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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2022 5:22 am 
 

Pitfest 2022, headliners At the Gates, The Toy Dolls and more, Resort Zuiddrenthe, Erica, May 12th-14th

Nice to know when you want to return to a place, village, provence or even festival once you’ve seen any edition. Our first Pitfest held Sodom and Asphyx, that’s a no-brainer for us. This edition would bring Repulsion, one of Wanda’s all time favorite bands to Erica, Drenthe, The Netherlands. I’ve known The Toy Dolls from my 15th, 16th birthday, something, seen them on silly AND cool occasions and wanted that renewed. Same with Cryptic Slaughter, it had been 1990 since I bought Speak Your Peace and that, by now, totally grey shirt of that tour. It was white and without holes, now it hangs in my working room. OK, the leaflet says Lowlife, as there’s another conflict about band names around. Never mind, the 1990 tour setting only held one member that played on Convicted and Money Talks… Add an old promise to Ronald of Overruled to watch one of his favorite thrash bands together and buying tickets was done (Violator). In fives and sixes, that was, as we needed 2 festival tickets, maybe a third, two camping tickets, one car park ticket, maybe a shuttle bus ticket and early-bird coins. In two years the latter became wise thinking, as Covid/Ukrainian conflict made prices of many goods sky high, including diesel and beer. But Wanda’s health still isn’t up to par, she would not join me to see Repulsion… note that Repulsion was cancelled anyway… Book of Changes… >< All I need now is a detour and it’s a full blown festival to me ;) The pre-party would be fun too, three tribute bands of known bands, but mostly new performers to do Motörhead or NOFX songs; Gorefunest is ahhhhhhnice to me ;) But when I got halfway between Lelijkstad and Enkhuizen I thought ‘I only have one piece of paper, I need some 6! Hit the brakes, call Wanda and return to Westwoud. That’s a 70 km hobby :roll: I texted Alicia I’d be there some hour later, she’d keep an open spot for my tent, along with Tijmen (+Hugo, see 70,000Tons review 2014) and Jelle. We all hoped Jelle won’t stagedive anymore :) He said he wouldn’t :)

When I got to P2 Parking Spot a bus just drove away, full of metalheads. But where’s the next one? Good to hear some Groningers, with beer, waiting for the bus to arrive. Now we had all the room we wanted in the bus, we’d waited for 20 minutes and no one new came around, we drive. Coming to the festival meant three wristbands, a sort of credit card for the 40 first coins and golf balls? I spotted Tijmen, he was on the bus back to P2 because he’d forgotten his wallet in the car >< When I raised the tent Gorefunest was already playing so I got help: Hugo pumped the air bed for me, Kees handed the nails and Jelle got me HJ ;) I hastily chose a denim, my camera and phone and off I was. When I entered the smallest hall (Punkhol) Gorefunest was already playing Confessions of a Serial Killer which meant it’s probably the last song… No it wasn’t, I also heard and saw Erase, got a drum stick and a set list, hug from singer Remus and now it’s time for the bar ;) Great to see people freak out on 30+ years old music 8-)
- For the Masses
- When The Dead Walk the Earth
- You Could Make Me Kill (Tijmen looking worried at me roaring this song to my hammer and nails ^^)
- The Glorious Dead
- Get a Life
- Reality is When You Die
- Confessions of a Serial Killer
- Erase
More old music to be heard: Deaf Förever does and old school Motörhead set:
- One I already missed raising my arms soo high ;)
- Thunder and Lightning
- Built for Speed
- Doctor Rock
- Bomber
- Shoot Them In the Back
- Killed by Death – soooooo loud!! 8-)
- Ace of Spades
- Born to Raise Hell
- Overkill – the speeeeeeeeddd of this cracker! So good!

I must have missed at least one more title but I don’t care. The band, not in three members but five, gives a hell of a show, loud as a full Messerschmidt, smooth as silk but sooo powerfull! Half the band consists of (former-)Rompeprop members so it’s PARTY time! Instantly bought two sizes shirts, got 25 stickers to spread and these guys camp next to our tents! Funny, to be instantly hailed, brought beer as I’m just fanboying ;) Try for an idea: https://www.facebook.com/deafforever.motorheadtribute Really nice party going! The last band tonight was NøFX, a NOFX tribute. Not only I think the name is silly, but now I instantly remember why I don’t have much with punkrock. Don’t like the guitar sound, the drums are sloppy and I’m tired. Bye Bye. The night was friggin’cold and I just couldn’t warm up at all. After a while I lay under all my denims and my hoodie but still couldn’t get warm. The bread in the morning was still a bit warm and the coffee worked like it should: warm up, clear up the senses and hey, the weather picked it up too. I’d been thinking whether I’d go in shorts or in normal pants, now the shorts were welcome ;)

Mostly I was looking forward to seeing Fleshcrawl today. I met Sven’s widow Dany and their Messiah friends Roger and Roger. ;) Wicki exactly briefed my thoughts so far: whoever could fit in Sven’s shoes? In personality, in style, in reach, in stamina, in friendship maybe? It made me think of Bodyfarm, with Remco and Ralph doing the Thomas songs in their own way. It was a day of a lot of talk anyway, even Ryker’s had to cancel last minute, is Backfire really back? Grave had family business and instead of Grave performing, some all star band would do ancient death metal classics, featuring members of Lies!, Cryptic Slaughter, Burial Remains, Blood Red Throne, Graceless and Fleshcrawl! The all star band was called Lords of Flesh and these songs were played:
- Entombed – Out of Hand (with René Smit of Lies!)
- Sepultura – Inner Self (with Menno Verbaten of Cryptic Slaughter)
- Dismember – Casket Garden (Wim de Vries, Burial Remains)
- Grave – Soulless (Yngve Bolt Christensen, Blood Red Throne)
- Death – Pull the Plug (Remco)
- Bolt Thrower – For Victory (Borisz Sarafutgyinov, Fleshcrawl)
- Entombed – Eyemaster (Boris again)

I stood outside, talking to Mar (she bought Wanda’s ticket), Ivor, the Deaf Förever dudes (whoahh these guys can party! ^^ ) so I must confess I haven’t seen them myself. I liked the idea but it just was too busy inside, too important to speak and have a drink or two. Same happened when Blood Red Throne was on stage, I stood next to the tent . But the first band today was Mouflon, the Arnhem Sheep of Death Squad steamrolled the Crustbus to pieces. Loud and vile, just as death metal live should sound. The day passed so fast, it wasn’t until Fleshcrawl got to stage I found myself first row at a band. The band has changed again, as Olivier is gone now and the new man Apu Justin Reisch did a great job. Like said, my main focus was Borisz Sarafutgyinov. What an animal! Aggressive in sound, plenty of stamina and interaction all around. He’s one cool dude, that’s for sure and I totally think he’s the guy to do it. I got Manu’s set list (thank you!!) :
- Intro
- Carved in Flesh
- Bloodred Massacre
- Flesh Bloody Flesh
- Embraced by Evil
- Reincarnation
- Lost in a Grave
- Structures of Death
- After Obliteration
- From the Dead to the Living
- Soulskinner
- As Blood Rains from the Sky
- The Day Man Lost

Haha now it was Brammerman’s time to miss Fleshcrawl, as Maarten MsD stood next to me all the way. What a great band this still is, even though only Bastian is the only surviving member. Maarten got himself a shirt, as he outran me to the merch stand ;) I would have liked to see The Queers and not so much Skitsystem, but I missed them both. Jelle had ‘found’ 7 (!) sixpacks of icecold HJ somewhere and we drank until The Toy Dolls got to stage. Tijmen had been feeling fuzzy all day and I haven’t eaten anything since my two buns this morning, I took the stand best and Tijmen had to be brought to a hospital! What the hell is this festival doing to any of my friends or myself, when people need to be brought to a friggin’hospital? Last time Jelle stagediving, now Tijmen totally dehydrated and down?? The Toy Dolls, hey it’s fun music but it was played sharp and direct. I have a small film about the entire Skullcrusher venue jumps and shouts ^^ to Big Bob’s Feet and of course Nelly the Elephant. Satisfied I get to the tent, have one more HJ and fall deeply in sleep, not bothered by cold anymore. Lonely, yeah, but slept like a prince. Only to awake with an eel in my stomach/upper throat and without much ado I head barefoot to the toilets. Our festival hero Tilly had it all cleaned and emptied again, cheers to her for her fanatical cleaning ;) I had not eaten at all, so all what came was a little bit of stomach acid and I was all over it again. Clearly Tijmen hadn’t and he decided with Hugo to head back home… sorry dude, get well soon, tell your lovely Thea you love her (everyday) and hopefully recovery is on the way.

The bread and coffee went in smooth or at least more smooth than I expected beforehand ;) In band it would be a busy day now: Burial Remains, Graceless, God Dethroned, Space Chaser, Mörser, Insanity Alert, Revel in Flesh, Gama Bomb, Cryptic Slaughter and Discharge to fill three stages. Burial Remains first, old school death metal, highly influenced by German and Swedish first round bands. The music comes to steam easily, the vocals low and deep, sharp HM2 buzzsaw sound, yeah we like this! Half an hour gone in seconds ^^ I stick around this tent, as Graceless was next in some 20 minutes. I saw the entire sound check and said to Remco ‘if you play one single chord now, you do know you’re playing it JUST for me, right?’ KERRRRRAAAANNNNNGGGG LOL \m/ so that’s clear ^^ Of course a set list is kept safe for me, thanks to Björn:
- We Will be Gods
- Malignant Seed
- Retaliation of the Wicked
- Shadowlands (was played for Pim and Trevor. It turned out Pim’s latest gf brought another part of his ashes to be spread? How many places will be used? I heard it later, Maarten even looked for me to be at the spreading but couldn’t find me. Another set of tears spread)
- Die on Demand
- Slashed and Served
- Blood of the Brave (a new song, maybe to be part of a CD release show in Baroeg?! We have tickets!!)
- Warpath (shouting contest between Remco and me, he wins ;) )

What a powerful band! What a great sound, nice volume (it had been too loud the day before I heard some artists moan) and plain funFunFUN on stage too ;) Again I stuck around for the next band, but more than a wink from Henri and a smile from Jeroen wasn’t up to me today. I needed food, especially after totally forgetting to eat yesterday ><) and skipped God Dethroned for my health ;) I kept walking, buying merch (Bodyfarm hoodie needed Immolation, Death Angel and God Dethroned ;) ) and talking, talking, drinking, drinking. The HJ still wasn’t done at the tent so that helped too. I returned to Skullcrusher venue for Revel in Flesh and totally got what I wanted: Real. German. Old. School. Death. Kult. Metal. The Grin was wide again, and often seen too. Behind me a small but violent pit was going on and my smile became wider and wider. Here’s Maggesson’s set list (THANK YOU)
- The Hour of the Avenger
- My Trial
- Fortress of Gloom (I wonder if I ever find my voice again :) )
- Death Kult Legions
- Shadowbreeder
- Emissary of all Plagues
- Casket Ride
- Deathblow
- Nihilistic Nothingness
- In the Name of the Flesh (why do I think about Sven now, again?)
- Rock Out (Motörhead cover)

Another great death metal show was presented to us, like said a nice pit to widen Haubersson’s smile, making him even more fanatic in his growls ^^ and even Maggesson was spotted totally confident about the coolness of this show. In the meantime I heard Insanity Alert did a great set, as the Run to the Pit sign was in the Revel in Flesh pit :) and Space Chaser made friends, but I both have seen just a glimpse of these bands. I’m fine with that, just like saying hello to Philly Byrns and heading out again. In a sort of the same way I also missed Discharge but really wanted to see Violator. Not with Ronald present, I was in the back he was probably in front of the stage but I liked it. Sharp thrash metal, combining Suicidal Angels vocal lines including accent, Ratos de Porão interludes and hyperspeed old Sepultura and a raging crowd. Clearly it was a good idea to put this band near headliner status, as the Punkhol was too small to hold the entire crowd going nuts. I also only glimpsed Cryptic Slaughter but didn’t have the fire to get inside once more. I heard some familiar tunes and thought ‘drive back to Wanda tomorrow’ and went back to the tent. I didn’t need Spasm nor At the Gates, leave that to Kees and Ed ;) It was so nice to see so many friends again, I think I sent Wanda some 50 selfies of all people wishing her the best ;) I invited some more friends to my birthday party and dozed off…

No need to lay under three denims, I could have used my airplane eye blinds but couldn’t find them so quickly. So, I awoke when the sun got up and tried to keep sleeping which thickly failed. I heard some rumbling noises but knew it wasn’t until 9 that the bus would bring us to our cars. Funnily enough Maarten’s car stood directly next to mine ^^ and I drove off, fed and watered. The bread didn’t go down well so I kept it with just one instead of two, coffee brought me to a Hoogeveen gas station where I found a full wallet on a bench. Ms. AW van Duinkerken must miss her entire stack of money, bank cards, train service, company saving cards and driver’s license… I brought it to the counter and hope she can retrieve it.

The tent is dry again, the sleeping bag swift, the Laundromat can wait till tomorrow. I have an extra day off and use that ;) Metal Tavern filled again, a shave, shower, voetbal to be seen (last round, PEC Zwolle went down last week, see who’s the second relegated team… Metal first with a laugh, a shout and a tear. Metal.

Logon or register if you want to react to https://metal-tavern.proboards.com/thre ... -graceless

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Cosmic_Equilibrium
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2014 2:03 pm
Posts: 842
PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2022 7:52 pm 
 

Download Festival 2022, Castle Donington, UK (Saturday)

It's been quite a while since I attended any festivals, even on a day ticket. But it's Maiden, it's Donington, you kind of have to go really. Especially considering some of their current setlist choices (read on for more details).

Stayed overnight at a friend's near Nottingham. Drove down on Saturday morning and parked the car at East Midlands Parkway station (£4 for the day, pretty reasonable) before getting the shuttle bus (£12 return, not quite so reasonable, but fuck it) to the festival gates.

After a lengthy walk to the arena, I realised that in my eagerness to beat the crowds I'd probably got in a little too early, as there were very few bands I wanted to see until after 3pm or so. Oh well... it was a nice day, and good for sitting out in the sunshine and engaging random people in conversation near the beer tent. Spent a good few hours chatting to a friendly Scottish guy and his pals. About 4pm (I meant to see Black Label Society, but was just chatting too much), my new acquaintances went off to one of the tent stages, and I went to get some food (hog roast baguette, incredibly unreasonable price), before watching Shinedown for a bit. I'm not familiar with this band at all; they seemed to be a sort of emo tinged anthemic hard rock group, and TBH they were OK. I've certainly sat through a lot worse. By now the sun was out and I fancied an ice cream, so headed over to the nearest van and enjoyed my purchase before watching some of Deftones set.

I'm not a huge fan of Deftones much and they seemed to start their set rather slowly at first. Things picked up when they played 'Be Quiet and Drive' and 'My Own Summer' back to back; these are about the only two songs of theirs I like (from what I've heard of their repertoire), so it was handy to hear them one after the other, as I could then wander off to the Dogtooth tent stage for the first band I was interested in seeing: Napalm Death.

Napalm had actually started their set early for some reason (in contrast to the main stage which seemed to be running half an hour late for most of the day), so I'm not certain how much of their performance I actually saw; being at the back of the crowd it was a little difficult to get a good view of the band as well. Still, what I saw was very enjoyable; Napalm's music across their career has an enjoyably bezerk, full on vibe to it that is only accentuated in its delivery by the sociopolitical messages in the lyrics. This was the third time I've seen them live and what always impresses me about them is how supremely on it they are across the board. It just doesn't let up from start to finish. Good cathartic, energetic stuff and the closing one two of 'Scum' and 'Nazi Punks Fuck Off' was a great way to sign off and leave the crowd invigorated.

Next up on the same stage was Sepultura. This has to be, I think, the longest gap I've gone between seeing the same band live - I've seen them three times before, but the last time was in 2007. They hadn't lost any intensity in the intervening years, however, as they came onstage and opened with 'Arise' and then 'Territory' which got me properly headbanging for the first time that day. Some newer songs off the most recent album were then played which I wasn't familiar with but which sounded pretty great, then a blistering 'Propaganda' got the hair flying again. The whole band were great but particularly Kisser and Green; I've always had respect for them both as Green is a great frontman who has now been in the band for twice as long as Max was and Kisser helped to write most of the classic songs and is a musician who has always managed to retain his integrity over the years. Regrettably, I had to leave before the set ended as I wanted to get myself in a good position to watch Maiden. But still, this was a very enjoyable performance and perhaps the most pleasant surprise I've had gig going in some time. Sepultura still very much have it. Go see them.

So then, Iron Maiden. My fifteenth time seeing them (have attended every tour since 2003), and playing Donington for the seventh time in total. I took some time getting a good spot to watch the band - near one of the sound towers, but just enough up the incline to get a good enough view of the stage and the big screens.

You know, there isn't anything quite like it in rock when the PA stops playing the interlude tunes and the first notes of UFO's 'Doctor Doctor' drift through the speakers. The anticipation builds and builds...... the audience become much more alert, and watch the stage intently.... and then it's MAIDEN time!

In all honesty, once the band took the stage, things started a little more slowly than usual. Maiden are still touring the 'Legacy of the Beast' career-spanning set, but have now rearranged things somewhat so proceedings now began with the first three songs off the 'Senjutsu' album. I don't mind the new record, but I happen to think Maiden's studio peak was 'A Matter Of Life And Death' and they aren't going to top that one any time soon. But still, 'Senjutsu', 'Stratego' and 'The Writing On The Wall' all sounded pretty good live (particularly TWOTW) - the main issue was the pacing and song placement in the context of the show as a whole. It felt like the band came out, played a three song showcase set of the new album, then spent a couple of minutes changing the backdrop and stage set before starting on the show proper.

Things then got going properly, however, with a great rendition of 'Revelations' and then 'Blood Brothers' marked the point where the show truly gained some steam. I've heard and seen quite a few renditions of 'Blood Brothers' before, but none had quite the emotional resonance of this one. As Dickinson highlighted, there's a lot of shit going on in the world, and the past few years have not been great to say the least, and Maiden is the antidote to all that. So this time, the lyrics and soaring guitar lines of the song really hit home on a deeper level with the crowd than I can remember.

But the next song was even better, and where the set basically cooked from that point on. 'Sign Of The Cross' is in this reviewer's opinion not only Iron Maiden's best song but one of the greatest metal songs ever written, and to witness it played in its full glory live is a very special treat indeed. I went wild for this one; I was either headbanging and air guitaring like crazy or drinking it all in. Definitely the highlight of the day, and as I mentioned above it was noting this song in the setlists for the tour that confirmed my decision to attend the show.

Well that was wonderful, and from then on the set just built into a classic Maiden performance. The usual setlist highlights and crowd pleasers were all present and correct, and the band's performance was (as expected from Maiden) consistently great. It was hard to pick highlights, given the general energy and vibe of the set, but I'd say a frankly joyful 'Flight Of Icarus' (which the band seem to really be energised by playing live), a stomping 'Number Of The Beast' and 'Iron Maiden' and the very welcome appearance of 'The Clansman' in the encore (screw the VXI haters, this song rocks) were the standouts on the night. 'Fear Of The Dark' got a predictably joyous reaction from the crowd, and I found it enjoyable as usual, but I really would like it if the band went back to playing this particular song as fast as possible like they did in the 90s, instead of the slightly more measured tempo it's done at today. Likewise, while it was enjoyable to hear 'Aces High' in the second encore, it was clear to me that with this particular song the band seemed slightly slower than when I'd previously seen them play it live.

This song was the exception, though. Yes, the years are advancing somewhat, but Iron Maiden's performance levels are still pretty much up there with the best of them, and frankly they still outdo most bands of the past few decades in the live arena. I hope they can keep it up at this level for a while yet.

It was hard for me to know where to rank this performance in relation to the other times I've seen Maiden; not in the top 5 but not too far outside that. Most of all, thought, it was a very enjoyable day, despite the usual issues with large scale festivals of pricing etc., though I will say the general organisation of Download seemed pretty good this year; that said I was only there for the day and not camping.

Back to my car at midnight and then back to another night on my friend's sofa bed via McDonalds; a good day out despite the sunburn.

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 3:58 am 
 

The Graceless Hordes of Westwoud – De Schalm, June 11th 2022

A question: how many of my readers ever organized a party? Most, I guess. But how many organized a party with a band? Still, quite a few I think. But how many organized a party with a band when reaching a certain age, in a bar? I don’t think so many did, but I won’t claim originality in this hihi. Let’s say I wanted to bring an A+-band to my hometown when I turned 50. When I had my 40-Years-Metalhead-Party in my backyard (2018) I could BBQ with all my family and friends, as the band was still unknown and the first demo had or just had not been released. First question when Mutator picked up their gear was ‘Next year Asphyx?’ I know it was meant as a joke as most people do know they won’t come for, say, less than 5 grand in euros and even though we’re both mad hatters about Asphyx, this was beyond me and beyond us. I kept walking around with an idea and it was Marc Verhaar, drummer of Graceless and Soulburn that brought the idea to life: I just ask Graceless! I was rigid in my idea to get the band a gage they deserve, bring in a BBQ for them, might even organize a couple of shirts and that’s it. But, in time, when the band’s festival season was announced, it got to me a bit. I saw their name on the Into the Grave festival bill and asked again ‘will you guys play at my party?’ “Yeah, we do, just make sure you have some sort of a backline present and bring in drums. We come directly from Leeuwarden to your place and have no room for the entire drum kit, hardly any speakers, let alone a mixing board. ” Now it was time for my friends to help me once; I’d been helping hundreds of times to get people tickets, to shows, abroad and back. BUT I DON’T HAVE EQUIPMENT. Three well chosen calls later I could pick up a drum kit from Daan Vet (formerly known as KISSandCOOPER on MRU) and a vocal installation; the cabinets and wiring will be taken care of by (Mutator-)ShreddedEd and Maarten MsD! And the band did not overrun their gage, so Wanda offered to pay it for my birthday! The bar would be €25 per person, shirts will cost me some €300; that’s no big deal to me. This would be the very, very first death metal show ever in Westwoud!! We agreed not to bring in a second band as I wanted people be able to talk and with a guitarist that would start a fistfight with me… nah.

But then the great organizing still had to take place. Who do we invite? Is the bar available and what will Roel ask? I’d said I’d arrange shirts, so I had to make sure the band agreed me to use the logo. I’d said I’d arrange ear plugs in case my family’s youngest would be present… I’d rather make myself a flyer as well, easy to spread. I knew beforehand the shirts would take at least two weeks, the flyer was done in an hour and so on. I picked up Ed’s Marshall cabinet on Friday as well as the drum kit, even though I had to cross West-Friesland entirely. Marc told me they wanted a 6x3 m stage, but De Sschalm only had 6x2… so I went all over Noord-Holland but to no success.. Marc wasn’t worried. Pfoei. I even went back to De Schalm twice to make sure all work had been done from different sides ;) – food, tables, amounts, choices of booze and (finger-) food and the likes.

Inviting friends also had a bit of a problem: it’s Summertime aka festival time! Jürgen and Sylvia – couldn’t come celebrate his and my birthday together – were on Chronical Moshers. Iris and Bernd – Bernd couldn’t get another day off. Andrée and Käthe – split up. No good idea to bring them together on my party. Martin van Drunen – out of the country with Asphyx, he certainly wanted to come! To some it was too far, unreachable by train/bus/... and the next problem: of the two B&B’s in the village one is sold to a private soul and won’t serve guests anymore. Steenwijk friends Bart and Rob got in touch the last days, they got a list of campings and B&B’s to choose. I chose to invite my voetbal- and scoutingfriends of old: the ones that got me into metal and the ones I had my first discussions about Feyenoord vs. Ajakkes with ;) that might unite some ancient friends of my brothers as well. Bring in Hans and Hender, who brought me Exodus, Venom, Hallow’s Eve and Tyrant after my brothers had Maiden and Final Heiress. I might even invite the collectors of the Epilepsis fund, that was meant as a thank you ánd nice to my sister Marleen, as she’s befriended to Nicolet and (former punk-) Frits ^^. Invite Erik Hendriks and surprise him with a shirt nearly no one else has :cool: .

Friday was a. a busy day at work and b. a tour c. exhausting and d. gone in seconds ^^ Saturday started with Fleshcrawl – As Blood Rains From the Sky… We Walk the Path of Endless Fire – it was Sven’s first death anniversary. I wanted to hang at least one Svenson Gross shirt in the bar, bring in a picture of Pim as well, so I needed to get a few pictures printed – last minute of course. I had a hint Wanda got stressed out so I let her alone for at least an hour – swim. The drum kit had been shattered in the living room, so I got that into the car again. Wanda said ‘that speaker set can’t stay in the car, it’s too humid tonight’ so the car began the Saturday empty ;) Maarten and Brammerman got to De Schalm in time so we unloaded his Dacia together; Roel had been there since a few minutes… he knows the Van Kampen quarter of an hour all too well ^^ and he’d set the stage… ‘oh that will do’ I thought. When an unknown car opened up we were a bit worried: a three man delegation of a four man band? Where’s Remco? Turned out he’d been texting Marc ‘when do we have to be there?’ “Actually in 20 minutes LOL he’d been so hung over of the Into the Grave show he still was in Leeuwarden. Fun fact: Maarten had to take out the back seats to ‘Tetris all equipment in’ HA HA HA. Roel’s wife made sure we had homemade burgers and self-cut fries, it was delicious. Remco just ‘stormed‘ in about five minutes before the table was set ;) Grumpy, hungover, but he was in time..enough ;)

I had said ‘8 PM doors, 9 PM band, 10 PM talk on’ and that didn’t really go as planned. I knew my friends of old Johannes and R-Whin had a belated wedding party so they were gone before the band started. My USB-with-feast-music was greeted by many, as I had about everything between Pé en Rinus (Z streep S. I. D. E. :) to Carcass (which hightened both MsD and Thirza lol). And yeah, every faze in my life passed by. My family – most of them, Rens – from Kindergarten – Normaal [brought by his wife Eke, one of my collectors for the Epilepsis fund], Scouting/Voetbal – 6 of them!, Kamiel and Marcel – they sat behind me at math class but instead of doing math work they copied the logos from my shirts to a parchment I got this birthday :cool: , an on the moment WhatsApp message from Jeroen – he’s in Scotland, my bosom friend Clemens made it in time – that was one of the reasons to bring ear plugs, he might bring his 9-year old son, the Steenwijk Clan, Jordy and Kim present – he got me a 7x2 m Neurotic Deathfest banner as gift!, my colleagues (both the from water board and Frank K from the regional environmental board – he was in a Vital Remains shirt at a nationwide seminar on pesticides and I thought ‘I have to speak to him’ in my Dynamo Open Air shirt – over 10 years of friendship, metal and beer. Now whiskey :) ). From Ed, who contacted Wanda as he’s totally broke but did bring in Gaby my Eastern German metal bud I got THREE hand drawn pictures of the Great Three of Serial Killers – Gacy, Bundy, Gein ; Dahmer already has been present in my kitchen for several years). Need I go on? The table with the presents nearly collapsed, and that wasn’t because of the band starting.

As for the gig and the set list I have to rely on videos sent via WA and Messenger… I refused to miss one second of the gig and had another broken camera glass… and no paper/pen. The little movies my sister Gemma made were of some help:
- Retaliation of the Wicked (headbangers and pitters united)
- Lugdunum Batavorum
- Shadowlands
- We Will be Gods (instead of We bow to no one – We bow to Herman \m/ )
- Embrace the Rain (me, Thirza, Wanda and the band remembering Sven Gross and Pim V in tears)
- Blood of the Brave (Alex and Thirza in swirl pit ;) )
- Die on Demand (kiler pit going on)
- I have to find out a way to get to the last movies, maybe later. In what order – who cares?

But how do you grade a band that plays literally FOR YOU?? It was great to have them, on my party, in my town, on my terms, what else can you say than ‘FUCKING GREAT!!! AWESOMENESS!! KILLER!’? It was such a pleasure to me and the band, it’s hard to describe. Going into a pit with not one but two of my brothers? Wanda back on stomping ground? Thirza’s world famous swirl pit? Maarten freaking out to the fact his equipment ALL worked, even though he had to put the band’s effect box in front of the bass drum as it swirled across the tiny stage? :) :cool: 70 people satisfied, the band overenthusiast, metalheads freaking out, bar personnel giving compliments to us ‘they all seem so black and bearded and rough, but they’re so LOVELY’ :) After the band had stopped, I jumped on stage and thanked everybody around: Wanda, the band, Maarten, Daan, Ed, my family, my long time friends and colleagues (mentioning literally every period in my life, I found out emotional) and general interest. Even my former boss showed up! The Steenwijk Clan! The Bovenkarspel Boys! De Spanbroek Metalheads! Wanda’s aunt and niece! Not strange to mention the final beer at 1 AM lasted longer as there were even more scouting friends present and they NEEDED to do an afpils with my gang… Heiny after a ditch of Amstel and Skuumkoppe wasn’t the best idea LOL and even after that it didn’t end. Like Dynamo Open Air days we went on at my place, finding a crate of HJ on my doorstep. Then the light came and my lights were out. Exhausted. Maarten and Brammerman kipped at my attic, Erik Hendriks on the couch: he had freezing business early in the day and couldn’t drive without sleeping at least three hours. During the night Brammerman and Maarten had filled the Dacia again but didn’t dear driving one single meter ;)

But… of course I still had to get my presents, the milk barrel with the envelops and the drum kit. I had agreed to be there at ten, but eleven it became. Roel wasn’t worried and thanked me again for the smooth encounter with death metal he had had. My former colleague Ronald even called some now-colleagues of mine ‘death metal virgins’ hahaha. The bill wasn’t as big as I expected, as Roel chose to keep the food out of the account and I was thankful for that. One exception: he wanted a The Graceless Hordes of Westwoud shirt as well LOL. At home we had to split the ordering of the presents in twos and threes, as it was simply too much to handle! When I emptied the milk barrel I was shy to count the money, so much was given!! The drum kit was delivered in time, as was the last cabinet. When I got the milk barrel back to Johannes, he and his wife Tanja agreed to each other, without knowing they did, they should have turned the route upside down. They had a postponed wedding party with R-Whin and Bianca, but came home sour: apart from the wedding couple and ONE mutual friend they knew NO ONE. Look at my party: half the village was present, so it seemed. Shwoah, you can’t have it all my friend but thanks for lending me the milk barrel and the ‘compliment’ you both made me and my party. The only one that was honestly bad tempered was Frits, as the low riffing and vocal abuse cut through him like a blunt blade (he later told me and I thanked him for his honesty)

In short, this was a hell of a job to get everything and everybody together, but it was friggin’worth every drop of sweat, ounce of diesel, hair of stress and short fight between that first step and the final emptying of the living room ;) Putting down a guest book was one of the best things of it all, as people could get personal to me and I could remember who wanted another shirt and in what size. It’s so beautiful to see how people react to me, Wanda, the years and the party, it gives me the good cold shivers and goose bumps every time I look at the binding and the papers inside. Alex provided me with an USB-stick to deliver to Marc coming weekend, as we see Graceless destroy Protzen Open Air. Metal has been around for 50 years, as am I now. Metal!! And friggin’proud of it.

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 4:02 am 
 

Protzen Open Air 2021, June 18-20, Germany; Venom Inc, Benediction, Graceless

I don’t know if it happens a lot, but sometimes you come across a festival that a. is too good to be true,
b. awesome from A to Z,
c. not that expensive,
d. great scenery
e. many friends present so f. sold out before you can say ‘cool’. In this case it’s Protzen Open Air, within cycling distance of Berlin, only 1,000 tickets available via 7 different ticket bookings. Let’s not get grumpy about fourteen years of great line ups that passed before lobbying to get to a festival, intensive texting, fussing about triple bookings OTHERS made, abusing Wanda's FB, waiting, nail polishing (hey, I don’t bite :) ), thumbscrewing… we finally got the confirmation mail from organizer Mario (THANK YOU FOR THE DEAL AND THE EFFORT!!). Also a big thank you to our friends in Grand Supreme Blood Court, Graceless, Revel in Flesh and Fleshcrawl for saying nice things about us ^^ Pity the confirmation came with a storm of condolences for fellow organizer Enni, who died just the same day… R.I.P. (I think we met once, at PartySan or at Brutz&Brakel, ‘when you come to play, you leave as friends’, Martin van Drunen said in condolence). So this review is for Enni.

But as the 2020 edition had to be postponed, a lot of the most interesting bands had to be replaced… no GSBC, no Berserker Legion, no LIK, no Gods Forsaken, no Chapel of Disease and a few others… we go anyway. The camping would open Thursday at 5 PM but we might need to replace parts on our central heating system? Uhh can’t we pick a new date? I was happy not to have to drive deep into the night to get to Protzen, or even need a motel along the way, we drove at 10 AM. Coming across the border, the first Stau took place, not 5 km into Germany… all and all we had friggin’8 (!) traffic jams, taking up to three hours extra in total to get to the camping… of course including my hobby and forgetting stuff: Ceefax had told us the temperatures could reach 30 – 35 degrees Celsius, hardly a cloud to be seen and what do I forget: sun tan lotion! That’s of Friday worry, first get the tent standing. I was so sure I had packed a hammer for the tent pegs, Wanda was furious there was none… but help is never far away on a metal fest… Bea and Martine helped us and Wanda cooled down… tonight there’d only be a metal DJ but it’s a good one: sing-alongs, heavy stuff, the wrong stuff from Abba to Abbath and reversed ;) Wanda greatly enjoyed both the Juni Käfer and the beautiful colors of sunset ^^ Bea ‘warned’ is to keep the car next to the tent so the ‘Berliners’ wouldn’t pick our space. It wasn’t that bad, as I awoke so early there wasn’t anyone but us and Protzeners around ;) I let Wanda sleep and drove up to Fehrbellin for sun tan lotion, cucumbers, bananas, cheese and the likes. We’d need our vitamins and fluids anyhow… it was already warm.

Coffee and fennel tea made us wake up the right way. The first band did everything to undo that, as Brlabl played stoner of the wrong kind… off vocals, no lyrics but some sort of chants, no tight drumming, mixing some technical stuff in it… totally off of course. The singer COULD have improved it when he’d just shut up but alas. The Graceless boys had arrived too, they’d been cutting the trip in twos: Hannover first, hotel, off to Protzen, play twice (Remco and Jasper) and a hotel in the village. But without sun tan lotion, so to make sure no one got burnt they all used my freshly bought lotion LOL. Fun fact: Bea told us we’d be the only Dutch paying visitors this weekend and after walking the camping I know she’s right: this is an unique experience for us AND the Protzeners ;) Protzen Open Air has a stage in the form of the Romney shed but now outside. I spoke to several visitors about previous editions and they all agreed ‘it’s better it’s in the open now, think of seeing your favorite band Napalm Death and you CAN’T enter the shed anymore… too full’. The second band today was Norkh, another newie to us. We liked it, as it was a nice cross of Nifelheim and Deströyer 666 in spikes, speed, sound and attitude. Great band; have to find something of them. Not much bands had merch to show anyway, there were two CD shops with such illegible logos and unknown bands we even skipped their patch sections :roll: Festival shirts were only available from the beginning of the evening and it was strange to see all older shirts had logos on the back but this year’s edition does not??

OK, time for a beer with two men I’ve seen several times before but can’t remember the names somehow. The third band today was Succubus from Neuruppin, Germany, only a few km away from Protzen. MA says ‘melodic death metal’, I’d say powermetal with a tiny hint of death in it. Interested? https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Succubus/11371 We’d come for Graceless and got the full experience: set up, sound check, AC/DC intro, cheers, set list, guitar picks to spread out ‘we have most of them double anyway’ :cool: and a band, once again in top form, greatly balanced set and loads of approval from the visitors. I wrote the titles but Jasper prohibited me to use the scribble ^^
- We Will Be Gods
- Malignant Seed
- Retaliation of the Wicked
- Shadowlands
- Slashed and Served
- Blood of the Brave
- Revenge Us (announced as ‘we normally don’t play this song anymore, but for you Swedes [pointing into the crowd] we have to’ – big grins from stage and audience :cool:
- Warpath

Panting, sweating, arms being put I normal position once more, dehydrated and sore-throated we retreated to the shadow of the parasols, ate, coffee, tea (‘we don’t have boiling water anymore’ said the 17-year old sniffy until co-organizer Big Bert got a kettle of water instantly “für unsere einzige Hollandische gäste” :cool: – we’d made an impression so it seemed ^^) In the meantime Purgatory (https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Purgatory/13227 ) bored the browning bile out of me. I’d seen them before on Stonehenge so many years ago, only thing I remembered was that I liked the logo but hated the music. Today it’s not different from Steenwijk. The audience must have heard me, as they managed to empty the dry grass pit in front of the stage while the band oohed an ahhhed a lot ;) I got back to the tent to see the camping around us was filled, indeed, with Berliner cars. Some doof man called Ollie needed to remark ‘hey Dutchie, do you have something to smoke for me?’ and couldn’t even notice my ‘uhgghh-feeling’ when asking. I said I quit smoking 20 years ago ‘and not eager to start again’. Clearly Ollie had sniffed the green leaf a bit too often and the self bought cans of Warsteiner were abundantly abused. He had to show me his Graceless- and Hail of Bullets-tattoos, but both were set in haste…lines that ought to be straight were wobbly and lines that needed to be wobbly were even worse. He has his own way of apologizing to me but don’t try 17 times, hobo >< Being accompanied by Graceless members we got our share of ‘Ollie following Graceless all around Germany’-stories but agreed to avoid him where possible >< Meanwhile, the darker beer overpowered the light beer and Revel in Flesh set stage. Wanda was sitting in the shadow, telling me to fanboy Ralf my own way. I had no need to join the pit, as I just wanted to see the band from all directions. The set list revolved around my favorite RiF tunes like Fortress of Gloom, Death Kult Legion, Shadowbreeder and In the Name of the Flesh, before Rock Out finished the normal set. The band played so sharp and so fast they had time for another encore :cool: for their fourth (!) visit to Protzen. Clearly Magesson and Haubersson have made friends there, after the show their merch booth was sold out, apart from M-sized shirts. They have a very cool new shirt to sell, but with these German fans around all sizes bigger than XXL were gone halfway the set. Patches… yeah you know we’re of the sewing kind ;) Graceless also had new patches to sell. Not the ‘hanged men’- theme luckily, but cool stuff from the split with… Revel in Flesh :cool:

I didn’t understand quite why Remco was so nervous after his own set, but it turned out I’d completely forgotten he was to perform another gig today: Just Before Dawn also played Protzen Open Air 2022!! The project, as Jasper called it (and he was right) normally does focus on creating studio music and live shows are rare to say the least. Rare as in ‘Remco needed the lyric sheet of every song’,’every song had a bump to start correctly’ and ‘guest singers abundant’. Wanda called them The Gibson Twins, featuring similar caps, beards, jackets and guitars: a Gibson Flying V and an Explorer, both painted cream – black and similar belts/buckles. They’re not related but if you see them go you’ll never be sure which person it is ;) Kreft is clearly happy halfway the set, as he shouts he’s the ‘luckiest man alive to play with several bands on this cool festival’ I have to reply “Where’s Soulburn then?” :) ‘nah, two bands is enough’ LOL. Remco and Jasper move on stage like they always do, but the non-brothers Biazzi and Myrin only lose focus when people move around them. Add an hyperactive Dave Ingram to that chaos and Remco nearly lost an eye giving room to Dave. Remco manages to give a cool salute to Sven Gross once more and Just Before Dawn finishes a special, not to say unique show. How? Playing ‘Soulburner’ with Remco and Dave singing together.

Time for fanboys is plenty available. I get a compliment for my Neckwreckers set (it had been too hot to wear shirt + patches during the day, the shirt was soaking so I ended the evening bare chested with my Neckwreckers set present) in the form of a tiny bottle of schnapps and cream liqueur, some taps on my shoulders, Ollie trying to piss me off by wanting the Nailgun Massacre (!) bass pick I got from Jasper [after the JBD show; ‘it’s an old one’ “but I’m over the moon happy with it” :) ], and people wanting my pen to make Graceless members sign whatever they just bought. I’m cool with that, as Björn makes us all laugh wearing my Feyenoord cap… imagine a Hagenese Ajakkesfan with The Right Cap LOL. Benediction had taken the stage, after Peter Rewinksi and Dave had been providing drinks and signatures to everyone around, all day long ;). It’s so good to see the band on stage again, Dave on the place where he belongs, no offense to Dave Hunt nor Barney Greenway of course; but Dave Ingram is THE Benediction singer. The band does a cross of their entire career in the best way: I heard Dreams you Dread, Subconscious Terror, The Grand Leveller and Grind Bastard being mentioned before heading back to the tent. We didn’t even know another band was scheduled, but it turned out to be a Hypocrisy tribute named Chaos and Confusion. Wanda doesn’t have as much with Hypocrisy as I do, so we plug in the ear plugs and doze off. I heard several hits (Roswell, Pleasure, Disclosure and so on) before falling asleep. It had been a good day. Too warm, but good.

Ehh did I say good day? Wanda lost it entirely the following morning. She had trouble standing, sitting, walking, eating, drinking so one storm of temper made me decide to bail out and empty the tent, toss it into the car and drive… Her tears went right to my soul and all I could do was ‘I bring you home safely’ and I did. Instead of sitting in the car for another 10, 11 hours we drove some seven and a half. Only traffic jam we encountered was near Hamburg (again, but now only one instead of three) and pulling over for diesel, coffee and salami ;) At home I could plunder my self-imported Faxe cans (with another Viking motive, yay!) and have one afpils before calling it a night. The tent hung to dry, the memory foam mattress was in its normal form, sleeping bags aired and the first Laundomat rolled. All I needed for the Sunday was a shave, Chinese, voetbal and MT, but there’s no voetbal and I can’t see Chinese happening after so much Bratwurst ^^ DEUTSCHLAND IST METAL!

Oh yeah the Saturday would hold Venom Inc., Fleshcrawl, Skeletal Remains and some bands I'm hardly familiar with. Fine. Wanda is safe, that's enough.

So short after posting it on https://metal-tavern.proboards.com/thre ... enediction members (login) and guests (sign in) haven't responded yet ;)

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sat Jul 16, 2022 7:30 am 
 

Gatecreeper, Graceless, Mouflon Baroeg, Rotterdam

Gatecreeper is a band that got to me as an Iron Reagan fan. They have released a split CD together, which I liked a lot and the CD Sonoran Deprevation gets regular spins. That they would do a European tour was a good point, bringing in Graceless and Mouflon for a Baroeg date was even better! We’d sleep in Barendrecht once more and via De Pint on our way to Spinozaweg 300 ;) In the last weeks before the show it was announced that the evening would also give place to a charity for the Neurofibromatosis fund, selling Vieze Pim’s shirts and music collection. Details would follow swiftly, was the information. Fine. With Protzen’s heat clearly remembered, we were to travel early, so we’d have all the time to recuperate from heat exhaustion… but it wasn’t that bad. I brought 4 drive shirts, but didn’t need any all the route ^^ Well-nourished at De Pint we got a taxi and his phone number for the return. In pouring rain, no heat to be found, we got to Baroeg.

Between the smokers we entered the venue, already looking to anything that might be interesting. Wanda even found a Pissectomy CD ;) (but didn’t know about it, so she left it ;) ) and I enlarged my collection buying CDs of Necrophobic (The Nocturnal Silence - this album used to be one of Sven Gross’favorites as well!), DeadHead, Bloodphemy and an original Persecution Mania. The shirts gave a lot of people shivers, as they were worn by Pim himself. We picked three and have some fine ideas how to use them. Wanda tried the Demolition Hammer shirt, but as he was wearing M mostly and sometimes L, nah. We have other goals for these items. In the meantime Mouflon was setting stage for another steamroller death metal show. The sound was awesome, the smoke machine might be a bit too enthusiast but the band clearly has a great set in mind for us. As if Obituary was poured into a concrete mixer and its gears jammed on maximum velocity :cool: The first solo even had a hint of blues (!) to it. Very good gig!

Just before the Graceless gig we spoke to Remco about the new CD to come. The band got an exceptionally warm welcome by means of an original Baroeg mosh pit. Between the concrete poles people of all sizes, hair lengths and some ‘spiked like Nifelheim’ gave a violent display how lively death metal is in The Netherlands :lol: :cool: An excellent gig was followed by two surprises: In Warpath Marc hit his big China to oblivion; before any sign of an encore he grabbed it and ran to me, handing it over with a big smile ‘there you go, fanboy’ :cool: and Jasper wants us to fill his new denim :cool: . He’d heard about the Erik Hendriks denim and wanted it done like that :cool: by us :cool: Details follow ;) Wanda picked the set list off Björn’s stack:
- Die on Demand
- Malignant Seed
- Retaliation of the Wicked (simultaneous banging of the band and audience, what a great sight!!)
- Shadowlands (I get Dikke Kimberly a Graceless patch as she knows Graceless was one of Pim’s favorite bands)
- Revenge Us – oooohhh that Bolt Thrower feel makes my hairs stand up \m/
- Blood of the Brave – Remco suggests a prize poll for the new album title. First one I hear: Scream Bloody Remco :lol:
- Embrace the Rain – embraced by both Kimberly and Wanda
- Warpath – what an explosion of the good violence! [see remark on China LOL]

Gatecreeper didn’t need much to make Baroeg explode once more. The modern, American cross of Fleshcrawl, Necrophobic and Motörhead kills instantly, loud, sharp and well recognized by a nearly sold out Baroeg. I don’t have any song titles but I’m sure every song gets a real cheer and a thankful crowd. The mosh pits go on and off, we’re everywhere to be found: at the stage, at the merch stand, at the bar and near the decreasing collection of Pim. I think the Neurofibromatosis fund gets a well-earned amount of money and people move out with their hands full and their eyes watered. I felt Pim’s presence several times this night. When I got HJ for me and Weizener for Wanda I looked up and smiled. I spoke to several of his friends, including the bands performing and not a bad note was dropped. We picked up the China, our bag with ‘new’ CDs and shirts, but not the lost cap (see Thanatos review) and the gig manager refused to do anything to get a show poster for us. Fine. What irritated us as well, we’d called the taxi again and sitting in one, we got three calls where we were? By three different taxi drivers? Come on, even brushing my teeth at De Gaanderij the phone went… Screw that. I deleted the number and get another company next time we arrive at De Pint blah blah blah. After a bit of a short night we got an excellent Gaanderij breakfast and doing my hobby for the 7,968th time we drove home via Utrecht instead of Den Haag. Fine. Typing this I heard the Necrophobic- and the DeadHead CDs and know why Pim and Sven liked these so much \m/ Another surprise awaited us at home: our neighbor Julian insisted us to accept a crate full of rock, metal, kids stuff and scent candles because they’re expanding the attic soon… movies about Maja de Bij, AC/DC, Johnny Cash and more expanded our (and Thirza’s… not going to listen to Limp Bizkit any time soon >< ) collection with some 100 titles… not metal but thankful we will watch and listen those. Creep into the Graceless Gates filled with Mouflon… metal!

