Up The Hammers Festival 2017: The Might of Chaos Descends

Now the dust has settled. The might of Chaos was unleashed upon the (decadent since ages)  cradle of civilization, on May 27th, of 2017. 

Up The Hammers festival (Athens, Greece) started from small basements, growing every year with hard work from the right people and associates, and on its XII edition, it moved to the best venue of its history. On May 26th and 27th, the 2-days underground metal festival took place at Gagarin 205 club with a line-up that was mainly dominated by the headline acts of Ross The Boss (performing Manowar) and Cirith Ungol. The strong support of metalheads around the world over the last years, helped Up The Hammers to move to the next logical step, that is a bigger venue. That wouldn't happen without the support of the metal hordes and friends coming from Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Sweden, Norway, even United States or Australia and many many more places... Manolis Karazeris (promoter of the festival, along with Dimitris Papanastasiou of Music Box Prod.) thinking most of the times as a fan, had the right thoughts and ideas about the line-up of the festival, depending on its budget, and managed to establish it as one of the best underground metal festivals of our times, that was expanded with the support of the fans.

This year's edition was dominated by the performance of Cirith Ungol, one of the last two and most wanted reunions in traditional heavy metal; the other one is Heavy Load. Behind the Cirith Ungol reunion lies a fairytale gone right. Many people tried over the years, but finally it happened thanks to few individuals with most notable Jarvis Leatherby (founder of Night Demon and promoter of Frost And Fire festival), and of course the will of the band members. Cirith Ungol is hailed as an underground metal band and not a famous, maistream or established act, but I have to say that this specific reunion is one of the most professional and successful ever happened. Everything was organized slowly, correct and beyond our wildest dreams. The present line-up includes all the right members, with both Greg Lindstrom (he played guitar on the first CU album "Frost And Fire") and Jim Barraza (he played guitar on the last CU album "Paradise Lost"), since Jerry Fogle (guitar on first three albums) left this mortal world one August day of 1998. Tim Baker (vocals) and Robert Garven (drums) are of course here, and Jarvis Leatherby handles bass duties, since Flint isn't part of this reunion. Jarvis is also the manager of the band and another crucial thing is that Metal Blade Records (the best metal label in my book) is supporting Cirith Ungol with great reissues of their albums, among other things. Important label stuff are also supporting the band in person, and travelling in the Cirith Ungol shows, promoting and helping them. If we will add that at this period of time "old" metal is somehow back in the rails, this was the perfect timing for such a reunion. Traditional metal is not mainstream in terms of older times, but for sure it has more exposure in magazines (the ones left), many small festivals appear here and there, countless reunions of old bands (even ones with just an album) happen, and I can't even mention the hundreds reissues... And all these in a period where the music industry is a living dead entity, but still, things happen despite the low physical sales and the minimal support and of the younger generation, if we will compare them with the years that all these bands were active. On the other hand, when these bands were active back in the 80s, most of them were really underground and nowadays they play to wider audience. So this reunion really matters and deserves every success, and a new album is probably scheduled somewhere at the end of 2018.

When Cirith Ungol walked the stage, on their third show after the reunion, everything we saw before was forgotten and the might of Chaos was unleashed upon us. Each band member performed with passion and it was obvious that they had many rehearsals before. The Cirith Ungol music is not 100% the best festival soundtrack, but it was exactly what the people of Up The Hammers wanted to hear. This was one of the best shows in the history of Up The Hammers festival.

The night before, Ross The Boss with a killer line-up including Rhino (ex-Manowar, Burning Starr) on drums, Mike LePond (Symphony X, Heathen's Rage, Silent Assassins) on bass and Marc Lopez (ex-Meliah Rage) on vocals, performed a special Manowar setlist with songs from his Manowar-era. You cannot fail when you play eternal hymns like "Thor" or "Blood Of My Enemies". These songs are so powerfull and unique, and this was a great festival addition, with guaranteed satisfaction for this specific crowd. I cannot even imagine what would happened if we would witness the real deal in this venue...

The only disadvantage of this festival, is that these two performances - names were by far superior than anything else we saw. There were more great acts and shows, but there was a significant difference between the headliners and the rest billing of the festival. Night Demon were amazing, though. These guys live and breath metal, and their shows are always full of energy. Probably one of the three or five best bands of the so called "new wave of traditional heavy metal". Other new bands should watch them and learn how to "work". When you play countless shows over the world and already have 2 great full-length albums in a period of three years, you are doing something right. 

Attacker was another cool addition and this kind of US metal is needed in these festivals. Especially when the band members perform with passion, and you have songs like "(Call On) The Attacker"! US metal was represented also by Thrust who tried to kill the posers, Tyrant who killed our ears, and Resistance who was indeed a Metal Machine.

