Mortal Sin & Hidden Intent - Musicon The Hague, 10 August 2026

Festival season means bands looking for shows on weekdays. So it could happen that on this warm Monday night we did not get one, but two Aussie thrash metal bands playing Musicon. Mortal Sin coming from Alcatraz, while Hidden Intent played Bloodstock. Monday nights are always a challenge and even more so in a month where we get flooded with shows and festivals. So I was glad to see that Musicon had some 60 in and we were not in an empty place.

Hidden Intent opened the evening and I knew that would be fine, a I saw them before at Little Devil some years ago. Although they are only with three, their overwhelming sound is impressive. If you than add fingerpicking great guitars, we did get another great show by these guys. I don't have any of their music, so to me all was new, but I do keep my beers cold in their canholder I bought at LD. A very nice opener they were.

Mortal Sin tour their 40 year existnce, releasing their debut album in 1985. Now I don't remember even knowing the name Mortal Sin in the eighties. Turned out that was my loss, as they were awesome live. The cover of their debut Mayhemic Destruction is classic eighties, which might make you think of a band like Attacker. Their sound and especially the voice of Mat Maurer made me more think of Testament at times. We got a long set and the outstanding track to me was Lebanon, what a classic and still relevant 41 years later. Shouting along with Blood, Death , Hatred also worked out well. So in the end we got two great bands and  I doubled my Aussie thrash can holder collection. With 30 degrees coming up, I should try them out this week. In two weeks time this package plays Sounddog. Go see them  if you are around, you won't be disappointed.

Armored Saint & After All - De Boerderij Zoetermeer, 8 August 2026

Armored Saint back in The Netherlands, So I had to be there obviously. The last times I saw them live, they always managed to enter my top gigs of the year list. Why? because the Saint never disappoints. OK one minor disappointment upon arrival, their very nice white Tees were sold out in larger sizes. Due to an anniversary Hans and Mary  went to see te band in Essen already (combining with Crimson Glory and Wings of Steel, so what a midweek) and I ended going with Magchiel. Inside de Boerderij I knew I would bump into some friends as Musicon moved the Mortal Sin show to Monday in order not to collide with this show. Still de Boerderij could have filled up more, but good music is not always defining audience sizes. Well I was there and looking forward to yet another highlight of the year.

Opening band tonight were After All from Belgium. Now I saw them before at Alcatraz years ago, when it was still held indoors and at a parking stage. In Musicon and at Metal Experience Fest I was not around, so I was curious about their set. I remembered a bald vocalist, who now either suddenly grew long hair or was substituted over the past decade plus. Their set was pretty fine and their style of metal comes close to eighties US metal, so a fine band they are indeed. I might want to check out their next album as the new song sounded promising.

But in reality I was looking forward to Armored Saint as from entering de Boerderij, so let the Saint conquer once again. Well they did. Opening with a new song Close to the Bone of their latest Emotion Factory Reset it already started fine, which only improved with the March of the Saint thereafter. I can start mentioning highlights, but the overview of their discography was fine from start to finish. The band was pleased when the audience continued singing along with the guitars after Creepy Feelings finished (a first this tour) and I must say even if not packed, de Boerderij rarely looked this lively before. This all because Armored Saint know how to entertain, without taking themselves all too serious. Aftermath had John Bush singing from the hall again and when I cycled home from the station tonight I could not stop singing Last Train Home, even if riding a bicycle.  Maybe becaiuse it is among my five favourite songs ever? Thank you Armored Saint for doing everything right again tonight. This show was crammed inbetween Alcatraz and Keep it True Legends. Next year Alcatraz confirmed John Bush playing his Anthrax years. If like the US shows this year that means a support of Category 7, count me in please for a Dutch show. Metal as it was meant to sound is what we got tonight and I realized once again why I prefer smaller venues over huge halls. And thanks Magchiel for the awkward pic.

