Exumer, Hirax, Headless Hunter, Cerebral Invasion & Lark - Musicon The Hague, 14 August 2024

On a Wednesday night we were treated on no less than five bands. While originally we would get a triple thrash attack, suddenly we got two additional bands, playing very different styles. Result was an early dinner needed if you like to see the first band too.

Lark came from Poland and as their vocalsist stated that is a twelve day walk away. Assume they came by car, but their hardrock made little waves in Musicon. Never easy to start at 18:30 on a weekday, but this rock was too calm compared with what came after. All four could play and sing, but their songs did not stick all that much. Their own drumset at the side of the stage was taken off fast afterwards, making one of the fastest stageswaps ever possible.

Next band Cerebral Invasion were from Germany, but the looked more Latin American. Especially the vocalist looked a lot like Raphael from Imperador Belial. Unfortunately he had a cold, but lots of water got him through the set. Also one guitarist went missing. The thrash metal played by this lot sounded very death metal. I had the impression that they improved throughout their set, or warmed up maybe. Decent not shocking to me they were.

The original support act came up next and what a band they turned out to be. Headless Hunter have been playing around the country for a while now, but I missed them both at Roosendaal Open Air (too late) and Metal Experience (train strike) last year. This young band is definitely among the new hopes for Dutch thrash metal. A very lively set, brought enthusiastic and the audience reacting accordingly. I had the impression they brought quite a few friends along too. One to look out for in the future.

Upon arrival we learned that Hirax had missed the boat from England. Luckily with three openers they still arrived on time. Actually I expected them to close the evening, but bands decided different. When Hirax kicked off we soon could see that we got one of the Musicon highlights of 2024 on stage. What a presentation and positive energy was coming off the stage. Katon de Pena is a superb frontman getting all involved in the show. The band themselves all excel at their instruments and are as much adding to the fun. They did not have  a long set, but with their short and furious songs we got many  songs still. This show flew by and was a high from start to Bombs of Death. Typically one of those bands that could have should have been bigger. Now highly appreciated in the underground.

So after Hirax Exumer would close the evening. Following up after such a high is hard and turned a bridge too far for Exumer too. Not saying that their set was not good and engaging really. Just not reaching the level of what came just before. Still their journey through four decades of thrash metal went down well enough. A decent closure of one fine evening in Musicon, so thanks to all involved.

Armored Saint - Melkweg Amsterdam, 9 August 2024

It's Friday Night and the Saint are back! Armored Saint playing festivals on their Saints will Conquer 2024 tour also added some headlining slots. Truly headlining this time as even no support was added on this evening in Amsterdam. For us it also meant a return to Melkweg after many years. In teh eighties I attended many shows in Melkweg or Paradiso. Nowadays both program very poor and there is no need to go for Amsterdam for shows, unless you visit the Cave. Actually the Melkweg did all to under inform potential visitors. The day before only it was announced that no support band would play and what time the band would start. This was interesting as originally only a doors open time of 18:30 was posted. Hans and Mary had planned a night in Amsterdam but cancelled same. Instead we took an early train in, to have some drinks and some food before show along Amsterdam canals. The first terrace we picked almost had the band sitting next to us, but they took a turn and the terrace could not deliver. Given the huge string of shows these weeks and the fact that Alcatraz was already going on, we feared an empty Melkweg. Luckily upon arrival it was somewhat full including Ton  and further filling up decently before eight oclock. Those who were present were all very much in the mood being loud and rowdy throughout the show.

20:00 an intro tape started and the band came on. What can I say that I haven't before the past decade. Armored Saint toured pretty often and always it is a party to me. Well I can say a few things as tonight might have been the best set I've seen by them (ever?) The band in topform, the songs scream for shouting along and as always some surprises were included. This time halfway the duo Over the Edge and Head On would not have been guessed by me in advance. Another absolute highlight was when during Aftermath John Bush appeared in the crowd singing next to the guy who watched the full show from his stretcher. It does not get more emotional really. When you add the ubersongs like Can U Deliver, Win Hands Down and my favourite song Last Train Home you get the drift. This show was about being on a high for the full 90 minutes. During the show I also realized the difference for me compared with Opeth earlier this week. Where at Opeth you watch and look amazed at times, here it was all about participating, getting energy off the stage and returning same to the band. I am pretty sure that the Saint will appear high on my end of year favourite concerts list. This was so good, and as Hans always says, metal as it was meant to be from the start. Already looking forward to their next return to Holland.

