Photo Reports

Three major legends of Bay Area thrash metal are shaking the ground of festival stages in Europe during summer season 2026: METAL CHURCH, DEATH ANGEL and TESTAMENT. A package that makes the heart of each thrash metal jump, especially if you were young in the 1980s. Besides their gigs on the large festival stages, they keep the tradition of running club shows. Sweaty, dirty and with the classic 80s atmosphere. Luckily we were able to take the chance and check out one of these special occasions. A pure flashback to the times when thrash was invented.

Cologne’s Essigfabrik was packed to the very last spot on this pretty hot summer day in Germany, and nobody was disappointed. The evening was opened by METAL CHURCH, followed by DEATH ANGEL and headliner TESTAMENT. All bands just were full of adrenaline and joy to play, you weren’t able to see a difference between headliner and “support act”.  The sweat was not only dripping on stage but from the crowd as well.

After the tragic and unexpected loss of Mr. Phil Campbell early in 2026 his sons Tyla, Todd and Dane decided to honour their dad by keeping his project alive. Slightly renamed from PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS to PHIL CAMPBELL’S BASTARD SONS and featuring Julian Jenkins (also known from being the vocalist of British metal band FURY) on vocals they still have the power to turn goat p*ss into gasoline!

The night was opened by local heroes JAKE & THE CONVOLUTION. Their performance was a perfect entry into the night. Supported by a large number of local supporters, the 4-piece lit up the mood as well as the indoor temperature of the night. Definitely worth looking for their upcoming appearance, even more considering that they missed their regular guitarist Nico Schliemann.

Sharp at 21:00 CET a different kind of hell was raised by the Welsh origin PHIL CAMPBELL’S BASTARD SONS: A blended mix of MÖTORHEAD classics and their own song material made the crowd move and engage from the first notes out of the amps. They have not lost any drive at all, the sound is different since one guitar god is missing but Todd does his best and delivers to the highest standards. All four have so much fun playing live, it drips out of each pore once they enter the stage. Julian Jenkins, who supported them already as the vocalist on their last tour with Phil itself, has improved his performance as well. These guys are just a great live band, so much fun to watch and getting the sweat dropping from the ceiling at simply any venue. A great move by Todd at the last song of the show was to get all front row kids on stage to protect them from the more and more moshing crowd behind them. For the next gen of metalheads this was for sure an unforgettable experience and the end of a fantastic concert night.

Look out for them to return to European stages in November 2026 and hopefully to some more new music!

Day 2 of Rokki Raikaa Tampere continued to be just as fun as the first day, even though the weather wasn’t quite as good. The roughly 16.000 people attending certainly didn’t seem to mind the little bit of rain throughout the day while enjoying Michael Monroe, Marko Hietala, Steve ‘n’ Seagulls, Lost Society, Turmion Kätilöt, Tarot, Cemetery Skyline, and Apocalyptica!

The first edition of Rokki Raikaa Tampere couldn’t have started with better weather and while early in the day the crowd was still a bit thin, it was a party from start to finish, with many ups and no real downs.

The Lookout and Rising stages for day 2 of Upheaval festival at Belknap in Grand Rapids, Michigan were alive and well! The Lookout Stage consisted of Exit 73, Still Remains, Autumn Kings, Silent Planet and Set It Off. I was able to catch Set It Off’s set. The Rising Stage consisted of He Who Dwells, Alyxx, Forge the Sun and Approaching Autumn and I was able to catch all of the bands on the Rising Stage!

All the bands that I witnessed on these stages did a phenomenal job and kept the energy high all day! Given all the conditions of the weekend, the fans hung in there and gave it there all for the bands as well!

Day 2 of Upheaval Festival at Belknap Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan was another hot and smokey day, although not quite as intense as day 1. The crowd showed up again well before gates opened and were ready to start day 2.

The Upheaval Stage (main) for day 2 consisted of Silly Goose, Dying Wish, Jinger, Bilmuri and Papa Roach. I was able to catch all 5 bands on the Upheaval Stage!

Starting off strong was Silly Goose, the nu metal/rap/rock/hip-hop/alt fusion band from Atlanta, Georgia! I knew enough about this band to know they were going to be good. What I wasn’t prepared for was the absolute blast it would be. Bands like them are why I do what I do. High energy, chaotic, tons of crowd surfers, mosh pits, something happening everywhere I look. A favorite moment for me was when vocalist Jackson Foster jumped into the crowd and sang while crowd surfing. And I got to document the whole thing!

