Starting on 2017, Riffolution Festival has grown year on year, with 2024 promising a stellar line-up. With a weekend ticket a mere £35 for a smorgasboard of riff-heavy monsters, some of the Miserable Metal Mind team were there for a huge dose of fuzzed up goodness.
Saturday headliners were Mars Red Sky from France who started their set with Slow Attack. I hadn't seen them for 8 years, and it worth the wait. With the Frenchmen a lot more chilled than the earlier bands, it was the perfect end to the day as they cruised through their hour long set with tracks from many of their albums. It appeared that playing in a trio was the theme for the day as Mars Red Sky are another three-piece. They included one of my favourites, Apex 3 mid set and there was a lot of appreciation for them amongst the crowd. Other highlights in the eight-song set included Maps of Inferno and The Final Round, with chat kept to a minimum so they could play as many songs as possible. Closing the set with Strong Reflection, I reflected that they had generated an excellent reception with the appreciative audience. Here's hoping it's less than eight years before I get to see them again!!
I’d only discovered Wet Cactus a few weeks ago and Wow! I was amazed by what I heard! The band hail from Cantabria in Spain and brought an awesome sound and chemistry to the stage. A genuine spark between them. Most of the set came from their latest album Magma Tres, and they came very close to being my band of the weekend. Opening with Solar Prominence, it seems that a lot of the crowd shared my views of them and quickly showed plenty of admiration.
As they played through the set, you could sense the crowd were loving what they heard with loud cheers greeting them between songs. Barren Landscape and Profound Dream were also drawn from Magma Tres, whilst older gems like Jim’s Song from the 2015 eponymous EP also got an airing. By the end they had captivated the audience. I fully recommend you listen to these and go and see them. You won't be disappointed!
Witchsorrow were yet another trio and were probably the heaviest band of the day as they stormed through their 40 minutes set with songs covering their full discography. Opening with Aurora they barrelled through with some excellent guitar work. Void and Hexenhammer quickly followed, with little chat, the Farnborough outfit preferring to let the music do the talking. Throne and Gallows continued the set, with singer Nick ‘Necroskull’ Ruskel thanking the crowd for their support before ending the set with Demons. An excellent performance by them and here's hoping that there's a new album coming from them soon.
Reviews and photos by Dez Coley
Find out more about the festival at Riffolution Promotions
No comments:
Post a Comment