Savatage - 013 Tilburg, 1 August 2026

Savatage coming for a headline show to the Netherlands. Obvious I would not miss that, as last year's return after a long hiatus I missed being in Brazil and Europe on the wrong dates. Setting the ball park first. Savatage are among my favourite bands and one of the three I saw most playing live in the nineties (next to Psychotic Waltz and Riverdogs). The last time I saw them was at Bospop 2001 so already 25 years ago. Like most people I thought for years, that I would never see them again live on stage, but than last year they came back to life and now seem to keep on touring for years to come again. And yes, Jon Oliva is sorely missed, but his health does not allow touring really. Stories about this version being a tribute band because of his absence can be binned as the current line-up is very similar to the latter period of the band, before disappearing.

So off to Tilburg we went and we meant Hans, Mary and Magchiel joining me by car. Car on a Saturday? yes as trains were unreliable again and meant a bus part I preferred driving down south. We agreed to leave early and have a bite and a drink in the centre of Tilburg. Arriving around 17:30 we were not the only ones with that plan as many black T-shirts covered Tilburg's terraces. Seeing familiar faces en route we ended up a bit further back, enabling us to eat something. So would it be busy I thought? The answer was yes, when we entered 013. Very busy and that brings me to the only low of the evening, I don't like a busy 013. The hall is too big for my taste and you get stuck when it is (almost?) sold out. Now knowing there were at least some 50 FB or real life friends walking around I did not see most of them. I once again got confirmed that I prefer small venues, or possibly up to 800-1000 capacity like Nobel, Patronaat or Boerderij. 013 is a bit too massive for my taste, but Savatage draws larger crowds (not so much in the nineties as I saw them in places like Scum those days) so it is either massive or nothing. Luckily the Savatage crowd is a social one, meaning people of my generation who let others pass by if they wish.

At 20:30 the lights went off and an intro started bring us up to the rampestamper bit of Morphine Child. Following this by Dead Winter Dead and Jesus Saves and the mood was set. The sound was good, the band in form (Chris Caffery and Al Pitrel both shining on guitars tonight) Zak's voice holding well and the stage looking busy. I don't really know why they brought two keyboardists along, nor their names as introductions were not needed apparently. Well they both sang along with the complicated bits of Chance, so maybe there is a reason. The setlist was a trip through their discography indeed and surprises came mostly from the distant past, being to me Warriors (sung by Chris) and Unusual.

Playing a long set, meant two hours and as I just saw 23(!) songs. Now that is a proper show. Maybe for some abums I might have picked other songs, but I loved the set being a long trip from start to finish indeed. For me Hourglass could be left out and I would also like to see Fight For the Rock being represented by a song like Hyde. Well no matter the possible changes in the setlist, when a band ends with possibly the best song of all their four best albums it can't get much better really. These songs were Believe opened by Jon on Video and people crying in the crowd,  Gutter Ballet, Edge of Thorns and Hall of the Mountain King. We are talking Heavy Metal Champions League here, so  everyone left pleased. I was glad I got to see Savatage once again and the music did beat the venue for me. Savatage ruled from the mid eighties till the late nineties. Glad to see they still do.   

Armored Saint - Crown Lands - Master Massive - Voivod

Four albums you might like to check out for an even better summer.

Armored Saint - Emotion Factory Reset

Underdogs, but that was Raising Fear almost 40 years ago. Still I never got why Armored Saiint are not huge in metal land. Like on Alcatraz where they play again before shitbands like Body Count and Slaughter to Prevail. Well not my problem, as they released another winner for me with Emotion Factory Reset. Heavy metal with lots of groove gives us with Hit a Moonshot and Buckeye new highlights in their discography. They almost make you dance here. The rest of the album is also very fine and rather heavy for their standards. 8 August Boerderij, if  you are not at Alcatraz, I guess you have to be there.

