Since all shows have been postponed or cancelled due to Covid-19, I’ve been yearningly waiting for shows to re-emerge. And on September 12th, almost exactly 6 months after my last concert, I had the ability to finally attend a live show again. The Winds and Wood meet Metal Festival was calling. It was a 2 day indoor festival in Leipzig, Germany at the Hellraiser Club. Musicwise, my second living room, so to say.
The festival started on Friday, 11th September and continued on Saturday. Unfortunately, I could only be there on Saturday. But still, I was very thankful to those who took the challenge to organize a small scale festival that complied to the rules stipulated by the authorities.
And due to some rules and restrictions two of the announced bands, Cruadalach from Czechia and Beneath My Sins from France, were unable to come to Leipzig. Sad, but under the given circumstances well understandable.
It was late Saturday afternoon when I arrived at the Hellraiser. It was such a strange sight and feeling… the audience was seated. I never saw that before at a metal concert. The capacity was made for maybe 50 or 60 people, as opposed to the usual Hellraiser capacity of up to 1000 people.
At 16:45 the band members of Glass God entered the stage and started their show and the whole festival. After them, the band Nevaria entered the stage. Nevaria is a symphonic metal band from Germany with their debut single and full-length album released in October 2019. Logically, their playlist consisted of songs from their album „Finally Free“. They were doing really good on stage. And with songs like „Finally Free“ and „Control“, they even managed to give me a moment of goosebumps. An undeniable indicator that I liked the performance. The songs that were played were: „No Mercy“, „Life“, „Leaving You“, „Finally Free“, „Black & White“, „Control“ and „Deserve Honesty“.
After Nevaria, it was Moonlight Haze’s turn. Moonlight Haze is a symphonic / power metal band from Italy, formed in 2018 by Chiara Tricarico and Guilio Capone. The debut album „De Rerum Natura“ was released in June 2019 and their second album, „Lunaris“, was released only 1 year later, in June 2020. Stay tuned and read more about it in the upcoming interview I did with Chiara after their performance. But back to the show. Their set started with the last song of their 2nd album, with „Enigma“, followed by the album’s opening song „Till the End“. The show continued with songs like “The Butterfly Effect”, “To The Moon And Back”, the well-known single “The Rabbit Of The Moon” and others. To cut it short: their set was a well-balanced mix of both albums and I enjoyed every second of it, just like Chiara and her boys who did an amazing job and brought a bit of that Italian temperament into the room.
After Moonlight Haze it would have been Beneath My Sins‘ turn to enter the stage. Unfortunately, a few days prior to the festival, Paris was declared a high-risk area by the German authorities and the band was forced to cancel their appearance at the festival. Sad, but I understand their decision.
Instead, it was Morlas Memoria who came on stage after a short break. Morlas Memoria are a symphonic metal band from Dresden, Germany. I remember songs like „Phantasien“ and „Uyulala“ and my most favourite Morlas Memoria song, “Mine Of Pictures”, being played. This song always gives me goosebumps when I hear it live and it wasn’t any different this time around. This band just knows how to touch, entertain and connect with its audience. Currently, they are working on their 3rd full-length album, so keep an eye on more details.
After Morlas Memoria, it was time for Arcana Opera to deliver their show. However, I missed that part as I was doing an interview with Chiara Tricarico from Moonlight Haze. After the interview, it was time to return to my place and wait for the final band: Molllust. An operatic metal band from Leipzig, Germany. It was my 4th time seeing them live, so their songs and show weren’t new to me. But „not new“ does not mean „not good“! The setlist contained songs like „Ouvertüre Nr. 2“, „Unschuld“, „Voices oft he Dead“, and several others. And with their 11th and final song, „Ave“, I had the final feeling of having chills that evening. The excellent show was closed with the announcement that Molllust will enter the studio to record their next album, which made the end of this exceptional night even more epic.
Big thank you goes out to the band members of Molllust, especially Janika Groß and Frank Schumacher, who worked tirelessly to make this whole event happening. Also big thanks to the owner of the club Hellraiser! With my wallet being now a bit lighter, my pockets full of merch and head of great, yet unusual memories, I drove home. Looking forward to returning soon.
Metal Goddesses 