Of course there was a warm-up show the evening prior to the actual festival once again as well, including the likes of RAIN, LIGEIA, RAM & DESTINY. And luckily it was held at a way more interesting place this time. Click here to see a review and some pictures of the bands that performed during the Pounding Metal Attack warm-up show.

Germany's REPENT are a thrash quintet and they are heavily influenced by the late 1980's San Francisco Bay Area scene. They have been around since 1997 already, yet had only recently released their second CD, Disciple Of Decline. Their performance (which started 30' late) was loud and to the point, but their bunch of short songs were kind of one-dimensional. Clearly influenced by the likes of early SLAYER, EXODUS, TESTAMENT, ... but I'm afraid that my thrash days are well and truly over. Besides, REPENT seriously lacked stage presence, not to mention interaction with the crowd. Not bad by any means, but nothing too special either.

What can I say about Germany's METAL INQUISITOR that I haven't mentioned before? Nothing much ... Compared to their performance at the Heavy Metal Maniacs festival the week before, their setlist was a bit different. Which I can only cheer for, as I saw them on both occasions. Besides 'oldie' Resistance Is Futile there was a healthy mix of songs from The Apparition (Take Revenge, Bernardo Gui, Watch The Phoenix Die, Daze Of Avalon, Zombie Driver) and newer stuff (Restricted Agony, Legion Of Grey). The band clearly enjoyed themselves on stage, and the audience clearly appreciated the band as well. My personal highlight, since it came totally out of the blue, was a blistering cover version of SWEET SAVAGE's Eye Of The Storm. Way to go! Too bad that the shouts for an encore were not validated. Once again METAL INQUISITOR didn't let me down, and it's more than time for a new CD. Somebody sign these guys now!!!

ROTTWEILLER is a band from Seattle, U.S.A. that hardly anyone had heard of, say four years ago. Only a small amount of underground fanatics was aware of the band being included (with Intense As Hell) on the Northwest Metalfest compilation LP two decades ago. That's where the ROTTWEILLER story ended, as far as releases anyhow. Until 2002 that is, when Hellion Records released Screams Of The Innocent, a compilation of 1986 demos and a couple of live tunes. ROTTWEILLER also made their European debut that same year, at the Wacken Open Air festival. And a follow-up CD, including all new songs, called Rage Of War, was released to coincide with this festival appearance, once again on Hellion. The band also had a new vocalist, Martin Morin, since Ronnie Munroe has become METAL CHURCH's new throat. And Martin is a bit of the weak link as well; the man sure can sing very high, but at times it just tends to get on your nerves. Their 40' set was solid and enjoyable, despite sound quality problems, and a mixture of songs culled from both releases, including the likes of Set The World On Fire, No Escape, Exterminator, Rage Of War, Underground, ... Quite surprisingly they didn't play Intense As Hell. Strange ?!?! Furthermore the band's material isn't varied enough to retain one's attention to the full, even during a short stint as this one. Well above average, but that says it all.

One of the more obscure bands to originate from the N.W.O.B.H.M. movement, that's definitely the case for WITCHFYNDE. I never imagined that I would ever get to see these guys live, but as you know, life is full of surprises. These four 'oldtimers' certainly delivered the goods as well! Starting out with Stagefright and Ready To Roll in fine, old-fashioned fashion, only to be followed by the only 'new' tune, The Other Side. Not really, since this is a revamped version of a song that was written in the mid 1980's, but that was never released. The rest of the set was a total throwback to the past, by means of Conspiracy, Leaving Nadir, Cloak And Dagger, Stab In The Back and Give 'Em Hell. A very convincing, energetic even, set, and clearly my first highlight of the day. The sound was finally enjoyable as well, the only negative thing being that WITCHFYNDE's set (43') was over too soon. Next thing I want now is to see the band live again, playing an 80' or 90' set, so I would be able to enjoy the likes of Gettin' Heavy, Wake Up Screaming, Moon Magic, I'd Rather Go Wild, Cry Wolf, Hall Of Mirrors, ... as well. But I guess I'll have to go over to the U.K. in order to achieve that, as chances of a European headline tour seem to be out of the question for the revamped WITCHFYNDE. Sad but true!

Germany's SACRED STEEL were the first band allowed to play for one hour, and they took full advantage of it. Not just to promote their recently released fifth CD, Iron Blessings, since they played at least a couple of songs from all of its predecessors as well. The addition of a more death-like voice on the band's two most recent releases isn't really what I had in mind as far as progression goes, but it's not too exaggerated either. The sound was, once again, not too great, but nevertheless the band went down remarkably well with their chauvinistic homebase. Maybe Gerrit's stagediving & crowdsurfing had something to do with it as well ... Crazy motherfucker! And since we had seen them a couple of times before already, we decided to treat us to a steak and some fries, and sit back and eat them next to the mixing table. From where we could clearly see the band and hear them rage through the likes of Battle Angel, Slaughter Prophecy, Rites Of Sacrifice, True Force Of Iron Glory, Sacred Bloody Steel, OMEN's Battle Cry, Wargods Of Metal, Master Of Thy Fate, ... Nothing too innovating, but performed with conviction.

