High Parasite & The Old Dead Tree - Paard The Hague, 18 March 2026

High Parasite that other band of Aaron Stainthorpe of My Dying Bride fame. Well I heard about them, but never got into them. This mainly because I also don't follow My Dying Bride closely. Saw MDB live before, but only hold one of their CD's. No it was The Old Dead Tree that made me aware of this show and go to het Paard. During In Mourning earlier this moment I already learned that Alex would be joining too.

An early start on this election day it was when at 19:45 The Old Dead Tree kicked off in the small hall, which was half filled. 23 years plus one day before they released their debut album The Nameless Disease which I got and loved. This highly emotional album about the suicide of a bandmate really got under your skin. So I was curious if years later they would revisit this album still. After all the band was partially new. After their first three albums (now available as box setunder the title the mourning years) they went on a long hiatus. This decade a new band is back with Manuel on vocals and Nicolas on guitars as career spanning members. Their set kicked off with new work from 2024 full length Second Thoughts. As I liked these sonsg I got the CD afterwards. The Old Dead Tree play metal with prog and gothic influences and the ocassional grunting outbursts. It all sounded good, but for me the highlight came when they went back to The Nameless Disease and played We Cry As One. I believe it was followed bu It Can't Be! but I did not replay the album in advance and shall do so today. The gig information on this show called The Old Dead Tree leaders in French progmetal. Well I tend to agree as their show was at least a lot more energetic than Klone. A great band whom I missed so far live, even if they stated it is always a pleasure to play in The Netherlands. 

High Parasite was for me a blank page until recent. I did play some clips on Youtube after deciding to attend this evening. Theim usic blends metal with lots of Gothic and even some New Wave. Actually it comes as close to dancing metal as it can get. And this worked wonderfully well live on stage. I was not convinced that at home on CD it could have the same effect on me, but live this was one great band. This also because the presentation was good. White suited Aaron's dry humoured comments inbetween songs worked well and it was mainly about playing without long interruptions. With a first tour there was some electronics and female backig vocals coming from tape, but that did not disturb. A very nice evening was had with two good bands. As I read several people into metal from The Hague were not aware of this show, maybe Paard can improve their promoton a bit. And while we are at it, don't blow the airco so cold over us, as I woke up with a cold. Cold one of the many singles High Parasite played tonight.

Alter Bridge - Textures - Under - Wolverine

We are already in March, about time I start recommending some CD's/ Soon more to follow.

Alter Bridge - Alter Bridge

Alter Bridge are much bigger than the fan in me of them is. For years I heard and read how nice they are, but I never was bothered to dive into their discography. I picked up Blackbird at a metal market and that was about it. When I understood they would play in Lisbon when I was there I decided to check out their latest self-titled album. That was a nice surprise as this is easy listening hard rock performed very well. Myles Kennedy is one of the great voices in current hard rock and the guitar work of Mark Tremonti is nice too. So where I read some reviews statiing the surprise is gone, that is not valid for me, as I  just found out how nice they are. Live was good on album pleasant too.

Textures - Genotype

With Textures it is the opposite as I was there with them since their debut Polars. I even saw them live when OLS was still called OLS. I don't have all their albums, but often saw them through the years. Last time live was at Progpower, when they were touring goodbye. And now they are back with Genotype and more accessible than ever before. To me this means their best album ever (I think) The whole band shines here and Daniel de Jongh matches his vocal performance from last year'sTiktaalika. Very catchy songs and this new Textures should be able to attract even more fans.

Under - What Happened in Roundwood

Now here is a weird band. I discovered them when going through my bandcamp app under the tag progressive rock. The cover spoke to me, so I tried them and heard anything apart from traditional progressive rock. This trio play noise or sludge of the very uncomfortable kind. Still as from first listening this album clicked with me. The shouted vocals telling the story of Isaac in Roundwood is an album I shall return to several times. Definitely not for every moment, but when in the right mood it shall put a cynical smile on your face. Regarding live shows this band screams Complexity Fest.

