the action kept taking place on the smaller one. So no need to get far – unless you didn’t like hardcore, which was what came next. M.E.D.O. were one guitarist short for this gig but that didn’t slow them or the slamdancers down. I honestly don’t know if the latter were specific fans of the band or just the genre’s, but they seemed to have a lot of fun to some of the most popular songs, like “Órfão Orgulhoso”, “Apartheid Ambiental” or “Cegueira”.
When DarkTribe got on stage next, I noticed the drummer kept looking at the computer by his side and I joked to myself “the drummer needs a cheat sheet”. Then I saw his face and I thought he was familiar, but since DarkTribe was a French power metal band that I was seeing for the first time, chances of knowing the guy were pretty slim. And THEN I saw he was wearing a t-shirt of Metalpoint (a famous underground venue in Porto). So I looked at his face again and finally recognized Gaspar Ribeiro, the Portuguese drummer of Equaleft and Wrath Sins. Singer Anthony Agnello would say at some pont that their own drummer told them he couldn’t make it to Laurus just the day before and they almost cancelled the trip. But the promoters promised they knew just the right guy for the job and just in a couple of hours, Gaspar learnt the set list and nailed it. “Fire your drummer!” someone yelled from the audience, making everybody laugh, but the way he played songs like “Prism Of Memory” or “Voici L’Homme” (title-track of their third and latest album) was no joke.
www.facebook.com/DarktribeOfficial
What seemed like a joke was the band that came next (no offense). Jardim Letal fit more in some town festivities than a metal festival, sounding more like a pop band than the rock one they claim to be. And not even mainstream pop, which could somehow entertain the crowd. Their only album “Silêncio” was released in 1996, which puzzled me even more regarding their presence, but there they were – and people took the chance to grab something to eat.
Rhapsody Of Fire, on the other hand, was a great choice. I confess I had no idea there were so many fans of theirs in Portugal, but then again, a lot of Spanish were present, and no matter how many albums they release, the Rhapsody legacy left by Luca Turilli and Fabio Lione will always have its weight. The proof is how much louder the crowd sang “Dawn Of Victory” or the mandatory “Emerald Sword”, even if they got a major feedback throughout the whole set list (“I’ll Be Your Hero” and “Son Of Vengeance” seemed to be favorites). It was great to see so much happiness on and off stage. They should have played longer.
www.facebook.com/rhapsodyoffire
A lot of people stayed in front of the main stage, saving their spot for Manowar, but Vëlla had a considerably large crowd watching them – enough to build the first real mosh circle of the festival and first wave of crowdsurfers making their way into the security’s arms. Call them modern, call them alternative – what really matters is that both “Coma” and the latest “Entity Vol. 1” have received great reviews, and when it comes to live performances, everybody goes wild. Equaleft-Miguel co-sang “The Promise” but one presence I’d have happily dismissed was the girl filming the gig with her phone, always popping up in different places of the stage. Pretty annoying.
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We were first told that there would be no photographers in the pit for Manowar (well, we could for thirty seconds – ha ha ha – so none of us would bother…). Then we were told that we could shoot the usual first three songs after all (which surprised us more than the thirty seconds joke, in all honesty). But when we were all already lined up in front of the stage, the head security came rushing us out of there, saying Manowar didn’t want anyone in the pit. In a later statement though, the festival promoters apologized, saying that it had nothing to do with the band but problems with the fire machine – which ended up not working at all – and they were afraid it would spit flames right on us… Whatever the truth was, I didn’t bother and try shooting from the crowd – just a few pics of the monitors with my phone. I’m not exactly the biggest Manowar fan myself, although of course I remember some songs from my highschool years, but watching that legion of fans go ecstatic was a blissful sensation. “Manowar”, “Kings Of Metal”, “Warriors Of The World United”, “Carry On”, “Black Wind, Fire And Steel”… almost everyone sang along every single word, I dare saying even louder than the “one-million-dollars PA” the band had on stage. The encore included a “small” speech from Joey DeMaio, where he explained how hard was to produce a good show and that’s why they sometimes cancelled them, how he and the whole band didn’t care about haters, that they should live a long and miserable life knowing that Manowar had the best fans in the world. Then he called on stage the three men behind Laurus (there’s more, obviously, but those were the ones he had direct contact with), responsible for bringing Manowar to that small town of Famalicão. I confess I was touched. Attending this festival since its first edition and witnessing it growing to the point where a renowned artist such as DeMaio acknowledges the promoters’ efforts was way better than listening to “Heart Of Steel” (the one song I know the full lyrics to and which they didn’t play).
Text & photos by Renata “Pieni” Lino
No “alternative metal” band had played yet so Legacy Of Cynthia had the pleasure of doing so, kicking off the third and last day of Laurus with their brilliant “Rats And Rattlesnakes”. Their sound is too exquisite to describe but that exquisiteness is also unique, and it works perfectly live – especially in an open air festival. Their vitality spread out to the crowd, and even when bass player Caesar made a “small” thank-you speech – he himself recognized he was a pain in the ass and that those who’ve been to Legacy Of Cynthia gigs before were surely sick of listening to him – everyone applauded, clearly amused. I admit dancing to “Cabaret”, which wrapped up their set.