P.S. oh yeah, on Kreft’s birthday it was released the new Graceless CD is named Chants from Purgatory \m/ a sure buy for us. Happy Birthday to our friend!
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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Mon Aug 01, 2022 8:05 am 
 

Stonehenge 2022, feat. Suffocation, Bodyfarm, July 30th, Stationsplein Steenwijk

This edition of Stonehenge festival would hold a novelty: not just in a few bands that had not done Steenwijk before, but I’d bring my blues-lovin’ brother Toon to his very first real metal festival ever! Note, he’d seen AC/DC, Metallica, Iron Maiden and some (mostly AC/DC-) tribute bands, but his core love is blues. R. Gallagher, S.R. Vaughan, A/B.B. King and J. Healey; he’d seen them more often than I’d seen Suffocation, for example. Some bands have frequented Stonehenge, like Suffocation, Misery Index, Beheaded, Benighted, Sinister and Bodyfarm, some are new to these grounds (Samael, LIK, Helslave and so on.) So, as a result of our Thirzastruck app group I’d get us all tickets. Early birds bought in October 2019, then some single ones for an as big as possible joining at B&B Blitterswijk; I had 7 tickets. But, in a friendly move, Tom got Maarten MsD’s ticket (vacation with the family) and Wanda would not be able to stand the temperatures and lack of shadow… FB is our friend (never tell anyone I say that quite often lately :roll: ) Johnny Amsterdam soon reacted, as did Bert Schimmel, later reactants had to be disappointed… But Johnny isn’t the best planner too, as he’d agreed to be picked up at Hoogkarspel train station, Toon would come from Ommen camping (named The Werewolf hihi) and Bert wouldn’t be in Steenwijk before halfway the afternoon… bring in the phones again >< Alex would bring Peter Lord Belial and Thirza, I thought I’d have Wanda, Toon and Johnny around but no. I drive alone this time;pick up Johnny near Lelykstad and on. 9 o’clock sharp in Scheerwolde, we’d agree. Kees and Alicia would drive early too, see if we can join taxi once more. Gezellig!

The coffee was good, family happy and a taxi was called. We arrived at the entrance at just the moment Insurrection thanked the crowd so we’d missed Black Rabbit and Insurrection. Ahh finally ‘good’ wrist bands, now linen instead of plastic paper. Good, both my Dutch Denim as my Holland Hoodie get Stonehenge, Tom immediately offered to rip off his whenever we’d return to Blitterswijk. First, get coins and my round was the first one ;) Putrefied Corpse was the first band we did see. The death/grind of Arno and his friends sounded fresh to me, like Napalm Death; musically in ‘Enslavement’-era but then with Repulsion-like vocals. Good starter! Toon soon mentioned ‘all vocals sound alike’, but after Indominus he already softened that to ‘ahh there IS difference in style‘ ^^ By the time Sodomized Cadaver came to stage, I already had seven selfies to show Wanda ;) Indominus sounded way to technical for my likings, but the band did get some positive respons (aka people didn’t really walk away :lol: ) Sodomized Cadaver plays some cross between Immolation and old Gorguts. But the sun was merciless, so Toon and Alex both bought a Bloodphemy cap, not knowing what to expect in this band. They got the full ‘I like Messiah Marcolin so I wear a monks’ pie too and sing anti-religiously’ ;) It was near noon, so I didn’t stay long for Bloodphemy and was negatively surprised by what the snack car brought as ‘fricandel with fries XXL’ For three coins, such a meager portion of fries? Uhm, don’t nag, see Disquiet. I did keep nagging, as it seemed Disquiet forgot they’re on a metal festival… with some 70-ies disco tunes I walked away revolted. Helslave did get me in a good mood. The Italians play somewhere between old school death metal and some parts are pretty melodic. I thought of Carnage, Amon Amarth and a flair of faster Bodyfarm songs.

Abrupt Demise and Foetal Juice – ehh talking to friends I had not seen in 5, 6 years AND befriended to Toon – I hardly had time to notice them. During Foetal Juice we decided to hit the city, as the other food provider got out of stock… Pizza, pasta and HJ it became. Nothing bad with Grolsch, but HJ is my brand ;) sitting beneath a huge parasol it was good to be able to talk easily. People do worry about Wanda and that’s great to notice, more pictures sent home ^^ Coming back to the venue Jurassic Park was on stage. The band sounds like Saxon, but not as fierce, as Peter Lord Belial rightfully mentioned. I sent Alex and Toon to the stage, Toon had seen Saxon with his scouting pals at the end of the eighties ;) I had found a Bodyfarm cap for my collection and decided to buy Toon a Bodyfarm shirt, just to be sure he’d remember the name. Not that Bodyfarm got on stage after Jurassic Park, that was Cytotoxin, again way too technical and weird for me. I had seen Bodyfarm DID show up and posted us at the first row. Hell and firepower combined, here’s one of Holland’s best death metal bands:
- Intro – Into Battle
- Woods of Dismay
- Dreadlord
- Blasting Tyranny (a new song, dedicated to Thomas \m/)
- Slaves of War (still a killer song!)
- The Dark Age
- (Unbroken) – only to be played if the earlier songs were sped up? :)
What I noticed first, is that the volume of this stage is a lot higher than the stage further away from the train station. As far as this setting goes, I can’t remember that the volumes or sound qualities of the stages ever were different. What I noticed second, was that the sound check of Bodyfarm already better was than some of the bands that played before. Third, having my family and friends around when one of my favorite befriended bands are on stage, makes the experience even more special to me and fourth, the band is in friggin’shape, bang their heads like machine guns, have loads of fun on stage, make funny facials to their fans/friends and encourage the first pit of the festival day with all their hearts. Fifth – if the band is working on new songs that’s great news. Sixth: thank Alex Seegers for the set list. The band surely does have a future again, I truly hope this line up will last for many years!! I bought Toon a Bodyfarm shirt, as did Alex, and he bought one for himself, not knowing we'd done the same and, so he'd wouldn't forget which band is one of my favo's haha
What’s even better than a great band? At first I thought it was a rumor that the new date of the festival was announced, but now a headliner of the biggest alloy was coupled to that: AUTOPSY is indeed confirmed for the 2023 edition of Stonehenge!!! I hadn’t even noticed the new date was set just on the same page as the bands list and time schedule :roll: *supersilly Herrieman* AND: early birds were on sale already! I had plenty of cash, but hesitated to buy so soon (why shy? It’s my 11th consecutive Stonehenge in a row, YOU WANT TO RETURN) I can’t even recall why I didn’t buy instantly! Maybe because I wanted to probe who would join us next year, could be. But I really shouldn’t have worried. I now know Peter, Alex, Thirza and Tom will want to come along, as Johnny mentioned 'it's so good to see each other again, have a nice date for a return to talk again, have something to look out to and plain fun!’ Typing this I saw the 100 early birds were sold out already (on the field, of course) and our tickets are in my mailbox already. The rest of the line up is already interesting, as Vomitory will play along with Skullhog and Stoflik Omskot. NOW I understand why Gurbe walked the fields with such an enormous grin on his face!!! Wanda showed me an interview with a local metal mag, with the band telling where they would love to play… answer without hesitation ‘Stonehenge would be awesome’ \m/

But, back to now. This novelty of mine would be brought to the test: What would Toon say about Gutalax? Come to think of it, I don’t know if Alex or Thirza ever had seen the poop core before… Thirza possibly, as she visited some editions of Eindhoven Metal Meeting with me. All Van Kampens stood front row, EXCEPT ME! The beers had been so rapidly and abundant, I needed coffee, not a laxative :) I swerved around the pit, which was cool and enormous, but like said, without me. Later on Wanda got a FB movie of the pit, clearly with Alex, Thirza AND Toon present and a storm of confetti, blow up giraffes, toilet rolls and seats was present of course. Alex even got the set list:
- Assmeralda
- Toi Toi
- Nová – Nosím Misto Ponožky
- Nová – Poopcorn
- Nová – Diarrhero
- Šoustáni
- Total Rectal
- Fart and Furious
- Nová – Vaginapocalypse
- Jelen
- Donald
I think Nová means new, but I can’t hear any difference in old or new, but whatever. This band makes a party out of poo alone and counting three full lengths and three splits in a row that’s quite remarkable. The audience, no matter if they’re in Steenwijk, Eindhoven GoreCity, Trutnov or Copenhagen, it’s party time.
The Hannover Ladies spotted me and, to my surprise, Simone was in tears. Both ladies had suffered loss the last two years (death of the mother of the one and the father of the other) so I got quite emotional as well. It’s so good to know people from all over the continent care about each other, I insisted on getting ourselves in contact more again.
Consolation was next. I had known the band name for a long time, but never got to listen to them nor see them live. The death/grind was heavy, but I had to watch it from a distance. I can’t see it all, this day might as well have 29 bands… 27 now missing the first two. I had to use MA to find the band existed from 1989 to 2001 and between 2001 and 2005 under a different name. Fine. Time to eat. Not all of us thought they had enough cash, but all ATM’s were empty, broken or out of order. It was cozy to sit around parasols, 8 of us having a good time with HJ and Italian food.
It became time for LIK, had it not been the band has some sickness and last minute were replaced by Cryptosis. I promised myself, if I’d see them, I’d give them a fair chance of impressing me. The band, of course consisting of the late Distillator line up, now plays music in vein of bands/genres that influenced them and/or they like to play. Some interview mentioned Rush and Abbath as ‘likeable’ or ‘playable’ by Laurens, Frank and Marco, but I greatly missed the thrash energy, the guitar twang but strangely enough (remembering an Aardschok interview with Frank) mellotron and Hammond as well. I tried, I really did, but didn’t like it much.
Wanda later handed me a picture that exactly mirrored what I thought of Sinister at the moment: Aad looking angry that nobody near his stage is even interested or watching the band. Sorry guys, this is simply not your stage today. As it wasn’t on the 2014 edition, between Bodyfarm, Possessed and Obituary. I wanted to watch Malevolent Creation instead, but we were sitting at the farthest point of that stage so all I could do was a whiny picture, headbanging slightly to Eve of the Apocalypse, Premature Burial, Slaughter of the Innocent and Multiple Stab Wounds, not necessarily in this order. I liked it a lot, but as said hardly saw them. Another near miss: Misery Index. Again, I could not recall much, not because I don’t like it, but just never got to them right and they’ve played so often, I have no idea any more. In all good terms, the band got a warm welcome, just not by me because I simply wasn’t interested enough, as I haven’t been for quite some MI shows… Vader on the other hand, yeah that was great. Great to watch Toon finally getting the grunt, Alex banging his fist and head (not necessarily hitting each other ;) ) Thirza going nuts, Tom hitting the pit again, hearing a great sound of De Profundis songs, violence around, Pjotr in good mood and so on. Vader conquered Steenwijk and didn’t take prisoners. A LOT of Vader shirts got a new and satisfied owner, so to speak \m/

None had thought it would be easy for Suffocation to top Vader, but by hell they did. With a fierce set and an amazing sound no one stands still. Thirza made a little video for FB and you see me going nuts airguitaring, but totally missing the point musically HA HA HA. Suffocation simply SLAYED. Don’t ask me for titles this time, it was all good, old, new, fast or heavy, stuttering staccatos or fluent riffing, all was present. I think I’ve seen Suffocation on Stonehenge with three different singers : Mullen, Robinson, Myers. Awesome that a band can swift so easily, even though every singer has his own unique contribution to the band’s performance. Great!!

For the Marduk gig I made sure Toon and Alex sat down during the beginning of the set. I had brought beers, even though the beer pumps had been silent for some time… huh? A metal festival miscalculating beer??? Weizener it became, as a treat they weren’t two coins each, but due to the incident of Grolsch being sold out. I wanted to warn my brothers of the hell storm that was about to happen when Morgan and Co. entered stage: Marduk is celebrating 30 years of blasphemy, anti religion, war, hate and the rest and they don’t do a half job!! The anniversary is helped by another great sound, loud as a cannonballs being thrown off stairs of glass, fast as a razor through hot soup; all I had difficulty with was the blistering light show. But I know Marduk long enough to know it fits the set. All and all they played a nice cross of their entire carreer (thank setlist.fm for that, I just smiled to my brothers surviving the onslaught). Of course, the tracks I do recognize are Werwolf, Front Schwein and Panzer Division Marduk, the rest… click yourself ;)
Of headliner Samael I can be short: too much keys, hardly guitars, weird drum lines and way, way too much light for my likings. We rose up as one, emptied the last coins (handy for next year? I had totally forgotten to check before going >< I still have 2019 coins ><) . We could wait for a taxi, but none wanted to accept the nine of us, only put it in twos and threes for maximum gain? Oh no. Tom volunteered to drive us two times, he’s been off alcohol for two years now, and it fits him great. We split up, waiting for the second ride to have an afpils with my cousin Toon, but he didn’t show up. Fine, we were tired anyway, it had been a busy and long day full of several genres; 2,000 visitors meaning 1,000 friends, hugs, talks, beers and METAL! Great to see so many parts of my life talking by again, Marcels 1, 3, 4, 7, 8 and 11 present ^^ Thanks to Toon and Mirjam once more, the bed and breakfast were great as usual and the date is already set for next year: July 29th featuring AUTOPSY and at least six of us. Tickets bought typing this review, listening to bands I missed yesterday (…) and recalling the pictures and stories all over again. Metal!

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 4:43 am 
 

Party-San 2022, August 11-13, Schlotheim - Obermehler Flugplatz

At Party-San 2018 it was decided soon enough: we return to Obermehler Airport, whether 2019 or beyond. 2020 it would be, as Infernäl Mäjesty was one of the first bands announced! When such an old name of such a great band FINALLY enters my sight, I don’t hesitate. Special Sacred Reich appearance! Add Dismember, first time Germany in Blood knows how many years, yeah. Book Fleshcrawl – of course they might return to PSOA (I have seen excellent footage of a very young Sven Gross ^^) hey there’s Asphyx and friggin’Graceless!! We were informed by Remco himself with an annotation I know so well: ‘hush up, it’s the biggest surprise, we HEADLINE the tent!’ What can go wrong? Uhm, actually turn in 2020, that’s wrong. The postponement at self wasn’t a surprise, but to cancel Sacred Reich, Infernäl Mäjesty and a lot more made it sour. Minus: I’ve booked the tickets through my ancient MRU-mail address, so I can’t use the voucher option, I just have to buy new tickets >< Another minus: it would be quite more expensive to actually get to Schlotheim with band asking more, increasing fuel costs, shutting co-operating firms and having to seek newer/more expensive ones, hygiene rules added, kuttderdekut. Probably booze will be over the top now, right?? Biggest let down: Sven Gross’ death in June 2021. Thinking of that time Wanda and me met him and his lovely wife Dani on those holy metal grounds, I miss his bear hug every show I go to.

So, in the end I found the mail and the news got around: the organizers gave ticket buyers the choice:
a. return your tickets – refund
b. exchange tickets for a fee: € 25 extra due to expanding costs for bands, stage builders, catering, fuel, blah blah. 2022 tickets were sent by guarded mail – extra cost. I chose the b. option and told Bram to do the same. I already kept in mind Wanda might not join us, we’re in the middle of a health cyclus, to cope with the long-covid Wanda faces triple compared to me… she wouldn’t join (stress of driving, heat, people, sound, lights (…sounds like me ><) and the idea she’d have to recover for a month after this festival). But damned! Bram had totally forgotten to exchange his ticket!! Grumpily I offered Wanda’s fresh and not to be used/sold 2022 ticket… Still, a great line up to look forward to. We decided to stop at Wewelsburg first and have a sight at the spiritual nerve centre of the SS (I’m highly interested in the war, tactics, battles but not the ideologies). I picked up Bram at 9:45 only to find out he did get his ticket straight. Kees Bloemkool couldn’t join us at such short notice. Now I can chose to either get myself a second wrist band or try to sell it at the door. First stop was a toilet break but the normal toilets were broken, so we had to do something on over the top filled Dixies (?Where’s Gutalax now?!) and revolted we drove on. The Student hotel in Büren was really the cheapest of cheap hotels I’ve ever seen… we called it Neukbunker and drove on. Wewelsburg was interesting but also sped up… we had 20 minutes to see the entire castle and missed the last WW2 tour by five minutes… 200 pictures to be sent in due time On the terrain the tents were put on swiftly and early enough to see that the special Asphyx Krushes PartySan shirts were not sold out yet, so I got in line and scribbled the names of the shirts on my comment’s page and confused myself how dumb people can be… imagine a line of some 200 metalheads waiting for any special shirt, with people at the front moping ‘I don’t know what shirt I want yet’, or ‘should I L or XL’ to ‘I tried this shirt, still don’t like the design’ AND THEN moping the PIN doesn’t work. GRRRRRRR. I got in, three seconds later moved out with 4 shirts and € 80 lighter. So. That’s the way to do it. Fools.

Standing in line gave a nice view to see Birdflesh open this PSOA; the 26th edition, my fourth and Bram’s first. We called the band ‘the ultimate BS opening of a festival’ but the sound was good. Hello Sylvia & Jürgen!! It took me only five minutes to sell the ticket and off to Goddess’ merch stand. Hey, Jerry is here again so HJ patches to shred ^^ We might even have persuaded Bart, Rob (The Steenwijk Gang) or Leon and Brian to start patched denims this way I had chosen to bring some tributes as shirts (Bodyfarm, Fleshcrawl, Voïvod and Schoonebeek) and that turned out to be a good decision.

Second band today was Revel in Flesh. The band had a marvelous sound and were in for the Death Kult Legions to slay! I missed the first song but if they bring on Death Kult Legion as second song we’re in for a party. Shadowbreeder is not only a fan favorite, but the band easily binds people playing this killer track. Emissaries of all Plagues is the next waltz maker, the first pit of the festival happens just around me. Rest of the songs: Casket Ride, two more, In the Name of the Flesh (dedicated to Sven Gross) and ender Rock On. Great gig!!

To me the third band is Gaerea but it doesn’t ring any bell. Death? Black maybe? Doom for starters? Uhm, leave that to others. I’d rather meet the Carnation guys and our old Schlachtfest buddy Lukas for a good conversation about metal, travelling with or without loved ones and more. We agreed to watch Whoredom Rife together, he’d bought a shirt but had not seen them before, just like me. What weI heard and saw was a blistering Marduk-like show of violent black metal, bloody and dirty. I might add I was tempted to buy myself some Whoredom Rife stuff, but when I looked at the line at the official merch booth I totally forgot about that. I could not forget to watch Carnation blowing up the tent as headliner! Starting off with Reincarnation, Bram, Lukas and me already begun our headbanging contest I made a picture of the set list, gave that away and when Jonathan spotted that I got his guitar pick ^^
- Reincarnation
- Iron Discipline
- Plague Breeder
- Malformed Regrowth
- Necromancer
- Sepulcher of Alteration
- Stench of Death (a new song!!)
- Where Death Lies
- Fathomless Depths

Again, the band is in great shape, play tight and with visible pleasure. The audience is more than happy to participate in a great death metal show. Kudos to the organizers to give a relative young band (first time I saw them was in 2015) such a great spot on the bill. The band came by to thank me personally for rigging up their show, headbanging like a bull in an arena, shouting, making others see/hear this great band and more. The tent trembled… We spent quite some time in the tent anyway, as Graceless will play there tomorrow and because of the heat we’ll need the shadow most. But having heard two great bands doesn’t mean the others are good too. Mayhem totally shut me out by playing without any gizz and what I’ve heard from Cannibal Corpse was it a mess as well. Bram had seen the Mazurkewiezcs sound check (yawning and certainly not tight) and it was Paul that messed up several intros as well. OK Scourge of Iron was first and that brought a smile to my face, but in my sleeping bag already. Bram wasn’t content at all, he’d said, for his third CC show it was the least of them all. It didn’t help him to see Erik Rutan on stage instead of Pat O’Brien, but that’s beyond now. ‘Tired and overstretched’ were the terms I heard several times the next day

Friday started in the Schlotheim village and soon Warsteiner with our Leipzig- and Chemnitz-neighbors Tommy, Michael and Chris, bit early for beer haha. All five men shared Kadaverficker with a smile. Bring in pig squeals, OK, nutty circle pitting, beach balls and llama’s, brutal death and filthy grind to make a good start for this day. Like Exhumed they have an ‘extra’, wearing dirty masks, throwing orange soda ‘Leichenwasser’ like Insane Clown Posse (but with closed bottles now), plastic drolls and trolls and French fries?! Pffghhahahaha this was funny but tight nonetheless. LIK was next on main stage and they also sounded really good, but I got stung by a wasp and had not brought enough sun tan lotion to make it through the day in one piece. I’d wear a shirt on the day and an open denim on the evenings, like I’d done on PSOA 2018 as well. I returned when Malevolent Creation was on main stage. I saw most of the show with Ivor, Dikke K and Agga and all fan favorites passed by. Bram had also seen 1914, but the focus was on the nowadays war instead of the War to End All Wars. I understand an Ukranian band to want to express this, but not after every friggin’song ><. Instead of 1914 I should have seen Bütcher, Space Chaser and (more of) Onslaught, but I needed food and not just fries and burgers Onslaught began with Let There be Death and I was out

According to the schedule Misery Index was next. Uhm, sure? Maybe I’ve seen them 22 times but still to no ordeal. Messiah on the other hand was TOTALLY of my liking, me wearing my Svenson Gross Memorial shirt and the band thanked me for doing so. At least I heard Choir of Horrors (hey, that’s a long time ago they played that!) and Space Invaders. I think more than half of all Dutch festival visitors were present scattering the really last bit of Pim’s ashes at the entrance to the festival. Kimberly mentioned how difficult it would be to bring in the container, needing permits and so on and maybe not even getting it beyond security :grumble: Belgian Philip filmed it, I might get it later. It was emotional, again, and again good. So many present, so real was the loss.

What I didn’t consider to be real was Heidevolk. Bram had been all over it BEFORE the show, afterwards he reacted like I did: babble about new grounds to conquer but forgetting to take their instruments warlike. ‘People who don’t sing along to us are traitors of their roots’ After a friggin’1914 show? Come on, lose it. Bram and me roamed the merch booths again, he’d bought me a Cause of Death belly bag and a pile of patches, we bought each other shirts and the belly bag was well used: I’d felt the insides of my thighs scraping with the dust, sweat and heat and wore the cotton PartySan shorts I used for driving. My normal shorts would hold my wallet, booklet, phone and so on, but the cotton shorts would have been zipping off my ass all day had I not gotten the belly bag ^^ Thanks a lot matey!

I wasn’t high on missing Uada, but I needed to rush anyway: Asphyx would be next on main stage. I knew beforehand I’d have to miss at least the final song to be able to stand first row at the Graceless show. The band... how many times have I seen them, how many different line ups, how many countries and venues combined? Everything is friggin’great concerning Asphyx, if you ask me and I wasn’t let down: the sound check was already drooping with fun and ffkk-heavy guitars and bass, big smiles all around (band, crew, PSOA crew, bar personnel, audience) and an overall eagerness to get KRUSHED AT PARTYSAN (like the special edition shirts I bought for myself and Bram) and I wrote:
- Quest for Absurdity
- Vermin
- Molten Black Earth
- Death the Brutal Way
- Abomination Echoes – was it really? No, I later recognized The Krusher
- Death Hammer
- ehh not sure which – I just kept ‘oeoeoeoeoeiiinng rrrroooaarrr MOOOOREEE’)
- It Came from the Skys
- Knight Templar Stand
- Asphyx – Forgotten War – I had to bail

Again, I was sore in throat, hangy in arms, ploink in neck and from then on I don’t have hair, I have a straw hat glued to my head. Walking to the tent I spotted Jeff Walker and Bill Steer AND Agga, so I gave him a great chance to fanboy himself to the band. To me it is still weird, three, four days later, not to have seen the entire Asphyx set. OK, I’ve been too late for a show once or twice (boys needing to eat before FortaRock as I shouted ‘come on guys, Asphyx already plays’, running beyond the bar into the tent and in The Last One On Earth I still heard ‘hee Herrieman!’ ) but that was ages ago. Now I leave with a purpose… how many can say they were with headlining friends? First Carnation, now Graceless, showing Jasper the Nailgun Massacre patch I made and Remco instantly wanting one too As for the show… totally satisfied once more. Loud as a tent can hold, sharper than Aileen Wuornos on trial, brickshitting heavy, all SOOOO FRiGINN’Graceless!!
- We Will be Gods
- Malignant Seed
- Somewhere they played Blood of the Brave, Embrace the Rain, Shadowlands, Warpath and hell knows what others, it was a massacre. A victory run. Pleasure dome. Sweatfest. Throat ache inducing. Merch buying capability.

To my own surprise, I only have one picture pre to the gig (the backdrop still hanging halfway over the drum kit) and one smoky band picture. No set list, they were long gone by the time the band came over to me and celebrate. I think I got a beer, a Lemmy, four hugs and even more hands to shake

But I won’t shake anything regarding Katatonia. Over the years the band went from doom to goth to goo and a lot of people especially DON’T understand what these guys were doing between Asphyx and Carcass. If only Asphyx and Katatonia could have changed slots XgrumbleX Such a strange idea to drastically alter the atmosphere there… OSDM – goo – technical death with grind and melodics??? I wasn’t quite sharp anymore so after Incarnated Solvent Abuse and Heartwork I called it quits and ducked into my tent. I’m sure they started with a different song but I can’t do it all.

Saturday morning started in the village again, now also a sightseeing route through Thüringen. I picked up bread for Wanda, the tiniest of Pfeffie bottle I’ve ever seen (had to hand it over at the entrance :grumble: ) and water for the ride home. With Bram around you can’t always know what will happen next, so we decided to hit the village once more and get another tiny Pfeffie bottle ^^ tucked into the sides of Bram’s pants ‘everybody can lie, as long as you hide the stuff well enough’ We even brought a local metalhead for the last day. He had a huge backpack and had missed the shuttle bus, wanted to walk, but he didn’t know it would be over 6 km to get there. Missed Slaughterday by a mere 20 seconds but got the promo card signed, having a great time with Bram discovering he could talk Dutch to the Slaughterdayers From the signing booth the reactions to my Schoonebeek Deathfest 2017 shirt were already heartwarming and during Fleshcrawl I also got their approval I still don’t need Purgatory so I moved on to Nunslaughter. It’s one of Wanda’s favorite bands so I placed myself halfway the merch booth and the stage, having excellent view on both. Bram’s reaction ‘whoah, they’re really fast, right?’ Don’t ask titles, as Wanda later explained ‘they release every fart they can muster, it’s funny to see they keep up in lyrics and artwork’ Highlights to me: ‘The Smell of Burning Churches’ and Red is the Color of Ripping Death. Shirt bought for Wanda, but when I made a picture of their (four!) backpatches she said at home she’d wanted them all? Uhm miscommunication ><

Of Saor and Bözedeath I don’t have any clue, I went out for noodles and tried as hard as I could to get to Fleshcrawl. Now, from 1987 (Morgöth – Suffocation – Fleshcrawl) only Bastian is an original member, but by Jumbo, has this band a Mammoth sound or not? Beginning with Carved in Flesh I knew the band will not let me/us/them down. Shout your guts out, feel the energy, smell the rough power this band has developed over the years. Typing this I remember most clearly where my stinging throat got worse:
- Intro
- Carved in Flesh
- Bloodred Massacre
- Flesh Bloody Flesh
- Embraced by Evil
- Lost in a Grave
- Alter Obliteration (‘midtro’ it was called ;) )
- From the Dead to the Living (I had to get beers, found a doof that didn’t know he tried to give €2 instead of € 4 so I helped the bastard ><)
- Under the Banner of Death – Death – DEATH – DEEEAAAATHH \m/
- Soulskinner – trying hard to contact Thirza ^^
- DA NEW ONE (I wrote ‘In the Dead of Night’ sp.?)
- As Blood Rains From the Sky
- The Day Man Lost (Boris didn’t introduce it as Sven did ‘this is the best death metal song ever written’ but I did :lol: )

Only a few minutes after the set list was handed to me by Manu (THANK YOU) the stage was empty and the signing booth overfilled: somehow both Fleshcrawl and Impaled Nazarene were testing the Edding 3000s – white, silver, BLACK haha. Time for another stroll, another visit to Goddess and their neighors, spilling more cash and having drinks. I think I missed three bands but I can’t help it, it was so cozy and comfortable in the shade. In the tent the temperatures were ‘doable’, due to the construction between toilets, air let in, bar and festival ground. Köstritzer will not be my favorite, but the Hell and Black versions do mix properly. Also in the tent: Cytotoxin. Bart and Rob totally freak out, nearly hitting my beer with their hand gestures (…) but this band does nothing to me. I met Roger Wicki of the Messiah club along with Dikke K and she wanted a Messiah shirt. Roger did have one of her size, but in the car so we stuck around Husky, Sabrina and Alwin and Sabrina got a call – Roger had lost his All Access Card so he wasn’t allowed in anymore. He had to get his passpord and original accreditation, so Sabrina volunteered to get the shirt. She came running, fearing we’d gone off to another band. Don’t worry hahahaha, we won’t. Never seen such a lovely woman sweat so much :lol: the sweet

In bands… heard Blood Incantation and Impaled Nazarene from the sides of the grounds, got a White Russian as first thank you to the Messiah shirt and waited for Bram to show up once more. He’s rabid about old Dark Funeral and he got exactly what he wanted (and in a way, so did I) Extreme and to the point vocals, a great sound but the band started sloppy. OK, it got better in the end, but Dark Funeral has most power in vocals, not in musical harmony A band that does get harmony, brutality, cohesion and the likes in their proper form is BENEDICTION. The band really blows speakers, tight, Dave in great shape and an overall feeling of YEAHHH GOOD!! I hear Transcend the Rubicon, Grind Bastard and a few possible reasons to buy Scriptures Benediction totally has it again (over the years they did get better, apart from one show in Bamberg, headlining over Cancer). Just like in Protzen a month ago, the band has a feel that energizes the crowd, perfectly warming them up for Dismember. To me, Dismember can’t do much wrong. My third Dismember show in 20 years and I think this is the best one. Reborn in Blasphemy already started a violent pit, Pieces cut everybody in half. Imagine the album cover – yeah something like that. Forget both Benediction and Dismember had some technical difficulties, like a total dead backline for half a song, but the fire doesn’t wane when that happens. Stronger, it seems to heat up the rabid crowd even more. Another few links to these last bands:
- Singers have great stamina
- Singers sound friggin’fresh
- Singers have fun
Skin her Alive – thanks to British censors this song is cheered to most. It seems Peter, Dave, Darren and the rest are on the side of the stage and NO ONE gets them out of there - Skinfather – only drums but hundreds of cheering fans. Estby is a funny man as well, as he announced Misanthropy as ‘now a real slow one, I need a beer’ :lol: \m/ Having missed them in Norway, Sweden and the USA is all forgotten now. KILLER SHOW!! Lights not to bright, not that much smoke, a hell of a sound and festival grounds that fit the band – all awesome. At the end I got pretty close to the stage so my pictures are worthy as well. I tuck in with a twisted smile ^^ I’m not even sure how much Bram had seen but that’s his worry, not mine.

Breaking up the tent with only a banana, one coffee and one toilet visit made me see Bram had had it. His duck feet were killing him, we’re lucky it’s only on THIS time it happened. He got swirly in the head packing his tent so sent him to a Dixie and I cleared the tent area. The German neighbors were long gone (I sent Tommy a Graceless Horde baby shirt) and we agree: drive at least 100 km in the relative cool and THEN coffee/breakfast. I drive to Kassel, 104 km from Schlotheim, nasty American kid around (what the fuck does this screamer want my keys for? >< And why doesn’t his father nor mother set him straight?? ><) but the rest is 600 km Sauna today. We agreed to stop whenever my 2 bottles of water are empty, change shirts and drive on! In Enkhuizen Vok and Joke notice how tired I am so I don’t do the entire story like I’m used to. I want my Wanda and I get her
Later on, say, Monday, Wanda got a picture of the Graceless set list from Ivor. I apparently gave the set list to Ivor and we both forgot hahah booze haha. Here it is:
- We Will Be Gods
- Malignant Seed
- Retaliation of the Wicked
- Slashed and Served
- Shadowlands
- Blood of the Brave
- Embrace the Rain
- Warpath
- Die on Demand

Next years’ PartySan has been announced for August 10th - 12th, first bands don ‘t really warm me up yet: Kataklysm, Dying Fetus, Illdisposed, Midnight, Tribulation, Endstille, PostMortem. Only appealing bands so far could be Deströyer 666, Borknagar, Gatecreeper and Spearhead (as it is a Bolt Thrower tribute or not?)

Uhm, we’ll see. Regarding Wanda’s temperature and stress issues nothing is certain right now. No Dynamo Metalfest nor Neuborn OAF for here this month. I will join plenty of people to plenty of metal, but I can hardly stand how drained she is after being alone for more than two days. I’m considering…. Metal.

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 4:45 am 
 

Dynamo Metalfest 2022, headliners Kreator, Testament, Kunstijsbaan Eindhoven, Aug.20-21

Of this festival you can easily say it was wanted. Needed. Just. Anticipated? Also. To visit a decent festival, even a single-day-one, was over 18 months ago! OK, we’ve had some sit-ins and those were pretty cool, but at first I didn’t even want to go. Why not? Uhm, not to be nagging, but the first line up wasn’t really tops for us. We’d see LIK, were invited by Graceless and it wasn’t until Amon Amarth was (re-)scheduled as headliner for the Sunday, it got all itchy around me. I could easily buy Alex a birthday gift, print one ticket for Tom as Municipal Waste would be there… hey now you read about it, it’s getting better and better as I write ;) So, when the tix hit the fan, it would be the Sunday only, for Amon Amarth, for The Waste, for Alex, Thirza, Wanda and me. But it is still a crazy time, as most American bands wouldn’t risk flying into Europe at all (see second postponement of PartySan, M.I.S.E. and Protzen Open Airs) within two hours after buying tickets Amon Amarth had to cancel, the next day it got clear The Waste wouldn’t cross the ocean and what else? Testament had to cancel, but at first we’d not go to the Saturday anyway…. [namely because of Heaven Shall Burn, Jinjer, Flotsam] but all of a sudden Asphyx is announced, Kreator replacing Amon Amarth and Legion of the Damned was booked. For Saturday! At first we wouldn’t see Graceless as they’d play Saturday, but now it’s an all-weekend-fest again! OK, our tickets nearly cost double this way and another visit to Sandton would also break some budget, but at least WE GO. ALL WEEKEND. BANDS. FRIENDS. BEER. MERCH. What else do we need? ;) hihi, name ‘early to rise, early to ride’, ‘taxi from Sandton’ and bring in sun tan lotion. Screw HSB/F&J, screw the government, screw vaccinstress, fkcu the rain if necessary, WE GO.

But another year of near-shutdown made the turmoil complete. In matter of weeks, months the names Asphyx, Amon Amarth, Obituary, Midnight, Legion of the Damned, Clutch, Municipal Waste, Unleash the Archers, Sacred Reich, Grave, TBDM and Rings of Saturn were ripped off the line up >< In favor of who? Candlemass, Lamb of God, Cannibal Corpse, Cattle Decapitation, Angelus Apatrida, Vended, Urne? Is that it? Uhm, I still have that reservation… altered four times as the Westfriesian accent doesn’t match Ehhhndhovens accent? This way, e-mail is more clear :roll: We’d drive around 9, be at Sandton around 11, taxi, first band. It wasn’t even that different, but coming to Kunstijsbaan some typical Dynamo horror occurred: lines, lines, lines. We had to wait for over an hour to have our ticket checked ‘no sir, two day tickets don’t cuntcount for a combi ticket’ and not even being searched made my frown even wider: unexperienced ticket scanners, no formal friskers, line at the lockers, line at the card booth (‘all expenses off one card, keep your status up digitally’ :roll: ) and 5 bars of 10 m each, but no single person able to let the beer ROLL?? Hand one beer in, pour another… POUR 10 in row damnit!! Unexperienced and outnumbered bar personnel, haven’t they learned shit at Loud Noise? No they haven’t. Standing in line #67 we knew we’d missed the one band I wanted to see and had not seen before: Tankzilla, sort of the youngest offspring of the Peter Pan Speedrock legacy (OK, they play again after a hiatus of several years pre-covid). First band we got to see was Dressed the Dead; modern shrill shitnoise. The sound is OK, but the grooves and breaks follow each other so fast I’m fooled. Skip. Next band skip as well: Vended, a sleaze filled cross of Mötley Fuck and Slipkut. Third band got more time to bore us: Firewind. It’s a band for people who bump each other saying ‘how heavy can you be after hearing modern Iron Maiden?’ Ggghhhh. But one thing I knew when Id missed Tankzilla: there’d be a fourth borefest: Cattle Decapitation. The singer tried to be as vegan aggressive as he could, but the (little) wind couldn’t get his vocals beyond the first barrier. Yeah, the first row, whoever there might stand. Helicopter banging OK, but the overall set is out of balls to me. Still, the band gets most cheers up to now, as folks like Steenwijk Gangmembers Bart and Jurwin totally headbutt ;) Nice for them, I eat.

Coming to the subject of eating, there’s another typical Dynamo way: tame food for way too much money. At the start of the day the small pizzas had a bill of friggin’€ 16! Noodles of Carbonara without Nara… for €14, the sauce was so weak you needed a spy glass to find the bacon. ‘Big fries’ were served on the smallest of snackbar plates you normally pay € 1,50 for… €6. One friggin’kroket or fricandel - € 6. OK, the most expensive pizzas and Thai were downprized during the day, but not enough in my opinion. As if all two years of Covid loss had to be earned in one day? I long for those Wãldrock days… big plate of fricandel and fries for one coin… fl. 2,50…

Back to music. And music is what we get when Marc Osegueda and his nephews (… ;) ) enter stage: Death Angel starts with the Ultra-Violence intro and Mistress of Pain and all hell is back in Kunstijsbaan. The band, most experienced of course, doesn’t need a riff-break-groove-letdown-riff-repeat every three seconds, but it’s thrash, Thrash, THRAAASSHHH from the start. Add an excellent mix and plenty of volume and Death Angel wins my metal heart once more. A hint of the set list:
- The Ultra-Violence
- Mistress of Pain
- Evil Priest
- Seeming Endless Time
- The Dream Calls for Blood
- -then a few tracks the band gets us and themselves some air—
- Thrashers
- Thrown to the Wolves
Needless to say I had a great time, maybe apart from the section in the middle. The last album I really enjoyed was, I think, The Art of Dying and have heard mostly snippets of more recent material. Osegueda tells us about the secret gig yesterday in Dynamo club, with a totally different set list (apart from Thrashers) and according to setlist.fm I don’t think I can choose between those evenings. To me, Death Angel is on the highs of 1988 again and that brings a huge smile to my face, knowing Alex and Thirza went out of their heads too, pit along, dust clouds swirling over Kunstijsbaan grounds again, people within 50 m of the stage all have a blackened grin on their faces. Dirty but satisfied.

And the dustcloud only rises higher when Exodus enters stage and I enter the pit. I simply can’t stand still, give my glasses, cap and phone to Jane and HITTTTTT. A song off Persona Non Grata or old as frig, to me it’s kill, Kill, KILLL (do I sound like Gary Ridgway now? :) :) ) See for yourself:
- AC/DC – Kicked in the Teeth as intro
- The Beatings Will Continue – first crowd surfer of the day present!
- A Lesson in Violence (no need to tell that to Dynamo \m/)
- Deathamphetamine (with a The Black Dahlia- part in it \m/)
- Blacklist (I do see several bleeding noses \m/)
- Prescribing Horror (with that awful child crying :| part)
- Blood In Blood Out (I get helped up, that’s my first crowd surf in what? 15 years? Could be!! \m/)
- Piranha
- Bonded By Blood
- The Toxic Waltz (I’m broken by the BBB pit but HAVE to return, big smiles from Alex, Thirza and Jane)
- Strike of the Beast (chaos to start a wall of death, but I step next to it. Can’t walk even if I have to ;) )
The band plays without Lee Altus these weeks, as he’s home on family business, hence bringing one of TBDM-men as replacement. He’s good enough, maybe a tiny hint less sharp than Lee but for now it worked. At least until The Toxic Waltz, as the band needs a second and third start to the song, but it’s all in good fun [Toxic Waltz – Raining Blood – Toxic Waltz haha]. I’ve seen Exodus over 20 times, for a music nitwit this one could be called sloppy but FUCK NO IT WAS GREAT!!

Recuperation time: Candlemass does an integral Nightfall set with Johan Längqvist on vocals. Recuperation in slowing down music, but not in goose bumps: At the Gallow’s End ALSO brings me back to 1988 (Kompleks, Heerhugowaard, Ancient Dreams tour with Messiah Marcolin’s birthday \m/). I haven’t heard that album in a long time so it takes me up to Solitude to get a second set of goose bumps this gig. But I will never complain when a band gives me good thoughts of old or energy of new. I hadn’t heard it during the show (beer, beer ;) ) but Thirza later mentioned a fully FALSE back ground singer hahaha.

False? No. Insecure? No. Bad mix? No. Too soft volume? NOOOO, Testament is here for bloody revenge on several bad shows in The Netherlands. The band, with Dave Lombardo back behind the kit, is ready to raise doom and hell over Eindhoven once more. The cooperation in the band (Skolnick, Peterson, DiGorgio, Billy, Lombardo) is friggin’precise, tight and a warm bath to listeners, headbangers, pitters and the occasional newie in front of the stage. I don’t think there are many people present that haven’t seen Testament before, but the reaction goes way beyond the PA and people no longer stand beneath the roof… everybody wants to hear and see a band in top form. Pity I thought I lost my Samsung so I went back on my tracks and the Goddess goddess handed it to me, smiling. Now I can make pictures and videos again and let my notes do the rest: ‘is that really Dave on drums? Cool!!’, Samsung, ‘Chuck says this song is the first cooperation between Dave and Steve ever, DNR’, Eric Peterson in his element, Night of the Witch, TFoD ‘(Chuck’s favo song)’ FSiD (too many crowdsurfers to keep the pit going ^^) DotW IntoPit (not me this time) Alone (not me haha). ‘Testament took revenge of earlier bad performances’ :cool: .
I stand by this :cool: \m/ and tired, bruised and gasping for dust-free air, we head outside just before Alone in the Dark begins. Good choice, there are plenty cabs available now, instead of what we heard Sunday morning in the hotel (hey Chrissie, great to see you!) we heard several people complain about taxis… not enough, too expensive, rude,… not our problem ;) We had a cool driver ;)

Was it yesterday impossible to sell the ticket due to the vast numbers of people from both sides of the gate, now it was impossible to sell the ticket because there was NOBODY at the doors when we returned. Still no wrist band ‘that’s of no use for you’ >< Do you choose for me?? Da kguc!! Good thing was the first band was on soon, bad thing it was Urne: a cross of metalcore, stoner, black metal and a terrible Primordial cover… I told Alex and Thirza to look out for LIK: blunter than the axe that was used for Nearly Headless Nick © LOL. They had to use a replacement guitarist but in sound and in performance that didn’t change much: Old. School. Swedish. Buzzsaw. Death. Metal. Funeral Anthem as second song, I went over my head headbanging. I noticed my voice wasn’t top so I kept miming my shouts haha. Pity the band had brought only one type of shirt, which I didn’t like so no LIK shirt for me now. I did thank them some hours later, roaming the grounds and thanking fans and having a beer with them. I had my hands full then, so I couldn’t share their beer so fast ;)

Third band to us was Angelus Apatrida, but it’s all too perfect for me, especially after LIK. The guitar lines are too familiar, the shouts and jumps irritate me within a song or two. I felt miserable to begin with, like if the breakfast hadn’t fallen OK, beer was tasteless (Grolsch I hardly ever have a problem with) and the noodles I got from Alex and Thirza seemed to give a counter effect: I felt empty and full at the same time. It didn’t help Wanda wasn’t in mental top shape and I seriously considered leaving if Cannibal Corpse wasn’t in shape. I shared my thoughts to Bart and Alex, they would need to know if I’d left. But to my surprise and my delight, Cannibal Corpse was about 1,256 times sharper, louder, wittier, blunter and funnier than last week:
- Scourge of Iron
- Inhumane Harvest
- Evisceration Plague
- Death Walking Terror
- one I forgot to mention, maybe two
- Fucked with a Knife (Corpsegrinder the Stand Up Comedian :lol: )
- I Cum Blood [CLEARLY this isn’t Germany :cool: ] – of course the helicopter headbang contest.. ‘you can … TRY HA HA HA’ – funny George ^^ I just wondered when he’d fall off stage with a double brain hemorrhage once ;) ‘good to see I’m still the King’ ^^
- Devoured by Vermin – now Corpsegrinder even made the first scream LONGER (!) than on CD
- Stripped Raped and Strangled
- Hammer Smashed Face
Meeting Frank and Laurens of Cryptosis was fun: they handed me a flyer for a tour with Vektor saying 'if we see you and Wanda in Bilbao you're on the guest list :) [somewhere we'd seen Jinjer too, but the modern shit, metalcore, political bull and screamo shooed me away from stage. Alex just said 'nice chick' and agreed to walk away :cool: ]
Another case of ‘revenge for an earlier show’, Cannibal Corpse gave 150 per cent and was greeted by the biggest dust cloud I’d seen all weekend; by now we can call it Dynamo Dustfest again ;) In dust it got only worse, as Bay Area Interthrashional was up next. I had seen Harold Oimoen on the terrain already, Ted Aguilar in some merch booth and I was surrounded by many (pretty young, relatively) thrashers who would do what and when. The start was legendary already: Anestasia – Pulling Teeth!! Followed by Katon de la Pena doing vocals for Exodus Attack, Oimoen on bass and who else… I’m not the most-knowing-about-Bay-Area-third-generation-bands, but I know the old songs well: Over the Wall had a totally new line up, including a female singer. Voracious Souls – wasn’t the best idea to put Katon there, then. He’s metal from head to toe, of course, but his reach simply isn’t big enough for the Death Angel anthem. It was Phil Demmel that announced ‘no one is going to play a song of their own’ :) and ‘Mechanix is called The Four Horsemen on Crack from now on’^^ But with the anecdotes about writing and recording the songs, the speed is pulled out of this gig a lot… pity. Add that I’m not a Vio-Lence fan at all, my earlier thrill dampened quite a bit. 4 more songs wobble by but so far we hadn’t seen the REAL Bay Area heroes – I know you can’t simply call Hetfield, Mustaine, Araya or Beccera to do one song, but only the last couple of songs the Exodus- and Death Angel-members got to stage.. for Creeping Fucking Death! Yeah, never mind an old metalhead moping, this was cool.

