There are already quite a lot of people inside the venue to check out the first band of this evening, Viscera. This is just Viscera’s sixth show, it’s their first tour, but that isn’t something that is noticeable in this brutal show. Viscera’s band members, for as far as I could find with the only exception being guitarist Adam Bell, already have quite some experience in other bands, something that of course helps. They all execute their job very tightly and are well attuned to each other. Frontman Jamie Graham leads all this, as a true frontman. His vocals, which include screams, grunts as well as clean vocals, sound very powerful and, when looking at the stage, this power only gets strengthened due to his posture as well as the poses he delivers his vocals with. As you can read in my, here readable, review of Viscera’s recently released debut album Obsidian, a specific part of Alex Micklewright’s drums, the cymbals, to me sounded a bit monotonous but still quite loudly mixed. Live this is much less noticeable. Bass player David Archer didn’t come with Viscera on this tour, because of him becoming a dad recently and wanting to be with his family because of that, while taking no risk with the corona virus circumstances, as guitarist Adam Bell explained in the interview I had with him and frontman Jamie Graham after Viscera’s show, which you can read here. That there is a lot of energy coming off of Viscera’s show can also be noticed by the fact that there already is the first circle pit of this evening.

As I just mentioned I had an interview with Viscera’s guitarist Adam Bell and frontman Jamie Graham after their show. Due to that I didn’t see that much of the show that followed, which was Lorna Shore’s. However, I did saw the latest song of their set, be it in the back of the venue which was already quite crowded, so I didn’t have a very good sight on what was happening on stage. The brutality of their show, combined with its somewhat symphonic sound, could still be experienced very well there though. It sounded really nice, with Monument of a Memory’s Will Ramos, who temporary fills in Lorna Shore’s vocal spot for this tour after they splitted with CJ McCreery, standing out very nicely.

Next it’s up to Ingested. These slammers also know how to deliver a very brutal show. Compared to Viscera and, at least as far as I saw, Lorna Shore, Ingested shows less variation in their show, but that definitely doesn’t make their show less strong. There is a huge wall of sound coming off of this show, with the filthy vocals by frontman Jason Evans, combined with the brutal vocals of guitarists Sean Hynes and Sam Yates, sounding the most impressive. With that huge wall of sound there also is a lot of energy coming off of the stage and because of that a lot of heads are going up and down, while there again is a big moshpit going on.

The show that follows, by Beyond Creation, brings a lot more variation. There are many complex, proggy rhythms and lengthier instrumental parts to be found in Beyond Creation’s set. While this contrast takes a few moments to get used to, Beyond Creation delivers a very strong show for sure, that doesn’t only include complex, proggy rhythms and lengthier instrumental parts, but a lot more: Hugo Doyon-Karout’s fretless bass sounds very nice, we’ll hear quite a lot of high quality technical guitars by frontman Simon Girard and Kevin Chartré, just as a few solos and there is the quite complex, but very tight drumming by Philippe Boucher, this all while Beyond Creation also knows how to pound heavily. The only point of criticism is that the clean vocals by Simon Girard and Kevin Chartré are on a very low volume, in contrast to Simon Girard’s other vocals.

After that show it’s time for tonight’s headliner Decapitated, the only band that I already saw perform live once before this evening. That was when they played on the FortaRock festival last year, of which you can read my live review here. Back then they delivered a very crushing show and due to that I was really looking forward to seeing them perform live again. Tonight they again delivered a very crushing show, what an immense power this band has! The fact that there again is a constant, huge moshpit going on, that only seems to grow during this show, isn’t weird at all, due to the enormous power that’s coming off of this show. In addition to that there also are a lot of heads going up and down during this neckbreaking show. Frontman Rafal “Rasta” Piotrowski’s vocals are sounding so intense and deep that they can almost literally be felt in your bones. This show, that already is very intense and crushing musically, becomes even more intense and crushing due to the accompanying very well-fitting, chaotic lightshow. I already experienced it during their show at FortaRock and now I experienced it again: a Decapitated show isn’t just a show, but an experience that is difficult to completely capture in words, but can only be explained completely by undergoing it yourself. They are definitely showing why they are this tour’s headliner here.

It promised to be a very brutal evening and that for sure was what this evening was!

Here you can also read an earlier interview we had with Beyond Creation’s Simon Girard.

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The post Live review: Decapitated, Beyond Creation, Ingested, Lorna Shore and Viscera at Doornroosje, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, March 11th, 2020 appeared first on DutchMetalManiac.

I already was present at the Stroomhuis venue quite some time before the show started, because I had an interview with Svart Crown’s JB Le Bail and Clément Flandrois, which you can read here. Outside it was quite cold and unfortunately inside the venue that wasn’t that much better. Svart Crown also noticed that and due to that, and of course to intensify the show experience, they want to get the present audience, unfortunately not that much people showed up for this evening, as close to the stage as possible. Especially frontman/guitarist/vocalist JB Le Bail and guitarist/vocalist Clément Flandrois are making this very clear, already starting as soon as they enter the stage. At that moment they are making clear to the audience to stand up off of the sitting spots in the back of the venue and come closer by shouting and making gestures. That clearly works and contributes to the intense energy of this show. With the huge amount of power that Svart Crown blasts off of the stage they make you notice the cold temperatures less and less while headbanging. As you can read here in my review of Svart Crown’s recently released album, titled Wolves Among the Ashes, its vocal aspect stands out very well with all four band members contributing to the vocals on the album. Live this vocal aspect is also very clearly and powerfully present. Drummer Nicolas “Ranko” Muller only delivers  his very pounding drums tonight, but JB, Clément as well as bass player/vocalist Julien Negro are delivering different vocal styles raging through the speakers tonight. In addition to that, JB and Clément also stand out in the way of delivering those vocals, including very intense looks and powerful poses. A very powerful, intense show that immediately lets you forget the cold temperatures!

