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2009 | |
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MICK POINTER & CASUAL SILENCE (18 December 2009) De Pul, Uden, The Netherlands Review by Jordy Brouwers
Mick Pointer`s visit to the Pul (Uden) on 18-12-2009 was part of the Script for a Jester`s Tour. During this relative short tour, Pointer and his friends played successively in the UK, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Holland. This performance on 18-12-2009 was Pointer`s third visit to the Pul, he successfully played here earlier in April 2008 and early 2009. | |
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SWALLOW THE SUN, INSOMNIUM, OMNIUM GATHERUM (8 December 2009) De Kelder, Amersfoort, The Netherlands Review by Dennis van Dommelen
On the 8th of December the tour caravan -with all of the bands coming from the beautiful country of Finland- took up one's residence at de Kelder in Amersfoort. For about 40 to 50 man it was quite calm. But the people who were their tried their best to make it a nice evening. And although outside the winter hadn't started, inside the gloomy dark tunes of the bands set the tone for a dark season to come… | |
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SEITA & ASSGOBLIN (6 December 2009) The Rambler, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Review by Corinne van den Brand
I think most people in Holland were playing with the gifts they got from Sinterklaas or were on obligatory family visits because I can`t figure out why there were so few visitors this evening. Unbelievable , because SEITA deserves more attention then this. Originally Claustrophobia were scheduled to play this evening but due to problems they were forced to quit the tour prematurely and return to Brazil. Assgoblin from Limburg, Holland were the substitutes for this evening but I didn`t see them. | |
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JORN LANDE & COOPER INC. (3 December 2009) The Rock Temple, Kerkrade, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
Again I found my way to the Rock Temple stage in the very south of The Netherlands to be witness of maybe one of Jorn Lande's latest live shows now that he returned to Masterplan lately. Jorn Lande is one of my favorite rock-singers (I named my son after him) and I was curious if he could continue his way to the top! A few years ago I already saw Jorn with his solo project at the Biebob club in Belgium and he smashed me with his powerful show and singing. He is not a great performer on stage but with such a great voice nobody cares about that!
COOPER INC. had the luck to do the opening spot of this night and they did that very meritorious. Singer John Cuijpers (Ayreon) is a very good singer with a powerful voice and musically the band fitted perfect as opener for Jorn Lande. The band members are very experienced. Vocalist John Cuijpers played with Ayreon, drummer Hans In't Zandt with Vengeance and Mad Max, while guitar player Christian Tolle already had released 2 solo albums. It also suited me again that every band at The Rock Temple has a good sound quality! That's also a very big plus for this very nice club! Good show of Cooper Inc. | |
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VICIOUS RUMORS & MARTYR (13 & 14 November 2009) The Rock Temple, Kerkrade & The Rambler, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
I had plans to visit my friends from Vicious Rumors 4 days in a row but because of an upcoming hernia I had to cancel my visits to Rotterdam & Antwerp (Belgium). Luckily I was witness of 2 great shows in Kerkrade & Eindhoven (both The Netherlands).
When I arrived on Friday night at The Rock Temple, MARTYR was already performing but I only missed just a few songs. It's always great to see this energetic band on stage. Singer Ropke is a real stage animal and entertaining the audience every second of the show. The other band members are all well experienced and taking their jobs more than serious. Their setlist was filled with a few classic songs; 'Darkness at time's edge', 'Speed of Samurai', & 'Snow and Fire' but consisted mostly newer songs from their latest album “Fear”; 'Different Kind of Rain', 'Fear', 'Take me Home', 'The most Evil' & 'Eaten Alive'. Again a good show from this cult metal band from Holland! Only little complain I have is the fact that the band plays, to my opinion, to less older (speed) songs. | |
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HALLOWEEN ROCKFEST (31 October 2009) La Vida, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
Booker Peter “DesPEERado” van Weel is the organizer of this festival which celebrates his second edition this year. Last year I wasn't able to visit the festival but I heard so many positive things about it that I needed to be there this time! The main reason to organize the festival is to promote the Halloween tradition in The Netherlands and is there a better way than doing this with a few good metal bands in all kinds of genres? NO! Last year Vengeance was headlining the festival and it was a difficult choice to find a band that could at least equal this party band. | |
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RAISE THE DEAD FESTIVAL (30 & 31 October 2009) Park Teatred, Oslo, Norway Review by Ruud Fleskens
The Raise the Dead festival was created by old school booking, which is an agency with a mission to draw the attention towards old school metal bands. You can think about the old 80's speed/thrash and heavy metal, but also new bands that have the old sound are very welcome here. The raise the dead festival was the biggest festival these ladies from old school booking had been planning so far. Some really big names were on the line up like Manilla Road, Sodom and Asphyx so it was worth for me and some friends to go there. After finding our crappy hotel on Thursday we had some beers in a local pub and were ready for the next day which would be the first day of the festival.
GOD DETHRONED, HOLLENTHON, ENDSTILLE, ONHEIL (25 October 2009) | Mezz, Breda, The Netherlands Review by Kees Schijven
After arriving too late due to family circumstances, we missed ONHEIL completely, and came in just in time to see ENDSTILLE play their last songs. This was a bit too short for us to give it a proper review, certainly because we aren't familiar with the black metal these guys play. |
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AGES OF METAL FESTIVAL (17 October 2009) J.H. 't Ipperste, Oostrozebeke, Belgium Review by Mario van Dooren
Ages of Metal; a newborn oldschool festival in the South of Belgium. I was invited to join the festival and I grabbed the possibility to review it because I love this kind of underground/oldschool events! Im also always trying to relive the old days with my own Mario's Metal Meetings and I can only welcome every new festival with the same kind of goals! I already knew what to expect with the (great) NWOBHM headliners but was also curious about the newcomers from Belgium. | |
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THE CULT (13 October 2009) Effenaar, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Review by Ad van Osch
THE CULT did a European "LOVE Live" Tour of 17 dates. On October 11th, 2009 they played at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam. But I preferred to go see this legendary rock band in a smaller venue. So, on Tuesday October 13th, 2009 I went to Eindhoven to see THE CULT at the Effenaar. There was no support act this evening, just only THE CULT. I already saw THE CULT on July 4th, 2006 in 013, Tilburg, which was a superb show. As the title of this tour says, Ian Astburry & Co. are playing the entire classic "Love" (1985) album in the exact same order. It was 21:15 when the lights went out and the band started with "Nirvana". I think that the concert was nearly sold out tonight. The audience was very varied, metalheads, rockers, alternative people etcetera and there was a very good atmosphere. I was standing in the second row in front of bass player Chris Wyse. During the "Love" set, rhythm guitarist for the tour, Mike Dimkich, stood next to Wyse in front of the stage, but after the "Love" set he stood at the backline. Ian Astburry told the audience he was a little ill. Despite the fact that he was ill, he sung fantastic and of course he's still a great performer as well. Astburry said 'we play in any condition, broken hand, broken feet, ill, not ill'. Billy Duffy, together with Astburry the only original member of THE CULT, is of course a great guitarist and he played fantastic. Sometimes Duffy came to the left side of the stage to sing backing vocals along with Wyse. Behind drummer John Tempesta was a very large video screen, and during every song fantastic video images were shown which fitted perfectly for each song. After the band played the last song of their "Love" album, "Black Angel", they left the stage for a few minutes and came back to play seven other songs. What else can I say, it was just awesome and I enjoyed it very much. Great sound, beautiful lightshow and most of all great songs. Especially with the songs "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Love Removal Machine" the audience went totally crazy. The order of the set list was "Nirvana", "Big Neon Glitter", "Love", "Brother Wolf, Sister Moon", "Rain", "Phoenix", "Hollow Man", "Revolution", "She Sells Sanctuary", "Black Angel", "Electric Ocean", "Wild Flower", "Sun King", "Rise", "Dirty Little Rockstar", "Fire Woman" and "Love Removal Machine". Next time perhaps an "Electric Live" or a "Sonic Temple Live" tour???? That would be great as well.
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MARIO'S METAL MEETING 3 & Warm Up show (3 & 4 October 2009) Little Devil & 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by several magazines/webzines
This was the third edition of Mario's Metal Meeting and because it was organised by Mario's Metal Mania it would not be fair to review my own festival :) For that reason I only add links to the several reviews/pictures on webzines & magazines: |
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SWORDBROTHERS 8 FESTIVAL (12 September 2009) Juz, Andernach, Germany Review by Mario van Dooren
This year was the 8th edtion of the German Swordbrothers Festival and the 4th time I was visiting this atmospheric festival! Swordbrothers mainman Volker Raab arranged again a great headliner and gave also the possibility to a lot of unknown bands to show their musicianship to a larger crowd. The same premeditation as my own Mario's Metal Meetings. | |
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JUNGLE ROT, LONG TIME DEAD, DREAD, ION & NIGHTFIRE (9 September 2009) Frontline, Gent, Belgium Review by Sammy de Maere
After waiting for too long because of previously cancelled tours I finally had a chance to see JUNGLE ROT and I wasn't going to miss out on that one!
In the small venue of the Frontline in Gent I was one of the very few fans who decided to give up their Wednesday night for awesome death metal. And I wasn't proven wrong.
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MUCKY PUP & CLOON (6 September) Biebob, Vosselaar, Belgium Review by Ad van Osch
MUCKY PUP is doing a small reunion tour of ten dates in Europe. We already saw them on August 30th at the Dynamo Outdoor 2009 festival, and after all those years (the last time I've seen MUCKY PUP live was on June 2nd, 1991, in Noorderligt, Tilburg, Holland) it was great to see MUCKY PUP back on stage. So we decided to go see them in the Biebob as well. Arrived at the Biebob, it was already very crowded and it was very hot in there as well. The support act this evening was CLOON from Belgium, which is a band I never had heard of before, so I'm not familiar with any of their material. Anyway, it was 20:20 when this four piece band started with their set. They played songs as "He Who Knows", "Burned Rubber Blues" and some songs ("The Doll" and "The Runner") which will be on their forthcoming full length debut album. But after seven songs we've seen enough of the band, because CLOON wasn't really our type of band. And to be honest, CLOON wasn't the perfect band for MUCKY PUP to open. The response they got from the audience was also very minimal. | |
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URIAH HEEP & THE BREEZE (4 September 2009) De Pul, Uden, The Netherlands Review by Ad van Osch
On Friday September 4th I went to De Pul in Uden, Holland to go see URIAH HEEP again. This concert of HEEP tonight is gonna be my sixth concert of them. Anyway, arriving at De Pul, it appeared to be almost a full house. The support-act of this evening is Dutch rock band THE BREEZE, a band which exists since 1984. Personally I never had heard of this trio before. They started at 20:15 with "Bad To The Bone". The very simple bluesy Hard Rock they played didn't impress me that much. Especially the drums of Hein van Kastel are so simple. And it looked like he finds himself a terrific good drummer. I can't say that the songs of THE BREEZE are very strong compositions. Okay, the third song they played, "Boogie Town", was a nice one. The band also played two songs of their brand new album "Nightflight" ("Arabia" and "Don't"). Nick Helmond is a reasonable singer, but a good guitarist anyway. I'm not sure if it was during "Working" that Van Kastel did a very simple and unimpressive drum solo. The last song THE BREEZE played was a cover version of THE ROMANTICS' classic "What I Like About You". Great song of course, but just nicely done. Their version even can't compete with the original (which is a real favourite one of me). | |
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FLOTSAM AND JETSAM & MARTYR (23 August 2009) The Rock Temple, Kerkrade, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
The Rock Temple is a nearly new Rock club and today was my third visit to Kerkrade. After the great shows of Vicious Rumors and lately Cage, the venue booked again a great US-metalband; Flotsam & Jetsam. Most positive about the Rock Temple is the awesome sound most of the bands have when they play overhere. | |
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HEADBANGERS OPEN AIR FESTIVAL (23, 24 & 25 July 2009) Brande Hörnerkichen, Germany Review by Mario van Dooren
Headbangers Open Air 2009; the festival I was looking out for already during the 2008 edition! HOA still is my favourite festival (yes, even more important than my own Mario's Metal Meetings!!) and it's always a party to be there! Since 2008 the organisers plan the festival 1 week before the mighty Wacken Open Air festival (also nearby Hamburg). A good commercial action but not so good for the real underground fans that travel to HOA every year. Already months ago the festival was sold out (for the first time) and that was due to the fact that a lot of Wacken travellers made a "stop" in Brande Hornerkirchen. On Thursday evening the "garden" was already crowded like never before! Pity because it didn't do the atmosphere that good. Organisers Thomas & Jurgen both promised me that the festival will never grow bigger than this year's edition (about 2500 people). So let's wait & see what happens in the future….. | |
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AC/DC, THE ANSWER & DRIVE LIKE MARIA (23 June 2009) Arena, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Review by Ad van Osch On Tuesday June 23rd I went, together with a nephew, to the ArenA in Amsterdam by touring car to see AC/DC. I was really looking forward to see AC/DC for the third time in my life. The first two shows I saw of these legendary Australian rockers was on March 15th, 1988 (Rijnhal, Arnhem) and September 1st, 1991 (Goffertpark, Nijmegen). Anyway, we went on time, but because of a traffic jam around Utrecht, we arrived to late at the ArenA, so we totally missed the first band DRIVE LIKE MARIA. When we arrived THE ANSWER was already playing. We only have seen the last three or four songs of them. To bad, because I really would have seen the whole show of THE ANSWER. Exactly at 21:00 the lights went down and the intro tape of AC/DC started. During that intro I just went to one of the bars for some large beers for my nephew and myself and it took me a few minutes before I finally found my nephew again in the field. Anyway, the whole audience was yelling and Angus & co. started their set with "Rock 'n Roll Train" of their "Black Ice" album. Second song was the classic "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be". After the show I heard people say that the sound was to loud, but to me the sound was okay, because I had my special ear plugs in. Anyway, everyone went crazy this evening. Besides "Rock 'n Roll Train" other songs the band played from "Black Ice" are "Big Jack", "Black Ice", "War Machine" and "Anything Goes". The rest of the set existed of real classic songs like "Back In Black", "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", "Shot Down In Flames", "Thunderstruck", "The Jack" with Angus' famous striptease, "Hells Bells", "Shoot To Thrill", "Dog Eat Dog", "You Shook Me All Night Long", "TNT" (Oi Oi) and of course "Whole Lotta Rosie" and "Let There Be Rock". Angus Young still makes lots of kilometers on stage with his famous "Chuck Berry" walk. There was a long catwalk on which Brian Johnson could walk and sing between the audience. As usual, rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young and bassist Cliff Williams are most of the time standing at the backline. On both sides of the stage and behind drummer Phil Rudd there was a very large screen, so that people in the back and on Ring 1 and Ring 2 could see the band better. AC/DC's show always has some special elements, like the large bell during "Hells Bells", a giant Rosie ("Whole Lotta Rosie") and of course the many cannons for "For Those About To Rock". After the regular set the band came back for just two encores, which were "Highway To Hell" and "For Those About To Rock". Anyway, I really enjoyed this show and I'm glad we had a ticket, because, like many others, we had to miss the show in March in Rotterdam because it was sold out very quickly. Hopefully it won't take to long for their next tour and new studio album, because I really would love to see the band some more. | |
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PRONG & DIE SO FLUID (6 June 2009) De Pul, Uden, The Netherlands Review by Frans Neelen
Thanks to the programmers of The Pul in Uden (who do a wonderful job in serving metal for the South of Holland in a very nice venue; you guys did it again with this package !) we are able to loosen up our neck muscles witnessing an all star "Power Trio" Tour as you can call it (both great bands consist of three members). I was looking out for this one because I get to see the awesome Die So Fluid again who are finally seeming to emerge from the London underground. Pure luck it was on the 8th of December 2004 when I headed of to London to see Girlschool. Die So Fluid was the support act right over there and they immediately blew me away with their energetic, powerful show and a combination with Prong, hey, who wants more ……Anyway, DIE SO FLUID kicks off at the early time of 08.10 pm with two songs of their debut album "Spawn of Dysfunction" ( "Bitterness by Discipline" and the superb title track) and I new that this was going to be a memorable evening. Vocalist-bass player Grog is in the possession of a really amazing voice which she fully uses to sing and spit out the marvellous lyrics into the audience. With her explicit looks she is the eye catcher of the band and she knows how to get the attention from the audience. But this is certainly not a one-woman act. Together with guitar player Mr. Drew, who plays his powerful solo's and heavy guitar grooves with a straight face in a quasi nonchalance way, and the driving drums and backing vocals of Al Fletcher this band forms a tight hard rockin' unit. Die So Fluid have memorable songs with hooks, breakdowns and grooves lesser bands would kill for, and they know how to put them across on stage. The music contains so much influences like rock/wave/gothic/powerpop/metal that it is hard to describe, but they have the skills to forge all this into catchy, heavy songs. Their set goes on with the tracks "Happy Halloween", "Vorvolaka" and "Existential Baby" from their impressive second album "Not Everybody Gets a Happy Ending", interrupted by a new, promising song called "Raven" (on the next album; release around September) before ending up much to early with two of the bands favourites "Kiss the Floor" and the biopic "Gang of One" (Yeah !!!). | |
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SACRED REICH & TYPHONIC BLAST (30 May 2009) Dynamo, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Review by Corinne van den Brand
Because the Helstar gig a week earlier was very badly visited I wasn't expecting a full house with SACRED REICH but to my surprise it was crowded when I got there. And very hot!!! The first band was TYPHONOC BLAST from Eindhoven who started at 20.45 hrs. I wasn't really impressed by Freek-vocals, Joris- guitars, Roland-Guitars, Marco- drums and Claudio-bass. A few days later I couldn't remember anything from them except the song 'Fuckface'. They played half an hour and that was long enough for me. Everybody came for the next band: Sacred Reich. | |
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NEUROTIC DEATHFEST (29 & 30 May 2009) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Sammy de Maere & Dennis van Dommelen
Death metal fans from across Europe gathered again at the 013 in Tilburg for the 6th edition of Neurotic Deathfest. Every year the organisation manages to book a wide variety of death metal acts, varying from old school to grind and from the biggest names to underground ones. This year Sammy de Maere (SdM) and Dennis van Dommelen (DvD) were there to report on this great two day festival. | |
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HELSTAR & LANFEAR (24 May 2009) Dynamo, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
I was still not recovered from the superb Cage shows a few days before in Antwerp & Kerkrade and I already had to travel again to see Helstar at the (once legendary) Dynamo club in The Netherlands. | |
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CAGE & DRAGONSFIRE (22 May 2009) The Rock Temple, Kerkrade, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
Just 2 days after their show in Antwerp (see Live Review below) I had the opportunity to see CAGE again and this time in The Netherlands. The Rock Temple is a new metal pub that was opened at the end of 2008. Owner Ludy is a very nice guy that is always willing to help. This time Cage had 2 support acts and as you can guess we nearly missed the first one L. | |
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CAGE (20 May 2009) De Rots, Antwerp, Belgium Review by Mario van Dooren
Last year I had to miss CAGE (and a lot of other great bands) at the 10th anniversary show of the German Keep it True festival because my wife gave birth to a lovely daughter just a few days before the festival.
