Saturday, May 28, 2022

Heavy Metal: Yob & Electric Wizard @ Desert Fest Berlin


 (Drivebycuriosity) - Finally, the Covid-19 pandemic comes to an end and the world is open again for heavy metal festivals. My wife and I went to Berlin`s Treptowhalle where the Desert Fest is happening. This is a heavy metal spectacle focusing on psychedelic, doom, stoner metal and similar sub-genres. There were 2 of our favorites: Yob & Electric Wizard.

This was the 5th time we enjoyed a gig by Yob. The performance of the American doom metal band alone was worth the visit.  Frontman Mike Scheidt and his band (Aaron Rieseberg – bass guitar & Travis Foster – drums ) performed pure magic. Mike is a virtuoso on the guitar and he puts his audience under the spell  of massive and violent riffs blended with melodic and almost symphonic elements - amplified by his excellent colleagues. Yesterday Scheidt & Co. delivered again virtuous & almost unbelievable heavy sound waves, but what the band makes outstanding is Mike´s voice. He performs the genre usual aggressive growls & roars but sometimes his voice changes into a melodic mode. Like a singer in a bizarre opera he mesmerizes with a hypnotic voice. Scheidt reminded of a performance of the Richard Wagner opera "Lohengrin" which we saw last Sunday in Berlin. There a mystical character named Swan King appeared and sang about the power of the Holy Grail. And so did Scheidt yesterday. The gig was a very intense experience, beautiful, spellbinding and wild -  pure bliss.

I also was amazed by Electric Wizard`s performance, the top gig of the evening. The English doom metal band, which we had seen before @ Psycho Las Vegas, created enormous but also filigree walls of sound, a blend of heavy metal & psychedelic music (which reminded me a bit of Jimi Hendrix).



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