After that show the drum kit and guitars make place for a stage more equipped for an electronic show, with more lights, a screen and electronic instruments. However, a bass guitar is also still present, played by Gost’s Carreau, who performs with an intriguing mask. However, Gost’s mastermind Baalberith is most in the center of this show. Unfortunately his vocals during the main part of this show can’t be heard that well. That isn’t due to Baalberith himself though, but seems to have something to do with technical difficulties. The fact that his vocals aren’t to be heard at all, or in a low volume, isn’t benefitting the show. On the moment his vocals do sound clearly audible they do sound very intense. Especially his screams, which he interchanges with clean vocals, are intense as fuck and so are his accompanying looks. Carreau’s bass as well as the lower sounding, electronic parts of Gost’s music are droning through the venue, accompanied by a very fitting lightshow. After the show, which seems to be stopped earlier than planned, the audience is applauding loudly. In my opinion this show unfortunately missed the power that Gost showed at their show in Doornroosje, Nijmegen a few months ago, especially due to the issues around the mix of the vocals.

Unfortunately Gost’s show on this varied evening was a bit disappointing, due to technical issues. Svart Crown’s show was very nice though!

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The post Live review: Gost and Svart Crown at Stroomhuis, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, March 8th, 2020 appeared first on DutchMetalManiac.

It’s up to BAT to open this evening and while their show is quite good, the sound during this show is causing that the power during this show is lacking quite much. Nick Poulos’ guitar is, with the exception of his solos pretty low in the mix, just as Ryan Waste’s vocals. What on the other hand is clearly audible are the nicely humming bass sound of Ryan Waste, who plays his bass guitar in such a way that it not only serves as backbone for the music, but also as one of the highlights of it. In addition to that are Chris Charge’s strong drums also clearly audible. Aside from the fact that the ratios in the mix could be a bit better, the mix is also sounding somewhat hollow, which could be something caused be the fact that there still are quite some empty spaces in the quite big venue. Later on in BAT’s show, at the same moment it becomes it bit more crowded in the venue, this gets a bit better. However, BAT surely gets a few people banging their heads already and during Rule of the Beast there even arises a mini-moshpit.

Then it’s time for the Finns of Rotten Sound. Earlier this month bass player Kristian Toivainen and Rotten Sound parted ways because of Kristian wanting to move on and focus on other things in his life. Due to this Rotten Sound got bass player David Kasipovic to handle the bass guitar during this tour as a session musician. If I could give a tip to Rotten Sound, without detracting their other band members: make him your permanent bass player! What a power he has! This by the way applies to the entire band and the show they are delivering this evening, but he, together with frontman Keijo Niinimaa, is really up front in that. David not only delivers a very filthy constantly pummeling bass sound in a very powerful way, but also contributes to the brutal power and energy coming off of the stage with his very fitting, brutal facial expressions and poses. The fact that the mix is already a lot better compared to the mix during BAT’s show, although Keijo Niinimaa’s vocals could be a bit louder, also clearly adds to this. In addition to David’s bass and Keijo’s vocals the deep sound of Sami Latva’s drums and the at some moments nice guitarsolos by Mike Aalto are also standing out very well. At a given moment we have to wait for a bit because one of Mika Aalto’s guitar strings needs to be replaced, but that’s the only point of criticism on this very strong, overwhelming show.

After that strong show it’s time for the only band of this evening that I’ve already seen live before, Misery Index. That was in Merleyn in Nijmegen in July last year, of which you can read my live review here. There is one clear difference when compared tonight’s show with that show though: now Misery Index is on stage as the foursome they are instead of the threesome they were performing as in Nijmegen. Back then vocalist/guitarist Mark Kloeppel had to return home due to a family emergency. Now he’s on stage. His vocals are just a little bit lower than the vocals of vocalist/bass player Jason Netherton, who took care of all vocals during Misery Index’ show in Nijmegen. This adds a little bit more variation and an extra layer to their show. During the beginning of their show the vocals are still a bit low in the mix, but that becomes better later on in the show, aside from that the mix is fine. That Misery Index knows how to deliver an extremely brutal show was something I already experienced and tonight they do so again. There’s a lot of energy coming off of the stage which results in quite a lot of headbangers and a regularly returning quite big moshpit.

The show that follows, Eyehategod’s show, was also really worth checking out, but it took some time to get used to it after the previous shows, because this show is the most deviating show compared to the rest. Eyehategod’s filthy, raw sludge is quite a lot slower and delivers a different, but also very brutal, sort of energy. That filthy sound is coming from the entire band, but especially from the big use of feedback that regularly returns in their show, from Jimmy Bower’s guitar and from Mike IX Williams’ intense shouting vocals. Mike IX Williams also contributes to the filthiness of this show with his behavior on stage, by regularly spitting, emptying his nose, licking the microphone stand and his reaction, including a raised middle finger, on someone in the front row complaining about his vocals being not audible enough: that’s something which is normal when you are in the front row. Eyehategod delivers a very strong, powerful show with a huge dose of energy coming off of the stage, resulting in a very big moshpit.

After that show it’s time for the headliner of the evening, the founders of grindcore, Napalm Death. They also deliver a very brutal show that causes an extreme explosion of energy from start to finish. The only moment during which this energy is gone for a while is when a few people in the audience are urging Napalm Death to wait with starting their next song and to call for security, because someone got unwell. After this person got help, hopefully everything gets better soon and there isn’t any permanent damage, Napalm Death finishes their show and that energy is back quite soon. For a moment there logically seems to be a bit more caution, but soon the brutal energy of this show takes over and the extremely big, heavy, almost constant moshpit is back. Napalm Death plays a very strong show, with especially Danny Herrera’s constantly heavy pummeling drums and, of course, frontman Mark “Barney” Greenway standing out. Frontman Mark “Barney” Greenway not only stands out with his maniacal vocals, which are at some moments interchanged with the a bit higher screams by guitarist/vocalist Mitch Harris, but also with his typical, maniacal way of moving across the stage, getting so crazy that he even punches himself in the nuts at a given moment. During this show Napalm Death also plays the earlier this month as an EP released songs Logic Ravaged By Brute Force and White Kross, a Sonic Youth cover. White Kross isn’t the only cover Napalm Death plays tonight though, of course their cover of the Dead Kennedys song Nazi Punks Fuck Off can’t be missed. Napalm Death ends their show in a way that fits very well as the last moment of a show during a tour that’s called Campaign For Musical Destruction: frontman Mark “Barney” Greenway puts his head, including microphone in the bass drum, while Mitch Harris with his guitar and Shane Embury with his bass guitar are creating a wall of feedback.