Wolverine - Anomalies

Staying in the area of bands making a comeback I present Wolverine. Anomalies follows ten years after last album Machina Viva. The grunts from their earlier years are long behind us. Wolverine play nowadays melancholic rock with a few heavier outbursts only. Moody and beautiful their music is and in a way you can compare them with latter day Anathema on the moods. So on Anomalies I won't get surprised by the songs on offer, but they all sound so damn fine. As they are the Progpower houseband through the decades and the line-up is far from closed I would say why not again in 2026.

In Mourning, Fallujah & Omnium Gatherum - Tivoli Utrecht, 5 March 2026

In Mourning coming back to The Netherlands. As opening band of this package of melodic, doomy and technical death metal. Now I saw them before at ProgPower (twice) Brainstorm and Baroeg, so I knew I was in for a treat. If than also last year, they released with The Immortal possibly their best album, it was this band that made me go to Utrecht on this early spring Thursday.

Now Utrecht on a sunny day, made me tran in even earlier to wander a bit around in the city centre. The Dom Tower was restored I believe and in full sunlight it was impressive indeed. Now the real reason was I was going to check some CD stores as in The Hague all good CD stores have been murdered by all who were born after Gen X. Unfortunately the new albums I was looking for, were not in stores. So back to Tivoli it was where I would meet with Ton. First I bumped into Willem and later Marcel and Alex too. So a pleasant night was ahead of us and now bring on the music.

In Mourning opened and even if I knew all the songs I can not always place titles with them. The sound could have been a bit better as I thought the guitars too low in the mix. Still I highly enjoyed them kicking off focussing on The Immortal. The triple harsh. grunted and clean vocals  plus triple guitars did come over well and the response from the audience was animated. The far too short set ended with their best song Colossus and that was mega. No surprise here as this is the week of Mega Colossus. If there was anything to comment which I did as second Dutchman this evening Tobias told me (Alex was first) The T-shirts. All were black, while their great cover artwork of The Immortal screamed for a grey Tee. Well this short set already fully justified my trip to Utrecht and I am now waiting for a full headline set one day.

Next band on were Fallujah who play Tech Death. I have one of their albums 2016 Dreamless, but found no time to replay it before the show. Their last year's album Xenotaph is very strong and it was only wrong timing that made me not pick it up. First thing that struck when the band came on is that there were two guitars, but no bass. You could hear the bass, as well as keyboards and (loud) backing vocals. So that was a busy tape machine. If you managed to look through that we did get an excellent set with pretty damn fine guitar work. Low of their set was when the vocalist first asked for a pit, which opened space before the stage, but noone really entering apart from one guy. Later on that improved, but I still think pits should start spontaneously. A good show they gave us and definitely a band I should follow more seriously again.

For headliner Omnium Gatherum I went upstairs to the balcony to sit with Ton and watch from the side of the stage. Last year I saw Omnium Gatherum also in Tivoli, when they supported Insomnium. This year the band was different as there was a last minute substitute vocalist for this tour. The bassist earlier this evening helped out In Mourning, so it all is one sort of family really. Also by this band I only own one CD (The Burning Cold) that is not the case for guitarist Markus Vanhalla, as I have lots of Insomnium albums and would love to see him with his progmetal outfit Malpractice one day. Anyway today it was Omnium Gatherum and that sounded fine. Maybe the bit where the band was introduced took a bit too long. As I did come for the inverse order tonight I did not stay fully till the end, even if enjoying some Omnium Gatherum too. So it was down the 8 (eight) pairs of stairs and escalators to reach ground level and train home again. A nice evening was had, bring on more. In Utrecht that shall be Iotunn with In Vain for me.

Mega Colossus & Speed Queen - Musicon The Hague, 2 March 2026

Mega Colossus I only discovered in 2024 when they released with Showdown my favourite album of that year. During the summer they came to Europe with Köln closest to home, so I drove down to see them. It was that steamy hot night that I spoke with some of the band, which in the end resuted in their first show in The Netherlands being 2 March in Musicon. Support that evening were Speed Queen from Belgium and as the two bands seem to get along really well, they share some dates on this tour again. The bonus for me came in the fact that I could host Mega Colossus at home and get to know the band a bit better.

