Day 1

Well, first of all, I must say that I was very excited to  become part of Keep It True Rising Fest again.

 

The previous (fall) edition was simply great. Rarely can I partake in such a great event; I wish I had also decided to come and experience the past editions of this true metal celebration. Well, better late than never, as they say. Ok, so that was a really long drive all the way from Poland (12 hours) and we got to Lauda Konigshofen, Germany in the late evening. No matter, the lineup was so awesome that I was not feeling tired at all. Sadly,

I didn’t manage to show up at the Warm Up Day; I did want to see ATTACKER, but unfortunately there weren’t enough tickets available so I had to pass on it. After our breakfast (on April 26, 2024), we walked to the fest venue to collect our passes and wristbands. But before I entered the concert hall itself I decided to visit a music market located in a huge tent.

 

Oh man, what a joy it was! Plenty of vendors and buyers there.

The amount and variety of music offered were simply stunning. It was hard to take my eyes off what I saw.

Amazing stuff I did enjoy looking at and browsing through. Although I sort of knew what I wanted to buy and I had even prepared a list of the stuff I needed, not all of the titles were available. As a result, I purchased some other vinyl releases instead. That was a great place and other buyers were very happy too.

The fest was started by MORGUL BLADE from Philadelphia, USA. They`d just released their second album (“Heavy Metal Wraiths”).

 

A good warm-up band, that’s for sure. Never heard of them before but they were really good. During the breaks between particular performances I talked to my friends and kept looking for more “holy grails” at vendors` stands.

UK`s BLEAK HOUSE was much better; the former band members decided to resurrect their band for that very festival.

They formed back in 1977 after which they were active for many years, changing their name RASPUTIN , ROCK BOTTOM and RIPPER. In 1980s they released their cult ep “rainbow warrior” (as BLEAK HOUSE). They split up some time later but nonetheless left some albums.

They resurrected in 2021 for Keep It True in 2021 and again in 2024. It was like a real time travel, back to the 1980s. That’s why this festival has been so unique. Pure magic, I tell you. The 20-minute break I used to look for some cool records. I found “Signs of Life” by DEVASTATION (Combat US), EXE`s “Stricken by Might” plus some other cool stuff. Nice, really nice.

I was interrupted by TAROT from Australia. One of the better shows at the fest. They simply killed. A jaw dropping experience.

They were promoting their second album – “Glimpse Of Death” and that was a very good show.

CROWLEY from Japan is an  band founded back in 1983. Thanks to Keep It True I discovered them. A vey interesting show, that’s for sure.

This year`s edition of Keep It True also featured a band called SENTRY. About ¾ of SENTRY`s line-up consists of ex-MANILLA ROAD musicians, including their very charismatic vocalist Bryan “Hellroadie” Patrick. I would say that SENTRY`s live show was really excellent; their songs, when performed live are much better than their studio versions.

SATAN`S HOST from Colorado (founded in 1977) was next – classic heavy metal with plenty of devilishness in their songs.

I was really looking forward to see VENGEANCE from the Netherlands – they are masterful heavy metal.

They turned out to be full of energy. No bullshit, they just still hold up they and they music is truly powerful. The fans went crazy, that was the very proof that confirmed that was the best show that night.

Maybe that was why HALLAS from Sweden didn’t impress me too much.

Their performance was all good and proper, the music was definitely good, but something was missin; it was simply boring.

That lethargy was broken thanks to GRAVE DIGGER who haven’t been to Poland for a long time.

I was very happy to see them at KIT – a real travel back in time. Most of the songs were from the riper but also we got songs like “Heavy Metal Breakdown,” “Witch Hunter” or “Rebellion (The Clans Are Marching).” The audience was very happy to see them and listen to the song – they sang along with Chris.

 

Wish Polish fans would react in the same way when confronted with Polish bands. Magic, in simple words. GRAVE DIGGER, that night, provided us with 14 hit songs. I died and went to hell, literally. What a show, very memorable and simply unforgettable. A real spectacle.

d to perform was GREYHAWK, so I left the music market to see what they had to offer. Well, their music was okey`ish, so to speak. They`d just released their “Thunder Heart” album. Their music was full of energy, but something was definitely missing. Not bad, but nothing special, I would say.

Legendary HEAVY LOAD was to end that evening and many of us looked forward to that show. But it didn’t go as planned.

The show was delayed and there were some technical issues too. Still, songs like “Heavy Metal Angels (In Metal and Leather),” “Singing Swords,” “Stronger Than Evil” or “Heavy Metal Heaven” were the very “juice.” What an experience it was.

 

The band also played some brand-new songs of theirs: “We Rock the World,” “Ride the Night” and “Slave No More.” Torbjörn Ragnesjö was missing from the line up; which was no good. Still, his replacement, that is, Mats Heden (FOX and GRAND MAGUS ) did really well.

That show was like a dream come true. Legendary HEAVY LOAD is the band you really need to see play live. And the band`s members turned out to be really nice guys; the next day there were mingling with the audience so one could get them sign their albums or take some photos together.

 

Day 2

The Day 2 was started in a fairly standard way, that is, I kept browsing through vendors` merchandise, looking for some good stuff. The first crew to perform that day was a fairly original band called WINGS OF STEEL (USA). Right from the very beginning, I knew they were good.

 

The vocals by Leo Unnermark are just unique. The band`s music live is just superb.

