There is always a special feeling when attending a concert so close to our home, and this statement couldn’t be more factual for Isola Rock, the annual metal festival that takes place in Isola Della Scala, not so far from where I live. I am particularly fond of this festival because last year it was my first time attending it with a press badge on my neck, and I will be forever grateful to Angela and Associazione I Butei for the kind opportunity they reserved for FemMetal! This year, though, I am accompanied by my faithful photographer Silvio Colombo, who we thank for the photos!
Unfortunately, I still have a day job and so I missed almost all the performance by Simone Clementi Project, and for that, I am very sorry. I was perfectly in time instead for the first official band to open the festival.
Hellfox
I have seen this band a couple of times already, and while those two performances didn’t excite me much, yesterday Hellfox were at the top of their shape, and I thoroughly enjoyed their set! They were clearly having fun on stage, which is the best thing to see when you’re in the audience. A big hat to Federico De Zani, who promptly substituted Federica on drums, and while this was his first performance with the rest of the group, he seemed very at ease and nailed the percussions in an excellent way. A cute moment happened on stage shortly after their set ended, with Priscilla caressing Greta’s head, assuring her she did a good job. A fantastic start to this festival!
Setlist:
- Our Lady Of Sorrow
- Haunted
- Raising
- Nothing Really Ends
- Rebirth
- Your Name
- Dead Star
- Bleeding Machine
17 Crash
From Hellfox’s melodic death metal, the mood changes swiftly at the Palariso, with 17 Crash bringing a very clean and pleasing hard rock. They have been my favourite band of the evening! What a delightful surprise. They have mastered the stage and the audience in an impressive way, and I wished they could have played for longer. All the members had outstanding techniques, and their anecdotes and stories between songs were amusing. Unfortunately, due to these temperatures changing, I didn’t have any voice; otherwise, I would have sung and screamed as well on their songs! The funniest bit happened when Ros Crash introduced the band, and he purposely forgot about The Mess Mistress on bass, which she returned the favour by purposely forgetting to announce him too. I love these guys! They gained a new fan.
Setlist:
- Higher
- Be A Man
- Change Your Way
- Can’t Touch
- My World
- Bite the Freedom
- Through Hell And Back
- Heroes
- Strike First
- Hit The Prey
Ulvedharr
There is no rest for the wicked, and we return to the death metal atmosphere with Ulvedharr, who are promoting their latest release, “Inferno XXXIII” published a couple of weeks ago. Their metal is raw, powerful, direct and fire-breathing. On stage, they make it even more fierce with the help of two amazing guitarists like Jack and Alessandro. My ears are still resounding since they stopped playing! Even though the audience wasn’t very responsive for the first two bands, Ark on vocals managed to push the bar even higher. Keep an eye on this group because they are going places!
Setlist:
- A Full Reload of Fear
- Wasteland
- Legion
- Revenge Loop
- Master Liar
- Dagon
- War Is In The Eyes of Berserker
- Onward To Valhalla
- Tragedy of the Faithful
Deathless Legacy
“Erue Domine / A porta inferi / Requiescant in pace / Amen” … it is time to join the occult when these lyrics are heard throughout the Palariso, because Deathless Legacy will not leave us a choice. With their impressive stage presence, captivating sounds and spectacular scenographies, this band has all the qualities we look for when seeing entertainers. Not just musicians but artists in more than one sense. The whole audience is literally at Steva’s mercy, and we cannot do anything else but cheer and applaud such a superb group. Even though I am personally a Christian believer, they make the occult and horror quite fun and ardent.
Setlist:
- Ora Pro Nobis
- Rituals of Black Magic
- Absolution
- Queen of the Infernal Pantheon
- Moonless Night
- Your Blood is Mine
- Altar of Bones
- The Coven
- Dominus Inferi
The Modern Age Slavery
What is more death than death metal? The answer is The Modern Age Slavery, a historical band from Reggio Emilia that takes extreme to a whole new meaning. And that is precisely what their performance was: more than one hour of growls, mighty guitars, heavy sounds and profound themes like slavery and struggles of life. Many songs of their set were taken from their latest full-length “1901: The First Mother”, and I found the artwork of the album a bit too much. I am not a death metal expert, so I cannot appreciate the genre fully, but the group was very cohesive, and they had many fans in the audience.
Setlist:
- Pro Patria Mori
- KLLD
- Irradiate All the Earth
- OXYgen
- Red Lines of Obsession
- Damned to Blindness
- Vile Mother Earth
- Prelude to an Evolution
- The Reprisal Within
- Miles Apart
- A Stygian Tide
- Arise (Sepultura cover)
- Obedience
- Icon of a Dead World
In conclusion, the first day of Isola Rock 2023 was a success: the band played on a perfect schedule, the atmosphere was enthusiastic and the food was great. We can’t wait for day two to start!