Now it was Monday night and Heavy Metal in the west of the country always suffers to pull a crowd. So a not very full Musicon welcomed Speed Queen on the stage and they kicked of hidden in smoke. The stage was all Speed Queen with some additional logo boxes and lights along them. I did see Speed Queen several times before and do like their Heavy Metal It is the old style filled with guitar solos and fast bangers. Last year they released their album .. With a Bang! and I got the chance to pick it up after the show. A good set by these nice guys and Zeeman shorts still rule.

Mega Colossus are touring Europe in support of their new album Watch Out!. This album is officially released this Friday 6 March only, but the label was so friendly to release it on Youtube when the tour started. This was a good thing as half the set were new songs. Now I slightly recognized bits and pieces. Actually their music is easy on the ears at first listen too. This because they play good songs where the twin guitars are treating you well all the time.I love this kind of melodic metal and when the vocals came out fine too I knew this was one of 2026's highlights. This even if bits were hidden in smoke. After the show it was not over for me as we could have an afterdrink at home and it turned out they are very nice guys too. This morning with today's show being in not so far Essen we even had time to visit the beach and Mega Colossus considered the North Sea (not an ocean) cold. Go see them on tour if you have the chance, as they just come to give you a good time and know how to do that very well.

Mancuerda, Necrotesque and Necrotted - Musicon The Hague, 27 February 2026

An evening of Death Metal in Musicon.I only knew the opening band in advance as they are local. Mancuerda played since other local band Melting Eyes had to cancel. These are the two most prolific local bands in teh genre.  Mancuerda play Death Metal of the slow and heavy kind. No instrumental wizzardry, just heavy slow grooves and that works perfect on an evening like this. I saw them several times before and they keep on getting tighter and a good opening act they are.

Necrotesque from Helmond came on next. Four equally bald heads with four very different beards. But it is the music that counts and they played Death Metal only a notch faster than Mancuerda. Actually their best song to me was more uptempo. I don't know any of their work, but remember they played it before the Vegan Meatgrinder. This was the biggest surprise of the evening to me, as their set was great and their performance matched it.

Headlineres Necrotted drove 9 hours to Musicon this day. Their style was more leaning towards the core side of things and that is not really for me. Musically they were nice enough, but the screaming vocals don't resonate with me all that much. Closing with a comment on the looks again, This must have been the first time a guitarist played the Musicon stage in white socks inside bath slippers.

MidJonno Prog - dB's Utrecht, 17 January 2026

Stichting Huaaaargh was founded by Marcel, Alex and Jonathan. Their intention is to organize shows of the progmetallic kind. This evening was their debut, but also Jonathan's Birthday midlife crises party. Confused? well any excuse to organize an evening of diverse progmetal works for me. This first show of the year for me turned out to be a Progpower reunion of sorts with a large majority in being known faces or names (sorry Chantal not Crystel). So the mood was good and the hugging part was near the limit of acceptable for a metal party. The place for this was dB's in Utrecht and also a first for me. I had been a few times to the old dB's which burned down. Now in a new location the hall was slightly better visible and the bar had a huge amount of draft beers, so approved it is.

Opening band of the day were the onluy Dutch band Schizoid Lloyd. They were on a hiatus and this was their first show in eight years. Well we got new songs and the promise they would do more shows again, so welcome back it is. I saw Schizoid Lloyd before at ProgPower many years agao. Their music ain't easy and goes all over the place. Luckily their quirckiness is packed in enough metal to not irritate me, but keeping matters rather interesting. Almost all ended after one song, when energy said too weird, but that was corrected and we got a fine set by them.

Next band were Pravitas from Leeds. They play technical Death Metal a style not allowed at PPE, while tonight showed enough response for reconsideration. If the vocalist was representative for Leeds it is understandable why Elland Road is considered a loud Stadium. Even more impressive might have been the instrumental basis with at times a calmer break for guitars to shine and a monster behind the drums. This set flew by and I loved the energy coming of the stage. Their first ever Dutch show can be considered a success.

Exist Immortal followed and they were the best band of the day at a Complexity Fest before  Covid. I missed their returns, so happy to see them again now. Unfortunately bad luck struck and their drummer got injured. Instead of cancelling the show they taped the drum parts and played along with it while drums stayed covered in black. To my surprise it worked much better than feared and again Exim were a highlight for me. I was glad to pick up their last CD after the set, when I also took the opportunity to tell the guitarist what would make their show even more awesome. Stop the waiing at us and making hearts from the stage to the crowd or vice versa should be banned. After all we are not at bloody eurovision. But maybe it is that since I am 3 days and 15 years older than Jonno I am too old for that shit. Great return of the band, hope next time is in Baarlo.