Crown Lands - Apocalypse

Fearless was my first introduction to Crown Lands and it almost became my album of the year. Who does release albums nowadays that sound a lot like 70's Rush? well Crown Lands did. Than their double Ritual albums scared me off with their ambient soundscapes.Now they are back in good form and Apocalypse should please fans of Fearless again. The closing song is the 19 minute epic title track (just like ...). My favousire song is the Fall, what an earwiurm is that, almost as danceable as Armored Saint it should be a live highlight. That is if they ever come to Europe. Progpower booked lots of bands at the border of progmetal this year, so maybe these 70's Rush soundalikes deserve a place next year. 

Master Massive - White Shadows

Sometimes it is good to read magazines for dicsovering bands I missed online. Master Massive formed in Sweden in 1993, but released their debut full lenght in 2015. I discovered them in Aardschok who reviewed album #3 White Shadows. Namedropping old Queensryche and Fates Warning made me interested at least and yes it is a good album. The different bit about Master Massive is that they have three lead vocalists. All three good, but my favourite is Masken, whose rawer edge gives the sound more of an eighties US metal feel. 7 songs over 49 minutes brings you mainly back to the eighties and that is always a good thing when done this well. Curious if they do tour as well.

Voivod - Symphonique

Metal bands with full orchestra has been done before and shall be done again no doubt. It does not necessarily mean an enhancement of the sound and results might differ. The music of Voivod has always been different and it turns out that these versions do work well. The show is an overview of mainly eighties Voicvod with some songs from more recent albums blended in. The highlight to me is Tribal Convictions when tribal drums are enhanced by a threatening soundtrack of the orchestra. The voice of Snake is always a matter of taste, but he fits very well with this orchestra backing. So overall a very nice album, that might not be for every moment.

Riot City & Aquilla - Little Devil Tilburg, 22 July 2026

"Hey mr DJ play this one for me, you now the one with the crashing and the screams" Manowar sung to us on their majestic debut album Battle Hymns. Well anyone who was into just that kind of metal in the eightes and still is now, should have been at Little Devil this Wednesday night..Riot City and Aquilla transferred us way back to the eighties for some top class speed and heavy metal. Since our national rail would work against culture again, I drove down to Tilburg with Hans and Ton. Holidays did not make highways emptier, but to compensate the feared Tilburg Kermis also did not result in busy traffic or parking garages. On time we were in and let the madness begin.

Aquilla are from Poland formed in 2014, but looked more like 1984. Tight leather pants in white sneakers and the hair of the era. I once checked their music out, when they played a festival I was planning to go, but did not in the end. I remember quite liking them at the time and now got this confirmed live on stage. Heavy metal in it's purest form, with lots of fiery guitars and a strong vocalist to match it all. As far as openers go, this was one of the better matches with the headliner I saw in recent times. They went down well with the audience and won over some new fans I guess. One detail the antfucker (dutch expression) in me found funny was the shouting along bit. We were asked to shout along with something and steel. Now I read that the song is called Steel & plunder. I guess they mean either Steel & plumber or Steal & plunder. But they are forgiven as the song was pretty good. They closed their set remembering one year since Ozzy's passing away and Barking at the Moon we did.

And then came Riot City for their first proper headline show in The Netherlands, I saw them in 2023 in Germany and was completely blown away by their power and energy on stage. Last year they played the Roadburn Pre-party and that was awesome too, even if not the whole Roadburn crowd was getting their metal brilliance. Now in Little Devil they got a venue filled with people loving their music and reactions were accordingly. As from the first notes and more important screams of Warrior of Time the place was set on fire and would not cool down for the next 75 minutes or so. Or as vocalist Jordan told us, this made it all worth the ten hour flight followed by a five hour ride. With more time on their hands we got some songs that I never saw played live before and that included 10 minute epic Severed Ties. I loved every second of thsi set and it flew by while Burning the Night with an Eye of the Jaguar and a Tyrant from Beyond the Stars. Riot City proved once again to me, that they are the future of speedmetal. Pitty that most people in were from my generation or about. Can it really be that young people prefer metalcore over this masterclass? Does not matter as long as I can attend shows this good. So when In the Dark closed the evening we could go home with a huge grin on our faces. Realizing we just witnessed one of the highlights of gig year 2026. Their European tour is short, but if you have the chance to catch them, don't miss out. Rest me to thank Mario and the crew at Little Devil for giving us this evening. For those continuing the metal today at HOA: enjoy and I should definitely look more seriously into HOA 2027.

