2007

Headbangers Open Air is for me personally the highlight of the festival season. This edition was my 4th visit to this festival and I was looking out for it from the day after the last edition in 2006!! The atmosphere is so outrageous; its indescribable!! The whole place is filled with friends from all over the world and its for me the best festival of the year! The line up of this 10th edition wasnt that good as we are used but it was worth the wait!! Also the afterparty at the Ballroom in Hamburg was a real party (also on behalf of Pim & Oliver from Digital Steel webzine & Melissa Records who joined me during this battle of attrition).

DAY 1

SIXTH ALLOY from Germany was opening the jubilee edition of HOA and they did a good job. The band had a good sound quality and their thrashmetal had a lot of variety and I also liked the clean singing on some of the songs! Nice show!
Spanish SILVER FIST suited me much more this time than they did during their KIT performance a while ago. Still after a while I got bored stiff and the conclusion is that i'm still not a new follower to their fanclub....
INTENSE from the UK sounded good a while ago when I heard their latest album but they couldnt impress me last year as support of Ruffians. This time the band was much better than during that tour but after I while I got irritated again by the nasal voice of their singer; nice gig, nothing more.
GRIM REAPER from the UK is a band that never enthralled me though the band has a real cult status. Maybe it has to do with the fact that i'm not a real die-hard NWOBHM fan. I did recognize their latest song of the set 'See you in Hell" because it was covered by Seven Witches a while ago. Nice show.
Swedish WOLF came, saw & conquered on the first day of HOA. The band is very fanatic on stage and is musically a good band. Personally I miss the variation in the voice of their singer but they where a worthy headliner for the first day!

DAY 2

ETERNAL LEGACY from the USA where opening on Day 2 and the band plays typical US-metal in a way I like it very much. Pity that the sound quality wasnt that good. I also heard sometimes some "out of tune" guitarsolos and I have to admit that I was only wellknown with the songs on their MySpace which sounded much better on MS that they did live. The band also played at the afterparty on Sunday at the Ballroom in Hamburg and that performance was much better! Still a very good, promising, band!!
KAOS: I already met guitarplayer Keven Albert (son of the legendary Carl Albert of Vicious Rumors/Ruffians fame) when he was playing with Ulysses Siren at the HOA festival in 2006 and he already told me that they would perform on this years edition with KAOS. Well, the more disappointed I was after a few songs; the music of the band sounds good but doesnt belong on a festival like HOA; their metalcore-a-like metal doesnt fit between the mostly truemetal line up. Musically its all performed very well and the band is very fanatic but it was not really my piece of cake ....and a lot others visitors agreed with me!
I never expected to see the Aussies from RAVEN BLACK KNIGHT in Europe! The more I was surprised when I heard that the band did play HOA and also some other gigs in (ofcourse) Germany! One of the first CD's I ever reviewed for MMM was their "Choose the Dark" (2005) album and I was so curious for their live performances! The music of the band varies between doomsongs but also a lot of more uptempo songs. Great gig and I liked the short high-pitching screams from their singer/guitarplayer. The band also did the afterparty show in Hamburg and that gig was great too! Glad that I finally saw this band after all this time!! Hope these guys come back to Europe soon!! Good, well performed show!
KALEDON is one of the dozen powermetal/happymetal bands from Italy. The singer was sometimes singing out of tune but after all a nice gig.
BEYOND FALLEN (USA) also made their debut on the European bottom. Their typical US-metal is well received by the German fans. Personally I never liked Joe's voice that much (I miss the high-pitching vocals) but beside of that; he is a great frontman! Musically the band also played "as tight as a chicken's ass" (hi Joe, hahahaha) and they also had the honour to headline the afterparty on Sunday. On the afterparty the band was again playing top!
Germany's PARAGON is a great live band which is always well received by the German audience. Musically it all sounds standard but it is performed very well. Good show!
WARNING SF played my fav. style of metal: US-metal! Musically its nearly perfect and you could see that the band was enjoying their performance very much! Very good gig from these guys out of San Fransisco, USA. Their show on the afterparty was also great!!
VENGEANCE (NL): Partytime!!! Vengeance on stage is a guarantee for a big party. Personally im not impressed by the bands showart because the band is repeating & repeating their jokes for years now. Nevertheless; Vengeance is & will always be a big partyband. Nice show.
SINNER (Germany) did a nice job on stage but personally I dont have any feelings with this band; their music is very corny and not my cup of tea.
America's shock-rockers HALLOWEEN blew everything away with their superb performance! At KIT a few years ago the band already impressed me a lot but this time it was much, much better!! After singer Brian Thomas came on stage in a white suit; the hell broke loose!!! Good sound, good show and awesome performance!! I spoke to their singer later and he was hoping to play in The Netherlands someday..so maybe at another edition of Mario's Metal Meeting???