By that time we’d eaten once more, still hardly any taste for a € 12 burger :roll: and faced my dilemma: I’m one of the biggest Kreator fans of Westfriesland, but I had no energy to wait for two bands I had zilch interest in and the last two Kreator albums weren’t much of my liking… what do we do? I made the decision: we go. When Alex noticed my near-depressed mode earlier the day, he told me he could drive us home but I forbade that. 1. I don’t want to give in. 2. Not using the hotel would mean costs anyway. 3. I’m me, not his son, so I decide and never turn back. 4. Up to LIK we’d been drinking like goldfish, so inevitably he’d be too tired to drive two hours+. You can cite my priorities here, but I don’t care. We also found another money-gap: if you handed in more cups than you ordered new beers, you lost one cup ‘due to adminstration’!! When we emptied the card, we needed to pay a fee for ‘adminstration of return money’!! Go fuck someone else, damned!!

We left when Lamb of God was building stage (or was it Heaven Shall Burn?), Thirza Uber’d us into a taxi in minutes. We still had all the time in the world but now we could eat properly or buy a decent-prized beer/food for now. After some bathing and freshing up I got Alex into a fresh RockHard shirt, too late noticing I had not brought any more clean ones for myself…into Hail of Bullets again and off to The Jack. We met Aardschok photographer/reviewer Gerrit Mesker and had a hilarious meeting filled with anecdotes from all over the world. Alex in Rio, me in Florida, Thirza in England and Gerrit godknowswhere :) I won’t say this part of the day was best, but it was fun. We meet again, Gerrit! But if that’s enough for returning to any Loud Noise event? Talking to Wanda the next day could as well mean a firm NO to these over the top money grabbing events. Separate tickets vs. combi tix, underexperienced personnel, expensive and tasteless food, horrible fees, lines, lines, lines… no. Forget the first line of this review: I call this Money Metal.

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2022 10:39 am 
 

NOAF, Aug. 26 and 27th, Wörrstadt, Germany

This is a festival my friends Brammerman and Maarten had been talking about for a long, long time and how cozy it is. They love the atmosphere, the crowd (of less than 2,000), always a varied line up and still plenty friends around. It’s been organized since 2005 by a youth worker one of Maarten’s friends Arjan has known for a long time; it’s a municipal metal festival, to give old and young something to do and look forward to. Also, Arjan mentioned, it is a highly sponsored festival in the ways of ‘organize a poll to see which bands you want to see – Doro? OK we bring in Doro, here’s 10k in euros and do it for the village community.’ Over the years some 100 bands played there, varying from Kreator and Sodom to Napalm Death, Hatebreed, Sick of it All, Deserted Fear and Paradise Lost and every year some metalcore / modern metal. The guys have been meeting there for 10 years now and we were to follow ;)

On the road to Wörrstadt we had the fun of the easiest kind: driving past Bedburg – chanting Macabre, seeing Vulkanland – ‘do we obtain pointy ears?’ and the likes ^^ Maarten had brought three kinds of beer: the Aldi IPA for the warm evening, the Alpha Strong to wash the hangover away and the Schültenbrau – only drinkable beer warm >< so the next remark was ‘No beer in the car or we miss the LinkinPark tribute :) ‘ Near the festival we could unload the car if we were fast enough (?) and we chose to camp near the Dixies – for as Maarten needed his bowels from the inside ;) We soon met the other boys and as they’ve known most of themselves for +10 years even I was surprised to blend in so easily. First meet with Arno, Arjan and Johan – ‘yeah we want to see bands but are so social we miss the LinkinPark tribute’ :) Cool they played AC/DC when I raised my first Veltins :) We ended up in the Biergarten next to the festival and had food… Arjan paid it all because he was so happy to see us ;) THANK YOU! To be short, we didn’t miss much of this LinkinPark tribute, it sounded so hollow… the boys had seen the sound check of the Deep Purple tribute Demon Eyes and they were thrilled to see it, but ay, it was such conversation we got in when the Rainbow part started – Man on a Silver Mountain, hush the last beer (bottle) and into the grounds! How is it possible that a sound check was awesome but the actual band sucked?? We did get to see two songs, Highway Star and… Keep on Rockin’in the Free World (?Neil Young?) We got out of the grounds and ended up with 24/7-partying German neighbors… ear plugs, tooth brush, shuteye, out.

Friday started in the village, some 20 minute walk downhill. Maarten had told me they have a few favorite shops and restaurants in the village, but the ‘normal’ bakery was shut due to Covid and holidays (…) and the Italian restaurant was being rebuilt so also shut. Supermarket – cucumber, banana, melon and bread – coffee later. With the wrist bands we noticed it IS a low-budget festival, as they simply used the 2020 ones ^^ We want to see any band now, forget about the metalcore for once? ;) First band was Saint Serpent, stoner, southern rock, mouth harp and Anselmo vocals?? The band sounds quite OK but the vocals were dissonant to say the least. First picture: me in Wanda’s Neckwrecker set :cool: No water for me now, as it was a long hose connected to a well… the water was near milk-white splashing on my hands. Uhm, beer. No beer for Skindred as well, they had to be replaced due to Covid in the band, last minute annunciation: Zebrahead will fill the headline spot. FB reactions: ‘no more metalcore please' :)

Nitrogods was up next. The boys were all over it, as the band had played NOAF before. I found out the organizer welcomes every band with a well-meant ‘Heee NOAF’ and gets equal cheers, no matter what band plays. OK, Nitrogods. They have a Peter Pan Speedrock feel, filled up with Stray Cats, Motörhead and Kyuss. This is good music to hang on a hot and dusty porch, poking up sun glasses, whisky and BBQ. Cool band. My highlight of the Friday was meant to be Evil Invaders. The Flemmish play songs off every release they have, so including Agent Steel-like neckbreakers, Judas Priest-like voicetwisters and Paradise Lost-like chant. Imagine PL playing As I Die on 78 RPM ;) Hit the pit like I do (need) so often, Rheinland-Pfalz metalheads don’t know what hit them :evil: A little rain couldn’t hide the fact I was wet from cap to boot :cool: Picture of the set list:
- Hissing in Crescendo
- Mental Penitentiary
- As Life Slowly Fades
- In Deepest Black
- Sledgehammer Justice
- Tortured by the Beast
- Feed me Violence
- Die for Me
- Raising Hell
- Beeeeer

Arjan was all over Landmvrks so he joined us later for supper, paying for my food as he’d lost Wanda’s ticket. He’d been living in Germany for over 10 years so he offered my Thursday to sell the ticket to the ticket office… better in German he said. Thanks for the Thai, Arjan. All we had to do was hear him blossom up Landmvrks hahaha.

We returned, sort of, in time for Exciter. To be short, we could have emptied a few more Radeberger beers at the Thai, as the band has totally lost it. The ancient sharpness is way gone, Beehler sounds like a castrated billygoat nowadays and the songs haven’t taken time so well. We heard Violence and Force from the camping, Victims of Sacrifice sounded like Weeners of Forgiveness and Heavy Metal Maniacs sounds like old cheese. Clearly a band that hangs on their old fame too much. Not many people enjoy it… apart from the Evil Invaders guys that is, the Biergarten is over the top filled ><

Hmm, what about Callejon then? NOAF always has metalcore in the line up, to keep the young interested. Fine, every year metalcore so every year bollocks. This band… huppelkutcore. Arno, with his punk-, ska- and hardcore-past is the only of us that has ‘sort of a good time’ during Callejon. We end up in the Biergarten, making the silliest of silly two-line-jokes and nearly pass out. No time for Zebrahead, I think they played Dynamo Open Air once but I have ‘no active memory nor present fun’ to watch them. Tooth brush, out. The neighbors seem a bit quiter than yesterday… good. Arno did see Zebrahead but he was so drunk... never mind ;)

Waking up I felt heavy in all aspects. Head full, neck a bit sore (thanks Joe ;) ), bee- and mosquito- stung, stomach needing vitamins and water, I head into Wörrstadt alone. Bram plundered my supply of paracetamol, Maarten needed stomach pills… Another cucumber well spent, also brought a Rheinland bread for Wanda, to taste after her colostomy next Thursday… Colors of Autumn is the first band I see. Metalcore with folk elements. I pass. Bram told me ‘the Vulture sound check is already 126 times HEAVIER than the entire CoA show’ \m/ :) Maarten’s reaction ‘louder is always good’ :lol: and Bram’s right: the band has a fire some thrash bands no longer possess (Canada anyone :roll: ). In looks, speed, aggression and sound they are from 1985, even though they ‘only’ formed in 2015 ^^ What a powerhouse this band is! Singer Leo already starts mic-stand-airguitaring in the sound check and keeps doing that most of the show, as he’s sorry he doesn’t have an axe of his own ;) Plus, it was EXACTLY what I needed, after a slow start this morning and nearly into a fight with Skullcrushers stating ‘oh you’re from the rival fan club and fuck off’. I don’t let that go pass me so easily, but I’m outnumbered 20:1 it’s fine to walk away, swearing. I had Metal Militia as focus point now, the Metallica numbskull-killing song of old. How I enjoyed the bumps, hits, smiles and reactions to my own evil grin destroying another circle pit :cool: Took a picture of the set list:
- High Speed Metal
- Clashing Iron
- Gorgon
- Malicious Souls
- Count your Blessings
- Adrian Toomes
- Victim to the Blade
- Metal Militia

Panting, I walked away. Couldn’t raise my arms to catch a guitar pick nor set list. I needed water and beer. Found Asphyxers Zuur, Husky and his wife Sabrina ;) telling them about The Graceless Hordes of Westwoud shirt I wanted to give to Van Drunen. Got a hug instead and bought some merch (Vulture, Overkill, Asphyx, festival as ‘ordered’;) ) Another big hug: 3/5ths of Vulture needing a picture with me :) Alwin was totally not into Dool as I was, stating ‘Mother Nature hadn’t done so difficult’ but to me the band came right at the good time: I felt the melancholy the band played right to my head/heart/brain: I still hadn’t forgotten the Skullcrusher reactions, the boiling stomach and Maarten’s bad time (back, stomach and so on). Never mind song titles but one: Love Like Blood, played from 78 RPM back to 33; like a doom song on a rainy, windy day.

Strolling, drinking, talking (several times I was asked about both my Neckwreckers Sets \m/ ) I noticed two metalcore bands to be scheduled after one other: uhm, back into the village for some rest, Kartoffelpummel (fried Röstie with fat buttermilk and herbs, a local favorite). Harakiri for the Quiet? Nope hahaha. I had to be in time back on first row, two beers full in hands, for MY main NOAF show: ASPHYX. The sound check was already blistering loud, playing half of Scorbutics already but without microphone standard? ^^ I was glad Martin saw it as a RL-Pf joke ^^ and moved on. Mid sound check I heard the real Twente accent: ‘Zuur, waa mojje hem?’ No need for a set list:
- The Quest for Absurdity
- Botox Implosion
- Molten Black Earth (first crowdsurfer 8-) )
- Death The Brutal Way
- Asphyx – Forgotten War
- Deathhammer
- Templars Last Stand
- Scorbutics
- ‘etwas altes für Herrieman’ – shouts for Bismarck but it was Wasteland of Terror \m/ :cool:
- The Nameless Elite
- Forerunners of the Apocalypse
- The Rack – I felt that this song was for all that couldn’t be in my present tonight ;-(
- Last One on Earth

At least one extra cool note: Raven van Dorst (Dool) was in the Asphyx pit \m/ (no matter if Raven ever noticed Alwin’s snide comment). I had another great gig, albeit without beer halfway The Rack, but this was awesome again. Martin’s vocals seem even more haunted than before, Husky is on the Drums of Doom, Paul is a raging death metal machine and Alwin’s bass is simply crushing. One silly moment I thought Phil Campbell and his Bastard Sons Play Motörhead would do a good bass part, but fuck no. I had been warned before (Marcel V and VI had seen his band on RockHard if I remember correctly) that ‘it would not be Motörhead ever again’… and they were right :( The band sounded like lukewarm tea instead of Lemmy. Forget the thunder bass through over the top speakers, just imagine Iron Fist sounding like Gummybear Handshake. The bass is hardly audible! HARDLY AUDIBLE!! No roar to be found in Damage Case, Orgasmatron, Stay Clean (pff the titles suggests… yeah right), Born to Raise the Swimming Pool, We Never Were the Road Crew… from the camping we heard Ace of Spades like a flea market UGHHHGHHHH, Bomber and Going to Brazil And Stay There >< Phil TacoBell and his Bastard Dicks ><

One band especially good in kicking Phil’s ass: OVERKILL was here to the rescue. Upload all friggin Marshall stacks, pour a second HM2 Boss over the TacoBell, put them all on 11, frigg the neighbors, Kick Ass Thrash Metal New Jersey style! Really, what a great kick in the ass to Snorefest Campbell and KILLL! To my surprise, more than half the Skullcrushers were still beering at the time I got back halfway the set, to give Wanda’s Neckwrecker set a legit extra Overkill feel and I dove in again. Electric Rattlesnake, In Union We Stand, Welcome to the Garden State, name them, never bother in which order, but it was like ragged steel on sharpened anvils all the way. Loud, sharp, both serious and funny, Overkill is back in Germany and Neuborn should tremble!! Killer gig once more! OK, it was the loudest band in entire NOAF, but just to HAVE that loud volume! Can anyone imagine to play Overkill on whisper mode? I don’t!!

NOAF is over, but not to me. I met the organizer and thanked him and sort of mentioned I’d be back one day. He just smiled and did another ‘heee NOAF’ to kids in NOAF shirts, grumpy Skullcrushers and Dolers and thrashers… what a great initiative this festival! I don’t know if I make it to next year, but when I mentioned ‘apartment in town’ Wanda’s all over it. Totally happy I joined Bram and Maarten to the rest of the boys. Johan needed to see his FC Utrecht battle Ajakkes so he’d left before Asphyx (probably night blind?) and we had coffee with Arno and Arjan. Driving home was a sweet and uncomplicated ride, Maarten had plenty of energy to bring us home. I drove the last bit with a smile, but a tired one. I thought of pulling over for something cold and brewy, but couldn’t of course. I wanted to share my NOAF story to my beloved Wanda, share NOAF to MT and MA and start working on Wanda’s progress once more. Colostomy this week… mental crisis training completed, see what GGZ can come up with now… for me no Metal Experience fest now, no UK Deathfest (tickets sold!! Whahooo!) and no Schoonebeek, not even the camping. I’ve been off for 5, 6 weekends in a row and we need some quality time. In our new Asphyx-, NOAF- and Overkill-shirts, In Love We Metal! NOAF Danke schön!!

--edit-- Coming to Groesbeek at first showed I had forgotten to bring paper for my notes. Normally I put some paper in my denim first choice, but not now. I asked Bram's son to get me some printable paper and got 6 leafs at once ;) . Coming to Wörrstadt I still thought the Death Metal Birthday would be on SUNDAY so I used one of my DMBD tickets to waggle my notes. One ticket of € 20 used, the other on hangs on the Valley of the Lost Wall; ticket bought but no show. Still, rather use a ticket for writing than to lose it entirely... but to exchange another New World Depression gig for the Asphyx one... nah. Having to choose between Asphyx and Bodyfarm-Graceless is hard enough \m/ ---end edit---
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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Thu Sep 22, 2022 2:25 pm 
 

Metal Mayhem: CD presentation by Messiah, accompanied by Fleshcrawl, Asphyx; Kiff Aarau, Switzerland, Sept. 17th

We were invited by Messiah manager Roger Wicki to witness the Messiah CD presentation for Fracmont with their special friends Fleshcrawl in Aarau, Switzerland, roughly two and a half years ago. Tried to get tickets through Swiss post, Swiss company StarTicket, but all Messiah they both knew was Händel’s :) I managed through an urgent call from Roger to some company there haha. Postpone blah blah.. I doubted whether we'd return to Switzerland, concerning Wanda's change in condition from day to day since November 2021. But then she made my hairs stand Einstein: along with the befriended bands and some Swiss unknown bands ASPHYX was announced... no need to tell Wanda's all over it. So, KLM dot com and Aarau tourist information filled in... we go! Good to know my sister and her hubby wanted to plan their 4-in-one-evening-party the week before and not a weekend later :) [married for 40 years in 2021, brother in law turned 65 and their oldest sibling 40 in 2022 and youngest turns 30 in 2022). Another proud point: even though Wanda’s been diagnosed with PTSS and autism, she managed to get the special autism treatment at Schiphol, providing her and her company not to have to wait so long, get so much impressions, so much people… no, we park the car (municipal transport strike for two weeks now ><), bash in and fly! That the Valet parking was to be € 130 to begin with, swoah, for my girl that’s doable.

Following news is not my hobby anymore, but when both Schiphol and KLM were stating they were under personnel problems, Wanda’s stress levels picked up again and yeah, travel early. But again, alone. I heard people had to be there 4 hours before flight, it turned out to be four hours before boarding (!) so I got to Schiphol at 11 AM, fly at 3:30 PM. I wasn’t even too early, but found Fabian Verweij of Legion of the Damned in line, he was flying to Norway with Disquiet. After our third meet in the lines we split ways :cool: The flight itself had two hours delay too so when I entered Zürich I was completely drained. It took me an hour to find the right ticket, platform and train to Aarau; happy that I didn’t start drinking full on yet. OK a beer beyond passport control and one in the plane ;) The lines, the stress, the immobility… Wanda would have lost it so I didn’t text her too much >< Coming to Aarau I found out the hotel was on the same square as the train station and the bus terminal, so I’d never have trouble finding the hotel this weekend :cool: Aauraerhof Hotel is not only a paperless hotel, but also a peopleless hotel! I took a shower and went to the hotel bar for food, it had been 8 PM already, haven’t eaten much. The hotel bar has good personnel, great beers (two huge fridges with +150 beers of all kinds of countries, including Yuengling (!) but hardly food.. I got to a bar quest and ended up in a Thai take away (good, but not enough and pretty expensive), Penny Farthing is supposed to be a rock bar but it’s too English for my liking ( ;) too much sports, lousy fingerfood and Heiny, music OK: Bowie, Berlin, The Who), The 6 Butcher Street Pub is REALLY cool. It’s a rock’n’roll bar with a 10 cm stage near the entry, plenty of forgotten rockers played there, cool music: Ramones, QotSA, latter Beatles. I went to Aarauerhof satisfied.

Breakfast was good, now it’s time for tourism. The city of Aarau predates Rome by about 500 years and has a river of great velocity. Ancient buildings, parks and newish buildings, but hardly any tourist stuff to be sold: I have a city pin, a towel from the local rugby club but no fridge magnet hahaha. Coming back for a clean shirt I met Roger and Dani, the entire band Messiah is in Aaraerhof as well; even though Roger was fighting the personless incheck they managed ;) I got a message from Wanda: Johannes de Boom of The Shavers (real name: Hans Boomsma) had died this week, 74 years old, +40 years of heavy rheumatism and 60 operations… rest in ranzigheid, Johannes! This concert review is for him.

I decided to walk up to Kiff to see where it was, so I found it with a pizzeria nearby. More bad news: KLM simply cancelled my flight tomorrow, ‘we will find a way to contact you’ >< I was baffled but certain I’d be back, albeit with the help of Scots Sandy and John, who urged me to call myself, as the flight would be rebooked to 7 AM. I. Can’t. Be. In. Zürich. That. Early!!!! It’s friggin’Sunday then, first train from Aarau LEAVES at 7 GODDOMME. It took me 25 stressy minutes, helped to whiskey by the Scotts, to get that flight rebooked to 9 PM. It was time to head out to Kiff now. Like said I found a pizzeria, but with my big mouth I ordered a big one… not 24 cm but friggin’ 40 in diameter… I got it down 3/4ths haha. Coming to Kiff I seemed to have needed to revalue my old ticket, but as I brought the original invoice I was let in, but with one remark: ‘that second ticket is overdone now’. Huh, what, ehh, OK, € 45 down the drain and in, as the first band was already playing:

Contorsion has a logo which can confuse both a thrasher as well as a deathhead. From start on, I had no idea what to expect, just let it come. The five piece band plays some 48+-Gouda-semi fast metal with a huge reference to Mecrappica. I tried to turn away but stayed until I did find something OK: their last song was called Insurrection and had a pretty cool Death Angel – Act III vibe. I must say Act III is not my favorite Death Angel album but at least it’s no longer Hardwired or Re-Load. I got a beer and was baffled: there’s a second stage? Huh? Serial performances? It’s no Stonehenge festival, right? I was just talking to Ruth, when I found out I nearly missed Fleshcrawl this way!! The band was already halfway Carved In Flesh before I ran inside the loft stage room. I squirmed myself front row, got an instant box from Manu and Borisz and the band raged on! Another thing I noticed: VERY old songs played! Bloodred Massacre, Frenetic Tendencies (off Descend Into the Absurd!!). This way a nice variation of neckwreckers and neckmassagers was played, here’s what I read from my picture:
- 15 Years Kiff introduction (which I missed, of course)
- Carved in Flesh
- Bloodred Massacre
- Flesh Bloody Flesh
- Embraced by Evil
- Phrenetic Tendencies (hihi spelling)
- Into the Fire of Hell
- Written in Blood
- After Obliteration (midtro)
- From the Dead to the Living
- Slaughter at Dawn
- Beneath a Dying Sun
- As Blood Rains from the Skyyyyyyyyyyy (haha Borisz’ phrase is a litttttle bit different than Sven’s was ^^)
- The Day Man Lost

I am a fan for life, but I’ve stated that before. Now I state ‘I want to see Fleshcrawl in at least as many countries as I did see Asphyx’ so I have my paths set for now :cool:

When back to the cellar stage room I met a frowning Bastian, sweaty and all, he clearly had not expected me to be in Switzerland, at his show, with his Messiah friends (Roger was goofing around us ^^) and was pretty concerned Wanda couldn’t make it. Turned out, she’d been talking to Bastian in Lichtenfels already, explaining her love for me (aaaaawwww sweet) and he’d remembered. Thank you Bastian; see later remark on Bastian :evil: From the idea of serial performances can be stepped away, as I totally missed Total Annihilation’s gig, even though I was in the cellar! I got upstairs again, got my Dani-Ruth-Herrieman selfie for Wanda and Messiah was soon to start their CD-presentation of the Fracmont album. I had been wanting to buy the album, get it signed but ended up with Asphyx-shirt, Messiah-shirt and Messiah- Choir of Horrors and an empty wallet >< In the meantime Martin stepped in – facepalm seeing me :) . Alwin saw Martin, saw me – facepalm :) Paul – facepalm :) Husky wasn’t even in by then, all three men were complaining high and low on Amsterdam (hear hear) and Schiphol (hear hear) and Swiss border personnel (uhh, that’s up to you :) ) as Husky had to enter by train, taxi gone…. For once, as I still don’t have the Fracmont CD, I couldn’t care less about any Messiah setlist, but checked afterwards: half the new CD played, Choir of Horrors (no Weeping Willow? >< ), Extreme Cold Weather, Enjoy Yourself. Not by accident, but this was a very cool show to witness and just plain have fun with another Dutchie that recognized my German accents: hey Sjaak, long time no see. Last time I saw him was somewhere in Baroeg, no wedding ring present then ;) but now married to a Swiss Morbid Maiden. He couldn’t bang his head as he had a shoulder dislocated. He let the headbanging to me, he said ^^ I got my hands even fuller with stickers presented by Roger, Manu and Borisz :cool: and got those into the sleeves of my jacket. During the day I had walked one route with jacket, too hot; then one in Wanda’s Neckwrecker set, perfectly doable and off to Kiff in jacket + Macabre denim – warm in the end. Manu gave me a guitar pick, of which I know he will never use it in Fleshcrawl – he plays bass with his fingers. Still funny to have ;)

Now I didn’t forget to check the cellar band: Hellvetica. Uhm, should I? The band plays a mix of Heaven Shall Burn and Hatebreed, including basketball clothing, short hairs and a wayyyy to jumpy style of performing, which did have an effect on the audience: instantly it got very busy outside and in the attic stage room ^^ The curtains were drawn, I could clearly hear Martin missed the interaction with their own soundman Janosz >< but no worries: Asphyx goes 1,2,3 – off – KILL. Quest for Botox, Molten to a Brutal Forgotten Hammer, Stand from The Sky into theheadbangfest of no one alike. In other words: here’s the setlist I got from Paul (THANK YOU) but gave to the youngest visitors of the evening, accompanied by a VERY proud father :cool: ;
- The Quest for Absurdity
- Botox Implosion
- Molten Black Earth (sent out to Amsterdam :) - No Metal Mayhem but Amsterdam Fick Iff fest :) )
- Death the Brutal Way (technique failing Paul)
- Asphyx – Forgotten War (Alwin inaudible >< ON HIS PART of this song ><)
- Deathhammer
- Knights Templar Stand
- It Came from the Skies
- Wasteland of Terror
- The Nameless Elite (Martin: ‘Herrieman is part of the Elite and not nameless’ :cool: )
- Forerunners of the Apocalypse
- The Rack
- Last One on Earth

My goodness, my neck still trembles. My voice still echoes Aarau. My arms went over Swiss mountains. My sweat defrosted the snow pitches. My goose bumps covered most Alpen pitches pink.

As it hadn’t been enough, Dani and Bastian sought a way to thank me for my support over all these years. :evil: They brought me into the afterparty, yeah, including free drinks and I hadn’t actually spared myself… Martin put a liter tankard in my hands, grinned evilly and said ‘opzuipen Herrieman, ik wil je ff niet horen’ [feel free to translate, to me it was too funny to break off the thought by translating it :cool: ], Husky was worried I wouldn’t make it home so Paul put 20 CHF in my hand for a taxi, which Alwin took care of. YOU CAN IMAGINE THE HANGOVER, RIGHT!!!

Breakfast with half of Messiah (Roger nowhere to be seen; bass player Patrick and guitarist Brögi were accompanied by two gfs/wives/groupies; one mentioning I could have a beer too – uhm Nein, mein Golf ist noch immer im Amsterdam :roll: ) was fun, but I had to be careful… flight would leave at nine tonight (what to do an entire day without a room but with a bag) I went to Zürich after buying one wrong ticket and a good one >< doof herrieman >< getting Wanda’s FB messages ‘Many thanks Husky, you have leveled Kiff to the ground’ LOL, had coffee at the station bar where we sat three years ago… strange. Another demonstration going on? Oh shit it’s political now >< OK I take the train to the airport… to wait friggin’8 hours. Roger apped ‘do you have such a borderless hangover like I do?’ ^^ I’ve seen the annunciations of 4 planes leaving for Amsterdam but had to wait for nearly the last plane leaving Zürich… At Amsterdam I thought I had to pay dearly for the Valet Parking but that was ‘only’ € 7 extra.. with screaming rubber I drove on to the A9 to get back home. But I survived the Metal Mayhem of Aarau, 40 cm pizza and a liter of ‘put them all in’ and nearly more hours of waiting than walking the cities… METAL

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 8:58 am 
 

Saxon, Patronaat Haarlem, Oct. 13th

Over the years my ideas about Saxon were quite different, to be honest. At first I kinda liked them, but found them ‘not as heavy as Maiden or Priest’, when I first saw them I was underimpressed aka totally drunk (Graspop 2001) or ‘dinner time’ (Wãldrock 2004) and once even ‘not going to wait through Sabaton to see Biff’ (Ruhrpott). What a fool I’ve been, now I have Saxon nailed to most of my denims ;) . The last years I’ve seen them mostly with Wanda (RockHard, Alcatraz) and we were totally blown away with the energy the band sets as a standard for so many other bands. No wishy washy talk about boring tours or shortage of money/groupies, no sir!! The band gives 200 per cent every time they enter stage, have more energy and better focused than most modernmetal bands and play goddamn sharp. After Alcatraz Wanda said ‘Saxon was my favorite band this weekend, along with Carnation, Voïvod and Demolition Hammer’. Annuciation: Saxon – Haarlem – we go. Simple as that. When September kicked in, I got messaged by Peter Lord Belial he had problems getting onto websites like Patronaat dot nl and ticketslave dot no ( ;) ) with bull about scripts and settings. I thought he had no ticket yet, but when I pressed ‘pay’ he mentioned ‘oh kut, I’ve had saltoo’d and wriggled to get the ticket from my phone to my computer’… another extra ticket. But this one is on his account to get rid of. Over the years, as you could have read, I think I had to find extras for spare tickets for over a hundred times, now it’s his turn. He knew his buddy Rob T would be interested, the rest was up to them.

So, after 4 months of going alone to gigs and festivals (Protzen was the last one together), Wanda was all over it. She’d been calm for the entire week to save up energy to go; it’s as harsh as I mention it! As I’d seen Saxon only on festivals, I thought ‘I’m going as much un-Saxon as I can’ so I wore one of the few denims without Saxon on it, a Pitfest cap and an Extremefest shirt haha. I did use my last UK Deathfest print to have ‘something British anyway’ 8-) We picked up Peter, he has to sneak out of his house/marriage to get to gigs nowadays :roll: and drove into Haarlem in the rain. We tried to hurry as much as possible between garage and venue, but it wasn’t that bad; we got in smoothly. No need for the wardrobe, on to Diamond Head. I’ve seen them several times and was always let down because of their victim stand: ‘we ought to be a bigger band due to the bands we influenced’, ‘we’re ready for a headliner for once’ and that kinda crap no one is willing to pay attention to. In fact, I’d rather drive an hour later not to have to hear that tune Mecrappica covered and Peter’s reaction even before the first couplet ‘this doesn’t make my weener harder’. Second song: Sweet and Innocent… just as the band performs. I don’t give a shit who’s in the band now, as long as it ends soon!! We met Rob, a few Marcels and Paul (of Final Heiress and Emerald) and didn’t have to hear any DH song anymore.

When Saxon was checking sound we decided to head to the balcony to try to see ány part of the stage, that was impossible from the floor next to the big bar we first stood. At the balcony it was even worse, but now Wanda could sort of climb on a part of the bar above, hold herself and hoist herlself up to sóme vision. My pictures are fuzzy, to say the least ;) What I wrote was this:
- Carpe Diem
- Sacrifice (Biff reaches the high notes with ease!!)
- new ones
- I thought I heard Wheels of Steel (already?) but it turned out to be Age of Steam
- entire band headbanging! Drum sound is great, but the guitar volume starts a bit too low. Gladly that got fixed soon
- You Gotta Rock To Stay Alive
- Dambusters – Peter goes out to buy the CD. It’s signed by the entire band!
- bass player – young dude compared to the rest, but such a lovely freak on stage ^^
- The Thin Red Line [my notes were deciphered as ‘The Thing that Should ehh no’ :)
- light show is not abundant, but can flash once in a while. I’m happy.
- Living on the Limit – for Biff’s son
- Dallas 1 PM
- HMT – of course, one of their coolest songs IS Heavy Metal INDEED
- shouting contest to chose between Broken Heroes and The Eagle has Landed – EhL wins with a minimal difference ;)
- setlist.fm says the band gave the Antwerp crowd the same choice and the same song was played
- Biff asks for fan favorites – ‘Solid Ball of Rock you say? That might take an hour, but you’ll hear it’ 8-) :)
- Black is the Night – now it’s my turn to buy the new CD
- Metal Head – I’d thought they meant the fans but it’s about aliens HA HA HA
- And the Band Plays On – tribute to more deceased than just Lemmy, Philthy and Würzel. Cool song no matter what
- Wheels of Steel - NOW they do play it ;)
- singing contest between Haarlemmers and Amsterdammers – Wanda shouts ‘Westwouders can roar too’ :) :) :)

First FB annunciations after the show: Johnny Amsterdam was happy to pick a guitar pick from out of the air, Marcel 8 has a set list and I don't use it :)
On setlist.fm I’d seen the band would do at least two encores or even two batches of encore, but my knees were killing me, Wanda had trouble standing and Peter saw that… we got out. Happily rephrasing Biff, happily doing my hobby – seen Haarlem by night so often, but I never, ever take the same road home than the way I came – needing food? Nah, sneak Peter back into Wognum and a nice Veltins pint waits for me… It had been a long day but I couldn’t sleep until I’d seen what my voetbal would offer – easy PushVuh win, AZ lost and a Feyenoor draw. In Feyenoord’s Europa League pool every club has 5 points out of 4 games ^^ Feyenoord and AZ first in their pool. Good. We had a great Saxon show, forget both DH and our physical imperfectons, we had BRITISH HEAVY METAL!

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herrieman72
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Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Tue Oct 25, 2022 2:54 pm 
 

Harnbarg Metalfest III, feat. Burial: Oct. 21St, 22nd, Gebouw De Hoogenweg

One of the coziest little festivals was there again: Harnbarg Metalfest. We’d been to the first two editions did not recant the promise to organizer Gertie Doctor to get the earliest of earlybird tickets for the 2022 edition. What we didn’t know, was that the return of De Heideroosjes would be the same weekend, so we gave that delayed tickets to my brother Alex and niece Thirza. I’d been Roosjes-loos long enough not to bother about this twice removed reunion. They’d go to Eindhoven, we’d be in Hardenberg. We would like to stay in Hardenbergerveld again, but as we didn’t want to bump heads with organizer Gertie, we left the use of Hardenbergerveld to one of his bands. We knew we’d return, even tried three times to book a weekend off there, but couldn’t return to this B&B so soon. We arranged B&B De Vlinder… not wanting another Christian sneer haha. It got even better, as Gertie promised to bring Master to Hardenberg! That was a big surprise and a welcome one, but somehow Paul’s not going to perform for me for the eleventh time… We heard in Drachten about promises no one could keep, but it’s a bummer after all. I don’t know if Gertie had a hint beforehand, but on the first flyer Burial is already in bigger letters? We’ll never know, as Alwin didn’t know either >< Didn’t I see a Helslave logo somewhere too? Turned out, there had been a big clash between Gertie and Alwin; Master now performed in Musicon with Stoflik Omskot. Uhh that would be the 12th missed Master show for me.

On the road to Hardenberg we had tons of trucks but managed to get there in time to have the choice between Indian or snack food ;) and got picked up by one of Gertie’s closest friends. André said Gertie had had made a deal with me, but Gertie thought I’d worked it out with him already. Capice? HA HA no bother, it’s a small enough community to keep running into each other plenty. I think we were two of five paying visitors (including Mar and her hub) when Slaughter the Giant got to stage. I’d read about them in Aardschok and a few writers there are quite on the bandwagon for these guys. Singer shouting ‘I want to see some movement’, Wanda said ‘does he mean getting beers or hoisting up your pants?’ :) The band plays some technical death metal in the vein of Darkdayrising and The Black Dahlia Murder. I couldn’t make out or the drummer is real or using a trigger… soooo technical it is. Look at the singer, he’s trying to outbang Corpsegrinder.. good luck dude hahaha. The band is Belgian, for interested people ;)

At the entry a photo list of Pim was placed between a few candles so I let my second HJ half filled there. I was asked by photographer Jacques if I’d known Pim, and yeah, he’d known him well too. I must look up his work, it seems he’d been into metal as long as I have been. It didn’t take long before the second band got to stage. I must say I’d hardly had noticed Shoot the Messiah at the Thanatos CD presentation in Baroeg but this made a hell lot more impact on us both. The band only has one guitarist, but he knows his influences, ranging from Chuck Schuldiner to Carlos Santana and back to Jimmy Page again, still playing sharp modern metal. One song as statement against herd behaviour; not your typical anti-everything lyrics to be heard. They played a new song which is a speed metal monster, sometimes they play Slayerian solos, sometimes the grunts are double as well. Note, not high pitched and ultralow in one sentence, nope, two nearly similar grunts helping each other! Wanda got the set list, I had it signed:
- Sample: Stage Entree
- Oblivion Walker
- Sample: Ka Mate
- Arise
- Sample: STM intro
- Shoot the Messiah
- Secret Path
- Adducam Infernum
- Sample: riser
- Morgellon

Wanda kept convincing me she held MY guitar pick, but I have my own, leaving her a bit confused >< No harm done, as it got time for black metal now: Fenris is a band without corpse paint, but just focus on vile, loud and pain inducing black metal, including Dark Funeral- and Primordial roots to their sound. One song, it was explained, dealt about the bombing of Rotterdam (1940) and it seemed as if the entire band had to crawl out of burning and collapsed buildings themselves, such sick music man can produce! The band has so much velocity in them, they had time to play their very first tune ever written twice: The Burning of the Non Believers. Same routing regarding set list ^^
- Black Ashes
- Suffering Predestined
- Das Boot (From Darkened Worlds)
- Ruined
- Doodenakkers
- The Burning of the Non Believers (2x ^^)
On Fenris - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives (metal-archives.com) you can see the band has three full lengths, but didn’t choose to play another song ;) The wonders of metal haven’t left the world yet ;) Having been present on all Harnbarg Metalfests it was easy to stay recognized by staff, security, organizers and bar personnel; we could walk in and out without having to bother anyone. Outside I was witness to the blood ritual predecessing the Serpent Oath gig. I heard someone talking about the blood ritual Watain had done, using 3 day old mouldy pig blood, this was ‘fresh’ pig blood and didn’t have that enormous stench (yet? How often do these guys perform and/or clean their leather coats/pants???) In short, I expected Watain-like black metal and got all that, but with more honesty than the Swedes offer. Even the corpse paint is simpler, but mostly to hilarity for Wanda: the singer looked like he had a Speedo head cap with holes for his eyes. Add that blood and it was all fun to her hihihi. Other than the Speedo the band doesn’t have much of a gimmick and once in a while I can stand such black metal. To me it was most fun to see one guitar player with an enormous forest of hair, getting tangled up in his guitar neck time after time. Add some death metal growls to convince me… I ran out of cash already ;) I will look later if Wanda had bought anything of these bands, now the Shoot the Messiah CD plays. I hear Santana, Slayer, The Lucifer Principle and Yes. We were both tired and let Gertie’s wife/sister Joyce bring us back to the butterflies ;)

We awoke early as we had a plan: visit Ap and Hennie, get rid of German beer crates and be in time for the first band. Action one: succeded, they had had Slaughter the Giant as bed guests haha. Action two: nah, we couldn’t get to a big enough supermarket/Getränkemarkt to exchange them. Action three: bingo. Again being picked up by André was fun, as there was another couple present too: Ronald and Sandra, once again they’ve seen me more often than I’d spotted them ;) Facing the Madness was the opener today. We heard some tribute to DeadHead, so it seemed, but not an unpleasant one. The band only has one guitarist so it can’t be exact like the Kampener deaththrashers ;) I only got surprised by a well placed HSB-break in the last song.

Second band today was Divine-Zero from Germany. The band has been around for over 20 years, have one guitarist more than Facing the Madness and that difference was eminent: the band sounded quite fuller and more mature than FtM. I kept thinking about the Arise-era from Sepultura and some Obituary – World Demise moods. Fast and slow, sometimes in one song, sometimes hammertime! But finding influences is sometimes hard work, so the 35 minutes the bands get to this moment is soon gone. I even forgot to pen down the name of the third band, I think it was Written in Blood, but they remind me of Sodom during their near-death metal sounding days. Cool logo but not the most excitement handed down to us. What did excite us? Circular Saw from Slowakia. The band had been driving for 10 hours, do the show, eat and returned the same day! What about speed, ey? :) Singer Tomáš Tóth explained ‘Fcuk my rotten English, we’re from Slovakia. What do you like most about Holland? Cheese? Windmills?’ I yelled ‘Hertog Jan! ^^ he said, with a dirty grin ‘Pestilence’ and let the onslaught commence! The band has some open-minded approach to pure death metal I had a lot of connection to. But, don’t forget heavy metal as influence as well. After half the set Tomáš throws 3 CD s into the crowd and Ivor mentions ‘I hope they have brought some more’; I agree, answer ‘then I hope we don’t have to pay them in žlotys’ HA HA HA. I get my copy signed by an astonished band. Looking at the song titles I think I have to use all ALT-key-combinations I can find to spell them right, as over half the songs are written in Slovakian. Is the very first Slovakian band I’ve ever seen? Thinkso! Tomáš gives Kam Lee a run for his money and I detect more Massacre-elements in their music. Nice detail: the words ‘Murder for All’ on the guitars ;)

Time to eat as I wasn’t in for Insurrection at all. Nice to see Douwe again, but the vocals still sound like nails on schoolboards to me, I have use for their OK music now. We eat with Maarten MsD and Ivor, as Exoto fills the stage. Uhm, should I just call them the Belgian Morbid Angel? OK, less genericly speaking, as they lack pleasure of playing more than Vincent meets Tucker >< Azaghthots is such a better musician than those blokes combined and I’m not even Morbid Angel fan >< Singer Chris walks a little more than a regular zombie does and his skull-on-the-mic-stand makes more neck mileage than the entire band. Pffft. I’d rather wait for another Bloodphemy show, as I wasn’t overall excited about my last two Bloodphemy shows. In music and stage attire the band crosses Messiah Marcolin and Glenn Benton, but with much more fun on stage than I can ever imagine Glenn have ;) Doom parts, speed parts, death metal sparks, yeah this is way better than Exoto ever will be again.

Musicwise Bleeding Utopia is more technical than Bloodphemy and Insurrection, but you can overact easily this way. I don’t have much with all those face tatoos, the ADHD guitars, the mastic-tight sound and predictable breaks. Riff A, riff B, 3,2,1, off, something :o Are we getting old? Or is modern music simply not our thing? Today, so far, we’ve had a great time with Circular Saw and Bloodphemy but modern bands like Insurrection and Bleeding Utopia simply drain us. I was even surprised how well Wanda kept herself today, being the first more-day event in nearly half a year and beers, beers beers! OK, we managed a chair soon, was used well, had great conversations (together, with Gertie, Maarten, Ivor and all the others and laughed about some clearly ‘getting drunk asap’-types she normally avoids) and we ate snack food… is that the key then? She’s been doing great, compared to, say, Protzen or the mental health division conversations in Hoorn… and it wasn’t even the last band. Burial is next but they don’t really bind us this time; we wanted to see Helslave too, but are getting tired at last. Joyce brings us to De Vlinder after a warm round of thank-you-and-have-a-great-time-we-see-each-other-soon-hopefully’s ^^ We’re wanted where we are now and to this point I’m never bothering about punkrock anymore. OK we go to The Exploited on Sunday, but that’s quite a difference to Roosjes-time ;) WE NEED METAL. Gertie asked us to keep the info about next year’s edition under the hat: Harnbarg is expanding to the Evenementenhal, mark Friday the 13th (of October) to your death list five and be ready for Soulburn, DeadHead, Abrupt Demise, Phlebotomized and more!! Earlybirds on sale via FB: Harnbarg Metalfest | Facebook Metal!!! [cozy things to say: log on as member or sign in as guest via https://metal-tavern.proboards.com/thre ... -hoogenweg ]

Edit:
The line-up for Friday the 13th 2023 is already nearly full: It’s a Halloween edition featuring Nazghor, Provectus, Hellevaarder, Asgrauw, Purnama and something resembling Devilberg. Mostly illegible, all trve blekc metal.
I did have a Circular Saw set list and yes I needed my Alt-keys a lot:
- Légia Smrti
- Vanitas
- Intravenózne
- Trauma
- S Matkou Plače Krajina
- Prev Zactatkon Drzaí Ríttmu
- Hladom Proti Hadom
- Všetky Jazvy Sveta
- Krvavá Nedel’A (Prídavok)
- Zacïna Znova
-- my Slovakian is a bit rusty, you see? ^^

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 3:53 pm 
 

The Exploited - belated 40th Anniversary Tour, Oct. 23rd, feat. Total Chaos, Victorie Alkmaar

Has it been really three years since I last took Tom to a gig? Okay, apart from my 50th anniversary party and Stonehenge of course, but I do think so. Seeing The Exploited together was even longer ago. OK, in the meantime Tom nearly finished building his house by his own hands so the priority must have been in bricks instead of metal. Wanda had never seen The Exploited, she does like some punk, so we both hoped she could make it, just after Harnbarg Metalfest III… Coming to Alkmaar the weather was so nice none of us needed the wardrobe and we found the first comrades already: Martin Motörhead, my former colleague Ronald and his best friend Sander. Seeing the tour shirts made us realize there would be quite an extended tour for Wattie & Co., see if his heart is still up to it… The venue was nicely filled with all kinds of music lovers: the undeniable mohawks, muds, rockers, mockers, skins, rockers, deathheads, Overkill fans (us ;) ) and passers-by like Tom and my old friend Gerrit and his lovely wife Irma. Gerrit isn’t the normal passer-by but he looked so casual I thought of that haha. I’ve known him for over +30 years, spanning from Total Loss in 1988 [he plays bass on the demo TV Zombies], Crosby Stills Nash & Young tribute and more.

Of Total Chaos I could be short, as I only ‘know’ one song off an ancient 1980 punk compilation, annoyingly filled with too much Dead Kennedies and some streetpunk stuff WITHOUT The Exploited ><. On the gig I can tell more. First song in, the guitarist stumbled over his own beer nearly causing electricution. The song they played at that point was Punks No Die (or something, I don’t see the need to search through 10 full lengths and a dozen splits and singles now) ^^ Rob Chaos is quite clear in his messages: ‘Fock politicians, politicians mean nothing to me, fock policemen, policemen mean nothing to me; but they’re human too’. :) Uhhh what? Turned out the band has a long history with police, border officials, city officials and who else had an opinion or crime set on them? The band themselves are pretty energetic, play tighter than I’ve seen several bigger metal bands do and stir up the crowd in a good way. The first pit begins, three songs in, with a mohawk being tossed on stage and stumbles off, hanging in the air for a minute ;) Later on, the song Street Punx is dedicated ‘to Wattie, the biggest and loveliest streetpunk of the world’ I agree to that, but first it’s time for Warcry ‘let everyone do his own thing but do it loud’ :) He made a remark on Sam Kinnison I can’t relate to, but swoah, the hall went Whoopy in 1,200 ways ^^ Rob Chaos mentioned he hears a lot of Dutch on this tour as the drummer is also the drummer for Rotterdam’s punk pride Disturbance and the bass player (where have I seen him before?) has quite a word Dutch in his vocabulary. This was a pretty good gig, even though I’m hardly familiar with punk to begin with.