Final band were Playgrounded from Greece, former Rotterdam. Unlike the three uplifting and energetic sets before them they play on the more depressive side of metal. I actually have their first EP, but never saw them before (also as they pulled out of one recent PPE edition I recall). They are a good band, but I was more needing to be lifted up, than pulled down this evening. So I decided to catch the 23:44 train towards my final train home. Next time they get a fair chance. So thanks go out to Jonno and Stichting Huaaaargh for a very nice opening of gig year 2026. Hope many shall follow and tip to the Stichting: next time put a bin in with a sticker support Stichting Huaaaargh. I am sure I would not be the only one who loved the idea and likes to support such initiatives.

Live Shows: my Top 12.5 of 2025

Live shows were good in 2025. OK being away for over 4 months meant I missed a lot. Yet I got rewarded by some great gigs in Brazil. This year I put some restrictions in order to make chosing more difficult. So one evening or festival can not be mentioned more than once. Even if Musicon remains my favourite place to be, no mention here while I loved several nighst or days there (Pungeant Stench, Festerfest) . So here is my top 12 and a half over 2025. What I found is that while I don't like coverbands all that much, nostalgia did play a large role in my ranking. And oops I forgot to mention the best thrash metal show of the year by Dark Angel.

12.5 Temic - Boerderij  Zoetermeer
Double headliner show with Temic being the nice surprise. Rendezvous Point were OK too, but not matching the openers.

12. Samhain Festival - Muziekgieterij Maastricht

Fen and Dodheimsgard gave me two highlights of the day making the drive down to Maastricht worthwhile. And than Moonspell closed the day in style.

11. Jeff Scott Soto & Eric martin - Country Club Novo Friburgo

What a surprisingly perfect show of Classic Rock, highlighting in JSS singing an Yngwie medley.

10. Kiko Loureiro & Marty Friedman - Sacadura 154 Rio

Tuned out that Marty was only a guest, but his few solo songs and the joined Kiko songs were awesome. This while Kiko honoured his past in Megadeth and Angra. 

9. Renegade - Patronaat Haarlem

Always remaining sad I missed Thin Lizzy with Phil Lynott as that was before my gigging days. This is the best alternative, great band and setlist.

8. Beyond Creation, Daath, Cynic & Rivers of Nihil - Patronaat Haarlem

Four times great technical death metal on one evening. Beyond Creation among my favourites in the genre and Cynic taking revenge for 24's Effenaar set.

7. Eternal Storm - Innocence Hengelo

With Alex I was one of the two visitors who travelled from far to see a specific band. Totally worth the trip and what a nice day in Hengelo it was.

6. Prog Power Europe - Sjiwa Baarlo

Atmosphere is always top and this year Threshold, Voidchaser and Tiberius were my favourites. A bit worried about the 2026 program so far, but counting all shall work out fine again.

5. Saxon & Grand Slam - 013 Tilburg

Carnaval weekend and I trained south for some good old Heavy Metal. Girlschool could not match these two highlights of my heavy metal year.

4. Mearfest - Queenshall - Nuneaton

Talking about great atmospheres Mearfest is also always way up there. NWOBHM days coming alive with highlights around, but Stormchild and Sacred Alien deserve a special mention.

3. Queensryche - Effenaar Eindhoven

Playing the EP and Warning in full meant nothing could go wrong really. Band in peak form and reminding us why we loved them so much in the eighties.

2. Papangu - Garage Grindhouse, Little Devil, Patronaat & Circo Voador

When I get to see the same band 4 times in six months and all shows are very different it says a lot. Also hosting them one night, meant a band I shall always follow closely and hope to see soon again.

1. Keep It True - Tauber Frankenhalle Lauda - Königshofen

My first KIT and it made me wonder why. So many highlihts of metal from the time I fell in love with it (or just slightly later) Highlights: Riot V, Heir Apparent, S.A. Slayer, Slaughter Xstroyes and Sacred Blade. Great music, great festival and in 2026 I shall miss out again.