Heavy Days in Doom Town
Day Three

Text and Photos by Astrid Tonella

Pyramido
Third day at HDDT and it was time to check out the Swedish dudes from Pyramido. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see the whole set, but from the 20 minutes I witnessed, it was a hell of a show. The five piece hardcore band from Malmö (and its additional session member) didn’t come to do playback. That night, the band delivered a solid and crushing set: the singer Ronnie totally owned the place, belting out in the middle of the audience, backed up by some solid musicians. Even though it was a short experience for me, Pyramido was definitely one of the highlights of the evening.

Full review after the jump…






Ocean Chief

8pm, I’m heading off to check out yet another Swedish band: Ocean Chief. I discovered the band a little while ago through their split with Kongh, and they are definitely not your average doom band. Along the years, the quartet managed to build a universe of their own, flirting with Norse mythology, riffs à la Sleep and psychedelic waves. Visually, the set was a bit static, but musically, the performance was rich, moving from doom to more psychedelic and slow passages to heavy and crushing riffs. No doubt, Swedes definitely have a thing for all things slow and heavy.








Noothgrush

Midnight, the hour of crime, and the very anticipated Noothgrush finally set foot on stage. I never thought I would ever get the chance to see these guys play, and having them coming over here was absolutely unreal. The line-up hasn’t changed since they split up, except for Dino Sommese, who joined at the microphone since their reunion at the Power of the Riff last year. The giants hit the stage, totally relaxed, smiling and obviously very happy to be here – a total contrast to the chaos they are about to unleash! The set starts with the phenomenal “Useless”, setting the atmosphere for the rest of show. The chaos lasted for about an hour, including a digest of their best songs “Dianoga” (which the intro was happily repeated by the crowd), “Starvation,” and “Stasis.” Damn, those songs haven’t aged, the riffs are sharp and the drumming is powerful and freaking heavy. The performance was an ode to hatred and really tore the place apart. At that point, it was, for me, the best act of the fest.

Stay tuned for Heavy Days in Doom Town Day Four…