DAY 3

DECEPTIVE SILENCE from Germany was almost finished when we arrived at the HOA area but the few songs I heard werent that bad at all. The band won this years bandbattle in Hamburg and thats the reason they opened the last day of the festival. Nice show.
KNIGHT ERRANT: from Turkey was a weird band between most of the festival bands during this days. The band uses a female violinist which gave the music sometimes a bit of a folkmetal-feeling. The band still plays real metal and I liked the first songs. The singer was doing a good job in the beginning but after a while he was singing out of tune. The violinist was very fanatic on stage which gave a special effect to their performance. Nice band for about 5 or 6 songs but after that it became boring.
HOLLOW GROUND is a NWOBHM band which I only knew by name. The band did a very good job and had a lot of variety in their setlist. Good band; pity I was not familiar with their music earlier.
THE BLACK from Italy: Terrible band, worthless singer, messy sound and an awefull performance; Worst band I ever did see at HOA!! Forget it a.s.a.p!!!
TAUNTED (USA) was one of the bands I was looking out for. The more I was disappointed; the band had a bad sound and I also didnt like the singer's voice. The band also had a shabby sound because they only had 1 guitarplayer. The band played also at the afterparty on Sunday and they did a good job overthere and proofed they're a good US-metal band which will probably make a lot of progression in the future.. AVENGER: Another NWOBHM band on stage and I have to admit that they werent inferior to Hollow Ground at all. Eventhough NWOBHM is not my fav. Metal style; I liked both Avenger & Hollow Ground.
Sweden's BULLET; The AC/DC & Accept klone! Ive seen the band several times but they never impressed me with their 'stolen' kind of metal. If I want to hear this kind of music ill prefer to visit an AC/DC or UDO gig! Bullet is a party band, nothing more, nothing less.
WRETCH was also one the (US) metalbands that made me decide to travel to HOA again! The band is, despite the singers overweight, very fanatic on stage! The German crowd loved it and so did I!! Truemetal in a way I love it most! Good band and for me one of the winners! Hope to see them again someday!
MOONSORROW from Finland plays atmospheric Pagan metal and thats not really my kind of music. What I heard didnt sound that bad at all but I will never buy this kind of metal for my private collection. The crowd loved it and thats what counts!!
I never liked CANDLEMASS because their former singer Messiah couldnt impress me at all with his boring voice. Well, after I heard that the singer of Solitude Aeturnus (Rob Lowe) joined the bad: I was very curious because Rob Lowe is one of the best doommetal singers! And yes; I liked it very much! From now on Candlemass has a new fanclub member. Great show!!
RAGE from Germany did a good job on stage but personally I dont have any feelings with this band; after a while the band played their superhit "Dont you fear the Winter" and shortly after that song we decided to grab a taxi. HOA was done, damn!!!

Again I would like to thank Thomas Tegelhutter and Jurgen Hegewald for their support and for putting me, again, on the guestlist! My thanx also goes out to Pim B. & Oliver K. from Digital Steel (webzine) & Melissa Records (recordlabel). I had a hell of a time with these guys and still have a lot of homesickness......
Till next year my German friends!!

This was for me the second time to visit this German underground festival which is organised by metalhead & friend Volker Raab. After the cancellations of Ignitor (USA) & Powervice (NL) there was another cancellation just a few days before it all started; Knights of Tethys (USA) couldnt make it because a few members decided to quit the band and it was impossible to find substitutes in such a short time before the festival. The organisation decided to change the playing times of all bands and that turned out very well!! Good solution Volker!
DEJA VU from Germany had the honour to open this edition of SB and they did it right. Deja Vu is a nice band, not sounding very original but their performance was good. The band owns a very good singer who hits the high notes easily. The sound of the band was also good, especially for an opener! Nice gig!
CRYSTAL VIPER from Poland was for me one of the most important bands after Ignitor cancelled. The band is blessed with a very good, female, singer. A little girl with a great voice. Musically it sounded as a mix of Mystery Blue and (old) Warlock. Not all the songs where from a high level and I didnt like the Manilla Road cover but that has to do with the fact that I dont like Manilla Road at all. Nice gig after all with a reasonable sound.
STIKKY FYKK; this was a kind of a parody on a parody. This kind of "metal" is only appreciated in Germany who also like bands as, for example, Oncle Tom. Not my piece of cake and I ran away after only 1 song..... Climax of the gig was the playing time; just 25 minutes of crap....
Next band on the bill was Belgium's DESPERATION. I've seen the band already once as support of Battleroar & Aiged L'Amh and they couldnt impress me that time. Well, things didnt change a lot; I still think its a very moderate band with an even more moderate (read: boring) singer. After Stikky Fykk they didnt sound that bad but to be honest; this kind of bands will never make it....
REAPER from Germany was also new to me. Their singer had a very raw voice which was nice for a few songs but not for a whole gig. The band exist for years now but its clear for me now why they never became more wellknown... Moderate band that was boring after a few songs already. Also the coverversion of Judas Priest's 'Breaking the Law' couldnt change my opinion about that.
VALKYRIES CRY from Canada was also one of the bands that I come over for from The Netherlands. Musically the band did sometimes remind me to cultband Sacred Blade (because of the high screams) but qua looks they reminded me of Death Angel. The band had a reasonable sound but I missed a second guitarplayer in this band; now it all sounded a bit to shabby. So my advice; get an extra guitarist and a good producer and you guys will make it!!
ARCTIC FLAME from the USA already came over to Europe about a half year ago to perform at the November edition of the Keep it True festival. That time I liked the band but I didnt like all their songs. Now they had the same problem; their performance was quiet good but not overwhelming. Their singer has sometimes very weird singing melodies through which he sounds like 'singing out of tune'. Hitting the high notes was no problem at all and thats a plus!! Hope to see this band more in Europe!!
After Arctic Flame it became a bit quiet because the next band, EMERALD (from my homeland The Netherlands), didnt show up!! Organiser Volker was quite rightly pissed off because they didnt give him any sign at all. Later I heard that the drummer had an accident and wasnt able to play. I still do understand Volkers reaction and really hope that the band will show up in September during the Tilburg Headbangers Fest (which I co-organise).
Gladly the two headliners decided to play both a longer set to fill up the caused space in the running order. I've never been such a great SACRED STEEL fan but I have to admit that they did an excellent job today!!! The band is getting/sounding much more professional during all these years and their singer is a damn good frontman! The band also played a cover of Jag Panzer "Generally Hostile" and at the end of the set the female singer from Crystal Viper came on stage for some jamming..... Good show!!
BLITZKRIEG (UK) had the honour to headline this edition of SB and hell they did!! The band had a superb sound and played a great set. After listening to singer Brian Ross I was wondering why Black Sabbath never did him an offer?? This guy would fit perfect to Black Sabbath with his typical voice. Well, gladly he is still in Blitzkrieg and thats the main reason that this band still kicks ass!! Great band on a wonderful headlining spot! They (and we also) deserved it!!
Many thanx to Volker & crew and maybe till the December 22th edition ( DOOMSWORD (I), ZANDELLE (USA), ANGUS (NL), NIGHTMARE (F), SILVERFIST (E), SKELATOR (USA), KINGSCROSSING (USA), ICY STEEL (I))

