Words Adrian Hextall \ Smudge Smith
Pictures: Adrian Hextall \ MindHex Media
Why would you drive through Spain, France and Germany to get to Czechia some 21 hours later if you didn’t stop, travelling some 2,024 kilometres to attend a festival in the heart of the countryside. Why attend a festival so far away when Spain has Rock Imperium Festival in Cartagena, the UK has Download and Bloodstock, Denmark has Copenhell and France has the huge Hellfest. Let’s not forget of course Wacken in Germany or the ultimate metalhead feast, Leyendas del Rock. Europe packs a punch when it comes to summer festivals and is a popular destination for fans looking for their annual metal fix as well as attracting foreigners looking for some sun with the music instead of the more common mud baths that seem to accompany festivals in other countries. Yes, Download and Hellfest, I’m looking at you!.
This is the challenge that faces the organisers of the Masters of Rock Festival in Czechia, which in 2024 celebrated its 20th Anniversary. Founded in 2003, then then two-day festival was headlined by Hammerfall and Prong. Since then it’s gone on to host all manner of artists from big to small, rock and metal royalty all the way down to local Czech bands who are starting out and are looking for their big break. Masters of Rock will give you that mix and more every year. It also presents exclusives not seen at any other festival around the world. If you love epic metal acts like Sabaton, they will probably perform at your own festival and deliver an amazing show. When they last performed at Masters of Rock, they did so with a full symphony orchestra supporting them for a headline show that has yet to be repeated. If classic rock is more your thing, what about getting the current version of Uriah Heap to perform and get as many of the original and former members to join the band on stage for a celebration of their immense 50-year career? Yes, Masters of Rock achieved that as well. This approach makes the festival a must-attend event regardless of whatever festivals are available in your home country. German thrash titans Rage, performing with the Lingua Mortis Orchestra, bringing back the music that first came to the fore in 1996 when Rage became the first band to release a studio recorded metal album with a full orchestra playing along. Well, that’s something that the organisers arranged for this year’s festival. That and more exclusives await anyone willing to make the long journey to an event that sits in the grounds of the R. Jelínek distillery, a place known globally for the production of Slivovice, a plum brandy that has to be tried and the famous Gold Cock whiskey whose 20 year old single malt is to die for!
The team from MyGlobalMind Magazine was there at the 2024 festival and the now 4-day affair was packed with artists that will thrill, energise, surprise and amaze in equal measure. Masters of Rock is one of the few festivals globally that guarantees special sets, those sometimes-one-offs that literally define the term “you had to be there!” One only has to look back at sets from Sabaton, Visions of Atlantis, Rage and others to see just what we mean.
We spoke to festival promoter, the man who has steered the ship since day one, George Nemec. George, in mainland Europe is viewed with the same level of respect as, say, Andy Copping in the UK who runs Download Festival. His foresight and vision in pulling together Masters of Rock has ensured its longevity and also, in more recent years, spawned a sister festival that takes place further south in the city of Moravský Krumlov and forms one of the biggest events of this genre in South Moravia, called Rock Castle.
Back to Masters of Rock though. To make that 20th Anniversary special. Goerge pulled out all of the stops to appeal to metal fans of all ages with Accept, Avantasia, Bruce Dickinson and Judas Priest headlining. Both Dickinson and Priest are riding high on the back of new albums. Bruce’s ‘The Mandrake Project’ is, to me, the strongest release he’s put his voice to since Iron Maiden released ‘Brave New World’ back in 2000. Judas Priest’s ‘Invincible Shield’ has seen the band get their highest charting album in their 50-year career. No small feat in a time when the only artist anyone deems newsworthy these days is Taylor Swift.
The joy at having both Priest and Dickinson on the same festival bill was obvious from the tone in George’s voice as we speak. It’s clearly something he’s been working towards for some time.
“I’m always looking ahead, I’m already booking slots for Summer 2025,” says a cheerful George. “I have a tour going on at the moment and we have 3 dates in the country, all of them are sold out, one in Brno, one in Zlin and a final show in Prague.”
It’s all work and some play for George but with over two decades worth of experience in the business, if anyone is up for the challenge, it’s Mr Nemec.
“This year’s festival is big, very, very big. It’s a really cool. And of course having for the first time Bruce Dickinson is also one of my dreams. Both he and Judas Priest as know have released new albums this month and both albums are the top two in the music charts in the Czech Republic. I’m very proud to have both artists at Masters of Rock as well as a lot of other great artists.”
