Havok, Warbringer, Gorod & Exmortus - 013 Tilburg 6 April 2017

The next generation of Thrash metal touring Europe with an interesting package. Looking at the line-up I was interested in all four bands with three of them never seen before. Unfortunately lack of timely information on our amateur run national rail made me arrive over one hour later than planned in Tilburg. This resulted in no shoarma before the show and extremely annoying missing almost the full set of Exmortus. I know their last album Ride Forth and their mix is very interesting. One half seems Neoclassical Yngwie style metal and this is blended with some Death/Thrahs heaviness. This all presented in Manowar like true metal lyrics and covers. You might hear more styles in the blend as well, but this is just a rough base. So I entered the hall when they were ending some classical instrumental on speed and would play their last song. What I saw was enough to convince me that this is one great live band. The double guitar switch solo was brilliant and their playing live maybe even a notch faster than in the studio. This band should come back to Europe soon, with hopefully a longer slot than the 30 minutes they have now as opener. I will be there at the front and get a Tee as well for support. Now only seeing a small part could not justify a T-shirt really, but I got previous album Slave to the Sword.

Next on were slight outsiders Gorod. Not only are they the only non-Americans, being French. They also play a more Tech Death kind of metal on this overly Thrash evening. I saw them some times before, when they used to blow Obscura off the stage in Patronaat. With their last show for me being in February only I knew what we were geting more or less. And again it was a top live set. This is one of those bands that I love when seeing on stage, but not that much on CD.  Live their enthusiasm transports into the hall and they gain on sympathy factor. Being an outsider the response today was less than with the other bands. I guess some you win some you loose on that respect. At Complexity they were the most succesfull band of the day audience response wise, on this tour they might pick up some new fans.

Warbringer are amongst the bigger names of the new generation in Thrash metal. Now my age justfies the comparison deal and nothing is as original and creative like the big ones in the eightes used to show us. Well, that is not going to happen here as this was one killer show of Thrash metal. Last week they released their new album Woe to the Vanquished  and they opened with the first four songs from that one. Probably unknown to almost all it took to the second song title track WttV before a fairly large circle pit got running. During the remainder of the set this pit would be there and reach near wall to wall sizes at times. Quoting one old name then,  I saw a lot of "Good friendly violent fun in store for all". During the set vocalist John Kevill promised us nicely to kick our fucking teeth out several times. As he explained after the set if their show does not turn violent it ain't a good one. As all bands had a fairly short set tonight Warbringer bulldozered on. While doing that they skipped their only album I know Empires Collapse alltogether. I highly enjoyed the whole presentation both on and before the stage and got this last album afterwards. I guess they need a longer set next time for including their 11 minute power thrash ballad When the Guns Fell Silent, but that would be an interesting break. This was a matter of came, saw and conquered literally.

Headliners of the tour are Havok another rising star amongst younger Thrash Metal bands. In the last Aardschok they spoke about a new bassist and his role on their last album. Well live it soon turned out that this Nick is an animal on stage as well. Not only his very present bass playing, but his private circle pits on stage and loud screams inbetween songs showed a guy with some energy to kill. Havok released in Conformicide recently the possible best Thrash album of 2017. Several songs from that album were in the set. Halfway the set however, full side A from Time is Up was played.  I only know their last album, but all unknown songs sounding pretty good to me. The crowd got wildish from the start and the big no crowd surfing sign was nicely ignored. The band seemed to have some irritations with monitors on stage throughout the set, but when they played they killed it. This was one professional set of good metal and how sad I was for leaving when Intention to Deceive was started in order to make it home by train. Well I got home in the end, but still all was a mess and in spite of speaker announcements my last direct train did not wait in Dordrecht, making me lose again over an hour to find trams, busses stopped riding and my bicycle shut behind a closed door. Still a lack of trains can not kill this perfect evening. And then the old question pops up: Why would anyone prefer going to see Metallica playing in a hall filled with people wearing H&M metal shirts, while new original bands do it so much better nowadays. Maybe it is better this way and  music lovers meet in smaller venues, leaving the mainstream having their own parties.

