2021 was way less tough than 2020 but it was still tough enough. In November I’ve finally attended some gigs with no restrictions, but in December this new COVID-19 strain brought some new rules and I’m getting a little apprehensive regarding some plans I’ve made.. But I’ll talk about it in the “expectations for 2022”. I’m still including one live stream in my top-5 gigs because the “real” ones didn’t happen before June and that one in April (which included an unplugged section and stories about the songs they’ve performed) still meant a lot to me:
- Infraktor at Metalpoint (Porto)
- Equaleft at Hard Rock Cafe (Porto)
- Hollywood Undead at MixOne Sound (“Undead Unhinged” live stream)
- GoDark at Metalpoint (Porto)
- Sugiru at Metalpoint (Porto)
My favorite records:
- “Aeromantic II” by The Night Flight Orchestra
- “Worship” by Hypocrisy
- “Hermitage” by Moonspell
- “SepulQuarta” by Sepultura
- “Aggression Continuum” by Fear Factory
From big movie-like productions to the simplicity of the ocean, going through animation, here are the videos whose producers I tip my hat to the most:
- “Burn For Me” by The Night Flight Orchestra
- “Funeral Derangements” by Ice Nine Kills
- “Treading Water” by Danny Rose
- “Ich hasse Kinder” by Till Lindemann
- “Children Of The Gray” by Hypocrisy
My expectations for 2022 are, in general, all the postponed concerts and festivals that should have taken place in the last couple of years. But then there are these specific items:
- This is the 4th time I put here the 4th Hills Have Eyes album, so let’s hope that the matching number 4 is the lucky strike…
- The Hollywood Undead headlining gig in Hanover (June).
- The W.A.S.P. 40th anniversary gig in Madrid (March).
- Really curious about The Halo Effect album (and gig in Lisbon).
- A chance to see Pitch Black live, after missing their long-awaited return due to health issues.
Enjoy 2022 as much as possible, peeps. Stay safe.
Renata “Pieni” Lino
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 
First band getting on stage was Infraktor, “ferocious thrash” straight out of Escapães. It was the only national band on the bill and made it right by their country – I used the quote marks in “ferocious” because that’s the band’s own tag line, but they lived up to it and there’s no better word to describe the show.
There’s a reason for German thrash to be so popular and Nuclear Warfare reminded us why, inflaming mosh circles practically from the first minute. Singer/bassist Fritz knew a few words in Portuguese – after all, the band has a Brazilian drummer, Xandão – but we were happy to teach him some more. Cursing words, obviously, in good ol’ cheerfulness.
Brazilian thrashers Aneurose released their sophomore album, “Juggernaut”, last July and Blindagem was one of the Portuguese dates in its promotional tour. I don’t know if they already had fans here, as the reaction of the crowd was so fulsome; but then again, it was my first time watching them and the adrenaline rush I’ve felt was simply overwhelming. Straight-forward, in-your-face metal music, headbanging and mosher friendly, lots of rebellious gang backing vocals to sing along… And speaking of “along”, singer Wallace joined the circle pit at some point. Songs such as “Butcher” or “Drunk As Skunk” got such a crazy feedback that all of a sudden it seemed that we were in a sold-out show, people pushing everywhere to stand up front. To the point that when Wallace called Infraktor-Popas on stage to help him sing Sepultura’s “Roots Bloody Roots” I couldn’t even see them – just listening to them. And what a duet that was.
Last but not least, also hailing from Brazil and also playing thrash metal – although with a bit more death to it -, Chaos Synopsis. “Gods Of Chaos” is their most recent work, released a little over a month ago, but three others have come before it and therefore they had a rich set for us. “Burn Like Hell”, “Storm Of Chaos” or “Gods Upon Mankind” are just some of the songs that you should look into if you’re in this genre. The crowd that night surrendered to them.
Valkyrian Music 