The 4th and final day of the Brutal Assault Festival was upon me, and that uncomfortable feeling of it's end was drawing closer and closer. The fact of the matter is, these Metal Festivals are like drugs, they give a very good high or take you to a fantasy world. You are happy in a cloud 9 level aura at the first injection/huff/consumption/etc., but after a while, the substance begins to wear off and reality settles in and the depression begins. Not that I have used drugs, but I have seen plenty of my friends do it and seen the effects through them, and the withdrawal can be a terrible experience.
In case your wondering what I called home at Wacken and Brutal Assault, here's my tent in it's glory, and yes, this is the same as used in Wacken 2009.
In Wacken, the currency was the Euro, in Brutal Assault, the currency was the Zetony (Czech for coupons).
The Dreadnoks of G.I. Joe fame are known for consuming doughnuts, and being the most Metal cartoon characters of G.I. Joe, it's only fitting that Metal festivals have doughnuts to supplement our crude but tasty diet.
I'll say it once and I'll say it again, this festival picked the perfect place to host it's HEAVINESS and the place is just screaming METAL like a battle axe to the skull.
Brutal Assault, like with every METAL festival in the world, had distribution points of the Nectar from the Metal Gods in convenient locations (Translation: they had bars all over the place). The best part is where they placed the bars.
There are 3 pics from Day 3 that I want to bring to this post. Specifically, it's from the entrance area of the natural stand area so you can see exactly where this drinking area was. There was no bar, but it gave a unique but extremely Metal place for the Legions to drink up.
Now it's time to enter the Hall of Drinking for the Black Metal elitist in all of us.
If you notice in this picture there's a mob of people running in. The reason? The mortar fire of Poseidon's rage, also known as rain.
One thing about outdoor Metal Festivals is the amount of dirt you pick up on your shoes/boots (This is why this particular foot wear is recommended)/feet/etc, and here's the living proof.
Absu is a band that has a notorious reputation in the underground of Metal, and to catch one of their shows is almost impossible. I was thankful and fortunate to see them live and they were what you expect from a cult band, straightforward and to the point of their audio assault.
This is the Brutal Assault Festival equivalency of a Walgreens. I had to pick up some body wash since I repeated the same mistake when I went to Hamburg and left my body wash I bought in Prague at the Orange Hostel. Talk about twice the boner. Mistakes like this happen all the time in trips like these, which is why you need to watch yourself since it can take a lot out of you due to everything going on at the same time.
As is the case with American Metal Legions meeting at far away places, we have a kinship that is automatic and we tend to get along very well. This kickass couple were from California, and the fact that I forgot their name is a testament to how many awesome people you meet along the way and forget not because you want to, but because there are just too many radical dudes and dudettes.
And as with Metal fans from my own country, we certainly can't forget our great neighbors to the north, Canada. I am extremely honored to introduce you to Brittany and Jackson, 2 very awesome Canucks I met the first day of entering this holy place and sharing the VIP camp site.
As is the case of Metal festivals, all sorts of people perform, from those bands taking the stage, to those at the entrance of the festival grounds.
Another band I managed to see was Forbidden, and this was my 2nd time catching them. Their performance was raging with greatness.
The UFO is officially a stalker.
This chick is one of my best random memories. While Forbidden was performing, she was getting into the whole "Air Guitaring" of the music, and was definitely "Rocking it."
Metal festivals can definitely beat even the mightiest and most Metal to a pulp, and this is the end result. The interesting part, the paramedics told me the guy was in much more worse shape than pictured here.
The next band I saw perform was the Genitorturers. Considering they were from my part of the world (Florida), this is my first time seeing them, and they put on an interesting performance.
The tradition of people passed out in Metal festivals is not limited to the grounds as the natural stand was not an exception to this situation.
The best part about people passed out in this festival is that they have a scenic background to do it.
Turisas is one band I have been looking forward to and they stormed the stage that would make the Vikings they sing about very proud.
Cryptopsy is a band I had the chance to catch twice before, the first with Martin Lacroix and the second with Lord Worm. At Brutal Assault, it was with Matt McGachy helming the vocals, and to say this dudes got what it takes is definitely putting a stamp of approval as a long time Cryptopsy fan.
Here's a 180 degree view of the Natural Stand.
My VIP campsite at night. Grimm. This is the entrance.
This is the pathway that lead to my part of the campground.
My tent at night. Notice the Lemmy autobiography book, which I have read at least 6 times in this trip (on the plane, trains, hostels and even at the festivals when I needed a good bed time story \m/ ).
On the final evening of Brutal Assault, myself, Brittany & Jackson decided not to contend with the erratic weather and go to the train station, sleep (or lack of sleep) at the station and take the train back to Prague. After saying my goodbyes to my new found Serbian friends and bidding good luck on their leg of the journey, leaving Brutal Assault was like leaving a home that could only come out of a fairy tale. The place is as Metal as it gets, and while leaving festivals will always have that feeling of separation and loss, the fact that I had chance to know this place first hand will be something I won't forget.
This train station looks like it has not been renovated since the late 80's, and our little plan of escaping the weather elements was also on a lot of the other festival goers agenda. I inflated my portable bed to try and sleep in the station, but couldn't since it felt weird. Plus, and considering the way we all looked, the place look liked a homeless shelter.
If you look at the empty air mattress in the upper left hand corner, you will see what I called a bed during my stay at the luxurious České dráhy železničních stanice Jaroměř.
With this evening ending on a unusual note, Brutal Assault is officially over for me, and with it, a good memory that will be a major part in my Metal and personal life. Many thanks to all who made this memory even better than what it could have been \m/
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