Eyehategod brings its uniquely toxic vision to Hellfest with all the subtlety of a bad habit. This is not the warm, fuzzy side of stoner rock. There are no good vibes, no cosmic jams and certainly no invitations to commune with nature. Eyehategod's sludge is scummy, scuzzy and deeply unpleasant by design. Its obsessions are not with dragons or demons but with the uglier aspects of everyday existence: addiction, decay, violence and self-destruction. The atmosphere is suffocating, and the band makes no effort to soften the blow.
Guitarist Jimmy Bower remains the architect of this diseased sound, his riffs dragging themselves forward with the weight and inevitability of a hangover that never quite goes away. Beside him, Mike Williams stalks the stage like a man permanently at war with himself and the world around him. Having survived enough real-life demons to fill several albums, his voice carries a conviction that cannot be faked. Whatever bad juju these songs emit, Williams has lived through worse.
Eyehategod does not try to seduce newcomers. Quite the opposite. This is music for the initiated, and if you don't get it, the band could not care less. But for those who understand its language, there is something strangely cathartic in all that filth and nihilism. The guys will be playing Glazart in Paris in November, and that an event not to be missed. Attending an Eyehategod show is a little like sharing a needle: you might catch something nasty, but the buzz is worth it.
TesseracT @ Main Stage 2 (Photos, setlist)
Point Mort @ Warzone (Photo)
Queensrÿche @ Main Stage 1 (Photos, review, setlist)
Stoned Jesus @ Valley Stage (Photos, review, setlist)
Bloodywood @ Main Stage 2 (Photos, setlist)
Accept @ Main Stage 1 (Photos, review, setlist)
Sepultura @ Main Stage 2 (Photos, review, setlist)
Helloween @ Main Stage 1 (Photos, review, setlist)
Opeth @ Main Stage 2 (Photos, review, setlist)
Iron Maiden @ Main Stage 1 (Photos, review, setlist)
DAY FOUR
Scour @ Temple Stage (Photos, review, setlist)
Eyehategod @ Valley Stage (Photos, review)
Six Feet Under @ Altar Stage (Photos, review, setlist)
Corrosion Of Conformity @ Valley Stage (Photos, review)
Possessed @ Altar Stage (Photos, setlist)
Agnostic Front @ Warzone - (Photos, setlist)
Acid Bath @Valley Stage (Photos, review, setlist)
Marduk @ Altar Stage (Photos, setlist)
Napalm Death @ Altar Stage (Photos, review, setlist)
Down @ Valley Stage (Photos, review, setlist)