Exciter, Bütcher & Vulture - Musicon, The Hague 20 June 2022

Last December I was planning a trip to Scum in Katwijk as I wanted to see Bütcher and Vulture headlining a festival. Well that got covid-cancelled, but now they came to home venue Musicon with none other than Canadian legends Exciter headlining. Exciter coming to Musicon on a Monday night. With the weekend before having 4 days of Graspop and maybe for some Metallica at Pinkpop. On the evening itself Five Figer Death Punch (who?) had Megadeth supporting them in nearby Rotterdam.  So I did not know what to expect, but saw a risk. Well I worried for nothing as obviously this speedmetal package attracted many and even on a Monday Musicon can fill up nicely for metal. When entering around 19:15 it did not look like Vulture were starting at 19:30, which with the curfew at 23:00 was needed. Unfortunately the Bütcher stage swap also took too long, which meant they had to shorten their set. So far the downside of a further rather perfect evening, where inbetween bands I also could catch up with several people I had not seen since Covid.

Vulture are from Germany (not Rotterdam) and last year I bought their latest album Dealin' Death. That was an uptempo affair and sounded like a band that would come over even better live. Indeed their speedmetal went down well with me, especially when in Count Your Blessings I started recognizing a song. Looking like an eighties speedmetal band, their songs are not overly complex, but just good old metal. They managed to  get the first pits running and ended their set with a cover song Metal Militia. Good warming up it was.

Next on were Bütcher from Belgium. I heard of the buzz around their shows, but with my half  the time in Portugal life-style managed to miss all their nearby shows so far. So I was standing more to the back when they started and found that even at the back I was immediately drawn into their show. This also helped by the fact that they have in R. Hellshrieker a great frontman. Blood drenched with an iron cross as mike standard and lots of spikes his early black/speed influences can be seen. What Bütcher gave us as a band was nothing short from very impressive. A true speedmetal party, where they also found place for an epic long song. When a band transmits so much energy from the stage to the audience, a reaction will come and I believe everyone loved Bütcher. I did get their latest CD 666 Goats Carry My Chariot and play it now with a grin on my face.

Exciter came as headliner and would bring nostalgia to many old headbangers in today. Now I must admit that I never owned any of their LP's. I knew their title tracks from somewhere, but only recently bought Violene & Force when bumpig into a cheap copy. So I have no long history with this band, but at the same time their songs are easy to get into when hearing for the first time. The Canadian trio came to us with two original members Dan Beehler on drums and vocals and bassist Allan Johnson. Since 2018 guitarist Daniel Dekay completes the band. Exciter opened with Violence & Force the title track of the second album with the famous blue arms pushed between a door cover. They stayed in the eighties throughout and I liked especially the Black Witch, Iron Dogs and Long Live the Loud. Of course their anthem Heavy Metal Maniac was a party as well. Than even some fans jumped the stage to bang their heads.This is all well and makes part of such a show, but someone should tell the small kid who joined that it is not very old skool 1983 to start taking foking selfies while on stage. The set flew by and to surprise of many they ended with a cover song in Iron Fist. A bit differnt if you have so many own classic songs under your belt. But the evening was over at 23:00 and I believe everyone enjoyed it big time. Old school metal always guarantees a party and seeing several people under 30 appearing as well, there maybe is some hope for the future of speedmetal still. A great evening so thanks to Musicon presenting us with this Monday bonus party.  

Pedal to the Metal 2 - Flotsam and Jetsam, Toxik and Heathen Noord Brabant 14-17 June 2022

Pedal to the Metal. I started this tradition in 2019, when my bicycle brouht me to Little Devil, Effenaar and Merleyn. That felt good, so a new plan was made for PttM 2, flying to Toulouse and cycle via the southern Pyrenees, attend Pyrenean Warriors Open Air. That line up was brilliant with Liege Lord, Fifth Angel, Saracen and Atlantean Kodex among more fine bands. Well we all know what killed all good plans in 2020. So this year when the opportunity arose I made new plans. First tricker was the Toxik Heathen double package in Uden. Looking for options the night before all were either not my taste or to far from Uden. Until suddenly Flotsam and Jetsam was announced for the night before in nearby Helmond. Now originally I was planning to start by train as fairly untrained, but when friends reported long distance by bicycle the weeks before, I decided to split my drive to Helmond in two and leave from home. And yes I know the term Pedal to the Metal has to do with hitting full gas by putting your pedal to te metal. I use the freely translated Flemish, which would mean Pedaleren naar de metalen. Or cycling to metal.

