KNOT FEST, a new experience of metal in colombian territory.

KNOT FEST in Colombia headliner was JUDAS PRIEST considered founders of Heavy Metal and  hailing all the way from the U.K  accompanied by HELLOWEEN, KREATOR, ARCH ENEMY, IRON REAGAN, GOATWHORE and REVOCATION as international guests.  It was a sick mix that made everyone go wild. On Friday October 26th the fest hit Bogotá at Hipódromo de los Andes.  It is safe to say that everyone blew it out of the water.

October 26 Friday night in Hipódromo de los Andes, looked to be a Heavy Metal hotbed with more than 17.000 headbangers attending!  Joining them, the opening slot was in charge of a great selection of representative colombian bands, some with recognition abroad and who have also been supporting acts for international bands.

It was the case of HIGH RATE EXTINCTION , PITBULL, MASACRE, CUENTOS DE LOS HERMANOS GRIND and UNDER THREAT. The audience has recently had the opportunity to see some of them live, particularly those  who have created a buzz in the Metal cauldron all year round  in different shows and festivals. Bogotá Melodic band UNDER THREAT  would assume a very important challenge. Although their performance on the Maggot stage gave them prominence, they had to play between the closing shows of GOATWHORE and IRON REAGAN. UNDER THREAT gave their best  in a 45-minute show, trying to capture the attention of the crowd that was ready to have their best place  for the coming show of legendary HELLOWEEN. Although UNDERTHREAT´s got the attention of a bunch of spectators either by the programming between stages or  as an opening act in other recent previous shows, were victorious for their faithful audience, introducing tracks of their album “The Prision Within”, released in 2017.

With the daunting task of warming the stage, local bands showed they were up for the task, doing an admirable  job, shucking and jiving their way through energetic Metal sets,  picking up some new fans along the way from the crowd that showed up early.  Colombian bands proved once more they can hang with the big boys.

GOATWHORE

GOATWHORE, with their energetic and extreme thrashing, favoured the party approach instead, raising a drink to, and with, the colombian crowd. They brought their raw sounding vocals and dark  attitude made for a good stage show. A memorably solid set delivered by frontman Ben Falgoust. He made no excuses, or throne of guitars to sit on, choosing to simply perch himself upon a single flight case while he delivered a great performance.

ARCH ENEMY

A little after 5pm, the Swedes ARCH ENEMY would rush onto the main stage to start the international bands invited to this event. The feminine dose in the voice of Alissa White- Glutz, found echo from the Knot stage, managing to move an excited, hooked and growing public that was multiplying rapidly. In this second visit to the country, the Halmstad natives desplayed a squandering energetic act. The group went through some classics such as ’War Eternal’, ’You Will Know my Name’, ’My Apocalypse’, ’No More Regrets’ or ’Nemesis’, to close their presentation. The melodic beauty in the guitars of Michael Amott and Jeff Loomis stole the limelight from the band’s staging. The ARCH ENEMY warriors set the bar high for the rest of the night. 

REVOCATION

First up wIth international metal acts we could reach REVOCATION. Their live skills were far more superior than what one´s listened in their albums.

Boston’s own prog-death-thrash torchbearers,  Revocation hit the Moggot stage.  The band went from  proggy forms into darker material with gothic themes, diving totally into death metal, albeit with a sense of harmony, defying the expectations of the audience  with the intricacy and inventiveness with precise playing, clear production, and such melodic solos which brought grandeur to their show.

KREATOR

It was time for KREATOR. They are still one of the most aggressive and powerful sounding bands ever.  Every song was delivered with so much power and strength. Their song combination was absolutely perfect. Their whole set was absolutely brutal magnificent chaos. The crowd expressed their enthusiasm in many different ways.

KREATOR entered the stage and kicked off their set. Their Metal act gathered interesting crowd in just one place to say the least, from the old school generation to the new school. They came and were exactly what  people had hoped for: beautifully executed anthems. Mille Petrozza was an intimidating mountain of Metal presence with wis furious growl still intact and urging on a Bogotá Style mosh pit. Any of KREATOR´s songs from older ones like ’Pleasure to Kill’, to recent hits like ’Enemy of God’ and ’Violent Revolution’, were enough to gets crowds moving. The play list also included a selection of songs like ’Hail To The Hordes’’Satan Is Real’, ’Civilization Collapse’, continuing with classics like ’Flag of Hate’ from the 1986 EP,  ​​’Phobia’, and ’Pleasure To Kill’.

Petrozza commanded the audience attention, asking the crowd to open a pit, do a wall of death, headbang or just make noise.​ The band was great at moving necks and putting a grin on the face of the audience. Eventually Petrozza got his KREATOR flag, waving it aloft in defiance as the lights filled the stage.

KREATOR stirred up the crowd that exhumed  passion. All that body heat, in contrast with the cold  Bogota Savannah, made it a sweaty aggressive filled body slamming, where trying to make your way to the front was almost hopeless.

A prelude to the shocking act that would follow.

HELLOWEEN

Photo: Sergio Garzón - Hummingbird Press

Soon after we had KREATOR and I could see all the older generation at the show go wild. The guys know how to turn things up.  HELLOWEEN played several killer tracks like Halloween, ’Are you Metal’, ’Eagle Fly Free’, ’Keeper of the Seven Keys’ and ’I Want Out’.

As people fought to survive and the temperature was still rising all I could remember I was trying to hold my own while everyone was pushing in all directions.  As always they delivered and everyone was anxiously awaiting for the set change soon after.

JUDAS PRIEST

Photo: Sergio Garzón - Hummingbird Press

With the stage being mostly cleared after HELLOWEEN, hitting the stage at full force with the title track off of the newest album ‘Firepower’, the metal gods JUDAS PRIEST showed that even after 5 decades of recording and touring, they can still deliver the goods.   While Halford displayed his still incredible vocal prowess, guitarists Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap ( filling in for Glenn Tipton who had to step down from touring due to complications with Parkinsons disease) traded guitar licks back and forth in PRIEST´’s trademark duel fashion, maintaining duties in the rhythm section with Scott Travis.

Touring in support of ‘Firepower’, their set included as well as the title track songs like Lightning Strike’, ’No Surrender’, the ’Guardian’ intro and ’Rising From Ruins’.  Aside from these, scattered throughout the set were favorites from their storied career, including Grinder’, Sinner’, The Ripper’, and Turbo Lover’.   As if these gems weren’t enough, a half set was introduced by the prelude to Sad Wings of Destiny song, Tyrant.  After such moving classics, there came heavyweight hits like Freewheel Burning’You’ve Got Another Thing Coming’,Hell Bent For Leather’  with the trademark entrance of Rob Halford and his custom Harley-Davidson  and Painkiller’.

Nostalgic moments rumbled in our minds and ears for Glenn Tipton  with grandiose songs starting with  The Hellion’ intro to Electric Eye’. Favoring past classics from ‘British Steel’ came Breaking The Law’, before closing with Living After Midnight”.

Throughout the shows there were large video / lighting screens behind the bands, so fans were treated to a stripped down set of good Metal for the day.  It was an incredible Friday night; all the bands did an amazing job. Congrats for Páramo, behind the production of the first version of this amazing and wild metal fest. 

 

Rocío Acosta 

Hummingbird Press