"We are one. We are one. We are one," chanted Angela Gossow (Arch Enemy), and with her the thousands of metal fans who had gathered to pay homage to some of the best metal acts in the world.

Dubai Desert Rock Festival 2009 had it all, ranging from beginners like Hatred from Germany, to the Masters – Opeth and Motorhead. Needless to say, the atmosphere was intense as metal lovers united from across the world and rocked into midnight.

As a departure from past years, this year's Desert Rock is a pure metal edition, with no frills attached. As you walk around the grounds, you won't find the ridiculous DJ tents, with RnB and trance tunes blaring out, or a 50m high suspended bar above your heads, with a DJ again spinning out latest dance tracks. This time around, there was food and drinks and there was merchandise, all vital to a rock show.

Scarab from Egypt, winners of United we Rock – Middle East Edition opened the show to a crowd that was slowly trickling in, followed by Hatred from Germany, winners of United We Rock, who left the stage with a multiplied fanbase.

Nervecell, on the Desert Rock stage for the third time, brought back old school death metal and fans weren't disappointed. The first Middle-East band to go international, they were in their element.

August Burns Red, a US-based band, were the ones to bridge the newcomers to the old timers. A metalcore band, they had quite a show going on, with distinctive growls and guitars that screeched and wailed, quite unbecoming of the band's looks. Circle pits spanned almost the entire grounds, which was a sight indeed. Definitely a live act to be reckoned with.

Chimaira, an American heavy metal band, seemed to have quite a fan base here in the Middle East. To introduce the crowds to their range of music, the band performed songs from all their albums, from Power Trip of the Impossibility of Reason to Resurrection from Resurrection. The highlight was the world premiere of their track Secrets of the Dead from their latest album The Infection, due to release by late April, this year.

Opeth was every metal fan's dream come true. The Swedish heavy metal band dealt out tracks from almost all their albums, from Blackwater Park to Watershed. The progressive guitar riffs with little acoustic intervals and the switch from heavy to mellow and straight down heavy again, had the hair rising on the crowd's necks. There was no encore performance surprisingly, which was quite disappointing to hardcore Opeth fans.

Arch Enemy, the Swedish death metal band, was definitely the show stealer, with Angela Gossow, the hottest female metal singer to walk the planet, giving it all her worth and the Amott brothers giving the right kind of support with the guitars and backing vocals. Gossow's vocals were powerful and she dished out popular tracks like the magnanimous fight anthem We Will Rise and the crowd favourite, Nemesis.

And finally, it was Motorhead's turn. And as Lemmy Kilmister took the stage with his band mates, there was a sense of travelling back in time to when rock and roll was a revolution, not just music. And revolution we got, as Lemmy croaked and growled and spat out track after track, not to mention the guitar solos and drum solo by Campbell and Mikkey Dee, respectively. I Got Mine, Knock Out, Over the Top and Ace of Spades were some of the tracks they performed.

All in all, it was a night to be remembered in the history of Desert Rock Festival and the Middle East music scene and we are now patiently looking forward to next year. All hail metal!

By Shyama Kumar, Special to Gulf News

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Metal lives at Dubai's Desert Rock festival