So when Volker "Swordbrothers" Raabe contacted me if I could be of any help to book some shows for Cage in 2009 I was enthusiastic! Finally I could see the band that released the classic "Darker than Black" album in 2003. I was not familiar with their latest 2 albums ("Hell Destroyer" & |Science of Annihilation") because I never received them to review for MMM (Singer Sean Peck gave me the last album finally during this show; see CD/DVD Reviews). | |
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LEGION OF THE DAMNED, IZEGRIM & DEVIOUS (15 May 2009) Mezz, Breda, The Netherlands Review by Robin van Tilburg
In the last couple of years, Legion of the Damned has managed to become the flag-ship of the Dutch metal scene. A few months ago they released their highly acclaimed fourth album 'Cult of the Dead' which also gained a lot of international attention. Not only does Legion of the Damned convince on their records, they are also more than worth it to watch on stage. In my opinion they are one of the best live Dutch metal acts at this moment. Therefore I traveled to the Mezz in Breda to experience their show again.
When I arrived, the first support act DEVIOUS was about to hit the stage. It was my first acquaintance with this Dutch group and I've got to say: they really surprised me. Devious brings a brutal mixture of death and thrash metal with long, melodic instrumental parts. Their stage performance is what you would call energetic and the threatening look of singer Arnoud is very suitable to the music. Brutal and mean! This band played an excellent show and I would like to see them more often for sure. Devious will soon be releasing their third full length album on Deity Down Records. The same label that recently released the latest Thanatos album. Based on the songs that were played live, this album is going to be a killer. | |
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BACK TO THRASH 2 FESTIVAL (15 May 2009) Willem 1, Arnhem, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
It was a long time ago that I visited this venue but this Friday Willem 1 venue organised an oldschool thrashfestival which suited me very well, especially because I'm organising an equal kind of festival later this year in 013, Tilburg. So it was an ideal opportunity to promote my own festival & to check out some other thrashbands that might by interesting for one of my upcoming festivals J.
When I arrived at the venue the first band CRUSHING JACKHAMMER was already playing and I was only able to see the last 2 songs of their set. Unfortunately I was not a big fan of their "Time to Thrash" demo so I guess I didn't miss that much. It's also not fair to judge this band by the 2 songs I heard. | |
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SAGA & IT BITES (18 April 2009) De Pul, Uden, The Netherlands Review by Jordy Brouwers
On 18 april '09, Saga visited the Pul in Uden to promote their new album "The Human Condition". It Bites is supporting Saga during a part of their European tour, they have also released a new album: The Tall Ships. | |
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ALESTORM, TYR, HEIDEVOLK & ADORNED BROOD (12 April 2009) Biebob, Vosselaar, Belgium Review by Sammy de Maere
In order to bring attention to the release of their upcoming albums Alestorm and Tyr joined hands to tour Europe with a mix of old songs and already a few teasers of the new albums. Heidevolk was also asked to join the tour and Adorned Brood agreed to open the night. Folk fans were in for quite a night as the four bands came onto the stage for a great show. | |
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ERIC SINGER PROJECT (9 February 2009) De Pul, Uden, The Netherlands Review by Ad van Osch
Well, I had thought that this only show of ERIC SINGER PROJECT in The Netherlands would be sold out, because there are so many KISS fans in Holland. But I was wrong, De Pul wasn't sold out, it was just nicely crowded. Perhaps the reason that it wasn't sold out is that it was on a Monday evening. Anyway, the show should begin at 20:15 but it was 20:45 when the band opened with the KISS classic "Parasite", which is sung by bass player Chuck Garrick (ALICE COOPER BAND) who's nickname is Hellvis. The songs of the set were sung by Garrick or John Corabi. Well, to bad the audience wasn't allowed to take pictures of the band, you needed a special photo pass for this show. So if you took some pictures, a co-worker of De Pul would came to you and warn you about it's not allowed to take pictures. I assume this is all because of E.S.P.'s management. Anyway, I didn't recognize the second song of the show, but the third song was the ALICE COOPER classic "Under My Wheels". Actually you can say that the ERIC SINGER PROJECT is the most expensive cover band of the world, because E.S.P. are only playing classic covers and songs of the bands the members are in (or have played/sung in). The band doesn't have any new written songs. E.S.P. has in John Corabi (MÖTLEY CRÜE, UNION, RATT etc.) a good lead singer and front man. Tonight Corabi looks with his goatee, moustache and headscarf on like Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp in "Pirates Of The Caribbean" movies). Some other covers the band played are "Power To The Music" (MÖTLEY CRÜE), "Highway Star" (DEEP PURPLE) with a fantastic guitar solo by Bruce Kulick (ex-KISS, GOOD RATS, UNION, and since 2001 in GRAND FUNK RAILROAD) and "Helter Skelter" (THE BEATLES). Of course because of Eric Singer and Bruce Kulick the band played a lot of KISS songs like "Domino", "Unholy", "Master & Slave" and "I Love It Loud". The whole show I've been standing in the second row in front of Bruce Kulick. Bruce still is a fantastic guitarist. After the regular set E.S.P. returned very quickly for some encores which were the KISS classic "Black Diamond" (of course sung by Eric) and "Tie Your Mother Down" (QUEEN). So after one and a half hour of playing E.S.P. left the stage.
Of course there was a merchandise stand where you could buy pictures, CD's, DVD's, shirts, drumsticks, guitar picks etc. for ridiculous prices. What else is new, if it has something to deal with KISS, well then it's BIG BUSINE$$$$$$$$$. Anyway, there was told the band members should come back for a signing session after 15 minutes, well they finally came back after 30 minutes and there was a long row of fans waiting to let sign only one item by Eric, Bruce, John and Chuck. But all with all I really enjoyed this evening. | |
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GRAVE DIGGER & ALESTORM (6 February 2009) Biebob, Vosselaar, Belgium Review by Sammy de Maere
Due to working late and traffic I missed the first band Taletellers and I didn't hear anyone talking about them so I asume they weren't too bad but didn't give a lingering performance either. | |
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SAXON, ICED EARTH & OUTBURST (3 February 2009)
013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Ad van Osch Well, it has been fourteen years ago since I had seen Saxon live. So I decided to go see them again after all those years. The first time that I saw Saxon was on April 19th, 1991 and the second time was on April 12th, 1995. Both times were at the Noorderligt venue in Tilburg. So, this is gonna be my third concert of Saxon in my life and the first time I see the band in 013. It wasn't sold out, but I think there were about 1200/1300 people. Just a few days before the concert, I had noticed that one of the best metal bands of Tilburg, Outburst, were the opening-act this evening. I've seen them several times so far and I really like their "Fair And Balanced" (2006) album. When I arrived at 013, OUTBURST already had begun, so I missed only two songs ("Slaughterhouse" and "My Own Hell"). The Dommelsch Hall was already nicely filled, but during their set the audience was very tame. This fantastic five piece band stands guarantee for some high quality Thrash metal. The band had a great sound and played some new songs like "What Lies Below" and "Unperfect Skill". And those new songs sounded great. Outburst is working on their second full length album, which is planned for a release in the Spring of 2009. Well, I'm looking forward to the new album of these guys. Anyway, other songs they played were "Your War", "Hollow" and "Hear My Voice". Very good band, but to bad they didn't get that much response. Second band this night is ICED EARTH, which is a very popular band amongst metalheads. Well, personally I'm not that familiar with their material, because I don't have anything of them, but I know that a lot of Iced Earth fans are glad that singer Matt Barlow is back. Last year I saw Iced Earth for the first time at the Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium. And I have to admit that, also now that I've seen them for the second time, they are a very good band. They remind me of a mix between Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Only the sound of Iced Earth wasn't that good during the first five or six songs (at least from were I was standing). And I was not the only one with that opinion. Anyway, some of the songs the band played were "Burning Times", "Vengeance Is Mine", the semi-ballad "Watching Over Me" and "Dracula". After a set of one hour the band came back for just one encore, which was "Iced Earth". Around 21:25 headliner SAXON entered the stage of 013 and they opened their set with "Battalions Of Steel", the first song of their brand new album "Into The Labyrinth". The second song was "Let Me Feel Your Power" of the "The Inner Sanctum" (2007) album. The atmosphere in 013 was fantastic and everyone went crazy during Saxon's show, especially with the classics of the band. I was really surprised that one of those classics, "Dallas 1 PM", was so early in the set. Of course Biff & Co. are promoting their newest album with this tour and other songs they played of "Into The Labyrinth" were "Demon Sweeny Todd", "Hellcat" and "Valley Of The Kings". Biff is still a fantastic singer and a great performer. Saxon is a solid Metal band with great musicians. The band played a simple show, no guitar solos or a drum solo, just fantastic songs. Besides songs from the new album, the band played mostly old classics like "Heavy Metal Thunder", "Power And The Glory" and "Crusader", which was the last song of the regular set. The band came back very quickly for their encores. The first encore Saxon played was "Live To Rock" from the new album, which sounds a little bit like AC/DC. The other two encores were the classics "Princess Of The Night" and "Denim And Leather". And with these songs the show ended at 22:40. Well, I'm glad I went to see Saxon again, because it was fantastic and I enjoyed it very much. But I really missed some classics like "747 (Strangers In The Night)", "Motorcycle Man", "Wheels Of Steel" and "The Eagle Has Landed". |
2008 |
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CHRISTMAS METAL SYMPHONY (28 December 2008) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Kees Schijven
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WHITESNAKE & STONEFLY (21 December 2008) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Mr. Globbetrotter
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DORO; 25 Years in Rock (13 December 2008) ISS Dome, Dusseldorf, Germany Review by Kees Schijven
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SICK OF IT ALL & GUEST (Persistance Tour) (10 December 2008) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Dennis van Dommelen
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CRADLE OF FILTH, GORGOROTH, MOONSPELL, SEPTICFLESH (3 December 2008) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Dennis van Dommelen
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MOTORHEAD, DANKO JONES (24 November 2008) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
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SATYRICON, EVILE, ZONARIA (20 November 2008) Melkweg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Review by Dennis van Dommelen
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UNLEASHED, KRISIUN, ONE MAN ARMY & THE UNDEAD QUARTET (19 November 2008) Effenaar, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Review by Corinne v/d Brand
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MARIO'S METAL MEETING 2 (9 November 2008) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by several magazines/webzines
This was the second edition of Mario's Metal Meeting and because it was organised by Mario's Metal Mania it would not be fair to review my own festival :) For that reason I only add links to the several reviews on webzines & magazines: |
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VICIOUS RUMORS, COURAGEOUS, MYTHOLIC (8 November 2008) The Rock Temple, Kerkrade, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
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KAMPFAR, KOLDBRANN, CUTTHROAT, MONDVOLLAND (2 November 2008) Azijnfabriek, Roermond, The Netherlands Review by Dennis van Dommelen
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GRAND MAGUS, SERPENT CULT, MONSTERTONE, SOUTHERN VOODOO (1 November 2008) Dynamo, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Review by William Nijhof
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MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP (MSG), DIGGETH (23 October 2008) De Pul, Uden, The Netherlands Review by Mr. Globbetrotter
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SWORDBROTHERS 7 FESTIVAL (13 September 2008) Andernach, Germany Review by Mario van Dooren
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LOUD FROM THE SOUTH FESTIVAL (30 August 2008) Eindhoven, The Netherlands Review by Dennis van Dommelen
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PARTY SAN FESTIVAL (7, 8 & 9 August 2008) Bad Berka, Germany Review by Sammy de Maere
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WACKEN OPEN AIR FESTIVAL (30 July till 2 August 2008) Wacken, Germany Review by Dennis van Dommelen
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HEADBANGERS OPEN AIR FESTIVAL (24, 25 & 26 July 2008)
Brande-Hörnerkirchen, Germany Review by Mario van Dooren Headbangers Open Air is for me THE festival as a lot of people already know. This years edition was my 5th visit to the festival with a line-up I could only dream about!! Okay, the Keep it True festival always has bigger names on the bill but the atmosphere in combination with the great underground bands that are playing at HOA is unbelievable!! After a bit weaker 10th edition in 2007, HOA put a line up together that was marvellous! Pim from Digital Steel webzine & Melissa Records joined me during this battle of attrition and my pictures will be added to the Digital Steel webzine later on. DAY 1 Due to traffic jam nearby Hamburg we had to miss the first band MESSENGER from Germany. Pity because I saw the band a few years ago at the KIT festival and they where okay that time. Italian metallers ANCESTRAL cancelled their gig just a few days before the festival and where replaced by a NWOBHM tribute-band named ROXXCALIBUR. These guys (with members of VIRON & ABANDONED) where already doing their things when we arrived at the festival. Gladly we could pick up some covers of bands like JAGUAR, GRIM REAPER & SAVAGE. Nice tribute band but I prefer to see these kind of bands at metal parties and not at a festival like HOA. Maybe it also has to do with the fact that I never was such a huge NWOBHM fan?? DEADLY BLESSING was one of the reasons/bands I travelled to North Germany. Their older stuff is great and their former singer Ski (now in Faith Factor) is one of my alltime fav. metalsingers. His voice is incredible. So I was very curious about his successor and the new songs of the band. After opening with "Search & Destroy" I already had a bad feeling. Their new singer isnt bad at all but on stage it was a kind of a disappointment. After a few songs he began to sing even more out of tune and that's a pity if you know how good the band was in the past. Musically they still kick ass, eventhough the new songs are more Maiden-a-like than their previous material. The band played a nice mix of older & newer songs. Later on I heard that the singer had a throat infection so I have to give the band a second opinion some day. According the 2-track demo the band gave me, I have to admit that the new songs sound cool and the vocals do remind me a lot to Alan Tecchio (ex-Hades, Ex-Watchtower, Seven Witches, et al…). Review of that demo will be online soon… A few years ago I also saw BENEDICTUM with front-lady Veronica Freeman. During that gig in Belgium (Biebob) I wasn't impressed by her vocals because she was screaming (in a negative way) and it didn't sound like singing that time. Luckily this time she was singing much much better and their gig turned out to be the best gig on Thursday. Veronica is not only a lust to SEE on stage because of her looks but also because of her stage act. A very fanatic stage animal which finally proved me that their 2 great albums can be performed live as well. I also had the feeling that the line-up changes could be debit for a big part of that. The band played an Accept cover 'Balls to the Wall" with two great guest 'singers' from the audience which where both having as much fun as we had, hahahaha. Good show!! EXODUS was the headliner on Thursday. After nearly 1 hour soundcheck the band finally started. Personally I did like their show a few weeks ago at the Dynamo Club in Eindhoven but I was irritated by the political bullshit the new frontman Rob Dukes was talking about. Tonight he did it again. Nobody is waiting for his opinion, especially not a true-metal audience!! The band at all didn't fit in the HOA line-up because of the hardcore throat of Rob Duke which wasn't appreciated by most of the people I spoke to after/during the show. Some songs of their setlist: 'Bonded by Blood', 'Lessons in Violence', 'Fabulous Disaster'. Nice headliner for a dutch audience but not for HOA followers….. DAY 2 BLACK HAWK from Germany where opening on day 2 and the band played standard heavy metal, nothing more nothing less. I heard this kind of metal all before but I have to admit that the band performed well. I also didnt like the Kiss cover 'Detroit Rock City" just because I dont like Kiss at all! Nice opener but not spectacular. German Speedmetallers PARADOX where the next band on the bill but they cancelled (I first heard they where not satisfied with their place on the bill but later on I read the news that there singer was ill and now they will play at next years HOA)??) and where replaced by, again, DEADLY BLESSING who already played the day before. The gig was nearly equal to their show on Thursday so take a look back for details…. 