Supplier of successful groups such as Gojira and Beating Heart of Hellfest, Mastodon of festivals, the French metal spends a cap on Thursday night in Bataclan with its first dedicated awards ceremony, symbol of an expanding musical genre.
“We want to press the accelerator even more to take advantage of this good ‘atmosphere’ (energy, editor’s note) that there is around metal,” excites AFP Arnaud Millard, deputy director of Bataclan.
During the ceremony, presented by the radio and humorist columnist Thomas VDB, the trophies will be given in 11 categories, of the best album in the best social and environmental initiative. For six of them, the public was invited to vote, in addition to the vote of a jury of professionals.
At the beginning of the process, an “ethical committee” of around twenty professionals in the sector has listed a “maximum projects”, then “a professional university carried out to establish the list of appointments, draws Arnaud Millard.
A type “not represented enough”
Among the many contestants, three names are in the race for the artist, in reality, the group, of the year: Last Train, which operates a winning return with his third album oscillating between brut and metal rock, Landmvrks and his annoying gratifying mixture, as well as Rise of the Northstar, whose clips are designed as Japanese animations.
The Live Brut carpenter, Revnoir, grandmother’s ashes and the GraveKVLT will enamel the night to vibrate at 700 spectators only in the well, essential location to savor these sound electroshocs.
The event is held by Paris Entertainment Company which, in addition to Bataclan since 2021, explodes the Arena Accor and Adidas Arena. Calibebered for 2:30 am and then transmitted at 10:55 pm in France 4 and France.
“The metal is not limited to some recent effects of Waouh Gojira in the Olympic Games (from Paris, to the opening ceremony, editor’s note), millions of people listen to him all year,” said Pascal Gueugue, director of the Metal Music Federation, partner of the ceremony.
The public’s appetite materializes during each edition of The Hellfest, which brought together about 280,000 spectators in June. French groups are in parallel in their international advance, such as the fractal universe or novelists.
“It is also a claim story for me: for a long time it was not very fashionable to say that I listen to metal, which is not absolutely longer,” observes Pascal Gueugue, specifying that the public revolves around “35-40 years” of average age.
However, “the metal was not sufficiently represented in the somewhat more official, a little more generalist ceremonies,” says Arnaud Millard, referring to the Vicoteros of the Musique.
A symbolism
The anger follows in this regard the path of rap, which has taken its independence when creating its own ceremony, the flames, also being considered sufficiently considered by the great mass of the song.
This attention center also aims to “show how good music is crazy energy, real commitments,” says Arnaud Millard, convinced that she is an “less and less” goal of prejudices.
When investing the Bataclan, the ceremony also continues to write the story of an emblematic rock room, marked by jihadist attacks on November 13, 2015, which left 130 dead, including 90 spectators during the Death Metal eagles concert.
To resonate the guitars of this place, which celebrates its 160 years of existence, it is “symbolic,” acknowledges Arnaud Millard. But, he continues, “it is our entire programming throughout the year that is a form of resilience”, with 120 concerts per year.
“Our mission is really cultural is to program, give life to music and mental freedom. And rock, metal, it really characterizes it,” he concludes.
Source: BFM TV
