After a great first day, the whole Reload festival terrain opened up for day two. The massive Impericon Stage stood ready for all the bands that were about to play it. After all the sunshine from the day before, day two was cloudy with a bit of rain throughout the day.
For all the earlybirds, Gutalax started the Heist Plaza Stage at 9:30 A.M. This gore grind band from Czechia is all about literal shit. Wearing white hazmat suits and having songs titled ‘Diarrhero’ and ‘Poopcorn’, the crowd was up for a special show. Fans of the band showed up wearing similar white suits. The aftermath of the show left the field covered in toilet paper.
The first band on the Impericon Stage was Beyond The Breach. The festival organised a contest for bands to win a spot on the line-up, of which Beyond The Breach was the winner. The German band is still pretty new to the scene, after forming just three years ago in 2021. Playing on a festival of this scale, even in an early slot, is huge for small bands like them. Quite a crowd gathered to see them and the joy could be seen on everyone’s faces.
Next up it was time for “Switzerland’s finest”: Paleface Swiss. Everyone finally woke up enough to open up some big mosh pits and get the crowd surfers up and to the front. Before playing the song ‘Best Before: Death’, vocalist Marc Zelli wanted the crowd to engage with the song, screaming the word “fucked” with him. After a few practice tries, the crowd screamed along loudly when the chorus hit.
The first female on stage for day 2 was Janine Shilstone, the lead singer for Scottish band VUKOVI. With only three people on stage, we could finally see a bit of a different set-up. Their drummer, Martin Sharples-Johnston, sat on the left of the stage, with plenty of empty space for Shilstone to dance around on. The crowd was engaged and taking in every moment. One thing that was sure: VUKOVI thrives in live-settings, showing off their amazing stage presence.
A band that really got the crowd excited was Emil Bulls. This German band formed in 1995 and seemed to have grown a steady fanbase throughout the years. In true metalhead fashion, singer Christoph von Freydorf was wearing a shirt with cats on it. The audience was singing along loudly and seemed to really enjoy the show. Crowd surfers made their way forward, including Batman and The Joker. If you have been to Reload Festival before, you might have bumped into Batman or The Joker before, since they are basically part of the festival experience by now.
This line-up was filled with bands both young and new, some celebrating their 30th year anniversary while others have only been in the scene for 3 years. One that belongs to the latter group is thrown. Despite being so new to the scene, the band has been making quite a name for themselves. The field in front of the stage was filled with people, and even some members from other bands made their way to the side of the stage to watch these guys while they are still small.
Spiritbox, a band that has been blowing up in the scene, gathered a big crowd for their set. Lead vocalist Courtney LaPlante commanded the stage and captivated the audience from the second she walked out. The stage was a mix of black and purple, and that was seen throughout all the details. All band members wore full black outfits, with LaPlante having purple streaks in her hair and Mike Stringer playing a purple guitar. “Reload Festival, respectfully I want to ask you to shake your little German asses to the next song” said LaPlante to the crowd. Of course ‘Holy Roller’ made its way on the setlist and was received with loud cheers and mosh pits.
Between all the metal bands with their heavy vocals, pig squeals included, it is nice to switch things up a little. After Spiritbox ended, people made their way back to the Heist Plaza Stage to watch the American band Dead Poet Society. With their use of fretless instruments, they put on an amazing show filled with distorted guitar riffs and powerful vocals. Bassist Dylan Brenner makes use of the whole stage, running, kicking and twirling around. The audience was singing along to every song, but went especially loud during ‘.intoodeep.’ which they ended their set with.
Of course everyone needs to eat, especially during a 16 hour festival day. For this the festival had loads of options, including vegetarian and vegan. From pizza to fries to tacos to burgers, there was something for everyone to enjoy. There also was a little market set up, with patches, jewellery, animal hides and skulls, and much more. If you were feeling like getting a new piercing, you could also get those. We obviously can not skip over the merch stands, of which there were three. One for Reload Festival merch, one with the bands that are playing, and a separate Impericon merch stand with all kinds of bands, where you could even buy a surprise shirt for €8.
Hatebreed are regulars on the line-up of Reload Festival at this point, with the 2024 edition being their fifth time coming down to Sulingen. This year is even more special to the band, since they are celebrating their 30th year anniversary. Before their set started, video messages were shown on the side screens, congratulating the band. Multiple friends from the band were seen on the screen, including Lamb of God and Doro Pesch. Even after 30 years in the industry, the band does not look like they are stopping anytime soon.
If anyone was feeling cold with the rainy and windy weather, Heaven Shall Burn was ready to warm them up. Starting their set with confetti and fireworks, they showed everyone what they could expect from their 75 minute set. During their set, all their pyrotechnics heated everyone up.
Headlining the second day was Korn. The field was filled to the brim with fans waiting to hear all their favourite songs. With a 90 minute set on the schedule, there was plenty of time for all the hits to make their way onto the setlist. One thing Korn does not go easy on is their staging. At the back were huge screens, with another see-through screen going at the front, coming down during a few songs. Even though the band has enough hits from its own discography, they incorporated a snippet of Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ into their own song ‘Coming Undone’. In their encore they also mixed in a snippet of Metallica’s ‘One’ during ‘Shoots and Ladders’. Their set ended with ‘Freak On A Leash’, of course, and while the crowd went crazy during the whole set, this was the moment everyone gave their all one last time. Just like the first day, Reload Festival day 2 was great fun for everyone there. Check out all the photos here!
