Even though we didn't primarily go to the Nordic Noise Rock Festival for the music, this doesn't mean we weren't going to check the music out. There was one band in particular that we were looking forward to, and that was Bullet.

“Hello Denmark! It's been much, much too long!”
- Dag ‘Hell’ Hofer (vocals)

Bullet was, together with Artillery which was playing after this, a sort of headliner of the day. Actually, the way I had figured it, Artillery would be the headliner, given that they're Danish and have a good fanbase here, whereas I have a hard time guessing how big Bullet are. It soon enough became clear that they weren't too bad off in the fan department either though, as they pulled the largest crowd of the day!
Bullet had also brought along their own equipment – the lightbulb backdrop, worn down amps, and for some reason, a grindstone. The bus was of course parked nearby.

Papa Hell, a.k.a. Dag Hofer, was draped in his Vegas Elvis outfit, and the rest of the gang were in their usual denim and white boots outfit. The insides of these outfits had changed somewhat since our last run-in with the band, meaning that there were some new members in the crew. It’s been a while since Alexander Lyrbo replaced Erik Almström on lead guitar, so this was not new to me even though I hadn’t actually seen Lyrbo before. What was new however, was that long-time bass player Adam Hector wasn’t with the band anymore, and replacing him was Gustav Hector – I haven’t been able to find out whether or not they are actually in family (older brother perhaps, the moustache made it hard to guess his age), or if this is an inherited artist name.
Hector was annoyed by some gear problem, through which there was no sound from the bass during parts of the first song, Storm Of Blades. On the other hand, Hofer showed us what the grindstone was for – he pulled out a knife, and worked on it on the spinning grindstone, making sparks fly. Truly, a storm of blades, if you will!

“We’ve been playing on Swedish volume for the entire night, but now it’s time to play on Danish volume! Turn it up loud!”
- Hofer (vocals)

The set continued on with a good mix of newer stuff and classics, and it didn’t take long for us to enter Bullet mode, and happily rock along to the show. The same went for the rest of the audience, that not only was at its peak in size, but definitely also at its most lively! One Swedish guy was a bit happier than everyone else, and made several attempts to fall up on the stage, to get closer to the band.
The rest of the crowd was celebrating the Swedish rock as well, shouting and singing along as we moved from song to song.
And why not? It was clear that Bullet had grown since our last meeting, taking what was good already, and expanding on it. The material has always been catchy as hell, and the musicians’ performance has always been lively, but now they added on top of that with special treats to make things even more interesting. I’ve already mentioned what happened during Storm Of Blades, but there was more – before Hammer Down, an anvil was placed at the front of the stage, and we were left wondering what this would be used for. After the song began, a person dressed in mink-like robes entered the stage as well, bearing a huge hammer, which (s)he brought down (of course). As nice as this was, it couldn’t beat the humour seen in Dusk Til Dawn however – here one of the amp cabinets opened, revealing an awesome heavy metal puppet figure inside, sitting in his heavy metal room, rocking along to the song as it played out. Hilarious!
Lyrbo proved to be a good poser as well, as he fired up for a solo after Shout It Out Loud, and again in the instrumental cover song Dr. Phibes (originally made by Angel Witch). Hampus Klang wasn’t going to look any worse though, and went down on his knees to feel the full power of the music he was delivering. This resulted in a stage-crew person having to rush out and lift him up again when he was finished, more laughs ensuing in this never-ending stream of goodness.

“Det var da dejligt!”
- Hofer (vocals)

The show did come to an end though, there was no way around it. Hofer bid us farewell in Danish, and Bullet got a well-deserved dose of appreciative cheers and applause on their way out, heading back to their rolling home like the highway pirates that they are.
We’ve been a bit out of touch with this band for a while, but as soon as Bullet took the stage and began playing, we fell right back in love with their uncomplicated declaration of love for all things rock and metal. For this reporter, this show was the shining highlight of the festival, and worth all the praise that it got. Here’s hoping it won’t take us five years before seeing them again!

Setlist:

Storm Of Blades
Riding High
Heading For The Top
Rolling Home
Pay The Price
Turn It Up Loud
Dusk Til Dawn
Dr. Phibes (Angel Witch cover)
Hammer Down
Bang Your Head
Stay Wild
Bite The Bullet