Originally posted in: http://valkyrianmusic.com/2012/06/24/swr-porto-hard-2012-1st-day/
» SWR Inc. is probably the most renowned underground promoter in Portugal. SWR stands for Steel Warriors Rebellion, which was the fest it all started with, 15 years ago.
Last year they began another kind of fest, indoors, held at Hard Club, in Porto – hence the name SWR Porto Hard. This report is about the second edition of that fest, which brought together some of the most classic names in the death and thrash metal scene.
The first of the two nights happened when Portugal was facing Holland on the soccer field, trying to get to the next stage of Euro 2012. In order to allow the metalheads to enjoy both events, Hard Club’s restaurant would play the football match on a big screen, and the concert would begin at the end of the game.
First band on the bill was GROG, a grindcore band from Oeiras (Lisbon) who’s been around for quite a while (21 years). Many people were still celebrating Portugal’s victory and the first couple of songs were performed to a somewhat weak-in-numbers crowd. But slowly those numbers grew, as well as the enthusiasm, putting the band at its usual ease. The performance itself was technically perfect from the beginning, don’t get me wrong. It was the speech of singer Pedro Pedra which became more informal and familiar as the audience got more receptive as well.
GROG’s debut album saw the light of day in 1996, entitled “Macabre Requiems”. So much has passed ever since, and they only had half an hour to play, that the best option was a medley. “Cult Of Blood” and “Raped By A Virgin” were some of the highest moments taken from the second album, “Odes To The Carnivorous”, while “Anal Core”, “Acephalus Meatgrind Orgy Hibernation” and “Hanged By The Cojones” represented the third and most recent work, “Scooping The Cranial Insides”. «
Front Row Forever 