The Cycling

My bicycle turned 30 years old this summer and state of both bike and myself can best be described as rusty. Now I did have some short training trips in Portugal, where I mainly put my climbing tactics back in shape. Turned out that in The Netherlands I used one gear for the whole trip, only going one lower on long bridges. Similar to PttM1 my main destination was Noord Brabant. This because of the good combination of provence with closest density of potential metal venues, near and far enough from home, plus a nice area for cycling around alltogether. So the first day all went a bit harder than expected. I really needed to get used again to that saddle and the curved seating. Also I needed to re-accustome to driving through cities. Rotterdam entering north-west and having to leave sout-east crossing the river was a pain. So only as from Baroeg my real easy going trip started. Turned out that I got stronger through the days and I easily did the trips as from day two. Of course I was like van Gaal would call it, having luck attached to my arse again. The weather was sensational for cycling all the time, no flat tires and what's not unimportant nice food and drinks along the road. I really did see a side of Holland I hardly know again. Amazing how all those small villages have churches of enormous size. Hope the child abusing is no longer in practice, but won't count on that for 100%. Further the good weather brought out many elderly couples on bicycles as well. So I spotted flower dresses for the ladies and sometimes grey socks in sandals for the men. All in all the experience was so good and relaxing that PttM 3 is in early stages of planning for next year. Wait for next year's show announements and  maybe I should ask Robert's help for creatng a commemorative Tee again as well.

Flotsam and Jetsam & Sphinx - De Cacaofabriek Helmond 15 June

The first show of the trip was Flotsam and Jetsam for me. On my way to finding my hotel I spotted the band almost in front of my hotel and broke my rule of leaving people having lunch at peace. Well that was one fine foto memory for the trip. In the evening the weather turned hot and outside de Cacaofabriek I was enjoying a Hefeweizen, when André and Annemiek spotted me. Nice side effect of ths trip was, that I also saw some people I did not see since Covid, as the shows are now more south east of Holland where I had not attended any shows yet this year. Inside the nice venue Sphinx had already started. These Germans play speedmetal with some blackened hints. They reminded me a bit of Sodomizer, but did not convince me to get any merch of them. The only downside of travelling by bicycle I was already fully packed, so space for purchases was very limited. Sphinx did contradict the known fact that Germans have no sense of humor. After announcing and singing in such a way that I had no clue what they were on about, they suddenly stated that the next song would be hard to understand for us as it was in German. Well Lustmord was the frst and only songtitle I got and Scheisse can be picked up even if sung speedmetalish. 

After a short break we got treated on Flotsam and Jetsam. When I say treated I mean treatd as what a great band they are. Even with their last minute substitute Dutch drummer Marco Prij (Cryptosis) they sounded awesome. Now I am going in repeat modus, from my earlier reviews on Flotsam and Jetsam. Their first two albums are absolute classics, but their last albums are all very good as well. So where bigger names might disappoint on CD and only can live on their past, Flotsam can mix old and new and keep the high level throughout. Early in the set they also played their ode to Iron Maiden. If only Maiden would release one album with such great fast sons with all the Maiden treats, duelling solos, galloping riffs and fast whohoowhoahoo the world would be a better and happier place. Throughout the show it turned out that Eric A.K. was suffering from a sore throat. If that was the reason I saw Flotsam, but did not hear Doomsday we shall never know. Now they ended with No Place for Disgrace, nothing shabby either. So Flots till Death it was and what a great band they are. Not sure why Esther and Michel were hiding from us though?

Toxik & Heathen - De Pul Uden, 16 June

While the previous night had one great band plus support, for me tonight was two bands to really look out for. Toxik I followed from their start and saw several times live over the past years. Heathen I came late to the party with the Evolution of Chaos and than walking back in time. Oh those pre-internet days when you still could miss bands that you would have loved from teh start as well. 

Toxik were on first and after bumping into Ron and Eric in the afternoon I knew one new song was going to be played. That turend out to be the title track of Dis Morta. Sounding fine, 5 August has been noted as need to get new Toxik album. Similar to Flotsam, Toxik also released two classic albums at their start. The rest of the set was a mix of both Wolrd Circus and Think This, with the titlle track of the latter closing their set. During the previous tour  Toxik already moved to five-piece with Dutch guitaris Eric van Druten helping out. Together with the very energetic presentation and great voice of Ron Iglesias, made them possibly better than ever before. Even some sound issues at the start did not stop them from giving us a perfect set, filled with highlights for the slightly older audience. Only question I had was, who was playing bass this time? 

During a short break I could wait for an empty beer tank and catch up with a now bigger group of PPE veterans. Annemiek and André were present again and so were Esther and Michel. Further I had dinner with Christian before the gig. With so many PPE early day attendants, you would wonder why ProgPower does not include a technical thrash metal band more often at their festival. I guess many would like that and for those who don't, you can't win them all.