This definitely was a very nice, extremely heavy evening!

You can read our review of BAT’s Cruel Discipline here, as well as our review of their Wings of Chains album here.

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The post Live review: Napalm Death, Eyehategod, Misery Index, Rotten Sound and BAT at Patronaat, Haarlem, The Netherlands, February 25th, 2020 appeared first on DutchMetalManiac.

The band that is  going to enter the stage first in an already quite busy venue perfectly fits  the stormy weather outside. That band, Doodswens, rages through the venue like a storm from the beginning to the end. From the very first moment on Doodswens knows exactly how to deliver a perfect atmosphere and so they are shrouding the venue in a dark ambiance. Doodswens’ stage-occupation may be small, not only due to frontwoman Fraukje van Burg’s length, I’m sorry Fraukje, but also due to the fact that Doodswens is only consisting of two members, drummer Inge van der Zon is Doodswens’ other bandmember and the quite static show caused by the fact that both Fraukje and Inge are bound to their microphone stand or drum kit, but that definitely isn’t something that you will notice during their extremely intense show that is delivered in a very powerful way. At some moments the regularly atmospheric vibe of Fraukje’s guitar becomes a bit more clear, while on other moments Doodswens rages very heavily, with Inge’s tight drum skills standing out very much. Of course Doodswens also plays the new song that is released earlier this month, In de Schaduwen der Levenden, coming off of the From the Shadows of the Abyss split together with Adversarius. The song they play after that, III, coming off of Doodswens’ Demo, has a clear difference compared to their other songs. This song sounds a bit more thrashier due to the different drum style that Inge uses in this song. This song also contains some more lower-sounding guitars by Fraukje. However, the perfect atmosphere and the huge power that’s coming off of this show isn’t only caused by the guitar and the drums, Fraukje’s terrifying screams are also adding another dimension to this show. Doodswens kicks off this afternoon/evening in a perfect way for sure!

Delivering a very powerful show, just as Doodswens did, is something that applies to almost all shows of today. The only exception to this is the next show, from Ceremony. Unfortunately, because when I saw them live for my first time at Veghel Blackfest two years ago, of which you can read my preview and live review here and here, they did really surprise me with their very powerful show. However, this show already starts quite messy because frontman Micha Verboom’s first grunts could already be heard, while he wasn’t clearly to be seen on stage. The mix during this show was also pretty messy, Micha Verboom’s vocals and Bas Dubbelman’s drums sounded very predominant, while the guitars from Peter Verhoef and Johan van der Sluijs are on quite a low volume. Those ratios in the mix seemed to be a little bit better during Ceremony’s last song of this show, but they still weren’t that good. In addition to that guitarist Peter Verhoef and frontman Micha Verboom also seemed to search for their right stage-positions during the show, causing that they get in each other’s way at some moments. Unfortunately a quite messy show which lacked power causing less people to stay in front of the stage.

The next show, the show of Bütcher, definitely didn’t have a lack of power. Earlier I already planned to go see their show on the latest edition of Eindhoven Metal Meeting, of which you can read my preview here, but unfortunately I had to skip this nice festival. Bütcher was one of the many bands that I was looking forward to go see back then and because I had to miss them I was now also looking forward to their show, maybe even more because of this unexpected delay. That that was something that was very much worth it became clear quite soon. Bütcher delivers an incredibly strong show from start to end. That actually already starts before they really start their show, because there are already quite a lot of heads going up and down during their short, fast line check. Frontman R Hellshrieker says that he wants one other fast line check before they start, and someone in front of the stage reacts that it indeed can be even faster. That Bütcher plays speed metal, and not just for a bit, is indeed very clear. At the moment these Belgians are starting their show for real there is an explosion of energy coming off of the stage. Frontman R Hellshrieker is taking front in this and shows that he is a true stagebeast, with his vocals but also with his performance. He moves a lot on the stage and clearly shows that he throws all his energy in this show during which he also brought some accessories. Bütcher not only brought a platform on which R Hellshrieker regularly stands on to give everything an even more powerful image, at some moments he also shows a skull or a heavy iron chain, that he sometimes drops on the metal platform giving a very fitting clattering sound. The energy really is exploding off of the stage and clearly passes onto the audience, resulting in quite a big moshpit. The fact that frontman R Hellshrieker is leading this very energetic show on stage doesn’t detract the rest of the band though, because all of this clearly is brought by the entire band. He may be more visibly in front, the tight drums by LV Speedhämmer, the very nice guitarsound of KK Ripper’s guitar and nicely humming bass sound of AH Wrathchylde’s bass guitar are also clearly contributing to this very nice, energetic show.

The next band, Pentacle, is coming from the South of The Netherlands and, as frontman Wannes Gubbels says, is happy to be in Rotterdam on this day. Not only because of In The Grip Of Winter Fest, but also because of Carnaval in the South of The Netherlands. Pentacle also delivers a very powerful show with their heavily pounding old school death metal. Especially the powerful sounds of Robert Smissaert’s drums and of the guitars from Mike and Alex Verhoeven are standing out during this show. At some moments Mike and Alex clearly show two different guitar lines at the same time, while they play some more old school twin guitar parts on other moments. It seems like there is some problem with Mike’s guitar mix-wise at some moment, but fortunately this is fixed pretty fast and due to that this is the only small point of criticism on this very nice and tight-played show. Pentacle pounds heavily and due to that this show is a challenge for the neck muscles. After Pentacle ended their show later than scheduled we get to hear the reason for this from someone of Baroeg’s staff: headliner Archgoat unfortunately isn’t going to be able to play their show and due to that the organization asked Pentacle as well as Entrails to play a bit longer than scheduled.