Dutch Prog Matinee - Musicon The Hague, 19 July 2026

Dutch Prog Matinee was it called and three to me unknow bands came to Musicon. Now I was worried for it being a Sunday afternoon show during school holidays. Apart from that Musicon does not really program a lot of prog anyway. So there I went supporting the venue and the prog scene, being surprised that some 30-40 people showed up. No faces I recognized from Musicon, but opening new markets makes sense always. Today's beers came in plastic cups, as last night's national grunting championship had a fuller house. Opening band were Proxima Flare. Their prog was metal light and moody. At times making me think of A Liquid Landscape, especially on the moody parts. They were pleased with their T-shirts and stickers. Me not being a cat-man not so much impressed. Their presentation was comfortable, but they did not mention song titles. I liked the last two songs best, when the metal bit and guitar soloing increased somewhat.

Next band were called Hurryland. With a name like that I hoped for some speedmetal blended with their progmetal. Well I hoped in vain, as they mixed more jazz with progmetal. Actually instrumentally a very strong band, but with no bass on stage I heard loops and tapes I guess throughout their set. The keyboardist played his first gig with the band, so looking a bit uncomfortable with headphones on, should be forgivven. I actually liked the vocalist's voice and considered the three songs where she sang stronger than the three instrumentals. When she sang and the band played their technical bits I thought of District 97. Nice band, even if their presentation has space to evolve a bit.

Last band were Artemis from Delft. They played more hardrock, than anything prog really. The band was fine, but the voice did not click with me, being a bit over the top at times. At a certain moment did he also ask for a circle pit? well that did not happen. It was sounding fine, but after some songs I decided to go home to watch the tour de France. Turned out that when I was on my bicycle, Vingegaard fell off his. That ended the last bit of tension of this tour, but I can still enjoy the stages. Finally musically I should have gone to Breda today to see Ruthless and Mindwars in Sounddog. But I preferred staying close to home and see some sports in the afternoon and evening. Wednesday it is time for metal in Brabant. Next Prog must attend do in Musicon is in November when Changeling comes over bringing Obsidian Tide and Hyla along.

Werfpop (Textures) - Leidse Hout Leiden, 12 July 2026

Summer festivals are suffering. With the increased fees for bands, plus all additional costs the many free festivals in our region are falling one by one. Over the years (decades) cycling distance from The Hague lost Parkpop, Schollenpop, Vlietpop and Westerpop to name a few. Werfpop is still running and this year they included two metal bands to the bill. Now Werfpop is not at cycling distance on my city bike, but we have trains going to Leiden. Well that is until our national rail gets involved. So I had to make a mix, cycling 10 km to the nearest station with trains to Leiden and than train and walk. Why telling all this unnecessary travel information? Because it made me decide to go for the shorter version of Werfpop and only attend the evening. This resulted in me missing the second best band of the bill The Curse Made Flesh. I say this without even knowing them, but by seeing bits of Prins S en de Geit and Postmen, I guess it is not hard to know. Actually of the bands I did see before Textures, Arson were pretty nice. These Belgians play a sort of modern punk, post hardcore and dressed up nice they presented this in such a way, that the crowd had to move along. Not unlike Martyr they let a bottle of booze go rond, but kept control by holding the bottle themselves. Well they did get pits and even joined one at the end. plus a wall of death was made upon request by people whose dayjob obviously was not attending a wall of death.