That was a very solid band to open up the Day 2 of the festival. A truly memorable band.

Next was BENGAL TIGERS from Australia. They are old timers, but they were able to provide us with a really good show. Gordon Heald behaved like a young guy on stage. Their music when performed live was awesome. A good show, lock stock and barrel.

Another good band that day was SAVAGE OATH from the USA.

Stunning performance, no doubt. I would say the Day 2 was much stronger than the Day 1.

SONJA was the band which an ex-ABSU guitarist (Melissa Moor) formed.

There is no connection between SONJA and ABSU whatsoever. It is more classic rock. Beside their own songs they also performed “Deja-Vu” by IRON MAIDEN and “Bridge of Death” by MANOWAR. They were very so-so, in my opinion. In conclusion, their performance was more interesting than charming. It was what it was.

Luckily, SACRED WARRIOR allowed me to forget about SONJA really fast. What they had to offer was a solid dose of heavy metal – mere seven songs, but every single one killed totally. “No Happy Endings” was first; then that very talented group played some more awesome tracks including “Remember Me,” “Mad Man” and finally “Wicked Generation.” Rey’s vocals were awesome, really breathtaking. Rey and Geoff Tate are equally good, in my opinion.

 

TRANN from Sweden was another good band. They are four guys and formed back in 2018. What matters is that they are from a totally different era. Their music is classic heavy metal, strongly inspired by the 70s music. A perfect match for the fest and a very good choice.

I must confess I always look forward to BULLDOZER live shows. I have been their ardent fan since I saw them live back in 1989. Their shows are truly unique. The KIT performance was a special one too; sadly, due to time constraints, they were not able to perform some songs I did want to see.

 

Anyhow, that was a good show, though the sound wasn’t too selective – flat in other words... It was much better at Black Silesia Fest – there the sound was razor sharp. “The Exorcism,” a true hymn was first and it effortlessly merged into “Cut Throat,” “Insurrection of the Living Damned,” then “Fallen Ange,” “The Great Deceiver,” and “Mad Man.” You can only imagine how blissful all that was for such a deviant like me.

 

The person who considers BULLDOZER`s “The Day Of Wrath” to be as good as VENOM`s “Welcome To Hell.” AC Wild had more black diamonds from the crown of the Lord Of Darkness for us : “The Final Separation,” then another song from “The Final Separation,” “Ride Hard - Die Fast,” “The Cave” and “Never Relax.” The audience and my soul were literally boiling with excitement.

 

They ended their performance with a killer song “Whisky Time.” BULLDOZER also paid their homage to Lemmy as they did MOTORHEAD`s “Overkill.” A number of songs I would like to see were missing from the setlist, but I did enjoy their show a lot.

The atmosphere was getting more and more dense, the air was heavy you could literally cut with a knife!!!

But hell, how would one not get excited when you can watch the legendary STORMWITCH play live? And what other bands are there to blast such hit songs as “Rats in the Attic” or “Trust in the Fire”? It took a long time for my excitement to die down after the show was over.

Anyhow, Andy Muck`s vocals aged like wine, they got more powerful with time. Man,

 

I can only imagine how many shows I had to miss in the past due to the fact the Iron Curtain isolated Poland from classic and cult Western bands such as STORMWITCH. But thanks to Keep It True Festivals and a number of similar events, the fire of old school metal and golden era of metal is still burning.

We owe it all to Mr. Olivier Weinheimer, who lets us enjoy these tasty gems. Well, as for the STORMWITCH`s live performance, I must say that the audience were very excited upon hearing songs like “Ravenlord,” “Stronger Than Heaven” or “Jonathan's Diary.” That was a really unique show,

 

I must say. Of course, we were served “Sword Of Sagon”, “Stormwitch” and their final song that night: “Walpurigs Night.” I wished that show would never end.

 

Alas, the very organizational structure of the fest didn’t allow for more songs to be played. I would like another 30 minutes of STORMWITCH instead of I AM MORBID, to be honest.\

 

I like I AM MORBID, all right, but their style doesn’t match the festival`s style too much as it is mostly focused on heavy and thrash metal. Anyhow, I AM MORBID was very well received. A very good show, no doubt, and their songs such as “Immortal Rites,” “Visions From the Dark Side,” “Maze of Torment” or “Blessed Are the Sick” should’ve made me very happy… but they didn’t on a day like that. The vibe was simply different. On the flip side, that was group`s one of best performances I have ever seen; just the festival itself was not appropriate for such a band.

 

And David Vincent’s band was something I was going to forget about when next band was to start their show – LIEGE LORD. Well, that was something really good with such songs as “Fear Itself“and a bunch of hits from “Master Control” such as: “Dark Tale,” “Eye of the Storm” and “Rapture.” RAINBOW`s “Kill the King” cover song was also performed. In total, the band played 13 tracks and three bonus songs.

 

That was a perfect ending of Keep It True Festival. Hard to believe the fest was almost over. Time to say good byes and exchange some final handshakes with my friends. I got back to my Cracow dead tired, after a long, 13-hour drive. But I was very, very happy, indeed.

I am looking forward to KIT`s fall edition. This one will feature NASTY SAVAGE; the band I last saw back in 1988. Damn, that’s going to be awesome, I am sure of it. They are so unique and original. And there are going to be more good bands. Well, greetings to all the metal maniacs! See you guys in October, 2024!

NecronosferatuS