Entrails, the next band that’s entering Baroeg’s stage now is, due to those circumstances, the last band of today and they are, as mentioned before, also playing a bit longer than scheduled. With their also very powerful show they deliver a lot of energy that’s coming off of the stage as well, which again clearly passes onto the audience resulting in them going crazy for one last time for today. That results in a lot of headbangers and an almost constant, very big moshpit. For everyone whose neck muscles  weren’t challenged enough during the shows before, they can give it another shot during Entrails’ show. The filthy buzz saw guitar sound of Jimmy Lundqvist’s as well as Markus Svensson’s guitar, as well as the pumping and grooving sound of frontman Penki Sandkvist’s bass and Arvid Borg’s drums are creating an extremely pounding show during which Entrails shows to be a true, be it due to the aforementioned circumstances substituting, headliner. The only little downside to this show is that Jimmy Lundqvist’s guitar is unplugged a few times. However, this seems to be caused by the heavy moshpit.

This was a very nice afternoon and evening for sure, with four very powerful, strong shows and, unfortunately, one quite disappointing show. Unfortunately the show of the scheduled headliner Archgoat wasn’t taking place, but this afternoon and evening still made travelling to Rotterdam more than worth it to end up tired but satisfied in the train and have enough to look back on to ignore the Carnaval-hassle in the train. Pentacle’s frontman Wannes Gubbels wasn’t the only one that was happy to be in Baroeg instead of in the South of The Netherlands ;).

You can read our review of Archgoat’s split with Satanic Warmaster, titled Lux Satanae (Thirteen Hymns of Finnish Devil Worship) here, as well as our earlier live review of Doodswens, alongside Porselain and Tjalling, here.

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The post Live review: In The Grip Of Winter Fest III at Baroeg, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, February 23rd, 2020 appeared first on DutchMetalManiac.

It was up to the Belgians from Fading Bliss to kick off this evening. They do so with a somewhat dreamy wall of sound that’s been created by Michel’s drums, that have a very deep sound, Arnaud’s bass and the guitars from Kaz and live-guitarist Stefan, who both regularly show two different guitar lines at the same time, something that adds more depth to their songs. Keyboardist Julburn also adds his subtle keyboards to that. That depth in Fading Bliss’ songs not only comes from those aforementioned different guitar lines, but also from the different vocals. In addition to the aforementioned five band members that are standing on the crowded, quite small stage of the Little Devil, there are also two vocalists, grunter/screamer Dahl and Mel, who brings high vocals, but at one moment also shows that she can scream very nice. During the instrumental parts in Fading Bliss’ music Mel and Dahl are hanging on their microphone-stands in a gloomy way, which perfectly fits this show. Apart from a little technical problem with Dahl’s microphone a very nice opening show.

The next band of the evening, Faal, starts ten to fifteen minutes later than scheduled. However, Faal makes up for that with their show very well. As frontman William Nijhof says at a given moment: “een lekkere pot teringherrie” (something like “a nice dose of noise”), and that’s exactly what Faal delivers. It’s heavy, it’s quite slow for its main part, but extremely overwhelming. That slow form of heaviness combined with the enormous load of reverberation that Faal consciously puts in their show, makes that this will probably get you in a sort of trance. A moshpit clearly isn’t something you expect at such a moment, but there still is a short and small moshpit, resulting in reactions from others in the audience as well as from frontman William Nijhof: “Er wordt godverdomme niet gepit op doom!” (“There will be no moshpit during a doom show goddamned!”). While Faal’s show gets you in trance by that combination of slow heaviness and much reverberation, these two aspects are also creating a huge power coming off of the stage. However, that power doesn’t only come from these two aspects, but also from the deep sound of Bart van Mierlo’s drums, for whom this show is his live debut with Faal, and from the ghastly vocals from frontman William Nijhof. The keyboards played by Cátia Uiterwijk Winkel-André Almeida, who also sings at some moments, are adding an extra, also very nice layer to this show.

Then it’s up to the headliner of tonight, Treurwilg, to enter the stage. The delay on the time schedule hasn’t changed and due to that Treurwilg also starts ten to fifteen minutes later than scheduled. Something that can be resulting in missing the end of Treurwilg’s show for people who are dependent on public transport to get home. I already knew that I was going to miss a little bit of the end of their show due to this, but due to the delay this became a bit more. The part of Treurwilg’s show that I did see was very convincing though. As mentioned before this night was the release party of An End To Rumination and because of that Treurwilg played this album in its entirety. The album already sounds very strong and live Treurwilg even adds some more strength to it. There truly is a lot power coming off of this show, that on one side has a very atmospheric vibe, but that at the same time also pounds very heavily. That atmospheric vibe is mainly coming from Stef Heesakkers’ guitar that has a bit higher sound compared to the guitar of frontman Rens van Herpt. Both guitars clearly have a very rich sound and exactly those two different guitar-sounds, as well as the fact that Stef and Rens are each regularly playing different guitar lines at the same moment, are what lifting this show to a higher level.

This was a very nice, doomy evening in a crowded Little Devil!

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The post Live review: Treurwilg, Faal and Fading Bliss at Little Devil, Tilburg, The Netherlands, February 22nd, 2020 appeared first on DutchMetalManiac.

Fifteen minutes after the venue’s doors opened it’s up to Nailed To Obscurity to kick off this evening. Unfortunately the sound quality during this show isn’t that good, something that especially becomes clear during the first few songs. Carsten Schorn’s bass and Jann Hillrichs’ drums are very loud in the mix which, especially during these first songs, is at the expense of Raimund Ennenga’s vocals and the, as becomes clear later on in the show, very atmospheric sounding guitars of Jan-Ole Lamberti and Volker Dieken. However, despite the drums being way too loud in the mix, those drums are the most interesting part of what Nailed To Obscurity is showing on stage. Jann Hillrichs drums in a very tight way and shows many different interesting things by drumming in quite a jazzy way by constantly adding new things in his drum pattern. The highlight when speaking about this, which by the way also is the highlight of this show in my opinion, is the heavily pounding song iNnerMe. After iNnerMe Nailed To Obscurity played a few more songs to end up instrumentally with guitarists Jan-Ole Lamberti and Volker Dieken mostly being in the spotlight. When speaking about the lights during this show, nothing less than only compliments, it was very fitting.