18 years ago I already saw MORTAL SIN when they supported TESTAMENT in my hometown Tilburg. That time I was not really impressed by the band even if I did like their debut album "Mayhemic Destruction" very much. So my expectations for today where not very high. The more I was surprised by their stage performance: I was really blown away by their energy!!! What a power!! Their singer was really fun to see: headbanging & singing all the time. I could nearly see his face because his head was banging the whole set! Superb gig especially because I didn't excpect that much from these Australian guys! Also the newer songs (from their last album: "An Absence of Faith") sounded great. SWEET SAVAGE was the first "real" NWOBHM band on this years edition. I already saw the band 10 years ago at the Wacken festival. The band is most wellknown for the fact that their former guitarplayer Vivian Campbell (according the dutch Aardschok magazine; the best metal female guitarist ever, hhahahahaha) was picked up by Ronnie James DIO and later moved to DEF LEPPARD. The band wasn't looking that young anymore but I could see that they still had a lot of fun on stage! I had to wait till the end of the set before they played their classic songs "Eye of the Storm" & "Killing Time". Good show from this oldies!!! One of the most important bands for me to visit HOA again was LETHAL (USA). Last year the band blew me away during their Keep it True appaerance and I was so curious if they could do it again this time. Well, they did! Singer Tom Mallicoat is still a singing metalgod even if he looks very nervous on stage. The band is musically oiled very well and it was again a pleasure to see/hear these guys! Also the day after, at the HOA afterparty at the Ballroom in Hamburg, the band was superb. The band played a lot of songs from their debut album "Programmed" but also some later stuff and even a new song! The band had the bad luck that during the last couple of songs, Tom's microphone had a breakdown on the line. Gladly this was solved after 2 songs. Cant wait to hear the new songs! Hope they come back to Europe again soon!! LETHAL rules!! US thrashers AT WAR was a band that I liked very much in the past and im a big fan of their 2 albums. Pity enough I never saw the band earlier and the more I was pleased when I heard they did play HOA!! The 3-man band played in the orginal line-up which is ofcourse extra fun! The band played mostly songs from their 2 albums but also played some new song(s) and a Motörhead cover "The Hammer". The band had a special sound in the old days and it was great to hear that they still had this sounds on stage! Very good show from these guys! Some songs from their setlist: 'Church & State', 'Ilsa (She Wolf Of The S.S.)', 'Eat Lead', 'Rapechase', 'Ordered To Kill', 'Mortally Wounded', et al... Please come back asap!! US Schock rockers IMPALER where also on the bill but I never liked their stuff anyway. Also now on stage the band couldn't impress me for 1 minute. Their "show" looked childish and is not of this time. A guy with a bloody shirt running around the whole time on stage is looking cheap and reminded me to the Mad Butcher from Destruction. Difference is that Destruction uses this act for only 1 song, Impaler used him the whole set. Not my kind of band. A waste of time… DETÈNTE played finally in Europe with a nearly original line-up; nearly ofcourse because original singer Dawn Crosby died years ago (in 1996, due to a acute liver failure). The band found a replacement in Ann Boleyn (ex-Hellion). Ann was doing a good job even if she doesn't fit in perfectly. Why? Ann's voice is much more melodic than Dawn's voice ever was. Still they convinced me live and I have to be honest that they could have picked out a worse substitute for Dawn! Personally I didn't expect to much of this reunion but I was positive surprised by the band musicianship and Ann's performance! Some of the songs from their setlist: "Holy War', 'It's Your Fate', 'Life is Pain', 'Vultures In The Sky'. Good show!! I will not say to much about the headliners BLAZE BAYLEY & SODOM because I only saw parts of the shows and I never was a real fan of both bands. Day 2 was at an end and we went back to our hotel to rest for day 3…. DAY 3 STONE COLD BLACK from the Hamburg area was opening on the last festival day (we still had the afterparty to go…..) but their raw metal/pop couldn't convince me for 1 minute, Musically it was okay but their "singer" was terrible to hear….skip...... ABANDONED is one of todays newcomers in the German thrashscene and today they did a good job. Their singer isnt such a great vocalist but his appearance on stage is making it all worth to check these guys out. It suited me that he was complaining about the Exodus performance in which he was, to my opinion totally right! (read my Exodus review above). Abandoned plays straigth is your face thrash which I like very much. Good show guys! Pity of a few false guitarsolos. German thrash still kicks ass!! US thrashers DESTRUCTOR played to early on the time schedule if you ask me. Im a big Destructor fan from the first minute and they only released good albums during all these years. I saw the band several years ago at the Bang Your Head festival and they blew me away! Last time at the Keep it True festival they where playing a bit less inspired so I was curious about their show today. Luckily for me the band was giving a great show again and it was for me one of the headlights of this years HOA. Only complain (same as on KIT) was that they didn't play "Bondage" again… But their singer promised me to do that next time for me specially:). Some of their songs they did play: 'Tear down the Heavens', 'Destruction', 'Take Command', 'Maximum Destruction', 'Iron Curtain', 'Storm of Steel', 'Pounding Evil', 'Overdose'. Great show!! PRAYING MANTIS is most wellknown because ex-Iron Maiden guitarplayer Dennis Stratton was once one of their guitarplayers. The band makes NWOBHM which I did like but when you compare it with SWEET SAVAGE it was not that special. Nevertheless the band has a great singer! Nice band but not really my cup of tea (or in HOA terms; not my glass of beer)... AXEHAMMER from the USA made some great albums but last time at the Keep it True festival they really sucked!! That time their original singer Bill Ramp was singing out of tune the whole set and I was glad when I heard that he "left" the band. Their new singer used to sing in the US cultband THRUST ("Fist Held High" album) and it was a good refreshment in the Axehammer line-up. Personally I couldn't recognize his voice anymore because in his Thrust period he had a more high-pitched voice. Now he wasn't singing that high but he had an incredible power in his voice. (Lately singer Mark Stewart contacted me and told me that HE was not the singer during the "Fist Held High" period). Good show anyway this time! Hope to see them more in the near future! Some songs they played: 'Princess", 'Lord of the Realm', 'Axehammer', 'Stand Up and Fight'. WILD DOGS; came, saw & sucked! What a terrible disaster!! Most of the people where waiting for an old school Wild Dogs set but Fatt Matt (now I know why he uses this name) also played a lot of songs from his Fatt Matt & Dr. Mastermind projects. Even the "Reign of Terror" performance sounded very very weak. One of the biggest disappointments of this years HOA!! Because of a hunger attack I missed REBELLION One of the US bands I went over to HOA again was the slightly progressive metalband NEW EDEN. The band showed up with a new singer (Rod Arias) and I was curious if he could replace his predecessor Rick Mythiasin; well he could! The band had several problems with their sound and started more than an hour to late. Nevertheless they gave a good performance but it counted me that this kind of progressive metal isnt that popular in the German underground scene. A few years ago I saw the same problem when Pyramaze played at HOA. Little disadvantage to the band was the fact that second guitarplayer Tim Thomas wasn't in the band anymore and that bandleader Horacio Colmenares was the only guitarist in the band which didn't gave the total sound a extra. Still New Eden kicked ass! Setlist according the band: 'Piracy', 'Sunshine', 'Sypmptoms of Time', 'Dance of the Dead', 'Demons of Earth', Land of Filth & Money', 'Stagnant Progression', 'Threshold of Tolerance', 'Crawling Erect' & 'The Not Self". As a bonus they also played Iron Maiden's 'Running Free'. 26 years ago I saw PICTURE from my homeland The Netherlands for the frist & last time! I've never been such a great Picture fan but I have to admit that they played a very tight show this evening. Their singers voice didn't stand the time that good but the rest of the band was playing very well. Funny to see how popular this kind of dutch metalbands are in Germany. Good show and a good choice of the organisers to put the band so high on the time schedule! Some of their songs: 'Heavy Metal Ears', 'Eternal Dark', 'Choosing your Sign', 'Unemployed', 'Battle For The Universe', 'Live by the Sword'. The most important band for me to come over to Brande Hörnerkirchen was the fact that my metal-hero Dan Beehler showed up with his "new" band BËEHLER. Dan Beehler is most wellknown for his incredible drumming & singing in the old EXCITER line-up. Also ex-EXCITER bassplayer Allan Johnson was in the band together with guitarplayers Sean Brophy & Scott Walsh. The band played an incredible set with lots of old EXCITER stuff and a few Beehler songs for their demos (which are already collector's items). The sound was a bit hard but bands like EXCITER/BEEHLER can effort this. Man, I had a hell of a time to see Dan Beehler playing drums & screaming out his lungs just like in the (his) old days! The absolute highlight for me this edition of HOA!!! Superb!!! Watch for their setlist and get scarred!!!: 'Stand up & Fight', 'Heavy Metal Maniac', 'Iron Dogs', 'Evil Sinner', 'Black Witch', 'Rising of the Dead', 'Pounding Metal', 'Beyond the Gates of Doom', 'Violence & Force', 'Ace of Spades (Motörhead cover)', 'Long Live the Loud' and some songs from the Bëehler demos: 'One Foot In Your Grave', 'Destroy', 'Used Bitch' & 'Psychotron'. I only knew the headliner from saturday DEATH SS from their name & cult status so I was curious to check them out. Well it was all nice done, good musicianship, nice (but bit childish) show and a fanatic audience. Not really my cup of tea but still a well chosen headliner which is appreciated very much by the real underground visitors!! 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. from Digital Steel (webzine) for joining me to this Mekka of Metal! The overal sound of nearly all the bands was much better than before! Only little complain I have is about the variety of food and im also afraid that HOA will become to big. This year there where already a lot of Wacken visitors which used HOA as a warm up festival :( Till next year my German Underground Metal Friends!! HOA ruled again!!! |
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MAGIC CIRCLE FESTIVAL PART 2 (10, 11 & 12 July 2008) Bad Arolsen, Germany Review by Sammy de Maere
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ACE FREHLEY, SOUTHERN WEREWOLF FARM (12 June 2008) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Ad van Osch
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TESTAMENT, OUTBURST (3 June 2008) Dynamo, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
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GLENN HUGHES (1 June 2008) Plato, Helmond, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
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BORSTROCK FESTIVAL (17 May 2008) Nieuw-Vossemeer, The Netherlands Review by Ronny Elst and Sien Willemse
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JOE SATRIANI, REAL MEN DON'T DANCE (10 May 2008) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Ad van Osch
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AXTHOR (9 May 2008) Beerse, Belgium Review by Ronny Elst
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INTO THE ARENA (1 May 2008) Motor Blues Festival, Geertruidenberg, The Netherlands Review by Mr. Globbetrotter
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HEIDEVOLK, BLACK MESSIAH (25 April 2008) Willemeen, Arnhem, The Netherlands Review by Dennis van Dommelen
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EXODUS, EVILE (14 April 2008) Dynamo, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
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ONSLAUGHT, SUICIDAL ANGELS, SEPIROTH (11 April 2008) Dynamo, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
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KEEP IT TRUE FESTIVAL X (4& 5 April 2008) Lauda-Konigshofen, Germany Review by Kostas Kounadinis
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BRAINSTORM, PAGAN'S MIND (7 March 2008) De Bosuil, Weert, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
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FLOTSAM & JETSAM, NON DIVINE, IZEGRIM (3 March 2008) Dynamo, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
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MUNICIPAL WASTE, TOXIC HOLOCAUST (11 February 2008) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Dennis van Dommelen
With two bands bringing the best of the 80's thrash revival going on at the moment the 013 was packed on a Monday evening. Headbangers, skins, punks, fans of the younger-but also from the older generation. The way it is meant to be. |
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HELLOWEEN, GAMMA RAY, AXXIS (7 January 2008) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Marco van Empel
AXXIS: Unfortunately I missed this one because of some problems with the public transport. But what I've heard of it, it sounds like I've missed a good show and a good band I haven't heard before. |
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OBITUARY, HOLY MOSES, AVATAR (4 January 2008) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Kees Schijven
This is one tour I've been looking forward too, with two of my favorite bands on it, namely Holy Moses and Obituary. This is only the second night of the tour in one of the best concert venues of our country, 013! The night before they played at the Hedon in Zwolle, where I also went to see them, as I don't want to miss out on my favorite bands playing over here! In contradiction to the night before, 013 wasn't sold out, but the amount of people attending was about the same I guess being a much bigger venue, with about 5 or 6 hundred being there. |
2007VENGEANCE, ROADKILL (12 December 2007)013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Mr. Globbetrotter
I was "going to a party on a Wednesday night", so to speak. Vengeance was to do a cd presentation gig in Tilburg, with coming band Roadkill as their support act. Starting with ROADKILL, the band did their best to warm up the audience for main act Vengeance, and partly succeeded in just doing that. The band had just released their debut album "Dark Side" so for them, it was a good thing that they were asked to tour with Vengeance. I don't know about sales figures of their debut album, but the audience seemed to appreciate what was brought on stage. They had about 45 minutes before the break would pave the path for VENGEANCE to shine on stage. |
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CARNIVORE, RAGING SPEEDHORN, MILKMAN (11 December 2007) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
This evening was one I was looking out for months already. Carnivore was one of the few 80’s metalbands which I never saw before simply because they never came over to The Netherlands earlier. The band had 2 support acts in Tilburg which both didn’t fit into this package if you ask me. MILKMAN from Tilburg, The Netherlands played a home match. The band played fast old-school hardcore in the vein of bands like D.R.I., S.O.D. & M.D.C. The band played for about 30 minutes full of old-school hardcore/punk. They played some songs from their latest album “Nostalgiator” but also some older stuff and even a Slayer & S.O.D. cover. Nice show but pity that the band had a bad sound quality on stage. |
