Event:	End of Dayz Festival
Written by:	Bas
Published:	11.01.2007

5.0 Day 3

This night we slept in the hall of z7. It wasn't extremely soft but at least it was warm. The night had been rather short due to the fact that some drunken guys had kept making noise until five in the morning and we were all awakened in time by the personnel of the z7 because the concerts would be resumed at twelve o'clock. So, what exactly was I hoping for today? Seriously I didn't even think about it much, this was the fucking last day of the year, and it had to be celebrated in a due fashion!

5.1 Amnesia

I didn't see this band, I'll explain why though. Some friends and I were standing around in the hall, arguing if we should see the first band or not? while the debate was seeming to turn towards "yes" the sound check began. Within a minute of the sound check we had decided to rather not see the first band. Yes, I know that it was only sound check, yes, I know that sound checks are for being able to correct instruments that sound bad, yet, those drums sounded so unbelievably crappy that we couldn't do anything but flee.

5.2 Grey Monday




Second band, tent, and we were back. This was a gothic rock band, in the same vein of the first band of the festival, and oh, what a coincidence, again the space before the stage was empty! I doubt I'm having problems with déjà-vu though and instead conclude that the Swiss metal scene is not particularly fond of gothic rock. I too found them to be rather boring, yet they were a lot better then the first band. They also didn't seem to be nearly as annoyed as the first band, definitely a point for them.

Wouldn't see them again: -

5.3 Abgrund




The next band was a thrash-influenced black metal band. Musically they really weren't very bad at all, but they made a very uninspired and unenthusiastic impression on me. Although the music was actually quite headbangable almost no one did so. An exception being the first row, which was made out of quite few people though. The band didn't really headbang themselves either, neither did they animate the crowd very much and the announcements all sounded flat. This might be a band that I'd enjoy quite much on CD, but live they simply didn't do it for me.

Wouldn't see them again: -

5.4 Excelsis




The last day of the year didn't really sound exciting for me yet eh? Excelsis changed this. A friend of mine had been bugging me for weeks that Excelsis will be awesome at the End Of Dayz and since we share some tastes in music I was very curious. They might not have been as amazing as I had hoped and as I was told, they were very good though. Slightly folk influenced and very melodic power metal. Maybe even comparable to the mighty Falconer on a few songs in fact. There were three guitarists, one of them playing mainly very melodic parts and two of them occasionally picking up a different, sometimes extremely strange/unusual instrument. A shame that those were mostly hard to hear though. I suppose it sounds extremely interesting on CD though. The crowd seemed to like them a lot and I also think that the band has huge potential.

Would be very curious to see them again: +

5.5 Daydreamer



Daydreamer played hard rock, yet they were loved at this metal festival. They had the attitude and stage acting of a metal band and their hard rock was more complicated than the music of most metal bands too. They had the crowd fully under control and gave a very "'professional" impression on stage, yet not at all a cocky or arrogant one. Towards the end of the show they threw a number of CDs and T-shirts into the crowd. Very good show + very good musicianship + very good crowd interaction = an awesome hard rock band.

Would want to see them again: +

5.6 Saidian




After Daydreamer I and some others were away for a short while, trying to get something to eat. When we returned Saidian was playing. While coming near and hearing a bit of their music, the following sentence passed my lips: "hey listen, its Edguy." I don't have much more to say to this. It sounded like typical and average melodic power metal, like Edguy, like thousands of power metal bands. Thusly, not being great Edguy fans (and as such also no great Saidian fans) we continued into the hall to watch Eluveitie's sound check instead, preferable by far!

Wouldn't want to see them again: -

5.7 Eluveitie




This is the second time I saw Eluveitie. Eluveitie are a death influenced folk metal band; they themselves call their music "new wave of folk metal." Whatever they are exactly, they are immensely popular here. And getting more popular with every single show they play. There is just something in their mix between roaring death metal and authentic Celtic folk music that everybody seems to love. Anna, the hurdy-gurdy player of the band, was missing due to being a bit sick, but still the folk-metalheads counted a whole seven people on stage, and their sound didn't seem much less grand then otherwise. There were a few problems with the drum-kit during the show but the reparation waiting times were over bridged with crowd interactions and a violin solo, so for the crowd it wasn't too much of a problem. The much called for bass solo and cover of Maiden's classic, Run To The Hills were both not followed, yet no one left the hall disappointed after Eluveitie was done. Great show, awesome band.