Next up was Dying Wish, Portland, Oregon based melodic metalcore band. Again, expectations exceeded! Energy off the charts, the crowd was digging them, and it just made for a fun experience. The band is made up of Emma Boster [vocals], Pedro Carrillo [guitar], Sam Reynolds [guitar], Jeff Yambra [drums] and Jon Mackey [bass].

Keeping the vibes going was Bilmuri, solo project of Johnny Franck! I was stoked to see what all the hype was about and this band definitely “brought it”. They are a fusion of about every genre on earth, put in a blender and sipped on like the master piece that it is. Bilmuri has it all, rock, country, pop, a saxophone and somehow it all works! They were a total party from beginning to end and I have no regrets!

Jinjer, the popular Ukranian four piece progressive groove metal powerhouse band took the stage next! The band’s current lineup started in 2010 and consists of Tatiana Shmayluk [vocals], Roman Ibramkhalilov [guitar], Eugene Abdukhanov [bass] and Vlad Ulasevich [drums]. Tatiana is a force to be reckoned with and I thoroughly enjoyed their set.

Closing out the night was the amazing Papa Roach, formed in California in 1993. This band has been part of the soundtrack of my younger years in the early 2000’s to present day!  The only other time I saw them was back in the Ozzfest days. From start to finish, I screamed every song at the top of my lungs. Their set had it all, songs you could sing too, pyro, crowd connection and through the roof energy. They did a really cool “nu metal time machine” bit playing some covers from the nu metal original era which was so fun and included Korn, Deftones and System Of A Down. Jacoby Shaddix is a great front man and the entire band is very good at what they do. If you’re into rock and metal, whether you know their songs or not, you will dance and have a good time with Papa Roach!

To summerize, Upheaval Festival is a great 2-day fest and definitely worth your time if you like a little bit of a smaller fest than some of the bigger ones. All the staff, security and vendors were all helpful and friendly. The fans were all helpful with one another. The vibes were on point. I cannot say enough good things about this festival!

Day one of Upheaval Festival at Belknap Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan had no shortage of talent on their Lookout and Rising stages. The Lookout Stage consisted of Vexatious, Showing Teeth, Kingdom Collapse, Zero 9:36 and Magnolia Park. The Rising Stage consisted of Enmy, Annex Void, Normundy, and Izzy Reign. I was able to catch Kingdom Collapse, Zero 9:36, Normundy and Izzy Reign.

On the Rising Stage I caught the band Normundy who is a highly energetic band that blends rock, rap, EDM, and metalcore. They are a very well put together band and blew me away. One of their vocalists also got into the middle of the mosh pit which was fun to see!

Closing down the Rising Stage on day 1 was Grand Rapids own Izzy Reign, pop/metalcore blend band! They absolutely crushed it! Their fans showed up too, even forming a conga line in the pit! I was definitely impressed with this well rounded band.

Kingdom Collapse is from the great state of Texas, bringing their hard rock sound to the Lookout Stage. The Lookout Stage is literally on top of a big hill and looks out over Belknap Park. It was definitely worth the trek up to see these guys. This was my 2nd time ever seeing them. They have music you can relate to and also rock out to. 

Zero 9:36 also performed on the Lookout Stage. They are an alt metal band hailing from Pennsylvania. There were some technical difficulties in the beginning of their set, I believe due to the heat affecting some equipment but they eventually got it sorted and put on an amazing show. While we were waiting, there was a person in the crowd that was drawing a picture of the band, whom they brought on stage. That was pretty cool to witness!

Day one of Upheaval Festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan was a hot one and also had the unexpected wrench of poor air quality and smokey conditions thrown into the mix! The smoke got pulled into the jet stream and made its way down into the states. That did not stop the bands and fans from coming out and supporting live music for this 2 day music festival.

Upheaval Fest is held at Belknap Park, nestled on the edge of downtown and was a fairly short walk from my hotel. Upon reaching the entrance, fans were already gathered and spread out all over in lines and groups, hanging out and enjoying the comradery of like-minded people! I gathered my credentials, headed into the empty venue and conducted a few band interviews before starting my day capturing as many bands as I could.