The closing band, reason to head to Leiden and festival headliner for me were Textures. This year Textures came back after an eight year hiatus, with the very strong album Genotype. I followed Textures from the beginning and remember them playing Polars when OLS was still called OLS. Swandive! Later on I would see them several times and before their end they headlined a Saturday at Progpower too. The current line-up of six is very strong and live they always prove why they are Holland's biggest Progmetal band. Vocalist Daniel de Jongh was also playing Werfpop with Crown Compass last time I was at Werfpop, but for Textures it has been ten years to be back. Now I don't take notes and with Textures I cannot place all songs immediately with title and album it came from. So opener was a tape Void from Genotype and I think we did get A Seat for the Like-Minded too. Basically what we got was one hour of progmetal build on grooves and melody. with vocals going from clear to extreme and heads would bang. A very nice way to end a pleasant evening in the park, which justified taking poor train connections.

Masacre & Dauthuz - Musicon The Hague, 7 July 2026

Tuesday night and the worldcup is on with two matches. So I was in doubt, but in the end I preferreed Colombian Death Metal over Colombian football's first half. So after a long break back in Musicon I was. Two bands on the night means always a more relaxed time schedule, so at 20:30 Dauthuz kicked  of. This gave me time to read on whatsapp that once again Argentina won with opponents complaining about the referee.

Dauthuz opened and these Noord-hollanders play death metal. Quite a bit of variation through their set, so at times death doom moving to OSDM and what I maybe liked best were some guitar shredding parts as if an eighties schrapnel record was blended in. Their presentation was lively and the vocalist made sure you would not drift off in thoughts. They are over ten years around, but I don't remember seeing them before, nice band they are.

Headliners tonight were Masacre with one s from Colombia. Formed in the late eighties and  releasing their debut full lenght Reqviem in 1991. I never heard of them before and went mainly to support the underground, Musicon and Colombia. Checking their discography I noticed their last five releases since 2020 are all live albums. I saw noone recording tonight for a live in Musicon album. That would be a short album anyway, as it seems that they played a festival set only tonight lasting some 45 minutes. But what they played sounded very nice. Especially the duelling guitars were to my liking.  During the set we also got the chance to improve our Spanish when vocalist Alex asked us to shout along. I recall shouting along Hijos da Puta and Imperio Del Terror. At the end many times Death Metal Forever was shouted which gave the closing song more of a Power Metal feel really. When all was over Colombia were closing their first half against Switzerland, so I sort of rushed home. Next time Masacre come over I will get one of their albums in Spanish, as I need to upgrade my Spanish anyway for South American guests in Brazil. Now I left pleased that I decided to revisit Musicon after almost three months and getting confirmed music always beats football.

Dimhav - A Forest of Stars - Psyclops - The Scalar Process

While in Brazil my CD purchases always tend to lack behind. In that case I go more to bandcamp. So herewith 4 very diverse albums I bought the last two months.

Dimhav - Ondine

Dimhav are from Sweden and they play porgmetal with power metal traces, just like we know from Sweden over the decades. The band consists of two brothers Olle and Staffan Lindroth. They take care of all instrumenst and as vocalist they called in Daniel Heiman. Now that was a smart move as vocals are top on this album. The songs themselves are also great, even if not all are stuck in my head yet. That is not strange as seven songs lasting together over an hour, you  do the math. The power metal influences makes it sound more like 1996 than modern progmetal bands. I love this style of progmetal, but PPE seems to ignore it alltogether this year. Check Dimhav out, apparently this is album number two, so I might have to explore their past too.

A Forest of Stars - Stack Overflow in Corpse Pile Interface

Now here is a challenging band: A Forest of AStars from Leeds. They play Black Metal, but of the avant-garde kind with folk influences. I discoverd them on their last album, which I ended not picking up in 2018. Now they are back with another long ride. six songs totalling 73 minutes, so do the math again. Their long songs mean they are not in a rush. The vocals are not singing, but more reciting. The music has an eary haunting atmosphere over it. An interesting album, which needs some time to consume. Especially those into a band like Dodheimsgard should check this out.