Flotsam and Jetsam, Dew Scented & Izegrim - Baroeg Rotterdam 2 April 2017

 

Flotam and Jetsam returned to Holland on their Forbidden Territories of the World Tour. This is the second European Tour supporting their self titled 2016 album. Last year when they played Musicon I was at Mearfest, so this afternoon should not be missed. On this tour they are supported by two interesting bands as well, so lots of thrash should come upon us. Arriving at de Baroeg Izegrim had already started. Pity as because of that I missed White Walls, the strong opener of their last album The Ferryman's End. Their set held more songs from that album (the only I know from them) and some older material. Good show opening the package. During the break the beers were allowed outside due to this sunny afternoon and next on stage were Dew Scented. This band is known as a German thrash band, but for some years the majority is Dutch. So I recognized some people on stage from a show of I Chaos I saw in the past. This band played thrash metal and did so very well. I do not know the albums, but it sounded good overall.

I used the second break to get the last CD from Flotsam and Jetsam and the awesome Doomsday XXX years Tee. The story of Flots is known (or should be). Classic debut album Doomsday, Jason Newstad, no more JN and possibly an even better album in No Place. For me their memories go back to my favorite Aardschokdag line-up ever in 1989, when they were the heaviest band of the day. So the audience held many fans of my generation going back to the times when all was good. Not willing to be that grumpy old man claiming that all was better in the past, but Flotsam and Jetsam gave us a masterclass in topclass old school power/speed/thrash metal. This was the perfect set honouring the past and promoting the present. Filled up with some material from their fairly recent albums ( I only missed Suffer the Masses as a surpise Storm song). Opening fast and recent we soon were transported back to the eighties with Dreams of Death and Hammerhead. Many smiling faces around and loud shouting along "Hello, How are you? Ready tonight?" The remainder of the set followed this switch in times and went down a storm. It seemed the band were honest when they stated this to be the best gig of the tour so far. When the setlist was completed they did come back for more. Amongst the obvious highlights  in No Place for Disgrace, Doomsday for the Receiver and I Live, You Die one new song deserves a special mention. The song called Iron Maiden has a vibe of  Maiden indeed. It is done so well and uptempo, that I guess if it would have been on Book of Souls to many it would be the favorite of that album. Fast, short and furious with the twin guitars going all over the place. Those who do not know that song, look it up on Youtube. Fair chance you buy the last album for this song only.  I was hoping for a good show with some old school feel over it. Flotsam and Jetsam managed to top this by a mile. Very enthusiastic on stage, playing 15 minutes longer than announced this was a blast from the past. With shows like these I really start getting convinced  that all used to be better in the past.

Soen & Madder Mortem - W2 Den Bosch 31 March 2017

An evening of moody progmetal in Den Bosch, reason enough for Hans and me to hit the road. Madder Mortem opened and they were the reason I wanted to go to start with. Not that I think them much  better than Soen, but the fact I never saw them play live. Some 10-15 years ago I used to add them on the list of bands I would like to see the next year on the PPE feedback form. This were the years after they released my favorite album Deadlands. Hereafter they turned into this stop-start band. Releasing an album every now and then, but never touring. So now they finally were on a stage in front of me, reason enough to move closer. The person most outstanding of the band must be vocalist Agnete. She actual sings and unlike many female vocalist she stays far from operatic vocals or fairy-like presentations. This woman rocks and at times enlights us with her hysterical screams and heavy pounding around the stage. But let us not forget the rest of the band, as calling Madder Mortem: Agnete and accompaniment would be an insult to their performance really. A very solid band with no showing off issues brought us the songs beautifully. As this tour is to support their Red in Tooth and Claw album, most songs came from that one. To me the absolute highlight of the set not surprisingly came in Faceless from the Deadlands album. Starting and thriving on a pulsing bass this is were all came together for me. The fifty minutes they got, flew by and I was curious how Soen was planning to follow this. Good band, great songs and a sympathetic performance. Only the fact that they love Holland for it's beautiful weather can be filed under bloody luck.

