Summerly Doom Over Salzburg
Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Salzburg 2022
Presented by Dome of Rock and Capital City Agency, Rockhouse Salzburg, Österreich 20220604-05
Finally it is time for festivals again. The Rock Hard streams as one of the first outdoor ones, in Vienna the Afreeka Luv Festival and Pirates Days go down and Ewig Frost visit the Schlachthaus in the meantime. And the notable label imperium Heavy Psych Sounds from Italy takes over the two stages of the Rockhouse in Salzburg like in Switzerland or California.
Saturday
Back in 2015, the Stonerhead Let Groove Your Brains 2 Nights presented The Sword, Mantar, Sunnata, Prehistoric Pigs, Triptonus and more at the very location. This line-up is in no way inferior. Day one starts off quite relaxed. At seven, Oreyeon emboss the direction of the weekend with their sound and riffs and a little touch of Thrash. From then on, the nights evolve quickly, as one act follows the other.
At the bar, Ryte set the Mammoth free. Since one and a half years, they have Jack Jindra from Mothers of the Land and Locracy on guitar. In their compact songwriting, they melt everything Psychedelic with Shoe Gaze and Metal. With Tons from „the real esoteric city“ and Komatsu from the Netherlands, the Sludge moves in, holding it down.
Giöbia lift the sound to another spheres with the keys, before members of the other bands like to dance to Ecstatic Vision at the bar again. They nailed it e.g. at the Venster99 years ago, and the saxophonist takes advantage of the tunnel, walking the whole way down. A short history of dubstep told in the beer garden between, and then it is already time for the final act of the night.
Mondo Generator lead by Nick Oliveri, who recently toured with Stöner as well, guarantee some speed with songs from „Fuck It“, „Cocaine Rodeo“ and more. This first day of HPS Fest leaves nothing to be desired, before the bar scene of Salzburg like the Heavy Rotation, Times, Alchimiste, Celtics or Bricks invite for a nightcap.
Sunday
Day number two starts slightly different, as heavy clouds come closer and right before Hazemaze open, the rains comes down. The musical direction changes a bit too, starting with this loveable Rock formation from Sweden, as Deadsmoke unfortunately had to cancel. Right after, with 1782 follows a highlight for fans of fine slow Doom to headbang with, in this formation reminding of Oddplay.
Within the audience, part of Devotion of Mine can be spotted, as Geezer from the state NY like Sonic Taboo and Indus Valley Kings bring in the Cosmic Stoner Blues, like they did for example at the Desertfest in their home town. Duel from Austin, Texas are nested in some minds already because of their record covers. Live they let their crowd pogo. And as the crowdsurfers nearly hit their head at the ceiling, they are gone to the back too soon for the security.
The great atmosphere persists for the weekend and of course as the Black Rainbows enter as well. The masters of Stoner Space Rock convince like at the Viper Room, with HPS boss Gabriele Fiori at the front. With Acid Mammoth as last band at the bar, the wonderful fest slowly gets closer to its end. The Greek outfit delivers live like on the split EP with 1782.
As headliner and final band of the Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Salzburg, the mighty Elder (with great art from The Raw Stuff) step on the big stage at the hall. It is another ecstatic performance for the happy audience to go with. A massive closer for a perfect two days indoor festival.