By Jase Walker
I’ve woken up with an absolutely crippling hangover but never fear, a bottle of Fanta and a shower later and I’m ready to face the day and get the cobwebs blown off by Heriot.
Approaching the tent I can hear Debbie’s signature vocal screams and the thundering riffs from a mile away. Obscenely heavy and the perfect way to kick off the start of day, their usual fusion of industrial, thrash and extreme metal is easily one of the most unique sounds around right now and Jera is eating it up. Seeing how Heriot have developed over the years has been a real treat to watch and seeing them kick arse at Jera is fantastic.
Next up is the big singalong act, Holding Absence. Opening with ‘Stay’ already has me using my strained voice to try and keep up with Lucas. The fact that they’ve only got 30 minutes to get everything done is criminally short and I can definitely see a stark difference between their crowd sizes at a ÜK and EÜ festival but seeing them still draw so many here is great. ‘Crooked Melody’ goes down an absolute storm as well and I can see a sea of arms all the way down to the front. I really wish these guys had more time and considering Jera’s response to them, I’d say it’s pretty likely that they’ll be back with a higher slot pretty soon! It’s probably just as well that it’s 30 minutes. Poor Lucas is having a hell of a time with a rough voice but he’s still getting on with it, hope he feels better soon. See you at Radar festival next month lads.
And one of my main draws for this weekend, Hanabie. This insane quartet of Japanese ladies very nearly didn’t make it due to their drummer injuring their wrist and having to drop a few shows due to it, but thankfully not this one! I’m absolutely howling with laughter at all the confused faces in the crowd, especially after their singer drops some gutturals that are lower than most of the bands on today. Absolutely adorable that they ask “do you like stroopwafel?”! To a (mostly) Dutch crowd too, because of course they bloody do. I’m pretty overwhelmed at how happy I am that they were able to make it to Jera. I get the distinct impression that many people here might have misjudged them given their, erm, kawaii appearance. Japan produces some of the most wacky and fun music around right now, no consideration for typical convention, and absolutely for the better. I just need a headline set now, with a new album already in the works I don’t think it’ll be long.
Another big hitter for me this weekend is Scottish metalcore outfit, Bleed From Within. As I approach the tent I can hear their signature aggressive sound blasting out from all angles, again another great sign of the sound being fantastic and it only gets after the closer I get to the stage. These Scots don’t mess around when it comes to hammering outrageous riffs out, absolute rifflords. Of course, they’re potting the Jera crowd against Hellfest but I do think the Dutch will be doing better than the French. It’s also surprising how much fire they’ve got in their show as a midday band too, more often than not that sort of stuff is reserved for headliners or at least subs. Bleed From Within have been absolutely slaying it for years and their show this weekend at Jera has been no different, absolutely incredible show.
Another break because the sun is blazing and I’m back in the main tent to catch Brutus, the sort of post-everything band. There is nothing that is typical about this band, the sound, the fact the main singer is also their drummer, the somewhat bizarre music style, a bit unusual for the rest of the lineup but a fantastic turnout nonetheless. What an immensely epic sound they have in the main tent though, far bigger than the sum of your average three-piece act and this is without any backing tracks either! I’m actually kicking myself for missing them at ArcTanGent years ago as this sort of band isn’t super common as the unique makeup and style. Other than the large screen behind them as other bands have used, Brutus use a very stripped back production with a lot of white light. Almost felt like too short of a set to really get stuck into their music, but a satisfying one at that.
Next up today is Counterparts with their somewhat famously angry singer. Their crossover style, straddling the middle of whether it’s metalcore or hardcore needs little introduction and Jera is fully keen on getting stuck into these. Barely minutes into their set they’ve got crowd surfers and people losing their minds down the front. Riffs, aggression, breakdowns, Counterparts has all of this and more in heaps. Whether it’s in some dingy bar or a massive stage at a festival, Counterparts never disappoint and going off the amount of people that I see moving around over the crowd, nobody else is disappointed either.
Counterparts emotive music has enraptured this crowd, whether it’s people doing two-steps, crowd surfing or just straight up crying their eyes out, everyone here is focused solely on the band. The whole set is relentless, frantic riffing, rapid fire chugs, melancholic hooks, all wrapped into one package they call Counterparts. A band that has made me genuinely fear for my safety at numerous shows due to the ferocity of their biggest fans, Counterparts have had a short(ish) set and slayed it.
Later on in the day I managed to catch a bit of Ice Nine Kills and their wonderfully theatrical live show that pays homage to many of the great horror films, ‘American Psycho’ and ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ to name but two. A huge cloaked horror figure stands behind the drums with bright glowing red eyes, forgoing having animated videos like many today in favour of their onstage act. Whether their singer is running around on stage with a chainsaw attached to his hand or the microphone becomes a large knife, Ice Nine Kills have something going on at all times and makes for a properly entertaining show. Only a short experience for me due to being late but Ice Nine Kills absolutely smash it every single time I’ve seen them. A truly fantastic band that truly understands what makes a good show on every front.
Of Mice And Men don’t disappoint either, their hi-octane show uses little in the way of gimmicks and opting for the approach of going hard as fuck all the time instead. Another band of the weekend that lives and dies entirely on the riff, and seeing how packed this tent is, everyone else here clearly agrees that they’re doing it right. Only a short visit in this case as I had to find a good spot for Sum 41.
Sum 41 open with ‘Motivation’ and no doubt this is just going to be all of their biggest songs in one set. Going through several of their different eras and the crowd is screaming for every single one of them. I find myself unbelievably sad that they’re calling it quits because of them being such a huge chunk of my teenage years. Even covering Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ goes down a storm! It’s great seeing Derek so full of life considering how bad things went not so long ago. Finishing up with the all time classics of ‘Fat Lip’ and ‘Still Waiting’, I hope I can make it to their final show in Amsterdam to properly say goodbye to such an incredible band.
And finally today, way later than I’ve ever experienced with any ÜK festival, Psychonaut started at 23:45. I’m already pretty tired by this point as doing 12 straight hours of watching bands is bound to wear anyone out. Probably one of the more bizarre bookings for Jera this year given its punk and -core focus overall, slapping a post-metal act on going up against Dropkick Murphys. I’m not complaining though in the slightest, I fucking love Psychonaut! It’s incredible how a three-piece can have a sound so thick in the way that these do it, this is even with hypnotic arpeggios and intricate rhythmic work like they do. I get a bit of a treat with them playing my favourite song, ‘Violate Consensus Reality’, a pretty long, creeping epic that builds to an amazing peak.
And this finally wraps up day two of Jera On Air 2024. I’m so incredibly tired already and I’ve got the strongest day of metalcore to come tomorrow!
- PHOTO CREDITS: Photos courtesy of Jera On Air/ Dian van den Heuvel/Sum 41/Christopher Brysse Photography. All copyright remains with the original photographers.
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