   

Opeth & Green Lung - 013 Tilburg, 7 August 2024

Opeth back on tour. I the middle of their festival run, they added some headline shows including 013 in The Netherlands. Before I get to the good (and there was plenty of that) let me rant a bit about what was not good. Traffic jams on our way down in the middle of summer holidays season? A sold out 013 is a bit shit. Like most venues sold out means no comfortable walking around possible. When I arrived with Ton at the venue it was nice that we immediately bumped into Annemiek and André. The other people I knew would be there, we would never see around.  A sold out venue is one thing, but when the affair is around prog, people in my experience tend to get even more territorial. No aggression in the air, but people defending their space like a transvestite attending last supper at a random opening ceremony. On this hot summer night it seemed that 013 was saving on Airco costs too, as occassionally you felt a breeze in order to cool us down. But it was all about the music, so let the music do the talking.

Green Lung opened the evening. I had never heard of this band and kept it that way until seeing them live. The first thing striking was the huge horned Angus Young head centre stage. Second when the band came on was that the guitarist after hitting two chords started tuning his guitar. Another two chords another tuning. When he was done, the music actually was fairly nice. Not sure how they came to support Opeth, as I heard mostly 70's hard rock, with occassional heavier moments. The vocalist needed warming up, but in the end their show was good. If 013 was not sold out I could have passed the merch stand at the break, now not a good plan. During the last song the keyboardist showed us some proper deep banging when not playing. During Opeth's last song their keyboardist did exactly the same. so that was the theme of the evening. Nice enough band. I would go and see them again if playing close to home.

Opeth are big nowadays. Selling out 013 is no mean feat if you see that Bruce Dickinson or Kerry King stayed far from it at the same venue this summer. I know what I like about them, but they could run the risk of being too soft for death metalheads and too grunting for prog lovers. Good for them to see that the coin flipped the other way and they are embraced by many. I did complain about sold out above, but for the band of course this is nice. I got into Opeth after Still Life, before they played Progpower 2000. This was to me their best period with Still Life still my favourite album by them and Blackwater Park and Ghost Reveries following closely. I saw them pretty often those days too. When they said goodbyeto grunts I lost a bit of interest. Still getting Heritage and Pale Communion, but stepped out disappointed after that. I mean is there anyone in teh world saying I am going to play me some Opeth tonight an dpicking up Heritage? Than during a KLM flight home one day Sorceress was in the entertainment system and I liked a lot what I heard. In Cauda Venenum was to me even their best album in a long time (since Ghost Reveries or even Blackwater Park) so I am back in teh camp. I did see their November 2022 tour in Lissabon. There they played one song of all 13 albums released and it was one of the best shows of the year to me. So expectations were high tonight, but not fully met. First the setlist. After they finished I thouht they played a set very similar to what I saw in 22. I just checked and that is not true, as only 5 songs of those 13 were played. Still the songs that made it to the set this night I saw several times before. Than there is Mikael. He was more timid at the start of this century. Now he feels like needing to be a standup comedian inbetween songs. He actually is rather funny, but when people behind me start explaining a joke to each other and he never ends talking I would prefer another epic song really. The Napalm Death cover joke even went on repeat. In October Still Life turns 25 years old. Maybe I hoped fo rmore of that album.

But the music, the playing and the overall show were all pretty amazing again, saving the night.  Opeth are the best in their style and they deserve full houses indeed. In October a new album shall be released The Last Will and Testament. Grunts are coming back, so curious we are. They did not play anything of that album yet, as they need to rehearse to play those difficult songs live on stage (according to Mikael) In February Opeth return to Holland. Amsterdam and inflation tells us that ticket prices increase from August till February with 15 Euros. So let me wait for the new album first and than decide. I know quality is guaranteed, but a sold out AFAS in February is even worse than a lockerbox free evening in summer. Time shall tell, now getting my Still Life CD out. 

Mega Colossus & Speed Queen - Stereo Wonderland Köln, 1 August 2024

Mega Colossus released one of the best albums of 2024 with Showdown. A new discovery to me, but a longer discography to discover came before. So when I saw that Mega Colossus played HOA and another festival in Germany this week I sounded them if a gig in Holland would be a good idea. Well the week was already booked in Germany and closest to home would be Köln. A pretty long ride still, but when my brother in law came to visit bringing his brother in law along (confusing, not important) I pushed for a city trip and here we were. Later on I also saw Speed Queen being added to the bill a good and sympathetic Belgian Heavy Metal band who stayed at my place last year when opening for Night Demon in Musicon. So some sort of perfect storm brought me to Germany. A new tradition seems to be born. After last year's roadtrip to Jag Panzer, Riot City and Hellripper in Dortmund end July, this year 1 August brought me back for metal in Germany. Coincidence or not the new tradition comes with rain unfortunately. Stereo Wonderland was the place to be and this was a bar mainly. The stage made old Little Devil stage look royal, so it was all hot and sweaty tonight. The place not being huge meant it was packed tonight with lovers of good old Heavy Metal and I enjoyed the atmosphere already before both bands kicked off.