The venue had filled up more nicely when The Exploited started their set. Earlier in the set than during Total Chaos the fans start to freak out, but a lot friendlier than in Drachten. First intro in – bash!! Why wait for another familiar tune? ;)

- Let’s Start a War – what an overwhelming sharp sound the band has!
- Fight Back – here’s Wattie’s street history \m/
- Dogs of War – shout my guts out
- The Massacre – fans handing out beer to the band. Wattie shares the 6 beers in the band, but professional as he is (don’t tell him HA HA) he hands out most of his pint
- UK 82 – who’ll point at his Slayer patch or shirt? ^^ - Undisputed Attitude still one of my favorite Slayer albums
- Chaos is my Life
- Dead Cities – first stagediver present
- Alternative – Crass fans fucked off haha. Note, there WERE Crass fans at the show ;)
- Noise Annoys
- Never Sell Out – Tom still hesitates to join, but I see his ankles already dangling ><
- Troops of Tomorrow – WE NEED MORE BASS LINES LIKE THIS ONE
- I Believe in Anarchy
- Holidays in the Sun
- Beat the Bastards
- Cop Cars
- Fuck the System – Wattie forgets his lyrics, but no one bothers as they ALL want to shout along him :)
- Porno Slut
- Army Life – some moshers are older than the band ^^
- Fuck the USA – time for a visit to the merch stand. I only have one € 50 note but don’t want to be a cheap ass just to buy one patch… and not even for my normal denim ;) I get a sticker and a recommendation for UB40 (form) along HA HA HA
- Punk’s Not Dead
- Sex and Violence – inviting all on stage, Wanda joins them!
- Disorder (pretty violent mosh pit, as it should be. Slayer didn’t cover this song fo’noffin’ hihihi)
- Was it Me
- Maggie
- Don’t Forget the Chaos

Wullie, Wattie’s brother and long time drummer of the band, starts shouting at the sweaty and beat-up crowd that Wattie has to be protected against himself, otherwise he’d go on until the set list is doubled and he’s in for another stroke/heart attack/haircut or whatever. Don't forget Wattie is the singer for 40 odd years!  The set list itself is impressive and certainly long enough!! Where I stand I ‘just’ can’t reach for the paper, but I gladly leave that to a mohawk with his skin(ny) wife. They’re longer fan than I am, swoah. In short: we had a great time. Great to be able to talk to Tom for a longer period than just 140 digits, see Wanda freak out to Blitzkrieg Bop with Irma, talk to Ronald about Groningen and inform people I had expected there; they missed a great evening with Wattie, Wullie and the rest! Chaos Punx No Dead Yet!

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Lane
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2002 11:54 am
Posts: 1088
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2022 6:23 am 
 

I saw Paradise Lost yesterday for the first time since I saw them touring with Sepultura back in 1993 (!!!). They warmed up for Brazilians that time, but now it was a headlining show.

Jyväskylä, which isn't a small town in Finland's scale, but Monday... There were, I quess, 300-400 people, and I bet it was not sold out (it was at Lutakko, not a very big club), like the concerts today and tomorrow (Tampere & Helsinki).

The crowd was fucking lazy, and while the band's material isn't exactly moshpit-causing, I felt a a bit sorry for them. Over 20 songs was a hefty set, and it was built from almost every era; but nothing off the debut and late 1990's and early 2000's albums.

They certainly have catchy tunes! They delivered with style despite the lazy spectators. Only the bassist was rather rigid, but at least the bass was surely heard! Nick Holmes did some short speaks between the tracks, with dry humour.

There's a few shows after the Finnish ones, and I suggest you go see them if you like 'em. The crowds cannot get any more lazy for sure...
_________________
"We don't play for you, we play for us." - Lemmy Kilmister

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Tue Nov 15, 2022 9:18 am 
 

Bloodfest III, feat. Ancient Rites, Bloodphemy, Nov. 12th

Of this festival I didn’t know anything at all. For once it was my niece Thirza (formerly known as Terrorthirzje on MRU) that signalled Wanda, because they’ve been messaging like hell, like to do that and for all, KEEP doing it ;) But somehow this festival, with Thirza’s friends in Bofo Kwo, completely stayed below my radar. You can also say I’d totally forgotten about this, but hey, keep friendly ^^ . The week before the festival Wanda totally lost it, as she kept thinking we’d go to an AC/DC tribute (probably Bon Scotch) nearby, but that’s on December 10th (and we’re on Eindhoven Metal Meeting then). Some stress later, we decided we’d go anyway. Find Leusden on the map, find data on the bands, how’s the venue called, I had no idea. Five bands would perform, including said Ancient Rites and Doomas, Deathmarch (with or without Quinten, who formed Bodyfarm) and Bloodphemy. Doomas is also a band Thirza knows better than I do, but they got cancelled just a few days ago. Hmmm, Bofo Kwo couldn’t make it too and not even Thirza’s friend Ted… we’d have fun anyway, we guessed. But the week was too full for Wanda again, as I wasn’t top notch either: with my company van I crashed into a wheel driving 100 km/h. I’m OK though, the van has three big dents and I have a replacement Caddy. Coming from an Amsterdam damage repair company I was delighted it’s a DIESEL :lol: Alex’car is a benzin one so no need to check environmental zones of Leusden ;)

I drove to Leusden, Alex didn’t mind driving back. At first I had to take my hobby again :roll: but the venue is closer than we thought. I returned to the car, having bypassed a one-way-street ^^, to have it closer; we might pick up some merch ;) Funny to see 60 Zwarte Pieten and Sinterklazen gather there. The bar man we later met told us he’d been baking fries for them, it was hard to keep up. Being Sint or Piet makes hungry and impatient hahaha. Thirza offered the ticket for Wanda to support the venue/show/festival and they have HJ on tap! First, coffee, it’s still early, maybe a kroket sandwich before the beer runs in. First band took until an hour and a half later, as said Bofo Kwo and Doomas couldn’t come; Black Rabbit was called in last minute. Black Rabbit wasn’t the first band though, that was Deathmarch, originally formed by ex-Bodyfarm drummer Quint Meerbeek. He’s already out of the band, after recording the first demo as guitarist, but this band shows it’s not only Bodyfarm that can make Amersfoort (less than 20 km from Leusden ;) ) tremble with old school death metal! This band plays exactly halfway Entombed and Entrails :lol: with some latter Obituary style as well. Singer Olav Bus has some funny statements like ‘after this song we have to slow down a bit as our mothers told us’ and what do they do: play the fastest song I’ve heard in a long time HA HA HA. Last song is a tribute to Johan Westdijk (sp?) who was an inspiration to the band. I’m not sure if the name is correct, but rest in peace. I got the set list:
- Gastorture
- I Am Your Nightmare
- Autopsy with a Chainsaw
- Environment in Decay
- Revenge of the Outcast (‘most people know someone who has been bullied, but this song is about a bullied kid that takes revenge’ :cool: very cool song!
- Lying Scum
- Bayonet Frenzy (‘we already have a song about a chainsaw, so why not bring in knives?’ ;) )

Really cool gig. The band shows experience, skill fun and humour in a way I like death metal so much: not too frivolous, not too much emphasis on technique, played loud, plain heavily OSSDM influenced metal. Add some 16’year olds having fun as a violent pit, I’m in. I thought I had both the demo as the EP, but can’t find it now. I’d rather have two copies than miss out either of them. A man no one could miss today was Ancient Rites singer Gunther Thys. The man greets everybody, including myself and Alex, as an old friend and has a great time ‘remembering where, who and what’ :) so I got some pictures with him. Same with Mathieu Westerveld, also ex-Bodyfarm. Not only is he a tree-like man but with his friends here his smile is wider than the Methusalem tree (wiki for interested ;) ). Next band today is Black Rabbit. The band starts off with an abysmal sound, as singer Nino Thomas is inaudible, too much drums or only from halfway the set proper guitar solo sounds. The band doesn’t perform less, oh no. The interaction on stage and off is great, it doesn’t take long before a nice pit greets the band. It shows you don’t really need top notch sound when the songs are good! For a band ‘flown in’ last minute they don’t miss one single beat. Later on the sound get better balanced and even I could be found in the pit. Glasses off, phone down, cap on stage and HIT! At first I thought some skins entered the pretty violent pit, but hearing them talk later I know my prejudice was ungrounded. Pfoei. Alex and Thirza couldn’t, of course, stand still and joined me for a nice family pit meeting. Here’s the set list:
- Intro
- La Bestia
- Parasite of Minds
- Fake Blood
- Culmination of Hate (a new song, the band is working on a full length! Very brutal song!)
- Hollow Eyes
- Paradoxical
- Taken by the Devil
- A Path Profound (as a thank you for my sore throat bass player Robbin van de Bos gave me his bass pick. THANK YOU!

The band was so thrilled they joined up for a fan picture: at first just me with the entire band, than Alex creeped in and Thirza made friends as well (but with only 4/5ths of the band?). Clearly band and crew were happy with the shirts and beanies sold to us ;) Time for a slice of bread, happily the Zwarte Pieten hadn’t eaten it all ;) We also met one of the members of Officium Triste, who recognized me as ‘you took Pim Blankenstein’s patch off his jacket for your Dutch Denim, with a snack fork’ and sold me the new Officium Triste single Morose. Smiling I type this, as I have 7 pictures of him and me now, but don’t know which member it is (apart from Pim ;) ). Singer Olivier from Bloodphemy spotted me as well and convinced me to buy his ‘new’ album Blood Sacrifice, on one condition: sign it ;) Olivier didn’t have much time though, he was still in his normal metal clothing: denim, leather, boots and not as the monk he’s on stage. The band goes full throttle, clearly they’ve practised a lot lately. It was a lot more convincing than, say, Headbangers’Bash of Stonehenge! From the second song on, it’s all fans flying around, going bear barf: mosh pit, stage stepper (no one came near stage enough to catch the young dude, so he scrawled off hihihi), beer through the air, headbangers, beer drinkers and after every song: gaspers for air haha. Especially the rhythm section is loud as a cannon, but the overall sound is very good. A set list later:
- House of Souls
- Spree Killing (roughest pit of the day so far)
- Folie a Deux
- Void (KILLERRRR track!)
- Infanity
- Flock of Lambs
- Revelation (haha it looks mathmatic: every headbanger gets exactly one square meter for his own)
- Catch 23 (was that a Hypocrisy cover? No, that’s Catch-22)
- Disgusted
- Derogated
So, I bought the beanie, still thinking whether I use it as patch or as protection against the cold ><

Next up was some more-caps-and-beards-than-talent grindcore band called Cuttered Flesh. I saw the logos on the shirts and decided I wasn’t in for deathcore/grindcore/goregrind or whatever. I don’t even know how long they played, but we were happy headliner Ancient Rites was checking sound when we re-entered the venue. We’d been talking to all kinds of visitors, crew members, band members (hey Alex Seegers, telling progress on the new album! Again a remark like ‘shush, you know now’ and he clearly had done something cool. As I explained I didn’t want to wear Bodyfarm shirts to Bodyfarm Country (Amersfoort, Leusden) my brother Alex showed the Bodyfarm shirt he’d gotten when my other brother Toon ended Stonehenge with three shirts and band member Alex was happy again ^^ It didn’t help Mathieu bounced around, showing exactly the hoodie I’d gotten from Seegers HA HA HA. Mine is cooler hahaha. Seegers clearly had come (by bike :) ) for a nice chat with and seeing Ancient Rites. The band surely hasn’t lost its touch, as old and new material was played sharp and loud. I told Thirza of the AR fans that came to Wacken 2003 for just one night, all covered in Flemish flags, no need for a friggin’cool rest of the line up there. Ancient Rites or death! Sort of the same shouts were greeted with huge satisfaction and the line gave another hint:
- Infant Sacrifices (intro)
- Assyrian Empire
- Crucifiction Justified
- Obscurity Reigns
- Death Messiah
- Longing for the Ancient Kingdom
- Land of Frost and Despair
- Evil Prevails
- Blood of Christ
- Saefthinge
- Total Mysanthropia (now I got to the stage and made a picture of the set list. Let the fanatic AR fans have this paper, I’m OK and pretty drunk. Alex notices and after one salute we move out. No matter the band’s best songs are coming up as encores: )
- Mother Europe
- Fatherland- clearly the band welcomed this gig a lot, with such a long set. I loved it.

Alex drove like he did my hobby and I lost it, as he told me he’d been driving on my tips/hints to get home? What? Don’t you trust your own Skoda navigation ‘no, it’s simple as that’. Pfffrrrgggrrrr. Why? I’m drunk, in the back of the car and texting with Wanda, why the FUCK do I have to plan the journey home? Thirza is more clever than that and calms me by asking normal questions of how I’ve been lately, how Wanda is doing and what our effort is to get it all within parameters again. Thank you lovely niece of mine! Needed that. In short: this was a great day but with a false ending, which turned out OK reaching Hoorn again. I got dropped off, some hugs followed and we’re all metal again. Metal. Family. Needed. Metal.

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2022 2:46 pm 
 

Sylvia’s Black Fest feat. a.o. Offerblok, Brutal Sphincter err it was officially called Eupen Metalfest ;)

How often do you come across people organizing an entire black metal festival for their 60th birthday? I know bands that partied; Boltfest, Motörboat, Legion of the Damned fan days, to name but a few, but I’ve only been to Boltfest of these three. Sylvia’s 60th birthday was meant to be an all-in-party for her, just like having Graceless in Westwoud was mine, I guess. Sylvia and Jurgen couldn’t come then, as it was his birthday too and he combined that with Jens’ birthday (see 2013 Extremefest review). What I did do, was send a Kermit-green Graceless Hordes of Westwoud shirt to Eupen, where this party would take place. He even got to Aardschok with it, as my gift to her is that edition of the Aardschok with the Stonehenge 2022 review in it. Had it been perfect for Sylvia I think Sólstafir would have shown up, just to surprise the world’s biggest Sólstafir fan ^^ She’s even a bigger Sólstafir fan than I’m on Asphyx hahaha. On the bands we can only be surprised, as most of the band logos are illegible and don’t make much sense to us. It’s been a while since I went to a festival without knowing ANY band ;) I booked a B&B some 450 m from Alter Schlachthof (nice to get bloody on black metal, eh?) At home we discussed confetti (not allowed in the venue, Jürgen cried; there IS a goregrind band present), corpse paint (‘but you have to get it off as well, right, drunk or not?’) a wigg (too tickling)… so in the end we ‘just’ go as ourselves. Bring in toilet brushes. Drive early as well, it’s a 4,5 hour drive and the doors open at 3:45 PM already. In the meantime one band had to cancel, Catalya was replaced by Brutal Sphincter. Not that I’m a goregrind fan, but at least this is a band we’ve seen LOL.

Through FB we’d suggested the name Sylvia’s Black Fest, but she wanted to keep it neutral; the flyer held her e-mail address for buying tickets and it wasn’t even announced in Aardschok’s Kom Snert list ;) We did drive around 9:15 AM and one coffee break later we got there around 2 PM. Wanda had all the time to cool down again at the hotel while I went tourist in the town, hunting for fridge magnets or city patches, but the local administration was closed. I showed the pictures to Wanda and we might return ;) For now, I found the venue and a restaurant that was already open, but the food wasn’t top. OK, we’re filled and the Eupen Brew wasn’t that bad. No idea what brand we’d be served, at least with Jens; I’d met him and his wife on my tour already. To my surprise it was a cash-only happening so I was happy to have used my cards before. With Wanda paying for the food the cashflow went fast… [halfway Ios Talionis Sylvia’s brother got me to an ATM, playing AC/DC in the car, explaining it is his favorite band. He was surprised it’s mine too ^^] No need to linger as the first band was scheduled at 4 PM already. They’re called Funeraria and play fast black metal. Black candles on the stage, corpses painted, loud, I kept thinking of an inverted cross between Marduk and the Norwegian Shining, but without pissing off the audience. Strange, as both Marduk and Shining aren’t bands of Wanda’s liking, but she bought the demo ‘Here Lies Mankind’ because she ‘liked a few riffs in black metal riffing I like’, OK. The band nor the demo are on MA yet. We even grabbed the set list, much to the surprise of their ‘crew’ ;)
- Ungoliant
- Nun Broken Wish
- Flesh of the Twilight Moon
- Burning Saints
- Darkness Subconscious
- Black Torture Soul
- Haunted
- Panzer Division Marduk (that one I didn’t recognize haha)

This was nice, knowing I’m by far not the biggest black metal enthusiast. We met more people surrounding Sylvia, like her parents (80+ and still going strong! Kudos for showing up! Now we know where Sylvia’s loveliness was based upon!) and Heiko. Second band today was Krähenfeld from Krefeld. This band originates fromt the same city as Blind Guardian, but of their fairy-induced power metal isn’t a hint to be found. These guys do atmospheric black metal in the vein of (of course) Primordial, latter Satyricon and a hint of Alcest. To my watery, untrained eyes it’s more smoke than recognition… this was a short gig for us. We’d rather talk to half Deaf Forever (hi Robin!) explaining about how much Sylvia pleaded Offerblok to come ;) In the meantime the third band got to stage, called Ios Talionis. More Norwegian Shining – ehh I need cash. See above.


The band had in fact already called it quits, more or less due to all Covid restrictions, but couldn’t deny Sylvia’s wish: one of the very last shows of Offerblok! I had expected black or death metal, but it was full blown stoner! QotSA fans beware, don’t let yourselves be fooled by Foo Fighters or even Truck Fighters, this is the shit! Before band could actually start Sylvia had to announce ‘the car with license plate XG-30-NR still has the lights on’ HA HA HA. The band could see the fun in it and renamed their first song to A Car Battery Deceased :) Why the hell does a band we both like end so shortly?! We got the lot: shirt, stickers, demo, two guitar picks and a ton of goose bumps:
- A Sun Deceased
- Your Dying World
- Road to Ruin
- The Beginning at the End
- The Damage Done
- Sacrifice

My goodness, was this intense or what? Robin started his show with a hand box and a bottle of beer to us, saying ‘Zonder drank geen klank’ (‘without booze no soundz’) and he hit hard! The band, consisting of (ex-) members of Rompeprop, Deaf Forever (Motörhead tribute I’d seen on Pitfest and camped next to :) ) gave me a big smile, as I was fooled by the name of the band and got an intense mix of Melvins and Kyuss we liked a lot. When the singer Joost started using band shirts to wipe off his sweat the band started throwing besweated shirts (and CDs, ouch, one hit me on the nose) into the thrilled crowd ‘as it’s nearly our last show and these are the last anyway’ ^^

Remember the toilet brushes? They went from hand to hand, through the mosh pit, through the circle pit, through the wall of death, to Sylvia’s parents and beyond during Brutal Sphincter. The. Entire. Audience. Turned. Into. A. Sea. Of. Madness. And fun!! I thinkk Heiko, not the lightest man in the crowd, flew around 9 times through the air haha. At the end the entire band joined the stage divers, the circle pit still singing, whatever. The entire bands Offerblok and Krähenfeld joined the madness. Wanda hesitated… You’ve got to have seen to feel it. I’ve made some 40 second film with my phone but that doesn’t take in the entire feel. I didn’t even know they’re Belgian (Liège city/region) so a place on my ‘Belgian’ denim is just ^^ Wanda arranged the set list:
- Intro + Hijab
- Marc Dutroux (no need for sublety ;) )
- N-VA
- Autistic Meltdown (‘Hype em up’, the set list says in marked words
- Anders Breivik (‘it takes 77 seconds, one second for every victim’ in coal-English)
- Infibulation Championship ([ won’t search for that word anymore! Uggghhh disgusting!!]
- The Art of Squirting (‘Female circle pit’)
- Alex Jones
- Analhu Akbar
- Make Goregrind Great Again
- Prohibit Anime
- Unvaxxed Lives Matter (‘Wall of Death’ which DOES happen)
- Raped by Elephants (‘Last song’ but there’s another on the paper: )
- Goregrind #1


Apart from my disgust at some song titles we had a good time. Aorlhac was the closing band tonight but we had had enough, thanked Sylvia and Jürgen and the Offerblok dudes and went to the Sleepwood Hotel for a well deserved rest. The breakfast was awesome and the ride home smooth, some rain and some shine. Funny to find a gas station near Amsterdam that has the same diesel price as in Belgium – within a mile, back on the A10 the diesel was 20 cents more expensive – go for an AAA+++ location – Nope!! We need metal and diesel!

Due to Wanda’s energy level we had to sell the Sepultura tickets I got from my former colleague Ronald and the tickets for the farewell show of The Shavers. Alex and Thirza will go, I don’t know if they recognize my former neighbor Pieter (had to call Johannes De Boom ‘Uncle Hans’ ;) ). Have fun!

Belgian greetings from members (login) or guests (sign on) to https://metal-tavern.proboards.com/thre ... chthof-nov

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 7:29 am 
 

Eindhoven Metal Meeting and pre-party, Dec. 8-10 2022 featuring Suffocation, My Dying Bride (or at least, that was what the leaflet said)

Of course, even my pinnacle of the metal year had to be postponed. After a full pregnancy without any baby nor much metal, we had our 2020 Eindhoven Meeting. As tourists. We found out we’re not interested (enough?) in modern art to see the entire exhibition at Van Abbe’s… but we had book shops that support theft (…) [it took over 10 minutes to get someone in charge to start up the cash register… we’re gone after some 9 minutes ><], Indian shops that don’t have spices and Turkish ones with only mega-mega-portions of… spices. Good thing on the trip: we’re out of West-Friesland for three days and got home in one piece, after meeting up my uni buddy Clemens and our metal bearded friend Erik. All in good portions haha. What I did do to support District-19 was order a bunch of EMM patches, the special edition EMM 2020 hoodie and some Fleshcrawl stuff (how did this end up in District 19? They’ve got a Fleshstore of their own?) and not press a refund… Wanda bought hardcopy tickets the first day of EMM 2019 already. The Sandton was happy to welcome us again, after some 6 sixpacks of HJ, a full showarma menu in plastic and more to fill the bin every day :lol: .

The 2021 EMM line up was the same as the 2020 one, apart from the Vltimas tour and the pre-party… no Grand Supreme Blood Court and no Distillator on a Thursday… plenty of time to pre-check Whoredom Rife, The Spirit Cabinet and no need for Theotoxin ;) . But the growing numbers of the end of 2021 made some changes necessary as well: Theotoxin and Arch Goat tour has been postponed, replaced by Asagraum and Wesenwille. Pity Frank Mullen couldn’t come personally, but Suffocation WILL play, albeit in their current line-up. The easiest thing for me to do, is put the line up leaflets next to the hoodie and I’ll figure it out. Both God Dethroned and Legion of the Damned had been hinting about new releases, be it single songs or an album that’s a surprise to me.

As 2022 progressed, we had a lot of different ways to enjoy ourselves. I went to most shows we had tickets to, but had to cancel Sepultura, The Shavers, Rocktober and a few others for obvious reasons. We’re both working on ourselves to improve mentally, or to duck stress whenever we can. We’ve been looking forward to Eindhoven for a LONG time, that I can tell. If Wanda makes it to the last evening, hurrayyyy! Thinking of Netherlands Deathfest we agreed to bring in more stuff for Wanda to do, IF she couldn’t make it to Saturday evening… Pre party first. I’d been celebrating some nice time off (no MDF, remember, but worked anyway :roll: ) so at least I’m well rested. Pre party first? NOT IF IT IS SOLD OUT and I did nothing! I had always thought ‘with a two-day-festival-ticket the pre party is free’ BUT NOT THIS YEAR!! Wanda got on her nerves, told me 17 times to check, but I didn’t… until an hour before leaving… I called Effenaar, nothing, was advised to use TicketSwap, nothing, she lost it. Threw her phone to my head, shouting, ‘Messenger. Roman. NOW.’ OK, trembling I explained to Roman about my problem and I waited… within minutes the good news came: ‘bring in your passport and I’ll arrange you’ll get in’… I had to restrain myself from screaming of joy. Let’s say it was pretty quiet in the car to Eindhoven. Pfew. ROMAN THE HERO!!! Thanks a million!

We ate where we had sat often before, good garlic filled showarma and fries… first band would be around 7 PM tonight. It was Theotoxin… but it was a lot better than we expected. Fierce, theatrical black metal, think of a cross Urgehal – Enthroned. Add a warm light show (one specific color per song, not too sharp) and we had a good time. Funny, a man wanted his band to be let in, I told him ‘it’s sold out’, Dikke Kimberly getting Roman to talk, he said ‘I play tomorrow, my band is Final Breath and we’d like to get in.’ That man kept popping up all around the venues, during most bands I’d seen him and yeah, it’s drummer Heiko Krumpholz. Fanboy later haha. I got us some Theotoxin stickers and wait for Whoredom Rife. I’d seen the band on PartySan already and had shown that via WhatsApp back then. The band still plays fierce, no-nonsense black metal with a cross between Dissection, old Marduk and some Deströyer 666 to the mix. There was a lot of interaction between the singer and the photographers (?) but all in good fun. Even black metal musicians are human, right? :) Wanda went into some trance and as I thought she’d not be doing good (anymore; stress can still easily kill her off) but to my surprise and my delight she later explained she’d been engulfed in a warm black metal nest of some sort. She would have wanted that feeling to last ;) silly herrieman :) I just had my own problems with the lighting… communicate, communicate, dudes! We got back inside the pretty full D19 stage for Archgoat. Strange, Wanda had just explained she was going to give away her Archgoat shirt as she didn’t like this type of black metal anymore (and it reminds her of her ex), but had a great time during both Whoredom Rife and Archgoat? The first pit of the day ended when some drüeh (true ;) ) blakk metul heads were pissed off because some pitters entered their aura? Pff losers. I thought it was nice to hear fast, shrill black metal for a change but the feeling didn’t last the entire set. We had our BS with the lockers, none of the codes I’d gotten the day before worked. We only heard Friday night the system had been totally reset and written codes weren’t enough to retrieve our lockers???? What is this moneytrap? OK it’s only € 3,36 per day, including € 0,36 administration fee (><) but it should work!

Last band today was Helleruin from Groningen. But how do you describe black metal of a part of the genre you don’t have any knowledge of? It was smokey and full, cozy at the bar, well visited near the merch and in the foyer there was talk all around, but the music didn’t enter my head at all. OK, it’s been a crazy and long day, we’re off. No need for an afpils.

Friday started with a great breakfast and a long walk through Eindhoven city. I’d needed some time alone, as did Wanda and that feeling lasted for about an hour and a half. We’d try again if the codes for the locker worked, but we got the tip: ‘ask at the end of the evening’, OK. The first band would start at some 4:30 PM and that was Bloodphemy in D19 hall. The band had a full house in front of them, a great sound but the jokes and annunciations were business as usual. Heiko again, he wanted me to stand front row during Final Breath, but his requests made no sense to me. I know I’d seen the band before, but also that it wasn’t much of my liking. My prejudice was thinned, the band members can play, but not in a way I’m getting warm of. Sound OK, mix bad, band not getting better within time. Of Antropomorphia I don’t recall a thing at all. We were waiting for God Dethroned anyway and got the full monty: a great band, doing a 30year anniversary version of The Christhunt, plenty but doable light, a full headbanging mode and a full house. Henri isn’t such a dry dickhead anymore, he clearly enjoys what he’s accomplished with his band so far. God Dethroned is ready for the onslaught; Wanda got the set list:
- Under a Darkening Sky
- Villa Vampiria
- Soul Sweeper
- No Man’s Land
- Asmodevs [this isn’t 30 years old, it’s brand new, it’s the latest official video https://youtu.be/2FKrz3p_N9s ]
- Christ Carnage
- Hordes of Lucifer
[Necromagnon crossed out] I shouted for Illuminati, but did we get it because of me or because the set list says so? :)
- Illuminati
- Serpent King
- Boiling Blood (adrenaline pumps full throttle, shouting as hard as we can. No need though, as the volume went in overdrive from now on from heavy to full to loud to over the top)
- Poisson Fog (Fish fog?? LOL)
[Sigma Enigma and Spirit of Beelzebub crossed out]
- Nihilism
- Hating Life
- On the Wrong Side of the Wire
- Storm of Steel
The leaflet says ‘The Christhunt 30 years anniversary – Latin American Tour December 2022’ but only three songs of The Christhunt? OK, with the rest of the set list I won’t complain, but I’d have liked to hear “at least” their own anthem God Dethroned… Later on I spoke to ex-GD drummer Michiel van de Plicht, but he’s ‘glad to be in Pestilence now, we’d had our differences in GD, Henri’s boss but in Pestilence we’re democratic, more democratic than ever in GD’. Thank you, nothing personal, but sometimes I’m glad I’m NOT in a band haha. In the meantime we gathered for Schirenc plays Pungent Stench – van de Plicht, Magda Master, Jurgen, Sylvia, entire bands Carnation, Cryptosis, Bodyfarm, half of Hail of Bullets and so on and Suffocation’s Charly Errigo went nuts ;) ). It. Was Loud. Nuff said? Haha, we enjoyed it a lot. First row, again a slightly different band than the previous time but some hell of a bunch of musicians doing their stuff great:
- Shrunken and Mummified Bitch
- Happy Re-Birth Day
- S.M.A.S.H.
- Brainpan Blues
- And only Hunger Remains
- Sputter Supper
- Sick Bizarre Defaced Creation
- Splatterday Night Fever
- Daddy Cruel
- Fuck Bizarre
- Extreme Deformity
- Viva La Muerte
So cool to see the band doing such a different set like the last time. And don’t give a flying fukc about who plays what hahahaha. This weekend we didn’t meet Martin, but to be honest we had hardly been to the merch tent to begin with. Roman later explained the tent gave room in the foyer, some rest as well and with Austrian Covid-rules in mind they might need the extra space in square meters to have the festival without restrictions SHOULD there be another outbreak. I only went inside the tent to get Legion of the Damned shirts but that was on Saturday. Our Friday was over, even having missed half the line up due to babbel, talks, bull, drinks, immobility, other friends and utter drunkenness. OK we missed Chapel of Disease, Rotting Christ, My Dying Bride, Mgła, Stallion, Angelus Apatrida, Ulcerate, Suicidal Angels, Djerv (no we didn’t hahaha) Unleashed, Benediction and Saor. Fine. I said it. It was to cozy and comfy in the foyer to participate in bands I’ve seen quite often or don’t like at all. Drinking Weihenstephaner instead of Bahvaria was a good idea and we continued to do so.
Saturday started, like so many times before, at my friend’s Clemens house. Talk talk talk, LEGO for a mini-city ^^, walk to Effenaar with the five of us. We were in time for Slaughterday, but the small hall was already so full I stood at the ‘old’ merch position between the little hall and the foyer. The mix was clear, the sound was blunt, the band had fun and I soon heard Ancient Death Triumph, I knew I was at the right place. We also wanted to stand first row for Carnation on main stage. No one noticed the band was to play early, but professional as they are, Jonathan and Co. smeared the venue to pindakaas. Sharp, heavy, well trained, nicely balanced between melody and harshness, not afraid to play old nor new material and all in between:
- Iron Discipline
- Stench of Death
- Sepulcher of Alteration – mi colore de saunge! So overwhelmingly heavy, soo loud, sooo tight
- Hatred Unleashed
- Serpent’s Breath
- Chapel of Abhorrence
- Reincarnation – with four feet of goose bumps and my throat clogs up. RRROOOAAARRRR!!!
- Necromancer
- Shadowless Depths
From where we stand, we clearly hear the drums, Bert’s guitar and Simon’s vocals, but hardly any solo part by Jonathan. That’s a pity, but we really want to stay first row so we don’t mind about this tiny gap in overall festival feel. We stick around in the big hall as Wanda wants to feel the entire Legion of the Damned building up and sound check. Maurice and Co. hardly need a sound check, as they’re so experienced and have been playing in the same line up for quite some time now. I hesitated to join the pit, as I had such a good time with Wanda and the band going 200 per cent and hitting HARD!! Inge got the set list:
- Son of the Jackal – directly interacting Maurice and Fabian
- Werewolf Corpse
- Doom Priest (not writing as I NEED to bang my head ánd their energy)
- Taste of the Whip
- Diabolist
- Palace of Sin
- Slaves of the Southern Cross
- Pray and Suffer
- Bleed for Me (‘It’s not a shame if you guys want to keep playing for two hours more’ – ‘uhm, we’re not the youngest anymore’ HA HA HA)
- Legion of the Damned – trying to explain to Sylvia about ‘need thrash to calm down’ :)
- Dark Coronation

We had Benno and Leendert near us, near-Legion of the Damned newies. Leendert begged me to get him a guitar pick, I’d get plenty of beer to compensate. I got Twan’s printed guitar pick, Leendert had a non-printed version from Fabian. I swapped, telling them ‘Haha did you really think I’d need even more beer than we’d had so far?; let’s get you both some Legion shirt’. Baffled, they joined me to the tent haha. We also ate at the showarma joint I’d met nearly-all-Exodus-member there so many years ago; we had plenty of time. I like some Benediction or Unleashed once in a while but now it was quality time for us both. As we were in time for Gutalax we’d help Ineke in her wheelchair get the blow up pizza, the confetti and mostly: the circle pit! Gutalax already played a won match, as the jokes about voetbal were combined with shit humor haha. Nice to see the band members in their normal clothes before the paper overalls set place haha. Gutalax had some 50 minutes to shit out some 15 songs and burpdeburp gurgeldegurgel floodthetoilet music was spread. Jurgen and Sylvia in great mood, security wasn’t needed but they seemed to be so anxious, we guessed they were in practice term or something. Nice little party. Nuff.

Still talking so much, Wanda needed a seat badly so we missed another couple of bands. I wanted to see which singer Suffocation would bring, I guess Suffocation’s now the band I’ve seen with most different singers so far. Mullen, Robinson, Myers, Gallagher (I think) ; heh heh even Exodus had ‘only’ three singers’ hahaha. One song in, one marvellous break and I've had enough; Wanda didn't even leave the foyer for Suffocation.  No need for Ancient, Misþyrming or Saor, even though many advised us to do so… we needed sleep. We thanked Roman for the ninth time, he’s now sober (yesterday his stress level was still present and afterwards he went OFF his rocker drunk haha), emptied our locker with help from the bar personnel and walked out. Tickets bought for EMM 2023, put in agenda ‘have you bought pre party tickets yet ^^ and arranged the new deal at the Sandton. No need to drive home in silence, we had enough to talk anyway. About NOT forgetting to do stuff, trying NOT to keep such mistakes so high and stay METAL in between. Eindhoven Metal Meeting was a blast, albeit slightly different from what I’d expected in this line up. Eindhovuhh de Metalste!

For the ones without tickets (...) sign in as guest or login as member on https://metal-tavern.proboards.com/thre ... -2020-2022
Thanks to Effenaar I've got even a better review ánd awesome pictures: www.effenaar.nl/artikelen/emm-brutal-me ... ly-reunion 

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2023 6:06 am 
 

Hedon Zwaar Nieuwjaar, Asphyx, Graceless, Jan. 7th 2023

A great way to start a new metal year. Of course, it had to be postponed at least once, as you don’t hold a New Year reception in June haha. Asphyx was the headliner from the start, along with Graceless so we’d be surrounded by friends ANYWAY. We could choose to drive home or pick one of my all time favorite B&B’s Hotel Fidder, some mile away from Hedon. Hotel Fidder it became, but Wanda had to bail out to another crisis again :,-( I got there early and wanted to meet Maarten MsD as he offered to rescue my old laptop from Windows haha. This way I could eat at Fidder’s at well, which was to our delight when we did our Covid-influenced citytrip back in 2020. One thing that estranged me was, silly enough, that the festival is called Hedon Zwaar Nieuwjaar now, as I thought Zwols Zwaar Nieuwjaar had a lot more bite to the name. Swoah. Also, would it be the same date as the last Kutschurft show or ‘just another Kutschurft show?’ Leiden or Zwolle makes no difference to me, but I rank Asphyx a lot higher than Kutschurft… Alex offered to take the ticket but it was on too short notice (he’s a grandfather now, congratulations to my niece Lilian and her daughter Eva) ; he had to au pair his grandchild haha. Not even a week old and she’s already ruling his agenda ^^

Indeed, I met Maarten and Brammerman even before entering the venue but couldn’t sell Wanda’s ticket. Hedon’s website mentioned there would be tickets left to sell, but I didn’t bother too much to sell it anyway and got in. After a big hustle with the new locker system (the wardrobe has been totally removed in favor of merch space) I could put in my jacket. It’s nowadays forbidden to enter the venue in your jacket??? Ridiculous policy, if you ask me. With the locker BS I was already to late to enter the small hall for Caedere, it was simply too full to enter. People were waiting outside the doors to catch one final glimp of the band AND I wanted to be first row for Graceless, who would open big stage this festival. Third reason: way too many friends around, hugs+kisses+hands+selfies (for Wanda…) so I got in just in time. I stood next to Heiko (see Graceless review in Recklinghausen :cool: ) and was accompanied by Belinda, Peter and Dikke K. Graceless started furiously, even though the sound was a bit divided, depending on where you stood. The one person standing exactly in the middle could hear all four band members and what I’ve heard was mostly Björn’s guitar, Kreft’s voice and the drums. Kreft’s guitar was best to be heard from the right side of the stage along with Jasper’s bass. I stood left but I managed to freak out as if I was the one exactly in the middle haha. The volume wasn’t a problem ;) but the mix was out of focus… during these songs:
- Giants
- Die on Demand
- Retaliation of the Wicked
- This Ends With the World in Ruins (nów I hear Jasper’s bass excellently, what an enormous sling this song has! Such an emotionally laden song!!)
- Malignant Seed
- one title I missed due to all selfies (Bianca2, Dave, Reem, Heiko, etc haha)
- Shadowlands – such speeds accomplished \m/ both in playing and in headbanging \m/
- Warpath – strong Celtic Frost-on-high-quality-coke-vibe
- Blood of the Brave (I think, my notes were scribbly to say the least ;) )

Panting, thirsty, heavy arms and neck in the right shape to do A LOT more headbanging I tried again to get into the small hall, but failed again. No Massive Assault for me now, so I bought Maarten the shirts I promised him (Graceless logo, new Asphyx design). He made my new laptop function without Windows and released me from the nails of any computer’s coffin McFlurryAfee and he’s going to unWindow my old laptop. This way I can do everything that I did before but now I work faster and my old laptop is for pictures and ripping music (to use in the car). Maarten was full of Cryptosis the last time he’d seen them, I clearly wasn’t that sharp (on Stonehenge I kept comparing the material to Distillator. I have discussed this with both Frank and Laurens of the band, they know me as an old school Distillator fan. No hard feelings). Then. Yeah. Then I wasn’t keen on Cryptosis, now they totally blew me out of my last hairs, shattered my earwax all over the big hall and made me think music still can be great!! The band played earsplitting loud, but eager, sharp, varied, tight and whatnot. I’m not as far as to buy the album yet, but at least I’m overwhelmed by their inventiveness, professional performing and their lust for music in whatever form you call it. Progressive thrash? Nah, that’s too thin. There’s death metal involved, punk, industrial and more. Biggest surprise of the evening so far. First reaction: yeah I bought a Cryptosis shirt for Maarten but didn’t see him the rest of the evening. Where would he be? Tucked into a corner of the small hall? Vomiting the toilet? Asleep during Fleshcrawl again? Oh no, today was Dutch metal only haha, the remark on sleeping was a pun. Intended. I got into a nice conversation with Marc of Graceless and Marco of Cryptosis afterwards and was rewarded a Graceless beany by Marc and some Cryptosis stickers from Marco. Even in different genres musicians can communicate fluently haha. Thanks a lot guys, highly appreciated!

But that wasn’t all I bought, I will start my 17th denim soon, themed UK/Ireland. I will start the cutting and sewing as my Angel Witch backpatch is delivered, from then on I can start on Motörhead (two parts of a three-patch set), Bolt Thrower, Napalm Death, Primordial and bands I’ve seen in England / Ireland / Scotland. Of course Asphyx hahaha, but Autopsy will find it’s way, Exodus and way more. Where’s my Bloodstock shirt, my Lords of the Land shirt or my Boltfest shirt? Nice to keep busy this way, my second set of bedsheets is beginning to fill as well. Cool to use shirts I can no longer wear, or else they’ll rot in the closet anyway… Found a Black Sabbath – Sabotage coffee mug and for once I was happy to have that darn e-locker at my disposal ^^ For Wanda the new red Asphyx design, they have it again in XXL…

Speaking of XXL, Kimberly followed me as long as it took her to get a picture with Martin van Drunen, relaxed as he always is just before a show. Beer in hand, one final smoke [outside], last fans satisfied, onto stage, taste the sound and OFFFFFF!!! I got a guitar pick from Paul beforehand, were introduced by Earik of The Lucifer Principle ‘remember there’s a little band I might be in, in the small hall, after this mammoth of Dutch death metal has finished’ ;) and here they go:
- The Quest for Absurdity
- Botox Implosion
- Molten Black Earth
- Death the Brutal Way (a nice fuck off to Putin :cool: )
During the first silent part (…) of the show I started shouting for M.S. Bismarck, but got nearly kicked in the head by Martin ‘We don’t play that anymore’ hahaha creep!
- Asphyx – Forgotten War (nice pyro show, gladly the smoke machine didn’t overrun haha)
- Deathhammer
- Knights Templar Stand
- It Came from the Skies (for Theo van Eekelen, who’d been drinking my beer for some time now ;) )
- Wasteland of Terror – Martin doing some airguitar battle with Paul :)
- The Nameless Elite
- Forerunners of the Apocalypse (nice pit going)
- Death the Only Immortal
- Necroceros (killer buildup!)
- The Rack (goose bumps and constant headbanging)
- Last One on Earth

Asphyx is simply in bloody good form tonight. The band has a full house in front of them, the balcony also was quite full, the volume is great, the atmosphere on stage and off is great. Just so many people together, all having a great time with this well oiled death metal machine. I think the setlist is balanced with evergreens and the best songs off the last three albums. Never mind one nagging hardcore Asphyx fan like me hahaha. With a band with such a stage attire, this sound, this fun on stage, great fans around, I will never nag. Period. I’ve been an Asphyx fan for so long now, I can appreciate all that they throw at me. From interested in death metal (my first Asphyx show was opening for Bolt Thrower) to huge band-freak, that’s how I evolved those 30 years. And we see them in three weeks again, right? \m/ Add a FB picture I got from Wanda, where you can clearly see my bald head going nuts during Asphyx and I’m all over it. Never mind Martin didn’t wear his Graceless Hordes of Westwoud shirt, at least I wore Wanda’s :)

Don’t forget there’s one more band haha. Like said, Earik had sort of announced his own band when Asphyx got to stage and I’m also a TLP fan. I might have to wiggle myself in, as I had not expected áll visitors would get home after Asphyx. I just had to see The Lucifer Principle, but that I couldn’t see the entire show was no problem for me. I squirled, squished and wriggled myself in, up to the first row and beyond the pit. The. Friggin’. Lucifer. Froggin’. Principle. Is. Back. And. They. Don’t. Take. Prisoners!!! My Christhunt, was this a fire of a show or what? I had not seen the band for several years, as they got into some kind of sabbatical or I missed them since 2018 I guess. First thing I notice: Giedo is back! Thomas is still there! Earik is still a madman of a frontman! Sander is still a tank of a bass player, so brutal is his sound. Mikhail is still the animal on drums. Where’s Hein? I got in during I Am The Law, which they normally don’t play or play last (…) but gladly that wasn’t the last song they played. The band went over the top in their own fast, brutal but still highly understandable death metal, loads of melody and bluntness combined. The band played I Am The Law as a tribute to Erik Nijkamp of Skãldgrim and they bashed in a lot heads this way 8-) I moshed, I banged my head, I raised my glass to him/the band and this is what Thomas’ set list (THANK YOU) says:
- Kadaver
- Eaten (probably Feeding the Land of the Dead]
- Graveyard Ave.
- Into Decay
- There Will Be Blood
- Soul Saviour Throat Cut
- Death Resort
- Monster
- I Am The Law
- Burn
There are some markings on the set list paper, so this order isn’t the real one. At least I Am The Law wasn’t the last song they played and I have certainly heard Soul Savior Throat Cut. Capice? No, but who cares? Thinking hard I probably came in during There Will be Blood and THOUGHT it was I Am The Law. Get it? No matter, I had a great time. The atmosphere was electrifying, there was a lot of sweat and beer spilled those 40 minutes of this show. Good to notice Pitch Black Dawn is still a band favorite to play songs of. I still think it’s a very special album by a band that always has been special to me. Earik, Giedo, Sander and Thomas all befriended me over the years; as did Hein before and Mikhail is a bit of a silent one I guess. This band still knows how to make an audience explode into a raging mass of flying bodies and body parts haha. I do hope the band will do more shows in the future than last 4 years, so to speak.

Time to empty the locker, be sure the coffee mug is still in one piece and peacefully retreat to the hotel. When I walked to Hedon, I thought it took me some 35 minutes to get there, now I thought I got to my room in about 20 minutes. Huh? It can’t be, as I clearly had had enough Heiny’s to swallow and don’t forget I ate in a whisky-themed restaurant before seeing any band. Anyway, I slept soon but awoke with a dry leather tongue, a stomach that was not ready for coffee yet (bad luck intestines, coffee or burst) and I ate cautiously. The sun was prickling my eyes and coming to the car first thing I did was post a smiling picture of me with the Graceless beanie and my sunglasses. ‘With so much beauty I have to use my sunshields’ [heart][kiss][repeat]. It was a comfortable ride home, had I not needed more coffee to stay awake. I had a great time, spent plenty, laughed plenty, talked even more and had METAL.

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2023 4:40 pm 
 

Ronnie James Dio The Memorial Concert, Manifesto Hoorn, Jan. 20th 2023

When people want to come to visit, you usually clean your house (a bit, at least), fill up your fridge (beer, of course) and give an overall feel of welcome to your guests. Or, if after weeks of scheduling and refitting agendas you just push the doorbell and go in, give or take a few minutes to scramble up a few beers, chips and peanuts. In this case it would be fun to watch photos with Kees and Alicia, as I’ve been going to shows with Kees since 2010 and Alicia hasn’t seen half of what we got through together. We clearly remember Thrashfest 2010 and the journey home haha. But this time we were the ones planning and Alicia hinting anóther agenda pick: January 20th they would be in Westwoud, but she apped: ‘there’s a Ronnie James Dio tribute we really want to go to’. Uhh photos or Dio? That’s not a hard decision. Very cool to be able to drive home in 7 minutes once more, usually we drive for at least an hour… No hotel needed of course. Tickets were soon bought and, to my surprise, soon sold out. Alicia would bring her parents too ;) Nice.

As the concert was in Hoorn and would start at 9 PM, we had all the time in the world to prepare ourselves easily. Wanda had had a tough week, but the calm before entering the car worked like magic. Magic is a word Dio used often in his lyrics, of course, and after this gig I clearly remember why. Metal is music magically fulfilling me, Wanda and the +10,000 friends we’ve made over the years. To me, Mr. Padovano is on the very first patch I ever bought, I wore that printed piece of cloth for years and with pride, having seen him perform in Black Sabbath (1992, Groningen), Dio (several times, different countries) and Heaven and Hell (Graspop and the very last Wãldrock concert ever). I have to admit I wasn’t always the biggest fan, but nowadays I cherish my Dio moments a lot more than say, 2004 or something. Not because he died, not because I never met him, but more in awe about his charisma, his excellent feeling for tone, reach (and noting that by one of the most a-musical metalheads ever :) ) and performance and his great stamina. The big little man needs to be hailed! We got to Hoorn, parked as close to the venue as possible and heard ‘anyone around with paper tickets?’, as the scan devise for the e-tickets malfunctioned HA HA HA. Greeted by Linda and one of the oldest members of the ancient Hoorn punk scene (pfft, she’s still the douche I wanted to avoid 35 years ago) we showed the paper with a big grin. Looking at the people outside, both the smokers and the ones with iKoleredingen ;) we said to each other ‘seems like we’re the youngest around now’^^ First acquiantance we met was Serge and he’s four years my junior HA HA. The venue was sold out, within minutes we also saw my brother Toon and the Onderdijk Blues Gang, Irma & Gerrit, my practise farmer Koos and his family (nice to meet you, I’ve seen you as toddlers *blush* haha) and from a distance, Kamiël and Jolanda. There must have been plenty more people we know, but it’s so full we can hardly move. It doesn’t help people around us complain about the slow-as-tar bar personnel. We stand where we stand and stay there.