It was not crowded at the venue; that surprised me the most. Rocket Scientists is a highly respected progband from the USA, and Lana Lane, the Queen of Symphonic Rock, is a very talented singer, surrounded by even talented musicians.
Opening act was DIAL, the band formed by Kristoffer Gildenlow (ex-Pain Of Salvation) and his wife Liselotte Hegt; they played half an hour to warm things up, but did not succeed in doing that, receiving only polite applause.
ROCKET SCIENTISTS then opened bombastically; keyboard virtuoso Erik Norlander is a master in combining songs and melodies into a medley (or "suite", as he likes to call it), and the band brought a 75 minute set with songs from the "Earthbound" and "Oblivion Days" album, combined with material from their latest gem, "Revolution Road". The song "Mariner" was brought with vocals of Mark McCrite, a man with a soft and smooth voice, who also plays the Line 6 guitar next to Dutch axe man Peer Verschuren. That was the only moment that I missed Kelly Keeling, who always gives me loads of goose bumps when he sings this song. Nothing to degrade Mark, but Kelly has the power and the octaves to really set different moods into this song.
After the set and a short break it's LANA LANE's Time; this time the band played 1 entire album, being their latest "Lady McBeth". Now THAT promised a whole lot, because this is a very versatile album, with smooth ballads and some real shredding. This also gave Dutchmen Peer Verschuren and drummer Ernst Van Ee a way to show the audience what they got. Peer played his solos like he had to rape all six strings, where Ernst was really testing his bass drums. After having played the album in full, there was an encore from Lana's "Gemini" album, namely Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit". Over two and a half hours of quality music deserved a much bigger audience; hopefully next time the band will get the response they so well deserve.

Headway was celebrating their 5th edition this year and the organisation programmed a very varied line up again this time. Gladly I was invited to review this festival but even if I wasnt; I would have been there with such a good line-up!

Friday (6 April)
Opener on friday was OBSIDIAN, a band from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Obsidian was blessed with a reasonable sound for a first band. The band played a kind of technical deathmetal which reminded me to a mix of bands like Fear Factory, Textures and also some Scar Symmetry. It was not all sounding quite original but after all a very nice opener.
TO-MERA from Hungary/UK was the next band on the bill and also one of the bands that made me decide to travel to Amstelveen. I was only wellknown with their 2-track demo which I reviewed a few years ago and that demo impressed me a lot. Well, the more I was disappointed in the beginning of the set; the band had a terrible sound and female singer Julie Kiss was singing as a false Dolores O'Riordan (The Cranberries). After more than half an hour the sound quality was getting much better and Julie could even hit the higher notes. So at the end of the set I had to conclude that is was a reasonable performance but far away from the expectations I had of TO-MERA. Plus to the band is the view because Julie Kiss is a wonderfull woman ;)
Progmetal in Holland doesnt mean that much in the international scene till now. Bands like Sun CAged and Sphere of Souls are the leading bands in this genre and one of them was playing here tonight; SUN CAGED. SUN CAGED had a nearly perfect sound from the begin till the end (good job Martin!!). I've seen the band last year already with their new singer Paul Villareal and it striked me that he couldnt sing the older Sun Caged songs so well that time. Their former singer Andre Vuurboom (now in Sphere of Souls) had a much wider range than the new frontman. The band had noticed that also probably because today the band was mainly playing stuff from their latest album "Artemisia". Sun Caged played a great set/gig but I dont think the band will make it international. Mainman Marcel Coenen has a lot of arrogance and thats probably also the reason that the band already had dozens of line-up changes. Pity because musically its a great band!
Todays headliner ZERO HOUR (USA) also had a new singer in their line-up; Eric Sardinas and what a talent this guy is!!! The band opened with 'The Falcon's Cry' from their latest album "Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond". This is one of the best albums I heard during the last year! That is also the reason I rated it with 95 out of 100 points :) You can imagine how curious I was about these guys. Well, Eric Sardinas is doing what his predecessors couldnt; singing as good (or even better) than on the album!! He reminded me to a mix of Geoff Tate (Queensryche), Tom Mallicoat (Lethal) & Steve Benito (Heir Apparent). From the new album they also played; 'Evidence of the Unseen', 'Face the Fear' and a few others but also some oldies like 'Stratagem'. This show was superb and looking backwards also the best show of this years Headway edition! Awesome performance guys!! Hope Eric will continu singing with Zero Hour because he is the best guy for this job!!

