When they were told that they should provide at least two hours of entertainment to their moshpit deprived fans at the inaugural Metal Karoo festival which took place at the Karoo Saloon the members of Mind Assault were somewhat dumbstruck.
These legends of the South African metal scene usually only let it rip for about 40 minutes, but as they soon discovered, we do things slightly differently in the platteland.
Over three tantalising sets Mind Assault struck a perfect balance between the new material that very few of their fans had seen live and some of the classics that won those fans over in the first place.
Along with their relatively new band member Stefan Steyn on lead guitar, the Cape Town based fathers of SA Death Metal produced the kind of show that most probably converted a few farmers into followers of their art.
This can be attributed to the fact that hearing metal live in Afrikaans may have been a first for many (okay for me). This conversion of new fans can also be attributed to the fact that the band played every song with the same conviction as the last.
Those in the know know that this show has set a benchmark for Heavy Metal in the Karoo and the country as a whole.
It also served as a reminder that Heavy Metal had not died and that we can expect many more metal bands to come to the fore.
From the band’s side, they thoroughly enjoyed being in Barrydale and every member of the five-piece unit were blown away by the hospitality their received both at the Karoo Saloon and from residents in town.
“During the morning we went out to explore and we were met by the kindest, most welcoming people,” said Mind Assault bassist Donovan Tose.
“Hardy (Hardy’s Memories of Africa) took us on a short tour of town and it was just so awesome that people made an effort for us to feel welcome wherever we popped-in.” he added.
Equally, the Saloon faithfull learned that heavy metal fans are probably the best behaved fans out there – who would have thought? The keyword was respect and from social distancing to showing respect to nature, the metalheads are in a class of their own. We salute you!
From a musical perspective the band had enjoyed their first crack at performing a few tracks off their latest album The Cult of Conflict which was written pre-lockdown, but quite fittingly addresses several of the social issues that were only highlighted during 2020.
Another big contributing factor to the pumping vibe that was present when they first took to the stage was the work Craig Vee did during the curtain raiser.
Craig pulled out all the stops and although the crisp Karoo air started to take its toll towards the end of his set, he accomplished his mission of setting the tone for what will go down as one of the grandest nights in South African Metal history.
