Road Trip with Angelcrypt – a firsthand witness account in three parts

Part 2

Espressos and Masters of Rock – The Road to Vizovice Or Gas Contaminated Bogs

Friday, July 11th started with a pitstop for oil and tyre checks, and an unintentional sightseeing tour of the local prison (we circled it several times… totally innocent, we swear). After coffee and some driving we stopped for a surprisingly posh lunch at Ripperlkeller Restaurant in Purbach, hitting the road again, only to be stopped by... tyre trouble.

Purbach, Austria. photo: Noel Mifsud

Turns out the front tyre was giving up on life. We tried to get a replacement, but the rental company back in Lazio didn’t want to pay (Austrian prices made them sweat). With the spare tyre, which was not in the best condition, we were off again by 5pm, racing against time to reach the Czech Republic before our hotel’s reception closed at 8pm.

We sped across Slovakia and reached Brumov-Bylnice by 7:45pm. Check-in in Arena hotel was successful! Andrea got the solo room for better rest (he’d earned it), and we regrouped to storm the festival.

Photo near the program poster in the rain. photo: Noel Mifsud

Masters of Rock in Vizovice—22nd edition, Ronnie James Dio main stage, and a lineup ready to melt your face off. First up, we scoped out the second stage, where Angelcrypt would perform on Sunday. Then it was showtime, or at least we tried to see as much bands as we could: Lita Ford took us on a nostalgia trip I was enjoying until heavy rain rudely put a dent in my enjoyment of an artist, I used to have a pinup of on my bedroom wall during adolescence. Next, Till Lindemann arrived with a performance that would probably even make the devil blush. The performance is certified 18 and for good reasons. Rain eventually stopped during his performance which amongst many things included with cakes and raw (real) fish thrown from the stage.

Finally, Septicflesh—Greek death metal at its finest with a stellar performance during which we could still smell the fish from the previous act. The main stage may have been epic, but the sound on stage two was tighter than Shawn’s jeans. At 2am, slightly drenched and deafened, we made our way through spooky woods back to the hotel.

Floor Jansen. photo: Noel Mifsud

Saturday, July 12th. Glorious sunshine, solid hotel breakfast, and—hallelujah—the van got its tyre properly fixed by a local Czech mechanic. (Way cheaper than Austria).

We made it to the festival in time to almost catch Burning Witches, but heavy rain had us sheltering in the beer tent. Not the worst place to get stranded. We eventually caught part of their set, followed by Me And That Man—Behemoth’s Adam Darski channelling Americana gloom like a haunted Johnny Cash. Really glad I was going to see them again in a few days’ time at Tolminator.

Then came a wave of power metal: Masters Of Rock festival is famous for power metal acts and the next three probably all fall in that category with the first being Gloryhammer. A British power metal band founded by keyboardist Christopher Bowes, lead vocalist of the band Alestorm. Each member of the band represents a character in the story concept of the albums and members appear on stage in armour and costumes to represent their respective characters.

Following the British band at around 9pm was Floor Jansen, the current lead vocalist of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. I must admit that personally I was not looking forward to her set after the experience of seeing a performance by a previous lead vocalist from Nightwish performing solo. But boy how wrong was I, and I’m glad I did not move to watch who’s on stage 2. Floor’s performance was nothing short of excellent with a steady strong voice going through her solo songs and Nightwish’s greatest tunes, even some from their last album. She closed the set with a mesmerizing rendition of the Phantom Of The Opera which she originally performed during the last episode of a Dutch reality TV show Beste Zangers partnered with Henk Poort, who once again took the stage with her at Masters Of Rock.

One with the boss. photo: Shawn Mizzi

Saturday’s headliners were Swedish power metal band Hammerfall formed in Gothenburg thirty-two years ago and with a span of thirteen albums. Needless to say, their set was rich with their best songs. After Hammerfall we decided to skip the next band which was about to start at 1am, as we had to have a relaxing morning the next day with Angelcrypt hitting the stage early in the afternoon.

But at least the rain had stopped before Me and That Man hit the stage and we could enjoy a great evening with some good music. On the way back to the hotel, through the same woods we even saw some deer and rabbits...