Saturday (7 April)
Todays opener was also a dutch band named TRANSMISSION O. I was wondering what this crappy band had to do at Headway because there was nothing progressive in their music at all! Rubbishy band that played a kind of Nu-metal that had no variation at all and which was performed terrible. A band which I have to forget a.s.ap!!
DIAL was the second band on saturday and the band is build around ex-Pain of Salvation member Kristoffer Gildenlöw and his dutch wife Liselotte Hegt (ex- Cirrha Niva & also working for the Aardschok magazine). Dial played a kind of psychedelic music that had little to do with metal at all. The musicians are all good and multifunctional but I dont know what to do with this kind of music. Dial even makes The Gathering sound as heavy as hell!! Not my piece of cake....
SEVENTH WONDER from Sweden was also one of the bands I travelled to Amstelveen. After a 40 minute (!!) break the band finally climbed on stage. In the beginning the band had a messy sound but later on they took revenge and enjoyed me with a very good technical show! Singer Tommy Karevik told the audience that he had some problems with his voice but personally I couldnt even hear that. The band played a lot of songs from their last album "Waiting in the Wings". Seventh Wonder plays a mix of progmetal & powermetal. Good show even after all the starting problems!
MORGLBL from France was again a very strange band in this years line-up but luckily these guys where great! Morglbl is a french trio who mainly played instrumental songs. These 3 boldies gave a hell of a show and it was to me the biggest surprise of the festival! You could notice that the band themselves also had a lot of joy on stage! Mainman Christophe Godin is a very good guitarplayer but also a real entertainer! Caramba; a great show guys!!
LOCH VOSTOK is also a Swedish band and after reviewing their album lately I was looking out to see them live. From the very first note the band impressed me a lot and their "huge" singer had a very wide range in his voice. He could grunt but also hit the high notes from time to time! A great band which is on stage much better than on their album "Destruction Time Again". Check them out if you have the possibility! Great show!!
SLEEPY TIME GORILLA MUSEUM (USA) was the next band. I never heard of the band before and I wish I will never hear from them in the future also! This is a bunch of posers/gays that really couldnt play at all. Visually it looked like a mix of Marilyn Manson & In Extremo but musically STGM is even much worse than these bands (is that possible: YES!). This was to my opinion a terrible choice from the Headway organisation and i'm not gonna spent more time in reviewing this crap-band.....
REDEMPTION (USA) was the headliner on saturday and it was a very nice headliner. Nice? Yes; musically its more than okay but singer Ray Alders (also in Fates Warning) voice wasnt that good today and after a few songs I even got bored by his voice. He was also sometimes singing out of tune. Pity I never saw the band with former singer Rick Mythiasin (Steel Prophet/Mythiasin) because that would have tunred out much better. The band had a lot of variety in their songs; pity also about the boring keyboard solo. After all a worthy headliner on saturday but they couldnt be touched by friday's headliner Zero Hour!!

Conclusion: Headway was again a very enjoyable, good organised festival with some great, some moderate but also some terible bands. It was a shame the audience didnt show up in great numbers because Headway deserves it!! I will be there again next year! Thats for sure!!

Today Rusty Cage Records, a new label from The Netherlands, had their first anniversary and the label wanted to celebrate this with a few of their bands. The label re-released several old albums from Dutch metalbands but also a few newcoming bands.
Funny was the fact that the opening "band" PAUL CLARK was the only not-dutch act (he is from the UK) on the bill. Acording to the Dynamo website the festival should start about 4 o'clock PM. Because we (Mario & Pim from Digital Steel) didnt want to miss any band we arrived on time. Pity because when the festival finally started it was more than an hour later as announced!!
PAUL CLARK didnt show up with a supportband but used a tape. It all turned out to be a kind of guitarclinic. Paul plays classic guitar in the vein of guitargods like Steve Vai & Vinnie Moore. He played a lot of tunes from his "Shredz at an Exhibition" album. For an opening band the venue was filled really well. Pity for Paul that the sound, as usual in Dynamo, wasnt that good. Probably its even with 1 guitarplayer & 1 tape impossible to create a good sound in Dynamo....the sound was reverberating to much.....
Next band on the bill was one of todays reunions and to me it was already the best band of the day: DEFENDER! I have seen the bands several times in the past as support for Toxik and so I was curious about their performance today. The band played a good set and performed in various line-ups during the gig. Defender still play their typical smooth kind of metal which suited me very well; especially because their singer still could hit the high notes! They also played the same covers as they did in their earlier years; 'Metal Church' (Metal Church) & 'Allison Hell' (Annihilator). Because Defender had a very reasonable sound; they made me long for the early days; great performance!
LWS INC. (Lunatics Without Skateboards) was the next (reunion) band on the bill and I didnt see them for nearly 17 years now! In the beginning the sound quality was good but after a few songs it got from bad to worse. Musically LWS was (and still is) a good band but with a crappy sound like today they couldnt impress me the way I was hoping for. Also strange that they didnt throw the drunken stagedivers off stage but that had probably to do with the organisation because the band wasnt glad with that either.
NON DIVINE is one of the new metalbands from The Netherlands which Rusty Cage signed lately. Non Divine won the 2005 Metal Bash Competition but why?? Thats a question for me? Me, as initiator & webmaster for MMM, could not enjoy this kind of metal. To me it sounded as a mix of later Metallica but than with some grunge elements in it; or better said; not my piece of cake!! Funny to see that I was not the only one who was ignoring the band because most of the visitors left the hall and went outside. Moderate band and moderate performance.
JEWEL was also one of the (reunion) bands I went to the festival; they have always been a real party band and I was very curious about their appearance today. Musically it all sounded good; just like in the early days. Still I could notice that the band wasnt that fanatic anymore like in their old days. Years ago singer Rick Ambrosius was always joking & climbing on bars, tables et al but I think they where to old for that :) But what am I complaining; i'm not stage-diving anymore either these days, hahahaha. Good performance but again; pity of the moderate sound!
CYPHER was the latest band of the evening and it was a bit weird band in todays line-up. The band plays melodic deathmetal that remind me to The Haunted. The music of the band was, just like with Non Divine, not appreciated by the older audience. Because the time shedule didnt left any time space for a diner break; we decided to knock off after a couple of songs. Nice band but not playing for the right audience today!