Psyclops - Bound to Burn: Melody of the Martyr

Is it an EP. or is it a full album? Who cares, this is my progmetal discovery of 2026 so far. It also is not an album, but a multimedia project where a comic book is added to the lyrics and I don't know what more. Now I don't care about comic books, but very good music makes me happy. We get modern progmetal here, with old-skool progmetal leanings at times. Both the clean and grunting vocals are pleasant to my ears. Musically there is enough power and speed in their prog to keep matters exciting. The 13 songs include three triple part anthems, so it is all a bit confusing on that front. I sneaky hope that PRR have to cancel their Progstorm appearance and Psyclops step in. I mean I am even interested in their 43 page comic book, that comes along with the album. If you like progmetal in any shape or form, you should listen to this album.

The Scalar Process - Agnomysticism

I think it has been proven that if you have to fight yourself through days speaking hte horrible French language, you seek solace in technical death metal. I can't explain otherwise why so many great tech-death bands are from France and the French speaking part of Canada. The Scalar Process released their second album, but were new to me. I actually first bought their sweatpants, as my old  Pagan's Mind one was worn out. This was when it was still cold around February. The album was released 29 May only and I bought it on bandcamp too. Their tech-death has more accessible parts woven in and should appeal to those into progmetal not afraid of grunts too. I now picked up my sweatpants with my neighbours and I can proudly wear them over winter, as The Scalar Process deliver for when I need to hear my metal fast, furious and technical.

Dream Theater - Vivo Rio, Rio de Janeiro 10 May 2026

Dream Theater in Rio that is a long time ago. Last time I saw the band in Rio was 1998 when they had their Falling into Infinity warm-up shows in Brazil. Now I have seen them since several times, but stopped going every tour since the nineties already.  Ocassionally I go and they are always good. But for me Dream Theater are among those bands whose first three albums are their best and never matched that level later (same for Metallica, Def Leppard or Leprous to name some varied bands).  So when tonight people around me started singing along with lyrics of more recent albums I tend to only recognize the chorusses, without knowing which album it is coming from. Somewhere between Six Degrees and Train of Thought I stopped knowing albums through and through. Tonight's show would hold three parts, so a big part of the surprise was gone regarding the setlist. To give the evening a bit of an old-skool feel, outside you could buy bootleg Tees for 80 Reais, while inside same would cost 220. Unfortunately the nice dark red one with the brazilian tourdates on the back, did not come in my size.

Inside at 19:30 a tape told us the house rules and to be ready as the show would start soon. Strange enough we then got 30 minutes of ambient elevator music without much action. At 20:00 the show properly started and the first part tonight was a full performance of Parasomnia. The comeback album with Mike Portnoy and back to the old style. I still do buy all new DT albums, but often I play them a few times before archiving. Replaying this one recently it actually is a fine album and seeing it being performed live made it even better for me. One question with each DT show is, how is James LaBrie's voice tonight. When after an instrumental song and a long intro for Night Terror he came finally on, his voice could not be heard at all. Worried I was, but the soundman corrected it after some 30 seconds. Actually his voice was fine tonight and I was more confused by his constant disapperances (which is nothing new). I guess amongst all Dream Theater nerdy fans, there must be someone who actually timed his on stage time over a whole show. It is a bit like timing actual playing time at a Portuges Football match. But I am not in the anti-LaBrie camp and liked his performance tonight. Same can be said for the whole band really and Mike Portnoy is more of a natural leader watching over us form a height. Parasomnia was good, with to me most remarkale that the ballad was the highlight, since Bend the Clock closes with a beautifull guitar solo. At the same time the closing epic The Shadow Man Incident is least interesting to me, as it sounds like Dream Theater by numbers, with nothing really new.

