Photos/Review: Hell's Heroes Day 2: Queensryche, Cauldron

Photo Credit: Mar Morannon

Arriving to White Oak Music Hall for Day 2 of Hell’s Heroes, you would have had no idea the rain had caused so much stress on Day 1. Aside from a bit of lingering mud at the low points on the lawn, no sign of the storm remained. Under the bright, sunny Texas sky, the festival staff and attendees were prepped and ready for another day of heavy metal.

While most of the food trucks and vendors were set up on the first day, the clear weather allowed a few additional options to set up, including Magic Pedals, offering a range of guitar pedals, including the custom Hell’s Heroes EVILDRIVE. Everything got started on time, helped by both the sunny weather and the longer time between doors and the first set.

The crowd steadily flowed in during the first couple of sets, with Nite playing some blackened heavy metal on the main stage and Intranced rocking out inside. After those two sets, the vibes for each stage switched for most of the day. The indoor stage hosted a lot of black and doom metal including Nubivagant, Stygian Crown, Cauchemar, Maleficentt, and Lamp of Murmor. Meanwhile, the lawn stage hosted heavy, power, speed, and thrash such as Morbid Saint, Omen, Helstar (playing a second set to replace Agent Steel), Watchtower, and Eternal Champion.

Hell’s Heroes 2024 Day 2: Nite, Intranced, Morbid Saint, Nubivagant, Omen

Photo Credit: Mar Morannon

Hell’s Heroes 2024 Day 2: Stygian Crown, Cauchemar, Helstar, Watchtower, Maleficentt

Photo Credit: Mar Morannon

Fans were definitely enjoying the warmer, sunnier weather, and everyone seemed in good spirits, chanting for the bands, singing along, and increasing the moshing and crowdsurfing from the previous day. Despite the fact Helstar had played the day before and is local to Houston, their set was still highly attended. They did mix things up a bit, with James Rivera being carried on stage in a coffin and proceeding to play a different set than the first day. They even played a cover of “Agents of Steel” as an homage to the band they were filling in for.

As the sun began to set, everyone made their way outside to prepare for the highly anticipated Solitude Aeturnus reunion set. The band hadn’t played a live show since 2011, making that set special for both older fans who hadn’t seen them in years and newer fans, who thought they never would. Despite the long hiatus, they still had all of their chops, and everything from the vocals to the riffs sounded amazing. They played songs from across their discography, including a couple that hadn’t been played live since the mid-90s, giving everyone a chance to revisit their favorite albums during the set.

Moving from the sunset doom metal set to the energetic heavy metal band Cauldron playing on the indoor stage was definitely a bit of emotional whiplash, but served to prepare for the closing set of Queensryche reaching back in the archives to play a set comprised of their self-titled EP and The Warning, which were the first couple of releases for the band. As such a long-established band, they have their stage performance down to a science and provide a captivating show of progressive heavy metal. Hell’s Heroes served as the kickoff for their 2024 US tour, which has a similar setlist, so anyone looking to see the older stuff live should definitely check out the show closest to you!