Overall it was a very nice festival; some good bands from the earlier days and some moderate "new" bands. The audience was great; lots of memories came back when speaking to people I havent seen on concerts for a long time in combination with the 3 reunion bands! Unfortunately the sound quality was bad by most of the bands and I recommend Rusty Cage to search for another location for the next edition (hope this will come)! Thanks to Rusty Cage for inviting me to the festival; hope that from now on they will also send me all their releases for reviewing on MMM (dropping a hint).......

Yep Finally! It was time again for an evening of Thrashing at 013! Because it's becoming routine that bands play half an hour earlier at 013 so I made sure I was right on time. The first band WATAIN was just starting. Watain comes from Sweden and plays Oldschool Scandinavian Blackmetal like it was meant to be in the early 90’s.
The second band was the Dutch band LEGION OF THE DAMNED, their band name is changed from Occult to Legion Of The Damned and they still play great oldschool thrash with some modern influences. They played songs like ‘Son Of The Jackal and title song ‘Legion Of The Damned’. Too bad they were playing at a too big stage with no background at all. But what am I complaining ? The gig was great!
The Swiss CELTIC FORST was up next, to me personally it was very disappointing. To me the show in 2006 at ‘Biebob Vosselaar’ Belgium was way better. Celtic Frost shouldn’t be playing at such a big hall but in a small underground club! But anyway let’s talk about the musical performances of the gig. Celtic Frost’s bassplayer “Martin Eric Ain” was talking about too much bullshit like religion and death.. that kind of negative bullshit. They played “Circle Of The Tyrants” too early at the set, stupid move I think, you should play such a classic as last. Ofcourse the band played more classics like: “Dethroned Emperor" and “Into The Crypts Of Ravs”. But that was the only cool thing about this gig. One very good thing: this gig had the best sound of all the bands this evening.
KREATOR was the headliner today and played new songs like: “Violent Revolution, Reconquering The Throne, Enemy Of God and Suicide Terrorist” but also old classics afcourse like: “People Of The Lie”, “Europe After The Rain”, “Extreme Aggression”, “Betrayer” and the medley “Flag Of Tormentor”(Medley of the 2 old classics of the first record). You can already guess that an thrashing evening like this is really great! Kreator played fast, furious & aggresive, totally metal like it was meant to be many many years ago ! Real Thrash Metal deep from the heart ! This gig had just a couple of downpoints (for example; 2 agressive skinheads in the pit) but overall it was quite a good show. Kreator was absolute the best band of the evening !!!

A whole weekend of metal takes it toll, so at the moment of writing i'm unbelievably tired. Too bad I missed the first band of the evening because of the local carnival and a little problems with the guest list. This cool thrash festival was organised by local thrasher Tjerk ( Outburst/ Loudnoise ) and has almost the same name as the festival me and Mario organise ("Tilburg Headbangers Fest"). Thrash Tilburg Fest was taking place in the small hall of the 013 venue and there was not that much audience. Probably it was because of the local carnival.
The first band I saw was the new Gothenburg-sounding thrashmetalband THE NEW DOMINION from Tilburg with Stip (Flesh Made Sin) at bass guitar. The music sounds a bit like bands like The Haunted and In Flames.
The second band was the British EVILE; they played good 80's thrashmetal like (old) Metallica, Slayer, Exodus and Evil Dead. Evile has a great singer with vocals that sound a bit like 'Tom Araya' (Slayer) and 'Joey Belladona' (Anthrax). The band sounded great, great licks and fast drums, like thrashmetal was meant to be!
The third band of this afternoon was the local thrash band FLESH MADE SIN; these guys played (like usual) really great! They played their most well known songs ('Lustfull Killing', 'Tormentor' and 'Descending Life') but also some songs of their upcoming new album and a Slayer cover "Necrophiliac".
The fourth band was the Dutch DEAD HEAD. This oldschool Deaththrashers played in the original line up and played only a few old songs like: 'Kill Division', 'Unholy', 'Cold Being' and 'The Festering'. They sounded okay and for me it was great to see them finally live onstage.
The last band was the long expected British ONSLAUGHT! This 80's thrash band reunion was with original members like Nigel Rockett (guitars) and Steve Grice (drums) return, ably assisted by vocalist Sy Keeler (who sang on the first two ONSLAUGHT albums, "Power From Hell" and "The Force"). The band played a lot from 'Power From Hell', 'The Force' and their 3th album 'In Search Of Sanity' from 1988/89. Songs like: 'Let There Be Death', 'Metal Forces', 'Shellshock', 'Demoniac', 'Power From Hell' etc. Onslaught played a fucking great show ! Totally back to the old days with lots of headbangers, moshers and just one stagediver/crowdsurfer (myself) haha. It was a much better reunion then their last reunion in 013 Club in 2005. For me the two British bands Evile and Onslaught were the very best bands of this great festival!