Smoke filled the room, lights from the back and Soen was on stage easy to recognize by the bold head of Joel. Soen have three albums under their belt and their progmetal is based upon groove and dark moods. Anyone coming to be cheered up, went to the wrong event as Soen is gloomy and dark. What does help is that they are great musicians and their dark songs are well crafted. I do have their albums, but did not immediately recognize their songtitles. Amongst the ones announced were Sectarian, Jinn and Opal. Overall this was a very good show, but after a while I felt a bit of lack of variation, with too many slower yet heavy songs. I do realise that this is just their style, so why complain. It is more  a hint to keep even longer sets interesting. In the encore the uptempo  Tabula Rasa was very nice, but closing with moody ballad Lucidity did not rock out the evening. Still the performance was top-class and we even got a Maiden like chance to sing along whoo-ho-hoooah guided by guitar. While the band was in topform, their roady seemed close to burning out, probably caused by an overdose of depri music. He just kept coming back on stage. The interesting part was that he came to do things one thought he might have done before the show started, like bringing water bottles, fixing setlists and moving a speaker. To me it became a funny running gag throughout the show as he would not stay three songs behind the screen. So wishing him calmness and suggesting others to go and see this interesting package when near to home. For friends in the UK, even too find out if the mysterious Black Flag is still with them, but I won't spoil that surprise. Sunday they play Haarlem, much closer to home, But that day we have 6 shows to choose from and I opted to Flots till Death for something completely different. 

DGM & Trick or Treat - de Boerderij Zoetermeer 24 March 2017

The Triumvirate tour with three Itailian Power metal bands passed by de Boerderij. So why are there two names only, one might wonder. Well this weekend Josie came over from Portugal and her plane was supposed to land 22:25. When the time schedule was announced I could see that DGM was supposed to play until 21:55, so a perfect match. from the three bands DGM is the one I know and like. I saw Secret Sphere before, but not tonight. Arriving in the main hall Trick or Treat had just started. Not knowing them it took about a second to hear that their inspiration comes from Helloween some thirty years ago. The voice, the fast riffs and solo's and the happy metal mood transported us back to those Keeper albums of the past. Maybe not as good as their examples I liked the enthusiasm they showed on stage. Even if playing for only a few fans they gave it their all. The circling dance steps were hilarious and the bass solo of several minutes was technically better than Joey de Maio. Of course with Italian Power Metal bands cheese is always lurking around the corner and tonight we got a full platter. Still I liked the performance and put this down as not shocking musically yet entertaining. Minor tip, if you have problems in playbacking backing vocals don't put them so overly loud in the mix.

After a very fast break DGM came on. This band I saw before at Progpower (twice I believe) and  mixes more prog with their power. On the way in I played Momentum in the car and I also have one oldie. So I know them, but not that good. Still I recognized some songs and Reason is the best song of Momentum and in the set. On the CD Russel Allen sings that one and Symphony X is at times not that bad as a reference for their music. DGM presented us a very fast and solid show and the response from the still not huge crowd was there to match it. We were asked to sing or clap along almost twice per song, but even the unknown songs had catchy choruses easy to shout along (Hereafter). In ballad Repay, we got some relief from the almost constant uptempo headbangers. All in all DGM showed to be a good live band again and my interruption on the way to Schiphol was worthwhile. Now I have to wait and see if two hours of power metal and a longer set ending later, result in some speeding tickets on route.

