Rockerazos Festival 2016

The time was approaching eight in the evening when I came to this place called «Cosmopolite» and they just opened the doors and I was one of the first to enter the venue. Since it was an hour before the festival began, I had plenty of time to take a walk around and find me the best place to see the bands. Cosmopolite is a small comfortable hall and it was easy to see the bands from wherever you stand, with a small bar on the 2nd floor where there was also a good view to see the shows.

It was a little over nine when first band took the stage. Xelerate consisting of three men; Bjorn & Torgeir on guitars, Ståle on bass and two women; Gry Anita on vocals and Ann Kristin on drums. I was surprised to see this band and although there were not many people present during their show they did deliver to audience. Particulary the vocalist tried to encourage the few attending and it was a good dose of rock in which the audience responded with cheers and applause after each song they performed. A really good band that was full of energy and that know how to act on a stage.

-Asmodeus-

After a short break and change of instruments Divided Multitude entred the stage and although it still was not appeared much more people they played the set’s as if the room would be crowded and one could easily see how clearly these musicians burned for their progressive rock / metal since everyone knew perfectly what they should do with their instrument and despite the low attendance you could hear someone singing their songs in the auditorium. They proved well what they stand for here at Rockerazos Festival and they have a long experience in the Norwegian metal scene and we’ll probably continue to hear more from them in the future too. -Asmodeus-

Once again it was time for a little break before the next band, Somewhere Beyond, stood in line. Already by that time it had fortunately come some more people, so we now had a little more lively and great atmosphere in a Rocked up room. It was the first time I saw this band too and I was really surprised to see the passion they had for the music they make and people were taking note from the first stanza. There was a strong connection between the band and the audience even though there were several people I talked to that had not heard of them before. -Asmodeus-

Mecalimb from Fredrikstad, with a Swedish singer, is the second last band for the evening. The whole band wears army jeans, and even if the crowd is small, it looks like they really enjoy playing their melodic death metal on stage. The songs are a little monotonous, so it is a good thing that they put up a little show on stage.

The festival got five bands in a rather short time, but the crew has made a good job keeping the schedule. After an intro the prog metal band Mindtech from Oslo starts their show. The quality of the bands has increased during the evening, and Mindtech appears as the most experienced band. The singer has a great voice, a little soft but he can also give us metal-screams. Real high. Is has been a lot of 5- and 7-strings this evening, and Mindtech is no exception. I get a little afraid when the singer announce that they will do a ballad, but luckily this is just a short intro before we get some real progmetal again. Towards the end we get the hit Black Heart, and after the last song the audience manage to shout “one more” impressively loud considering how few people there are. The few technical problems they got was managed well with the guitarist shredding away instead of the whole band just standing there.

Nice to get a small festival like this in Oslo, let us hope Rockerazos Festival 2017 will get more metalheads to show up. Not often you can see so many bands at this price. Francis, vocalist and organizer also knew well how to handle the two roles and where the end result was well worth the evening and although there were few people present the atmosphere was great.

Text: Asmodeus & Kvile, Photo: Kvile