SABATON was the first band of the evening. This Swedish heavy/power metal band played very good! I even think it was the best show of the evening. I only own their “Attero Dominatus” CD from 2006 so I only knew the songs: ‘In The Name Of God’ and ‘The Metal Medley’ ( Metal Machine, Metal Crue). I really liked the metal medley because they were singing about all the great bands in the world ! Sabaton has a really good singer and has great musicians. I hope to hear a lot more from this band!
GRAVE DIGGER was the second band on the bill. They looked very true metal and they had a great singer in the name of Chris Boltendahl. It was a pity they only played just a few cool songs (Excalibur, Valhalla and Heavy Metal Breakdown) and that there was not much contact with the audience. Personally I was expecting much more from this old German Power/Heavy Metal band and for me the biggest part of the show for me was not very well. Hopefully they will come back in the future to play a much better show here in The Netherlands.
THERION was headliner of this concert and played a very good show for the fans. I'm not a fan at all but I can say it was not bad ! They got four new singers, one man was really cool to see. The Thor looks like a Snowy Shaw (King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Memento Mori and Notre Damme) + another male vocalist and two ladies. Therion played some own classics ('Nightside Of Eden' and 'To Mega Therion’) but also a very cool Manowar cover from 1984 ('Sign Of The Hammer’). The stage was very cool with lots of candles, gates and cages. But for me the music was still a bit boring and I perform their old black/death metal of the early 90's more than their newer stuff of these days. But that is my opinion and I’m sure that for the most people in the venue it was a very good show. But I am too oldschool for these kind of gothic metal. People who like modern theatre female vocals and lots of tralala rhythms had the night of their life. Oldschool metalheads will say it was pussy metal and I'm definitely one of these people. But to get back to the point, it was a very good show for the fans and I think the most fans were sad at the end of this good gig in 013. Therion is absolute a band for the future !

2006

Eternal Rock; a new festival in the South of The Netherlands; organised by metal/hardrock fan Ludy. This was the first edition of Eternal Rock which took place at concerthall Hanenhof in Geleen, The Netherlands. A very nice place with an overall good sound during the whole day!

First band PREDATUR from the UK played a very moderate kind of hardrock that couldnt suit me at all. Their musical direction was a mix of Status Quo & Led Zeppelin. Not really my cup of tea and a bad opener (to my opinion). Luckely the rest of the other bands didnt disappoint me at all!

Next band where the dutch newcomers of POWERVICE. The band played as normally a good set. Their Maiden-a-like metal fitted perfect to the taste of most of the festival visitors. Singer Stockie was, again, singing superb and the rest of the band where also taking their job(s) serious. Again a very good show from these guys!!

FREEDOM CALL from Germany was the next band on the bill. The band started with a bad sound quality but after a few lsongs the sound engineer pulled it al equal. The band played Helloween-a-like powermetal but to be honest; not all of the songs could impress me! Another great loss is the fact that the band sounded shabby because they only had one guitarplayer. Conclusion: nice show but i'm convinced that they will sound much better with a second guitarplayer in their ranks!

VENGEANCEdoesnt need any introduction. This band reunited last year, again, around frontman Leon Goewie. Singer Leon is still the eye-catcher of the band. On stage this guy totally gets loose and opens his box of tricks. Lots of jokes and tricks are his trademark. The band played a lot of songs from their old repertoire but also a few songs from their latest album "Back in the Ring". Vengeance was suited with a good sound and the band showed that they are still one of the leading live bands in The Netherlands. Good performance!! As a bonus the band played the Rose Tattoo cover "Bad boy for Love".

One of my alltime fav. bands headlined this edition of Eternal Rock: Y & T. The band had an awesome sound and they played a special set because the show was recorded for a possible DVD. Most of their classic songs where played; 'Hang 'm High', Lipstick and Leather', 'Keep om Runing', 'Dirty Girl', 'Mean Streak', 'Barroom Boogie', 'Winds of Change', 'Eyes of a Stranger', 'Hurricane', 'Rescue Me'...and lots of other songs.
Frontman Dave Meniketti is still singing great after all these years. The music of Y&T is in my opinion ageless. Awesome show from this great band!! Ludy: You did a hell of a job!! Thanx for inviting me to ER. Next year I will be there again!!

As I arrived too late, I missed the first two bands (CEREMONY OF OPPOSITES and CHAINSAW) unfortunately, from what I heard Chainsaw had a real good live performance so I'm sorry I missed that. The atmosphere was great, and the weather too, so a lot of bangers were outside on the terrace when I got there, but also in the venue there was a crowd, so it must have been nearly sold out I guess. As I didn't know most of the bands, I was curious what to expect and was going to be surprised by some bands as I found out.