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TSA, NEVIM (24 November 2007) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Marco van Empel
I thought I was dreaming when I saw this pronounce: TSA in my own town, wow! TSA is the AC/DC and DEEP PURPLE from Poland and attracts many visitors in their homeland. Me, as a big fan from this Polish Heavy Metal band, already have their classic albums "Heavy Metal World(1985)", "TSA(1981/1982)" and their new one "Proceder", who is less good, in my home for years! So it was really great to see these giants live. But before that, we saw the Czech child Rock/Metal band NEVIM: three long-haired boys between the age of 12 and 16 which were totally great! While they were a little unsure on stage, their music sounded great. The tiny bass player was singing with his fragile and soft child voice "I love rock 'n'roll " from JOAN JETT. It was so cute to see. The tough little drummer that constantly stole the show behind his drumkit and the tough guitarist/singer who was imitating Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin, it was all great! Their own material and covers they played were pleasant, like NICKLEBACK, LIVE, NIRVANA and the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, METALLICA, BLACK SABBATH ("paranoid"), OZZY OSBOURNE ("Facing Hell") and two songs of JUDAS PRIEST ("Breaking the law" and "Living after Midnight"). |
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MOTÖRHEAD, OVERKILL (20 November 2007) Rodahal, Kerkrade, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
Today it was a kind of jubilee for me; this night I would see Motörhead for the 40th time live! Also the fact that they brought Overkill as support was a special reason for me to drive to the south of Holland to see 2 bands that always impressed me a lot! |
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MARIO'S METAL MEETING (11 November 2007) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by several magazines/webzines
This was the first edition of Mario's Metal Meeting and because it was organised by Mario's Metal Mania it would not be fair to review my own festival :) For that reason I only add links to the several reviews on webzines & magazines: |
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ETERNAL ROCK FESTIVAL (13 October 2007) Hanenhof, Geleen, The Netherlands Review by Marco van Empel
Saturday morning around 12 o clock me and some of my friends left to Geleen to visit the second edition of The ‘Eternal Rock Festival’. Their organistator ‘Ludy’ had already told me that he wasn’t expecting a lot of people, and unfortunately he was right. I think there were only about 200 people around the evening… Much too less for such a cool festival! |
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VICIOUS RUMORS, AGENT STEEL, AFTER ALL (6 September 2007) De Bosuil, Weert, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
AFTER ALL had the honour to open this night of pure, heavy speed metal. I have never been a big fan of this Belgium band because live they never could impress me. After their latest album "This Violent Decline", which I rated very high, my expectations where much higher than normally. Well, the more disappointed I was again. Singer Piet Focroul is a very energetic frontman but live his vocals still cant impress me at all. The band played mostly songs from their latest albums but as said, live they are not turning out that great. After All had the bad luck that they also had a very moderate sound during the whole gig. Sorry guys, hopefully next time better |
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HEADBANGERS OPEN AIR FESTIVAL (12, 13 & 14 July 2007)
Brande-Hörnerkirchen, Germany Review by Mario van Dooren 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!! |
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TESLA (29 June 2007) Plato, Helmond, The Netherlands Review by Marco van Empel Finally it was time, the American TESLA in my own country! For months I’ve waited but finally this was it. Tesla started their set with the Bluesy ‘Comin’ Atcha Live’ , and after that they immediately played the newer title song of the "Into the Know" album from 2004. After that it was time for some real classics like for example: 'The way it is', 'Modern Day Cowboy' and 'Lazy Days Crazy Nights'. Great to finally hear this classics from my youth live. After this we’ve got the great surprise that they were gonna play UFO’s 'Rock Bottom', which ofcourse is a classic for every self respecting hardrocker. After that 'Little Suzy' and 'Love Song', these guys just couldn’t stop with their great hardrock, wow! All the classics were played with full enthousiasm and joy and ofcourse not a single classic wasn’t played. What you give, 'Miles away', 'Thank You' and 'Signs', they were played every single one! Tesla even played some material from their upcoming cd: "Real to Reel". So the setlist was just perfect. Every bandmember had the qualities to give a perfect musical show, for which they didn’t need nonsense and/or a stage act. The guitarsolo’s of leadguitarist Frank Hannon gave you the goosebumbs all over your back en Jeff Keith’s vocals sounded really American, that guy really has a great accent. The hall was filled for 95% with real hardrockfans and every single one had to admit that it was really worth the effort in Helmond. The audience was really enthousiastic and that made the band play better. Tesla excists since 1986 and they haven’t changed their style and looks at all, all the bandmembers except for their drummer Troy Loccetta still have long hair, and they all (which includes the new guy “Dave Rude” ) still live for pure Rock ’n Roll. Tesla gave us a really energetic and good show here in Helmond, which will haunt my memories for a long time. I’m curious how it was at the Arrow Rock Festival because Helmond was brilliant!!! |
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PAUL GILBERT (30 May 2007) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Marco van Empel & Nick Polak
Wednesday, May the 30th, we've got the message to visit/review a concert in one of our local concert venues 013 of one of the best allround guitar players ever. |
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AXEL RUDI PELL & MAD MAX (26 May 2007) Plato, Helmond, The Netherlands Review by Marco van Empel
Hardocker 'Ludy' from Limburg did it again with his Eternal Rock
Promotion. Ludy organised another oldschool melodic hardrock concert. This
concert was actually suppossed to be at '9 February 2007', but because of
'Pell' being ill the concert was moved to 26th May. |
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SWORDBROTHERS FESTIVAL (19 May 2007)
Club Juz, Andernach, Germany Review by Mario van Dooren 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)) |
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L.A. GUNS, POINTERS HEAD, HOTT (3 May 2007) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Marco van Empel
A perfect evening of sleazerocking in own town ! All local glamboys were here for the local evening of some glam metal! It was still very calm but ofcourse the die hard hairsprayers were already here! |
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TRIVIUM, ANNIHILATOR, SANCTITY (2 May 2007) 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Joey Ferwerda & Nino v/d Mark
The opener for this evening was SANCTITY: This is a band that earned
recognition before their first album was even released, according to their website. Trivium frontman Matthew K. Heafy saw their show and liked it so much that he helped them get a record deal, and Megadeth's frontman Dave Mustaine invited them to the second outing of his Gigantour festival. They play Melodic Thrash-Metal with a heavy metal sound with it, but try to do some new things as well, and the result is grinding riffs and screaming solo's backed by the raw vocals their frontman Jared supplies. Technically this band is top-notch. Additionally, they really know how to get the crowd warmed up, before they even started playing they had the crowd's full attention, and where able to hold it through most (if not the entire) show. The legendary 'bang your head, tits, cunt or whatever' showed up and
everyone thrashed there way to the end of the show! To bad the sound was killing everyone's ears.. better hire a new sound-guy. The band was good.. no better.. there great! Seriously this guys rock so check them out! |
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KEEP IT TRUE FESTIVAL VIII (14 April 2007) Lauda-Konigshofen, Germany Review by Mario van Dooren
Opener CAULDRON from Canada will not be very wellknown by most of the thrashers in Europe. The bandname they originally had a few years ago was GOATHORN. I reviewed the Goathorn album a while ago but I was not familiar with the new Cauldron stuff. Cauldron played a nice set of 80's thrashmetal but couldnt impress the audience that much; maybe because of their very moderate sound. Nevertheless a very nice opener! |
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KEEP IT TRUE WARM UP SHOW (13 April 2007) Dittigheim, Germany Review by Mario van Dooren
The 8th edition of KIT and for me the 7th time to visit this great festival (I only missed edition 1...). Because this time KIT was doing the "big" edition there was again a warm-up show on friday in Dittigheim. |
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LANA LANE & ROCKET SCIENTISTS (9 April 2007)
Biebob, Vosselaar, Belgium Review by Mr. Globetrotter
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. |
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HEADWAY FESTIVAL V (6 & 7 April 2007)
P60, Amstelveen, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
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! |
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RUSTY CAGE FESTIVAL (16 March 2007)
Dynamo, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren
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. |
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KREATOR, CELTIC FROST, LEGION OF THE DAMNED, WATAIN (11 March 2007)
013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Marco van Empel
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. |
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THRASH 'TILLBURG FEST (18 February 2007)
013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Marco van Empel
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. |
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THERION, GRAVE DIGGER, SABATON (16 February 2007)
013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Marco van Empel
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! |
2006ETERNAL ROCK FESTIVAL (7 October 2006)Hanenhof, Geleen, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren 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!! |
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TILBURG HEADBANGERS FEST (30 September 2006)
Cafe Extase, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Kees Schijven 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… |
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SWORDBROTHERS FESTIVAL (16 September 2006)
Club Juz, Andernach, Germany Review by Mario van Dooren 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) |
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HEADBANGERS OPEN AIR FESTIVAL (14 & 15 July 2006)
Brande-Hörnerkirchen, Germany Review by Mario van Dooren 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. DAY2 After a quick breakfast we had to hurry up for day 2 of the festival..... Opener TALES OF HORROR was already blessed with a good sound quality and their kind of heavy metal suited me. Pity that their singer couldnt hit the higher notes but after all this was a very nice gig! CHAIN REACTION from Germany where the winning band of this years metal contest "Metal Battle". Every year the winning team gets a spot on the Headbangers Open Air festival. Personally they couldnt impress me for one second. The band was musically very moderate and the female singer was even worse!! If they where the winning band; how bad are the other bands that battled during the contest?? TRINAKRIUS was called a doom metalband by a lot of people but personally I dont think they belong to this catagory. The band played a lot of up-tempo songs, had a good singer & good musicians. This was a very positive surprise to me!! MILES BEYOND already took me by surprise with their great debut album last year, so I was very curious about these guys. Well, again, a great band from the USA!! Miles Beyond came, saw & conquered (when its up to me)! On stage the band is even much better than on CD. Also their afterparty gig at the Ballroom in Hamburg on Sunday blew me away! Awesome performance with great musicianship, superb singer & great sound. If you ever have the chance to see this band live, don't hesitate!! Their maiden-a-like sound will bring you in extase. Miles Beyond was this years winning band for me! No time to rest because the next USA/Danish metalband jumped on stage: PYRAMAZE. Singer Lance King (also in Avian) has a superb voice and fits perfect to the music of this Danish band. The band isnt that popular by most of the HOA visitors but that has to do with their progressive kind of metal I suppose…….. Most of the visitors are true metal warriors and probably dont know how to handle this kind of progressive music. After Miles Beyond, again, a highlight for me!! Because i've seen METAL INQUISITOR already several times in the past, I planned my diner break during their gig. I like their music very well but I have to admit that it all sounds to standard for me. After our diner break we had to hurry up again to see the next US-metal band:ULYSSES SIREN. Before HOA I never heard of this band. Its a shame because the band already did exist in the early 80's. The band plays a kind of US-thrashmetal in the vein of bands like; Violence, Exodus & Dark Angel. During their gigs (they also played the afterparty in Hamburg) I got the 80's feeling back again; it felt like I was 20 again (or was it because of the high alcohol level in my body???). A very energetic live band which I hope to see more in the near future! Great performance!! UK legends PRAYING MANTIS had the luck to have an old Iron Maiden member in their ranks; Dennis Straton. Well, had, because he is not in the band anymore these days. Musically it doenst make any difference; I've seen the band already several years ago but still they cant impress me with their standard NWOBHM. Not my piece of cake…… METAL CHURCH; What to tell about this US band?? They have always been one of my alltime fav. bands in heavy metal. The "new" singer Ronnie Montrose is superb and sounds a lot like David Wayne (R.I.P.) in his real old days. Metal Church have a lot of classic albums and they played a very divers set with songs like: 'A light in the Dark', 'Badlands', 'Ton of Bricks', 'Start the Fire', 'Watch the Children play' (dedicated to David Wayne), 'Mirror of Light', 'The Dark', 'Cradle to the Grave', 'Date with Poverty', 'Gods of Wrath', 'Beyond the Black', 'Metal Church' and the Deep Purple cover 'Highway Star'. The band gave a great performance as usual. Again a great show! GIRLSCHOOL was the next band to "jump" on stage. Well jump; the two old original members probably already use a rollator to reach the stage (just kiddin'). I've never been such a great Girlschool fan and I think the highlight of the bands career is the cooperation with Lemmy (Motorhead for the newcomers) years & years ago. Probably they have to refresh the line-up once in a while to keep on going….. Not a bad performance at all but not really my style of metal/rock. Headliner BLITZKRIEG already surprised me a few years ago during their KIT performance. Tonight singer Brian Ross was again singing very good and the band even did a good coverversion of Judas Priest's 'Breaking the Law'. A very nice show and a welcome curfew of the festival!! This years edition of HOA was the best i've seen till now!! The line-up had a lot of variation and I still am homesick when I think back about the festival. Thomas, Jurgen & Mac; thanx again for this great festival! I had a hell of a time and I will be back next year; thats for sure!!! Headbangers Open Air rules!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cheers; Mario |
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KEEP IT TRUE FESTIVAL VI (8 April 2006) Lauda-Konigshofen, Germany Review by Mario van Dooren
POWERVICE from my homeland (The Netherlands) had the honour to open this edition of the Keep it True festival. And they did a hell of a job!!! The band, that only has a 3-track demo released, came-saw & conquered KIT!! The opener 'Hands of Glory' already got a great respons from the audience. Their Maiden-a-like heavy metal fits perfekt to this festival and its incredible to see how easily singer "Stockie" hits the high notes!! This band has the future, especially in countries like Germany where heavy metal never died!!
