On the first weekend of April, a selection of metal acts from across the globe will descend on the capital city of Scotland, bringing fans and revelers together in a

7 years ago

On the first weekend of April, a selection of metal acts from across the globe will descend on the capital city of Scotland, bringing fans and revelers together in a smorgasbord of riffs, gutturals, beers and high fives.  I will be one of these revelers and as such, felt it necessary to share the love and commit to a few hundred words telling you, my sweet audience, why you should make some last minute plans to join me (and fucking Behemoth!) at the Corn Exchange on April 1st and 2nd. This is Heavy Blog Is Heavy, reporting on Heavy Scotland. Heavy, huh?

I’ll get to the lineup of this raucous event when I get to it. Hold your horses. Because I’m actually the laziest person on the planet, I roped organiser Caitlin Elliot into sharing some of her own words about the fest:

“Metal is such a gift, there are so many talented people in the industry and it is a pleasure to add another platform for the musicians and fans alike…The goal is to keep putting all my time, energy and passion in to creating an event which guests and bands alike really enjoy and to keep spreading the metal”

Elliot began the whole process of organising this entire thing on her tod (on her own, non Scots speakers) and the kind of passion that this requires can’t be second-guessed. I wish I had the dedication and patience to even consider creating an event like this. But I don’t, so Elliot and her team (who she gave a huge shout out to, you guys probably know who you are!) are the bearers of this task. And while we’re a month out from the show, you best believe they are ready to deliver a show. Some of the appeal might be in the lineup, one would imagine.

Yes. Heavy Scotland boast the only UK appearance of the mighty, nay, godlike presence of Behemoth, Poland’s metal titans. This is a draw for any festival, obviously, but the day one headliners are but one act appearing on this stacked, sweaty offering.

Metal historians/anyone who has listened to Iron Maiden will know the name Blaze Bayley, young slammers will hate mosh to the grinding machinations of Ingested, some might even get a bit undead freaky when Sodomized Cadaver take to the stage. There’s a band for every breed of metal head. A mixture of new talent (Dyscarnate) , the old gods (Grave) and genre heavyweights of all ilks (Finntroll and Havok) makes for two days of eclecticism in the ways of horns and battle jackets. Day two headliners Arch Enemy and Italian symphonic death dealers Fleshgod Apocalypse are two of the most stellar live acts around, and they’re both gonna be here. I’ve seen these bands once apiece so this is a happy time for me. Now, a word again from our guest of honour, Ms Elliot, who was asked who she was most looking forward to seeing:

“all the bands! They are all insane musicians who deliver tight, memorable live shows, so we are all in for such a treat…Every band will bring something unique, I can hardly wait!”

Me either Caitlin. Me either. I can already taste the Tennents. Heavy Scotland will play host to a bevy of foods and beverages, because moshing works up an appetite and Scottish people like to drink, like a lot of folk from, well, everywhere. The food court and market will be where the hangs happen before the riffs, but the noise starts at the pre-show party and continues further into the night with the official after party. Both of which are open to Heavy Scotland ticket holders. As if anyone needed an excuse to pre-rage and post-rage.

The global reach of a festival like this is what makes them so fucking exciting in the first place and I’m looking forward to meeting folks from all over the globe who will be making their way out to Edinburgh. Scotland might be a small country but our peoples are passionate as fuck about what we do. Caitlin and her team have sweated blood, piss and vinegar into turning April Fool’s weekend into a finely tuned metal experience. One which I’m looking forward to with all my broken, black heart. I’ll leave with some more words from Caitlin, in reference to the importance of metal music in Scotland, and Scottish metal itself:

“We have plenty of great metal bands here in Scotland but perhaps not all of them reach a wider audience so it is really great to showcase a few of these bands to an international audience. The scene is lively here but perhaps Edinburgh doesn’t do as well as Glasgow. As this is the first festival I do not have a more detailed answer for you, ask me again in three years.”

I will. Someone remind me though.

Matt MacLennan

Published 7 years ago