As soon as the second band of tonight, Lord of the Lost, enters the stage it becomes very clear that there are quite a lot of people in the audience that are very enthusiastic about this band. During their intro it can be heard that Niklas Kahl’s drums, just as those of his colleague from Nailed To Obscurity, are also quite loud. However, in contrast with Nailed To Obscurity’s show, it soon becomes clear that during this show the ratio between those drums and the rest of the band in the mix is fine. Lord of the Lost clearly thought about all aspects of their show. It shows that they really thought about their music, of course, but also about the, again, perfectly fitting lightshow, frontman Chris Harms’ luminous guitar, their stage outfits, make-up and even dances, by guitarist π and bass player Class Grenayde during the happy sounding La Bomba. A few of these things give this show a somewhat catchy vibe, something that musically also comes from the more melodic parts in Lord of the Lost’s music. That’s not all though, they put a lot of variation on a musical level in their show. These more melodic parts are regularly interchanged with more pounding moments. The selection of the songs on tonight’s setlist also add to that variation: some catchy songs, such as single Loreley and Die Tomorrow, some pounders, such as Full Metal Whore and Ruins, but they also played the more epic sounding Fists Up in the Air and the aforementioned happy sounding La Bomba. Despite the fact that he is standing more at the back of the stage, Gared Dirge also stood out during this show. He not only played the keys, but also the guitar as well as some percussion, with the latter one perfectly played together with drummer Niklas Kahl. At some moments he even played the keys and percussion during the same song in a well-executed way. This band delivers a very impressive show, that’s something that’s very clear and due to that I am not surprised that they are supporting a big name like Iron Maiden, as frontman Chris Harms proudly mentioned. However, to see them as Iron Maiden’s support you have to go to Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria or Italy, since this isn’t the case for Iron Maiden’s show in The Netherlands.

That very nice show was followed by another very nice show, from headliner Equilibrium. Unfortunately their guitarist Dom R. Crey wasn’t on stage with the rest of Equilibrium, because he needed to go to the hospital with severe pneumonia a few days earlier. Equilibrium played a few songs as a quartet, but for the main part of the show there’s a second guitarist, next to René Berthiaume: π Stoffers from Lord of the Lost, Volker Dieken and Jan-Ole Lamberti from Nailed To Obscurity as well as Equilibrium’s sound engineer Heiko Domeier are each playing the guitar for a few songs. That’s something that testifies of their fast learning capabilities of those specific guitar-parts and the very close bond during this tour. During the beginning of Equilibrium’s show the mix is somewhat shrill, but fortunately this soon became better. With their inciting, folky metal, including quite a lot of heavily pounding moments, Equilibrium created a very nice party along with the audience. There is a lot of beer flowing, heads are going up and down heavily, people are regularly jumping around and there is an almost constantly, pretty big mosh- or circle-pit as well as a wall of death. This was a very powerful, energetic, nice party!

It was a very nice evening for sure. Unfortunately, Nailed To Obscurity’s show was a bit disappointing, especially due to the sound, but Lord of the Lost’s and Equilibrium’s shows were perfect!

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The post Live review: Equilibrium, Lord of the Lost and Nailed To Obscurity at Dynamo, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, February 13th, 2020 appeared first on DutchMetalManiac.

I already saw Amorphis perform live once before, that was last year on FortaRock, of which you can read my live review here. Wolves in the Throne Room as well as Dimmu Borgir both were on my list of bands that I haven’t seen live, but really wanted to. Now both bands can get off of that list, since I’ve now seen them perform live, although I unfortunately only saw the last song of Wolves in the Throne Room’s show, which still was around 8 minutes, due to quite a lot of delay while travelling to Tilburg. Once I was inside the venue, where Wolves in the Throne Room was already playing for a while, it was already very crowded and there was a thick fog of incense and smoke. A huge wall of lingering guitars, heavily pounding drums and chilling screams of Nathan Weaver as well as Kody Keyworth, who sometimes screamed together while they alternated on other moments, raged through the venue, accompanied by a very hectic, very fitting lightshow.

After Wolves in the Throne Room’s show it was up to the only non-black metal band of the evening, Amorphis, to enter the stage. Amorphis also pounded quite heavily on various moments, with especially Jan Rechberger’s deep sounding drums standing out. These pounding parts in Amorphis’ show often included brutal, heavy growls of frontman Tomi Joutsen, with guitarist Tomi Koivusaari at some moments joining him with his grunts. However, Amorphis’ show is quite in contrast compared to the show of Wolves in the Throne Room. That’s mainly due to the less heavy, more melodic parts in Amorphis’ show, which is something they very well combine with the heavier pounding parts though. During those more melodic parts we’ll also hear frontman Tomi Joutsen sing with clean vocals. Personally, I wouldn’t mind that being used a little less, but that’s just a matter of personal taste. That doesn’t say anything about the quality of those vocals, because those sure are very nicely executed. The crowd also sings along during quite a lot of moments, which makes clear that it is very well appreciated, something I also saw during their show on FortaRock. In addition to Tomi’s vocals, the solos of guitarist Esa Holopainen and the regular use of the keyboard by Santeri Kallio, which is sometimes very present, while being more subtle present on other moments, are also standing out. Unfortunately the mix is somewhat shrill during the first songs, but fortunately this gets better during the show.