Speed Queen opening the evening and they were in good shape. Maybe since I knew several of their songs now it sounded to me better than last year's Musicon. A small hour they got and they managed to get fists in the air and carrying fans when Thomas went crowdsurfing. A very good show and if the place was warm already before kick-off temperatures were rising fast when the band played on. So Speed Quuen did set the place on Fire indeed. Good to see that Zeeman shorts still rule therefore.

During Speed Queen I tried to fight the heat by drinking fast along. That resulted in more sweating so I opted for the other side close to teh window for Mega Colossus. I am not sure if Showdon shall become my album of the year, but Fortune & Glory definitely is the catchiest opening track of 2024. So when their set opened the same for me the mood was set. What a brilliant start to a set that was filled with highs. Even if only knowing Showdown, the bulk of their set. The songs that were new to me sounded damn fine too. If there was a problem it must have been temperatures. O stage it was hot, but off stage it might have been even warmer. Due to noise conntrol no doors or windows could open and the place did not have or use Airco's or Ventilators. Still the shout Co-los-sus grew through the set and everyone in seemed to be more than a bit enjoying this band. For me it was an absolute highlight of gig year 2024 too, but afterwards I felt like finding my shower fast as most important. I did upgrade my CD collection though so next time I hope to know even more songs. And who knows someone manages to get them playing Holland too. 
 

Tygers of Pan Tang & Fearwell - Musicon The Hague, 14 July 2024

Tygers of Pan Tang playing Musicon nice. At the time of booking this show I am pretty sure noone relaized that Holland might be playing a Euro 2024 final. So timing moved from evening to potential afternoon back to evening. This as one German referee decided Holland should not play the finals. Just kidding, Holland played poor most of the games and Spain were the only country deserving to win this title.But with the final becoming not of my interest I was glad to be back in Musicon for some good old NWOBHM. Luckily I was not the only one as turnout for a Sunday night was good. Unfortunately Razorbalde Messiah had to pull out on the day due to illness. Expecting to see them anytime soon again.

Now it was up to Fearwell to open up the night. Fearwell are from Leiden and they play a heavy kind of power metal. Actually they play fairly nice. I saw them before in Musicon presenting their only album Well of Fear. They played most of it, but skipped the long epic Battle in the Bay of Matanzas. Maybe good as that song holds the Dutch National amthem and pictures of bored Dutch football players would come to mind. Their stage outfits are somewhat strange as black capes are worn over army trousers and bermudas. The chains on stage apparently come from a game, but not being a gamer myself I did not get that link. Good band from the region and bringing fans along too.

Tygers of Pan Tang played Musicon before corona and they released a new album plus live one since. Willing to pick up the Live CD it was sold out after the show. Being originally an English band they did not need to see the Euro finals themselves. I thought that an English flag was hanging over one amp, but closer look made me realize it was Sardinia flagging caused by guitarist Francesco. With the vocalist Jack Meille being Italian too it is now a mixed band. Robb Weir is the only original band member, but I do like the current line-up. I thought the band playing very tight. Like other shows by them I saw the past decade they do not only focus on their old albums, but blend in songs from later albums too. Yet of course the favorites to many are those from the early eighties. Opening with Euthanasia and Gangland early in the set got us rolling and the atmosphere stayed up throughout. Those who saw Tygers of Pan Tang before know that the encore is always a weird mix for Dutch fans. First their best song Hellbound gives a total party, after which Love Potion No. 9 is a total downer. When Tygers released that song Lee Towers had a hit with the same song in Holland. It was probably the reason why their career was heading for the ground in Holland (see what I did there?). Actually hearing the song and the solo it is not as horrible as we always thought, but after Hellbound nothing stands up really. All in all one fine evening in Musicon again. I told a friend who invited me to watch the football, that I woudl pass for extra time after the match. When I was on my way to him  Oyarzabal decided differently. So Music it was, beating foootball as it is supposed to be.

Amerikan Kaos - Ghost on Mars - The Monolith Deathcult

It turns out to be one of those years, where keeping up with new releases just does not work for me. Herewith three more albums released a while ago, you might want to check out.

Amerikan Kaos - Armageddon Boogie

It was quiet in the Annihilator camp for a while. Now we know what Jeff Waters has been doing over the past years. He wrote three albums a bit different from his usual Annihilator stuff. Armageddon Boogie is the first one released and his ode to melodic hard rock from the eighties. So suddenly we received the perfect summer album in a year with no summer. The Pasadena Four is his ode to Van Halen and possibly the best song on the album. Than agin I like all songs and especially those who can apreciate The Nightflight Orchestra should check this out. Very nice flowing album with great vocals by Chandler Mogel. Next album has Stu Block on vocals. All That Jive follows March 2025, so I will get that one too. Apparently there is a game attached to the albums, but I am not the most fanatic gamer, so did not look that up really. Great fun sunny album.