The second (and last) N.W.O.B.H.M. outfit to grace the stage today was JAGUAR, who released one of my alltime fave records, Power Games. Of course that was two decades ago already, but I'd say that said release has stood the test of time extremely well, and I've always kept a soft spot for them. Although I'll be the first to admit that their more recent releases aren't really on par with their tremendous debut. I enjoyed their set at the 1999 Wacken Open Air festival, as well as their club show in Tilburg in 2000. By that time original bassist Jeff Cox had left once again, and thus guitarist Garry Pepperd is the sole remaining original these days, backed by a bunch of young(er) blood. Vocalist Jamie Manton is one helluva energetic frontman, and he seems to have found an ideal partner in crime in bassist Darren Furze. Describing all of Jamie's stage antics would be impossible, but believe me, there's never a dull moment when he's on stage. What a hyperactive guy! Their 60' set included only three more recent tunes (Scrap Metal, Run Ragged & Gulf War Syndrome), plus a shitload of old classics. Or how else would you describe the likes of opener Dutch Connection, Out Of Luck, Prisoner, War Machine, Run For Your Life, Master Game, Stormchild, The Fox, Axe Crazy and Back Street Woman? Perhaps not 100% as good as in the early 1980's, but at least they come close. And judging by the crowd's appreciation, that's not just my idea. My second highlight of the day, on par with WITCHFYNDE, albeit in a different league musically.

Some people questioned the fact that Chicago's TYRANT'S REIGN had such a high spot on today's line-up, since they have always been more of an underground band, releasing only one mLP back in the late 1980's. I was aware of the band's musical legacy, and was hoping for a blistering performance. But you never know, of course, especially since the band had been inactive for a decade. Then again, the nowadays line-up is the very same as the very first one. Quite rare! And they definitely still knew the tricks of the trade, you'd better believe it. Earlier on this year the band had released a CD (a real scorcher!) full of demo recordings from the past, and the emphasis tonight was on that release, by performing 7 of the 11 songs : Star Chamber, Kill Or Be Killed, Tyrant's Reign, Unconditional Surrender, S.O.S., Thrashing Metal Maniacs & Passage To Eternity. The remaining songs originated from the Year Of The Tyrants mLP : Untamed, Fadeaway & Reign Of Terror. And they also did a cover of METALLICA's Sanitarium (Welcome Home), which most people seemed to enjoy a lot. So did I, but I would've enjoyed a couple more originals (Jack The Ripper, Deadly Eyes) in stead. Anyhow, the band was super tight and they had a good sound. And their close to 60' powerful yet very versatile set was welcomed with open arms by the greater part of the audience. TYRANT'S REIGN definitely received the best crowd reaction of the day so far. And rightfully so!! I only feel sorry for the fact that we didn't get to hear Jack The Ripper anymore; which was the result of opening act REPENT being unable to start on time. Nevertheless TYRANT'S REIGN was the absolute highlight from my point of view!! Let's hope that TYRANT'S REIGN will release a new scorching CD someday soon, followed by some kind of European tour!

STORMWITCH had been announced as 'the big thing' for this edition, but I had my doubts. I'll admit : I'm not familiar with the band's entire discography, since I only have a couple of their early releases. But when they announced that they would do a 'best of early releases' show, I was kind of hoping to hear them play almost the entire Priest Of Evil compilation stuff from a couple of years ago. In reality only seven songs from said CD were presented, which was half of the show. The rest was made up of later period stuff, including some recent tunes as well. While the likes of Ravenlord, Jonathan's Diary, Rats In The Attic, Priest Of Evil and Walpurgis Night convinced me of their abilities, I can't really say the same about the rest. And they simply played too many songs that I don't like, for they are too commercial. Let's face it : STORMWITCH was only really popular in their native country, and I don't have the impression that things are about to change now. Then again, I could be wrong ... The special show that was announced wasn't all too exciting either : some small fireworks on two occasions, plus a bunch of witches, etc. on stage a couple of times. Plus a swordfight, featuring LIGEA's Dani. Some other characters that I recognized were Bruder Clé and Oliver 'Mr. K.I.T.' Weinsheimer himself. Their set went down well with their home audience; for us it was the ideal time to sit back & relax upstairs, gaining strength to survive HALLOW'S EVE and HELSTAR.