Those other great artists include as mentioned above Avantasia, which sees Tobias Sammet return to the Masters of Rock stage for the first time since he headlined with Edguy back in 2017. We should also pause for a moment there and reflect that point as well. In mainland Europe, artists like Edguy have occupied a might higher position and status than they have in backwater countries like the UK, where, it has to be said, we don’t necessarily know our arse from our elbow when it comes to talent. As such, to see a band performing where they should be, at the top of a festival bill, sometimes you need to look wider than the local scene and travel. In 2024, the man referred to by Dee Snider, when he introduced him on stage in 2017 as ‘My good friend, Ed Guy’ (Oh you comedian Dee!), returns to the Ronnie James Dio Stage with Avantasia, the band that has seen Tobi’s fortunes grow exponentially. Avantasia have become a globe trotting behemoth with a semi-permanent, semi-rotating line up of artists performing with him. Those artists include Helloween’s Michael Kiske, Magnum’s Bob Catley, Ronnie Atkins from Pretty Maids, Mr Big’s Eric Martin and more.
Closing off the headline slots we have the Teutonic Terrors, Accept. Any self-respecting metal fan will also see the modern link between Judas Priest and Accept as both have seen the production magic courtesy of Andy Sneap revitalise their output and reaffirm that status as founding fathers of metal once more. Priest have of course gone one step further and Sneap is now their touring guitarist, standing in for Glen Tipton whose diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease prevents him from playing and touring as much as he wants to.
Sneap playing alongside Richie Faulkner has really modernised the live Judas Priest show and with Accept, George has a similar view about their stage presence.
“I very much like Accept when they are on stage. It’s a view my friends have as well. It’s how heavy metal has to look. They’re smiling, enjoying themselves and the guys are very, very powerful. They are moving great on stage, the music is fantastic, it’s always nice to watch an Accept show always.”
The ‘special set’ slot we’ve mentioned goes this year to Rage. Whilst Masters of Rock is guaranteed to always deliver something that no other festival does, 2024 sees Rage celebrating its 40th anniversary and as such, Peavy Wagner and the band are working with a Czech philharmonic orchestra to present ‘Rage & the Lingua Mortis Orchestra’ and a set that covers all aspects of the German band’s career. If you’ve heard latest album ‘Afterlifelines’ you’ll know it’s a work of two parts. ‘Afterlife’ being the new Rage ‘band’ album and ‘Lifelines’ the orchestral half which celebrates the LMO part of the band’s career that saw Rage be the first metal act to release an orchestral backed album in 1996.
If you’re thinking ‘Well this is all well and good but where are the headliners of the future?’ then look no further than Electric Callboy. A band that George has promoted throughout Czechia and one that, on their last tour sold out venues holding around 2,500 people. Touring with them again this year, George has confirmed that the band are now selling venues out with capacity crowds of some 4,400. It’s a similar scene in my home country and around the rest of the world. Great things await the truly unique outfit. Expect to see them back in the near future, with a huge stage show and headlining the main stage.
If your appetite needs a little more sauce, then let’s focus for a moment on local music. Masters of Rock does a lot to promote Czech bands and in recent years, Dymytry being a great example of one that has crossed over into much wider international appeal. Similarly, we’re expecting great things from last year’s main stage opener Alia Tempora who have recently completed a wider European tour to great acclaim, and were George’s local band recommendation last year. If you’re a fan of metal, rock, techno and inflatable rainbow unicorns then they are a must see for you.
This year, attendees need to check out Fleret [Which translates to Foil in English]. Fleret are not some young upcoming act but are instead born and bred in Vizovice, the home of the festival and are, like Rage, also celebrating their 40th anniversary. If ever a band captures the heart and spirit of the festival and the Czech vibe in general, it Fleret. From purely folk beginnings, through the unmistakable hardening of the sound the band have a treasure trove of music behind them. It’s a certainly that they’ll have every single song sung back to the, by a rapid crowd embracing Masters of Rock to the fullest. Are you likely to see them perform in Spain, England or anywhere outside of their home country? It’s unlikely and this is why, as we settle in for the duration, we get 4 days of amazing music in a unique environment that, at some point will see us sampling copious amounts of alcohol thanks to a tour of the R. Jelínek distillery.
To give you a sense of the trip and why it’s worth the travel time to get to the event, we left from Stansted Airport in the UK and (having lost an hour as we travelled through time zones) we arrived in Zlin and our hotel where we would be staying for the next 5 days about 7 hours later. 7 hours, and the same to go back again, takes some dedication, especially when, in Spain, you have some many home grown events to enjoy.
Thursday 11th July
The weather hadn’t broken so we woke up to blue sky, sunshine and something fast approaching thirty degrees. Not good for two pale, pasty faced Brits who avoid the sun like the plague. Home from home for the significant number of Spanish people we bumped into who had made the journey from various airports in their home country.