One of the best openings bands KIT ever had (and i'm not chauvinistic at all!) |
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KEEP IT TRUE WARM-UP SHOW (7 April 2006) Sporthalle, Dittigheim, Germany Review by Mario van Dooren First band to kick-off for, again, a great metalweekend in Germany was DANTESCO; a heavy/doom metalband from Puerto Rico. Their singer is a yearly visitor of the festival so these guys have their metalheart on the right place! The band played a nice set but I have to admit that the looks of the singer (he reminded me of Demis Roussos) where more impressive than his sometimes boring voice. Nice opener after all. SEVEN WITCHES frontman Jack Frost has the capability to engage a lot of great singers during the career of his band. After Bobby Lucas (now in Overlorde), Wade Black (ex-Crimson Glory, now in Leatherwolf), James Rivera (Helstar, Destiny's End, etc.) he now has another giant ensnared: Allan Tecchio (Hades, ex- Watchtower, etc). Funny is that every time I see Seven Witches, the singers are the most important members of the band. Founder Jack Frost on the contrary is a very, very moderate guitarplayer. Allan Tecchio was, again, after all these years singing awesome but personally I think he does not fit in the kind of metal Seven Witches make. Older songs like ' Metal Tyrants' and ' Exiled & Infinity" didnt sound that good with his voice. The Judas Priest cover 'Victim of Changes' on the other hand blew everything down!! Rob Halford (the metal gay) should be jealous of him!! Good show but I prefer Allan Tecchio during his Watchtower, Hades & Power period! DRIFTER from Switzerland didnt play anymore in Germany for more than 12 years. Well, when its up to me (and a lot of other visitors I spoke) they should stay away again for at least 12 years! Totally crap, this band was really boring!! ASSASSIN played a very nice set. The band was very fanatic on stage and the audience liked it very much. They have a moderate singer in their ranks but when you play a lot of old classics; nobody complains! After the collapse of Drifter it was good to see/hear this band. Nice show! Headliner DEMON (who was doing a tour these days with Seven Witches) played a very reliable show with a good sound but, again, couldnt impress me. I've seen the band a few times before and every time they do disappoint me a bit. With the good sound quality & some classic songs, Demon was quit rightly the headliner of this warm-up show! |
2005KEEP IT TRUE FESTIVAL (5 November 2005)Sporthalle, Dittigheim, Germany Review by Mario van Dooren KIT is together with the Headbangers Open Air festival one of the most important festivals to me personally!! I'm not gonna subscribe the great atmosphere and kind hearted audience of this true metal festival because everyone who calls himself a true- metalfan already knows the ambiance of this great festival! Due to personal circumstances (the birth of my first son 1 week before the festival) I had to miss the warm-up show on Friday and had to drive to the festival on Saturday morning. When I arrived at the Tauberfrankenhalle, the first band IGNITOR (USA) just finished their gig so I cant review it. According the positive reactions I heard from a lot of people I spoke during the day; this band did a hell of a job and where called the best opening band for KIT ever! Later I had a short conversation with female guitarist Beverley and she told me that they received a lot of positive reactions from the audience also. First band for me to see was the Maltese doomband FORSAKEN. I already saw this band during the 2004 HOA edition and they impressed me again this time! The band had an untidy sound but showed everything they got. Forsaken plays doommetal in the vein of bands like Candlemass & Solitude Aeturnus and have a good singer in the person of Leo Stivala. They already played a few new songs from their upcoming CD "Dominaeon" Good show! Next on the bill was the German band STORMWARRIOR who treated us with a portion standard metal. The band also had a very moderate sound but had a very fanatic stage performance. Musically they didnt impress me at all but i'm sure most of the audience loved it! SKULLVIEW (USA) was the next band and according to a lot of people; this should be THE cultband at this edition of KIT!! Personally i couldnt discover much positive things on their performance; they had a moderate sound, a lot of technical problems and musically a lot of things went wrong. Not to talk about the drunken guitarplayer that smashed his guitar at the end of the show.. Only positive thing to me was their very good singer. Maybe next time better guys! SLOUGH FEG (USA) had a moderate sound too and the band also have a very standard singer. Musically it all sounds nice and reminds me sometimes to the earlier Iron Maiden days. After half an hour it all began to bore me and it was time for my first diner break……. INTRUDER (USA) already impressed me during their HOA 2004 appearance and I was very curious about them today! Well, again the band played "as tight as a chicken's ass" and they had a very reasonable sound. Their Bay-Area-a like thrash suits me very well and it was to meet these guys again backstage (together with their lovely ladies). Great performance!! RUFFIANS (USA) already played several times in Germany but for me it was my first acquaintance with this US-metal band. The band played a strong set and they where blessed with a good sound! Most of the songs are mid-tempo but who cares? I was positive surprised by their performance and i hope to see this band again in the future!! JAG PANZER (USA) The most important band for me and the only reason i came over to KIT this time!! According to the news on the KIT website; the band would play a special "Ample Destruction" show. There was also a possibility they would record the whole show for a live CD or even a DVD……….. Well, after the show i was a bit disappointed; not in the band but more in the setlist. Most of Jag Panzer's songs are classics but when you expect a full "Ample Destruction" set and you only get 5 songs out of it; you'll understand I was a bit disappointed! And I was not the only one when you read the reactions on the KIT website-guestbook! Nevertheless, Jag Panzer was, again, superior on stage (as always) and i had a hell of a time with songs like; 'Iron Eagle', 'Black', 'Chain of Command', 'Thane to the Throne', 'Battlezone', 'Hostile', 'License to Kill', 'Warfare', 'The Crucifix' and a few other songs. Singer Harry "The Tyrant" Conklin showed again that he IS the best metalsinger on this earth!! Come back a.s.a.p. guys!!!!!!!!! RAVEN (UK) I've seen the band several times in the past and personally I prefer to see them ON stage instead of listening to their albums. Raven was the first band that had a real good sound and though the guys are getting older (and fatter), the band is still very fanatic on stage! They played a good set but I have one little complain; on a festival like KIT you should play much more oldies!! Good show from these guys with my personal highlights; 'Rock untill you drop', 'Faster than the speed of light' and 'Dont need your Money'. VIRGIN STEELE (USA) is a band that never impressed me at all but i have to admit they took their job as headliner of KIT very serious. Nice show, good musicians but also not enough classic evergreens to my opinion. Conclusion: Most of the bands had a moderate sound and didnt redeem my expectations but there were also, again, some very positive highlights. And personally i think it will be very difficult to overrule KIT II and KIT IV !!! But in April 2006 i will be there again with bands like: RIOT, EXCITER, SOLITUDE AETURNUS, PARADOX, AXEHAMMER, DARKNESS, SILVER FIST, ROSS THE BOSS (EX-MANOWAR), HIRAX, POWERVICE and a few others. Thanx again to the organisation (Oliver, Tarek & Jurgen) for inviting me again! See you next time in April!! Cheers to you; Mario van Dooren. |
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HEADBANGERS OPEN AIR FESTIVAL (8 & 9 July 2005)
Brande-Hörnerkirchen, Germany Review by Mario van Dooren HOA, the ultimate festival for the ultimate fan!! Last year i also visited this back/front yard festival and was so impressed about it that it became one of my main festivals to visit this year again! The festival is organised by a German metalhead in his parents garden and it is visited by only real metal lovers! Its impossible to subscribe the impact of this festival if you have never been there!! Organiser Thomas (who's parents live in this house) invited me again and i didnt doubt one second about it!! The festival has a little stage at the end of the drive, a few merchandise stalls in the garage-boxes, 2 beer bars, a few food stalls and a real backstage garden! No, no backstage room, just a pasture. Most of the bands that play this festival (from all over the world) dont get paid for it and most of them have to self finance it!! They sleep in tents in the backgarden. Except for the few headliners; they get paid a bit and can book a hotel if they want. Can you believe this?? This can only be done in the mighty Germany where real metal still lives these days!! Compliments!!!! DAY 1 MITHRIL A German band from Kiel that mixes doom & thrashmetal. The band won last years Headbangers Ballroom competition and that was the reason they played HOA. Not really a big opener and musically the band didnt impress me at all! Technically the band still has a lot to learn and after this show i was wondering about the fact that this band won the competition?? What about the level of the other bands that played the competition?? MAVERICK A band from Japan that plays heavy/speedmetal with a lot of humor. These guys can pull faces!! Great to see this kind of bands overhere and they did get some good reactions from the crowd. I tried to get in contact with the guys from Maverick, but there English is as bad as my Japanese……… Two days later they also played at the aftershow in the Headbangers Ballroom in Hamburg. Nice band! BLACK MAJESTY This Australian band played a more traditional kind of metal that suited me very well! The band owns a very good singer that reminded me to Ronnie James Dio (even visual). This was for me the first good band and i hope to see these guys more in the future!! They also played the afterparty on Sunday and did a great job overthere too!! Check out this band!! INNERWISH Drummer Terry is a good friend of mine and he already told me during the HOA 2004 edition that they would play overhere. Because i love both of their albums (especially the 2nd) i was very curious about their stage performance. Well, these Greek guys didnt disappoint me at all!! Their Jag Panzer / Riot style of music suits me very well and on stage they managed to even surpass this!! Great band, great performance! NECRODEATH This Italian band was the most extreme band from this years edition. I know some of their stuff and with ex-Sadist drummer Peso is was very curious about their gig. Well, the more disappointed is was. The sound was bad and their music didnt impress me at all live on stage. Pitty, maybe next time better. But to be honest; this kind of music does not belong on a festival like HOA. WEAPON One of the reunited NWOBHM bands that played this years HOA edition. Everytime HOA has a few of these kind of bands what is admirable. Because of a diner-break i've only seen some of their songs and these songs sounded good! RAVENSTHORN This US band only exist for a few years now but they kicked some serious ass overhere!!! Woooww, i was blown away by this great band!! These guys know what US-metal means! Singer Bill has a great voice and the band is playing like we're back in the 80's!! This is the metal i need!!! The frontman was dressed in a dark cape and together with the corpse paint it all looked very funny. And to be honest; he could be an actor too!! Looking back at the whole festival; this was, for me, the winning band!! GREAT!!! RIVAL Another US metal band that already played HOA in 2002. In a lot of press-articles the band is described as they are influenced by Omen. Personally i like Rival's music much more!!! The band played a set with lots of fast songs and technically the band can battle with all the other US bands on this years HOA. Good show!!! On their afterparty gig on Sunday i have only seen a few songs of this guys because of a diner break. Hope to see them again in the future! HEATHEN Years ago i've seen this US Bay Area band as support act for Sepultura in my hometown. That time they didnt impress me at all!! This was in 1991 and i have to admit that the band is doing much much better nowadays! The band played a lot of old songs but also a few new songs from their latest "Recovered" CD. The band was great on stage and, again, i had a hell of a time! Great show!! After this we decided to grab a taxi to our hotel because we had to wake up early for the continuation the day after...... DAY2 We arrived on time to see the second days opening band CARPEDIEM This band from Elmshorn, Germany plays progressive powermetal but sounded very original because of their weird frontman. This guy could have been in a punk or hardcore band because of his looks AND his voice!! He has a very raw voice that sounded weird in combination with the progressive music. But it was original!! Nice band, especially as opener for the second day. MYSTERY BLEU One of the most important bands for me to visit HOA!! I already reviewed the bands latest album (See Archive Reviews) and so i was very curious about their live-act. Especially because this French band has a great (female) vocalist (Nathalie). One of the guitarist had a lot of problems with his amplifier but the band was professional enough to go on and utilizes their 45 minutes of playing time. Great performance and what a great voice this frontlady has!! Lots of 'male' singers can kiss her feet!! (but probably they want to kiss other parts of her body, hahahaha). GUN BARRELL From Germany is a real party band that reminded me sometimes to the Dutch Vengeance. They own a very good frontman that stirred up the audience very well. I think this band will be doing a lot better at night, in a small bar and with an audience that is ready to party. Today the band played to earlier to attain that! Nice gig! MIRROR OF DECEPTION A German doommetal band that didnt infect me at all. After 2 songs i had the luck to get hungry and so it was time for a diner break! I like only a few doommetal bands but not this one; sorry guys! GASKIN Because of my diner break i missed a few songs from this NWOBHM legends. I´ve seen the band already during their 2000 Wacken Open Air gig but they didnt impress me that time. Well, time changes and i liked what i heard/saw this day!! Singer Paul Gaskin has a very clean voice that is not typical for a heavy metal-rock band. Good show! UNDERCROFT from Chile played thrash/deathmetal but didnt impress me at all! Their standard kind of Deathmetal sounded not really professional and when you know that Europe has dozen of better bands in this genre you are asking yourself: what the hell are these Chile guys doing overhere?? ALL SOUL'S DAY Is another doommetal band but this time from Italy. After the collapse of Mirror of Deception it was a relief to see this band! Their music sounded a lot like Candlemass but they have the luck (just like last years Forsaken from Malta) to be blessed with a great singer!! Good show! WARRANT I bought the legendary cult EP "First Strike" from this German band years ago and when you're talking about banging your head; this is always the first song that reminds me to this band. I've seen the band in 2000 at Wacken Open Air and i have to admit that todays show wasnt that good as their WOA show. Their singer didnt sound really well and after half of the show it was, again, time to get some cold beers! Nice show WIZARD Personally i'm not really a fan of their music but i like the screaming vocals of frontman Sven. The band plays metal in the vein of bands like Hammerfall and/or Majesty but has the luck to have a great singer, something i miss by the bands mentioned above. Maybe a comparison with Manowar would do well; nice music, nice show, SUPERB singer…… ATTACKER This is the 3th time within 15 months i've seen this great US metalband and i think they are getting better every time i've seen them. Especially the aftershow on Sunday (my 4th Attacker gig) was superb!! (For a review of that gig; read Pim's review below (source: www.metallive.nl). The band played the complete "Battle at Helm's Deep" album overthere in Hamburg!!! These guys discovered their popularity in the mighty Germany and i have to admit that i'm very happy with that!! On their latest album "Soul Taker", singer Bob Mitchel is sounding a bit boring but on stage he is singing perfekt!! GREAT band!! The band told me that they will probably play next years Bang Your Head festival in Balingen, Germany (offcourse). TYRANT'S REIGN The best band during last years (november) Keep it True festival edition!! Their US-metal suits me very well and this time the band also played some new songs. Tyrant's Reign didnt bring their 2 original guitarplayers with them but brought 1 substitute guitarist that did his job very well!! Singer Randy Barron was not always singing clean and/or high but it was, again, a great show!!!! DAMIEN THORNE Another cult US-metalband as headliner on the second day. I have to be honest that i didnt know any of their music but that was not necessary to review this band. The band emerged as a real headliner and its incredible to see how popular these kind of bands are in Germany!! The band also played a few songs during the aftershow on Sunday and i can tell you; they have a 'new' fan!!! Great shows!!! After the shows we had to hurry up again to go to our hotel because, we as die-hard fans, had to visit the afterparty on Sunday at the Headbangers Ballroom in Hamburg. Thanx to the mighty Thomas from HOA and Jurgen Hegewald from Hellion Records for making this kind of festivals happen, Pim (from www.metallive.nl) for the aftershow review (see below) and offcourse all the German, Dutch and Belgium (hello Rico & Peggy) fans we partied with!! Hope i will be invited again next year!! METAL RULES!!! GERMANY RULES!!! Cheers; Mario |
