Undercroft, Dekapited & Violentor Musicon The Hague, 20 February 2024

On a Tuesday winter evening Musicon decided to put Chile on my metal map. Well not completely  as I do love the last two albums by Chilean progressive thrashers Demoniac. But seeing Chilean metal bands live was a blanco for me. I came close in 2013 when Progpower was organized in Santiago, but that festival pulled the plug while I was supposed to go there with hotel and flights all planned. So now Chile to me still means one week spend there around christmas 1998, Isabel Allende and our favorite wines from Casillero del Diablo. So welcoming some Chile tonight we first were warmed up by some Italians.

Violentor play speed metal of the raw kind. First things that I noticed were the unfortunate sound at the start and the vocalist/ guitarist "Dog" whom I hosted some years ago when he toured with The Laws Kill Destroy. So initially all I heard was drums sounding like tin cans. Luckily this got sorted and throughout their set Violentor improved. Touring their last album Manifesto di Odio they thrashed us slowly warm. This heat also because turnout was surprisingly good on this Tuesday evening.

Next band were Dekapited from Chile. They play thrash metal and do so very well. Their lyrics are in Spanish so I got one CD for Josie after the set. She is improving her Spanish after some patients complained her Spanish is not fluent (remember this is in The Hague, but after a Eritraean civil war being held here last weekend nothing surprises us). Now playing Destrucciön Trascendental I doubt she will love here new study material. But I am drifting away as I liked Dekapited's set a lot. Their songs were short and furious spiced up by guitar solos from Cristían Contreras, which were as short and spicy (hallo Kirk Hammett and Kerry King). One great set they gave us.

Headliners of the evening were Undercroft. from Chile. This Death Metal outfit were formed in 1991 so they have some years under their metal belts. And yes you could hear that as we got one heavy machine bulldozering over us. Undercroft were a tight band, even when one guitarst left the hall for a while (changing strings?) noone got upset and all flowed heavily onwards. Their death metal knew enough variation to keep me interested throughout. At times technical and sometimes even a bit doomy. Again going in blanco it became clear why headliners were headliners. Undercroft tour their last album Battle of Demons and after some shows in Belgium they return to Heerhugowaard ad Arnhem coming weekend. I can only recommend to go there for one fine evening of metal. So another Tuesday night well spend in Musicon were all generations showed up this evening.

Advocacy - Lucifer - Mega Colossus - Saxon

While we are over six weeks into the new year, about time to share some CD tips. Is the prog leaving my system slowly in favour of heavy metal? Maybe, but the two albums I played most early 2024, are late arriving 2023 prog records by Moongarden and Pallas. But here's the first 2024 tips, with some nice albums in the pipeline still.

Advocacy - The Path of Decoherence

This one I checked out after a review by Matt and I did understand what he was so positive about (Aardschok not so much). These Danes play progmetal and more towards the modern complex kind than the style that was popular some 30 years ago. I believe that all reviews I read state that the band's bio references Threshold, Dream Theater and Haken do not immediately come to mind. I at times thought of Native Construct as in the band is not very easy on the ears at first listen, but rewards you after some proper effort. What I like most is the notches of tech metal throughout the album. 

Lucifer - V

This one I picked up after seeing them on tour with Angel Witch. Beforehand I had listened to some clips of this album and maybe they are not for every moment I do like this V a lot. Occult retro rock with a female vocalist, which is nice for a change in my female-voices-under-represented collection. The songs are all pretty great, but At The Mortuary is the catchiest earwurm. No critics than? yes the booklet. Who thought that reading golden lyrics on a black background was a good plan? Even during the day a light is needed, pity.

Mega Colossus - Showdown

This US Heavy Metal outfit exist since 2005 and released with Showdown their fourth full lenght. I missed them so far, which is a pity after hearing this album. Their double guitars make this sound at times like Thin Lizzy on speed. I love this album from start to finish and the (only) 38 minutes fly by with six songs. The opening track Fortune & Glory is a candidate for thr heavy metal anthem of the year with it's glorious break just after five minute. Mega Colossus come to Europe this summer. Well to Germany where they play H.O.A. and another festival the weekend thereafter. I sounded possibilities for having them playing nearby inbetween both festivals, but dates already have been booked. Keeping an eye on the metal agenda and maybe a Germany trip late July makes sense.

Saxon - Hell, Fire and Damnation

The title and cover of the new Saxon do promise metal. Well in reality Saxon are not going to surprise anyone since in 79 when the dam began to burst. They were among my first heavy metal idols, being a notch heavier than the Whitesnake, UFO, MSG and the likes I loved before. 45 years later Saxon still release strong albums. I don't own many of them, but since Thunderbolt and a few strong live shows before that I buy them upon release again, just for supporting your old heroes'sake (well not the cover albums Inspirations). Saxon have been added to the bill of Dynamo Metal Fest this august. I shall wait for day division and the line-up of Complexity before deciding where to go. If Flotsam, Forbidden and Nestor play the same day DMF shall win.

In the Grip of Winter Fest - Baroeg Rotterdam, 10 February 2024

Saturday 10 February and trains heading south from The Hague are filled with weirdly dressed carnaval go-ers. Those who prefer their Lucifer over the nonsense speaking pope and his child abusing friends got out at Rotterdam Lombardijen, All fancy dressed in jeans and black Baroeg was the place to be for those liking their metal in several forms of extreme. Marko and I were among them with taste in music and a long day in hot Baroeg lay ahead of us.

Upon arrival the first band Carnal Desecration were already halfway their set. That sounded surprisingly good and this Belgian Death Metal outfit won over all those who were in on time. Definitely a band that is welcome to return and closing with their self titled song put an end to a very good start of the day.

