Last year’s Ieperfest still is one of the best festivals I’ve attended to this date. A small setting, with an amazing lineup and the best food I’ve ever had at any festival, for relatively cheap prices. Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? It definitely set the bar high for this year’s edition. This year the lay out of the festival got a huge change, the decision was made to move the main stage to last year’s Marquee. The replacement for the mainstage was a smaller tent dubbed “The Thunderdome”. Everything was “indoors”, something that really goes well the genre of hardcore and in fact many live performances in general. It definitely made me curious for the festival and the effect it would have on the performances. Friday the 11th of august came sooner than expected and before I knew it I was headed for the far west of Belgium, to the 25th edition of Ieperfest.

Sunday

With the last legendary afterparty just behind us we start the final day of Ieperfest. Many people were already packing all their stuff with the intention of leaving that evening. Since there’s no final afterparty and the last band finishes at 10pm there isn’t much reason to stay. It’s a strange feeling, a bit of an anti-climax but unfortunately Ieperfest doesn’t have the final decision in that matter. On the other hand it’s a nice change of pace, ending the festival relatively fresh. The worst part of going home is usually the massive hangover, something I wouldn’t have to worry about today.

Sunday was a day of hanging around and there wasn’t that much that I absolutely had to see to be fair. The best part of the line up to me was already behind us. However the bands I did want to see weren’t of any less quality. First up was Jesus Piece and a cup of coffee, I don’t think I could’ve wished for a more delicious breakfast. Jesus Piece is a quintet straight from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play straight-forward beatdown/hardcore (obviously) but they don’t shy away from a more profound riff here and there either.  Although they haven’t been around for too long they looked very comfortable on the stage. Something which translated in a very solid set. To me they were the discovery of the weekend, a very refreshing sound and enjoyable atmosphere. Go hard, go nuts, go enjoy yourself.

Since there wasn’t any other band playing at the same time I decided to check out Aversions Crown. I didn’t know what I was in for although I had a slight feeling. Deathcore is a genre I haven’t touched in a very long time. So I can’t say I know a whole lot of it either. Usually I don’t stay around for too long at deathcore but Aversions Crown managed to catch my attention for their whole set. Technical riffs, aggressive vocals and drums you can’t follow with your eye, you know the drill. What made the show so good was the chemistry with the crowd, people obviously enjoyed themselves. The vocalist had good interaction with the crowd as well. I can’t place my finger quite on it. Either I was in a deathcore mood or those Australian blokes simply knew how to play a crowd. In the end they didn’t stand out too much but it was a very enjoyable set and sometimes that’s all you need.

I had been waiting on them the entire weekend, the very reason I was so excited for this festival: Zeal & Ardor. I was curious, very curious how they’d perform on a live stage. If they would be able to live up to the huge expectations. Zeal & Ardor took the spotlight by storm. Initially by introducing a very unique mix of black metal and gospel/slave chants, subsequently by executing that mix perfectly. Zeal & Ardor isn’t like anything you’ve heard before, they stand out, a lot. I guess I can start by saying that this was, at least for me, the best show of Ieperfest. I dare to say even one of the best shows I’ve seen in the past couple of months. They’re that kind of band that sounds live so much better and then I’m only talking about the music. When your lead vocalist needs two microphones and you’ve got two backing vocalists dedicated to the role, I mean that not only looks impressive, it sounds amazing as well. Not your traditional black metal riffs but when it needs to sound hard they make sure it does. When you add a band that goes 200% at it on stage you’ve got yourself a recipe for success. I want more, and I want it now!

Last band for the festival it was for me, I had a train to catch. Boris hails all the way from the far Japan and brings, well… basically they play almost everything. They haven’t really settled with a certain genre and change it up every album or two. That makes a live performance quite interesting and it definitely won’t be the same thing twice. If you’re looking for consistency in this band you’ll only find it in the fact that no matter what music comes out next they’ll nail it. Musical diversity is one thing, being good at all of it is another. For their set at Ieperfest they fittingly pulled out their more heavier stuff. Think sludge, doom, stoner, everything that’s dark, slow and sounds like it could kill you if they dropped it on you. You get pulled in by the Japanese monster and once all is done they spit you out.

If you want to look back at this great weekend again, what’s better than the aftermovie?

https://www.facebook.com/ieperfest/videos/10155401058535255/

One last shout-out to my colleague reporter Hanna: the most hardcore girl I know. Breaking her foot during Harley Cro-Mags Flanagan and walking out with the biggest smile. Pardon my French but that was fucking brutal!