It can be held at any venue but most of the times the evening is in The Acu, a small stinking veggie anti-globalist cafe with a small venue attachted to it. Once you`re used to the left-wing propaganda hanging from the walls spending an evening at this place turns out to be quite entertaining, especially with some good metal and beer.

Sepsis
Sepsis seems to be a young band, at least judging from their stage appearance. They have a certain uncertainty and nervosity about them. The band plays death metal with the occasional hardcore hint.

Sepsis isn`t bad but they still have a lot to learn, if they want to take their music any further. Especially the singer should work on his voice, as he lost it after the fourth track, which was not a pleasant thing to listen to. He sounded like a crow with a cold. A pity because the newer tracks they played showed a lot of progression compared to their older work, so maybe it just wasn`t their day.

Imbolc
Tonight is the official unofficial official demo release party of Imbolc`s second demo entitled Berserker Furies and the `Bolcjes` had the urge to party, as always… All 5 tracks from the demo were played and it became clear that Imbolc is a real live band. They have a sense of joy that is infectious to the crowd.

Their sound is a mix of black and death metal with the occasional grind part and although the tracks differ enormously from another, they all have that typical Imbolc trademark: the voice of singer/guitarplayer Tijmen. He has a unique throat which is very recognizable. The party ended much too soon with the inevitable "Kaaskraker" but to all good things comes an end. Check them out if you have the chance.

Cromm Cruac
Last band of this evening is Cromm Cruac from the east of the Netherlands. Cromm Cruac has been around since 1992 and has its very own style of playing death metal. It`s low paced technical death metal with some jazzy influences.

The guys have a lot of experience and the musical level is pretty high but the gig was boring to the bone. A live gig has two important factors: the musical and the visual factor; although the musical factor is way more important than the visual one, the latter is not unimportant. And that`s what Cromm Cruac lacks; visual performance. The reaction of the audience was predictable. All but a few visitors went to the bar and left the space in front of the stage. Like I said, the music is interesting but the only reason I chose to stay and watch the gig is that I had to write this review.

(Review: Roy van den Brink)