Ghost on Mars - Out of Time and Space

Italy in metal mostly goes into the direction of  powermetal at first thought. Those in the know also appreciate prog bands like Kingcrow, DGM, Pentesilea Road and Eldritch. Now there is a band from Rome formed in 2019 amd releasing their first full lenght this year. From the first clips I heard I thought these guys can go far. That is far in our tiny progressive metal niche. The songs all speak and the performances are great. This is progmetal with some djenty touches, but all very good. At times a grunt heavies up the songs, but that is hardly needed. This band offers a great debut album and I guess it won't be long before we see them on a certain stage in Baarlo. One of the better progmetal discoveries of the year so far.

The Monolith Deathcult - The Demon Who Makes Tropihies of Men

This Dutch band is around since the start of this century and yet I missed them so far. It was their fantastic set  at the first edition of The Hague Death Fest that made me pick up this album. I heard of them and read about controversial quotes, but missed their music. Well glad that this a thing of teh past, since what I saw on stage was one rollercoatser of symphonic Death Metal with electronics blended through. On album at home you can never repeat the impact of a live show, but they come close. Apparently two songs were released before, but the flow of the album is great. The Monolith Deatcult bring the term bombastic to new heights here. What a pounding machine they are and what an overwhelming sound. This is not for every moment every day to me, but when in the mood an absolute winner of original Death Metal. For a full on great review check out Andrew's words on Ave Noctem. Live show in the area by them I won't skip any longer.

Alkaloid: Bach out of Bounds XL - Paard The Hague, 4 July 2024

Alkaloid are one of those tech death bands who are somehow linked with Obscura. Even if I learned only yesterday that Christian Münzner left the band this year. Alkaloid were approached by Dordrecht's Bach Festival if they could work on a show mixing Bach with Metal. While stating later they went out of ther comfort zone, they picked up the challenge. Last weekend their debut was played in Dordrecht. Next to the band as a five piece two female vocalists joined in and also two violin players one accordeonist and a cello player. I did not really know what to expect, but as I liked Alkaloid's debut album pretty much, curiousity brouht me to het Paard. The show was being played in the small hall and (tiny) chairs were put in place for an all seated event. The audience was also a blend of styles. A small majority were metalheads coming for Alkaloid. Another part seemed to be Bach interetsed and I guessed some conservatorium students wanted to see what this blend of styles resulted in. Luckily I did bump into some known faces, so not going alone trouh the motions tonight.

At 20:25 everyonne was asked to move up and pick a chair in the hall. When all members hit the stage it did not take long to realize I would like this. The show started with an Alkaloid song (don't ask me for titles) and the blend of all instruments within the music sounded fine. Next was a Bach suite in full and the mix of guitars soloing along the chamber orchestra setup was good again. Now I can admit, that I am not overly familiar with everything Bach, but as always with classical music for me, you do recognize the odd bits and pieces. Hereafter the evening would meander through songs without the vocalists a smaller setup for some parts and full stage performances. After some 45 minutes we got a break, needed to strech backs and legs. After the break a new song written by Alkaloid in the spirit of Bach was presented telling a long story, that I could not follow on the lyrics anyway. A same mix as before the break was presented. It was funny to see in the audience, how the metal part automatically nodded their heads along with the metal, while others kept necks and heads remarkably still all the time. While being a string of highs Alkaloid saved the best for last. The regular set ended with I believe The Funghi From Yuggoth. Here we went all out tech death until an instrumental part at the end was transfered to cello violin and drums. For me the highlight of the evening. It was great to see how the band watched smiling along too and the other way around the orchestral players also had huge smiles at times observing the metal around them. When all were standing up applauding we did get one more song and were asked to stay on foot (hurrah). One fine closer followed and I believe all agreed that this show was something special. I know many people from the Progpower camp who would have loved to see this. The good news is you have one more chance when 10 November a same show is played in Den Bosch (even if without XL behind the event name). I myself just checked teh German dates Akaloid are going to play with Obsidious later this year. Unfortunately I am not around those Decemer days, as I would consider a roadtrip. Once again it was proven that open minded going outside comfort zones does pay off. Also again it was shown that if the world would live by metal rules, we would all be better off. Different worlds met tonight on stage and in the audience and it just turned into one big happy place. A great initiative coming from Dordrecht resulting in an even better outcome.