Getting Tarantula to play between Crisix and Dark Tranquillity wasn’t the best of options – unless the idea was for the crowd to recharge batteries. Their old school heavy/power metal is legendary around these parts, but even with the crowd echoing loudly the choruses to “Face The Mirror”, “You Can Always Touch The Sky” or “End Of The Rainbow”, something felt amiss. It’s been less than two years since I’ve last seen them live and they were in pretty good shape. Now it seemed like the spark was gone, or at least dimmed. It was a bit disappointing. And I’ll never understand why, despite someone always screams for “Power Tower”, they still refuse to play it…
This year’s festival finished with a local band, that came back together after almost a decade-long hiatus (I think it was an actual split-up, but whatever it was, it’s over). The Godiva was the first band I’ve shot with a digital camera, back in 2005, and for me it was enthralling to see this new version of them, all re-vamped and full of life – despite their “deadly” make-up, ha ha. And those who only knew them from the brand new single “Empty Coil”, or didn’t know them at all before this show, seemed to enjoy the old songs such as “Spiral”, “Fallen” or “Oblivion”. A great new era for the band, closing what represents a new era as well for this great festival. See you in 2019, Laurus Nobilis!
The second day started at mid-afternoon, with Sotz’ doing the honors. Here’s a band that’s been improving their performance at every show, and consequently winning over more fans – 4:30 p.m. and a large number of people ready to shout out and mosh around their support. Without any kind of disrespect for previous line-ups, I believe the current one is the most efficient in living up to the aggressive impact the band yearns for their sound.
Another band that’s grown a lot since the first time I’ve seen them a couple of years ago is In Vein. Raising Legends has been doing a hell of a job managing them, getting them to play practically everywhere, to the point where I confess I rolled my eyes when seeing their name on this bill. My sincere apologies – it was well deserved. Songs such as “S.A.T.A.N.”, “Paranoia” or “Infinite Night” fueled the headbanging and the horns in the air – singer António Rocha tried to convince the firemen to join the latter at some point, but they just smiled.
Last year the organization had already set a second stage for big bands still climbing the popularity ladder (calling them “smaller bands” wouldn’t be fair or accurate at all). This year that stage was a bit larger and endorsed, hence named after, the Spanish beer Estrella Galicia – Galicia being the community where the first band Atreides came from as well. The opening day served as a warm-up, with only the Estrella Galicia stage active and four acts on the bill, so the melodic heavy metal of Atreides started echoing around eight-thirty in the evening. The crowd wasn’t big, true, but I confess it was much bigger than I’d expected – and also more responsive towards a band clearly unknown to them, despite their two studio albums. Songs like “Frágiles” or “Laberintos” caused quite an impression – including in some little kids who were tagging along their parents but having a ball on their own.
Things got a bit more hardcore with Booby Trap’s crossover. The most veteran band on that day’s bill got a more aggressive feedback, just like their sound, but still they tried to convince the people in the back to get closer to the stage and join the party – unsuccessful, not even after guitarist Wild Bull provoked them by calling them something like “pussies”. Anyway, “Survive”, “Overloaded”, “Drunkenstein” (my favorite) or Motörhead’s “Ace Of Spades” (which they covered long before Lemmy’s death) kept the audience pretty hyped.
Cruz de Ferro is Portuguese for “iron cross”, so that alone gives you an idea what kind of metal they play and what they sing about – yep, traditional heavy metal about Portuguese battles and history in general. They had a handful of devoted fans in the front row, raising their fists and singing along loudly. To those, singer/guitarist Ricardo Pombo exclusively dedicated “Ritual da Cruz” (ritual of the cross), apologizing to the rest of the people attending the festival. But since they’ve played for the very first time a new song called “Soldado Desconhecido” (unknown soldier) – in memory of all Portuguese soldiers who lost their lives in the second Great War – I guess no one minded to be left out of the aforementioned dedicatory.
But it was Infraktor’s “ferocious metal” that got the most out of the crowd, proving the promoters right when they chose such a young band to headline the first day. Well, young as Infraktor, who released their debut album “Exhaust” early this year – the members are all old-school ambassadors of the national underground, as I’ve told you when I reviewed said debut 
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.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
Friday night, was a pretty damn heavy one. With all the bands meeting the intensity and power of headliners, Kill II This. I didn’t know what to expect from any of the bands playing on the day. Yet, I remained optimistic for what was to come. Opening it up proceedings was UK metallers I Saw The World Burn. Wow, I was completely blown away! They were loud and impressive. They had complete control of the stage. In particularly the front-woman, Katie Cairns who had a real stage presence. Her voice was really powerful and roared above the music. The riffs were large and the early crowd of SOS Festival were really into it. The music was quite consistent. With the vocals being even more impressive with every song. They weren’t the most dynamic of band with every song hitting the same notes all of the time. Yet, it worked somehow. Like Hatebreed or Darkest Hour they had the intensity and energy to make this kind of set work.
Valkyrian Music 