Myhtra was the surprise of the festival. It is always great to see some old bands performing with the passion of their youth. That was great, and also a NWOBHM band is always needed in this kind of festival. Lord Vigo from Germany was the second big surprise of the festival. Their paranormal doom metal was performed flawless and their stage performance was also special. Monasterium was the other doom metal band of the festival, and the Polish act was closer to the traditional epic doom style of Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus, but both bands played in front of few people as opening acts of both days. Blizzen were just ok in their traditional metal style and Holy Martyr was a perfect addition even if I believe that the doom elements on their new album don't fit in the character of the band. However, none of us can tell to a musician how to play and I really enjoyed their "classic" tunes. Diviner and InnerWish were the Greek bands of the festival and both of them were professionals. Lot of people enjoyed their shows, some "old-school" metalheads didn't enjoy so much Diviner and many others would prefer a better setlist from InnerWish, since they supported mainly their last album. Fans from Greece are already familiar with them and have their opinion, but I am sure they gained some fans from abroad, even if they were different from the "true underground metal" character that few individuals have for a festival like Up The Hammers. At this point, with bands like InnerWish, I will have to mention that the sound was also very good at the venue. 

Top - 10 artists of UTH:

10. Vince High: A performer with a  complete NWOBHM feeling.

9. Rhino: The triumph of steel. A metal machine.

8. Bobby Lucas: The leather lungs of US metal.

7. Ross The Boss: THAT guitar tune!

6. Mike LePond: A true unsung legendary musician.

5. Greg Lindstrom: The silent force (aka: the man who wrote "Frost And Fire")

4. Robert Garven: The atom smasher. The master of the pit.

3. Jarvis Leatherby: The demon of the stage.

2. Tim Baker: The voice of Chaos.

1. Jim Barraza: A true guitar master. An Idol.


The first bands of Up The Hammers 2018 are already announced and tickets are already on sale. You can reserve your ticket HERE and trust me, this will be something you don't want to miss.

Jarvis Leatherby (Night Demon) interview. Heavy Metal is the law.

Night Demon from Ventura, California was born in May of 2011 and the current line-up is Jarvis Leatherby (vocals, bass), Armand John Anthony (guitars) and Dustin Squires (drums).
Their first s/t EP was released in 2012 and was a shock for the traditional metal scene, followed by their first full-album "Curse Of The Damned" in January of 2015 by SPV/Steamhammer. Been active with many live shows and extended tours, Night Demon have been established as one of the leading forces of the new wave of traditional heavy metal. 

Jarvis Leatherby has become one of the most respectful persons in the metal scene today and besides Night Demon, he is also the man responsible for Frost & Fire Festival and the reunion of Cirith Ungol, where he also handles bass duties. So, there aren't many people out there suitable for a similar interview where we simply discuss the present status of heavy metal music.

-Let's take a short break from your Night Demon tour and talk for a while for what your are doing almost every night lately, Heavy Metal. But first of all, how the tour is going?

J.: Tour went well. It’s actually over now. I can’t even believe it! I don’t know what to do with myself.  

-What's the diferences of the European metal fans, with the ones in the United States?

J.: I think there are very passionate fans in both places. Really they are all the same. I think that’s a common misconception. I will say that metal is much more popular in Europe and there are more die hard fans by volume, but in America there are many metalhead who live the lifestyle and are true supporters. They don’t have as many opportunities to see metal festivals and certain bands, so they make the dedication to travel to those events, and support those bands when they come to town. But basically metalhead are metalhead anywhere you go in the world.  

-What kind of hypes do you recognize in the metal scene over the last years? 

J.: It’s hard to say now with the internet being so popular. Obviously in mainstream metal, there’s still a lot of tough guy stuff, a lot of down tuning, and radio rock. That stuff will always be popular in middle America and other parts of the globe, and real metalhead don’t listen to that stuff, but I also see doom metal and stoner being more of a current trend in underground music. Maybe its not a trend, but it definitely has been more popular as of late.

-Is regression the new mainstream in metal music? In the present decline of the physical format, it seems more and more record labels (even major ones) sign and release what we might call "true" in metal music.

J.: Well I think that maybe some of the bigger labels are getting smarter business wise to sign try metal acts. The reason not necessarily being that they love true metal music and want to be that sort of label, but the fact is that true metal fans will always buy physical media or digital. Not the case with most mainstream music, so it seems to be a good move for the labels financially.

-How would you define "true", and such a term should exist? 