It took about 20 minutes before the band began. Ex-, live- and actual members of VUUR, Blind Guardian, Within Temptation, Stream of Passion, Praying Mantis, Focus and Textures would fill the stage. My first frowning question: would the Rainbow songs be played last? Uhm, no, not at all! First song: Tarot Woman! What I immediately noticed, was that the singer John JayCee Cuijpers has a bull of a voice and he’s got plenty of power. Even without introducing the band or just from the fourth/fifth song on, he’s a good and focused singer. The band has two experienced and tight guitarists (Ruud Jolie and Menno Gootjes [Focus, Usurper, ex-Threnody]) and a beast behind both bass and drums: Johan van Straten and Stef Broks. Only dissonant is female singer Lisette van den Berg, with her voice as thin as her hair (hihi, we both noticed that). Second song: A Light in the Black, another Rainbow song! The triple solo (2 guitars + keys [by Martijn Spierenburg]) is friggin’thrilling! Powerful, varied, loud and cool! I’m already satisfied concerning ‘feel good moments’ \m/ and that’s only two songs in! It gets to Black Sabbath – Neon Nights was one of the two songs I’d seen Dio himself perform in Groningen – long story – the other one was Paranoid before another sentiment of youth is played: We Rock!! I told Wanda this song was the first time I’d seen Dio on Dutch national TV, taken from that famous concert on Pinkpop 1984, making organizer Jan Smeets declare ‘there’s never ever going to play another heavy metal band on my festival’ Haha the doof, why bother with Metallica twice and Sepultura then? Pffft. My memory of those two heavy metal songs on TV is still valid and meaningful to me. Sort of.. ‘instantly knew I was into heavy metal’, that kind of feeling got to me then. It still is, of course.

JayCee is only willing to talk to the audience for the first time when the band started Neon Nights – a simple ‘Come on, Manifesto’ is all we get. I’m foremost happy he’s not blabbering too much about not being able to play in P3 tonight, as the venues had to be swapped due to so many changes in bands, cancellings, catching up, rebuild plans and whatnot… don’t bother us again with the virus we want to forget as hard as possible! Funny to notice the bass sound tuned totally different between Rainbow and Sabbath songs ^^ During We Rock I’m pulled by the shoulders by Jan Palenstein, the Final Heiress singer explains to his girlfriend ‘this is Herman, he’s from Westwoud, of which you know it’s next to Oosterblokker where you live’ :) :) Great man, Dumbledore ( ;) without waistlength hair and beard of course :) :) Nice to see you Jan, great you’re doing good and still metal \m/ We also hear Don’t Talk to Strangers, Egypt (The Chains are On) and Lady of the Lake, introduced by JC as ‘the first of many surprises tonight’.

Shamefully, it’s not all metal and rosethorns tonight. When Children of the Sea is played, we both notice JC has to haul breath between nearly every song and Lisette annoys us instantly with her phrasing… her voice sounds ‘OK, but..’ in the early part of a sentence, but becomes squeaky halfway the same sentence! The lights begin to pain me as well and when Catch the Rainbow starts, Wanda told me her back is killing her and needs to sit down for a sec. We wander off to the foyer, but no chair to be found… we look each other in the eyes and say ‘the car has seats too’… we chose to leave. Fine to have been around, Kamiël even contacting us by phone ‘we’re at the bar’, ‘but we’re at the couch once more with a nice stiff drink’ :) - this must be the very first show ever I leave without even ordering ONE drink, let alone NO merch available AND gone before the goodies Mob Rules, Stand Up and Shout, Heaven and Hell, Holy Diver, Man on a Silver Mountain and the likes. Probably they played the same killer set as elsewhere in The Netherlands, but we leave.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/ronnie-j ... c5dcb.html I manage to steal a concert flyer and later on Wanda notices ‘I like the poster better than the gig’ ;) In short: songs – great, sound – good, lights – kut, male singer – good but lacks stamina and interaction, female singer – should have stayed home, rhythm section – awesome and guitars – very good. Hardly noticed the keyboards played, hence a few intros here and there. We liked the initiative, but weren’t overall pleased this show. Oh well, it’s still metal. And we spoke to people we hadn’t seen in some time. That’s metal too.

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 2:36 am 
 

Zwaremetalen.com presents Asphyx
The MS Bismarck sets sail on river Amstel – Asphyx + Graceless, Jan.28th, 2023, P60 Amstelveen

In a way, I think everybody grows accustomed to something everybody calls his own, be it in possession of stuff, or habits, customs, hobbies, specialities or other vagueties. My habit of the Sunday is often: go to or return from a show, shower, shave, get Chinese, write review and watch voetbal, get to bed early enough to be sharp on Mondays. Another habit: see as many Asphyx shows in as many places I can. PartySan, EMM, Stonehenge, Groningen and 013 are, thinking fast, the only places I’ve seen the band twice. If I bring in associated bands, my list is endless ;) Another habit is lists. Not only in getting hands on set lists, but I swim with lists as well. Let me explain: If I swim, I want to swim at least one kilometer to get my daily workout. But in a 25 m pool it’s hard to keep up numbers, as so many times I get distracted and lose my count. I’ve found out that if I hammer out lists, I swim a kilometer or even a mile effortlessly. And I’ve got +++ lists to swim to, but I’ve used Asphyx often in those lists: how often have I seen them, with what bands have I seen the band, which countries I’ve been to for them, which band members play in what other bands, what shirt bought where and so on. If my calculations are correct, this is my 38th Asphyx show in some 32 places, in the first of seven countries and with the line up since 2014. I might hook you up with my Graceless lists as well, but I’ll keep that for my 25th Graceless show HA HA HA. Opener: Necrotesque; nice to have one band I don’t know yet. Yeah I’m spoiled ^^.

We drove early, as I’m used to driving with at least one mistake, that’s another often mentioned hobby of mine. We could eat wherever we want, as Amstelveen is close to Amsterdam and has plenty horeca around. We thought. Not only is Amstelveen a huge building nest, the routes I’m used to from my work are useless and we’re running out of diesel fast. Wanda didn’t freak out, but the restaurants didn’t improve her mood much. Google does not mention ‘overbooked’, ‘full’, ‘ít’s usually not this booked’ so after a full round of Stadsplein (where P60 also lies) we ended up in… FEBO. Holland’s oldest fast food chain, if I’m correct. Uhm, OK, just don’t give me fries haha. We had heard Zwaremetalen.com would surprise the first 50 people who entered, but it was so cozy with some half of both befriended bands in the café, we skipped that. Turned out it was a plectrum-and-button-set you could also buy yourself for € 5. Alwin didn’t even believe my ride to Amstelveen only took 50 minutes LOL. There’s no wardrobe anymore and the PIN machine to provide € 2 coins for the lockers was broken… so I handed out some of my own € 2 coins to the needy… mostly Alex Zwaert and Arjan haha. Kim, Steven and Lowie were there too, I got Kim a nice red Asphyx shirt to cope with Wanda’s ;) The first band started soon: ‘We are Necrotesque and play old school death metal’, and they did. All band members are bald and wear camouflage pants and big beards, they might fit in in Master or Malevolent Creation haha. At least musically, yeah. Their old school parts certainly had a whiff of Candlemass too, but after three, four songs, two of them with ‘Sadism’ in the song title, the vocals wear off a bit. Musically OK, but the vocals lack a bit of variation and tone. The second song was announced as ‘this is perfect for a mosh pit’ and yeah, three people bash into each other as if it’s a thrash metal show ;) Pity the moshers were so unadjusted, Wanda and me got the full beer douche of our own beer >< No need for the black-and-white nor ‘Dutch’ patches… Talking to Alex and Storm, calming Wanda down after the unvoluntary beer smell, we missed Giants by Graceless, but no worries, we got to front row in Malignant Seed. The entire set:
- Giants
- Malignant Seed
- Die on Demand – that break halfway the song makes all muscles tension up, gives me a very good feeling
- Shadowlands – bass even louder in the mix? No problem to us ^^
- Blood of the Brave – one on one contact Remco – Lowie 8-) Lowie is 12 and autistic
- Embrace the Rain – it remains an emotional song, even to the members, as Jasper later explained. So beautiful, so cool
- Warpath – killer, speedy song, violent, aggressive as an avalanche. Cool to see Lowie gets 4 plectrums, the set list and Marc’s sticks!

Wet, panting and a bit smelly we decide to keep close to the stage, as we both know Asphyx’ sound check is carnival to us. Band and crew work hard to keep the gap between live music short, but also have a load of fun doing so. ‘We are three Dutchies and one butcher of a German, we’re called Asphyx and we play fucking death metal!’ As if you think that’s a mere statement, you don’t know what to expect 8-) . I’ll try to keep it to the set list:
- The Quest for Absurdity
- Botox Implosion
- Molten Black Earth – a man behind me talks half French ‘zzaaa Bolzz Zzrowerrr feel ‘ all I can do is nod ^^
- Death the Brutal Way – Martin thanking Zwaremetalen.com, P60 for perfect organization and fans, finished off by brutal pyrotechnics some 10 feet high 8-) stage is 11 feet high 8-) The band? Like a bulldozer on rocketfuel! Joke # 84: ‘Heiny is bootleg Grolsch’ but two songs later Martin ‘has to notice Heiny is getting better in volumes’ ?? >< ^^ ;)
- M.S. Bismarck – and I thought they wouldn’t play it anymore, but Martin explains ‘we like to surprise our visitors a bit, especially the ones that witnessed us two weeks ago’- pointing at Wanda and me 8-) the ship bolts out all 50,900 tons of steel, armour, guns, shells and people at us – awesome to experience once more!!
- Deathhammer – for crew, wives and the first stagedivers
- Wasteland of Terror – for me and Wanda, bro and sis time with Martin 8-)
- Three Years of Famine
- Scorbutics – more pyro than band haha
- Necroceros – the entire stage trembles, sooooo heavy! Even the beers on the drumriser instantly start foaming :)
- Vermin – whoah that came in hard!! Of course it was usually played direct after the intro, it’s not even on the set list but as ‘compliment to the audience and all fuckers around’ 8-) - Martin overwhelmed by the fact that Asphyx fans bought Necroceros so sincerely, it made the band appear in the Dutch album charts!!! \m/
- The Nameless Elite – a nice fuck off to some jihad warriors being caught or killed this week
- Forerunners of the Apocalypse – ‘did you know this song is about the biggest slaughter ever seen on a battle field?’ That explains the ferocity of the song! - Paul is headbanging so rabidly and so close, I feel his sweaty hair strike my face. Fanboy! >< HA HA HA even Kim films it
- Asphyx – Forgotten War – goose bumps higher than the pyros!
Martin introduces the band saying ‘behind me is the biggest and baddest barbaric butcher a Dutch band ever had’ and ‘I’m Lee Towers’ (but where is your arm swing then? Dutch insider joke)
- Last One on Earth – we’re being asked ‘why the hell are Germans louder than the Dutch?’ so the roars have to go in three before the song starts. Entire band smiling widely, poking each other how cool it is what they do – Paul’s solo near the end of the song clots up my throat and I have to swallow a few times hard to overcome my own emotion. Wanda notices and comforts me, the sweet.

But even cool to great shows come to an end. I stumble towards the merch stand, I had bought the plectrum set already but decided I want Asphyx and Graceless on my second set of bed sheets as well; so I buy the smallest shirts I ever bought for myself ;) , say thanks and goodbye to Alwin, René V. and B. (too drunk to know the show is over) and Graceless (I can hardly leave to the gratitude we get as fans, friends and supporters of many metal bands ^^). Kim, Steven and Lowie escort us to the parking garage, Wanda is over the top tired and needs a bit of help getting down three stairs… now the quest for (absurd? No haha) a gas station commences… the building pit still confuses me, but as I’m on Amsterdamsestraat I know we’ll eventually reach the ring Amsterdam and to a gas station nearby. At 1:30 AM we got home, I’m desperate for an afpils and want to read about voetbal.. five games, 20 goals and a few surprises. The HJ Grand Prestige fits this gig totally so I get to bed around 3:30, tired and totally satisfied. Total brutal metal!!

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herrieman72
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Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sun Mar 26, 2023 12:54 pm 
 

Heidelberg Deathfest pt VI, headliners Asphyx, Benediction , March 18th

This review is for Marc Möller, the German über-OSDeathhead, who died three weeks ago. The first German death metal party without him, strange to say the least. R.I.P. brave fighter, pure death metal freak and above all, friend.

We were so eager to get back to Heidelberg last year, we totally and utterly forgot we could be harmed as well… so the 2023 IT MUST BE Heidelberg once more! Suggestions that it was taking VERY long for a date to be mentioned, even longer before the first band was announced (Carnation!) and then some vague hint whenever tickets could be bought… gladly we still have our 2020 hotel reservation so nearby… what to do with the money paid for the 2020 tickets? Uhm, it’s nearly three years ago… do I need cash from the Heidelberg Gang? Uhm, no. I gave the 2023 ticket for Bram’s birthday and hoped Kevin could join us again… makes a hell of a difference not to drive 6 hours straight on and be able to change the driver ^^But no, he got a work obligation he couldn’t refuse or bye bye job. We would drive on Friday, dive into the ancient city, have the festival on Saturday and home on Sunday. But did the digital voucher of the hotel still work? I had tried in March 2022, no response, March 5th 2023, no response… I called on Wednesday and it seemed I had used a blotched e-mail address… so pffft, don’t tell Wanda about my little stress and DRIVE TO HEIDELBERG ;) Driving through Germany isn’t all racing anymore. The times I had to adjust my cruise control due to all speed signs [no limit, 130, 120, 100, 80, 60; it’s getting worse than in Holland :roll: ], road labour, idiots passing on both sides, the Dutch still proud of their NL (Nur Links, for Germans :roll: I try as hard as I can not to drive too long on the left lane) and people who should be losing their license is amazing. Driving to Heidelberg I didn’t even do my hobby ;) I got parking spot #2 of the hotel ^^ another metalhead got to #1 LOL
We drove on Friday, for Wanda to be able to rest before any activity would take place after 524 km. Last times we wanted to find a specific shop, Heidelberg city merch, a metal bar or a rock Kneipe or specific booze but both Bram and me didn’t have any time to prepare beforehand. We ended up in a lousy but cocky Italian restaurant, too expensive and nearly tasteless. In a small mall near the rail station we were more lucky: we found bottles of Alex’Heidelberger Melon Schnapps and got that for Bram, his mother and my brother Alex ;) That bottle went in half, it’s too friggin’delicious. But the ambulances already were around and kept going all night...

In the morning I thought I heard Bram take a shower, but it turned out to be his rain-app, the sound is so smoothing to him he sleeps better ;) Halle02 is only a 10 minute walk from the hotel, so we had all the time in the morning to get another set of bottles ;) At the entrance we were nearly decapitated by meeting Birgit+Andreas and Iris+Bernd, we had not met in years. Literally. Funny: Bernd wore ‘my’ The Graceless Hordes of Westwoud-shirt 8-) I still had Kevin’s ticket to sell and I heard there was no means of getting back to the festival ground after leaving? Huh, with a poison-green HDDF2023 wrist band? No, but the organizers weren’t all that harsh on me: I asked ‘how many people have bought a ticket at the door today?’ Answer: “three, but the man next to you wanted to get in.” I asked him € 40, but the smallest note he had was 50. Problem solved, he grumbled, tore the ticket out of my fingers and made me run for the € 50 note >< Douche. Turned out we were indeed not allowed to leave the place, the city had put on heavy new noise- and booze-abashments on the region; not even Iris with her allergies? The food counters had NOTHING for people with any allergy… Fun fact: Bram and me got greeted by our 2015 Death Feast neighbors :) But Bram wanted to get an XXL shirt, I tried to find a nice surprise for Iris (it was Bernd that got the birthday shirt, mind; we’re invited to their place instead) and the first band started soon: Legal Hate from Reinheim. Within two songs we knew: we’re not spending a dime on this band. Uhhggh so boring that groove, Pantera-dub, female singer like a bale of salt singing bored, band not tight. They’ve been around for 20 years but I don’t see how they managed that, not a hint of feel in their music nor atmosphere, ixnay on the interactinay. Forget them. Torment of Souls did a whole lot better. Old school death, influenced by all periods Sodom (blackened, thrash, deathened, back to thrash); their mayor death metal influence is Autopsy. I bought myself and Bram a patch. Very nice. Deep Dirty had a Gutalax feel to them, in vocals and stage attire and audience participation, but simply not as much fun. In the meantime the beers flew in from at least 6 sides, as we found one Venlo metalhead Peter, Heiko was there with a friend he kept introducing to all around and drank even more. Hell pils is a bit lighter (color, taste) and normal pils so we kept confusing each other who’d drink what >< I should have known, but didn’t eat.

Fourth band was a real treat: Carnation. From plug in, tone, hit to Jonathan wanting me to have the set list, it was friggin’amazing. The professionalism is bonded with a great energetic feel so all around get their heads wet: band headbanging like windmills, audience with arms, heads and an occasional foot in the air; along with the best sound of the day made this a great gig. Here’s Jonathan’s list:
- Iron Discipline
- Stench of Death
- Sepulcher of Alteration
- Plaguebreeder (Hatred Unleashed crossed out)
- Chapel of Abhorrence
- Reincarnation
- Necromancer
- Fathomless Depths (why do I think of Lovecraft these last songs? ;) ) - Wanda bought me a Carnation broche \m/

So far we’d missed two bands (Keitzer and Necrotted) but kept outside, where most of our friends were and we were bound to miss more hadn’t Birgit mentioned ‘you like Revel in Flesh, don’t you? Why the hell do you stay outside still?’ and off I ran. I was (getting) drunk, I don’t even know if Wanda nor Bram followed and I got three songs:
- Shadowbreeder
- Emissaries of all Plagues
- In The Name of the Flesh
before Ralf needed to have a drink with me and put a full bottle of Palmbrau in my hands. I had no opener so it went in the bag and stayed there. Wanda got fed up with my boozy head and ordered us to leave, Asphyx or not, Benediction or not and to her dismay, no Pungent Stench for us. Actually it’s unique for me to miss Asphyx when I’m travelling… One shower later and I was gone, Wanda later said ‘you already slept in the elevator’ >< and the breakfast was a quiet one. I found out the seat of my car lost one spring, so I had to drive carefully. I managed to do my hobby before the BramBram worked ;) Good thing was, there was a triple Rotterdam treat when we got home: Feyenoord beat Ajakkes in Amsterdam for the first time since August 2005, Sparta and Excelsior both won too. Pity the Sports Journal the following day only mentioned idiots NEXT to the fields, spanning from a man with a stadium ban and a youngster willing to hit his own player :roll:

Next year we’ll probably travel in a bigger group, easier for me to keep up. Bands so far: MEMORIAM, GRACELESS, Gutalax, Sinister, Guinea Pig. Tickets on sale April 1st via www.newevilmusic.de . Beer and Metal? Uhm, glad I wasn’t hung over...

---edit Oh yeah, another remark on ambulances: I don't know how or what, but also the Saturday night it seemed people riot for fun in Heidelberg or do stupid things there; getting wasted or hurt.. Wanda complained the ambulances, fire fighters and policecars were going up and down both nights.. I never noticed myself, drunk stupid. ---end edit

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herrieman72
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Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2023 11:54 am 
 

Headbangers Bash 2023, feat. Asphyx, Bodyfarm, April 1st, Fluor Amersfoort

Would it come to this at last? First announcement ‘HBB feat. Asphyx’ was in 2019, already. Last Headbangers Bash Asphyx had to cancel due to Covid-infections in the band, now they would return with a hardhitter from Keistad themselves: Bodyfarm! Note, first time I saw Bodyfarm to begin with, was with Martin van Drunen, Paul Baayens and Co., when they opened for Hail of Bullets. Time flies when you have Death Metal with Capital D! We’d agreed to a hotel, as I could easily have my Asphyx fanboyship with a nice beer at hand. Hotel Keistad it became, how appropriate (first Bodyfarm shirts held the term Keistad Death Metal :) ) But the ThomasThomas wouldn’t really help us, as the hotel is in the middle of a pedestrian area and there are a lot of single direction roads there :roll: In the end, we’d seen certain parts of Amersfoort three times >< Add the pouring rain and a short fused people running through the rain and we arrived not only soaking wet but also highly overstimulated… good thing was we had all the time in the world, for Wanda to settle down a bit before heading out to Fluor. The rain had increased and as I’m not used to walking under an umbrella, we both got wet anyway..

When we arrived at Fluor there were some 15, 20 people waiting near the small stage for Attila. When I looked at the musicians I felt myself become younger every riff in, but the thirteen to the dozen heavy metal didn’t break any hymen to me. It sounded so old and mouldy, it might have originated from the time headbanging was still banned ;) Add a repeating remark as ‘oh, this is our last song’, looking at his watch twice, doing one more boring song and ‘is it time already?’ we shouted ‘do you have a train to catch? If so, go!” LOL Fun fact: the flyer mentioned the band as Atilla ;) MA helps: they originated in 1983… that was even before I went to my first concert haha.

Nice to see the entire band Bodyfarm + crew willing to sign my new Ultimate Abomination CD for me, including Jan Willem (sound engineer) and Mathieu (artwork, on my request on the sleeve where the hanged men were drawn – including explanation). What followed was a firstie: Anchillys would do their first show ever. I had to check MA for it, I’d seen the singer somewhere (Ben from amongst others Caedere and Sepiroth) and a totally new experience for many: a band taking influence from brutal, technical death metal like Suffocation to old school worship by Morgoth, bring in doom (Pim Blankestein being hailed) like Trouble and a hint of grind (old Carcass). This was pretty good! Normally I’d like a band to be somewhat straightforward, but being surprised every song is welcome too, as long as it’s done with skill and wit. More wit anyway than what followed in the small hall: Anime Torment. Figure out anything with these terms combined, I thought the show showed more flashy lights than musical talent. Call Anchillys modern, this was beyond modern to us. Gladly we took the time to eat up our Brussels sprout (!), beer sausage and apple each, as Wanda thought there would be no restaurant or snack car in the neighborhood. OK there was a snack car, but our own meal suited us fine. In beers I started with a Goose IPA with Maarten MsD, who’d also brought back my old laptop. In response to my app if he’d be able to come he had not reacted, so I didn’t know I could have brought him his well-earned Cryptosis shirt. In return, I thought ‘let’s buy him a Codex Mortis shirt if he likes the show’ AND HE DID! Not only Maarten went hobgoblin, Wanda, Kim, Steven and many more freaked out to this band!! The big hall had nicely filled up since we’d seen Anchillys and most liked the heavy, blunt and brutal show a lot. The band, playing anything between fierce death metal to melodic stuff, back to grind and from modern to stomping, raged the 40 minutes like hell was unleashed upon us. I bought two Codex Mortis shirts, one for Maarten and one to attach to my Bodyfarm hoodie. It is the one I got from Alex Seegers, now filled with most bands I’ve seen Bodyfarm with and the bands that influenced them. Merch hunt: we now have the wrist band and small-amount-Asphyx beanie to show ;) Wanda got the set list, including these remarks:
- Intro , Horns up, Horns down = count-off - Where the Skulls Reside
- Feedbacking, count-off - Beguiled by the Devil
- Little break, J.Ro tune moment, signs you in when done - Capricious Disembodied Villain
- Dirk signs you in - Forsaken
- Let applause die out, go - Trenched in Blood
- 2nd break - Fire, Screams & Death
- Feedback into last song - It Was Satan who She Served
- dead and gone

Back to the small hall for Nephylim, another new experience for us. The Brabant band plays a mixture of folk, melodic death metal, heavy metal and deathcore stuff. It was OK for the time it lasted, we had to be on front row for Bodyfarm of course. We had to check if the banner was hung the right way ^^ and it was. Ready for the kill. The banner is slightly altered, the logo is nearly the same but it looks ‘eaten up’ a bit, as if the band has roughened up a bit too. Of course, no founding members are present anymore, but this band is as good as the Thomas days were, no matter who’s on guitar, bass, drums or vocals. The band goes in 250 per cent, plays with fire and humor, well balanced between rhythm and leads, aggressive vocals and pounding drums. It’s no zoete krentenbol this way! After the first song Blasting Tyranny Ralph announces ‘Bodyfarm is at home now’ and hits even harder! I have a picture of the set list, but it’s not right: several songs have been played in a different order, some aren’t on the list at all and some… oh what the heck, it was a great gig, first stagediver present, nice pit going on (without Maarten and me, that is, but let the young party on, we know where we came for 8-) ) and a sound, absolutely amazing. The volume is juuuuust loud enough not to blow up my ear plugs. I think it’s cool to have Maarten and Wanda around when Storming Revolution is played, see the official YT for it 8-) . This is what the photo says:
- Blasting Tyranny
- Unbroken
- The Well of Decay
- Torment
- Dreadlord
- Charlatan Messiah
- The Swamp
- Storming Revolution
- Woods of Dismay
- Dark Age
- Slaves of War – thank you Ralph for the bass pick!

Let’s state that I used every corner of my vocal chords to support this great band and my arms and neck windmilled all around four feet of my body 8-) . Never mind a 13-year old Celtic chick that bangs her head to burst and keeps trying to get between Wanda and me. There’s plenty room BEFORE a show, no need to bash ‘the old fans’ in. Bah. The doof later tried to push me away during Asphyx, has the silly chick been on LSD spiked with coke or something? Uhhgg. Standing there, with friends and beer around, we had no interest in whatever band played the small hall. With the doof durp chick around we also secured our places to our headliner: Asphyx. Funny, the time schedule had been altered three or four times, according to FB, some mentioned Asphyx as final show, others had Terzij de Horde as headliner, fine with me. In the sound check we condole Alwin as he lost his mum this week, but we don’t get any response (yet). Professional to the bone? Probably. Martin is as professional and caring as ever, as he asks me ‘Herrieman, take care of this pyro pot and please, please explain to others not to stand too close to it when it erupts’. Fine, good man, I head out to the ones next to the second and third pyro pots but those are swinging dead so bad, I think they’re off their rucker drunk. I reported that to Martin, both smiling ‘that’s their problem then, thank you for doing this for me’ ;)

After a thrilling, hard hitting, fun, professional and bock-loud show I get a crumpled piece of paper from Husky, I had written most titles already:
- The Quest for Absurdity
- Botox Implosion
- MS Bismarck
- Death The Brutal Way – for Fluor crew and the bands, thank any Messiah ‘this year it finally happened Asphyx in The City of Bodyfarm’ 8-) No thanks to any Mexican beer virus again
- Molten Black Earth – for Thomas Wouters
- Deathhammer
- Wasteland of Terror ‘we go back in time for you’- why does Martin drink friggin’Corona then? :lol: Martin explains ‘I have to drink Husky’s Corona because he has to drive home’ [rather have HJ from bottle, that was promised from Maarten to me – he’s driving home too]
- Knights Templar Standing – now I have time to get Steven a shirt
- It Came From the Skies – band goofing off the good way on stage ^^
- Necroceros – Wanda gets a full bottle of water from Paul ‘you have to take care, it’s getting warm on stage so keep drinking’ 8-) - what a great headbangfest this song is!! Both band and audience freak out and all necks get wrecked 8-)
- Asphyx – Forgotten War – Maarten need not show his goose bumps, mine are sky high as well 8-)
- The Nameless Elite – for Alwin’s mum. Rest in peace! - Now Alwin does show some emotion
- Forerunners of the Apocalypse
- Death the Only Immortal
- The Rack – those rifffffffffs, sooooo cool
- Last One on Earth

With one band to go on main stage, we do not linger too much anymore. Wanda is clearly done for today and my neck and hairs stand to 360 decrees, both sweaty and well cared for. It took me some effort to get my laptop bag out of the locker and the hoodies are still damp, but it has stopped raining so we don’t get more wet than before :). The hotel was an easy find and the bed was soft… dreaming about Wanda on stage with any band we’d liked today was fun to watch. The breakfast was a story on itself, as we were ‘helped’ across the street to get into a bistro and I think the man tried to be hospitable by checking in seven times at the table. It certainly irritated a few other hotel guests, but we were nearly finished then and need not to interfere much. The bread was tasty, even if the peanut butter and regular butter were brought when we were done already ^^. Och, it might be hospitality to North Africans to guide everything, but to sober Dutchies it’s a bit overdone. We rather think of Ben’s expression, Mathieu’s serious grin, Ralph’s war cries, Martin’s jokes and Alwin’s reflection. We had DEATH METAL THE KEISTAD WAY!!!

Edit for guests (sign in) or members (log on) to https://metal-tavern.proboards.com/thre ... x-bodyfarm then you can read the aftermath:
Tart follow up to this story: in pointing in a wrong direction, not even driving into that street, I've had a fine of friggin' € 119! The explanation 'turning around is also a violation of the motordriven vehicle area restrictions'.. no need to complain nor object... KUTTERDEKUT

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 4:02 am 
 

Overkill, Hedon Zwolle, April 14th

This review is for Alwin Schnoing, one of Wanda’s best friends who was an ancient heavy metal freak. Big on Maiden, so to say, but he could appreciate Overkill as well. He died April 6th of cancer… R.I.P. good man! It is strange to drive to Zwolle on two following days, with two independent reasons, albeit intertwined a bit, both happy and sad.

But, before that: recuperating from Eindhoven Metal Meeting Wanda got an interesting post: Overkill returns to The Low Lands! When I first met her, I never knew Overkill would be her favorite band at all, I was thinking of Burzum, Proclamation and Satan. Uhh, people change, as she later said, giving away nearly all Mayhem- and most of Burzumclothing, ‘that was Bryan’s idea to purchase all that, let people who really enjoy it have it’. But, thinking of RockHard 2018, I remembered. That’s why she asked me if there would be a possibility for another Neckwrecker set (got that!), another Overkill show (or three) and now Overkill in Zwolle. Yes of course I will arrange that, Hotel Fidder too? Yeahhh! Strange thing happened buying tickets: I got one e-mail with a link to my tickets, but printing only one? I’ve never had a download I had to do double, there were always one-file-several-tickets.pdf’s (?) OK, good that I printed it wayyy before April, I had the chance to do it properly. Not DIN A3 format haha but ‘just’ on DIN A4. Another glitch? Yeah, but when it comes to Overkill I gladly overcome such glitches ;)

I had back office duty that Friday, so I hoped I could just drive to Zwolle without being bothered about waterquantity too much ;) it wasn’t. I kept my phone ready, but didn’t need it. Pfew. Dinner at Fidder was as good as peaty whisky can bring me (excellent Black Bull peated edition!) and a white beer for Wanda went in smoothly. We’d walk to Hedon, knowing it’s about a 25 minute walk and as Wanda is recuperating bit by bit from long covid . Hurray!! We’re not finished though, but definitely her energy level is higher, as is her stamina. We got to Hedon with a few stops to rest, so to speak, but were greatly on time. Huge skyliner bus next to the venue, let the thrash begin! We toasted to Alwin with Erik van Riezen (Departed Souls) and Bert, the latter unable to go to the cremation due to work hours >< I’d almost say ‘forget about the first band’, but the Croatian band Keops has to be credited… how do you come up with such boring music, even though you’re in a band for odd 30 years? I heard a cross Saxon – Manowar (including posing) – latter In Flames but with a horrible German accent (…). Coming back to the foyer to drain this thought in Heiny Marusha heard Abba and instantly said ‘this is better than that band was’ :lol: What a waste of cloaks and jewelry hahaha.

Heathen is a band I’ve seen several times before, but never got the hang of them. Tonight they were at least a crate heavier and faster than that first band (go figure :) ) and to my surprise I kinda liked what I heard. OK, apart from the too-clean-for-thrash-tone their guitars have, it was enjoyable. I might even put on ‘something Heathen’ on the Neckwrecker set ^^. Later on I talked to David White about the first time they got across the Big Pond, touring with Sepultura and Sacred Reich. White told me he was surprised by the tough Amsterdam crowd, all standing cross armed, looking gruff and NOT wanting to bang heads at all. I told him ‘hey, what do you think, we were waiting for friggin’Sacred Reich, who can’t do ANYTHING wrong in Holland’ He smiled and said ‘the Wãldrock crowd, a week later, didn’t compare to Amsterdam at all, they freaked during the sound check already’. Eus made the pictures, thanks for that! Now it was my time to smile ;) .. and head back to the hall. Again, a band that’s not really my cup of tea, but Exhorder is a band any thrasher should have seen, I think. The band, exceeded by Pantera without knowing themselves in so many ways, gives a solid set. I don’t remember any song titles, as I hardly played the album over the years, apart from Slaughter in the Vatican and Exhorder. Both songs are played early in the set and the audience goes flat out fingered fivefold, with a fierce pit to accompany the grooves. I had more interest in the poison-green stairs leading to the pit area, as if the green and black attack already started… Overkill doesn’t come to Holland for groceries, that I can tell from the first tones of Bring Me The Night on. This tour only has one Dutch date, some 12 in Germany, none in the UK and two in Spain, as far as I’ve seen the new shirts. On stage there were no set lists to grab, but the band plays well oiled and apparently well rehearsed; smiles all around (even Derek is having a good time, considering his whale wide grin) and the sound is amazing! The guitars are harshly put in the mix, bass thunders and the drums… I’ve complimented the band before, but this is one of the best shows I’ve seen the band do. Blitz has to explain ‘in het Nederlands, weet je dat ik Nederlands spreek?’ ;) even though he’s no longer with his Dutch wife anymore. I had to work on the song titles, as I haven’t heard the new album yet (there must have been one new one even before Bring Me The Night, but I’ve said to Wanda I’d like to wander around, hit the pit or not and talk to more friends of Alwin). I can’t resist Electric Rattlesnake at all, so I get another big beer and head to the front, surprising Wanda a bit ;) She had thought I’d miss half the show, wandering, but no. What I wrote is far from complete, as the new songs and golden oldies are fired upon so sharp, so fast I can hardly keep up. I wrote:
- Hello From the Gutter
- new one
- Powersurge (hey, they haven’t played that one in ages!) Along the pit goes to more extremes, I’m tempted :cool:
- Coma
- new one
- Horrorscope (now it’s time to flare up my Neckwrecker set and HITTTTT!)
- Long Time Dying
- new one
- Mean Green Killing Machine
- Ironbound (with a Skullcrusher chick doing my wet hair in a pony tail ^^ Wanda agrees ^^)
- Elimination
- Overkill (first encore, Zwolle clearly isn’t done for tonight, Blitz smiling ‘this is a 38 years old tune and you guys still freak us out :cool: )
- Rotten to the Core
- Fuck You

I can’t see anyone NOT having had a good time tonight. Wanda even got Dave Linsk guitar pick from a complete stranger! Thanks!  My Leeuwarden friends (including Belinda), the guys from Departed Souls, a few Marcels, Bert, Ami (soooo proud of his Overkill tats, telling about the 30 odd times he’d seen the band, including their very first Dutch show) and his wife, the new kids in their a-bit-too-new-denims ^^ and the old blokes in their ‘who’s got the oldest Overkill shirt of all’-contest :) and not forget the bar personnel, they had a great turnover tonight. There were several rounds of beers raised to Alwin and I joined in most of them ;) I would have liked to hunt for autographs, but the band clearly thought ‘there are signed vinyls available, that’ll do’ and did not get to the eager crowd after the third encore. People also talked about an afterparty at rock café The Jack, but we were done. The walk back to the hotel went rather smoothly, apart from a bit twisted ankle I’m allright and Wanda followed without delay. I was so smucky I took a shower and did so again before breakfast, my Neckwrecker set had to hung in the sun nearly the entire day to get the beer-, sweat- and other fumes out of it. I know I hit the floor once, but it wasn’t that bad. We had a great breakfast, said goodbye to numerous Overkill fans at the hotel (the one more peaky haired than the other :) ) and drove home without a glitch. Rotten to Overkill!! Hail Thrash! Hail Metal! See you next time, too \m/

Some reactions of members (login) or guests (sign in) to https://metal-tavern.proboards.com/thre ... e-april-14 all like Overkill ;)

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Thu Jun 22, 2023 3:36 am 
 

Legion of the Damned in their hometown, June 9th 2023

One day I thought ‘how many bands have you seen in their hometown?’ Sodom in Gelsenkirchen, Graceless in Leiden, Kreator in Oberhausen (close enough ;) ) and we were to see Dismember in Stockholm, but alas. Napalm Death near Birmingham, close call. Of Total Loss I can’t even find the dates anymore, but they’re on the same obscure list ^^ I went to Richmond VA to meet Municipal Waste but found only a sign they were regular customer to the Wonderland bar ;) Obituary in Florida – now you’re stretching it too far. Of course, there are more, thinking of going to Scandinavia Deathfest or Hole in the Sky, but you get my point. Wanda got me interested in another Legion of the Damned show, as it were a. the only Dutch Legion show of 2023 and b. CD release to The Poison Chalice, the band’s eighth full album and the first one to feature Fabian Verweij on guitars. I surely wonder if the band’s sound will be any different with (finally) a second guitarist brought in. I know Richard Ebisch protested against every try to get his guitar parts divided, but he ended up leaving the band or had to leave. Hein Willekens did play on Ravenous Plague, but he’s credited only to one song. But now, Helden is 10 miles from city center Venlo and the band is going to blast! First 50 buyers of a ticket would get a shirt as well, but that was posted April 6th and I got to hear about the show on my eldest brother’s birthday, a good two weeks later. As if I don’t own several Legion shirts already ;

Another idea Wanda had, as a birthday treat, that we’d head out to Arcen for a HJ tour, that’s also only a few kilometers from Venlo so the reservation was altered the right way ;) Another change in programming the hotel was photographer Ronald’s BBQ the very Saturday, so there’s another reservation update. But I had not counted in the warmth, having calamity service on Friday first, head out to Mijdrecht doing so and then, hopefully in good conditions, move on. No. It was a hell trip, road accidents, tourists, broken down cars and a temperature reaching 33 degrees Celsius… Wanda started to freak out near Geldermalsen, she’d been done for today. We ended up in a McD’s using ice to cool her, flat out on the floor, ambulance to the first hotel and drive behind it. At the Tiel hotel they knew we’d be entering by ambulance and Wanda, cooling down and getting her impetus down again (a bit) she decided I’d drive on to Venlo. Alone. Pick her up tomorrow. Cancel the BBQ trip + reservation. With my head on an anvil and the hammer nearby I drove on.

Coming to Venlo I was warned about the parking permit system, as the city only wants day tickets sold, I arrived at 17:56 and had to pay € 18,50 for the Friday shift to 18:00 (?) and then € 18,50 for the Saturday from 8:00 to 18:00?? Oh no, as I don’t have breakfast in the hotel (none offered) I’d be out of town before 8:00. Bonus: it wouldn’t be too hot to drive yet. I could indeed eat at the Ald Weishoes (old orphanage) and the spareribs were terrific! Recommended! Add the first beer Swinckels (!) and I’m all set. Grenswerk was only 300 m away (‘go left, left and once right and there you are’ ;) ) and already packed with thrashers and deathheads. I got in a.s.a.p. because I had a shopping list to fulfil ;) already met the real Swinkels and Fleuren \m/ asking where Wanda was, explaining, on. I got the special date shirt, beer mat with band members on them, the new CD (signed) and managed to spare some money for the opening bands. I had not checked before, let me be surprised.

When the first band began, I already met Marcel VI and Masha and Angelo, so first row is eminent now. The men entered stage and I thought ‘metalcore’, but looks can be deceiving, especially when all musicians were followed by Ben Janssen of a.o. Inhume on vocals. The band plays a very dirty form of doom-death in the vein of Autopsy and mostly, Coffins. Angelo got the set list:
- Intro
- Drained
- Wake the Dead
- From the Crypts
- Kneecapped (extremely headbangable!)
- Cadaveric Combustion
- Mauled (Ben asking for stagedivers, if not you’re ‘wussies’ ^^)
- The Sledgehammer
- Closed Casket
This was a good start of the night! Even though in a slightly small spectrum of a band genre, the band adds enough variation to keep the interest strong. The faster parts are like Coffins, some slower parts get near Reifert & Co. and in between the solo’s are well played. Add a monstrous volume, nice. The other band members were or are parts of bands like Callenish Cirlce, Mangled and Cliteater, you get it. I got myself the demo simply called Demo 2022 on tape and a bunch of stickers my car will know what to do with it ;)

The second band tonight played on the same stacks (Engl Gigmaster on a Ironball Combo, simple but to the point and heavy!!) and drum kit. My surprise was that Harold of Legion played guitar now in Defy the Curse ánd that he can sing! Had I checked before I’d known the band has been around since 2016 and has released two CDs and two demos before. Looking at Harold’s effect board I saw the HM Boss2 with all knobs to 9 or 10 :cool: and be prepared for some Dismember-esque sound escapades \m/ Within the third song I already spotted some At the Gates and (old) The Haunted melodic influences along with Crowbar-speeds and some thrash elements towards the final song. I got Harold’s guitar pick (as if I don’t already own his Legion-bass pick :cool: [how do you hand signal that you want something small from an artist, Harold asking if I’d want a titty twister and got the pick smiling] and found the set list:
- Disdain
- Leading into the Realm of Torment
- Existence Consumed
- Oblivion
- The Oppressor
- The Messiah Complex
- Eidolon of the Blind
- The Tower of Suffering
- Endless Curse
Pretty good band, they surprised me greatly, moving between crust, doom, stoner, death and thrash. I got back to the merch table to get ‘anything of the band’ and ended up with free patches ‘as the band instructed us to get them away’ and some more stickers; they had forgotten the CD packs… surely a band to get into, I guess.

The Limburg party went on, as Legion of the Damned set stage. The drums were uncovered and what a great sight that is! The Poison Chalice on both bass drums, enormous toms and big cymbals in front of a 15 x 3 meter big backdrop. Legion of the Damned always has had great artwork and the backdrops and side shades are no different. I think the band wasted no time getting done:
- Legion of the Damned (one man pit is me, but who cares?! This song still slays!!)
- Slaughtering the Pigs (now the audience picks it up)
- Cult of the Dead (I’m already dehydrating, water pouring off my face, getting water and beers, being thanked by Marcel and Maurice) Fun part: Maurice announcing the song in four languages, Limburg, Dutch, German ‘and to all others’ English ‘welcome, thank you for showing up, we appreciate this a lot’ “Should we do more in Limburgian, then?” :)
- Beheading of the Godhead
- Son of the Jackal (at first I thought it was part of a medly, but the riffing ‘just’ returns ;) )
- Palace of Sin (when this song finishes Maurice asks if the venue lights can be turned on, to personally thank some friends of old and points at me too :) )
- Contamination
- Undead Stillborn
- Progressive Destructor (‘first time we play this together as a band, don’t bother about mistakes as we don’t know our own mistakes yet' ^^ )
- Doom Priest
- Dark Coronation
- Feel the Blade
- The Poison Chalice
- Pray and Suffer
- Taste of the Whip
- Bleed for Me (not on the set list but Maurice explains ‘we just have to play this, thanks to Grenswerk to be lenient with closing times on stage’) Everybody notices the old songs all have new intros and some are pretty confused but smiling anyway. This is a great gig, great atmosphere, very cool new music heard and none complains about being ‘all melodic now’, the band is still 100 per cent thrash-with-hints-of-death-and-punk like the old days. Due to Wanda’s state I wasn’t able to hear the album yet, but the new songs the band played sound like ‘old school Legion’ to me and I thank the band my way: shout, bang, pit, beer, more pit, water, pit again, buy merch, give away merch, repeat. Now it was Fabian that handed me a guitar pick and a bloody cool one it is: tiny as it is, it holds the band logo, a decaying skull and the words ‘slaughtering the picks’ 8-) I am totally HAPPYYYYYY. Marcel and Masha ask me to join them to a bar of a friend of theirs and the third beer switch is on now: Swinckels, Grolsch and Bav. Yeah right, Bavaria, but the taste isn’t as horrible as I imagined. The bar owner taps his phone and the disco is replaced by AC/DC on my behalf :) and Marcel explains about his personal life the last two years. No Corona, but awaiting his mother’s death ‘you get two weeks’, lasting nearly a year, not being able to do anything else including running his company. This show was the first one in three years for them. My condolences, again, for your mother and be proud you took care of her, Marcel! On my part… I knew I shouldn’t drink too much Bav after this dehydrating night, so after the second I thank Marcel’s friend and wander off in the direction of the big church, where the hotel is. During the night I shower two times as it’s so hot in the room. In the morning I shower again, to start my journey to Tiel and home fresh. Coffee and a few buns at the gas station, no need for € 18,50 ‘welcome service’. At home I noticed the merch women had not packed the special edition patch, but that’s only a minor dissonance after such a great gig. I am Legion of the Thrashed!!