Will definitely see them again: + +

5.8 One Man Army And The Undead Quartet

This is one of those completely overrated bands to me. It's just really average and plain death metal, nothing more, but oh well? Although the music was somewhat headbangable most of it only bored me. The band got some very good crowd reactions though. And especially those that already knew the band agreed that it was an awesome show, I personally however have no idea why.

Wouldn't want to see them again: -

Sorry for the missing pic, here my cam started behaving stupid...

5.9 Benedictum




Benedictum were replacing Vanden Plas, who couldn't attend the festival out of some reason or another. I really can't remember much of Benedictum's music, but I remember to be absolutely bored and unimpressed. I also remember that I had really great difficulties to be able to stand the vocalists voice. Just a completely average, but extremely deep, female voice, nothing more then that. Benedictum were a complete waste of time to me. Apparently I wasn't the only person thinking this, the band didn't have a very big crowd and that crowd didn't really seem very impressed either. Because the band had a new drummer there was a unnecessarily long drum solo. Which was boring as well.

I definitely don't want to see them again: - -

5.10 Perzonal War

I wasn't really expecting much of a band called Perzonal War; damn was I mistaken! Great concert. The music was mainly thrash metal, the guitars being very heavy and the vocals quite melodic. The band was very energetic on stage and put on an awesome show. The crowd was a bit unenthusiastic at the beginning though. Soon however the energy leaped from the band to the audience and half of the hall was banging. The drummer was playing around with his sticks a bit, reminding, yes I dare make such a bold comparism, of Mike Terrana a bit. There isn't much more to say here, good music, good show, good headbanging.

Want to see them again: +

And the cam was fucked up again...

5.11 Legion Of The Damned

Legion Of The Damned was a death metal band. That could be all I write about them because they really weren't much more, but oh well, here I go anyway. I wasn't in the mood for death metal at all, yet I still noticed that they were a bit over average live, yet still far from great. Another thing I recall is that they didn't play a much called for encore. Probably being one of the only bands of the whole festival to not play any.

Unsure if I'd want to see them again: ~
Maybe if I'm in a particular death metal mood.

5.12 Finntroll




To me Finntroll really isn't very great musically speaking, that's what I thought before their concert and it's what I still think. Yet? their show was fucking amazing! It was New Year's Eve and the crowd was euphoric. Everyone had a great time and the spirit of metal was in the air. Finntroll isn't exactly my favourite band, but they do know how to party. Their music seemed a little bit less happy-sounding than on CD but the crowd was happy enough for themselves and the band together so it really didn't matter. The last hour of the year ended with a blast. The atmosphere was simply indescribable so I'll stop trying. Despite the fact that I don't like the band on CD this is a concert experience which I'll always remember as overwhelming.

Wouldn't want to see the band again: -
(This particular show by them does deserve a + + though )

5.13 Sodom

I didn't see Sodom. After Finntroll's concert and wishing people a happy new year, I decided that because Sodom isn't really my thing, it would be a shame to not let an awesome festival experience end with the most awesome part of it. Thus I said farewell to all my friends and acquaintances and quit the hall. Partying was to be continued elsewhere...

5.14 Epilogue of day 3

Although I didn't even like half of the bands of today, it was great. I had a lot of fun. I thought of it as a shame that the End Of Dayz festival was already over, but at least it ended with a blast. The atmosphere had been very merry the whole day and stayed like that into the new year.

6. Epilogue

The festival had quite a number of -core bands and also quite a number of "old-school" bands. I suppose it was an effort to reach the older and the younger generation of metal music. I suppose it worked to a point, but unfortunately I am not really a fan of either direction. Thusly half or even more than half of the bands weren't worth seeing for me. Yet the negative bands were clearly overshadowed by the positive concert experiences. The whole atmosphere of the festival, and especially the third day, had been amazing. I didn't really eat any of the other food but the fries and different meat products at the festival were comparatively good too. The lightshows were good in the worst case and amazing in the best cases. The cold wasn't very hindering because the tents were heated. It was also a great idea to have an autograph stand at which almost all bands gave autographs after their shows, this way no hardcore fan had to go home empty-handed. I really didn't regret going for a single second and am happy to have ended 2006 with the best part of it.