J.: I would honestly describe that as meaning that a band is not fake. Meaning they don’t follow current trends too closely, there is some originality there, and they mean what they do. No matter what style of music a band is playing, you can easily spot when someone is not being genuine with what they do. I don’t mind the term “true”, but I don’t like when people in the scene take on this term to mean that they have the right to call anyone else a poser who they don’t think is “true”. People need to be able to be who they are and listen to what ever the hell music they want to without some internet bully telling them they can’t.

-Many old and underground metal bands are reformed and even more new ones are born. Various festivals grow here and there and small record labels appear everywhere. Is everything so easy in our days? For me, wrong people and intentions are spread everywhere making things harder for those who really "know how", but what's your view on this?

J.: Well nothing ever with it in life comes super easy. When you truly follow your passion inline, there will be many obstacles  in the way, and they will never stop coming, but its really all part of the bigger plan. When you take these things on it can also be enjoyable. Accomplishing things in the face of adversity, especially following your passion, you can’t do any wrong, and you should never let anyone tell you that. Or don’t let it affect you, at least. There will always be people in this business for the wrong reasons. The only thing anyone can do about that, is stay away from them and keep doing your own thing. Those people always fall apart in the end and their true intentions will always show. You don’t need to waste your valuable time and energy trying to bring someone else down. They will do it on their own. Also, what does that say about young try and do that to someone else? You become the same thing you despise at that point. There’s enough room in this world for everyone.

-Old farts die hard. For sure there are some 80s metal bands that live and breath for metal and you can't easily stop them from what they love to do. How would you seperate them from the "fake ones", what is fake for you and who from those bands are the most important and/or best for you? 

J.: It’s a difficult question you have posed here.  I will answer and explain the best way I can…
I think its safe to say we can all agree that any historically great band from the old school at one point in time had integrity, originality, hard work, passion, and a great vision. Now some bands will continue to do this throughout their careers, or the opposite happens. They grow older, things change, they lose sight of why they started to begin with, and they go off in other selfish directions and the whole thing falls apart, or even worse, the band continues to do their thing for the wrong reasons and it shows.

Another scenario is when sometimes a band reunites for the first time in over decades of not only performing together, but also not even being in contact with one another. A lot of things can happen during the course of that time. People change. Even if the reunion has good vibes around it, there is an adjustment period. Often times you also have these bands that reunite after all these years, and want to take on a trendy or current rock and roll image. They want to be relevant in some sort of modern way. I can imagine that as an old man going out there, one would want to seem young and hip as they were in the days that fans know them from. However, this is a double edged sword. The fans like the old school style and fashion and that’s what they really want to see.

-From your experience and your live performaces, which are the best metal festivals out there?

J.: Keep it True, Muskelrock, Up the Hammers, Frost and Fire, Ragnarokkr, Defenders of the Old, Pounding Metal, Bang Your Head.

-Speaking for festivals, you are also the brain of Frost and Fire festival (Ventura, CA, USA) and this year in the second edition of the festival, you are behind the Cirith Ungol reunion. What made you start this festival and which are your goals?

J.: Yes, I started it in their honor. Cirith Ungol and Night Demon are the only two metal bands to ever break out of Ventura California, and as we all know Cirith Ungol started it all. Those guys are my best friends, and it’s been a true honor being the band’s manager and bass player. We are having a lot of fun, and have a lot more to come!

As far as the festival, it is something that I plan on keeping as an annual event. I was on the fence abut it before because my touring schedule is always so demanding, and I always want to make myself available for those opportunities, but after this last year, I saw how much fun everyone had and how important the whole thing was to so many people, so now I feel a definite responsibility to keep this going and pride myself on being the best heavy metal festival in America. That is my goal.

-Who are the new bands you distinguish from the present metal scene and why?

J.: Visigoth, Blade Killer, Black Trip, High Spirits, Warbringer, Midnight Chaser, Cauldron, Enforcer.
There are many more, but off the top of my head these bands represent what “true” means. It’s not the style the play, but their intent when they do it. 100% integrity all the time. They are all serious about what they do, but are also willing to have a good time with it.

-How would you describe the "proper" Heavy Metal fan / supporter?

J.: There is no proper way. If you like it, support it however you can and want to. I know one thing is that in Night Demon we are completely committed to what we do. We feel just as much responsibility to support our audience as we feel we want them to support us. We strive on putting on the best live show possible, traveling all over the world to visit anywhere the fans will have us, big or small. It’s give and take. Respect is earned, and everyone should think of it as a collaborative relationship.

-Last words. Give me something the readers will be glad to read!

J.: Lots of exciting things coming up!  New Night Demon album and European tour coming in April 2017, Cirith Ungol European festival appearances in 2017, and of course most and Fire III in October 2017 in Ventura, California.
Always stay true to yourself and thank you for supporting heavy metal. We get just as much from it as fans and as performs. Thank you!


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