Blood Incantation, Thanatos, Cruciamentum & Neoceasar - Baroeg Rotterdam 19 March 2017

Originally I was planning to go this Sunday to some retro Hardrock of Horisont and 77, but a late start on a Sunday evening some two hours driving from home made me change my mind. Baroeg was having a Death Metal afternoon/early evening session. Apart from the timing, Blood Incantation on bandcamp already triggered my interest as well. Turned out that my choice was a good one, although I shall never know what I missed in Helmond. As Baroeg is a stone throw away from de Kuip and this Sunday Feyenoord guaranteed their first title  in 18 years, with two local bands on the line-up Football was never far away. Although in spite of the bands references the audience did not seem to bother all that much.

Graceless was the opening band of the afternoon, but they already finished before I arrived. As I am hardly a specialist in Death Metal I keep my comments short on the four bands who all had something different to offer. Neocaesar contains ex members of Sinister and played straight Death Metal with a good groove. Cruciamentum from England got my interest with the constant flow of guitar melodies over some very heavy death metal. Song announcements were grunted at us in similar vein of the vocals during the songs and this resulted for me some fast flying 40 minutes. Thanatos is an institute of extreme metal in Holland. Exisiting 33 years by now shows on stage. This was a very professional Death/Thrash metal show that hit us. Turned out that this was also drummer Yuri's last show. They will continue, but when and how is to be defined. Closer of the now evening were Blood Incantation. I knew this name from the announcement as their logo is hilarious (hallo Mikado). Last year they released well received Starspawn, which was now base for their set. This band was something different from the other bands today as well as all bands I ever saw. They somehow mix brutal death metal with the technical ambient side. Never coming close to clean singing, they include breaks by instrumental slowing down. All this very short as the main body is just extremely heavy. Best gig of the day to me, although all four bands justified the trip. 

DieselBurner, G.O.D. & Dad's Amaryllo - Musicon The Hague, 17 March 2017

This year has everything in it to become the year where I watched most shows. Strangely enough I managed to miss Musicon so far. This evening  could correct that and April and May will increase the number of Musicon gigs to decent levels. Yesterday D&ESR put three (almost) local bands in Musicon so no reason not to check them out. Opener were Dad's Amaryllo from het Westland. Their shirts and hair looked grunge and their soundcheck was Pearl Jam. Now Grunge was never really my thing, but this young band could play their instruments and has a good vocalist. They played a Stone Temple Pilots cover in their set, which means little to me as I only know the classic hits from that genre. They brought support who mysteriously all stayed far from the stage. Nice band and I shall tip EMF, if they are ever looking for a grungy (cover?) band, to check them out.

After a break we got the headliner of the evening DieselBurner. This is a duo with guitar and drums only, but somehow they manage to create a thundering wall of sound hitting us. Not stopping for small talk their fairly long set did get over well. You would think a line-up like this results in limitations, but I stayed interested throughout the set. At times they got the audience on the wrong foot with their stop-hit breaks, but clearly a live band with experience at work. Their best song came in the encore, but as they did not announce songs no idea what it was called. Closing the evening would be G.O.D. from The Hague (God is Hagenees, thanks Rene) This trio would be the loudest and most energetic band of the night. I heard on the evening that they are among the rising stars of our local scene and seeing them live I got the point. Heavy speedrock, with Motorhead not that far away is what we got. A good no-nonsense Rock and Roll show. To my surprise their set was pretty short and when asked for more it seems there was no more. My only question would be related to this as well. How are they going to build in variation if they are to play over an hour. Now we got about 30 minutes of high energy. Sure they will be on more local stages in the near future, so go see this. Thanks to D&ESR for another succesful evening in Musicon.

Stampede, Lautrec & Stormtrooper - The Exchange Bristol, 11 March 2017

Stampede holding a family tree event under the banner of The Bristol Heavy Rock Explosion. When reading about this show I knew I should be there. Magchiel liked the idea as well, so we went for the full Bristol trip. Starting with the music history I never realized so many great names came from Bristol in the past. Amongst the better known names are Jaguar, Onslaught and Shiva. I did get the CD on the evening in order to  get to know them all. But Bristol has more on offer with a city walk in the morning followed by football in the afternoon. Bristol Rovers FC played Southend in Division One. A full Memorial Stadium presented us a very loud and atmospheric afternoon. With a 2-0 win and in Goodnight Irene one of the biggest football hymns ever to go around a stadium. I shall follow the Gas from now on remotely with more than a bit of interest. Of course a pub with the inclusive greasy burger was on the menu, but in the end it was all about The Exchange in the evening.