Opening act Fleret are a Czech legend, and they drew a sizeable crowd for their brand of Folk-Rock which was all sung in Czech. The crowd knew the songs and sang along heartily. Next up were another local act – Metalinda – who pushed out their heavy rock very much in the vein of early Y&T and Dokken. One band I had been looking forward to seeing were Dragonhammer from Italy. You can’t beat a bit of Italian Power Metal especially when it’s this good, although the massive boom in feedback scared the shit out of everybody but the band being professionals carried on as if nothing happened. I hadn’t realised that the band has been going for over 25 years and after the awesome ‘Blood In The Sky’ they aired a song from their debut from 1999 the equally awesome ‘Silver Feathers’ which had a slight touch of Iron Maiden’s ‘Wasted Years’ about it.
Melechesh then took the stage and obliterated us with their eastern flavoured death metal. Singer/guitarist MC was the spitting image of Iranian/British comedian Omid Djalili if he had a long goatee and slung a Flying V over his shoulder. They brought aggression and energy with the likes of the crushing ‘Deluge Of Dreams’ and ‘Multiple Truths’ then things got proper raw on ‘Defeating The Giants’. Final number ‘Rebirth Of The Nemesis’ started awkwardly but as the band settled into the right time signature together it became another monster. For me, this was when the festival actually started.
Turmion Katilot from Finland brought their impressive mix of death metal and bouncy dance beats which got the crowd moving. Sodom, however, gave us an aural kicking like nothing before. The thrash legends treated us to some older and deeper cuts like ‘Jabba The Hut’ and ‘The Crippler’.
I was conflicted about the evening’s headliner Bruce Dickinson. He has just released probably the best solo record of his career and he’s selected a cracking backing band. But, for some reason, I just couldn’t get excited about seeing him. I sat in some seats at the far end of the site and watched as he went through his repertoire. I was probably the only dissenting voice on the day because the place was rammed with Bruce fans.
I honestly thought the crowd would depart after Bruce Dickinson. Boy was I wrong, they stayed to watch the superb Stratovarius who ripped through ‘Speed Of Light’ and ‘World On Fire’ and gave us a neo-classical instrumental where I could’ve sworn the guitarist had seven fingers. I checked later backstage – he only has the four – the keys man switched his toys and we got a harpsichord before they tore into another world class power metal banger. Singer Timo Kotipelto introduced ‘Forever’ as an old ballad which was stunning before the final two bangers ‘Unbreakable’ and ‘Hunting High And Low’.
After too much sun it was time to leave and get some rest for Friday, so we gave Moonspell a miss. Something had to give.
Friday 12th July
Canadians Osyron hit the stage and gave us all a major wake-up call with some crushingly heavy power metal which was just what the doctor ordered. They were heavy and melodic, and word was obviously spreading because the crowd continued to fill at an alarming rate. Dark Sky came up next with a thoroughly entertaining set of 80’s inspired hard rock which sounded like a mash between Europe, Gotthard and Treat which ain’t a bad thing.
Serious Black followed which both Adrian and I were excited about. They pumped out some serious metal and aired a couple off Adrian’s fave Serious Black album – ‘Magic’.
Now this is where things got serious. Literally as Any Given Day hit the stage the heaven’s opened, I reckon hell had a part to play in it as well because I have never seen a storm like it! But that didn’t stop two stupid Englishmen who are old enough to know better – but because we take this job seriously, we took the pictures, being the only two people in the pit. Any Given Day got on with the job of giving the crowd some superb melodic metalcore despite all of them except the drummer getting soaked to the skin – well once you’re wet – you’re wet.
All the time Unleash The Archers and the metal Queen herself, Doro performed, Adrian kept badgering me about Electric Callboy. I was sceptical with the way he described them, but he was spot on. They really got the crowd going with their mix of techno and death metal. It works and the crowd went nuts for them.
As soon as Judas Priest took to the stage it pissed down, literally. Again, yours truly took one for the team and remained in the photographer’s pit for the first three songs whilst everyone else ran for cover. I saw Judas Priest earlier in the year and they were superb tonight they passed superb went straight to awesome even with a break in the set to let the electrical storm pass.
Following a legend like Judas Priest would have phased most bands but not Alestorm. They sauntered on stage and brought a huge Pirate Metal Party anthems like ‘Body Of The Dead Marauder’, ‘Uzbekistan’, ‘Mexico’ and a fine song about rum called …‘Rum’ and any band who has a song called ‘Fucked With An Anchor’ is alright in my book. They brought the energy back for the crowd who went back to their tents totally knackered but totally satisfied.