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herrieman72
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Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Tue Jul 04, 2023 3:15 pm 
 

Amon Amarth, Asphyx, 013 Tilburg, Wednesday June 21st

This gig was one of the short term. I knew Amon Amarth would be touring the summer festivals again for their Heathen album, so I wasn’t surprised to find a Wednesday-in-Tilburg-show once again. But later on it got interesting, as Asphyx was announced as support! As a birthday gift for my brother Alex I swiftly bought 4 tickets, but not counting on all facts… Wanda has had severe health issues by the heat and Thirza is out of the country! OK, who can jump in on such short notice? Uhm, Peter Lord Belial maybe? Yeah! Within a day I got the money back and as this show is on a regular week day, I volunteered to drive. With one ticket to be sold (or not…) we’d drive around 5 PM, hopefully entering before Asphyx would enter stage… you never know what to expect on the A27 highway from Utrecht to Breda… yeah it took 2,5 hours to get to Veemarktstraat ><

At first, Alex wanted us to pick him up from the 100th anniversary party of his job, but as that’s in Lisse it’s a 100 km detour to Tilburg AND back. He’d leave his car there and we’d have to bring him… no. To be sure, he called 4 times this week to drive through Rotterdam, via Gouda or even ‘return’ to Utrecht… uhgg trust your devices for once >< We got an hour and a half delay, got just in time to see the final Asphyx preparations, I was unsure whether I could stand front row… no, not this time ;) But I was close enough to be hauled by Alwin and a man I’d be sure he was Johan Hegg. Picture taken and replied in Dutch ‘you don’t have to thank me’ [as he still stood next to me when Amon Amarth started, I ‘only then’ noticed this man about a foot shorter than Hegg :) ]. Intro – Martin thanking Amon Amarth for asking them to open ‘it’s an honour but as it’s a bit short, we move on’ ;) I later heard the details, for now the set list, thank you Alwin
- The Quest for Absurdity
- Botox Implosion (what a crystal clear sound, everything audible!!)
- Scorbutics [thank you very much for a simple light show (details follow)]
- Deathhammer (thanking band crew and 013 crew)
- Brandenburg Division
- The Nameless Elite (details follow ;) I later crossed it out)
- Molten Black Earth
- It Came From the Skies
- Knights Templar Stand
- Forerunners of the Apocalypse (Alex entering at last)
- Last One on Earth

Peter said ‘we have half an hour to go merch shopping’ but Alex chose to stay put, we were on third row and that gave a perfect view of the stage. I bought some Asphyx stuff I did not have yet (…) :lol: and got to an exchange with Husky: ‘wechselen? Ein unterschrift dan kauff ich ein Shirt’, :) The signature came on an LP sized leaflet, destined to be in the special Necroceros edition but wasn’t finished by the time the album got released. I was happy, bought Alex an Amon Amarth voetbal scarf as I didn’t think he’d like the shirts much. We returned to third row, next to the bar and within 5 minutes Maiden’s Run to the Hills blasted 013 venue. I thought it a fitting intro, so it was. Amon Amarth is big nowadays. The stage was totally filled with Viking horns, a longship and stairs to run on, Iron Maiden-like ;) But the sound was hollow, the band started off with Guardians of Asgard and a friggin’battery of lights, incredible. As if the young Amon fan club isn’t turned up to begin with! The band was tight, yeah, but the sound seemed fit for a Wacken show instead of a club tour. The lights chased me away, leaving Peter astonished ‘what’s going on, do you need help?’ Thanks for the concern Peter, but in the foyer I’ll manage. I soon found Alwin and Martin near their little merch booth. Alwin wanted to explain about the contract ‘the band asked us, from the beginning the contact contained “45 minutes playtime”, but the management insisted on 30. Ehh are you sure you want us, to bring in all expenses, all crew, let alone a fee?' In the end, what happened: the band skipped one song (Nameless Elite), let the intro start a little earlier and we will fill in with more recent and quick songs. The audience reacted enthusiast, first only the first 5 rows later on more than half the venue freaked out. Great to watch from a stage, to see the audience picking us up, Martin said 8-) In the meantime I heard songs like Death in Fire, Pursuit of Vikings (had to skip my friends a second ;) ) but the lights remained firing me away. Next up was Deceiver of the Gods with a sort of Loki-figure (I like Macabre’s interpretation of Albert Fish better HA HA HA). Fun to hear the audience hum the intros one by one but as said, I didn’t last. Martin explained about the reader, totally forbidding strobos to appear. He said ‘Paul will go totally out when the lights shatter too much, he doesn’t have Epilepsis, but it’s close’ I can only concur. Martin told me another 'hush up about a show' :cool: I got back to Alex and Peter during Destroyer of the Universe (didn’t even look at the stage anymore) only to express I’d like to leave. I kept Alex to his thought that he’d seen an hour and a half of Amon (but it was an hour and a half featuring Last One, break and one hour Amon ^^). Never discourage a happy fan :lol: Saying goodbye to ‘wannabe-Hegg’ and Patrick (the Asphyx freak we met in Dublin), scoring a few last minute photos with Martin and Alwin and we’re off. I didn’t care I missed more than half the Amon show, they simply chased me away and I’m done with them totally. We agreed to pull over for a final drink (Chocomel, coffee or buttermilk) and the occasional cheese sandwich, we drove separately afterwards. I delivered Peter at home around half past midnight, only then signalling Wanda we were safe back in West-Friesland (she’d asked NOT to post any pictures, that was of later concern) and got home. I explained about the lights and sighing, Wanda agreed it’d been better she’d not joined us… I could work easily tomorrow. Asphyx All Over Metal, Amon is Done Metal to me now ><

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 9:15 am 
 

Pitfest 2023, voetbal stadium FC Emmen, feat. Messiah, Madball, Mayhem, Voïvod

Pity Pitfest couldn’t stay at The Resort, but that’s just better for the organizers. Resort Drenthe was a great location, but not wide enough and too hard to reach by train or bus. Parking was hard there as well, but who cares? If you find a festival you like, you want to return, right? So, early birds just sold out we got tickets when ‘only’ Terror was announced, along with Grave and Midnight. It soon got better, as Voïvod was in the second batch, along with Aborted, Messiah, Brutal Sphincter and Slaughterday. The local church was already pissed off at the welcoming banner ‘Welkom bij Pitfest GODVERDOMME’ haha, so Wanda insisted I’d take her Altar LS ‘Youth Against Christ’ :) Somehow Voïvod disappeared from the line up?? I’d drive behind Alicia and Kees, bringing in Willem as well. He’s a huge Mayhem fan and had not seen that bloodshed before. Wanda… too hot, not enough energy… yeah you get it. Zalkerbroek turned out to be less of an obnoxious point now we wait for each other. Eat at Macca’s on Mark’s special request, hit the camping and ….just miss Disquiet bite off the start of the festival. At the camping we stand next to Jordan&Maarten and Maarten MsD and Brammerman were close too, let the first HJ get the hint to missing Disquiet ;) With the paper wrist bands on I already notice the paint doesn’t hold, but no worries, I’ve got so many denims I can make myself recognized there ^^ Hey, Erik Hendrix present, Cata&Gus say hello to Wanda, off to Incantation. Whoooohhh what a blunt show they give! The band only needs 3 songs, of which Disciples of Blasphemous Reprisal is the second, to totally convince Willem to get more death metal in his life than ‘just Mayhem’ :lol: Really cool!

A bit new to me is missing 4 bands due to drinking beer at the middle of Pitfest grounds. I can hear them from all three stages, but have no interest at the time. If I’d known better who was in Punkhol I’d chosen to actually look at Destructo, but Unearth, Combust and Bladecrusher keep me at my spot. I did get to see Cockney Rejects, but the sound was so wooly I’d thought I’d had watched Dog Eat Dog. OK, I noticed Oi! Oi! Oi! and do know I’ve seen them >< Thanks to my pictures, that is, too. To me next up was Sheer Terror. They’d do two different sets this weekend and I’ve seen the first, not in the first place to know I’ve seen them to begin with. I must say the band has fun on stage, but I’d expected something way harder, way heavier and more like, say, Madball or Terror. It was ‘sweet’ to my ears, but not heavy enough. I think a lot of NYHC kids enjoyed it, I was far, far away, like when Dog Eat Dog DID enter main stage. I hated it. The combination of rap, fluffy hardcore and groove irritated me in minutes and made me remind why it took sooo long to get to any of their stages ever. Yeah, I hated it. Turned left and spotted Aborted, also from a distance, and again I thought ‘hmmm what used to be so special about Aborted?’ I could no longer tell. I had spotted 4 Youth Against Christ shirts and decided to offer it to the first person noticing the crosses on the arm, all broken ;) and it was Dikke Pim who agreed to my terms: two beers and a big grin wearing it :) I was just in time to see MsD and Brammerman hit the Punkhol for Bent Out Of Shape, so I followed. I was happy I did, as this was a fat punk rock pit with ditto music and all kinds of hairdress possible: mohawk, bald, grown gray, painted black, long hair sweeping, back hairs, moustaches the size of BSA handlebars and more. Let the beer flow, let the hairs sweep and mostly: duck the limbs hahaha. During following Terror it was ‘copy paste repeat of these last three sentences’ haha. Wanda later showed me Geert’s little movie of Always the Hard Way, what a mess of people on stage and off. Pit on stage, stagedivers, shouters, movers, hitters, kickers, duckers, drinkers, arms all around, the occasional leg with or without shoe. Terror was to strike and they KILLED!! Belinda’s Peter and enjoyed it from the border of the tent and smiled so hard… we drank some more at the tents and ducked in, satisfied.

Breakfast! 3 pieces of bread, raisinbread, cheese, jam ham and eggs, for three coins! Add one for two excellent coffee and we could start all over. Be in time, that too, because Slaughterday was the first one to play today. They didn’t play, no, the tortured us to the ultimate headbang contest, shouting match, picture perfectness (thanks to Ronald van der Baan, who posted a shouting picture of me to Wanda :) ) with a great sound, good mix and friggin’loud: I got Jens’ set list THANK YOU
- Mauled
- Tyrants of Doom
- Ancient Death Triumph
- Expulsed from Decay
- Abattoir
- Church of Dread
- The Cult of Dreaming Dead
- Cosmic Horror
The Dismember-esque, Autopsy-like, Asphyx-reminding death metal is like a shower on a hot day, even though the rain hit us last night ;) Holy fuck, so lovely to hear old school death metal played by relatively young guys, having a great time, showing thanks to the (few) people at the stage. Even though there weren’t that much people next to me, I’d seen several new ‘Gespielt nach dem Amerikanische Reifertgebot’-shirts around :cool:

Another grind band, another pit over halfway the festival terrain; Brutal Sphincter made all the fun again. Confetti from Jürgen, toilet seats for Sylvia, toilet soap bubbles, yeah you know how to build a party. The circle pit was so long it embraced the sound booth ^^

I didn’t really join any pit so much this weekend, but had to do SOMETHING during Messiah. The band, with ‘some’ more people present during rain, sound check and show gave the thrashers the opportunity to thrash, the deathheads were heading for neck-death and throat cancer won’t enter these people for quite some time, so hard were people shouting to (Brögi’s) set list (ANOTHER THANK YOU)
- Sacrosanctus Primitivus
- Hymn to Abramelin / Messiah
- Space Invaders
- Choir of Horrors
- Morte Al Dente
- Singularity (where’s Crash when he needs to see some :) )
- Total Maniac
- Akasha Chronicle
- Condemned Cell (Living with a Confidence was crossed out)
- Enjoy Yourself
- Extreme Cold Weather
Brammerman liked it so much that I had a great time (another great Ronald shoot) he offered me Brögi’s guitar pick! THANKS!!! I got compliments from nearly the entire band freaking out so much \m/ :cool: I couldn’t stay behind and pushed an XL and an XXXL into eager hands \m/

One band I’m not going to buy anything from, is Phil Campbell and The Bastard Sons. Again the songs are weakened by the vocals and the overall performance. Uhhhgg.. Funny was that Willem, who at first only wanted to come one day for only one band, yeah, Mayhem, got to first row during the last PC&BS song. Thinking he was a fan, Phil gave his set list to Willem :) :) We’re still not sure what to do with it, list it, burn it, use it on dark places, haha we’re not sure. That action made me smile but also keep my distance. I’ve seen a bit too much pig blood to really enjoy Mayhem, and returning to the centre of the field meant I could choose what to see: Mayhem, Skroetbalg or Madball. In my case: take’m all. Willem, Alicia and Kees were over the top about Mayhem, I liked Skroetbalg too (tent too full to enter but it sounded like a proper party) and of Madball I’ve only seen a flying Freddy Cricien, totally burning the tent up. The ground shook and the sound was amazing, even from such a distance I could tell it was good. Over the years I’ve seen Madball often, mostly pit present, but never buying much more of the band than a patch or two and only on special theme denims. The four of us went to our tents happy, drinking HJ that was still pretty cold and recuperating from Messiah, Slaughterday, Madball and Mayhem. It’s good.

Sunday started nearly the same as Saturday, as we all got breakfast, emptied our intestines by the lovely caretaker Tilly (see Pitfest 2022 review atop this page) Kees made me laugh by saying Tilly was so fast cleaning after he’d been done he asked if she needed to wipe him too :) :) First band after some HJ, Grolsch and the occasional found Bud (definitively the least tasty of the three brands) was Galvanizer. The gore, the grind, the grins, yeah it’s all present. The band only had 30 minutes but made a lot of friends doing so. I had been talking to a man, his wife and their young kids about the band to enter stage now: the kiddies wanted to see papa perform and he played early enough to bring them home safely afterwards: Kjeld on main stage. Uhm, my talk to the wife of the guitarist was longer than what I enjoyed about the cold, harsh black metal that rang into my ears. I wasn’t really waiting for black metal anyway, as my visit to Spectral Wound was just as short as my Kjeld job today. We, especially MsD and Brammerman were waiting for GRAVE!! The Swedes did a special set of the first three albums and it was magic! I noticed how many more death metal shirts ‘suddenly’ appeared near stage, bar, merch and the food stand! Starting off with Into the Grave, then Deformed, You’ll Never See I was exhilarated, gone was the loneliness of driving without Wanda, the weather improved, the sound was so good, the band got a full field moving… yeah Grave hardly lets you down. But seeing Robin and his Deaf Förever dudes made me think I’d missed Zeke again. Not that I really know the band, but I do know the band already slammed Dynamo Open Air halfway the nineties and I. Wanted. To. See. Them. Too!!

On the other hand, I don’t complain. With Grave in top form and waiting for Onslaught I still had a good time. Onslaught just evaporated Pitfest!! With a carreer span of over 40 years, OK with a some years of no activity, even with all members being changed at least twice, they still play friggin’good thrash metal! It’s vile as old Kreator, it’s fast as old Sodom, it’s squeaky as DeadHead, it can groove like no Exodus will ever try again, so to me it’s ‘freak out and keep drinking, keep banging’… and the first pit present by me. This hour of thrah was golden to me, but it turned to rust when I found out I’d lost my Darkdayrising longsleeve… damned! One of the more obscure Dutch death metal bands, been gone for over 15 years already, I would not have wanted to lose that!! I kept in a thrash mode, as Roger and Roger of Messiah management and Peter and Peter cheered me up, the five of us talking to Bob Bachgus the same lines ;) and hearing Cro-Mags. I don’t know which incarnation this band was (Harley or Joseph) but they sounded great. Bob had come for Nine Pound Hammer and Primitive Man so we heard Primitive Man as well. Again, from a distance, as the tent was blown up with all people wanted to experience the sludge/doom first hand. I got to the point of having enough and not needing Exhorder nor Marduk, I said goodbye to all friends and beer drinkers and got to bed around 9 PM, maybe even 8:30. I like Pitfest a lot, but some bands just don’t bother me live anymore. Walking to the camping I heard some screams of fans of Exhorder but I didn’t return. I had been to the car to empty as much as I could before tucking in and awoke somewhere near 4:30 AM. I knew there wouldn’t be breakfast before 8 and didn’t want to wait for that. I drove home around 6:30, took a bun and a coffee at the first gas station and drove to my Wanda. Pitted, pitied Darkdayrising, shouted, banged, and smiling METAL!

Edit: Next year’s extreme early birds were sold from Friday on and are way, way sold out. Pitfest 2024 will most likely return one July 4th – 6th to De Oude Meerdijk with a special Sick of it All set, the 40-year anniversary by Japanese Sabbat and a few more, didn’t write them down. I wanted to talk to Wanda before rushing to buy tickets and not being able to go together again. No more Sunday (the community still hadn’t forgotten Godverdomme ;) ) but a Thursday pre-party, Friday and Saturday festival. We’ll see.

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2023 2:36 am 
 

Stonehengefestival 2023, feat. Autopsy, Possessed, Stationsplein Steenwijk

For my 11th consecutive Stonehenge festival I was baffled during the 2022 edition: what started as a rumor (to me, I had not seen the entire leaflet) was plain FACT: Autopsy, friggin’Autopsy would play Stonehenge!!! Brugmans, nagger as you can be, you friggin’did it! Reifert & Co. in Steenwijk. Awegoreness!! No wonder Gurbe paced the 2022 terrain with the biggest grin of the entire crowd: he’s supposed to play too, with Stoflik Omskot! The 200 early birds were sold before noon on the terrain, I used plain internet to get 6 tickets: Bring in Tom, Alex, Johnny and B&B Blitterswijk agreed! I have one spare ticket already, as I haven’t asked Toon if he’d join us again, but I gave that to Peter, for his birthday and something to look out to. Thirza is on a world tour so she can’t make it. Rest of the premature line up: Vomitory, Darkfall, Asagraum, Skullhog and Tortharry… cool. Next message: Hypocrisy! Even better: POSSESSED!! We’d head out to Blitterswijk on Friday already, as we thought Stoflik Omskot would open the festival, but it turned out they start around 11:00 or something, OK with us. At least we’d be in no rush for once. But the weather… was tricky enough to keep Wanda at home again. Instead of blistering heat… pouring rain. She managed to get rid of her ticket herself; Maarten MsD would join us, even to the Friday Blitterswijk pre party :cool: After a round of calls we agreed to take Alex’ car, he’d pick up Peter and I’d drive through Enkhuizen and beyond.

Coming to Blitterwijk was a warm welcome. We’d drive on to the city for a good meal and let the beer flow! Alicia, Kees and Willem soon followed, as did Maarten and the pizzeria had a great evening. Peter wanted to offer us the meal, but as we were there with the eight of us, I took the one half and Peter the other. A cool and funny evening followed by a great breakfast and we’re off. The taxi was a bit of a problem, they said, as it wasn’t possible to book for the return in one go? Err we don’t care about your personnel problems, you know >< We knew by then we could get to the first band, but with another spare ticket (ducking the Christians wanting to keep us off the sinful terrain HA HA HA) we only heard KLONT! and Corrupt. First band I have some memory of is Nephylim, but the memory won’t last that long, I guess. Technical stuff, putting three genres in one song and repeat that 7 times… no. Johnny even called them ‘metal battle winners, easily forgotten’ ;) Earik of The Lucifer Principle did the annunciations again and my first encouter with him today was ‘specially took an urgency course Friesian’ for Stoflik Omskot! The band got two rows of OSDM fans in front of them, most had not seen Gurbe & Co. before. I had, so I was nearly the only one shouting the lyrics in my own brand of Friesian hahaha. Bass player Roland got me the ‘Lijkvocht’-beer stained set list: (THANK YOU!) Johnny got Gurbe’s guitar pick
- Oarlochspaad
- Undjip Gref
- Fan Doar ta Doar
- BBQ (Barbecue mei de buorfruo; first pit of the day! At least, the first one I saw, see remark on KLONT!)
- Tsjerkebrãn
- Nekromantyk
As I knew the band wouldn’t be around the entire day and I knew about the Lijkvocht (‘Corpse Moisture’) beers I quickly got to the merch stand and got a beer (one of 24 ^^ brewed), some 6 shirts to spare (every size ;) ) and a handful of patches. Again, the band did a good job, had fun with themselves and the headbanging audience (that grew during the show :cool: ) I kept thinking of market sellers ‘wie maakt me los vandaag?’ ;) [‘who empties my car buying my last goods?’] and smiling widely I got Doc’s stand (the lovely Mar and Joyce handled Alwin’s shop as he was on a day off with the kids) and I could keep my bag there. Nice not to have to walk stooped all day ^^ From a distance I watched Serial Butcher. The fast, gory deathgrind worked best with a coffee, to be honest. The coffee made my stomach and nerves start up some more, so I enjoyed the band a lot. The audience reacted on a Gutalax way, but without the confetti (Jurgen wasn’t there anyway ;) ) and without blow up stuff ;) On the other stage Mouflon set up. We had so much fun in the rain we stayed behind a bit, helping each other into ponchos. The band greeted the rain as if it were nuclear fallout and went on without blinking once. Good band, to us pitiful the timing wasn’t so good. We also abandoned Fractured Insanity soon, as the too-technical-for-my-liking-so-certainly-not-for-Maarten-nor-Peter band raged to their to the square millimeter filled note schedules. This music does have fans, especially today, but the nine of us aren’t. Hey, even Kevin showed up, probably for Fractured Sanity ^^

I’d rather watch Skullhog again, met Ben and Loek during the day, but hardly saw the music. I was getting hungry and during another band that didn’t help (us), Gutwrench, the sound was so wiggly I couldn’t keep up. I’d expected something else of the ex-members of Nembrionic, Donor and a few other notorious Noord Holland bands) we got back to the pizzeria we ate yesterday. Now I didn’t feel the need to split the bill with Peter, so everyone got their own food for their own fee ;) All and all we missed Tortharry for their biggest part, Doomas, Purgatory (again? :o ) and Cote D’Aver but ate well. Especially Maarten was eager for LIK to perform the show the couldn’t do last year. It rocked. It swung. We banged. We partied. Yeah, LIK is here to stay!! I’d seen a piece of Ingested as well, but couldn’t stand the grind somehow. It felt sloppy and the sound was bad. Two pictures – off. I’d had my compliments made anyway, as I wore Wanda’s Departed Souls shirt, welcomed by both Raw Skull Rai and Erik van Riezen, both members of Departed Souls and long time friends of Alwin Schnoing (R.I.P. to our friend once more). Next compliments go out to Vomitory, not only for releasing their best album yet but also returning to Steenwijk once again. The band played a great mixture of old and new material and the pit grew riff by riff ;) All Heads Are Gonna Roll and Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize early in the set, YEAHHH DUDE!! So good! Old School Swedish Death Metal they way it was meant!
We couldn’t linger, as Possessed was already checking sound and as it’s one of my all time favorite death metal bands, I needed to be as close as I could get. I am worried a bit, as Jeff is pale and thinner than ever before, but his vocal chords aren’t affected at all. The band bashed in with No More Room in Hell, Pentagram and Shadow Cult and I could no longer control my limbs other than hit as hard as I could. Ivor agreed, rolling towards the line around the pit, being able to make eye contact with Jeff and being hailed for doing so \m/ Strange as it may sound, but the 15-person-pit was the best Possessed could want for, as the pit was as merciless as the Revelations of Oblivion material. PIT TO OBLIVIATE!!!! Wetter than the rain could ever drop on me, I limped away, smiling my most diabolical grin, hairs evilly divided in all directions, sweat still dripping I wanted water, coffee and a good place to start the Autopsy show. The water I did get was from Heiko’s gf (later messaging Wanda that she was worried if I were OK, we both laughed and reacted ‘as he comes from a pit he’s always such a mess’ :) ) I got into the Autopsy pit during second song Ridden with Disease but didn’t even last the entire song. I was mangled by two elbows to the face and unvoluntarily had to step out. We agreed Autopsy was superdepuper great, Reifert going totally over the top and Coralles and Cutler and Wilkinson freaking out as well. The audience turned into a boiling mass of bodies, but without me… come to think of it, without Peter and Alex as well. Peter had (instant?) bowel problems and Alex helped him into the taxi and out… now our taxi mess began. We’d agreed to take the 00:30 taxi back to Blitterswijk, but there was no sign of Bram (he was front row during Hypocrisy) ; Maarten, Alicia, Kees, Willem, Storm and Alex Zwaert took the first one. We were not fast enough to get into taxis 2, 3 and 4 and that pissed off Johnny so much we agreed to fight ourselves into the next one, baffling Stephan Gebédi doing so ;) He needed to go the other way as we went, but he couldn’t get into taxi 5 as well. Guardian Angel Tom showed up just after Hypocrisy was finished (liked the sound and the set list, but only heard them) and he brought us into his car and let’s forget about taxis for the moment. One afpils later Peter expressed the fateful decision maybe NOT to return to any metal festival, as his family life is so complicated and he hates the shebangshenaninganshefuckoffs his wife gives him, weeks before and days after. Johnny, Tom and me assured him he’s safe with us, we support him but also can’t change the way his wife reacts anymore. With a steel pin in our heads we said goodnight, only to receive excellent breakfast as usual and booking our next Stonehenge weekend as well: www.stonehengefestival.nl : July 27th 2024, Belphegor, Defleshed, Inhume, Birdflesh, Carnation (!), Graceless (!!), From the Crypt (!) and Necrotesque. Early birds some € 40, normal tickets will cost € 50. This sold out edition was a great one according to bands, but a lesser one in surroundings… Peter sick, family can be strange and taxi-wanting-assholes that obtrude people already waiting longer… UGGHH. In good news: Toon and Mirjam already booked the Libelle chamber for Wanda to be able to keep up alone and low on stimulants. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT! Highly appreciated! Family can be great as well!! Now I still hope Alex will join us next year, but who knows? We have had METAL!! Once more! Next year again! Metal!!! Lick the Possessed Stoflik LIK Autopsied Butcher ;)

Wanda found a picture of the Autopsy set list, no idea who got it ;)
- Ridden with Disease
- Gasping for Air
- Twisted Mass of Burnt Decay
- In the Grip of Winter
- Destined/Flesh/Torn (probably a medley)
- Voices
- Burial
- Mauled to Death
- Embalmed
- Severed Survival
- Maggots in the Mirror
- Critical Madness
- Charred Remains
- Fuck You!!!!

I must have heard most of it\m/
I got a picture of the Possessed set list, of which I am SURE I heard them all:
- No More Room in Hell
- Damned
- Pentagram
- Tribulation
- Beyond the Gates
- Storm in my Mind
- Swing of the Axe
- Graven
- The Exorcist
- Demon
- Fallen Angel
- Death Metal
- Dominion
- My Belief
- Burning in Hell
HELLLYEAHHHH

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2023 2:42 am 
 

EvilDead in Musicon, August 4th, 2023

When René Veerkamp hints ‘you’d better show up’, 99 out of a hundred shows are absolutely worth it. It was already happening when he was promotor for Baroeg, then again as Aardschok correspondent and now organizer for Musicon. I’ve been to so many Baroeg shows (Dissection was one he advised before :cool: ) and Baroeg Open Air back in the day, I knew we’d better get tickets now… for EvilDead! What started as a project when Agent Steel and Abattoir temporarily ceased playing/recording, the men got together and went on. Abattoir never got to me somehow, but I’ve been an Agent Steel fan ever since my early metal days. Having missed the Agent Steel – Nuclear Assault – Atomkraft show in Amsterdam (1987), my hunger for Juan Garcia’s riffing got only satisfied a bit when I did see Agent Steel (Dynamo Open Air 2004) and BodyCount (FortaRock 2018). Finally! Both were marvellous shows, I still think of them happily. Now, book the B&B we’d been before (Graceless – The Covid Sessions) and we’d be allright. We’d get the same room as last time including the tiny-toilet we can hardly get in ^^ Like before I worked a lot this week so I drove around 2 PM, alone… I ate near the B&B and walked the ‘help’ of Gorgle Maps :roll: the wrong way, until I did something concerning cookies and shit >< and instead of half an hour I needed nearly an hour to get to Musicon. Good: a super market nearby, Veltins time! I’d checked the city website to see if there was some legislation on alcohol on the street, so I drank my first beers suspiciously ;)

Entering Musicon a bit too early, as I wanted to try to sell the spare ticket I already found a group of friends with more spare tickets >< The ticket held a novelty, I could check in before entering? Uhm, no. The friendly lady at the wardrobe explained Musicon is cashless, so she couldn’t offer me money for the spare. I deliberated a bit, thinking ‘I’ve come so far, let’s just contribute the ticket to the venue’, by then I’d heard it wasn’t sold out at all. René heard about my contribution to The Hague Culture, as he called it ;) and offered me my first HJ of the night in expense hihi. Later on I got back to him, not to complain about the support act, but to see he’s doing great again. He’d been in therapy to relieve stress and diminish alcohol abuse but he’s fine now again. He was the one complaining about Powerstroke: ‘I’d rather ask THEM to pay mé instead of handing out money to those worthless groovy BS thrashers’ HA HA HA. The main band can’t always be lucky, he later said. Let me explain: this band has members in the most brutal death metal shirts, have some thrash hínts to their music, but the vocals rather line in to Pearl Jam (and I friggin’hate PJ!), Mudhoney and only the slightest swerve towards Alice In Chains (which I dug to some point). Why wear a Morbid Angel shirt when you sing like ‘it feels like Utrecht’ [one of Vedder’s most prolific quotes about performing on Pinkpop] What a load of bollocks, I hear several people say. Do they have power? No. Do they stroke? Rather strike like the union ways ><

In the meantime Marcel VIII, Robert, René and most people I know tonight end up in the backyard of Musicon, drinking, talking, as long as it takes for Powerstroke to finish their set and head back in. EvilDead’s sound check/tuning of guitars was already heavier, faster, blunter and more talented than that dreaded Belgian band ;) Knarf sold me the new Leader compilation ‘V for Victory’ twice, so I surprised René again hihihi and got myself to first row. What followed was an explosion of speed metal, thrash licks, ruff vocals, excellent bass playing, great sound, loud as a Molotov cocktail hitting the police, sharp as the glasses being blown out of our hands ;) Those five Americans are not here for wussies, they THRASHHHH! Interacting on stage and off, not needing fluffy shirts to do something else than planned, just HIT AND HIT HARD! When I finally stood straight again I got Juan’s guitar pick and Albert Gonzalez’set list THANK YOU BOTH A LOT!
- A.O.P. - The Descending
- Living Good – Gone Shooting
- Napoleon Complex
- Future Shock
- Slow Death
- Bathe in Blood
- Blasphemy Divine
- Word of God
- F.C.I./The Awakening
- Process Elimination
- Annihilation of Civilization

My goodness, is thrash metal alive or what? The pit grew song by song, riff by riff, necks making overtime, hairs flying like they were near a rocket engine, throats being roughened and oiled ;) for an hour +. I loved it. Everybody stuck around for merch, even the Annihilation of Civilization shirts were sold like warm buns, everybody got an autograph or picture if they liked, no bad word heard all evening (except the support act, but you can’t have it all ;) ). The bar personnel were so eager to help, it made me happy again. For the 5,867th time today… The taxi driver could have driven me home if he had the time, he wanted to hear all about all sorts of metal I knew :cool: B&B, shower, off. Great breakfast, back to my love… The band plays Helmond the following day, would I…? Nah, can’t leave Wanda for the second night of thrills in a row… but I WAS thinking about it. THRASH!!!

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Tue Sep 05, 2023 2:39 am 
 

NOAF 2023 – August 25th+26th, Wörrstadt, Germany, feat. Venom Inc., Desaster, Gama Bomb, Extinction AD

In a way I’m still a bit sad Wanda couldn’t join us to NOAF last year. A festival of that size, that diverse programming (Asphyx, Overkill, Evil Invaders and some avoidable metalcore ^^), it would have been perfect for her… but the temperatures, the drive, the… damned. But don’t think she did nothing those days, she was eagerly awaiting any news on NOAF and be damned sure she’d make it this time. This year the first bands announced were Skindred, who had to cancel last minute in 2022 (and couldn’t even be replaced, all bands just started an hour later), Desaster, Venom Inc., Gama Bomb and Orange Goblin. A second stoner band was something to look out too, as we’re both still expanding our musical taste and this time it would become Acid King. Last year Arjan told us (Maarten MsD and me) he enjoyed our company so much and he was so happy to finally meet Wanda, he offered to buy us the tickets. End of April, Maarten texted me he had done so. What a great friend to have ;) On our side, Wanda and me had been discussing our holiday plans: we’d love to go back to Eupen (even though Jürgen and Sylvia weren’t home those days) and arrive early in Wörrstadt, to be tourist, to have rested before heading into the dust and metal ^^ Around this time I have two weeks off, so we can travel easy and lightly. No idea where we’ll end up after NOAF :)

So, it all got back like so many times lately, I’d go alone. It’s been nearly 5 years since she was alone for so long, but now we keep way more in contact so she wouldn’t have so much fear, anxiety or loneliness… I still went to Eupen, had a great time there and headed out on Wednesday to Wörrstadt. I’ve been to the John Deere factory in Mannheim after a tip from my agricultural colleague Vincent. I’d buy some merch but the playversion of JD’s biggest machine was a bit too expensive for a baby shower gift (€ 166 and he was even disappointed HA HA HA) so I got caps, a puzzle box and whatnot. He’ll enjoy the kids having fun with it, he’s a total Fendt freak :) Wörrstadt is not that big but I knew there would be a swimming pool next to the festival area, so I brought my swimming trunks and dove in as much as I could. It’d be free with a NOAF festival wrist band, but due to ‘normal NOAF circumstances’ we totally missed the pre-party with Stahlzeit, a Rammstein tribute. Luckily my/our Rampstein fan days are nearly over and we found a great rock bar: Stellwerk. They simply refused to play Rampestamp haha so the music was great there: AC./DC, Van Halen, ancient Metallica and so on. But even getting us together was a funny thing: their appartment Böhm’s Weingut is near the festival area, my hotel was on the outskirts of the industrial area, some 3 km away. They were in Zum Treffpunkt, near my hotel; I was in Stellwerk near their appartment ^^ Great beers as well! No one pitied not having seen Stahlzeit and I’d be happy to pay some € 3 for swimming instead of doing the Dutch for free ;) Good things about the pool: the festival would be filled with Swimmbadfrische Metalheads and the sound of barking laughter instead of shrieking kids near the pool was great.

Friday we got together at Böhm’s and had a few beers for the festival. I still had Wanda’s ticket to sell and Arjan his FB was a great help: we’d lost the ticket in a matter of an hour and nearly full pay on it! Beer money!! We stayed outside for the first metalcore band, even though Arjan rushed inside when the ticket deal was done to see Accvsed. Arno, Maarten and me thought ‘OK, seen it, over, no need for more metalcore’ ^^ Arjan was still at the front (and not the lone rider concerning metalcore ) when Extinction A.D. began and it was one of the bands I wanted to see. In short: nice mixture of thrash, punk and crossover, not much hairs to fly but a lot of energy and talent. I think all of us were inspired by the Americans, the mosh pit was pretty brutal and nearly everyone of us bought something from the band. I got a signed CD, three stickers, two plectrums taped to a bag of guitar strings (with 5 strings still in it :) ) and a patch. Brammerman is willing to start a denim jacket as well but as he thought there would be no more Hail of Bullets patches ‘because the band is done’, I got him ...a Hail of Bullets patch. And a Carcass one, as I knew Carcass in Vera, Groningen, 1994, was his first concert ever. I don’t remember it was me or Maarten that gave him the idea to see Carcass LOL but the three of us wailed in excellent memories once more ;) Fun fact afterwards: if I’d known any touring bands of the festival, I was in Mannheim the day Extinction A.D. was there too :lol:

During Gama Bomb it was good to see the band have fun, audience having fun and play a decent pot of Irish thrash metal. The ‘traditional’ wall of death was changed to ‘wall of life’, when Philly asked the audience ‘to make friends in the pit, hug them!’ :) AND THEY DID :lol: The message: don’t take it all too seriously, but ‘we came here for two things: 1. drink beer and 2. thraaaaaaaash metal!’ (high as he can, the speakers trembled ;) ) What a downfall after that! Another screamy, scratchy metalcore shitband occurred, I think they were called Infected Rain. Keep out of their earshot!!

I met a barefoot man and he instantly gave a familiar feel, spiritual even maybe, we talked about loss and family and exchanged headwear: my Graceless cap for his (was it leather?) Aussie bush hat, we drank beer together (later more). He’s called Levan, originates from Greece but had to move to Germany somehow, the story got more vague in time. We saw stoner band Acid King together as we drank from my booze cards. I should have known better, as Levan tried to trick another doof into his moneyless pit. I agreed to wear the bush shit the next day but hesitated, Maarten later said it looked ridiculous on me and aged me very much. Acid King, on the other hand, is a band with a guitar tone of their own, but the longer they play, the more you hear Vol.4 from Black Sabbath surface. The vocals started flat out weak, but even Ozzy had better days, but gladly it got better, even coming to a point I’d think I’d get me some of their stuff. Maarten and Brammerman were over the top enthused, that’s not strange concerning Sabbath is Brammerman’s absolute favorite band. We went out for a bite, but had to eat the last part quickly, as Venom Inc. was about to burn the witches’place to the ground. I didn’t see the entire set as my bowels were pushing me, but I’ve seen about half the set:
- Witching Hour
- Black Metal
- Come to Me
- Leave me in Hell
- Buried Alive [I. Have. To. Shout. Every. Friggin’. Part. Of. My. Favorite. Venom. Song. Ever! No matter if I’m alone, in a crowd, in a car or whatever. I shout. Period. As Loud As I Can Be]
- Don’t Burn the Witch
- In Nomine Satanas
When the band announced a song of their own, my sphincter hurt so bad I went; baffling Arjan: I wouldn’t stay for his favorite band of the day: The Halo Effect. The Dutch crew mentioned in the morning they’d met Demolition Man and Mantas! I just wondered if Demolition Man would get NOAF tattooed ;) I made one big mistake: I walked the shortest route, ending up on provincial road 420, waving my NOAF poster to make sure cars would see me. The amount of honking cars, big lights and angry Germans was too much. Sweating like an eel I got to the room, showered, hung my denim and shirt to dry and dropped on the bed, exhausted. Was this normal sweat or stress sweat? Yeah, I think so. But: Slept pretty good, ate good, swam nicely, walked a bit… but coming to Böhm the Dutch had already left so there’s another detour for me. I’m beginning to learn the Wörrstadt map the wrong way >< The Biergarten would open at the tones of the first band, but we got in some earlier and made friends, chanting together to open up the fridge hahaha.

The first band we got to see was Blue Collar Punks, from Wörrstadt themselves. There is always a competition of local bands to be able to play on NOAF, Arjan explained. He said the festival was sponsored so heavily by municipal ways, regarding: a youth connecter (mentoring mental health, widening culture, staying out of problems) will cost the community some € 50K a year. But then you have only one youth worker, and why not use that money for things the youth wants? So, if NOAF organizer Martin thinks ‘it’s good for youth to find out about Doro [or Venom, or Kreator, even Napalm Death and Onslaught played there], tie it to metalcore and the youth will eat it.’ Blue Collar Punks was much to Arno’s liking, he’s an old punker, punk rocker and ska enthusiast (he plays Baroeg Open Air with his ska band Skapice!) : try a mix of Sum41 and Pennywise and you have an idea. I still don’t know much punkrock, but liked the boys’energy on stage.

Second band today was a total surprise to all of us, but also to a lot of hardcore NOAF-goers: iPendejo [from friggin’Amsterdam]. Not only are all annunciations and lyrics in Spanish, they also put a lot of ‘Olanda’ in their lyrics and play with trumpet and trombone, as addition to drums, bass, guitar and vocals! Their trombonist can play a nice piece of guitar as well and airtrombones in between :) For a bit of understanding: https://youtu.be/ESKbIILBPUM
Not only did Maarten get a set list by shouting ‘Godverdomme’ and ‘Kut Nederlanders’, I got one as well: and to my surprise:
- Tu Hermano (..)
- Flotadores https://youtu.be/TZEAH2HhrDM
- 47
- Wrathchild (Spanish lyrics to the Maiden classic) https://youtu.be/UsZY37ZXSQE
- Revolución
- No Te Vayas
- La Reina
- Arrecho Vengo
- Amor Y Pereza
- Camaron
THIS IS COOL!! I thought I had nothing with brass instruments, but in the years I’ve seen Sear Bliss as well and as long as not 1,000 other bands do the same, I love it! But oh fuck, of course, more metalcore shit: Capra or something like Carpsa or Cappea, I’m used to illegible death- and black metal band logos but can’t make heads nor tales in metalcore ones ;) The shouts are so fakely intense, they fuck offs are so present, but this band has no talent at all. Don’t woke me about female singers, this was Bagger with big B’s. Baggy Trousers is a better hint, Madness-style. Over the top, but not my tops. Of course Arjan is all over it, but we only retreat to our Käsespatzel oder Kartoffelpuffer. Does Google have a good translation for these kinds of local food? I guess not, won’t share the pictures as well HA HA.

We retreated to the Biergarten because I had been told ‘we don’t serve to people with Graveland shirts’ WTFFF? Arno got my cap, glasses, denim and I turned the shirt around: a festival, not a band, featuring Asphyx (that did NOAF last year, remember?) The Haunted, Tribulation and the rest. ‘OK, entschuldige, hier kommt ihre Bier.’ I had had quite enough for a moment., especially when I saw the logo to the next band: The Night Eternal: horrendously flat sounding heavy metal that can hardly bear the extent metal to it. We missed three Desaster songs, but had a good conversation in the Neuborn forest, with great beers (Radeberger, Adlgauer; be sure you pick the right one as every sort of beer has the same kid on the label, only a 3x1 cm description ‘helles’, ‘radler’, ‘dunkel’, ‘alcoholfrei’ on the bottle :) ) We did get to Satan’s Soldier Syndicate and that was good. The band, with next to Venom Inc. the biggest volume on the festival, had a razor sharp sound but still with the old black metal mistakes ;) Another band that plays faster than the set list says so they played Speak English or Die as encore. No encores on NOAF! Maarten, again, got the set list:
- Learn to Love the Void / Devil’s Sword
- Necropolis Karthago
- Phantom Funeral
- Damnatio ad Bestia
- Satan’s Soldiers Syndicate
- Sacrilege
- Churches without Saints
- Hellbangers
- Teutonic Steel
- Divine Blasphemies
- Metallized Blood
--encore S.O.D. - Speak English or Die--
I had agreed to Wanda before that I would get some cotton and more merch by the band. Inferno didn’t say much on stage, but he mentioned the band had forgotten to bring the boxes! This is getting into a running gag, I think HA HA HA. Then again, I’ve seen great Desaster shirts over the years, now I want one for myself!

I might as well get more Orange Goblin merch as well. The band, with some serious haircuts over the last time I’d seen them but at least no ‘very first shirt ever, have to wear Venom’ on singer Ben Ward, tightened all spots and marks on filling the sound to the max. Heavy as shitting barbed wire, loud as cannons by the wrong end, sharp but relaxed got on totally well, grooving as it wasn’t first linked to disco in the first place (and certainly no Mike Muir haha). This is a killer live band. I actually am not sure to start purchasing CDs, as I don’t know where to start. Moreover, I don’t think I’ll need it all, but as me and Wanda are still expanding our musical tastes, we might find some stuff we like together. The boys, and me, freaked out. A Lemmy tribute (missed the name), some songs about booze, some about lost love, it’s all there. A hint: We are the Filthy and The Few \m/, Some You Win, Some You Lose. Add Live they’re great, the albums must be played before purchase, I guess. As for my Irish-British-tribute-denim I did buy a patch and handed Brammerman one.

The festival went downhill from then on. I’d found Levan again, but it turned out he’d been playing like a friggin’medium to get free stuff. My Graceless cap, beer, a shirt (thank Desaster for not having shirts) and nothing in return. I even massaged his neck for crying out loud! Worse, my intestines and sphincter rallied. Next: even MORE shit music as Skindred got to stage… I got so aggressive by the combination of reggae, dub, two-step and even less metal, I said goodbye to the boys and stormed off. No need for headliner Stick to your Guns, at all. Now I did do the ‘good’ walk, but as the batteries of my MP3 player died just outside the venue, I got totally pissed off. A local man spotted me going the wrong way again, calmed me by making me help his dog walk properly AND showing the way. Coming to the hotel, I had not lost all anger but sweaty, stinky, tired, disappointed, drunk I tipped the bush hat out of the window and showered cold. It relaxed a lot, I might say. NOAF is a festival that can’t do any bad to me (price, good bands, small, location, swimming pool nearby, nice village, everytime FORGET metalcore ;) ) so I want to conclude, mostly, that I had a great week. I had time to read, time to walk, time to do whatever wanted/necessary, stay in contact with Wanda AND the men, I want to return. Bring in Wanda or not, I’ll just ask Arjan NOT to buy her a ticket so soon. Early birds nearly sold out already, not a band confirmed for 2024. NOAF to the metal!

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2023 3:17 pm 
 

Greetings from Hell, ORWO Haus, Berlin, Sept. 23rd 2023

Wanda and her FB friends… make us travel a lot ;) She’s been on the Asphyx-, Legion of the Damned- and Graceless-FB for so long she got the hint to this festival from several sides: not only the official FBs but also from Husky, Kreft, Hairybucks and the lot. So, check your agenda and fill it! That it would be held on Frank Zappa StraBe in Berlin showed us we might easily find ourselves in a artsy neighborhood of the city, hopefully equipped with hotels on walking distances and not to say the least… parking place! Book early (about 11 minutes after the first FB LOL) and we might be cheap as well ^^ The tickets themselves brought some anxiety to me, as the friggin’CCard is doing funny things whenever I have to use a code AND a security word AND a back up flip… ughhh. The e-mail with the electronic ticket was… let’s say, simple. Just a few words ‘Asphyx, Sept. 23rd, two persons’, no bar code, no QR, no name… I e-mailed ‘Joerg’ if this was the right thing, he answered within the minute: ‘yeah, you’re on our list at the door’. I thought ‘instantly remember to put in my ID, to be sure’ ;) For starters, I bought an environmental sticker for my beloved diesel, might come in handy ;) If I have to choose between € 12 or € 80, I’m not a thief of my own wallet, you see? I thought. The reaction of www.shittystickergermany was ‘you’re denied a green sticker, you need a yellow sticker’. Uhm, what? I even considered booking a flight for myself, as Wanda probably wouldn’t make it again… nah. I want to see something (voetbal?) in Berlin, I need my beloved VW Golf Diesel Mk IV.

