I am not really familiar with the Hell On Earth tour but I know that this edition in Rotterdam had Sunday afternoon/evening filled with some great metalcore so I couldn’t resist to go.
When we entered the venue ‘Pay No Respect’ from the UK just started playing. It was around 16:00so it was still a bit early. The band played well and had a lot of energy. A few guys made a small pit to warm up for what was to come.
Next was my personal favorite band from the day ‘War of Ages’ from the US. They played a set focused on their latest album ‘Supreme Chaos’. The band played tight, especially the guitar solos were really great. The audience still needed some time to warm up. But at the end of the set the band asked for a circle pit and what they got was the biggest one that day!
After ‘War of Ages’ we decided to get some food at the local snackbar. Therefore we missed ‘The Acacia Strain’. I think the band with the least interest for our readers because of their really negative approach. I wanted to see some songs from them just to get an impression of their heavy deathcore. But we were already too late when we arrived.
The more Thrash influenced metalcore from ‘Shadows Fall’. It was the first time I saw them. One of the first things everyone notices are the extremely long dreads from frontman Brian Fair. You can look at them dancing the whole show long. One of them almost got stuck in one of the lamps on the ceiling. But back to the music, it was an enjoyable show. The band made some sloppy mistakes but nothing disastrous. I heard the band announced their quitting. I for one am glad I saw them for the first and likely the last time.
Last the band everyone was waiting for Unearth. When the band hit their first note a huge pit immediately started which didn’t stop till the end of the show. The band played really thight most notable was the drummer. It was just a real pleasure watching him play. From breakdown, extremely fast blast beats and great fills. Everything was extremely tight. Vocally I for one missed some variation. The sporadic cleans from the guitarist were a welcome variation in my opinion. But still it added to the heaviness from the band. Their vocalist Trevor Phipps was grateful the audience brought that much energy in the room with the non-stoppable pit and the many stagedivers.
It was the first time in Baroeg Rotterdam. The 2 poles not too far from the stage were a bit weird/annoying. But the snackbar was close and the people were nice. It was a great line-up and all the bands played great. So I had a really awesome time overall.
More Pictures can be found HERE
Hell On Earth Facebook
Hell On Earth Website
Pay No Respect
War Of Ages
The Acacia Strain
Shadows Fall
Unearth