But one band I did wanna see for sure was FORETOLD, after I reviewed their CD 'Factor' for Mario's Metal Mania (see Archive CD/DVD Reviews), I was anxious to see them perform live. When I got inside the venue they had already started, and were playing 'I am the way' which sounded very brutal! They had a real good sound, and played very thight, and William's throat sounded awesome, one of the best dutch grunters if you ask me. They played a lot of songs from their CD, and did a good job too, so for me this performance was brutal perfection.

Next up was METHUSALEM from Friesland, this was really a surprise for me as I didn't knew them, they play real heavy metal in an old school way. Their singer sounded like Rob Halford himself in his better days, and is a great frontman, although I later on heard this was his goodbye gig. They really got the crowd going, this band should have been higher on the bill if you ask me, Heavy Metal!!

RED DRAGON played together for the first time in 25 years, in their hometown. A lot of family and friends were there to see them after all that time, which was a nice sight to watch. The venue was packed, and they got the crowd wild and going. Although their kind of metal sounded a bit out of date, nobody seemed to care, least of all themselves, the band had lots of fun playing and it showed! This band got the most response of the day if you ask me. Their music sounded like old Bodine, Picture and Vengeance, so real recognizable dutch hardrock/metal sound.

After the diner break it was time for MARTYR to hit the stage. I only knew their name, but never heard their music, but it rocked! They also have a great (wet) show/frontman who got the place going. The guys played full energy and fanatic as hell, which the crowd picked up from them as well as they went wild. They seem to play a lot lately since their reunion a few years back, and it showed, a well oiled machine!

Next up was the only foreign band on the bill, MYSTERY BLUE from France, who play true 80's heavy metal. Their sound is like Saxon or Priest with female vocals, and this makes it an unique and surprisingly well combination which sounds killer! Not many people knew this band, but after just a few songs it sounded so familiar as if it was back in the 80's, everybody banging their heads off, great! This was an excellent choice for this festival, well done…

Headliner were dutch Celtic Frost, PENTACLE, around for over a decade, and still going strong. They played as if their lives depended on it, real energetic performance which got the crowd going wild again. This was a true headliner for this edition of THF, which had a great true metal atmosphere, positive and friendly like it should be. Hopefully the following editions of THF will be just as good, or better, thanx to Mario and Marco for this! Keep up the good work…

Swordbrothers, again an underground festival in (offcourse) Germany! This was the 4th edition of Swordbrothers but it was my personal debut on this festival. Well again I was positive surprised!! The festival is organised in a very nice club just outside the borders of Andernach, a small village nearby Koblenz. It's an one-day festival which is organised by Volker Raab (who also works for Blue Steel Agency, an European truemetal booking office)
The weather is already great at the moment we arrive and a lot of people are enjoying this outside of the club. After a short conversation with organiser Volker, we hear the first notes of the opening band:

PHENIX from France. I was curious about this band after listening to their latest album "Wings of Fire". Phenix plays powermetal and the band is blessed with a very good singer who easily hits the highest notes and thats for me the most important element in a good metalband! The band is also blessed with a good sound and thats remarkable for an opening band! Musically its not sounding all to original but who cares if its performed this way? Not me! Besides of their own repertoire the band also plays a Deep Purple cover "Speed King". Good show!

INFLUENCE from my homeland The Netherlands was the next band on the bill and it was my first acquaintance with these guys on stage. They already delivered a few very nice albums (he guys, i'm still waiting for a copy of your latest album "House of Silhouettes")! According to the bands website it was also the last show with singer Bas Assenbroek. This is a pitty because this band has got everything to become great!! Great musicians, great songs (with a very high Iron Maiden level) and a very sympathic superb singer!! Prove for that was the superb coverversion of Judas Priest's "Breaking the Law". Guys, my advice: dont quit!!! Great show!

STORMRIDER from Germany was the next band; musically it all sounded okay but because of the very moderate & boring singer I left the club for a diner break.

Right on time I returned to see RAVAGE from the USA. Musically a lot better than Stormrider but the band also had the same problem as their predecessor on the bill; a very moderate singer. Pitty again because musically they reminded me to a lot of 80's US-metal bands. With this kind of metal you really need a singer with high pitching vocals and that was the only thing that failed with Ravage! My advice; drop the singer guys; you wont regret it!!

RAM was the next band according the running order but they didnt arrive on time so SOLEMNITY took their place. I only knew the band by name. Because of a small diner/beer break I didnt see the whole show but what i saw & heard didnt disappoint me at all!! The band had a very nice show with nearly all the bandmembers dressed as monks and after a few songs a half-naked girl came on/off stage to perform a rite of communion. It was funny to see how the crowd reacted and showed up to take some photographs from the girls white boobies, hahaha. Offcourse; I was one of them :) The music of Solemnity has a lot of doom influences and I was positive surprised by these guys (and girls).....

Meanwhile RAM from Sweden arrived. To be honest; I didnt expect much from this band after their moderate shows at KIT & HOA. Both times they couldnt impress me at all. Well time changes (gladly) and I have to admit that musically/technically the band has grown a lot! I really liked Ram this time and i'm even looking out to see them again soon!! Great show & performance!!