Then it’s time for the last show of this evening, which is quite in contrast with Amorphis’ show. The Norwegian symphonic black metallers of Dimmu Borgir may also have a keyboard on stage, which is much used by keyboardist Gerlioz (Brat), and they also pound quite heavily, but that would be the only two similarities between both shows, although these similarities only being semi-similarities. That’s because Dimmu Borgir pounds heavily during their entire set, where Amorphis did alternate that with more calm, melodic parts and both bands indeed use keys in their music, but the way in which those are used clearly differs a lot. The mix is very good during Dimmu Borgir’s show, which sounds perfect from start to finish, with a few moments in which the bass droned a bit too loud as exception to this. What stood out the most before the band members entered the stage was the huge drum kit of Daray which, as we could hear during the show, gave a very nice deep sound creating the basis for the huge amount of heavy pounding of this show. That pounding combined with the very symphonic sounding keys of Gerlioz (Brat) create a bombastic whole that thunders through the venue and visibly is much liked by a big part of the audience, looking at the many fists that regularly are thrown in the air and the many people headbanging. On top of that bombastic pounding frontman Shagrath spits out his raw screams that very well fit in. This was a very nice closing show of this very nice evening, with one thing not being mentioned yet while it is something I can’t leave unmentioned and that are the very nice stage outfits Dimmu Borgir were wearing during this show.

This Saturday evening for sure was worth enduring the cold temperatures outside, with three very nice shows of which I unfortunately missed quite a big part of Wolves in the Throne Room’s one, but what I did see was very nice for sure.

You can read our other live reviews of Amorphis here (FortaRock, which I already mentioned), here (013, Tilburg) and here (Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam).

Dimmu Borgir Official Website
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Dimmu Borgir Twitter
Amorphis Official Website
Amorphis Facebook
Amorphis Instagram
Amorphis Twitter
Wolves in the Throne Room Official Website
Wolves in the Throne Room Facebook
Wolves in the Throne Room Instagram
Wolves in the Throne Room Twitter

The post Live review: Dimmu Borgir, Amorphis and Wolves in the Throne Room at 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands, January 25th, 2020 appeared first on DutchMetalManiac.

Due to the facts that there will be five bands playing tonight, that there has to be time to perform a changeover of the stage in between those shows and that the venue takes into account that there are people coming tonight who travel with public transport that want to have the possibility of getting home without having to miss something, the doors of Willem Twee are opening quite early tonight.

Around half past six, half an hour after the doors of the venue opened, the first band of tonight enters the stage. It’s up to Lowest Creature to kick off this evening, while there are only a few people inside the venue at this moment. Some people are banging their heads for a bit already, but mainly the audience that’s already there is quite calm. Of course, it’s not always easy to warm up the audience as an opening band, which of course isn’t getting easier when there are only a few people inside. Especially frontman Toby is doing everything to still succeed in this with the big amount of energy he’s putting in this show, in his vocals, in his movements as well as in his interaction with the audience. However, there is quite a contrast in watching him on stage while he seemingly shouts quite loud into his microphone, while the volume of his vocals coming out of the speakers is mixed quite low, which stands out even more at the moments there are backing vocals to be heard, which are quite a bit louder. Toby’s call for the first circle pit of the evening also remains unanswered, but he really shows that he’s a true frontman who doesn’t give up and keeps trying. Toby’s vocals aren’t the only thing that is on quite a low volume though, at some moments this is also the case with the guitar from Dodge Rose while he’s playing his solos. Something that is clearly to be heard during the entire show is the heavily pounding, thrashy aspect of Lowest Creature’s show, with the very solid and deep sound of Julius’ drums in particular. This all doesn’t only overwhelm in heaviness, but also in terms of pace. During the end of Lowest Creature’s show the venue is getting more crowded, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that has more to do with Une Misère than with Lowest Creature.

Une Misère was the only band I’ve seen perform live before, as support act for Lamb of God in 013, Tilburg as well as in V11, Rotterdam where they gave a headline show. I wrote live reviews about both those shows, which you can read here (013) and here (V11). I also interviewed Une Misère’s frontman Jón Már Ásbjörnsson before their show in 013, you can read that here. So, now is the third time for me seeing Une Misère perform live and, although they already played some new material during their show in V11, the first time since they released their debut full-length, titled Sermon. Again, I repeat the words that I also wrote in my earlier live reviews about Une Misère: “Haven’t you seen this band play live yet? Be sure to check them out, especially live, because it sure is worth it!” and “What a show, what a performance, what a band!”, because that’s exactly the kind of enthusiasm Une Misère leaves behind after each of their shows. The energy and intensity of this show is phenomenal. As soon as the taped intro starts goosebumps arise to only disappear when the show is over. That intensity and the emotions alongside it can very well be seen when looking at frontman Jón Már Ásbjörnsson, who vocally seems to have grown even more with his extended repertoire of vocal styles. Unfortunately his low vocals seem to be coming out of the speakers on a bit of a low volume. What also stands out is that the atmospheric sound of especially Fannar Már Oddsson’s guitar is used more. Une Misère closes this very powerful and intense show, which was accompanied by a very nice and fitting lightshow, with Damages, which Jón Már, as during each of their shows, dedicates to a good friend of his who took his own life after anxiety, depression and addiction while saying “if you’re feeling fucked in any way, please talk to someone. Let’s go through this together, you don’t have to do it alone.” As a reaction to this the audience applauds, while going crazy afterwards once again on Damages. However, that part of “going crazy” is still only about a small amount of people in front of the stage, while the venue got a lot more crowded at this moment.

After a bit of recovering (…not!) of Une Misère’s intense show during the changeover of the stage, it’s time for the next band of this evening, Bloodlet. That means a bit of a switch though, since Bloodlet’s show is quite in contrast compared to Une Misère’s show. Bloodlet plays quite a bit slower. However, that doesn’t mean that Bloodlet doesn’t pound, because they are doing so very heavily. They do so in a heavier, lower, more sludgy way, which especially is due to the humming combination of the guitars, from Thomas Crowther and Matt Easley, and Art Legere’s bass. In addition to that frontman Scott Angelacos spits out higher, very filthy shouts. The contrast between those vocals and the instrumental part of Bloodlet’s music creates that their music in its entirety gets an even filthier vibe. Due to this, as well as due to the fact that Bloodlet also plays a few longer songs, this show creates a vibe that drags you along with it and brings you in some sort of trance.