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HEADBANGERS OPEN AIR AFTERSHOW (10 July 2005)
Headbangers Ballroom, Hamburg, Germany Review by Pim Botermans http://www.metallive.nl/ To celebrate the 20th aniversary of "The Battle At Helm's Deep" release ATTACKER took the opportunity to play the entire album at the legendary Headbangers Ballroom located in Hamburg. A day before we saw a devastating gig at the HOA festival so the question is, what can we expect today? In the half filled Headbangers Ballroom the band kicks off with the opening song 'The Hermit'. Out of sheer admiration some fans kneel deep for their hero's and soon the frontrow turns in a headbanging pit. The band plays as tight as a chicken's ass and looks relaxed on stage. Singer Bob Mitchell hits all the high notes and the stagesound is very loud but clear, just the way we like it. Without much introduction the songs 'Disciple', 'Downfall' and 'Slayer's Blade' are played and after the titlesong we can sing along with 'Kick Your Face'. After 'Dance Of The Crazies' the Attacker anthem '(Call On) The Attacker' ends this set and it's clear that Attacker is an excellent and powerfull live band. Last song is 'The End' from "Soultaker" to satisfy the crowd and my remaining words are that we were witness to an extraordinary performance of an extraordinary band. Attacker kicks ass!!! |
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BOSPOP (3 July 2005) Weert, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren My first invitation to a real big festival!!Man, I was so curious about it, especially about the heavy Sunday line-up!! Pitty I couldnt make it to visit the festival on Saturday too, because with bands like Marillion, Uriah Heep, Steve Lukather and even Joe Cocker they had a great line-up on that day also! But looking at my target group, Sunday was the most important day for me. When i arrived, SQY ROCKING TEAM (formerly Sequoah) already did play but gladly i could see/hear a part of ACTION IN DC. ACTION IN DC is one of the best coverbands in the world and singer Mario Verhulst has that typical Bon Scott voice. It's always great to see this band play live with hits like: 'Whole lotta Rosie', 'High Voltage', 'Hell aint a bad place to be' and lots of other classic AC/DC songs. First band for me on the main stage was DRAGONFORCE. I was not familiar with this band but their Helloween-on-speed metal suited me well. The band played mostly fast songs and had a reasonable sound. Guitarist Herman Li is a very good musician and Dragonforce also owns a good frontman. Some of their songs: 'Valley of the Damned ', Black Winter Night', 'My spirit will go on' (from their latest album). Good peformance! WHITE COWBELL OKLAHOMA? I heard a lot of positive things about this Canadian band so i was very curious about them. After watching about 4 or 5 songs of this band i was dripping with perspiration out of the tent. It was so f*ckin hot in there, i couldnt stand it anymore!! Their music also didnt impress me; they make a kind of southern rock & boogie the way ZZ Top already did 70 years ago!! Also the show with some half-naked nurses (ugly as hell, i've seen them close-up backstage) and a guy chopping a Winnie the Pooh bear with a chainsaw looked very childish. Not my kind of music/entertainment. On the mainstage IN EXTREMO also tried to entertain the big audience and they DID it with their folkish-metal with a lot of Rammstein elements. The band has a great show on stage and it all looks/sounds very professional. Not really my kind of music but it is always good for the variation to add these kind of bands to a festival! Some of their songs: 'Wind', 'Santa Maria', 'Rasend Herz'. Mainwhile MASTODON was already playing in the tent stage. I was not familiar with this band also but they DID impress me with their show. The band plays a mix of Thrash- and Deathmetal and they did remind me to bands like The Crown and Hatesphere. Mastodon was suited with a great sound and they had an energetic stage performance. The moshpit in the frontrow proved their popularity! Next time they tour the club-circuit, i will be there!!! MASTERPLAN; one of the most important bands for me to visit Bospop!! I'm a huge Jorn Lande fan for years now and that only became bigger after I met him backstage later that evening (Suzanne Smaling did an interview with him for MMM, read it!). The band had a moderate sound but did perform very well that evening. They played nearly the same set as they did during their latest tour with songs like: 'Kind Hearted Light', 'I'm not Afraid', 'Heroes of the new World' (Helloween-a-like song), 'Enligthen Me', 'Pathfinder', 'Let the spirit never die' and also their latest single 'Back from my life'. Jorn's voice was sounding much better than during their latest tour, so I had a hell of a time!! In the tentstage OVERKILL already started, so i had to hurry up to see one of my alltime fav. bands overthere! The band played an energetic show (as always) but had the bad luck to have some problems with the snare-drum and later with Bobby Blitz microphone. During these problems, stage-animal Bobby Blitz entertaint the audience with the few dutch words he learned from his girlfriend/wife. Except for the singalong tune 'In Union we Stand', the band played a great setlist with songs like; 'Rotten to the Core', 'Hello from the Gutter', 'Necroshine', 'Elimination', "Fuck You' and also a new song "Relish the Old School'. The band played this show with only 1 guitarplayer but with a frontman like Bobby, you didnt even miss it!! Great show! WITHIN TEMPTATION; what to tell about this band that isnt told before?? The band is wellknown for their hits and their great live-performances. Singer Sharon den Adel was singing good this time (during their Pinkpop gig a few months ago she was sometimes singing out of tune). The band has build a great stage performance during all these tours and festivals and their was nothing this time to complain about!! All their hits where played; 'Mother Earth', 'See who i am', 'Stand my Ground', 'Ice Queen' and also the Kate Bush cover 'Running up that Hill'. The only little complain about Within Temptation in general is the fact that they dont play any old stuff from their earlier days anymore! Pitty. Because of a diner-break and a backstage visit i missed MY DYING BRIDE. Sorry guys, next time i will be there again! Right on time i arrived from the backstage area to see one of my alltime fav. rockbands Y&T. The band reunited a couple of years ago and during that time i've seen the band several times. Personally, it's one of the best reunions during the last years and all the shows i've seen the band; they Rock like they did in their younger years!! Dave Meniketti is a superb singer/guitarplayer and bassplayer Phil Kennemore is still acting like a beast on stage! The band also has the luck to have lots of classic songs and they now damn good which ones; 'Open Fire', 'Straight through the Heart', 'Dirty Girl', 'Winds of Change', 'Squeeze' (with Phil Kennemore on vocals), 'Recue Me', 'Meanstreak', 'Forever' and the alltime classic 'I believe in You'. They also played a few less interesting songs (like for example: 'Summertime Girls'). Again a great show from these guys and it was rightly the organisation put the band so high on the bill!! Pitty that the stage announcer didnt know the band and introduced them as Yesterday and Tomorrow…….(or maybe he was just a bit drunk??) PORCUPINE TREE; personally its difficult to review this band; i'm not familiar with their progressive sound and singer Steve Wilson has a typical voice that does not suit me at all. It catches me that this band is so popular, maybe i first have to listen to some of their stuff and visit another show of these UK band. IRON MAIDEN; I'm a big fan from nearly the beginning of this band and i've seen the band already during their 'Piece of Mind" tour in 1983. Well, the band played only songs from their first 4 releases, so they nearly played the same set, they did in 1983!!! I didnt know this before, so i was very pleased with it! Technically; 'Powerslave' is my fav. Maiden album but i'm not complaining at all!! With songs like; 'Murder in the Rue Morgue', 'Trooper', 'Remember Tomorrow', 'Where Eagles Dare', 'Run to the Hills', 'Revelations', 'Wrathchild', 'Die with your Boots on', 'Phantom of the Opera', 'Number of the Beast', 'Hallowed be thy Name', 'Iron Maiden' (with a big Eddie head behind the drumkit), 'Running Free', 'Drifter' (with the 4 meter tall walking Eddie), 'Sanctuary' and a few other songs, the band played a great set!! The band played as tight as a duck's ass (a Dutch phrase) and, again, had a great visual show!! Bruce Dickinson is one of the best frontman for years now and i hope Maiden will go on for years too!!! Bospop couldnt pick up a better headliner to celebrate this 25th edition!!!! I really had a superb time and hope that the organisation will invite me again next year!!! Thanx for this wonderfull festival;!! Cheers; Mario |
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KEEP IT TRUE WARM-UP SHOW (1 April 2005) Sporthalle, Dittigheim, Germany Review by Fleur Jongepier http://www.metallive.nl/ This was already the fourth edition of the German underground festival called Keep It True which is held in Königshofen twice a year. A place where the oldschool metalhead is lost between the thousands of vinyl and where there is generally a lot of enthusiasm. How time flies at KIT. Well, what do you expect with bands like Torch, Overlorde, Thunder Rider or Martyr? Like the last time, it were once again two days of enjoyment and we got the chance to see bands we might never see again. A huge disappointment was the fact that Satan got cancelled because the bassist apparently fell of the stage the night before. Anyhow, as a result Overlorde got the chance to extend their setlist and After All came from Belgium to play a few songs. In short, we had nothing to complain about and the upcoming 6 months will take ages for sure! It all started on Friday, April first, in a hall close by where the preparty would take place. The first band of the night was LANFEAR. This German band was still soundchecking when we entered the hall and from hearing they seemed to have an acceptable sound. A little less than half an hour later when the band is starting their set, the sound suddenly changed to a mess. The drummer and the keyboard player were hardly hearable, but luckily the guitarist and vocalist didn't have such problems. During their 45-minute taking set Lanfear played a lot of songs from their new album "Another Golden Rage", such as "Another Golden Rage", "The Unretrained", "Shades of Black", "In Silence", "Transmigration" and of course some old songs. The band is quite fanatic and both the vocalist and the guitarist were in great shape. The crowd seems to enjoy it and in spite of their bad sound, Lanfear receives a lot of support from the present people. Lanfear can consider this performance as a nice final rehearsal for their coming tour with Morgana Lefay at the end of April and for the audience this was an entertaining gig from a band that could've given a much better appearance with a decent sound. MARTYR would give a special show tonight, since this band hasn't been playing for many years and after a couple of failed attempts for reuniongigs it finally worked out for this night. Martyr is the Dutch pride, and the present Dutch visitors made that clear to everyone. Martyr hasn't released any other album ever since their last LP "Darkness At Time's Edge" from 1986 so their setlist consisted only of material from their first two LPs: a bad setlist was therefore impossible. They proved this by kicking off with "Snow And Fire" and subsequently they played one magnificent song after the other such as "Black Sun", "Invisible Touch", or "Darkness At Time's Edge". Yet, the highlight of the night for me was "Speed of Samura" and I don't doubt the fact that many share my opinion on this. Martyr proved to be a band that is still as strong as iron (both literally and figuratively speaking!) with a vocalist that can stillr each the highest notes without any struggle. Apart from that, they managed to produce a decent sound for a hall like this one. Without doubt the best band of the night. The Italian band ADRAMELCH was the third band that played on the preparty. The year before they played on Headbangers Open Air where they didn't impress me much, although I very much enjoy their album "Irea Melanox". This time, unfortunately, it was the same story. The sound was - especially when you compare it to Martyr - mediocre, even disappointing. On one way or another songs like "Fearful Visions" and "Was Called Empire" tend to turn out very different when played live. On the record these songs sound amazing, it contains a lot of spirit, energy and the cries from Vittorio Ballerio sets your teeth on edge. Nonetheless, all of this is missing during their live show. Possibly Adramelch was overshadowed by the previous impressive performance but in the end, the band themselves is to blame. Maybe a more extended soundcheck could've preventing a disappointment. SHADOWKEEP was a band that surprised me pleasantly. I didn't know this fresh English band before this performance yet, but they certainly left a significant impact to everyone. They played a considerable share of heavy metal with both new as old influences. At some moments, the band reminds me of the old Fates Warning or Queensryche. Previous members of ShadowKeep have played in bands like Angel Witch and Tygers of Pan Tang so that should give you an idea of the metal that ShadowKeep play. Especially the song "Dark Tower" was very tight, the sound was alright as well, at least it was noticeably better than the prior band. In short, a nice closing of the night. But actually, everything has only just begun… |
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KEEP IT TRUE FESTIVAL IV (2 April 2005) Lauda-Konigshofen, Germany Review by Fleur Jongepier http://www.metallive.nl/ INSANE was the opener of Keep It True on Saturday. This thrash-band from Italy doesn't sound Italian at all. They play thrash as if it were an extension of "Show No Mercy" from Slayer. Their sound was rather messy, the vocalist was difficult to understand but when it comes to thrash I'm not as concerned as usual. Insane is an energetic band and they play songs which differ from each other and in ym opinion that's an important factor within the thrash genre. Particularly "Evil Is At Hans" was a very good song where Slayer and Exodus were clearly heard. To sum it up, a good opener for KIT. The day continued with PARAGON, a German band that is grower more popular by the second. I am sickened by the tag of 'melodical power-metal', and luckily Paragon aren't one of those modern power metal bands that are emerging on the metal scene with hundreds at the same time. No, Paragon knows how to combine their powerful modern influences with the old-fashioned speed-metal riffs, nice solo's and vocal parts. Plus, a tight sound and a well-chosen setlist that almost runs through their entire history of 7 albums. They started with "The Legacy" and luckily they played 3 or 4 songs from the album "Law of the Blade" which is my personal favourite. Especially the songs "Across the Wastelands", "Armies of the Tyrant" and "Deathsquad" were the highlights of their performance. The newer songs like "Traitor" and "Impaler" from their last album "Revenge" however, were great as well. Paragon probably has a big future ahead of them, and I wish - especially after attending their concert - for them to receive the credit they deserve. I expected the next band to play later than 2 in the afternoon, but that's just the way it is. With or without daylight, THUNDER RIDER was one of the main reasons for me to go to KIT. This band from Canada is a very unique band and they hold a special place with their album "Tales of Darkness and Light". They play metal in the vein of the 80s us-metal, but with more special touches like Blackwing (vocalist) playing the flute. Blackwing (like the name of the song) has a warm and exceptional voice. Almost the entire first album was played, "Executioner", "Death To Death" and the encore "Blackwing" gave me chicken pocks. The highlight for me though, was without doubt "For Chirst's Sake" which couldn't take long enough for me. The songs from their follow-up album "Tales of Darkness And Light Chapter II" like the opener "Thy Kingdom Come" and "Heavy Metal Wizard" were amazing as well. Thunder Rider threw themselves entirely into this concert, and I highly pity the fact that this show was only half of the complete set of 90 minutes that they played throughout Germany. There was only little time to recover from the previous band, because TORCH were shortly on stage. I was looking forward to this Swedish metal band with a lot of curiosity, would they still sound like their albums from the '80s? In 2003 they reunited and that gives us the chance to see them live today in 2005. My fear for a disappointment turned out to be completely unnecessary. Torch played an incredibly tight show in the typical atmosphere of the '80s. Vocalist Dan Dark - who resembles Udo Dirkschneider surprisingly much - has a voice that fits very well with the raw heavy metal that Torch play. The setlist started with the best tracks from their first album, such as "Warlock", "Rage Age" and "Beauty And The Beast". What more do we need, something from their next album? Needless to say, "Electrikiss" and "Thunderstruck" were played as well. Torch's performance went beyond all my expectations. I mean, even "Fireraiser" from their first EP was played! A disappointment? Not even close! OVERLORDE is a band that gained a lot more - well deserved - attention from the fans and press lately. They just finished a new album called "Return of the Snow Giant" that received outstanding reviews. This band plays power metal from 20 years ago. That's what made this album one of my favourites from last year and I was very much looking forward to their performance at Keep It True. As mentioned before, Overlorde was given more time to play since Satan got cancelled. Their setlist was extended with songs I wouldn't have wanted to miss at any cost. Their sound wasn't bad, but it could've been better. At least, in the first row next to the speakers it was hardly noticed that the volume of the guitar could've been driven up a bit. "Snow Giant" was of course the ultimate song of the night, since it is the song that fits best with Overlorde's energy and riffing. Besides, this song was originally written way back in 1987 so that makes it more special. Actually, as highlights of their set I could name all the tracks because they hardly missed out on anything. Of course, there were some songs that I have to give special notice to, like "Hell Has No Fury", "Metallice Madness", "Mark of the Wolf" and not surprisingly, the matching titled track "Overlorde". One of the last songs "Trapped By Magic" is one of the lesser songs of their album and therefore this song wasn't exceptional live either. But, in the end that's just my opinion. I regretted the fact that their relatively long setlist was over so soon. Hopefully they will visit Europe again sometime soon. MAJESTY generally plays one of the two times that KIT is held, so that's once a year. So, this time Tarek and the other Majesty members were all present again. Actually there's nothing much to say about this band. They're not surprising but they do provoke singing along with songs like "Keep It True", "Sword and Sorcery" (sometimes sung as "Sauce and Sausages"), "Reign In Glory" and "Heavy Metal Battle Cry". There's a lot of talk about Majesty being a Manowar-clone, but I don't agree entirely. Sure, Manowar is a so-called 'obvious' metal band, with predictable songs (often, anyway) but when it comes to Majesty this is a lot more the case. Majesty is more obvious, more predictable, and catchier. The influences are clear, but does that matter? I don't think so. Majesty remains a good festival band, period. DEADLY BLESSING already exists around 30 years. They're and American band, but they don't play the typical us-metal. The red line throughout Deadly Blessing is thrash and speed metal combined with extremely high vocals. The setlist mainly consisted of songs from "Ascend From The Cauldron". After the eighties they haven't released anything new, so we got a good share of old heavy metal. The first three songs were immediately the best ones: "Search And Destroy", "Salem's Lot" (my personal favourite) and the staggering "Cry of Medusa". Then of course, "Deliver Us From Evil" and "Deadly Blessing" couldn't be left out. Apart from the setlist being absolutely amazing, the sound was pretty good too! As far as Deadly Blessing is concerned: volume on max overload and fire away! I have to admit, that goes for many bands. But only few bands who've been around for so long can do this again in 2005 with so much class as Deadly Blessing! COUNT RAVEN, something completely different from the previous band. Count Raven plays traditional doom metal (to my ears, at least). Maybe a bit of a weird choice for KIT? Yes, I must say it is, but doom is a genre you can't get away from anymore these days. "Doom over the world," as Reverrend Bizarre say. If you like the Swedish Trouble, or Saint Vitus and similar bands, you'll probably dig Count Raven as well. Not me though. I adore Black Sabbath, and Count Raven is obviously influenced by them (which doom band isn't?). It's just that Count Raven is a whole lot slower, almost lingering. I prefer more dynamic in a band, and Count Raven clearly lacks that. The good parts was that, every now and then, the vocalist reminded me a bit of Ozzy. So, at least they sound a little like the good part of Black Sabbath. As for me, I prefer a bit more power on a festival like KIT. Due to Satan's cancellation, the headliner AGENT STEEL was the next band on the billing. These speed metal heroes played the same setlist as the week before on Raise Your Fist. That means, the entire album "Skeptiks Apocalypse" and some other songs were played. Agent Steel remains to be an energetic live-band, again and again. If only the sound weren't so bad… especially the sound of the drums was terrible. It sounded more like a drummer with kitchen tools. A big disappointment, especially if you compare this concert with previous Agent Steel performances. Even the week before, I had no complaints about their sound at all. So maybe it wasn't the band's fault. Anyway, most of the fans either didn't notice or didn't care, because the crowd was incredibly enthusiastic. And in the end, why shouldn't they be? With or without kitchen tools, Agent Steel continues to be Agent Steel, and at any rate: you need to bang your head! VORTEX was at last the final band of the fourth KIT edition. A better closing band hadn't been possible. Maybe I'm prejudiced, because Vortex finds it home in the Netherlands like I do, but no one can deny that this band put the entire hall in an uproar. Vortex, as usual, come with their familiar masks, cannibal-outfits, a corpse-painted look-a-like vocalist and fireworks. A predictable setlist, but I would blame Vortex if it weren't predictable. It included classics like: "Gotta Get Away", "Open The Gates", "With Witches Help", "Heavy Metal Is Kind" but also "Hammer Of The North" from the last album. On stage it was a real party (everyone backstage was brought on-stage) but also behind the fences it was one big chaos of metal. And that's the way a proper KIT closedown should be. In short, again few disappointments this year. In the end the sound is only a side issue when the band knows how to keep the crowd amused. The next line-up for the upcoming KIT already looks very promising. My compliments for Oliver who makes it possible for metalheads to go back into the '80s twice a year. That many more KIT's may follow! |
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MASTERPLAN, CIRCLE II CIRCLE, ROB ROCK, PURE INC. (28 March 2005)
De Bosuil, Weert, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren Already during the first band of the evening it suits me that a lot of people show up for this event. PURE INC. from Switserland opens this evening with a mix of Audioslave-a-like metal. I've already seen this band before when they opened for the Michael Schenker Group (MSG) is Tilburg and they didn't impress me that time at all. Well, to be honest; they didn't impress me this time either! After about half an hour i had enough of this boring band. ROB ROCK was the second band and he came over to The Netherlands with a totally renewed line-up. Most of the guys in this band also play in NARNIA. When i asked Rob Rock after the show about this line-up, he told me that it had only to do with his financial budget, he couldnt bring his US band with him. Rob Rock has already delivered 2 terrific albums and i did see the band already in 2003 during the Bang Your Head festival where they developed as one of the best bands from the festival! The band played several songs from their first two albums; 'Rock the Earth', 'Eyes of Eternity', etc. and also played an old M.A.R.S. song; 'I'm a Warrior'. Rob Rock also played a few new songs like; 'Slayer of Souls' from their new album "Holy Hell". The band gave an incredible show and Rob was singing his lungs out!! Maybe he should change his name into Rob Metal ( Thanx for the idea Pim!) Most of the people showed up for ex-SAVATAGE frontman Zak Stevens and his "new" band CIRCLE II CIRCLE. Personally i have never been a huge Savatage fan but what C II C shows this evening suits me well. The only complain about C II C is the fact that most of the songs have the same speed and need some variety. So it was a good choice of Zak to play some Savatage songs also: 'Edge of Thorns' & 'Follow Me'. Good show after all. Zak is a very good singer and a very nice person also (read the interview Suzanne Smaling did with him!) MASTERPLAN was one the bands that did made me decide to travel to Weert (and Vosselaar, the day after). I'm a huge Jorn Lande fan and i like everything he sings; from his solo-albums, ARK, MILLENNIUM, BEYOND TWILIGHT, etc. The band lately released their second album "Aeronautics" but to be honest i was not familiar with this album during these gigs. The new songs they played did sound even more grown-up than their debut stuff. The band played for 1,5 hour and played songs from both of their albums; 'Enlighten Me', 'Soulburn', 'Kind Hearted Light', 'Heroes', 'Back For My Life', etc, etc. I only have one little complain to their performance; I still have the feeling that Jorn Lande is restraining his voice because i know that he can do a lot better than he did during these shows!! But after all; i had a great day with all these bands and thats why i decided to visit another show of them the day after at Biebob, Vosselaar in Belgium. |
2004KEEP IT TRUE FESTIVAL III (6 November 2004)Lauda-Konigshofen, Germany Review by Pim Botermans http://www.metallive.nl/ The KIT festival is considered as a festival for people with a truth metal addiction. Given the bill of the november edition it's justified to say that with bands like Jaguar, Witchfynde, Helstar and Stormwitch. That the festival would turn out in a major dissappointment was not to be expected and could have been prevented. Nearly all bands performing that day had a reasonable to a really crappy sound and that is something I'm not used to in Germany. That some bands kicked ass nevertheless was a gift from the Gods Of Metal and not from the organisation. REPENT For me an unknown German band which fired their set of speed/thrash with a persuading bad sound towards the audience. The response was according to the bands stage act = moderate. METAL INQUISITOR This German band already made a positive impression on me at the fifth editon of the Dutch Heavy Metal Maniacs festival and seems to impress me today once more. With a reasonable sound this sympathetic band hacks through their setlist with great enthusiasm. The German bangers like it and to show that they know their classics Metal Inquisitor plays the Sweet Savage cover "Eye of the storm". Good performance. ROTTWEILLER This American band is playing around for some time and here on the KIT festival they present themselves with singer number many. One of their earlier singers (Ronny Munroe) performs at this moment with Metal Church. The band plays American powermetal and musically it sounds not to bad but the vocals are a different story. The singer shrieks and screams with an irritating sound which is not at all appropriate for the music. That the reasonable sound does not cooperate is obvious so I think it's fair to say that the band as a collective can't convince anyone. SACRED STEEL According to the Headbangers reaction one of the winners of KIT III. This German band seems to be very popular in German and I don't get it. The sound is terrible so I can't make out what songs are played so to endure this is somekind of Hell for me. The frontrow is tearing the place down despite my negative feeling of the band so they deserve to be one of the winners today. WITCHFYNDE I can talk little sense about this band because I didn't know them in the 80's and that's fine with me. Their standard metal sounds fair but never really inspired. My first thoughts were that the band got together to ride with the reunion wave but Witchfynde is working on new material so maybe they give themselves a few more years. Nevertheless the bandmembers enjoy themselves on stage and musically they perform pretty good and that is a compliment. JAGUAR This British band descends from the NWOBHM time and hits the stage with fury and power. Infested by a bad sound they do not persuade the German public. This moderate response is strange to see in Germany. Jaguar with singer Jamie and bass player Darren Furze has two clowns performing on worldlevel. These two idiots chase each other on stage and don't allow themselves a quit moment. Jaguar plays some old hits like Chasing The Dragon, Backstreet Woman, Axe Crazy and also the album Powergames is not overlooked with songs like Dutch Connection, Mastergame and The Fox. Despite the calm reaction of the public Jaguar puts on a profesional show with lots of action but unfortunately with a bad sound. Damn. TYRANT'S REIGN For the first time to be seen on European soil was this American speedmetal band from the Chicago area.Tyrants Reign plays mainly work from their last cd (click here for a review) Tyrants Reign. The band rages through their setlist with main focus on singer Randy Baron who sometimes is still screaming as hell. Musically Tyrants Reign reigns on all fronts. The drummer goes wild behind the kit and the guitarplayers torture their instruments untill they both bleed. Metal Thrashing Maniac, Starchamber, Kill or Be Killed and Tyrants Reign are some of the tracks played. The song Unconditional Surrender is dedicated to the deceased bandmember Chris Nelken and with the cover Sanatarium of Metallica this great performance is concluded to everybody's satisfaction. HALLOW'S EVE That every reunion gig doesn't automatically mean a big thank you to the Gods Of Metal is a statement that is proved by Hallows Eve. By far the baddest reunion gig I have ever seen and the concert is an insult to every ex-member of the once great Hallows Eve. Total crap. The bad sounding tape I have of some 80's gig at least shows a band in their prime with a passion for music. With long time bandmembers bass player Tommy Stewart and guitarist Skeletor in the ranks we get to hear shitty outputs of Hallows Eve hits like Metal Merchants, There are No Rules, Horrorshow, Hallows Eve and Plunging To Megadeath. Both gentlemen share also the vocal duties but they don't have any talent for this. It's obvious that this reunion was a big mistake to begin with and should never have happened. Bought Hallows Eve t-shirts must be burned ritually as a sacrificial gift to the Gods Of Metal.. (I agree Pim, Note webmaster) STORMWITCH From the ashes arose Stormwitch and they came, saw and conquered. After so much misery on stage Stormwitch present themselve as semi-headliner next to Helstar and afterwards I can only conclude they deserved this spot. The band has a good sound and their singer is very good. Their 1980s German metal is nice to hear and Stormwitch enriches their stage act by adding some show elements. Monks, swordfighters and lovely maids, the metalcliches pile up in a quick tempo but nevertheless it doesn't affect the music. During the 80's I would probably fall a sleep but with so much bad sounding bands performing I enjoy the Stormwitch show. Metal Forever. HELSTAR The honour belongs to this American band to conclude this third edition of the KIT festival. The sound at the Helstar gig is reasonable to good so it isn't problematic to enjoy the music. Helstar with prehistoric bandmember bassplayer Jerry Abarca go for it by playing classics such as Burning Star, Shadows of Iga, Evil Reign, Remnants Of War to name a few. James Rivera's voice is very good as usual, this man has vocalchords of steel because he always sings at a high level. As always The Man surrounds himself with superb musicians to accompany him on a tour. Besides fixed bandmember guitarist Eric Halpern (ex-Destiny End) two other hired guns are present who should be permanent members according to their musical skills. Helstar shows a small weakness by playing two Distant Thunder songs because Helstar has more than enough material of their own. Besides that it's obvious that the Distant Thunder material is inferior to Helstar's. Despite this little setback we can speak of a succesfull closing act of a not so succesfull festival. |
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HEADBANGERS OPEN AIR FESTIVAL (9 & 10 July 2004)