Coming to the border I asked if it was possible to buy a yellow sticker, answer ‘no, you need a Werkstätte and a test of the car’ so I drove on. She suggested ‘a few kilometers beyond the border or try close to the Ring Berlin, they might do it’. Nah, that’s too easy. I got to 3 gas stations near the Ring Berlin and they told me ‘now it’s too late to find a garage that can do the job sufficiently’. It wouldn’t be the only close call this weekend. In my thoughts I had it all planned, scribbled down, put into LegionLegion but hell no. I knew my button for the windows in the car was busted but I didn’t know the window would be open for about half an centimeter… Let’s say I drove the last 400 km with ear plugs and duct taped the window… not enough. Coming to RhinstraBe, there was a number 15, not a number 159. It turned out, helped by a friendly man who’d been in Holland the last week, Berlin has several villages and old cities grown into Bigger Berlin. It was another 22 km detour and I already was friggin’hungry. My Samsung/Google has a rotten card to work with, it took me an hour to find the restaurant next to the hotel (650 m). I got to voetbal stadium Union Berlin but didn’t know it was match day with a parking ban, so I nearly had my car towed from there. I lost my driver’s license when it slipped out of the Samsung casing. Coming to Frank Zappa StraBe I noticed ‘oh hell, this is really ancient Eastern Berlin’. I thought I would be fine in time but nearly missed the first band searching for the license. At the door the guard told me ‘no need to sell the ticket, it’s not sold out and we have to get rid of the tix ourselves ><. I did get a compliment from both Martin (Asphyx) and Marc (Soulburn, Graceless) for showing up. Martin even told another Asphyx fan ‘Herman is thé Metal Encyclopedia of all Asphyx fans’ :) and Paul later noticed it was my 42nd Asphyx show ‘if you know when the 50th show is, you’ll be on the guest list’. :cool:

Would the beer be as bad as during Brutz & Brakel, Fleshcrawl in Berlin, 2012, sour Berliner Pils? No, not by far. It was Berliner Kindl, of which Martin said ‘we drank that beer when we recorded Consvming Impvlse’ LOL How big is the world? :) He also mentioned having played with Knife before and that he liked their energy. Of Knife I only knew ‘German, blackened speed metal/punk’ and that the drummer is also in Skinned Alive. In a mixture of Exciter, Nifelheim, Bullet and BAT we heard some pretty nasty, vile thrash, hint of black metal, put in bullet belts, stud belts, crazy hairs sweeping, good sound, enough volume and a lot of energy, like mentioned ;) Every song the audience near the band grew, so to say, every riff the audiental hairs swept heavier to a point of serious neck injury by their biggest fans. The band has a song named Sacrifice in their repetoire and as that name of a song always brings in good memories, my surprise was even bigger that they also played Bathory’s Sacrifice as an encore. I got the set list and the ‘normal’ members all signed it smiling widely (their drummer was excused) :
- Chromium Player
- The Hallowed Chamber of Storms
- Electric Church
- Black Leather Hounds
- Heaven into Dust (my favorite song so far, see remark on Sacrifice above)
- Sacrifice
- I Am The Priest
- Demon Wind
- Behold the Horse of War
- Night Vision
- White Witch (NOT a Savatage cover :lol: ) Black Death
- Sacrifice (Bathory)

Thinking of Wanda too, I bought the recent CD Heaven into Dust, 5 different patches (her thrash denim, her black & white denim, Meine Deutsche Hose and a few spare ones ;) ) and a shirt (for myself). I loved it! The band members themselves are pretty cool dudes too, had seen me headbang and wanted Martin to take a picture, as done so smiling widely once more. So cool! Bass player Gypsy Danger was so proud I told him about the compliment Martin had given about the band! Singer Vince Nihil thought his band would be the strange duck in the pond, but in metal there’s a lot possible. Especially as I thought Soulburn to be the duckling… ;) Soulburn got to stage, turned everything on, tuned a bit and the atmosphere did change by the second! The sound was so much dirtier, blacker, the volume higher (hey, it’s The Man Who Plays Loud on stage!) and still, the smiles were wide. Except Twan, he’s in total emotion, total concentration and totally immersed in evil singing. No need for speed, no need for frolics, just plain doomed black metal with a hint of death (not necessarily death metal, just death) thundered us into oblivion. Totally different atmosphere, yeah, the incense did the rest. The light was dimmed, nearly static and the sound was amazing. I later explained to Eric Daniels ‘Bob [Bagchus, red.] always wanted his “new” band to sound like Hellhammer or Bathory, now you guys sound more like Hellhammer than Bob ever reached himself’. He said ‘have to mention that compliment to Bob, thanks a lot!’ :) I got the CD (signed by the entire band) and Remco’s set list ‘put in our hearts for Wanda’ :
- Intro – Drone Sample (Twan screams ‘Are you ready Berlin?’ I shout ‘Ik heb niet voor niks 702 km gereden’ – I get answered in Dutch by a lovely woman from Groningen ;) she gets an Asphyx shirt)
- Tempter ov the White Light
- Shrines of Apathy
- drone sample
- I Do Not Bleed From Your Crown of Thorns
- Where Splendid Corpses are Towering Towards the Sun
- From Archeon into Oblivion (there it is ^^)
- Eric Tremelo-Noise
- Crypts of the Black
- Anarchrist
- Drone Sample: outro

I wasn’t even tempted to shout for Feeding on Angels or Hellish Entrapment, I was so blown away by the sheer shrieking energy being fired at us :cool: What a disappointment Whiskey Ritual gives after such delight… The band from Italy, also present at Comfort Hotel Lichtenberg like me, even said hello to me, tries to be like Mayhem but to me it occurs like a drunk and on amphetamine version of Immortal. I take my pictures, shooed away by storming strobos and head out for the merch stand, where I share my beers with three fourths of Soulburn, both Kreft and Daniels still grinning about my Hellhammer remark. With several begotten beers I head back to the stage, as Asphyx’sound check is already more true and more honest than the pinkies of Whiskey Ritual members! I’m already too late to stand first row, but as I know they’ve all spotted me before I’m not worried. What I notice is this:
- a very, very short version of The Quest for Absurdity
- great sounding Botox Implosion, nice lights
- fierce Scorbutics
- hail to Berlin Brandenburger Division
- brutal as f*ck Death the Brutal Way
- crushing The Krusher
- hammer smashed Deathhammer
- no sign of Roger Moore’s Knights Templar Stand
- vile Vermin
- flying fans Came From the Skies
- groggy but blunt Molten Black Earth
- amazing Wasteland of Terror
- no nameless fans during The Nameless Elite :cool:
- Forerunners of the Apocalypictical fans
- grinding The Rack bringing goose bumps again
- Last one is definitely not my Last One on Earth
I don’t know when yet, but I make sure to see them at least some more times ^^ Asphyx goes full throttle death metal the best way. I couldn’t care less about any songs played, as they give every tune such fire, such joy on stage and off, Martin and Paul thanking fans personally on first row, simply passing on guitar picks and set lists, it’s so much fun!

Even though OrwoHaus is a funny, tucked away venue in the middle of an old industrial area, with a children’s hideout next to an abandoned car factory, when Legion of the Damned entered stage it was FULL! Pity the lights were over-abundant, I didn’t get close to the stage anymore. I talked to my newly found Groninger friend, her boyfriend picking up beers for me we watched Maurice & Co. expand the party to the limit. The sound was a bit offside, so it seemed, not really happy with the concrete walls I guess or simply not close enough to the speakers, I wandered off after a few songs. I knew it wasn’t to change/stop the strobos, the turning bright lights nor the smoke machine, I heard a few songs I liked (Legion of the Damned, Slaughtering the Pigs, Cult of the Dead, Beheading of the Godhead, Sons of the Jackal, Diabolist and two off The Poison Chalice) I was dead tired, pretty drunk, still a bit set off by losing my driver’s license, not willing to interfere with the Groningen chick and her boyfriend, being thanked and complimented again (Paul, Alwin, Husky, Eric once again) I took my rucksack and left. I bring in some 4 CDs, 10 patches, Eric’s guitar pick, two set lists, three shirts to shred, € 60 worth of Union Berlin merch and a bag full of stories once more. No need for an afpils at the hotel like yesterday, no need to wake up early because of the Berlin Marathon, needing my earplugs again, I got the thanks and compliments from the entire band Legion of the Damned + crew at breakfast. Even Twan was happy to see me, his moving in atmospheres is a little bit known around metal shows ;) I passed my friend and former colleague Henric on the way home and he complimented me by turning his son beyond AC/DC (‘Metallica isn’t harsh enough anymore for him’ :) ^^ :) ) and hearing Feyenoord killing Ajakkes in Amsterdam. Pity the Amsterdam hooligans had fireworks, smoke bombs, windows to kick in, police to attack and kid fans to cry. Even worse: the game has to be outplayed… but..

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Wed Oct 18, 2023 3:27 am 
 

Harnbarg Metalfest IV, Memoriam, God Dethroned, Ancient; Evenementenhal Hardenberg, Oct. 13+14

The 2022 edition had a big surprise in it, even though it was close to bankruptcy last time...Gertie and his crew would go on, not only that, but also grow! The annunciation of the new date wasn’t complete, as Gertie hushed us/trusts us enough to keep it silent, but apart from an already great line up (Soulburn, DeadHead, Hideous Divinity, Abrupt Demise and Phlebotomized) he announced Memoriam to us!! We support this festival so widely, we shared the crowd funding action for the expenses of Harnbarg MF III AND bought nearly the first HBMF IV tickets, now to be held in the biggest hall Hardenberg has to offer to us ;) Again, we booked B&B De Vlinder as it worked out so well last time. The line up got wider, new entries were God Dethroned, Entrails and a black metal night featuring Ancient (the rest of the logos are illegible). Wanda had been training herself to withstand stress, she was SOOOO eager to join now, see Gertie again (she found out he’s emotionally going through rough times), support once more and have a great weekend. The rollator would be the pivotal element of the weekend, with B&B De Vlinder on some 1500 m away and Wanda persisted in walking herself. Rain or shine, period.

I had worked crazy hours the last two, three weeks, so being a municipal worker ‘I can’t work too much’ ;) and I ditched the Friday afternoon, still crossing the 36 hour limit I have ;) When we got to Hardenberg I thought the first band would start at some 7 PM, but it was 4 PM the noise began!! It was raining slightly but still, Wanda wanted to walk. Sit down halfway, the rollator is ideal for that. Coming to Evenementenhal we actually didn’t do much to fully see any band, we saw so many friends we stuck to the foyer/merch room/wardrobe/coin point. Wanda had brought her excess black metal shirts for Storm (and/or Alex Zwaert, let them figure out who’ll wear what size shirt ^^), Marlies & Fred already present, some German friends. It actually took four illegible logos to pass to finally see a band from not so far away ;) hello Helleruin! The Groninger black metal combo played with a lot of Marduk- and Urgehal-influences, loud as a bell and contrary to ‘true’ black metal, there were some smiles on stage and off. Typing this I thought ‘was that David of Bodyfarm walking by?’ yes, he’s the live drummer for Helleruin (and Wrang). This is pretty cool! Especially when all bands are announced by Earik ;) but the next band was as welcome as the first three: Provectus. Alex and Storm freaked out, we hailed the bar and the Goddess stand, buying some € 150 worth of cotton, steel and spiky stuff ;) I also dug the grab bag with some XXL sleep shirts for me and Wanda ^^ Did we come for nothing but edge business but black metal? No. In long gone years I’d seen Ancient before, I do have some albums, the Norwegian melodic black metalband was OK to us. The first singer wanted to resemble Jesus including studded crown of thorns (Maarten MsD said ‘shouldn’t these spikes be inside out, that it TrVely hurts HA HA HA) and the singer that got in halfway was a thin version of Messiah Marcolin, but refusing to lift his hood up, frustrating most presss photographers (Ronald needed me to help him with an Ancient LP he wanted for his collection, fine, dude! Enjoy the vinyl!). When Provectus was announced, Earik helped Gertie’s stepson to make sure Gertie know he is loved, wanted and needed in more than just the family. Metal is family to me, that was a tearjerker first class. We do hope Gertie recovers from his mental tough times soon. His sister Jolanda was asked to bring us back to the B&B, we have so much gratitude for this! It was raining heavier than when we walked to the venue…

Like earlier, the breakfast was gorgeous. We didn’t need to hurry, no need for Man as Plague to shake up our death metal day. OK, it’s fun to see Michiel and Timmetje Deathcore again, but their band is too freakish for our ears. Maarten had come early and his reaction to MaP was exactly as I planned: boring, fast, pretentious, blah blah. Like Erik Hendriks said. Like Leon Venema said :roll: The first band we did see was Suspect Hostile, thinking of a faster Benediction or even some Trouble influences, albeit speedy. Not bad for starters, but these guys weren’t the only ones influenced by Benediction. Necrotesque clearly listened to Dave & Pete & Darren (vocally, guitar rhythms) but also to the Camargo/Kolesne clan (Krisiun riffing). What do you mean ‘old school death metal’haha. I like the logo a lot but the band had no patches and I won’t buy a shirt I’m certain I’ll get troubles at work for ;) When Burial Remains was checking sound, singer Wim was hardly audible so I shouted ‘put Henk’s bass some higher in the mix, no one will bother’ great smiles all around, even Wim could appreciate the joke. It wasn’t just because of the Dismemberesque sound Maarten and me stood first row ;) The songs I wrote down were Slaves to the Cult, Days of Dread and Spawn of Chaos. It would have been fun to play As Blood Rains from the Sky but I’m spoiled ;) Erik is the one spoiled concerning Phlebotomized, I couldn’t do much with the technical and atmospheric (keys :roll: ) death metal; having avant-garde in their MA description I’m out. I liked Abrupt Demise some better, even René Brugmans (Stonehenge organizer and former Burning Hatred singer) can grunt properly. But this is the weakest band of the day, I think. Within a couple of songs our interest in the band declines rapidly, with René acting hardcore we’re gone soon. Needed time to eat, I guess. I had brought my leftovers from breakfast but also wanted something warm to eat. With 5 foodtrucks present the choice is superb!

We were in time for Schizophrenia ( https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Sc ... 3540462388 ). We met (Carnation-)driver Erwin again, he said the band had played with Whiplash in Prague the previous night, hadn’t slept much but the band did everything needed to wipe out any tiredness out of anyone’s eyes ;) The band mixes Morbid Angel with old Hypocrisy and a lot of Krisiun. Even to a point of saying ‘this band is proof Krisiun is secretly influenced by Destruction too, mullets and all’ hahaha. With so much death metal playing today I’m surprised the Morbid Angel cover Immortal Rites is shooed off?? It wasn’t thát bad, said by a non-Morbid Angel fan ^^ We decided to get some cotton from several bands; Schizophrenia can be put on a black-and-white denim, on a Belgian denim and so forth; also bought DeadHead-, God Dethroned- and Memoriam-stuff. We weren’t interested in Hideous Thingie (Divinity) and talked to both Robbie and Ralph of DeadHead ‘about the old days’, wisely avoiding the name Van Dijk haha. DeadHead sure didn’t waste time. An ultra short sound check, crank open the HM2 and Marshall, and GO GO GO!! The speed is up, the thrash is vile, the death is understood, the volume high, the sound great, see set list (Thank you Ralph!! Appreciated! Hand written as well ;) )
- intro
- Phantom Palace
- Until Dawn
- Drawn into the Wire
- The Festering (first pit of the day!)
- Acolyte
- Fire Gate
- Polar Vortex
- Helhuizen
- Kill Division
Wanda sat on the sideline, greatly enjoying the band and me and my friends made neck mileage to the max. My throat ache of last weeks got bigger ;) So energetic!! So tight! Even Jimmy of Entrails was impressed, we had a great chat about death metal, Dismember and the old days of… DeadHead. It turned out Jimmy is a DeadHead fan as well! With only minutes to spare, Jimmy got backstage and checked sound for the Entrails gig that was about to start. I remember him as an introverted, soft speaking person, but on Dismember he was furious and I was surprised he was so laid back only minutes before the show! Even in Entrails-edition #7 (give or take, Penki is gone already) the band can hardly do wrong in my opinion. It’s fun to know what will come, sometimes. Intro to The Tomb Awaits, one stroke ‘OK, sounds tuned’ and offfff!! Hit the strings, torment the HM2 Boss, overpower the amps and go beyond that! There were some technical problems halfway the set but that didn’t take the velocity out of the gig. Nice to add another guitar pick to my collection (thank you Marcus!) and Wanda got the set list:
- The Tomb Awaits
- Evil Obsession
- No Cross left Unturned
- Die to Death
- Crawl in your Guts
- Carved to the Bone
- Possessed
- Crawling Death
- Unleashed Wrath
- Epitome of Death (Maarten smiling, walked off to get me an Entrails shirt! The sweet! Thanks so much my friend!)
- Cemetery Horrors
- outro
If you haven’t noticed by now: I. Am. Entrails. Fan!! So is Wanda, Maarten, Erik, Marlies and the Butcher In The Sky knows how many others. Let the blood rain like water… err wait a minute, I don’t need rain now, I need tap water to cool down a bit. Also, Gertie hung some posters to the walls announcing the 5th anniversary of Harnbarg Metalfest, of which I have ‘extreme earlybird’ ticket # 1 and # 2! His wife, financial brain behind the Harnbarg institution, made him run for duct tape to wipe out ‘THREE days’ of metal and make it TWO days instead! He’d clearly forgotten the institution would need some severe extra money, time and inspiration, AND on a SUNDAY IN DUTCH BIBLE BELT no, no, dear, that’s too much! I do know the stress of organizing his festival is a big part in his health problems, so to put up another day of what, 10 – 15 bands?? And to know I missed half the bands already! The stages were set in a 90 degree angle next to each other, the ‘bigger’ bands got the longitude of the hall and the ‘smaller’ bands got the latitude of the hall. With only 150 visitors on Friday and some 450 – 500 paying visitors on Saturday I didn’t expect Harnbarg Metalfest to survive whatsoever! First bands announced: Legion of the Damned, The Crown (!haven’t seen them in over 20 years!), Bodyfarm (hey Ralph, David ^^) Clearly one that won’t come back next year is Blood Red Throne, the band made a fool of themselves by refusing to start and end songs ‘as a band’ and the indifference dripped off stage. They should take a leaf out of God Dethroned’s book, as Henry, Jeroen, Dave and Frank KICK ASS! Sounding sharp, playing even faster than on the records, but still amazingly tight and with a hell of a volume the Dutch Death Metal Blackening Machine runs better than a King Tiger tank! The band has 11 studio albums to chose from and their best songs pass by (many thanks to Jeroen for especially wanting me to have the set list!!)
- Hating Life
- Villa Vampiria
- No Man’s Land
- Illuminati
- Asmodevs
- Soul Sweeper
- Serpent King
- Boiling Blood
- Spirit of Beelzebub (Christ Carnage crossed out)
- Poison Fog
- Nihilism
- Sigma Enigma
Being watched by half Memoriam, thumbs up from Karl and Frank, the band played a great gig. Gone are the days of war inside the band, no temperamental shit to play older stuff, no egos, just 4 guys having something to tell, show musicianship without noses stuck up and an audience reacting like hedgehogs on warm milk. Little technical problems during Soul Sweeper are laughed away. We loved it!! When Memoriam checked their sound it was the busiest on stage I’d seen all day. So many people wanted to help, band members wanting to stand at the side of the stage, I instantly knew this was going to be a top show once more. Photographer Ronald had asked the security whether the less-mobile metalfans would be allowed to reside in the photopit and he got the reaction ‘no bothers, do as they like’,… Wanda is considered less mobile as well so she sat literally first row during Memoriam, headbanging like a windmill, shooing off some delinquent non-real metalheads (pff get a grip Pipo ><) with the longest hair she’s ever had, grinning evilly, shouting whatever she shouted, so cool to see her freak out! After some 7 months of not being able to join me, it nearly brought a tear to my eye. And Memoriam friggin’delivered!! The band, highly experienced of course, no wishwash about what to play, no need for ANY cover version, bring in the Panzer Division and Kill Us All!! Halfway the set Karl jumped off stage to thank the wheelchaired people for being so close, too fast for me to take a picture :) and ‘just move on’ to:
- Undefeated (LOUD!!)
- Onwards Into Battle
- All is Lost
- War Rages On
- Shellshock
- Total War
- Resistance
- To the End (..to the end of my earplugs. It seems the volume is raised even more >< and standing next to the speakers instead of in between them, I cannot escape the thundering notes)
- As Bridges Burn
- Rise to Power (Karl explaining ‘this is a new song, might go well, might go horribly wrong’ :) :) )
- Flatline
Exhausted, throat in half, arms thrown onto stage, ear plugs smeared black, smiling widely, tired but so happy we get back to the wardrobe and get another taxi ride back to De Vlinder, this time free of charge by Gertie’s daughter! She simply refused us to pay, not even for gas or ‘voor de uitzet’ (Dutch maternal joke) she just let Wanda out and drove off. OK I’ve missed some 12 bands this weekend, but to bring in Wanda again made that up easily. We got next year’s tickets but can’t stay in De Vlinder so B&B Hardenbergerveld is mailed already, we’ll see. Wanda has gained a lot of energy AND similar stories to her own, she was drained today but SOOO happy to have been able to see all those lovely friends and great bands. We return to Harnbarg, see where we’ll sleep but WE LOVE HARNBARG! METAL! Whether black or death or thrash or speed, we breathe metal!

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Tue Oct 24, 2023 12:41 am 
 

Metal Manifesto Oct. 20Th 2023, Obstruktor, Snare

I have to think deeply how long ago I went to Manifesto, was it January this year or the previous?? I honestly have to look it up. The Hoorn cultural venue nearly slipped off my mind, as it had been so long ago any metal played there, lately there had been mostly tribute bands. And bands I totally have no interest in. Dutch blah blah and unknown foreign stuff, earthquake fundraiser, yeah right. Add a rainstorm right across West-Friesland and you know Wanda’s reaction: ‘rather you than me, please do go’. Also, again I’d been working crazy shit hours, I can probably take December off, totally, no problem. It’s only recently there has been a switch in the Manifesto bookers team, Jessica has been out of it for ages, especially as she couldn’t get her desired bands paid for… Rain pants, new jacket, zuidwester cap, Alex contacted if he’d wanted to join, off into the rain. And wet I got, new jacket or not, my arms were quite heavy when I stepped into his house. No need to hurry, we’d walk and the first band wouldn’t start before 9 PM. Any band would be a surprise to us tonight.

First surprise, yeah, that was meeting one of Wanda’s former colleagues, nice to know she’s still in contact with one of them. Second, Alex found one of his volleyball friends and he’s the metal programmer now! Third, a female fronted band, rest is male. Uhm, what to expect? Would it be Sabina Classen, Alissa BlueGlow, Angela Gossow or that Jinjer chick? In hair and clothing I’d say the latter and hearing the first song, yeah the latter. The band is called Snare and they’re not even on MA (yet? No need to, I guess). Not to piss them off directly, here’s their Dutch site www.snareband.com and that shows the influences indeed: Jinjer, Gojira, FuckerBridge and Mecrappica. Musically not the bands I get warm feelings from, but their enthusiasm on stage is good. It’s not fast enough to be called speed metal, it’s modern metal with a hint op pop music. The technical problems are welcomed by Alex and me ^^ The band has a bunch of groupies/fans and they chant to every song they hear. When the last song is announced I can’t stop myself yelling ‘no need for the Snare fans to go away yet, there’s two more bands’ Many groupies look at me as if air is ice instead :) Alex enters the fun by shouting ‘The Final Countdown last song?’-→ entire band laughs. They DO have some humor, I guess, haha. It’s just not our band. The band even gets a four-man-wall-of-death, all men seem to play in the second band ;) The band thanks bass player Eddy for showing up at all, we were told he’s green in sickness. Snot on!

Second band isn’t top notch to us as well. The men, in Limp Biscuit and Blink0,0 shirts play punkrock but I don’t think their singer will last long. He sings too forced, too high, to much pitched, clearly his lower parts come from the lungs and not the stomach. He nearly loses his voice after a Rancid-like song and the band isn’t as tight as they want to be as well. You know what: forget about Reality Spill instantly. Let’s have a beer with the few people we do know ;) and wait for what I expected to be thrash: a band with this name and a spiky logo: Obstruktor. Visually it’s old Metallica, musically they get closer to Overkill and old Megadeth. Alex’chant for denying Slayer gets the well known drum intro as an answer, we all laugh. The set list is a piece or art: hand drawn, with a Dobby-like creature on it, penises present, but the song titles are written in Dutch with small twist; after the second dash the title of the album:
- Bedtijd - Sleep
- Huilon – Cry for Justice
- Draadje – Threat to the Menace
- Voeton – Wrong Hands
- Stapel – The Pile
- Pauper - PowerLords
- BoemBoem - Placebo
- Aardrijkskunde – Orbit

When a band does something you don’t expect and it’s still fun to listen to, I’m all over the merch stand. But the band only had M sized shirts and some stickers, no CDs present, no patches and apparently no need to walk to the car for the CD. Uhm, okay then tisuptoyou, dude! We hang around the bar, waiting to be shooed out haha. We were told Manifesto now tries to get metal every month and the old discussion about who finances what it got boring.The conversation went on until I reached my rain pants, my dry clothing and the bike. It had stopped raining and what follows was an excellent ride through nature by night. We try to return on November 17th for Syn Ze Sase Tri (one of Romania’s oldest extreme metal bands) and Necrotesque. Black metal, death metal, yeah that’s more of our liking. We enjoyed Obstruktor but didn’t bring any stuff home except a beer mouth and metal pictures. Good that Metal Manifesto is back on track!

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sun Nov 12, 2023 3:29 pm 
 

Destruction 40 year anniversary tour, feat. Whiplash, Nov. 5th, 013 Tilburg

Ever since True Thrash Fest in Hamburg, end of 2019, Wanda is húgé on Razor and made me buy several of their albums. Not that I mind, of course :) I had seen Razor before (MDF, NDF) and wanted to attend this show so bad I even considered going to their shows in Lingen or Glauchau, both in Germany, but had not counted any miles so far ;) OK, Lingen is doable (just above Ruhr Area), but the show takes place in the second most busy week on my job. Err, no, just the Dutch date will have to do. Of the annunciation, empowered by an enthusiast Schmier made me think a bit double: ‘when I started the band’, ‘best line up we ever had’, what the hell happened to Sifringer? Has he smoked himself under or something? All ties severed with music industry? OK, he’s been gone for the best of two years now, but wtf? Wasn’t it Mike that formed the band, even when it was still called Knight of Demon? Didn’t continue Sifringer the band when Schmier left? That’s for themselves to figure out, I guess, we’ll probably never get the full story from both sides… Anyway, in one move I got tickets and a reservation at the Wapen van Tilburg inn and booked a few hours off the following Monday. But, injury struck, especially Razor had to cancel the tour entirely and were replaced by Whiplash, halfway September. That I’m still in the busiest week of the year doesn’t matter, my appointment in Weesp ‘could be half an hour later’ :lol: Just before driving we got a message from Johnny, he had a ticket but hated to go alone. OK, we drive to Amsterdam and pick him up. Err no, turns out his bestie had left her phone at his place and she needed it so bad he had to find her before her work would become impossible. It too so long I already drove near Duivendrecht when he finally texted ‘Off you drive, have a bit of fun for me too. The train home could be a mess’ and we drove on. We’re so early we could easily eat at Wapen. Fine. They even have 4 signature HJs on tap, hello Grand Prestige ;)

Was it held in the big hall or the Main Stage? We stood in line at the entrance to Main Stage but there were hardly any metalheads present… or was it because of the rain no (back-)patches were shown? OK we head to the Small Stage entry and find the End of the Line once more ;) hey, Reem is on front row already ;) Entering 013 we were already greeted by Andrew, his lovely wife Miranda (long discussion about Overkill patches last time ^^ ) and Theo van Eekelen with his better part. As Wanda commented heavily on my nightly stench after drinking Bahvaria all night, I was thrilled to find at least three types of beer NOT like Bahvaria; I got the White Trappist for both of us. Doors opened at 17:30 first band 18:00 sharp, the White was hardly halfway haha before Crisix kicked off hard. I knew Dave P and Reem are over the top about this band, but I missed them at least four times (Metal Emperience fest? Could be. Pitfest? Sure!) and that miss is being pulled off: I really liked the fierce energy this band has, the humor on stage, the precise and sharp sound. Vocals differ between old Sepultura and Agent Steel, highs and lows well balanced. We both didn’t like their merch and as they had no CDs to sell, we said ‘later’ to those.

Second band tonight would be Enforcer. With this band I have a love/hate relationship, first time bollocks, second time great, third time out of place and this fourth time was ‘too much plastic between the denims and spikes’, not feeling the thrash metal vibe at all and … yeah right another onslaught of bursting and turning lights. Ugghhh. It seems they didn’t have much with the entire tour as well, as their remarks on women in metal shows was below the belt to me. Thrash metal is friggin’45 years old and still thriving, dudes! OK héavy metal is only 10 years older, but not so misogynistic as 25 years ago, so don’t return that to any stage!

Wanda had asked at the bar personnel if she could walk and sit freely on her rollator and that was no problem ‘just be in time between the band shifts’. Where was she? Front row during WHIPLASH!! Clearly Tony, Will and Dan were on hunting grounds. I have the feeling most of the young audience didn’t know them (at all? Nah, just not as big as Destruction, I think) and the first two, three songs the audience did hardly more than headbanging. That changed when I handed my glasses to Wanda, she smiled at me and OFFFFF I went. With a single swing of my back the pit exploded! Let’s say the small hall of 013 is 15 m wide, the pit needed some 12,5 m haha. The band, in full powertrio mode, severing necks with breakwrist screeching guitars, spitting sweat like lemonade, a hell of a sound, so full, so sharp it was great! The lights had been simplyfied, but also more effective to the band, seeing the moshers go nuts (just after I stepped in haha) and the shouters given all reason to perform throat dissection :cool: I didn’t write much, just enjoyed the mayhem, spinning songs of (of course) Power and Pain, Ticket to Mayhem, Insult to Injury, Thrashback and Unborn Again:
- Last Man Alive
- The Burning of Atlanta
- Insult to Injury
- Spit on Your Grave (MOSHHHH!!)
- +1
- Walk the Plank
- Stagedive
- Nailed to the Cross
- Red Bomb
- Power Thrashing Death
Add one or two songs, fine, we had a friggin’great hour of thrash, Thrash, THRAAASHHH with plenty of known faces around, helping each other back into the pit, room to breathe (no need to quote Chris Reifert ‘gasping’ HA HA HA). The crowd ate like dinosaurs just before impact. The beer went through throats and not through the air. After this show the entire venue was damp and the smiles wide ^^ HAIL WHIPLASH!! Had a bit of backache last week, but that’s long forgotten now ;) Tony kept popping up guitar plectrums, Dan was totally out of sticks and Will’s handlebar moustache was a foot wider than before the show :) We met Will some five minutes later and have some great pictures ;) thanking the band, thinking of Razor and knowing ‘they will return, whether Razor or Whiplash, we ENTER THAT SHOW!).

We were not over the moon over the Destruction merch, but also not so much on their show. OK, the pit was a lot bigger than during Crisix or Whiplash, but we felt ‘uhmm, try to keep the automatic out of the pilot’… it’s nearly choreographed what Schmier and Co. show. Don’t get me wrong (or worrying ;) ) I am a big Destruction fan, have seen them all over Europe, have most of their records and are always thrilled when I get to see them; it just wasn’t tops to us. Andrew was the one with the set list and smiling a lot wider than we did:
- Curse the Gods
- Death Trap
- Nailed to the Cross
- Mad Butcher
- Life Without Sense
- Release from Agony
- The Antichrist (hey, that isn’t played so often anymore, or am I mistaken?)
- Eternal Ban
- The Butcher Strikes Back
- Tormentor
- Bestial Invasion
- Diabolical
- Total Desaster
- Thrash Till Death
This was the last show of only a ten-gig tour spanning three weeks, I might think it wasn’t the full anniversary feeling? 013 big hall was some congress going on, hardly visited; the small venue was nearly sold out and still it’s not special? Note I’m only guessing. Destruction is a hard working band, but don’t get the credits for that, or else the big hall could be used (like, say, when Headbanger’s Ball tour entered Tilburg with Sodom and Exodus, 2019). Both tours had their Tilburg stop on a Sunday, is public transport weighing it’s problems on shows again? I don’t know, I just think we were great about Whiplash but not so much on Destruction. OK, could happen. We said goodnight to Will again, he kept walking into us ;) said ‘see you to’ Patrick Asphyx and ‘till next time’ to 013 staff, not knowing when we do return.

As Het Wapen doesn’t serve breakfast, we were out of the city at 7:15 AM, but coming to A27 we needed two friggin’hours to get to ‘just Nieuwegein’, only 40 km beyond Breda. I later texted Johnny about our shitty return and thanked NS ‘NOTTT!’) for not meeting him nor Belinda. She also wouldn’t be able to return to Drachten after Destruction… The big business of this week isn’t so big at all, as I was only 40 minutes later in Weesp than I had planned. But… dead tired of course, having beers on Sunday and sleeping in a bit too shallow bed before 2 hours of traffic jam… shut up, you had WHIPLASH INDUCIN’METAL!

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Thu Nov 23, 2023 2:58 pm 
 

Metal Manifesto Nov. 17th, feat. Syn Ze Şase Tri and Necrotesque

This is a show I knew beforehand Wanda wouldn’t join: no matter which bands would perform, only one day after returning from the 2-day, 1,000 km car trip and 2 x 10 km lumber between too many unadaptive people and big tractors with my colleague Vincent. She was at her end when Vincent and me still wanted to do another 4 halls of agricultural supplies, parts, insurance, work force, fertilizer, soil enhancement, harvesters, drones, crop protection, tractormerch and whatnot on Agritechnica in Hannover, Germany. No surprise, I bought two tickets and informed my brother Alex if he’d like to join, keep in mind Wanda wouldn’t make it. Bring in a collapsible seat if we have to, have a beer with the oldest Romanian extreme metal band: Syn Ze Şase Tri. Peter Lord Belial had been hinting towards this show for ages, he couldn’t join us to last month’s Metal Manifesto but he was thrilled to meet us (whether Alex or Wanda is equal to me and to him ;) ). Bring in the ALT-codes again? ;) Weather forecast: rain. Uhm, OK, just be in time, we can dry up anytime inside ;)

We thought we could enter Manifesto at will, but were stopped: it was a few minutes to eight and the website specifically said ‘8 AM’; Peter also thought the first band would start then. We were happy to be able to get as far as the toilets and headed back out again ;) Warm up music: Sepultura – Arise. It didn’t take long before the first band checked sound: Necrotesque. The sound check already sounded bearded and old school, as if Slaughterday has Brabant cousins ^^ The band, all bald and bearded, gave a great show, flawlessly changing from sound check to actual set. Fat, slimy and heavy as a brick they pounded us to pumpkin soup, hinting strongly towards Asphyx and Cancer, bit of old Paradise Lost as well. To my great pleasure the band played Deathhammer as an encore (not on the set list, picture taken before the show)
- The Necrotic Grotesque
- Geriatric Cranium Crusher
- ResErection
- Demonic Sadist
- Cesium 137
- Mental Automutilation (confusing Peter a lot haha)
- Sexual Sadism Disorder
- Relentless Assault
-- encore Deathhammer – I got complimented by my excellent knowledge of these lyrics LOL – of course I had to be on front row when this sounded :cool:

Before the last note had faded I ran to the merch stand and bought 5 Necrotesque patches (Alex, Peter, R-Whin, Dutch Denim, Holland Hoodie) and be blown away by Sepultura again. The DJ had a specific bad day, as he couldn’t get one (Sep) song played to the end, probably couldn’t open the CD player anymore >< What followed was cold, one sided pumpkin soup, so to speak. The Belgian band (Necrotesque singer Lodewijk had already remarked ‘nicely international line up for such a nice Friday’ ;) ) Svarthart plays doom from out of a cookie box, I think. The sound was remarkably hollow and during the 45 minute set that didn’t change for the better. For the worse, the band went from doom to balladesque tingling of nearly acoustic music. The sound was worse than the average death metal demo, recorded in a phone booth with the neighbor bashing on the windows >< R-Whin thought it was friggin’awesome, he bought the lot of the CDs the band offered (a demo and a full length, I think). Good to find old musical differences dating back 40 years still exist and NOT result in a quarrel HA HA HA.

Waiting for the headliner of tonight we met some lovely women and acquiantances of old as Syn Ze Şase Tri got to stage. As this is the oldest Romanian extreme metal band Manifesto webmaster must have been sleepwalking, as Negură Bunget alone is already 10 years older, but split up. Some members of theirs are in Syn Ze Şase Tri now, but I think they haven’t taken the entire band: no bass player, no keyboard player but a full sound nonetheless. The men are in similar clothes but the hurl is clear: main guitarist Alexandru also does the annunciations and the main vocal lines; mostly the clear stuff and the screams. Mihai does the growls and grunts. MA is of help: Alexandru does the keys and bass on albums. The music resembled EDT-era Dimmu the first songs, later on more Behemoth (around Demigod) percolates. Somehow I think of a very experienced and reasonably talented band, but totally unknown to the metal audience(s). R-Whin showed he has raised his daughter well, as she’s banging her head like a Gatlin gun and her friend doesn’t do under to that :) Halfway the set there’s some Negură Bunget tribute to the deceased Negru and this is the first time EVER I appreciate three vocal ways in one song!! Clear, screech, grunt all in good proportions. I also got the set list (already excuses if my spelling isn’t top :) ) :
- Intro + Ultimu Lup
- Fauru Muntilor
- Solu Zeilor
- Scrijet in Piatria
- Din Negru Gand
- Stapan Peste Stapani
- Negru
- In Geru Iadului
- Vatra Stamaoseasca
- Osanda
- Intre Doua Lumi
- Inaripat Si Impietrit
- Blestem De Fiara
- Strajerul Timpului
- Sub Ochi De-Ntreanga Luna (I checked this, this is NOT a spelling mistake LOL)
- Nemuriritor Si Vesnic
- Trecerea Mistica (‘Let me Hear the Wolves’, now all hell does break loose. My goodness, what a fierce pit for a last song! Great!)

I must say, after hearing a few songs off YT, I imagined we’d be out in half an hour or so, I explained that to Alex. He came grinning like a wolf from the headbangers, telling ‘bit of a long half hour, right?’ :) :) We thanked the bar personnel and the booker and got our jackets back. I still had the token from the previous Manifesto wardrobe :o but no one cared. We got back to Alex’ house, got one zip of water and let all the (still) sweaty clothes into the bicycle bag and off. I knew I couldn’t take the shortest route, the one Wanda hates (...because of the water! Dúh, we’re in Holland and I’ve ridden it +10,000 times :roll: ) so I didn’t get my rest like previous Manifesto gig but had a good time whatsoever. We had cool death, silly doom and pretty melodic black metal for one night! Not even rained wet but sweated wet metal!

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swishlimohouston
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Tue May 23, 2023 2:57 am
Posts: 1
Location: U.S. Minor Outlying Islands
PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 4:07 am 
 

herrieman72 wrote:
The Graceless Hordes of Westwoud – De Schalm, June 11th 2022

A question: how many of my readers ever organized a party? Most, I guess. But how many organized a party with a band? Still, quite a few I think. But how many organized a party with a band when reaching a certain age, in a bar? I don’t think so many did, but I won’t claim originality in this hihi. Let’s say I wanted to bring an A+-band to my hometown when I turned 50. When I had my 40-Years-Metalhead-Party in my backyard (2018) I could BBQ with all my family and friends, as the band was still unknown and the first demo had or just had not been released. First question when Mutator picked up their gear was ‘Next year Asphyx?’ I know it was meant as a joke as most people do know they won’t come for, say, less than 5 grand in euros and even though we’re both mad hatters about Asphyx, this was beyond me and beyond us. I kept walking around with an idea and it was Marc Verhaar, drummer of Graceless and Soulburn that brought the idea to life: I just ask Graceless! I was rigid in my idea to get the band a gage they deserve, bring in a BBQ for them, might even organize a couple of shirts and that’s it. But, in time, when the band’s festival season was announced, it got to me a bit. I saw their name on the Into the Grave festival bill and asked again ‘will you guys play at my party?’ “Yeah, we do, just make sure you have some sort of a backline present and bring in drums. We come directly from Leeuwarden to your place and have no room for the entire drum kit, hardly any speakers, let alone a mixing board. ” Now it was time for my friends to help me once; I’d been helping hundreds of times to get people tickets, to shows, abroad and back. BUT I DON’T HAVE EQUIPMENT. Three well chosen calls later I could pick up a drum kit from Daan Vet (formerly known as KISSandCOOPER on MRU) and a vocal installation; the cabinets and wiring will be taken care of by (Mutator-)ShreddedEd and Maarten MsD! And the band did not overrun their gage, so Wanda offered to pay it for my birthday! The bar would be €25 per person, shirts will cost me some €300; that’s no big deal to me. This would be the very, very first death metal show ever in Westwoud!! We agreed not to bring in a second band as I wanted people be able to talk and with a guitarist that would start a fistfight with me… nah.

But then the great organizing still had to take place. Who do we invite? Is the bar available and what will Roel ask? I’d said I’d arrange shirts, so I had to make sure the band agreed me to use the logo. I’d said I’d arrange ear plugs in case my family’s youngest would be present… I’d rather make myself a flyer as well, easy to spread. I knew beforehand the shirts would take at least two weeks, the flyer was done in an hour and so on. I picked up Ed’s Marshall cabinet on Friday as well as the drum kit, even though I had to cross West-Friesland entirely. Marc told me they wanted a 6x3 m stage, but De Sschalm only had 6x2… so I went all over Noord-Holland but to no success.. Marc wasn’t worried. Pfoei. I even went back to De Schalm twice to make sure all work had been done from different sides ;) – food, tables, amounts, choices of booze and (finger-) food and the likes.

Inviting friends also had a bit of a problem: it’s Summertime aka festival time! Jürgen and Sylvia – couldn’t come celebrate his and my birthday together – were on Chronical Moshers. Iris and Bernd – Bernd couldn’t get another day off. Andrée and Käthe – split up. No good idea to bring them together on my party. Martin van Drunen – out of the country with Asphyx, he certainly wanted to come! To some it was too far, unreachable by train/bus/... and the next problem: of the two B&B’s in the village one is sold to a private soul and won’t serve guests anymore. Steenwijk friends Bart and Rob got in touch the last days, they got a list of campings and B&B’s to choose. I chose to invite my voetbal- and scoutingfriends of old: the ones that got me into metal and the ones I had my first discussions about Feyenoord vs. Ajakkes with ;) that might unite some ancient friends of my brothers as well. Bring in Hans and Hender, who brought me Exodus, Venom, Hallow’s Eve and Tyrant after my brothers had Maiden and Final Heiress. I might even invite the collectors of the Epilepsis fund, that was meant as a thank you ánd nice to my sister Marleen, as she’s befriended to Nicolet and (former punk-) Frits ^^. Invite Erik Hendriks and surprise him with a shirt nearly no one else has :cool: .

Friday was a. a busy day at work and b. a tour c. exhausting and d. gone in seconds ^^ Saturday started with Fleshcrawl – As Blood Rains From the Sky… We Walk the Path of Endless Fire – it was Sven’s first death anniversary. I wanted to hang at least one Svenson Gross shirt in the bar, bring in a picture of Pim as well, so I needed to get a few pictures printed – last minute of course. I had a hint Wanda got stressed out so I let her alone for at least an hour – swim. The drum kit had been shattered in the living room, so I got that into the car again. Wanda said ‘that speaker set can’t stay in the car, it’s too humid tonight’ so the car began the Saturday empty ;) Maarten and Brammerman got to De Schalm in time so we unloaded his Dacia together; Roel had been there since a few minutes… he knows the Van Kampen quarter of an hour all too well ^^ and he’d set the stage… ‘oh that will do’ I thought. When an unknown car opened up we were a bit worried: a three man delegation of a four man band? Where’s Remco? Turned out he’d been texting Marc ‘when do we have to be there?’ “Actually in 20 minutes LOL he’d been so hung over of the Into the Grave show he still was in Leeuwarden. Fun fact: Maarten had to take out the back seats to ‘Tetris all equipment in’ HA HA HA. Roel’s wife made sure we had homemade burgers and self-cut fries, it was delicious. Remco just ‘stormed‘ in about five minutes before the table was set ;) Grumpy, hungover, but he was in time..enough ;)

I had said ‘8 PM doors, 9 PM band, 10 PM talk on’ and that didn’t really go as planned. I knew my friends of old Johannes and R-Whin had a belated wedding party so they were gone before the band started. My USB-with-feast-music was greeted by many, as I had about everything between Pé en Rinus (Z streep S. I. D. E. :) to Carcass (which hightened both MsD and Thirza lol). And yeah, every faze in my life passed by. My family – most of them, Rens – from Kindergarten – Normaal [brought by his wife Eke, one of my collectors for the Epilepsis fund], Scouting/Voetbal – 6 of them!, Kamiel and Marcel – they sat behind me at math class but instead of doing math work they copied the logos from my shirts to a parchment I got this birthday :cool: , an on the moment WhatsApp message from Jeroen – he’s in Scotland, my bosom friend Clemens made it in time – that was one of the reasons to bring ear plugs, he might bring his 9-year old son, the Steenwijk Clan, Jordy and Kim present – he got me a 7x2 m Neurotic Deathfest banner as gift!, my colleagues (both the from water board and Frank K from the regional environmental board – he was in a Vital Remains shirt at a nationwide seminar on pesticides and I thought ‘I have to speak to him’ in my Dynamo Open Air shirt – over 10 years of friendship, metal and beer. Now whiskey :) ). From Ed, who contacted Wanda as he’s totally broke but did bring in Gaby my Eastern German metal bud I got THREE hand drawn pictures of the Great Three of Serial Killers – Gacy, Bundy, Gein ; Dahmer already has been present in my kitchen for several years). Need I go on? The table with the presents nearly collapsed, and that wasn’t because of the band starting.

As for the gig and the set list I have to rely on videos sent via WA and Messenger… I refused to miss one second of the gig and had another broken camera glass… and no paper/pen. The little movies my sister Gemma made were of some help:
- Retaliation of the Wicked (headbangers and pitters united)
- Lugdunum Batavorum
- Shadowlands
- We Will be Gods (instead of We bow to no one – We bow to Herman \m/ )
- Embrace the Rain (me, Thirza, Wanda and the band remembering Sven Gross and Pim V in tears)
- Blood of the Brave (Alex and Thirza in swirl pit ;) )
- Die on Demand (kiler pit going on)
- I have to find out a way to get to the last movies, maybe later. In what order – who cares?

But how do you grade a band that plays literally FOR YOU?? It was great to have them, on my party, in my town, on my terms, what else can you say than ‘FUCKING GREAT!!! AWESOMENESS!! KILLER!’? It was such a pleasure to me and the band, it’s hard to describe. Going into a pit with not one but two of my brothers? Wanda back on stomping ground? Thirza’s world famous swirl pit? Maarten freaking out to the fact his equipment ALL worked, even though he had to put the band’s effect box in front of the bass drum as it swirled across the tiny stage? :) :cool: 70 people satisfied, the band overenthusiast, metalheads freaking out, bar personnel giving compliments to us ‘they all seem so black and bearded and rough, but they’re so LOVELY’ :) After the band had stopped, I jumped on stage and thanked everybody around: Wanda, the band, Maarten, Daan, Ed, my family, my long time friends and colleagues (mentioning literally every period in my life, I found out emotional) and general interest. Even my former boss showed up! The Steenwijk Clan! The Bovenkarspel Boys! De Spanbroek Metalheads! Wanda’s aunt and niece! Not strange to mention the final beer at 1 AM lasted longer as there were even more scouting friends present and they NEEDED to do an afpils with my gang… Heiny after a ditch of Amstel and Skuumkoppe wasn’t the best idea LOL and even after that it didn’t end. Like Dynamo Open Air days we went on at my place, finding a crate of HJ on my doorstep. Then the light came and my lights were out. Exhausted. Maarten and Brammerman kipped at my attic, Erik Hendriks on the couch: he had freezing business early in the day and couldn’t drive without sleeping at least three hours. During the night Brammerman and Maarten had filled the Dacia again but didn’t dear driving one single meter ;)

But… of course I still had to get my presents, the milk barrel with the envelops and the drum kit. I had agreed to be there at ten, but eleven it became. Roel wasn’t worried and thanked me again for the smooth encounter with death metal he had had. My former colleague Ronald even called some now-colleagues of mine ‘death metal virgins’ hahaha. The bill wasn’t as big as I expected, as Roel chose to keep the food out of the account and I was thankful for that. One exception: he wanted a The Graceless Hordes of Westwoud shirt as well LOL. At home we had to split the ordering of the presents in twos and threes, as it was simply too much to handle! When I emptied the milk barrel I was shy to count the money, so much was given!! The drum kit was delivered in time, as was the last cabinet. When I got the milk barrel back to Johannes, he and his wife Tanja agreed to each other, without knowing they did, they should have turned the route upside down. They had a postponed wedding party with R-Whin and Bianca, but came home sour: apart from the wedding couple and ONE mutual friend they knew NO ONE. Look at my party: half the village was present, so it seemed. Shwoah, you can’t have it all my friend but thanks for lending me the milk barrel and the ‘compliment’ you both made me and my party. The only one that was honestly bad tempered was Frits, as the low riffing and vocal abuse cut through him like a blunt blade (he later told me and I thanked him for his honesty)

In short, this was a hell of a job to get everything and everybody together, but it was friggin’worth every drop of sweat, ounce of diesel, hair of stress and short fight between that first step and the final emptying of the living room ;) Putting down a guest book was one of the best things of it all, as people could get personal to me and I could remember who wanted another shirt and in what size. It’s so beautiful to see how people react to me, Wanda, the years and the party, it gives me the good cold shivers and goose bumps every time I look at the binding and the papers inside. Alex provided me with an USB-stick to deliver to Marc coming weekend, as we see Graceless destroy Protzen Open Air. Metal has been around for 50 years, as am I now. Metal!! And friggin’proud of it.