After the break it was time for Heathen. My first time to see them live, so looking forward. Not disturbed by an Abba intro song they came with the double start of their last album Empire of the Blind. That sounded damn fine, but I missed Lee Altus on stage. Not to worry as also here the substitute from Canada (forgot his name) fired lots of fast and crazy solos as well. Heathen hereafter went through their four album discography, but the focus remained on their last one. That album holds a song I totally love, which was played. Some times bands have songs so catchy, that it makes you almost dance (the horror of me dancing is not a sight many like) Examples: Armored Saint: Last Train Home. Fates Warning: Another Perfect Day. Well to me Heathen's song is called Sun In My Hand. What a killer song that is. The set moved fast through old and new and halfway David White already commented on the future of metal, pointing to the two children standing front row. A new highlight of the evening came, when he invited the two on stage to shout Death in the microphone during their classic Death by Hanging. At the end matters got better when the girl was given drumsticks to close the song with a bang. her brother meanwhile had a guitar around his neck. While earlier on he was more shy than his metal sister he now felt the need to show his skills, so we got treated on a doomy Smoke on the Water riff. Just great fun to watch this and daddy must have been one happy man. At the same time it did show the spirit of the evening. Two great bands, treating us on a powerful set played for the real metal lovers around. Tonight it seems that Metallica is playing Pinkpop. Well give me more Toxik & Heathen anytime over a mass of followers seeing Metallica only playing songs of their past (plus probably some obligatory newer ones that noone wants to hear). Now my only remaining issue was still at the merch table, having space for max one shirt only. With me owing several Toxik shirts already I ended up with Victims of Deception. Also as the back print "The Virus Never Dies" (from Opiate of the Masses another highight this evening) will look fine on my next flight to Portugal.

Mastodon & Planet Zeus - 013 Tilburg, 9 June 2022

Mastodon back in The Netherlands, so I decided I needed to be there. Now that sounds logical maybe, but I have a sort of strange relation with Mastodon. I saw them only once before which was 15 years ago when they toured Blood Mountain and played Fields of Rock. At the time I was surprised as I was expecting Dublin Death Patrol and organization did not inform the change of stages between bands. So I was pissed off and liked them, but watched from a distance. Herefater they released several great albums, but somehow I always managed to miss them live. Maybe also as I don't know too many other Mastodon fans, which changed now as Ton told me he was going, which made me decide to join him easier. The night before I came home late from Portugal and early waking neighbours rebuilding their house made it a short night. Luckily Ton drove and I could relax. Now I was especially curious to see them properly for the first time with the great Hushed and Grim album released end October 2021.

We timed perfectly as just before support band Planet Zeus opened the evening we stepped into modern 013 (Tiny lockers only opened and paid with a smartphone, hard plastic cups with a 50 cent deposit and drink prices adapted to post-Covid). Not to worry have a drink and we sat down on the still empty steps of the main hall to see Planet Zeus. Well these Greeks played Ok and nice, but none of their stoner sludgy songs made a huge impact on us. The good thing is that still concert hungry people like anything, so they got some response from the slowly filling hall. Decent but not groundbreaking it was.

Than Mastodon came on and kicked of with the opener of their last album Pain Wth An Anchor. Hereafter back to Blood Mountain with some Crystal Skull. Now I must admit I just checked on Setlist.fm which songs they played. Mastodon is one of those bands where I recognize the song, but can not immediately name it or the album it is from. The evening would be split between half new songs (8) and half oldies(7). I did love the new songs as good or if not even better as I played them most the last half year. Highlight of the new album live to me was  the closing track Gigantium, which just sounded huge live. from the oldies Bladecatcher made an impact and of course the Czar. Halfway the show I just asked Ton what the hooded guy behind keyboards was doing on stage as I did not hear him. Just than he became main instrument during Skeleton of Splendor and thereafter the opening of ubersong The Czar. The evening closed with an encore their first hit Blood and Thunder (White Whale, Holy Grail). Turned out to be a rather perfect evening which made me wonder if they can ever become the next headliner of major festivals. I don't think they will be liked broad enough. So maybe DMF or Alcatrazz might work, but the 50.000 fans festivals seem unlikely to me. Was there space on improvement? Not really, although mentioning that they know  every band is on tour and it is festival season, so the fullish house was appreciated. This did not match with their spicy priced merch of 40 Euro for a T-shirt and 60 for a hoody. Also my favorite HaG song (Had It All) was not included in the set (my bad). As a band the total package fully worked. The stage performance, the songs blending heavy, doomy and proggy giving some for all to like. The very good switching between vocals, the light show and finally the coolest banner I saw in a long time. Throughout the evening I tried to get it on picture, but never really managed with my old phone. I won't be waiting 15 years to see them again, actually the next tour I probably will be back as well. Those going to Graspop, don't miss out on Mastodon which should be easy given the bands playing at the same time.