Saturday 13th July
A tour Robert Jelinek distillery? Well yes please. The place makes various highly alcoholic spirits out of plums and apricots, are also known for their wonderfully smooth single malt AND they have just started making rum. All of which were sampled very generously. We drank responsibly (yeah right!). Whilst walking to the various areas that gave us free booze we were serenaded by Manchester’s finest Wytch Hazel who gave a great account of themselves but please don’t ask me what they played.
I had been looking forward to seeing Cyrha especially after hearing their latest stunning album ‘The Vertigo Trigger’ they didn’t disappoint. It was powerful and melodic with singer Jake E formerly of Amaranthe really showing what he can do. Earlier Adrian had a long chat with Jake whilst I spoke with the band’s sound engineer – who also works for Mercyful Fate and King Diamond. It was interesting getting a sound man’s take on the various festivals and what’s involved.
Dynazty came and gave us an 80’s throwback especially on the last song which was straight out of the Van Halen book. Cavalera Conspiracy who took the brutality to the next level and beyond. ‘Bestial Devastation’ was the start of a truly serious aural kicking of Sepultura classics. ‘Morbid Visions’, ‘Mayhem’, ‘Funeral Rites’, ‘Refuse/Resist’ were all aired and played with an energy and aggression that I’ve rarely seen. I had to check to see if anyone was hurt. Thankfully these Czech’s are a hardy bunch.
My exposure to Avantasia is limited but I had been listening to quite a bit over the weeks prior to leaving the UK. Let’s just say they didn’t disappoint. A real rock opera and even though the albums follow storylines the songs can be listened to alone, that’s how good they are and let’s not forget that in Tobias Sammet they have a world class frontman. He was ably assisted by fellow singers Adrienne Cowan who did both the clean clear vocal and the growly thing, Ronnie Atkins from Pretty Maids – just WOW!, Bob Catley and the legend that is Geoff Tate – Mr Hextall was beside himself! The performance by everybody involved was seamless and world class from the opening of ‘Spectres’, ‘Reach Out To The Light’, ‘The Scarecrow’, ‘The Book Of Shallows’ (both with Ronnie Atkins). Bob Catley came out for a fine version of ‘The Story Ain’t Over’ before Mr Tate graced the stage and old fanboy Adrian went bat shit crazy on ‘Alchemy’ and ‘Invincible’.
Sunday 14th July
First bus to the venue on the final day allowed us to catch the quite superb Blax, from Italy, who rocked us with their dark Gothic glam rock. Symfobia followed with their operatic symphonic metal before one of the surprises of the weekend. Tri State Corner have been going for about 20 years and they went through a thoroughly entertaining set of eastern European heavy folk rock. With an electric Bazouki player and a drummer who smashed the living shit out of his kit, they brought a real energy that got everybody going. Oh, and by the way the singer is Rage drummer Lucky Maniatopoulos. After Annisokay, with their techno metal and the more traditional metal of Delain, we got to the ‘special event’ of the weekend.
Credited with delivering the first orchestral backed heavy metal album back in the 1990s, Rage took to the stage with the local symphony orchestra and well… just WOW! To see Rage with a full orchestra was a sight to see. And the orchestra, from the local town of Zlin, were exceptional loving every minute of playing to a crowd of rabid metal maniacs. To say they added power and beautiful melodies over the power riffage was joyful. Peavey is an underrated singer and songwriter but by crikey it was powerful to hear and powerful to feel.
I often get ridiculed for loving metal music but it’s just people’s ignorance and their false perception of what metal music is. This was metal, this was heavy, and I stood in awe at the majestic beauty of the music they played. This was and is why we travel to these events. This would never happen outside of a Masters of Rock festival.
KK’s Priest followed with their ‘Painkiller’ like brand of power metal, and it fell to headliners and Teutonic terrors, Accept to close out the four-day festival for us. ‘The Abyss’ and ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ were rattled out before the medley of ‘Demons Night’ / ’Starlight’ / ’Losers And Winners’ / ’Flash Rockin’ Man’ brought us to ‘Shadow Soldiers’. It was with an exhausted and heavy heart that we had to leave because the time of our shuttle back to the hotel had been brought forward, plus we had to be up at 5am for the ride to the airport.
So why should you go? Why should you travel to a festival like Masters of Rock when Download, Copenhell, Wacken, Hellfest or Leyendas del Rock exist in metalheads own doorsteps. Cost is a factor. The price of the flights \ hotel and even car hire to drive to Vizovice from Vienna airport still work out cheaper than buying festival tickets and hotels at one of the major European events. The beer is high quality Czech pilsner and the Slovovice… well. And that’s all before the music, the effort that goes into the festival and the exclusives that George secures every single year. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
About Author