The next band, Fallujah, brings back some speed and complexity to the stage. They exactly know how to deliver a very nice combination of pounding very heavily while also creating an atmospheric, dreamy vibe at the same time. That combination also perfectly describes the accompanied lightshow which fits very well to this show. In terms of their music that atmospheric vibe mainly comes from Scott Carstairs’ guitar, while the pounding aspect of Fallujah’s show mainly is created by Andrew Baird’s blastbeats and Robert Morey’s regularly very fast fingers with which he taps his bass. Musically a lot happens in Fallujah’s show, which all is delivered in a very tightly executed way. That results in a lot of energy coming off of the stage. And I didn’t even write something about frontman Antonio Palermo yet, who roars his very brutal vocals in different styles over the audience in a very powerful way. At the start of Fallujah’s show his very low vocals are a bit low in volume, but fortunately this gets better during the show, because those are sounding very brutal. Probably Scott Carstairs’ backing vocals are a nice, subtle addition to that. I write “probably” because those are almost unhearable most of the time. At this moment, Fallujah’s show, along with Une Misère’s show are my personal highlights of this evening.

Then it’s time for tonight’s headliner, the band that celebrates its 25th anniversary with this tour: Darkest Hour. Looking at the people going crazy it soon becomes clear that most of the people especially came to see this band perform. I mean, people going crazy compared to the rest of the evening, because the main part of tonight’s audience seems to want to watch the show calmly while holding a beer. However, in this case that doesn’t say anything about the audience’s enthusiasm, as can be heard by the loud applause. As usual during an anniversary-tour Darkest Hour plays different songs from their entire career. They do so while pounding heavily and visibly want to have a great evening, which is expressed by the interaction with the audience, the stunt with guitarist Mike “Lonestar” Carrigan playing his guitar while being held up by fellow guitarist Mike Schleibaum and bass player Aaron Deal, and the moment at the end of the show during which Mike Schleibaum dives into the audience while playing his guitar. In addition to their own songs Darkest Hour also plays a cover of Dead Kennedys’ Nazi Punks Fuck Off, during which a mini-moshpit arises. Unfortunately, again the lead vocals, of frontman John Henry, are a bit low on volume at some moments. That doesn’t give in anything to the nice show that Darkest Hour delivers here though.

At quite a few moments the sound could be a bit better, but tonight still was a very nice evening, with, to me personally, the shows of Une Misère and Fallujah standing out the most.

Darkest Hour Official Website
Darkest Hour Facebook
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Darkest Hour Twitter
Fallujah Facebook
Fallujah Instagram
Fallujah Twitter
Bloodlet Facebook
Une Misère Official Website
Une Misère Facebook
Une Misère Instagram
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Lowest Creature Facebook

The post Live review: Darkest Hour, Fallujah, Bloodlet, Une Misère and Lowest Creature at Willem Twee, Den Bosch, The Netherlands, January 22nd, 2020 appeared first on DutchMetalManiac.

Once inside the venue nice, dark, electronic, industrial-like music can be heard that fits perfectly with the dark atmosphere of this evening.

The band that is going to kick off this evening is Doodswens. Before drummer Inge and vocalist/guitarist Fraukje appear on stage there are already burning candles to be seen in front of the drumkit, as well as some skulls. As soon as Fraukje and Inge appear on stage, Fraukje first lights some incense to create a bit more of the already perfect dark atmosphere for this show. When she hits her guitar and Inge hits her drums an almost constant huge wall of sound arises to which Fraukje adds her chilling, hellish screams that are a bit on the background, but that only gives an even more obscure effect to it. Inge’s drums pound very heavily, with the bassdrum thundering so heavily that the floor is constantly shaking. Doodswens’ show is pretty static, but that is also quite logic since both members are quite bound to one spot due to the drums or mic stand. Fortunately due to their extremely brutal show and the huge energy coming off of that, it doesn’t matter that much that their show is quite static. The lights could be a bit better during this show though, at least for a part of it. The white and red, quite static lights, were very fitting, but the blue, yellow and the busy-changing lights weren’t that fitting in my opinion.

After Doodswens’ set I went to see the exhibition in the backstage-area. There also was a very nice vibe, also due to the special music that could be heard there. Porselain’s bass player Jim Onstenk showed some of his own work as well as Porselain-work, including for example the stop-motion-work out of Porselain’s Mortiferous videoclip and his original piece of Duende‘s album cover. Al his work includes quite a lot of depth which gives it a special and somewhat psychedelic vibe. Tjalling’s work mainly consists of photos of at first quite simple things that were made to particularities by adding a moving effect to it. The pieces of Doodswens’ Fraukje and Inge consist of photos as well as paintings that are extremely dark, obscure and fit very well with the band, Doodswens, but in a different form than music.

The next band performing is Tjalling. Musically a lot happens in Tjalling’s music and so of course also during this show. It goes from grooving bass parts to guitar-effects to synthesizer-pieces to heavily pounding parts in which Tjalling’s drums stands out very much. This all is delivered with the inclusion of many quite abrupt transitions that are making Tjalling’s music even more special. The fact that this is done in a very tight way clearly shows that the members a very well attuned to each other. I rarely saw a band that knows how to transfer emotion this well. Especially vocalist/guitarist Dany, who also plays the synthesizer, seems to feel everything for 100% and is transferring that so well that you almost are going to feel those same things. She does so by her regularly overdriving vocals, with especially her screams going through marrow and bone and causing goose bumps, the to her vocals linked very intense looks on her face and laying crawling from emotions on the ground. Bass player Lars Anthonissen also stands out very much and adds a lot to this special show, he looks very stoic during the entire show and his looks, a highly pulled up overall and a beanie, also can be seen as a bit special. He also behaves very special with his wild moves and the fact that he regularly flies over the stage, and beyond, doing so. Once this almost goes wrong, because he hits a pile of speakers, but luckily the speakers didn’t fall down. Just as with Doodswens’ show, there also is a lot of energy coming off of Tjalling’s show, in a different way though, and Tjalling convinces even more than I expected.