The lineup on the Upheaval Stage (main) of day one was made up of Thousand Below, LANDMVRKS, Story Of The Year, Poppy and Gojira. I was able to catch every band except Thousand Below. 

My first band of the fest (and my first fest that I have ever captured), was LANDMVRKS. The crowd was pretty fired up at this point and it was a fun set. The band was formed in France in 2014. The band is made up of Florent Salfati [vocals], Rudy Purkart [bass], Nicolas Exposito [guitar],Paul Cordebard [rhythm guitar] and Kévin D’Agostino [drums]. I loved their energy and hard-hitting breakdowns.

Next up was Story Of The Year! The band formed in the mid-late 90s under a couple of different names and eventually landed on their current sound and name in 2002. SOTY is not my typical sound but I knew they had a big following and I had heard nothing but good things about them. I was excited to check them out and they did not disappoint! The lineup consists of Dan Marsala [vocals], Ryan Phillips [guitar], Adam Russell [bass] and Josh Wills [drums]. My favorite part of their set was when they did a little mash-up that included a bit of Korn and Deftones. 

Poppy (band only) came out on the main stage next and played a completely instrumental set without actually Poppy. Her band is a talented group of musicians and the crowd took it surprisingly well that she did not come out to sing any songs.

The headliner closing out day 1 was the mighty French heavy metal band Gojira. They formed in the mid nineties under another name and came to be Gojira in 2001. The band is made up of Joe Duplantier [vocals/guitar], Mario Duplantier [drums], Christian Andreu [guitar] and Jean-Michel Lambadie [drums]. Drummer Mario had some trouble getting into the United States so Paleface Swiss drummer Luigi Paraventi stepped in on very short notice and absolutely crushed it! I was blown away by their performance and enjoyed them very much. They had lots of pyro and streamers were also shot out into the audience which made for a cool photo!

A cathartic, quality night out with two brilliant heavy-hitting bands @ Kavka Zappa

At the end of last month, UK band Heriot kicked off their set right off the bat with ‘Commander of Pain’, an ominous gem that immediately set the tone, creating an intensely heavy atmosphere filled with raw, distorted dual vocals, hefty basslines, plenty of satisfying pinch harmonics, and thunderous kick drums, to mention but a few. Despite a rather tough crowd that seemed to be eagerly awaiting the hardcore veterans headlining the night, as well as a few technical issues, Heriot truly delivered.

The band set the bar pretty high, bringing together an intricate blend of doom, hardcore, shoegaze and groovier influences that merged seamlessly into a very unique sound signature. The entire set felt as though each member had contributed their favourite heavy elements and influences, leading to very distinctive genre-bending melodies combined with lead singer Debbie Gough‘s harsh and moody vocals.

Next up : Converge.

30 seconds. That’s the time it took them to send the entire crowd into a frenzy with their abrasive and relentless sound, driven by a whole bunch of cathartic shrieks and crushing kick drums once they set foot on stage. Suddenly, stage divers, crowd surfers and moshers appeared here and there, as if summoned, feeding off the band’s energy and multiplying quick interactions with the frontman song after song, oftentimes sharing the microphone with him.

With high-gain amps cranked to the absolute max, the 15-track set kept resonating through the night almost without pause, as Converge never seems to stand still and has no interest in theatricality. That no-fuss approach and their constant interactions with the audience has become one of the defining traits of their identity, and that is exactly the path they chose to ride on that night.

Expectations were exceeded at every turn!

Boston-based US hard rockers LANSDOWNE were on a summer trip across Europe, visiting several festival stages and having a number of headline shows. At the second to last stop in Germany, they entered the stage of the Im Wizemann Studio in Stuttgart (Germany). Packed and hot—not only the show but also inside and outside temperatures too. The opening act has been German alternative rockers SMOKING LIPS. A well-chosen band that perfectly fits musically with LANSDOWNE and was able to excite the audience immediately.

Finally, LANSDOWNE entered the stage, and the excitement got massive. Their energy-loaded show and their stage appearance pulled in the crowd from the first note and never let it go until the end. The voice of Jon Ricci is live even more impressive than on record. You do feel the pure joy these guys have being on stage and performing. Every gig is a great experience.

Look out for the upcoming dates in October!