DJ Andy Fox warmed us up by playing many hits from our youth. First band to appear on stage was Stormtrooper. They are not a band from my youth as I did not know them. This is not that strange as their first full album was only released last year. Pride Before a Fall turned out to be a highclass NWOBHM affair with Colin Bond on bass and pedals. Live I was also much impressed by the fast guitars. Almost the full album would be played and the mix of fast rocking In the State of the City,  Still Comin'Home and their ultimate epic Battle of the Eve came over impressive. This was to me a great start of the evening, with a highlight in Drunken Women. In the crowd a lot of women as well. Not drunken,  it seemed to me they were related to the bands. The audience looked like a mix of Old metal fans and friends and family which together packed the Exchange nicely. Patrick from Belgium was there as always, when I go to NWOBHM in the UK. However with pride I can state Holland was the largest overseas crowd represented by three fans. I also had the chance to meet up with legendary NWOBHM author John Tucker, writer of several must read books and many liner notes.

Following band was Lautrec. This forerunner of Stampede has in its line up both Reuben and Laurence Archer. When Stampede's Hurricane town was released on CD four Lautrec songs were added. Tonight would be a short show as only four tracks were played. From that album Red Light Ruby was not played, but the Ballad of Johnny Cool (?) was. It seems that this song was recorded in the past, but never released. As during the evening a possible release of the Bristol Heavy Rock Explosion #2 was mentioned, adding this song alone would make it a collectors item. The performances then. Well Lautrec convinced and seeing Laurence Archer for the first time live, it was good to see a guitar hero of my past riffing and soloing with such ease.  Reuben Archer is one of the great voices in rock to start with and live he proved to be still in very good shape. I also learned that Lautrec around 1980 toured supporting Saxon on their Wheels of Steel tour. This made them decide to go slightly faster and heavier with Mean Gasoline as the result. Resuming Lautrec played short but sweet.

Before writing some words on the Stampede gig, let me give some ballpark justifying my slightly biased views. I do not believe in one favorite band, as there is just too much great music around. Yet if  a shortlist of my favorites would be asked, for sure I'd mention Stampede as well. UFO's Strangers in the Night is in my ears the best live album ever made. Stampede's debut album The Official Bootleg  is  the logical follow up to that Classic. Great songs, a strong band and Reuben and Laurence Archer in the roles of Mogg and Schenker as one of the best voices in rock and a guitar hero respectively. Hurricane Town the album is as good. Both albums are high on my most played ever list. As Stampede is not only about the Archer family it was third original member Colin Bond who got the show running with his bass opening Shadows of the Night. What followed was a mix of old songs and more recent work from 2011's A Sudden Impulse. Highlights to me: all songs. Well mentioning a few specific one can't go around the three guitar line-up When Laurence joined at the end three guitars meant lots of solo's switching over the stage. Chris Clowsley is this stable guitar who together with the rhythm section sets the base for Rob Wolverson and Laurence to fly. Another highlight for me personally was the mic appearing in front of me as invitation to back up vocals on Moving On. While most of my friends consider my singing, well not singing I now got my three seconds of fame in The Exchange. All in all this was one remarkable night where Stampede supported by their predecessors showed us why I loved this music in the early eighties so much. The impact their first show for me had in the Rock Den a few years ago can never be repeated. Still Stampede reconfirmed that apart from their albums their shows are also among my favorite ones. Thanks to The Bristol Heavy Rock Explosion looking out to album#2 and who knows a new show.