Due to the fact that STORMWITCH started out 20' late, and due to the fact that their set lasted 15' longer than anticipated, Georgia's HALLOW'S EVE kicked off with a 40' delay. I was really looking forward to seeing these guys, especially as the emphasis tonight was going to be on their Tales Of Terror and Death & Insanity releases. On the other hand I wasn't quite sure what to expect, since former vocalist Stacy Anderson isn't part of this reunion. The only two 'original' members were bassist Tommy Stewart and guitarist Skullator. And since there was no new vocalist, both shared the vocals on this occasion. Which leads me to the first flaw : while Tommy's vocals were quite allright, Skullator's vocal performance was nothing to write home about. Hardly understandable. Besides Skullator looks more like a black or death metal version of a pirate these days, with a HELLHAMMER t-shirt to match. Add to this the fact that the new songs didn't really compare to their classic stuff. And besides having trouble with Tommy's microphones, the band also suffered from an inferior sound. All beyond the band's control ... Don't get me wrong : I really enjoyed most of the rest of their set, especially the likes of Plunging To Megadeath, Death And Insanity, D.I.E., Lethal Tendencies, Metal Merchants & encore Speed Freak, but I think that this 67' performance could've been way better, in ideal circumstances, and with Stacy fronting the band. Which will most likely never become true. As a result HALLOW'S EVE (on this occasion) turned out to be my personal low.

The undisputed headliners of course were Texas' HELSTAR. Or DISTANT THUNDER, if you must. It doesn't really matter, and for me this was clearly HELSTAR. Sure, they did play a couple of DISTANT THUNDER tunes as well, but they made sure to pick those (Fire In The Skies, Lost In Time & I Welcome The End) that tied in perfectly with HELSTAR's earlier material. Besides mainman James Rivera, bassist Jerry Abarca was back on track as well, just like he was already part of the 2001 reunion. And the remaining members all had previously been involved with HELSTAR as well, although that was past the band's 1980's heydays. Nevermind, this incarnation of HELSTAR was probably the best that I've ever witnessed. The only song that was slightly out of line was Good Day To Die, from the Multiples Of Black release. The rest were all culled from the band's first four releases. For the absent ones, here's the list : Remnants Of War, The Shadows Of Iga, The King Is Dead, Evil Reign, Swirling Madness, Winds Of War, Baptized In Blood, Angel Of Death, Burning Star and Run With The Pack. Not surprisingly things (a 90' set) came to an end with ACCEPT's Restless And Wild. Enough to set the audience on fire once more. Other crowd favourites above the rest included Winds Of War, Baptized In Blood and Run With The Pack. But that's not saying much, as the rest of HELSTAR's repertoire was highly appreciated as well. The band was in 'optima forma', tight and they seemed to really enjoy themselves as well. The sound was good as well, and basically HELSTAR couldn't do anything wrong! It beats me why these guys never achieved any more success, as they are simply put a great band! All we need now is another CD in the same vein. And possibly some more touring. Or am I just too greedy? Anyway, HELSTAR was the absolute highlight of K.I.T. III, together with TYRANT'S REIGN.

Locals DESTINATIONS CALLING had the honour of closing the third edition of the Keep It True festival down. I'm not sure if it was a pleasure from their point of view, as people left en masse shortly after HELSTAR had finished their set. After all it had been a very long day ... DESTINATIONS CALLING didn't seem to mind though, as they came across as being professional and really into displaying their abilities in front of, say, 75 people. Unfortunately their kind of power metal was rather basic and thus not too exciting. Reason enough for us to leave after the fourth or fifth song. Maybe having a 'cool-down' band at the end of the festival wasn't a good idea after all? Only time will tell ...

And thus came an end to K.I.T. III. Just like I had anticipated beforehand, a mixture of excellent and not so exciting bands this time around. Mind you, that's just my personal opinion. My personal faves of course were HELSTAR, TYRANT'S REIGN, WITCHFYNDE, JAGUAR and METAL INQUISITOR while HALLOW'S EVE disappointed me the most. Then again, K.I.T. 4, scheduled for April 1st & 2nd 2005, looks very promising already : AFTER ALL and MARTYR at the warm-up show and AGENT STEEL, DEADLY BLESSING, MAJESTY, OVERLORDE, PARAGON, SATAN, THUNDER RIDER, TORCH and VORTEX at the festival itself. Two more bands will be added on both occasions. We'll sure be there again! After all, how many times do you get the opportunity to see the likes of DEADLY BLESSING, MARTYR, OVERLORDE, SATAN, THUNDER RIDER or TORCH live?