After a 20 minute break with far too long queues at beerticket and bar service we got the last part of the 40th anniversary tour. The last part as this was the one but last show of their 19 month world tour. This is where I noticed a difference  between my taste as one of the oldest in and the general younger public. Singing all the lyrics along of The Enemy Inside and Rites of Passage is no option for me as I don't know all the words. I came most interested during Under Peruvian Skies and Take the Time. Talking about the  audiece a bit as I saw today on TV an artist telling that a live album was best shot in Brazil as all bands in the world consider it the best crowd. Ok the singing along and the hey hey hey shouts were loud, but there is a serious problem. Brazil has a mobile phone issue at shows. Not at underground shows I attended, but teh bigger ones. The number of phones going up filming full songs was absurd. And not standing at the side, but centre stage and spreading like a disease. When Mike Portnoy than also asked twice for people to light their cellphones the chaos was complete. A guy before me was at times making selfies of him siinging along with the music. Being a dwarfsize I bombed many of his videos with a bored face above him. Anyway the overview held surprises and Scenes From a Memoryis still not my favourite DT album.

The last part was bringing me back to Bospop in the mid nineties as A Change of Seasons was played in full. This epic is so much better than the one closing Parasomnia so a worthy closer of the evening. The full EP playing was announced on the poster so no surprise, but what a nice way to end an evening with Dream Theater. A three hour set including 20 minute break showing again why Dream Theater are the biggest Progmetal band. I loved the full night, but also realized it shall never be as good as the Images and Words  or Awake tour passing Vredenburg in the nineties. or staying in Rio neither as great as the Falling Into Infinity warm-up show of 1998. My next DT show shall probably be around 2030 and I shall like it again.

Crimson Glory - Hardline - Ram-Zet - Triumpher

Some CD's I bought last month and did not get to recommend yet.

Crimson Glory - Chasing the Hydra

27 years after Astronomica Crimson Glory present us a new full album Chasing the Hydra. The last years they already played some shows and at Progpower we could see it was good. Their first two albums are in the absolute classic must have category. For any band returning after such a long time the question is "did it make sense to record a new abum?". Well I can be short there, in Crimson Glory's case it did. At first hearing I was not fully convined yet, but replaying the album a few times made me like chasing the Hydra better by each spin. And yest Travis Wills is no Midnight, since he was a one of a kind. Still his voice is good and at times comes close to eighties Midnight. The songs are varied enough as well, with some calmer intermezzo's just like the old days. So my conclusion is a welcome return of the band.

Hardline - Shout 

A few weeks ago I went to see Hardlline at de Boerderij.  Their tour was promoting this album, but the focus was on their 1992 album Doube Eclipse. A perfect melodic rock classic with next to the Gioelli brothers also Neal Schon and Deen Castranova in the band. 1992 so that melodic hard rock album was not followed up soon. In 1999 they reforemd and the band released several albums over time. For me this was the first CD I got by them after a very good show. This is just uplifting melodic had rock with as seen live exceptional good vocals by Johnny Gioeli. A great band he has around him and when the songs are catchy like this it is probably an album I shall go back to many times still.

Ram-Zet - Sapien

Another band coming back after a hiatus, even if this time only 14 years Ram-Zet. I loved their 2002 album Escape and do own one more album. Now they are back with Sapien and they amaze again. They play Black Metal of the avant-garde kind. This time though many of the vocals are sung by Sfinx. a woman who does not go all operatic on us. This makes the album less heavy than their past and at times moving in the direction of fellow Norwegians Madder Mortem. Still Zet's black metal shriek appears at times too. A very long album this is with 72 minutes, but it is diverse. My favourite song is Bozzadevil, but I explain that later with a clip of the day. A very good come-back that can be presented at ProgPower or Samhain for me.

Triumpher - Piercing the Heart of the World

Another CD I picked up after a strong live show is the latest by Triumpher. These Greek epic metallers were good live and great on album too. Yes I can mention Manowar to set te ballpark. But where the original did not release any decent album in decades, this band seems to spit out epic metal pearls every two years, with this being album #3. In order to play this style of metal a good vocalist is a must and with Mars Triumph that is very well covered. Further it helps if the songs about battles and epicness are brought with power and feel. Again no problem and this is a band to love and follow closely. If they than even add some lyrics in Greek, we know we can write EPIC in capital letters.