My story... guests sign in to https://metal-tavern.proboards.com/thre ... s-westwoud or members log in ;)
It is known for featuring a diverse lineup of bands from various genres within the heavy music scene. In the past, Pitfest has hosted bands like Sodom, Asphyx, Repulsion, The Toy Dolls, Cryptic Slaughter, and Violator .

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 2:27 pm 
 

Agent Steel in Musicon, Den Haag, Nov. 26th 2023

Agent Steel is a band name that brings vibrant, cool and fast memories to mind. Discussing which band on earth was fastest, many thought ‘Slayer, no comment’. At first I’d say ‘Dark Angel, listen to Merciless Death’, but it was always Agent Steel that won the discussion. Skeptics Friggin’Apocalypse, Mad Friggin’Locust Rising, Unstoppable Friggin’Force were at least twice as fast as Evil has no Boundaries and to us, some 6 Westfriesian teens adoring Exodus, Kreator and AC/DC we were all over Agent Steel. At least, that is, the first era of the band. Having missed a great tour (myself, I had a big biology test the next Monday then, with Nuclear Assault and Atomkraft) in 1987, I once vowed I’d go to any Agent Steel show that would present itself to me, but no, they played when I wasn’t around, they played on Sun- or workdays, far away… I got my first shot of Agent Live at Dynamo Open Air 2004, saying ‘sorry mom, I should never have said a bad word about biology back then’. Dynamo 2004 held a friggin’great Agent Steel show, but without the legendary and mysterious John Cyriis. Bruce Hall did a great job in 2004, but I still wasn’t completely satisfied, add a bad Graspop show some 10 months later, still without Cyriis, nah. Fast forward to October 2023, Wanda got first hand information from René Veerkamp again, Agent Steel (Musicon website picture of the gig: Juan Garcia, Bernie Versailles, Bruce Hall… they all have been out of the band for over 10 years..) would make space in Den Haag. Wanda noticed ‘all the BS about who’s in the band’, she was surprised it DID make a difference to me. Like said, I still haven’t seen Cyriis perform live and I want to! Badly, I’d say. but, not being certain who’d perform as rest of the band, I decided not to take my Agent Steel LPs to Den Haag, they might come back worse than they’re now. Now I just smile at my 1987 Agent Steel - Bermuda Triangle shirt the Westfriesian teens got me back then.

Having to duck the environmental zone only meant a detour of some 3 miles, I’d still hate to come late to this show. The doors would open at 4 PM, we’d drive around 2:30, err make that ‘I drive’, as Wanda has been so overexcited about cleaning out MY work room… uhgg. But with Johnny Amsterdam as navigator, we even ducked into the environmental zone without even noticing ánd do the hobby three times, detour after detour. :roll: We were still too early to miss PPTA, the wrestling themed ‘thrash’ band. Quotation marks because of the ‘show’, I have totally zilch with WWA, WWB, WWE or whatever congregation it’s called, hated the interferences of the ‘referee’ and was totally NOT into the music. As the previous times I’d seen them. The band isn’t even that bad, singer Marcel XII is a nice bloke off stage, but I’m totally out of focus. Bass player Stef of following band Defazer already hung around my neck as he was so eager to show his ‘new’ gf to me… err leave Nikki out ot my life please, I won’t forget Pimmetje that easily. On his band I can say ‘lotta Anthrax, lotta Testament, lil’bi of Agnostic Front but as you don’t vary the vocals you’all will never be like your heroes Municipal Waste’, let alone Insanity Alert. The vocals are a bit too high and overpushed to last the entire show. Nice for headbangers, fistbangers and the occasional shouter, of whom I think she’s been paid to do so LOL. Clearly a local band, with local fans, but beyond Amsterdam you won’t find the biggest fans, I guess.

After All is another band I’d seen before and they also had not surprised me the first time, none as this time. It must be the third time I see them and when I get my way, it’s the last time. I hated the abundance of Helloween in guitar licks and vocals, the guitar sound is hollow like Weikath’s eyes and the bass doesn’t roll. The band is too fast for the vocalist and the vocalist is too overmelodic to the band. He’s no talent in headbanging as well, as if he’s in a Guhl conditioner commercial, carefully wiping his hairs next to his face… Where Is Paul Baloff When You Need Him?? Poseuuurrrrrrssss! Note that the guitarists, who have been in metal bands AT LEAST since 1990, are not the tight string tormentors I’d expect.

Of Cyriis can be said a lot, about missing shows, breaking off tours, vanish in space or pop up somewhere in… Amsterdam(? He did indeed, being interviewed by Aardschok last year) but also: can he still do it? Back in the day us Westfriesian teens made bets how many sessions had been requiered for one single song to be recorded… until the boys came back from Paradiso, smiling wider than whales, more proud to have witnessed AND survived the Nuclear Atomkraft Assault by Versailles, Profus, Garcia AND Cyriis, they said ‘all in one friggin gulp of air, so high, so much stamina, but hardly connection to the audience’. As if he’d cared if he was in Amsterdam or on Jupiter! Tonight there was a photo ban (?I texted Wanda that, she reacted double-bent-of-laughing “so eighties, soo Aerosmith” :lol: ) just during Agent Steel, the stage was set fast (all bands using one drum kit and only three stacks of amps) and let the space journey begin. Will he…? After the marvellous Guyana intro a small man in leather jacket with a cap way bigger than his head, sun glasses, hunched, was brought to the stage for some grumpy mumblings as a sound check… Would he…? The first verse I said to Johnny ‘Oh no, he can’t do it anymore’, totally to be blown away by the rest of the performance!! The jacket stayed on, as did the cap and glasses but also the equalizers inside the microphone… What have we been moping about? The band, featuring bass animal Kelly Conlon, one of Bulgaria’s best guitarists ever Nikolay Atanasov, ‘faster than machine gun’-guitarist Justin Zych and drum driller killer Lamar Little supported Cyriis on a way even the most prolific hater of speedy music will silence! The set list, of course mainly focusing on Unstoppable Force and the new album, went in like butter on a soaring hot pizza, juicy, sharp, fat and friggin’building stakes of goose bumps song after song. Johnny, who had been on a fierce diet of Leffe Blond, nearly lost his head shouting so hard. A few people got roadie hands to their phones for making pictures, but can you blame anyone wanting to make some memory for himself? On purpose I waited with my phone (apart from the set list) not to be harassed by their (female ;) ) roadie to demolish my phone ^^ and strangely enough, no one commented on people making videos of the set. John Cyriis needed lyric sheets to the new songs but it’s strange to see him wave paper when Never Surrender was played, or Bleed for the Godz ;) This is of one of my early (and few, see previous band criticized) pictures:
- Guyana intro
- Unstoppable Force (Cyriis singing so hard, so sharp, so ..natural? Yeah! One Katwijk heavy metal dude by the name of Nick bored everybody saying there were a lot of equalizers to match the vocals to the music and match the lyric parts within the song, SO FUCKING WHAT LET ME SEE THE BAND)
- No Other Godz Before Me – Cyriis waving his paper, making him look extraneous
- Never Surrender
- Trespassers
- Bleed for the Godz
- The Day at Guyana (now the entire instrumental, not just a few snippets – Conlon totally freaking his extra big bass) – goose bumps BEYOND my knees
- Indestructive
- Carousel of Vagrant Souls
- Mad Locust Rising (Johnny noticing ‘how fast the band was, how fast they play now. Incredible’)
- Agents of Steel (not on the picture, but I fucking won’t forget this tune ever!!) - finally a decent mosh pit, crowd surfers, scared female roadies and the likes :lol: It was a fitting end to a trip to memory lane that landed in a planet of smiles, goose bumps, beers shared, patches given away, vinyl being signed, claps on shoulders ‘we had a great night again, right?’ - ending just after 8:30 PM it didn’t have much of a night to begin with HA HA HA, but it’s understood, right? This was a great gig, forget about the environmental fine I await, forget the blah blah bands before Agent Steel and be thankful to René Veerkamp for scraping off one of my favorite singers of my to-see-list, nearly meeting him, not needing to touch (;) ) and not needing to head out to space to experience this. Just drive to Den Haag, that’s it :)

Musicon’s wardrobe is a bit of a mess when we get to our jackets, Johnny is happy no one dared to ‘use, need or steal’ his leather AC/DC jacket and my nearly new one ^^ He even got himself a HJ for the road but actually he’s so drunk he can hardly put seven words in one sentence… I drive on to Wanda, having explained all about space adventures and photo bans, smiling as I play Rotten Casket on the way home, pass an alcohol test with a sinister grin (all green of course, the Jever 0,0 is pretty good to me) and be home just after 10 PM. Tomorrow work, now I landed on my sentiment of youth, or as Cyriis said ‘you guys are the Masters of Metal, for making this all possible’. Point taken. Masters of Metal!!!!

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Wed Dec 13, 2023 3:07 pm 
 

Eindhoven Metal Meeting feat. Shining (NO), Sodom plus pre-party, Effenaar, Dec. 7-9

This review is for Quint Meerbeek, forming member of Bodyfarm, forming member of Deathmarch and Codex Mortis, of whom I heard he died a week before this edition of EMM. Rest in peace my friend, introverted but hard hitting drummer and slashing guitars, you’ll be missed. As Bodyfarm will perform this weekend, we’re curious how and what the band will do to tribute Quint.

With last year’s stress in mind I did all I could not to have to endure as much stress as heading out to the pre-party of Eindhoven Metal Meeting, which has become my favorite festival of all. I got early-birds of the festival on papers that could easily be influenced by the sun (LaserJet paper) and scanned literally every week if the pre-party + presale was announced. End of March = bingo! Not only was the first and second batch of bands announced (1st: Shining (Nor), Vomitory (Swe), Holy Moses (Ger, final Dutch show) ; 2nd batch: Sodom (Ger), Urgehal (Nor, final show), Cyclone (Bel) and Graceless (friends ^^) but the pre-party will hit the D-19 stage hard as well: Pentacle (Net) will do a special set and Ereb Altor too (+ a few illegibles). Hotel was arranged when we hadn’t even paid for the 2022 hospitality ;) Favorite as in… yeah you know. I’ve seen literally every day called EMM since it’s beginning and will continue to do that, and I’m coming close to the amount of years I went to my previous favorite: the long deceased and easily remembered Wãldrock (15 encounters; EMM now: 13). Time to bulk up some music from bands I don’t know but will perform: Cult of Fire, In Aphelion, Haliphron, Whiskey Ritual (this part was written before Union Berlin haha) and more. I wonder if I ever come across the Swedish Shining once ;) April it got even hotter: OVERKILL will bash in some bat skulls in Eindhoven! Instant idea: buy Stach a festival shirt ^^

As a municipal worker (sort of) I have to work 1,664 hours a year but always work more than 36 hours a week, to be able to take a good long rest after all the work is done. Over the years I could wish every colleague a happy new year earlier, as my so called plus-hours are mounting every year., resulting in a Merry Christmas from November 30th already ^^ Still, I have some final appointments I made before so just before travelling to Eindhoven I had the morning on full throttle: a delicate case of neighbors hating, asbestos being thrown into surface water and lawyers cooking over easily. On my friggin’last day of the work year. I wanted to drive at noon, it became a little later… fine. We ate at our usual Restaria, they know us by now ;)

At the pre-party, of which I didn’t have an idea how crowded it would be, we brought Wanda’s rollator and parked it near the stage. This way she'd be able to see as much as possible. Hum. People only see some room in the darkness to jump into, resulting in many bumps but less ‘sorry’bou tha’ we hoped for. At least Marcel VII (5 ft 7, wide, can look VERY angry if he has to ^^) secured Wanda’s space. A little. First band soon showed up: Enisum. According to MA the band combines black metal with ambient, much to the delight of Wanda. She’s got some 150 ambient CDs, ranging from near-pop, via black metal-ish roughness to machinemade monotony. Nevermind the +150 black metal CDs she owns/had, she gave away a lot of her BM CDs to people who’d enjoy them more than we do. In band terms, I didn’t notice much of the ambient in Enisum, the more I thought of atmospheric black metal like Alcest and being influenced by latter Emperor. Not bad for a starter, but also no means to travel half the globe for. We were invited to the reenactment of the 80-Year-War (1568-1648 against the Spaniards) by ‘soldier’ Stephan, good to see you again my German friend. Together we watched Hideous Divinity, but the three of us fled to the in-the-name-already, aggressive hideous music. Wayyy too technical for us three, four, five (Marcel and his concert buddy – no gf [yet]) joined us OUT of the small Effenaar hall. We wanted to see Pentacle anyway or no way at all. In the meantime, score some EMM merch, maybe a cool one for Stach as well.

Pity this is the third band with the third ADD lights man, the salvo of lights never stopped. Pentacle wasn’t fooled by their backlights, so the blunt, dark and heavy ‘Ancient Death Metal’ was pushed into our faces like an square sausage to a round mouth ;) When they started with ...Rides the Moonstorm my hideousness to Hideous Divinity evaporated soon. What aggravated me much, was a dick of a woman pushing Wanda OFF first row, fuck that rollator, kutwijf… Wanda later said she knew her, done that before, but to my regret without me seeing it. I’d kicked her if I knew who… Strangely enough, Wannes did see it and put the kutwijf to the stand :cool: Thank you my friend! Appreciated! When Ereb Altor was already checking sound I walked up to the stage, asked drummer Jan Verdonk if there were a set list left, he instantly asked mé for a marker: I got the set list signed by the entire band: ‘from the Abyss – Death Consumes You!’
- Intro
- Rides the Moonstorm
- Behold Denial, Despair and Cruelty [talking about Malta as if Wannes works for a travel agency :) ]
- Adoring an Endless Dawn
- Into the Fiery Jaws
- Christen Thee Doom
- Deepness of the Depths
- Black at Heart
- Reaper
Guitarist Mike Verhoeven put the encore on the set list: For I Am Chaos :lol: ^^ the set list ends with “The rest is silence” – oh no, there’s another band to be seen tonight ;)

The last band of the preparty would be Ereb Altor. According to the flyer Pentacle was the ‘headliner’, but I think they just wanted a beer some earlier ;) Ereb Altor, I thought, might surprise me. I’d heard a few tunes off YT thinking about Primordial and that band can make something loose in me. But… for sounding like Primordial you’d expect a band with more variation in speed of riffing, more atmosphere or a more vibrant singer… uhm no. Even for Primordial standards it’s too slow, hinting more to latter Enslaved. Note, I do know Enslaved (and their biggest fan in the US :) ) but still the connection to both ‘influences’ wasn’t overtly strong. Kjelsson and Averill have more stage personality as well. We got out after some 4 songs, having met quite some people, drank several Weihestephaner (no need to try Bahvaria haha), nodded to some bands and whatnot.

Friday started with an exuberant breakfast, as Wanda said ‘no idea when we eat what again’. But, having gluten, sugar, salt and loads of proteins gave so much pressure to her guts, when I mistook the direction to some shop, in a hellish filled shopzone, people not taking notice of her, in the rain, she freaked out to the point of mental exhaustion… damned!! I wanted to be early for the bands, but had to walk her back to the hotel, then arrange some fingerfood (…) and distraction… off to Effenaar in the rain. When I got in, wrist band secured by Bart ^^ I instantly walked to the small hall on Roman’s advice: he was proud to have Moribund Oblivion on his bill! I think I heard about a song and a half of nice melodic death metal and that was Moribund Oblivion to me. I had not seen enough to make more of a description, oh well, off to the big hall for Misþyrming. My long time friend René advised me to go, but he doesn’t always pick my favorites right. The fierce, new school black metal without a bass player was over the top for me. Halfway the set I saw a man running on stage, he slipped into the photo pit and was helped ON stage instead of out of the venue? Uhm, OK, interesting, who’s he then? Marc and Jane helped, this was the singer of Helleruin and did one song with Misþyrming, don’t ask which one. Icelandic is illegible to me and I don’t even bother for a set list. Sorry René ;) After some Bahvaria 0,0 (I didn’t want to extend the meltdown by returning to the hotel drunk) I found out Bahvaria IPA 0,0 is a lot tastier and with a new type of drink I wanted to get into the small hall for Massive Assault, the Dutch death metal band… I had never seen them, even though they exist over+20 years and hail from bands like God Dethroned, Absorbed, Sledgehammer Nosejob, Katafalk and some more North-Netherlands metal institutes. But to my distraught, a guitarist checking sound tore off the Massive Banners off the cabinets and a Theotoxin backdrop was raised! Goddomme, now I can’t even check if the position on my Holland Hoodie of the band is right >< No need for those Austrians, I’ve had nights spoiled with this band before. Good thing: Vomitory is in big hall now! Puffing ‘heh heh, finally some death metal’ is just now… the band has some old school light technician (thanks!) but the sound engineer has left his earplugs at the hotel, it’s way not loud enough for a band of this caliber. Finally some neck movement on stage and off and around me ;) so I get in shape once more. OK, headbangers shape, I’d walked for nearly an hour and a half minimum today, let the neck do the rest now! Known songs to me: Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize early in the set (second song), followed by Piece by Stinking Piece and Rundquist is on the hunt: ‘Are you ready for a heavier song?’ - shouts – more urging on – shouts louder – ‘ODE TO THE MEAT SAW’ is thé heaviest and hardest sounding song for a day and a half in the past! The light show did get more ADD after this, but I wandered… being poked in the back by Kreft ;) , saw some unique Overkill merch, bought Bodyfarm for the Neckwreckers set, got a bunch of stickers (Nafearya and Bodyfarm alike :lol: - Dave Pennekamp should be proud haha) and prepare for Necrophobic. Of course I’d seen the band before, even WITH Bodyfarm and I know Vieze Pim (R.I.P., is it two years already? Almost. You’re missed!) and Alwin Zuur adore(d) this band, but it couldn’t grab me this time. At all! The band WAS tight, the audience DID freak out, but not me. I think I had too much black metal or didn’t get the death metal I wanted, too much light, no Wanda and no alcohol… I skipped half the Necrophobic set (did get a song they usually don’t play Stormcloud or something and Sinners Burn) and got off, meeting Ralph de Boer telling him sorry for not showing up (..in over two hours) and explaining… black metal probably drains me if I’m not totally in the mood. Ralph later mentioned the small ritual they held on stage, commemorating Quint by playing Well of Decay for him. The band Bodyfarm goes on. Oh, did Norwegian Shining get to Eindhoven or not? I no longer care. I’m in for a real beer with Wanda, she liked it when I got to the room sober…

Saturday I soon noticed Wanda wouldn’t join me, not even to my bosom friend Clemens. I decided beforehand he might like the Saturday bill, having seen a lot of metal in our Groningen days and knowing I’d freak out to at least Graceless, Cyclone, Overkill and Sodom. I wasn’t sure when he’d join me, but we agreed ‘after your dinner, big hall, near the small bar’, no one can find another easier than that. This place also held a rail so Marc could ‘hang’ properly. Marc had had a severe hernia, had been operated and his tendons halfway his body still pull too hard; he brought crutches if necessary he’d use them. I got surprised by Belinda, saying ‘you got me so much goodies, now I have the money to repay you. Pick a shirt now and a Sodom one later’. Muchos gracios! I chose the Cryptosis one, as they were about to perform next. In the big hall they had quite the audience, not just the occasional thrasher (dùh, Overkill, Sodom, Cyclone!) nor the normal deathhead (Graceless) and black dude/dudette (plenty black metal all weekend, see flyer yourself ;) ). The band has a concept they stick to, in video performance, set list, light effects of their own (not so flashy ;) ) and a certain lack of genre links: riffing goes between hard rock, heavy, death, black, melodic, thrashy and near grind. VERY good show!

Main atractions beside mentioned in the previous alinea: In Aphelion – featuring Marco Prij (Cryptosis) and Necrophobic members; Haliphron – would it be the logical successor to Izegrim? Cult of Fire – totally new to me, Urgehall – final show ever. For this moment, Haliphron is on in the small hall. I saw the sound check, greeted any member I knew (Marloes, Jeroen, Frank S) and be surprised. I had the CD as a birthday gift from Peter Lord Belial, but I admit I haven’t heard it so specificly. When I heard the CD I thought ‘Dimmu, mid era – Izegrim vocals but even more aggressive – excellent drumming – tight guitar duels’ and that was what I got, standing on the balcony of the small hall. It wasn’t as full as I expected, but still the band got greeted well and the melodic black/death was well responded to. Even some Epica influence got by, but overall I must say I think the keyboards did give the performance a bit too much smoothness for the lyrics spit on us. Marloes has found an extra option for her voice: yeah the hard hitting screams she does now too, next to her bark, shout and howl. Next time, I promise to stay the entire show, as I thought I had not seen enough Cryptosis to be worthy of the shirt ;) I saw Frank te R do an excellent bass solo, as if he’s in a seventies-rock-progressive-metal-band. Very cool!

As one of the biggest Graceless fans north of Leiden, I had to be on front row during Graceless, of course. Wanda had been in contact with Marc about a special item, but as I wasn’t sure about what I never mentioned the word special to any Graceless member. Special was the show indeed, at least to an ever busier small hall during these songs:
- Giants
- Malignant Seed (no guitar from Bjørn for half the song)
- Retaliation of the Wicked (shouting contest on first row, I win :cool: )
- Shadowlands (man does Kreft look like Cronos when he tilts his head? HA HA yes!)
- Blood of the Brave
- Slashed and Served (giving me a real Sepultura – Mass Hypnosis feel in those riffs!)
- Embrace the Rain (‘for the fallen brothers in Bodyfarm’)
- Warpath (my goodness, what a difference in brutality from these two songs ^^)

With so much killer bands you have to make choices. I chose to stick around the small hall, not just to greet the Graceless dudes (set list and guitar picks I gave away. I have my collection already) and deciding not to run for Sulphur Aeon. I had had quite some black metal or blackened metal so far, I need THRASH!! What did I get: a full fist to the mouth from Cyclone! The Belgians sure made friends amongst organizers since MEF 2021, and the small hall is absolutely THEIRS for about 40 minutes. The small hall explodes with headbangers, the first pit of the entire festival, beer sweeping, heads that drink were turned to banging, throats being ripped, denims being tested on strength, sharp as a blade thrash metal becomes infectious! The sound is marvellous, as is the volume, the light presentation and the reactions to all this. I only write ‘In the Grip of Evil’ and ‘Fighting the Fatal’ and just have a great time. It’s so good to see old metalheads on stage and off go insane.

Getting to the big hall I find people that are interesting, drunk, searching or a combination of ^^. One guitar plectrum from ‘The Nameless Elite’ (nothing printed on it, not even a brand), an M-16 shirt from Belinda (THANK YOU) and possibly Clemens will show up. I met a lot of people asking about Wanda’s whereabouts and I gladly text her who said what ;) I had sent videos of Cryptosis and Graceless when she texted ‘I’m out of data, says the screen, I have to get offline, kisses’. Uhm, last Holy Moses show in Holland? Would Sabina have the energy she used to have? Headbanging, running, shouting, singing, cheering, drinking? How’s the band nowadays? The first hint is the start up music: Lionel Richie – Hello & Wham! - Careless Whisper – brutally cut off for the Holy Intro! This gig is going to be party, no matter what. And, the band deserves it. Friggin’42 years on and off stages, worldwide, some 12 full lengths, great tours, small festivals, they’ve done it all. I remember Dynamo Open Air 1989, my first ‘Moses show, hayday of thrash metal; 2006 Aaltjesrock in a house room festival in Harderwijk, of all places, Wãldrock, Wacken… yeah. Sabina has a young band surrounding her, they sound fantastic, the songs withstood the test of time, but surely her vocals did NOT. Sounding like a crow near a hoof grinder, no pattern in reach anymore, hardly any power left to sing, but friggin’she does it! The fans go out of their heads and limbs, as she asks halfway the set ‘give me a mosh pit big enough to win over Angelripper and Blitz’. Vocally she should have quit four years ago (a show with Sodom in Oberhausen, Belinda also present, she reminds me Sabina HAD much more reach and power back then, but hey, she turns 60 in two weeks!) but the energy is abundant. Like said, running, banging, stirring people up, inviting girls onto stage (first one to show up: Marcel V Hummel HAS to be on stage HA HA HA, second is Marloes) and build a party A-Z. I think everybody present forgives the vocal lines in favor of the party the band makes and cheer to the entire history of the band. Pity the mosh pit keeps to some 15 people, Sabina sure deserved more, I guess. Note, I’m still in the back, waiting for my bosom friend. At the end of the Holy Moses show, there he is, being explained what’s going on on stage and smile widely to Sabina & Holy Moses!

A win in mosh pit? Not when Sodom is on the kill. Of course, Angelripper claims most pitters are about an hour too late, but his smile says it all: when Among the Weirdcong is played as first song, it’s chaos in Effenaar. That Blackfire has a white permanent hairdo doesn’t give anything less hahaha, the band goes 200 per cent and they easily KONKRAHHH EEEIINNDDHOOVUHHH. Sodom is really on fire this night. No one is watching Thyrfing, all hail Sodom! I explain, when Jabba the Hut is played, to Clemens about my thoughts about Kreator and Sodom over the years, from underestimating Angelripper to believing Kreator is overwhelmed by Sodom nowadays. Kreator is so melodic now, Sodom just dusted off 38 year old songs to KILL! Their 40 Years at War compilation is played about ten times more here than the last three Kreator albums combined.
See what I wrote:
- Among the Weirdcong
- Jabba the Hut (hated the original, now I bang my head furiously)
- Sodomized
- An Eye for an Eye
- Conflagration
- Agent Orange (‘do you like punk songs?’ No strange thing when I met Giedo of Cyclone and Laurens of Cryptosis [formerly thrash threemankillership Distillator] during this song HA HA]
- M-16 (Angelripper: ‘what’s this Bavaria shit?’ Of course dude you’re a Gelsenkirchen Veltins Schalke 04 guy!! :lol: )
- The Crippler (‘not played live since 1990’)
- Let’s Fight in the Darkness of Hell (friggin’off the second demo, NOT a medley ;) )
- Blasphemer
- Nuclear Winter
- Remember the Fallen
- AUSGEPIT – of course, I can’t stand still during a Sodom show. I hand my glasses to Clemens, my phone to Jane (Clemens can be as clumsy as me :) ) and I’m off. Three rounds in the pit, gasp, one round, gasp, one round, gig finished) and hit the sack full. I return like snakes to turtoise eggs, in blazing heat, sweat dripping from my hands back in my Weihestephaner, hoarse but proud. Sodom is THE band of the festival to many, including Clemens, Jane, Belinda, Laurens and all the headbangers, moshers, shouters and what-the-fuck-you-call-yourselfs around Effenaar. Jürgen and Sylvia surprised me with a little package of their city: Eupen patch, Eupen pin, Tankard pin THANK YOU!!

What would Overkill bring that we haven’t seen lately? They toured Europe in April, that was terrific! Would they keep up with Sodom? No, by far, no. As a matter of fact, it was bad. Why? Because DD Verni wasn’t there, normally the driving force of the musical part of Overkill. He was replaced, no idea to what reason, by Speezy. Yes, the 22-year-long-Kreator bassist, but never played an Overkill tune, not to save his life. He was nervous beyond belief, not wanting to make mistakes but in the fear, he did. Having brought his normal Gibson Explorer bass he’d easier joined Sodom than the BC Warlock Beast DD torments for Overkill. Sad point was, the band couldn’t keep up and to my surprise, Derek Tailer with his hair cut was doing the ‘Scott Ian madness’ to wind up the audience. Tailer, please keep to your strings and let the moshing be done by the audience… it looked so unnatural. Nice to have heard Jane and Marc had met Sabina, Angelripper and Dave Linsk in the hotel, but this was fruitless. Gutless. Add the same set list as Hedon to the problem, minus a few songs, no hint of enthusiasm could fill me up. Bobby kept hailing the Skullcrushers but they refused to get off the friggin’balcony ‘to protect our banner’ so that part of the audience made more fools of themselves than in Wörrstadt HA HA. Jane looked at me, saw my distraught and Clemens lack of understanding and called it a night. Yeah, I know Marc isn’t top notch now but knowing Marc is a black metal fan and not feeling a 100 per cent, she bailed out. As did we. Clemens wrote on the ticket ‘Top that I could come, see you, thank you, hug you’. As he went to Effenaar by bike and I needed some time to think, I hugged him again and said goodbye. OK we’d seen a special part in both Holy Moses’ goodbye gig and Sodom’s WE KILL EVERYBODY gig but also disappointment in Overkill. 5 songs in, out!!! I’m not that sorry I missed the last Urgehall show, but waiting had no sense to me and later I heard Spasm couldn’t enter at all, it’s OK to leave. Sodom, Graceless, Holy Moses (to a certain point), Cyclone and Cryptosis were enough for me on this last day of this years’ Eindhoven Metal Meeting. With only one early bird for EMM 2024 and a hotel already reserved, I come back to Eindhoven to Asphyx, Impaled Nazarene, Anaal Natrakh, Savage Grace and some 60 more to be announced.

Epilogue: EMM 2023 has been a rollercoaster once more. No stress beforehand, but stress on the site. Love, friendship, cameradery, it’s all present at metal shows but I can’t put all in positive mode. It was too full in the foyer most of the time. The bar personnel wasn’t all experienced, that’s a first timer for Effenaar to me. Food outside good, inside meh. Overkill on a bad day is boring as fuck. Sodom on a bad day is still Sodom >< People with interest in fellow beings is great, but after 36 hours of explaining why I was alone patted my back as well. I am grateful to the friends I met, the stuff I got and bought, the bands that gave me what I needed but also the abundance of black(ened) metal was out of balance to me. If the thrash, death and black metal bands were more mixed, I think I would have seen more individual bands or liked more what I experienced. Now I have the feeling I missed the new gems, so to speak, by not wanting to keep walking. I’d been walking enough these three days and those walks weren’t all for metal. They were also to keep my love going. I love metal, I love Wanda but together it seems there’s too much to keep combining it. I have to accept I might have to go alone more often than I already did last five years. But can I go safely? Will her mind hold? Or my longing for her and for metal???

Conclusion: Plus: Pentacle, Vomitory, Cryptosis, Moribund Oblivion, Graceless, Cyclone, Holy Moses, Sodom, Clemens, Belinda, Jane, René, Jürgen, Sylvia, Bavaria IPA 0,0, Weihestephaner, the sound in both halls.
Minus: Overkill. Lights. Necrophobic. Stress. Too much black. Walks. Bahvaria. Some doofs from my past not worth mentioning. Missing In Aphelion and Massive Assault.
Reaction: one early bird + hotel for Dec. 12th-14th, 2024. Only one. I’m metal. But also a human with all my emotions.

First reaction from logged in member, try as guest to sign in to https://metal-tavern.proboards.com/thre ... s-pentacle

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Fri Dec 15, 2023 2:41 pm 
 

swishlimohouston wrote:
herrieman72 wrote:
The Graceless Hordes of Westwoud – De Schalm, June 11th 2022
;)
It is known for featuring a diverse lineup of bands from various genres within the heavy music scene. In the past, Pitfest has hosted bands like Sodom, Asphyx, Repulsion, The Toy Dolls, Cryptic Slaughter, and Violator .

I know. The diversity is THE reason for me to go anyway. I've got tickets for my fourth visit already. If I'm correct it's held 7 or 8 times now, the first edition in a bar in Emmen.

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herrieman72
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2024 9:26 am 
 

Evil Obsession festival – Sodom and Soulburn live in Oberhausen, Dec. 27th

It seems this is another kind of ‘Fuck off Christmas’- tour that Sodom does and now they bring in Soulburn! The ‘tour’ consists of four dates between Christmas and New Years Eve, spreading across Germany alone: Heidelberg, Regensburg and Erfurt… Apart from Oberhausen they’re all over 6 hours of driving away… we choose Oberhausen. Wanda even found a hotel closer to the Turbinenhalle than NH ;) and cheaper parking ;) and no need to check for a ‘fuck off diesel’- sign near the hotel ^^ The flyer said ‘old school set’, wasn’t Oberhausen THE place to have old school sets? :) The other bands would mean a surprise anyway, as the agency (‘We Live’ or something) mentioned this tour as a black metal festival. Nice to have Knife as first band HA HA. Black. Not. Haha. Old school Sodom set. Yeah, that COULD be black metal. As Covid-1947 struck Wanda again (she’s been in bed for more than a week and a half :roll: ) I texted Bram V if he’d join me… had to work. Texted Tijmen, he reacted ‘tempting, you never have enough Sodom in your life’, he’d join on one condition: he’d have to be in Amsterdam at 8:30 AM. OK I said, I put a message to the hotel we’d have to skip breakfast and off. Driving we discussed his, Wanda’s and my ‘problems’ and ‘solutions’, it was a good talk.

At the hotel I did my hobby again, I explained to Tijmen :roll: but it was so early we walked the city a bit, searching for another restaurant; we were eager for Bratkartoffeln ;) As Tijmen got this ticket + hotel as a birthday gift, he offered to buy the diner and the first couple of beers involved. König Pilsner, good! Even before I found the lockers we were already spotted by Alexandra (Sabiendas), Lampy (Death Metal Birthday) and überSodom fan Christian ‘don’t say it’s Wodos again :lol: We were later than we expected and Soulburn, of which we’d thought they’d play later, got onto stage. Loads of smoke, a sinister atmosphere and Twan explaining about the honour of playing on this tour. Later I heard all four bands shared the same Nightliner right through Germany, no need for hotels ánd bring in your own gear. A few Germans moped about Soulburn not playing any Feeding on Angels stuff, but we had a great time. It turned out Tijmen had heard the name often (probably by me ^^ ) but he never got to listen to any silverware the band had. He would pick it up on Spotify, refusing the offer I made to buy him In Suffocating Darkness and/or Noa’s D’Ark. Fine, let’s just enjoy the coldness of this music, the not-too-loud (?huh? Eric Daniels NOT playing loud??) and light-friendly band by these songs:
- Tempter of the White Light
- Withering Nights
- Shrines of Apathy
- I Do Not Bleed From Your Crown of Thorns (fun to see Eric singing along with Twan, no mic in the neighborhood ^^ )
- Where Splendid Corpses Are Towering Towards the Sun
- Crypts of the Black (why did I keep thinking ‘Crypts of Eternity’? ;) )
- Anarchrist

Soulburn is indeed a band that really fits the description ‘black metal’ nowadays, but of course they haven’t forgotten their death metal roots. The band had a clear sound and that’s vital to this niche of blackened death metal, if I may say so. Twan sounds agitated in his singing, but later on he’s as friendly as can be. It’s nice to see the band have fun on stage, but never forget their professionality on stage. No beforehand drinking, on stage just water, last song maybe a beer and very helpful to fans at the merch stand, even though these ‘fans’ came to look at Sodom merch ;) Wanda had been chatting with Marc and her friend Kim Mie about the Graceless Colombia shows and the possibility of a shirt. I had no details, but e-mailed Graceless beforehand to make sure Marc would bring what was promised. Indeed, a Graceless shirt in Colombina colours and the proper size! Thanks a lot, now I can safely buy a Soulburn beanie ^^ and got a little ‘Soulburn machine’ as an extra gift: a key hanger, a light, a beer opener and a measuring tape combined! What people can think of HA HA HA but thanks a lot. It will get into my car asap, never a bad idea to have a light and a measuring tape there. 150 cm you say? So it’s even Covid-related? PROEST GRIJNS HAHAHA so cool. Actually Tijmen talked longer to Marc than I did, drummer to drummer.

Of the second band we’d never heard before. The logo is hardly legible, has an Arabian feel to it and what the name meant is unknown to this point: Imha Tarikat (Turkish for Extermination Cult, thanks to MA). But they announce their songs in plain German, have candles as light setting and a sound roughly between Dimmu Borgir and Behemoth; in riffing, in speed of playing, in atmosphere, sometimes referring to latter Rotting Christ. I think I heard some songs double, I guess, but as Tijmen is a drummer he liked it a lot more than I did. The feeling of a black metal festival was upgraded with a thrash metal band pur sang: Knife! Christian said he’d seen the band 5 times this year from ‘great’, to ‘could be better’ to ‘meh’ so I was eager to know if it had worsened anything since Berlin. NO!! The band played about the same songs as in Berlin, but a strofe faster! Now we kept thinking of Municipal Waste, Gama Bomb and Warbringer, not the least examples of thrash metal. The band got a nice pit going, but I wasn’t joining yet. I had my 40 Years of War leaflet and a marker, spotted Frank Blackfire and Yorck Segatz near the merch booth (Blackfire also selling his guitar picks for a tenner each (…) and his own CDs went like warm buns as well as the special Sodom merch. The band would do a tribute to Chris Witchhunter, as I soon saw. Not only were there special Witchhunter shirts to be sold, but also two 3 x 3 m banners were raised next to the drum kit with Chris’face and the ancient Sodom backdrop was hung. In the car we’d been discussing our favorite live albums; Tijmen’s pick is definitely ‘One Night in Bangkok’, so we’d be kinda knowing what to expect. Sodom had announced a special set list, but that it would be THIS special no one could imagine:
- An Eye for an Eye
- Electrocution (err, don’t German thrashers thrash? I’d seen so many [old] denims, I’d expected a pit! I start walking in the crowd of headbangers, on my laughing ways, I’d get them in time. It took till Proselytism Real the full pit raged. I’d done my part after Conjuration 8-) )
- The Crippler
- Let's Fight in the Darkness of Hell
- Proselytism Real
- Magic Dragon
- Never Healing Wounds
- Conjuration
- Sepulchral Voice
- After the Deluge
- Agent Orange
- Christ Passion
- Obsessed by Cruelty
- Blasphemer
- Baptism of Fire
- Deathlike Silence
- Nuclear Winter
- Incest
- Devil's Attack (first encore)
- Ausgebombt
- Bombenhagel
SICKKKK!!
This way, with these songs, a great drummer, two excellent guitarists and Angelripper in great shape + mood, this was another killer Sodom show. Tijmen made a few video clips, I didn’t even have time to make pictures of my own, let alone videos. Also, this night showed German metal is still great and still able to bring something new to me and loads of ‘old denimed’ headbangers and thrashers. Imha Tarikat, Sodom and Soulburn were the black part of the festival, Knife the modern-but-old-in-feel thrash metal part, never put Sodom in thrash aside! We said goodbye to the Soulburners and wished them luck on the following gigs, we meet again (but not this tour ^^) and with at least 6 new shirts we drained the locker and went off. We were to rise so early Tijmen could be in Amsterdam around 8:30 for a knee treatment but sadly were too late after all. We did all we could, even left the hotel without breakfast before 6 in the morning!! I’m sorry, but the new appointment could be made the next week. For now: everybody a great and heavy 2024, we’ll metal again!! Sodomania!!!

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herrieman72
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Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:06 pm
Posts: 275
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2024 10:29 am 
 

Alkmaar Metal Meeting, feat. Obstruktor, Lijkschouwer, Jan. 26th Victorie Alkmaar

As Disharmonic Orchestra wasn’t able to perform on January 27th (due to injuries and family obligations) Wanda looked at me and said ‘why don’t you take Bram to Alkmaar Metal Meeting?’ Hmm, pretty good idea! I’d seen the annunciation in Aardschok, date, venue, bands: Sepiroth, Obstruktor and two more and I thought ‘what the heck, it’s only half an hour away’ and coming to Bram’s house he instantly mentioned ‘metal live, too long ago’. I knew I’d done the right thing :) We figured it wouldn’t be sold out so we’d pick tickets at the door. It’s Bram’s birthday in about a week, so I’d give him the ticket, he insisted to ‘buy the rest of the evening’, whatever that would mean haha. Nice to see the venue with a huge sign ‘Metal Meeting straight on’ in fat letters, and ‘TheWolff to the left’, the latter in tiny letters ;) I had a hunch about DeWolf or whatever and we decided to keep out of earshot of the main venue. Nice to have hardcopy tickets for a change ;) Entering the small hall we instantly found Kevin and all stories (about me comparing the boys to Jehova’s witnesses at DeathFeast or Kevin eating too sharp German sausages) rolled into the hall ^^ See my very old concert reviews ^^. It turned out Kevin has befriended guitarist Rink of Lijkschouwer and he was on the guest list; backstage and all. He’d helped Rink in an obnoxious gig fight once, featuring an annoying Frenchman with swiping elbows and they’d been friends ever since. Nice bloke, this Rink.

What Bram and me didn’t know, was that Rink was to perform in first band tonight. Seeing new bands is always exciting to me, let’s be surprised by band # 1,213 and # 1,214, so to speak. And surprise, is exactly what Lijkschouwer did. The four piece band, two brothers on board, the drummer that did most of the singing, the lead guitarist as good background singer [that was Rink, we later found out], a bass player in a Sunn0))) shirt, only the lead guitarist in vile corpse paint and the rhythm guitarist in a Queen shirt played progressive black metal/sludge and a tiny hint of death metal with references to Wiegedood, Grave Miasma and Gorgoroth. Without knowing any music at all, the band manages to deny me of my regular ‘stand still to feel the band’mode whenever I see a band new to me. Well done Rotterdam dudes! The translation of Lijkschouwer would be ‘medical examiner/coroner’ and the band dissected us with, to us, totally unique music. Without anesthetics, no need to put in hygiene nor protective clothes, just slash, Slash, SLASH!! Apart from mentioning initials and an album name, there’s not much information on MA, but you’ll have to figure it out by following this link: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Li ... 3540524411 We were cut to pieces, so to say and Bram bought me and himself a nice shirt. THANK YOU!!

One band I think they’re vegetarian and hence, not cutting us up is Serotonia. Typical metalcore, just bring in the cliches and strike off the list: hiphop logo – check. More facial metal than talent – check. Too many unused strings on guitars – check. Obnoxious, young fans being bullied by singer – check. Singer putting 4 styles of vocals in one minute – check. Baggy trousers look on singer – check. Air up bottle instead of water/beer – check. Off the record boring music – check. Counting in my head back to breaks – 3,2,1, jump – check. Result: we leave halfway the second or third song, can’t even tell. Hated it. We met the metal programmer of Manifesto and he said, not sure if he was joking or not, ‘metalcore is totally hit nowadays, I might book them for Hoorn weren’t it for the fact they don’t get beyond Noord Holland’. I looked at him questioningly, he said ‘they play Zaandam, Alkmaar, maybe Purmerend and Den Helder is already abroad for them’. I said ‘why book them, or even try?’ ‘Full house of kids, they might return to the real metal stuff’. OK this is turning chanceless. I wouldn’t buy a CD to save my life, I’d be damned forever, I’d rather cut off my ears. Period.

But it wasn’t all hate we met. I got complimented for my Angel Witch backprint by a young all-kinds-of-metal-metalhead and a trader in clothes complimented me by my handy work (I wore my Irish and British tribute to music) and she offered to look at her old stock if her old Motörhead-, Judas Priest- and Samson-(back-)patches still were in her possession. By any luck I can start my 18th denim :lol: . See when she reacts ;) Good thing that the second band pissed off, was the fact that Obstruktor would thrill us from now on. Or, as singer Bas said ‘if you want pretty music, you just had two pretty vocal styles, now it’s my time to piss you off for a while before the latter pretty singer would enter stage’ :lol: Ahhh Obstruktor, nice ‘not too serious’ speed metal avant la lettre. Queen shirts (two!), shark shirt, hyperspeed metal, beer on stage, Hawaiian short, stage shouts in songs (hey [old]Anthrax!), Michael Schenker-like solos, bring in Thin Lizzy pauses and shred, shred and doubleshred!! A circle pit around the guitarist ^^ New material announced ‘finally no need to play only old shit’ :) and a much wider and louder sound than the second suck band ;) I had seen how slippery the floor was and dared not to enter the pretty violent pit, that pit that grew song by song :cool: and not just the male pitters, ey!! Please, don’t get too melodic on the new material! Please, keep up the selfmockery and humor! Don’t become Obstruica! :) We ended the show near the merch booth, where Kevin was doing band stuff and annoyed Serotonia’s people ^^ and waited for Bas and Max to enter my pictures :lol: Now it was my turn to get us shirts ;)

More talks to band members and organizers followed on the smoking terrace and Sepiroth put their gear in order. I had seen them years ago, I think on one of the Doc’s Metal Cruise editions, the band hasn’t changed much (no more Sonia on bass, now a Romanian singer(?)) since the last time I’d seen them. Bram said (and I was happy he did) ‘if you don’t like the band or I don’t, we might leave early’. Yes, I wanted to see the band, as I thought I’d only seen them once, but looking at MT I noticed at least 6 venues holding me and Sepiroth (…) in my reviews and within two songs we agreed: ‘if you want to be a Suffocation tribute, we’d rather have Suffocation ourselves!’ I even thought the band was Romanian or something, as (new?) singer Felipe had such a strange accent (…he’s Brazilian) I wasn’t sore to leave. Note, both Bram and me love Suffocation, but this was pure meh to us. Add some tiredness and hunger for beer and food, we left. No need to afpils but we did an afMac. Busted the Macca Hoorn by telling I’d want ONE Quarterpounder Deluxe but getting TWO. As Bram insisted on paying, I’m not sure if we bamboozled Macca or not :lol: I brought Bram home, he still had a party in Enkhuizen and I had a nice fat Captain Morgan’s Spiced Gold at home. Wanda got downstairs as well and we had a nice chat about how we can miss metal so badly. As for an update: Wanda still has long covid, but also caught Covid in December, so her biological clock is hustled again :roll: I can’t tell if she’d ever join me to metal again. But she knows I need live metal as much as I need her, so we agreed to keep buying tickets and see how far we come/how many bands she can see. On this night: she was happy with the Lijkschouwer shirt design and wanted to get the Obstruktor CD, of which Bas said ‘the first print is sold out, the second print is so ugly we had to do a repress’ :lol: Metal and non-professionalism, we love it!!

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