Heavy Days in Doom Town
Days One and Two
Mammoth Photo Essay!

Text and photos: Astrid Tonella

On this sunny beginning of May started the second edition of Heavy Days in Doomtown in Copenhagen, Denmark. The four days DIY sludge/doom/stoner fest who made a massive impression last year is back again, with an incredible line up (five bands performed their first European show ever), bringing fans of “all things slow and heavy” from all over Europe and beyond. For those who are unfamiliar with the festival (?!), HDDT is an event organized by the “Undergrundsmusikkens Fremme” (Underground music Promotion) who has been organizing for several years the now notorious “Kill-town Death Fest”. The concept, which makes this festival so unique, is to bring the DIY principles to the doom/stoner/sludge/psych scenes that are rarely exposed to these ethics and create music and culture without having any profit involved.

Huge congrats to the organizing crew for topping last year’s event, for the top-notch organization and for making this weekend absolutely amazing. With this edition, HDDT really proved that it can compete with other renewed European festivals – so if you haven’t attended yet, this is definitely not the fest you want to miss next year!

DAY ONE
The first day started off very well at Stengade, with a sold out warm-up show enabling the public to visit the art gallery placed on the first floor of the venue. For this edition, HDDT continued in line of last year, adding even more artists to the bill. The artistic dimension is to me a great addition that provides a very unique atmosphere to this festival and showcases artists who also contribute in making the scene something more than “just” music but a culture of its own. For this day, you were able to admire the incredible works of The 13th Sign Collective (D), responsible for the fest’s artwork, Manuel Tinnemans (NL), Timo Ketola (SWE), Sami Hynninen (FIN) and assist to a book reading by Ulrike Serowy, narrated by Mat McNervey from Hexvessel.

HUATA
First time on the Danish soil for the French doomsters and not the last! I’ve had the chance to see these guys quite a few times by now and I can say that this was probably their best set I’ve seen. The Breton quartet certainly warmed up the audience in due form – a warning for the three following days of madness ahead. Huata came with no fuss, bringing their massive sound and bottle of chouchen that the singer Ronan, dressed up like a satanic priest, was using to “bless” the audience. The band played mostly tracks from the heavy “Atavist of Mann” such as the catchy “Lord of the flames” and their brilliant cover of “Black Sabbath” from Coven. Definitely a stoner/doom delivered in perfect manner. Great job Huata!

HEXVESSEL
Last performance of the night is the fine Finish quintet Hexvessel. After another success at Roadburn, it was long due for them to step on Danish soil. It was with no surprise that the band completely blew away the audience with an inspiring and mesmerizing performance. A perfect set list mixing beautifully songs from the two first albums and their latest EP with highlights such as the fabulous and heady cover of “Woman of Salem” from Yoko Ono, “Unseen Sun” and “Woods to Conjure”.

The band seemed much more comfortable than the first time I saw them, their fusion was stronger and you could read on their faces they were enjoying themselves. A superb way to start the fest that left me under the moon for a while…

DAY TWO
A new day at HDDT which is taking place for the rest of the weekend at Ungdomshuset. The sun is shining, the people and the bands seem psyched to be here.

Today the rest of the artists invited to the fest show their work in various locations of the venue. The canvases used are diverse, from screen printing, to drawing, to metal and photography. Whether it’s a coincidence or not, I’m glad to see so many female artists on the bill, such as Aminah Slor (US), Bronwyn Pandemon (D/US), Maija Lathinen (FIN), Kristiina Letho (FIN) and Frida Hulthén (SWE).

TONER LOW
I was thrilled when I heard the Dutch three piece was going to perform at this year’s fest, a great addition as the band is the epitome of what is slow and heavy. After being underrated for quite a while, the band finally gets the recognition it deserves and is now on its 15th year of activity with a third album recently released! Toner Low is a one of a kind band, they do drone/stoner but with a psychedelic twist to it. They played in the dark (not to accommodate me) with an hallucinogenic patterned illuminated on the bass drum. A very heavy and groovy and loud set that surely warmed me up for Bell Witch!

BELL WITCH
First show in Europe for the Seattle duet, a very awaited performance after they released the phenomenon “Longing,” which is a pure doom jewel. The band starts the first track and BOOM! Now we’re talking! Their sound is massive and haunting. But Bell Witch is more than a band who just spits that super sonic weight in your face, they prove their excellent musicianship: Dylan’s bass work is impressive, consisting of two hands fretting and out chord changes – a delight to watch. Adrian’s drumming is impeccable, hitting the skins very hard, like his goal was to crumble the whole place. They pulled off an amazing epic and actually quite emotional set, I would say. This drum and bass duet is probably one of the thickest of the current doom scene. Europe, catch them on tour!

CONAN
Unfortunately I caught Conan too late and arrived in front of a packed house! Nevertheless, no need to be up front though to realize how unreasonably loud the band is. It’s heavy, fuzzy it’s more of a monster machine than a band: disgustingly good!

BELZEBONG
Another band I was nicely surprised to see appear on this edition of HDDT. That night they played Dødsmaskinen and the room was filling up quickly. I make my way to the front row and the smoking machine is already in full swing! By the time the Polish quartet enters the stage, the room has transformed into a giant aquarium full of blur and other illicit substances: perfect scenery for a ritual to the bong and weedy riffs! The band begins the ceremony… Damn these dudes are already far, far out and they take us with them within a few seconds. It seems that their sound is even slower than on the album, which added to the heaviness of their set that made us bounce and bend under the heavy weights of their mighty riffs. After that rollercoaster, I left the venue a bit fuzzy…

SAMOTHRACE
The night ends up with Samothrace playing the main stage. It is no secret that CVLT Nation is a huge fan of the band and therefore I had to witness their first show ever in Europe. After being hooked by their debut album “Life’s a trade” and overly impressed by their recent opus “Reverence to Stone,” I have to say it was one of the shows I was looking the most forward to. That night, the quartet definitely exceeded my expectations and completely blew my mind away. They opened with “A Horse of Our Own,” grandiose on the album but the true power of that masterpiece only reveals itself live. Man, Renata and Brian definitely know how to hit your sensitive spot while Dylan works his magic with his bass and Joe’s drumming builds an overwhelming vibe with devastating cymbals crashes. The band surely tore my heart apart and gave me chills during the rest of the set, which consisted of “Awkward Hearts” from their debut album and the other part of their EP “When We Emerged”. What a band!