Sanctuary & Martyr - Boerderij Zoetermeer, 1 May 2026

Something is improving at de Boerderij. The last years they focussed mainly on cover and tribute bands, next to their traditional prog rock and classic rock bookings. This year there is an upgrade in metal and I like it. So it could happen that Sanctuary played at de Boerderij, while later this year Flotsam & Jetsam, Evergrey and Armored Saint shall follow. Now only their name should spread among metalheads as I was surprised that Hardline attracted twice as many people two weeks ago. Well it still was a nice evening of metal for the older generation and lots (as in really many) of familiar faces walking around.

Opening band on this tour are Martyr. A very nice fitting match and making this evening a double party really. Even more of a pity that Vinnie had to bow out due to an urgent knee surgery. So this was the first time seeing a bassless Martyr and they pulled it of nicely. Martyr is one of those bands you see every year playing somewhere in the country. For me this was the first time after the release of 2025's rather excellent Dark Believer. Sounding very much eighties metal with quite a few traces of Queensryche of that time. Some improvisations were needed without bass. but it was a strong set by them. When the monks hit the stage it turned out that Koen and Kevin never moved around that elastic and energetic, until I saw them in the hall looking at the stage. Well the reaper came on stage during Legions of the Cross and it all ended well. 

I don't recall seeing Sanctuary live in the late eighties or early nineties. With Refuge Denied and Into the Mirror Black they released two absolute classics of the era. Similar to bands like Crimson Glory, Toxik and Annihilator I totally love the first two albums, but consider the second one even a notch better. Tonight's setlist was build around the two albums and at the end some The Year the Sun Died thrown in. It did not take long to realize we were in for an absolute killer tonight with the band on fire and Joseph Michael showing after an earlier passage with Witherfall , that he also can deliver when following up on the legend Warrel Dane. It all sounded so impressive, that the most often heard comment afterwards was "even better than what I expected". This style of US Metal with thrashy and proggy leanings for me would be very welcome at ProgPower. Looking at the low number of PPE regulars present (apart from the usual suspects) I guess we won't see that happening anytime soon. Well Sanctuary brought me another highlight of gig year 2026 and I can leave for Brazil more at ease. Knowing I shall miss a long list of great shows in May and June I did get to see Sanctuary presenting their songs about death until it was Long Since Dark.

Hypocrisy, Abbath, Vreid & Vomitory - Stadsgehoorzaal Leiden, 26 April 2026

Outside it was sunny and orange due to king's night. So I decided to go inside with 1000 likeminded souls all dressed in black. Inside meant into the Stadsgehoorzaal in Leiden, which is a beautiful venue. Last time I was there was November 1983 when Michael Schenker played Leiden. Time flies when you bang your head. Tonight the package was extreme metal, but in various styles. So after warming up at Lazarus and than because of the sun the Duke, I was ready for metal at 18:40.

Vomitory opened the evening and they play Death Metal. They did so pretty well and went down fine with the crowd. For me a bit of variation would have been welcome, but while saying that it is hard to keep your neck still during their songs.

Vreid from Norway were for me the main reason to attend. I don't have their back discography, but loved their 2026 album The Skies Turn Black. They played the Ozzy dedicated title track and the epic opener From These Woods. The rest of their set was just as good and what a great band they turned out to be. The only band I wanted to see from a bit closer and I loved their way too short set from start to finish.  

Abbath was in good form today and so was his band. Last time I saw him in Nobel, he was talking lots more. but today the focus was on the music. A trip through his solo albums with some Immortal thrown in. I do not have any of his music, but this sounded very fine.

Hypocrisy headlined and they are a tight metal machine. Last time I saw them, was during my pedal to the metal bicycle tour across The Netherlands. Than on a weekday in festival season de Effenaar was half full at best. Seeing a busy hall tonight made it all even better and they were the just headliners to me. Even if not playing my favourite Hypocrisy song (Let the Knife do the Talking) the set was good ending with the inevitable Roswell 47. This ended one fine evening with good company in a beautiful place. Next Sanctuary/Martyr on Friday.