Next on were Nattas and this was the band that mainly drew me to Baroeg today. Given the name and insider fame of some bandmembers I thought them surprisingly low on the bill. This until I found out that they played a second festival in Arnhem the very same evening. Maybe because of that they did not have any merch on sale. Pity as this show defintely would convince me to get some music. Most famous probably is Mike Wead on guitars as he plays with King Diamond and Mercyful Fate too. He alone brought this band to a higher level, but the rest were surely no slouches either. The festivalinfo said Black / Thrash from Stockholm but I heard mainly very good thrash metal, with possibly some black in the lyrics. The set flew by and I realized that probably the best band of the day played early. Tonight (11/02) they play Ragnarok in Bree, so those willing to escape the pope's party should go there really.

I always suffer at festivals to enjoy bands after a high. So Gutwrench had some problems in drawing me into their set of Death Metal. All sounded good and they played tight, but I missed the sensation I just witnessed with Nattas. So halfway the set we decided to go out and grab something to eat. This to find a snackbar in distress as more people had this same plan.

When we returned into Baroeg it turned out that it meanwhile was packed and thus pretty hot. Next band were Dutch Black Metallers Infinity. Previous time I saw them I picked up their album Hybris, so I must have liked their show. Initially I was not all that convinced today as the first songs sounded a bit similar to me, but somewhere halfway their set they won me over again. Their bulldozering blasting and riffing makes you nod your head automatically. Finally it remains impressive how someone is able to drum like a beast and sing at the same time, even if you could hardly see him behind the smokescreen.

Bodyfarm came on next and they are among Dutch Death Metal elite. Well that did not disappoint as the few times I saw them before made me realize Bodyfarm does not do disappointing shows. The very strong double guitars give their death metal some heavy metal feel to me. This show was one long glorious ride through their catalogue. I believe this was the first time I saw them after their sad loss and they remained equally strong. Bodyfarm are ready for international glory as in The Netherlands they already showed all how good they can be.

Than it was up to Belgian Black Metal cultists Ancient Rites to close the evening. Meanwhile the greasy food, combined with the heat made me feel not all that top fit any longer and their music did not help a lot either. This was not for me and maybe timing was wrong. Anyway Marko and I decided to catch an earlier train home and leave the Grip of Winter. Thanks to organizers for a diverse day of extreme metal and than I realized was this my last show in old Baroeg? I have no planned shows in the coming months yet, so who knows. If so Bodyfarm were a proper closing band of Baroeg, the only venue I know selling awesome shoes.

Lucifer, Angel Witch & The Night Eternal - De Helling Utrecht, 6 February 2024

The Satanic Panic tour hit The Netherlands in Utrecht. An interesting package, where my generation were drawn by Angel Witch and younger fans came also to support Lucifer. For me a first in de Helling, which is conveniently located 100 meters from a train station. Turned out to be a nice venue, with a beer prices having nothng to do with underground metal from the early eighties.

Openers of the evening were The Night Eternal, a heavy metal band from Essen Germany, who were new to me. Their Heavy Metal did fit the two headlining bands, but for me the vocals were not all to loud in the mix. They stated their first ever show was in Little Devil. Further  they dedicated a song halfway to Ozzy in Prince of Darkness. Must have been the lyrics, as the music was not very Sabbath or Ozzy alike, meaning too fast for those. Overall The Night Eternal did what they were supposed to do, warm us up well for the headliners to come. 

First headliners, by surprise of the older fans in, were Angel Witch. Now Angel Witch do have some classics under their belt. Their self titled debut album from 1980 is one of the best NWOBHM albums ever. According to Martin Popoff who wrote several books on NWOBHM they were better than any other debuting band including Maiden. That is debatable and a matter of taste, but sets the bar high. Further for me NWOBHM does hold three classic songs that should raise horns and atmospheres at any party. Angel Witch the song is one of them (the other two being Heavy Metal Maniac and Am I Evil?). So to celebrate this classic album Angel Witch opened with a new song. Death From Andromeda of their latest 2019 album Angel of Light. I believe all fans agree that was their very best since the debut. Few more songs of that album were in the set, plus Dead Sea Scrolls.  The rest was of course the bulk of their debut album and singles of the time. Initially the sound was a bit unclear and the voice of Kevin Heybourne needed warming up. This would improve fast and already during Atantis we were taken back gloriously to 1980. The set was good, but the peak came at the end. Intsrumental Dr. Phibes continued into Angel of Death. Hereafter the double Baphomet/ Angel Witch knocked everybody out. What a blasting end it was even if zero surprise. Kevin Heybourne might be the only original band member, but I loved seeing them live again. I also would like to see Kevin Riddles'Baphomet one day (band of original bassist) as I missed them last year in Little Devil and they have the great voice of Tony Coldham. While writing this my voce fully recovered, but damn was it fine shouting the epical lyric You're an Angel Witch, You're an Angel Witch.

So after the break Lucifer would close the evening. Now I don't know too much from the band apart from the fact their albums are titled Roman numbers and they are from Germany/UK/Sweden or so. I heard some songs in the past and checked some clips before last night which sounded  OK, When they hit the stage and started playing they turned out to be a bit lighter than the previous two bands. Still I did like their retro rock. I even recognized some songs and At the Mortuary is one catchy earwurm. So to my surprise I did get drawn into their show and they also saved the best for last, but I did not get the title of the closing song. I did not understand why their CD was some 5-6 Euros more expansive than online, but wil get V and play this when the timing is right. So they closed a fine evening, a bit earlier than expected.  Where I thought both bands to play some 75-80 minutes according to schedule, they did play both for 65 minutes, which gave me an earlier train home, but let me not get into delaying trains now, as the evening was so nice. You're an Angel Witch, You're an Angel Witch.