Most important band for me to travel to Germany was US-cultmetal band DEADLY BLESSING. From the first notes & screams I was blown away!! Frontman Ski is one of the best metalsingers in the world and its a joy to see/hear how easily he hits the extreme high notes! This is METAL!!! This is the kind of metal I live for! Superb performance and again (after their KIT show last year) I got in ecstasy! Hope to see these guys very, very soon again!! This was for me personally THE headliner of the festival! Deadly Blessing came, saw & conquered!! They didnt even need to play Iron Maiden's "The Trooper" to convince me......

ATTACKER (also from the USA) was the real headliner and its always a pleasure to see these guys live. This was already the 5th time I saw the band during the last 2 years and again it suited me well. Singer Bob's voice was a bit raw tonight and sometimes he (again) remembered me to Udo Dirkschneider (he's also sounding on some of their songs on the latest 2 albums). Nevertheless it was a great pleasure to see/hear & meet these spontaneous guys and i'm sure I will see them more the next years because the band is very popular in the undergound scene! Good show!

After a day full of great metal, good beer/food & a great audience I left the club during the Attacker gig to have a nap outside in the grass border..... When my "friends" woke me up it was time to jump in the taxi and remember Swordbrothers as a very good organised & friendly festival. Special thanx to Volker Raab; you rule!! Next year we will be there again; thats for sure!!

Already confirmed for the April 2007 edition: EMERALD (NL), DESPERATION (B), IGNITOR (USA) VALKYRIES CRY (KANADA), DÉJÀ VU (D), ARCTIC FLAME (USA) & POWERVICE (NL)

HOA, finally!!!!! I was looking out for this garden festival already when last years edition wasnt even finished!! This was the third time for me to visit this superb festival which is organised for real heavy metal fans BY real heavy metal fans!! The intention of the festival is quite unique. Even if there are playing more than 20 bands from all over the world, the festival is always breathing an underground feeling that I never felt on any festival before! Pity we had to miss the warm-up show on thursday with MASTER, VIRON, SATAN, OVERDRIVE & METAL LAW. On Friday Pim (www.digital-steel.com) and I drove to Brande Hornerkirchen (nearby Hamburg) to join the most enjoyable metal audience in the world. As always Belgium metal-cop Rico (www.hellspawn.be) & his lovely wife Peggy visited the festival. This year they where joined by stand-up comedian Jorith (a.k.a. Tiger) who entertained us a lot during these days!!

DAY 1

Because we had to search a while for our hotel, we missed a part of the first band IVORY TOWER. The few songs we heard from this German band sounded good and the band left a professional impression to me. I already knew that the band had some good musicians in their ranks because some of them played on the live album of Josh Kramer (of Saint) and that album also kicks some serious ass!! Nice band!

Next band was our national Dutch pride; POWERVICE!! The band played, again, an incredible show with a leading part for singer Stockie! This guy has an un-dutch throat of which a lot of bands in Holland (and also outside of Holland) will be jealous! Their maiden-a-like metal suited the audience very well. Powervice was blessed with a great sound and played a great set with songs like; 'Behold the hand of Glory', 'The end is coming', 'Nightstalker' and a lot of other songs. I'm curious how long this band will survive into the metal scene because a few of the bandmembers have an extreme way of living (you know who you are guys!).

ORDER OF NINE was one of the bands I was really looking out for. Their progressive kind of US-metal suited me well on their debut album "Season of Reign". The only complain I had about the album was their moderate singer. Well, on stage the band had the same problem. The singer was performing very modest and the band couldnt enthrall me for the whole set. Also on sunday, when the band was playing the afterparty in Hamburg; I was bored by the singers voice. Musically it all sounds okay, so guys; you know what to do!!

SHEAVY from Canada played a kind of stoner rock. I dont like this kind of metal at all so its impossible for me to review this kind of bands. The band was blessed with a great sound and thats the only positive thing I have to say about them.

Next on the bill was, again, a band from my homeland; MARTYR. I did see the band a while ago during their KIT warm up show and they impressed me a lot that time! This time the band was also playing very well and fanatic! Martyr had another singer this time than they had during their KIT performance. Someone told me that this was their original singer but I cant confirm this because I only knew the band by name before their KIT show. The band wasnt playing that good as they did at KIT but I still had a hell of a time!!

Because i'm fully addicted to US-metal; ICARUS WITCH was on my wish-list too. Their latest album disappointed me a bit, especially after their superb EP. Live the band was great and especially the singer was awesome! Rob (Metal Gay) Halford should have got a spontaneous erection when he had heard the coverversion of "The Ripper". Great band; US-metal at its best!!!

Everybody knows that when you drink a lot of alcohol; you also have to eat regularly. Well, KORPIKLAANI was the perfekt band for me to visit the hot dog & steak stand…….

After the diner break we went back to see German cult lady Sabina Classen and her band HOLY MOSES. It suited me to see how popular this band still is in Germany. The band played as tight as a chicken's (Sabina's ???) ass and had a great sound. I tried to get nearby the stage to take some pictures but I couldnt manage it to enter the "mosh"pit! Good show!

As "headliner" for the first day, the organisation booked an Iron Maiden coverband named POWERSLAVE. After the Ross the Boss/ Manowar farce at last years KIT I was curious about this coverband. Well, they didnt disappoint me at all. Their singer even reminded me several times to Bruce Dickinson (and thats a compliment). The band played Iron Maiden songs from all their albums and did it damn good! Good idea to book a band like these on festivals as curfew! Every drunken headbanger still can sing all the Iron Maiden classic songs.
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