Brande-Hörnerkirchen, Germany Review by Pim Botermans http://www.metallive.nl/ In a large part of the world Germany stands for the territory of Metal worshippers. It does not really matter what kind of metal, as long as it isn't nu-metal, but otherwise the German Headbanger will adore it. That only the most fanatical headbanger joins the HOA seems quit natural when we enter the festival area. Although this festival is already organised for the seventh time, to me it seems it's still done with the same number of visitors as seven years ago. The area covers the area of the parents house of the organizer. The broad entry is the concert area where a barn with an open front is the stage, the frontlawn is for eating, on the side of the house is some rainshelter and the backyard is backstage. When myself and Mario (the photographer & webmaster of MMM) has taken the matter once in consideration we can only conclude that the organisation isn't in it for the money but that this has been organized because metal for many German Headbanger is a way of life. In this enjoyable environment we decide to judge the 23 bands performing the next few days. DAY 1 ( 9 july 2004) A little bit too late (15.15) SAVALLION DAWN from North-Germany kicks off the seventh edition of HOA. The band exists about 5 years and released two demo's of which most of the material is played. Savallion Dawn plays straight forward heavy metal, nothing more nothing less. The moderate zanger from Uruguay does not really contribute to the enjoyment but for an opening band their oke. Nice. Hereafter the next band is CRYSTAL SHARK which started in 1998 and has released already two demo's and a complete cd. The band is from nearby Hamburg and tries to amuse us for the next 45 minutes and succeeds. Although the band interacts nicely with the audience and the band members can actually handle their intruments well the mediocre singer becomes a little bit boring after half an hour. The fanatical crowd thinks otherwise and gets crazy when they play a covertune from Running Wild. When the singer of the third band ROSAE CRUCIS from Italie begins to sing I'm overwhelmed with excitement. What a voice. I always enjoy high and long screams and when the band plays good metalsongs they deserve my complete attention. The other advantage is that the musicians can handle their instruments well but this isn't astonishing when we take in consideration that the band already exists for about 14 years and ended their demo phase in 2003 with the release of their cd "Worms Of The Earth". When Rosae Crucis decide to play "Pleasure Slave" from Manowar it's obvious that the singer has no problem with the range and power of the once great metalvoice of Eric Adams. Great band. The fourth band of today DARK AT DAWN from Germany with zanger Marcel Van Drunen (ex-Pestilence) had a car accident and therefore they cannot attend this years edition. Too bad, but with 6 bands togo and a bad timeschedule I don't really mind. Next year perhaps. That there were Greek metalbands I knew already but that there are also qualitatively good bands from Greece I found out at that moment. BATTLEROAR hits the stage with their power/heavy metal where the clear and good singer claims a leading role and not undeserved. He maintaince his stage pressence despite the musical power the band produces and in the meanwhile their is some nice musicianship from the bandmembers. Very well done and I'm looking forward to that other Greek band Bloodstained which enters the stage tomorrow. TYR from Denmark have probably lent their name from the album of Black Sabbath with the same name and that can be also said in a certain way of the music. The reasonable doom metal originating from their only release Eric The Red has a good impact on the audience so that both are enjoying themselfs during the set. Despite this I decide to head for some food after some time. With a full belly I'm curious to the suprise act which is the seventh band on the bill. It appears that it is the Swedish formation RAM. Never heard of and I don't wanna hear them anymore. Absolutely not my taste. Standard metal and carried out badly. After these suprise act it is time for todays headliners. The American band INTRUDER plays US speedmetal and has released during the 80's three albums out of which the last two (a Higher form of Killing and Psycho Savant) through the famous Roadrunner Records. Of all three releases the band plays some songs. The crowd goes wild and so does the band. Unfortunately the sound isn't that great so that has it's negative effect on the soloparts and on top of this it seems that the drummer has some problems with his kit. But despite these setbacks songs as Killing Wind and the title track of their first record Live To Die are delivered well. That the band can do better they prove a few days later at the afterparty in the Headbangers Ballroom in Hamburg. In Germany the American outfit BROCAS HELM is a wellknown cultband and that's something I have never understood. However it's nice for the band and I must admit that their first record Into Battle is quit good actually but what I see and hear that night is total crap. Bad played songs and a terrible sound is the only thing we get. Strange enough I hear of several fans that the band was captivating therefore I think I'm just stupid and when the crowd enjoys themselfs who am I to think otherwise. It's about musical enjoyment, isn't it? When the Canadian band HANKER enters the stage at 2:00 we are a bit fatigue but we nevertheless hang on to see what's to come. Hanker treats us with good US metal and the good musicians make it worth it to listen to. Outside some songs from their first three records (In Our World, The Dead Ringer and Snakes & ladders) we also get some new tracks from their upcoming cd "Web Of Faith". Good to hear that the new stuff is just as good as their old stuff so I can conclude there is nothing wrong with the performance and this band despite some problems with the drumkit, again. A good band to conclude this first day of HOA 2004. DAY 2 (10 july 2004) After a short night's rest we proceed rapidly to the festivalarea because the first band of the second day performs already at 12.00. Of course our German friends are also in large numbers present and are entirely ready to get to it. This time, however, on time METAL WITCH has the honour to open the second day. This local band has won some kind of bandcontest at the Headbangers Ballroom and therefore plays on HOA. The band kicks in with tough and furious metal arrangments and both band and audience go for it. The bandmembers do their best and keep tormenting their instruments as if their lives depend on it. Also the singer gives al he has got but he doesn't deserve the first prize for his singing qualities. His lack of talent is well compensated by its commitment and performance. Pretty good opener. As second another local band (Bremen) can show what they've got. ETERNAL REIGN plays slightly progressive metal where the singer with his short high screams supports the music very well. As one of the few bands Eternal Reign uses a keyboard to spice up their songs and that works very well. Also the crowd can appreciate this and when the band decides to play a covertune from the first record of Vicious Rumors (Soldiers or the Night) they receive a big applause. At last a Greek band. After I got a good impression of Battleroar I had been curious to watch BLOODSTAINED. The band plays powermetal ala Helloween and of course a good singer is not lacking. Bands who play this kind of metal can always count on support from the German audience because they simply love it. Nothing special but their singer makes it worthwhile to watch them. When I read some information about FORSAKEN I can hardly believe that there are metalbands in Malta. Nevertheless Malta contains a metal secret for some 14 years because that's howlong this bands operates from there. Forsaken plays doom metal which refers to Candlemass. To be honest, they are actually quit good except then that Candlemass has a better guitarplayer but this minor setback is only a question of time. It is striking to see that the singer scarcely rises above the crowd in length but he rises for certain with its powerful voice. When the band honours their heroes by playing a cover with the titel Dark Reflections Forsaken establish them as a band to stay. RITUAL STEEL are to follow and since this is their farewell show I can sufffice with a short comment. Bad standard metal with a bad singer who is also called Sir Lord Doom and writes reviews for the Hellion Catalogue. It's obvious that he's better doing that than to sing so it's not my loss the band dissolves after this show. The sixth band of today had it's heyday during the NWOBHM hype at the beginning of eighties. De band is called FIST and even had a litle hitsong with the track SS giro. The well played metal/boogie is nice to hear and the zanger/gitarist appears to be able to still sing with a firm voice after all those years. Despite that his looks are touched by fathertime his short highpitch screams sound very good. Nice entertainment from a good band. DESASTER needs no introduction of course because this German band kicks around for a lot of years with their black metal/thrash style. Nevertheless a little bit strange to see such a band on this festival. Definately the most aggresive band of HOA 2004. The audience always likes some thrash so they go for it for the next 45 minutes. In the past I found the Swedish band OVERDRIVE already a bit boring and unfortunately I can still account for this. Too bad because it's clear that the band did their best to learn and play the songs according to the orginal. Nevertheless bad songs stay bad songs and no super-musician can change that. Boring. ELIXER is an often seen guest on all kinds of festivals ( Keep It True 2) and as a result the band got on the bill of the HOA 2004.The band plays British Heavy Metal with much enthousiasm and the band enjoys themselfs onstage and when a band onstage is having a good time then most of the time the crowd is amused too. Despite of their somewhat standard metal it's no torture to listen through their setlist. Italie has been represented by means of Rosea Crucis and ADRAMELCH on the HOA. Adramelch seems to have built also a cultstatus but honestly I have to admit this is something of a riddle to me. The band plays progmetal on a considerable level so I ask myself the question why this band still hangs around in this underground circus. I like to blaim it on the factor -no luck- because according to the songs and the instrumental qualities this cannot be true. Sometimes the singer has some long highpitch screams but most of the time he unfortunately performs on a midrange level. In spite of what inferior sound problems the band has a strong performance and is their excellent drummer one of the highlights of the festival. For day two we have again arrived at the headliners which exists today from the Dutch VORTEX. The band plays already for the second time on HOA and again it's somewhat of a mystery to me because I'm looking at a mediocre SPINAL TAP imitation. All heavy Metal cliches are again visible like there are; the corpse paint and wig of the singer, pyro effects and a logo of the band with light effects. Nevertheless I do not get the impression that the band takes itself seriously and that results in the fact that the bandmembers of Vortex take the stage with much pleasure and humour. The audience goes wild and according to the show element I can say that Vortex is a just headliner. The US powermetal of the American band BREAKER are second to last to play some music at the HOA 2004. The straight forward metal barely affects the headbanged tired crowd in the beginning. It nevertheless lasts some songs before the fanatically playing band and the very fanatical and symphatic singer Greg Wagner (ex-ARCHETYPE) gets some response from the audience. Too bad that such a great singer joins Breaker because his dynamic voice doesn't fit the music and it's obvious Wagner is keeping his voice a bit down and that's a shame. When Wagner decides to give a stagedive performance at best the audience gets full into the show to the end. The clock already points 2.00 in the night when HIRAX enter the stage. Unfortunately due to the late hour the band didn't had a soundcheck therefore the first songs didn't sound like they're supposed to. The band plays some tracks of all releases such as Demon Evil Forces, Thunder & Lightning, The Plague, Destroy and the hitsong Bombs or Death. Also we get some songs of the new record "New Age Of Terror" where Unleash The Dogs stands out because this is probably the only midtempo song of the set and here both guitarplayers give their best performance. Singer Katon dePena gives himself totally from the first song to the last and we see a fanatical band showing how thrash has to be played: In Your Face!! |
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HEADBANGERS OPEN AIR AFTERSHOW (11 July 2004)
Headbangers Ballroom, Hamburg, Germany Review by Pim Botermans http://www.metallive.nl/ Only for the most fanatical bangers there was an afterparty where you could see some of the bands who performed on the HOA. For 5 Euro (or 2 euro when one was also at the HOA) one could see successively Intruder, Hanker, Vortex, Metal Witch and Breaker playing a small set. When we enter the Headbangers Ballroom around 16.00 it appears that the first band hits the stage around 18.00 instead of the announced 15:00. We choose for an alternative to just hang at the bar with a few beers and enjoy this nice and neat arranged club with room for about 200 people. It is striking that the crowd tonight exists for 90% from musicians and people involved with them whom I learned all resided in a hotel nearby. INTRUDER kicks off the evening with a vigorous and powerful act that with regard to the performance isn't inferior for the HOA act. What however makes a large difference is the sound that can be called an optimum considered with the HOA sound. Furthermore the songs get played super-tight as if it was 15 years ago. That's how speedmetal must sound. Great. Afterwards the band was also pleased with the sound. It seems that the backline and drumkit belonged to Metal Witch and with good equipment it appeared that every band had a great sound. HANKER played as second and they sounded much better than a few days before. The guitarwork is excellent and we see a tight band releasing their set on the crowd. This is how the band should have performed on HOA. VORTEX had to actual headline today but since some bandmembers had to work the next day the organisation decides to put them earlier on the bill. To my astonishment the Spinal Tap sound is of course much improved then the day before and therefore I'm able to pull myself through. Since a part of the installation of METAL WITCH is used the band can also join the action. With a better sound and with as many commitment the band kicks the songs from the stage towards the crowd. Still fanatical and with still a failing singer. BREAKER has the honour to try amuse us as last band and of course Breaker has an improved sound. Greg Wagner is still this fanatical and the band plays tight their songs during 45 minutes. Unfortunately Mario and I are obliged to leave after a half hour due to public transporation. With the last action still fresh in our memory we can look back on an extremely succeeded and a tiring weekend. HOA rules!!! |
2003SAXON, NOCTURNAL RITES, WOLF, EVIDENCE ONE (18/1/2003)013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren EVIDENCE ONE (from Germany) had the bad luck to open the show 15 minutes earlier then scheduled. They had to play for a nearly empty place. Their typical style, in the vein of a band like ANGELDUST, was not bad at all but far from original. After half a hour they had to stop. WOLF was the next band to get on stage. For me, as an old 80's headbanger, it was nice to hear a band with RAVEN/IRONMAIDEN influences. Nevertheless they never could get the high level of these bands. NOCTURNAL RITES has always been a nice band with good musicians and a spontaneous frontman with a good voice. They had a much better sound than the 2 openingsbands, but still could play only half a hour. The songs of their latest CD where also nice to hear. Finally!!! Biff & Co; came, saw & conquered!! SAXON has always been a very good live band (i've seen them 14 times now) and they are never boring. It even strikes me that SAXON is getting better and better during the last years!! Biff is screaming even more than in his "old" days! They played all their "evergreens": Heavy Metal Thunder, Princess of the Night, Wheels of Steel, Dallas 1 P.M, Strong arm of the Law, etc, etc. This was , again, a fabulous show guys!! Hope to see you again soon!! |
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HAMMERFALL, MASTERPLAN, NOSTRADAMEUS (12/1/2003)
013, Tilburg, The Netherlands Review by Mario van Dooren NOSTRADAMEUS had the honour to open this metal-package. By the time they began there where only about 200 people present. They had a good sound, good performance and a great singer. Only complain is their musical style: it all sounds good but NOT original. After about 45 minutes 013 filled up for the next band: MASTERPLAN. This new band with former HELLOWEEN members; Uli Kusch & Roland Grapow and the mighty Jorn Lande (Ex- ARK) did their second show during this tour. Only a few songs did remind me to the old Helloween-days. Most of the songs where in a total different direction. Maybe i'm a bit prejudiced but i can tell you this: Jorn Lande is one of the best singers in Metal!! Such a POWER!! I didn't hear the album (yet) but i know allready i will like it!! After about a hour headliner HAMMERFALL jumped on stage. Well, they have never been my favourite band; they're all good musicians but they sound very standard to me. Joachim is a good entertainer but tonight he was the worst singer of the package!! I was also disturbed about the whole show; SPINAL TAP and MANOWAR watch out!!!! HAMMERFALL are rivals these days!! A hydraulic drum stage with 6 !! bassdrums??? Is this necessary??? Please leave this crap to bands like GWAR, just play METAL!! |