After Tjalling’s show it’s time for tonight’s headliner, the band that is having their release show this evening, Porselain. They played their debut album Duende in its entirety tonight, as well as one new song, titled Eunoia. During the short soundcheck right before their show it already becomes clear that this is going to be a very special show, not by the soundcheck itself, since that was pretty short, but more due to the fact that Porselain already was wearing the by frontwoman Micky for this release show self-made clothes. It’s a nice combi of black draperies with white dread-like accents, alongside black and white paint on their faces and upper body parts, with especially the black paint around Micky’s eyes, which adds much to the dark atmosphere of Porselain’s show, standing out. It all has a bit of a ritualistic feel to it. The banner in the back of the stage also contains black and white and is made in the same style as Jim’s pieces that can be seen at the exhibition. Porselain delivers, just as the two earlier bands, a very energetic and very convincing show with the energy mainly coming off of the very powerful transitions between the heavily pounding pieces, in which Wouter’s powerful way of drumming stands out much, and the more calmer pieces, as well as the combination of those with Micky’s beautiful vocals, that regularly hit very high notes and are transferring a lot of energy together with the shouting backing vocals of guitarist Cas and bass player Jim, with Micky sometimes joining them in that and doing so alone at a few other moments, such as her very last and very powerful shout of this evening at the end of closer Mortala. Ending the show with this song is a perfect choice to get those last, not yet by goosebumps affected hairs up. This isn’t the only thing that stands out  during this last song though. Now we also get to see that the white clothing-accents and the white paint also have another, extra function. During Mortala the standard stage lights are off and the extra for Porselain added standing stage ligths are only shining at some moments. During the dark parts we got to see that those white parts have a glow in the dark effect to it which gives this last track a very nice, extra dimension. Porselain’s entire show convinces very much, but of course I can’t end this live review without mentioning the first time played, very new song Eunoia. Without disadvantaging Duende‘s songs of course, but what an immensely strong song Eunoia is. A very energetic, very nice and very special pounder of a song that surely is worth to be heard as much as possible.

This was a very nice evening, with the combination of music and exhibition being a very refreshing idea. All three bands really convinced me a lot and I will surely keep track of these bands in the future!

You can also read the interview we had with Porselain one day before this releaseshow here, as well as an earlier part of Promoting Bands including Porselain here.

Porselain Official Website
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Tjalling Facebook
Doodswens Facebook
Doodswens Instagram

The post Live review: Porselain, Tjalling and Doodswens at Willemeen, Arnhem, The Netherlands, December 20th, 2019 appeared first on DutchMetalManiac.

Around 20 minutes after the venue opened its doors A.A. Williams, accompanied by a live drummer and a live bass player, entered the stage. Quite soon after that A.A. Williams succeeds in getting the audience quite silent with her calm and very impressive, mesmerizing music. The most impressive are her beautiful vocals that are full of emotion and are causing goosebumps. These vocals are supported by a heavily droning bass and tight drums, with the drums taking care of quite some variation in rhythm. The moments when their tracks get extra depth are mostly coming from those drums, just as from the electric guitar on which A.A. Williams plays very high notes in shoegazing style. In addition to her vocals A.A. Williams mainly plays on this electric guitar, with tonight’s first song in which she plays an acoustic guitar and a few moments later on in the show when she’s playing the keyboard as exceptions. In terms of movements on stage there’s not much to see, but in this case that’s a good thing, because otherwise it would probably only distract from the mesmerizing experience of A.A. Williams’ music. They create a perfect atmosphere this evening, something that gets extra strengthened by the very fitting lightshow during this show. The applause is very loud, A.A. Williams plays a very convincing show for sure.

The next band, Brutus, also plays very atmospheric music, but at the same time they also deliver a show that pounds much more than the preceding show. That’s especially due to the drums played by Stefanie. She also attracts most attention because of the huge amount of energy she shows. Drumming isn’t even the only thing she does though, she also is Brutus’ vocalist. During the beginning of this show she, besides drumming and singing, also seems to be quite busy with finding the exact location of the microphone. Later on in the show this fortunately becomes less troubling. Vocally Stefanie delivers calm, atmospheric vocals as well as raw shouts. Unfortunately those calm vocals aren’t always that well audible during the heavier parts of this show, while those raw shouts seem to be a bit in the background, but that seems to be a deliberate choice and gives a nice effect combined with the music. The person taking care of the lightshow apparently has a very good night, because during this show there also is a very fitting lightshow. The audience is applauding very loudly, but despite the regularly nice headbangable rhythm of Stefanie’s drums there are only a few people in the audience already going crazy for a bit.

A few moments before tonight’s headliner, Cult of Luna, enters the stage their special backdrop can already be seen. It’s the same special backdrop that Cult of Luna used during their show on this year’s edition of FortaRock. This backdrop in itself isn’t very special but, as I already saw during their show on FortaRock and as was the case during this show, it gives a very special effect due to the way it is placed in combination with the smoke and the, again, very nice and fitting lightshow. This perfectly fits Cult of Luna’s music that also is very lingering but pounds quite heavily at the same time. Especially Magnus Lindberg and Thomas Hedlund, Cult of Luna’s two drummers are standing out, they deliver a huge amount of power. Vocally Johannes Persson delivers very brutal grunts, while Fredrik Kihlberg delivers some more atmospheric-sounding clean vocals in some tracks. Together with the rest of Cult of Luna they take care of an almost constant wall of sound that makes you linger in an atmospheric vibe in a way that’s brutal and pounding. That may sound contradicting, but Cult of Luna exactly knows how to do this. This makes that a Cult of Luna show is a very intense experience that you have to experience yourself to fully understand it.

This was a very nicely mesmerizing evening for sure!

Here you can read our live review of FortaRock 2019’s first day where Cult of Luna also performed.

Cult of Luna Official Website
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Brutus Official Website
Brutus Facebook
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A.A. Williams Official Website
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The post Live review: Cult of Luna, Brutus and A.A. Williams at Melkweg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, November 26th, 2019 appeared first on DutchMetalManiac.