Besides some older material from previous MCD`s Sauron also played some songs of their upcoming new release like “Behold our Compulsion to Kill” which did sound promising and makes me curious how the entire release will sound. All in all a good opening act.

Prejudice
Prejudice belongs to the group of underestimated extreme death metal bands from the Benelux. Their extreme death metal highly influenced by bands as Cryptopsy and Soilent Green again sounded very great today and this band needs to be respected more. The only weak point was the sound that Prejudice had. The guitars were not so clear and the subtle riffs did not came to their right in the big wall of sound the band produced.

Although the drum sound was very tight and in the freaky rhythms you can certainly here the high quality of their music. Songs as “Drake” of their new “Nihility” sounded very brutal and after all I can conclude that this band should have been headlining this venue tonight. But on the other hand, if you consider that the bands that play later on the evening had a smaller audience…

Ancient Ceremony
Why the organization decided to add Ancient Ceremony to the bill has been, and still is, a great mystery for me. The melodic mid tempo black metal with some industrial influences wasn’t really high quality. Although Ancient Ceremony has been celebrating her 10th anniversary lately, and released their new and according to the critics their best release ever Ancient Ceremony did not impress me.

Most of the songs were from the new “The Third Testament” like “Devils Paradise”. But the not balanced sound in which the keyboards seemed to stand on its own did not really make this performance better. Could this scenario get any worse? Yes, one of the bass drums broke and the band decided to play one of the worst versions of “Creeping Dead” (Metallica) I have ever heard.

They deserve another chance with a good PA and less technical problems but I’m not sure if I`ll be there then.

Catastrophic
Due to some problems in the time schedule not Malevolent Creation but Catastrophic entered the stage. And it was really a surprise to see this band on the bill. Catastrophic is the brainchild of former Obituary main guitar man Trevor Peres. Together with his friends, all of the band Pyrexia, Trevor continues were he stopped with his former band, and he really did succeed. Catastrophic played a great set of old school death metal to steal the beginning appetite of the fans.

Songs as “You Must Believe” and “The Cleansing” are food for the bangers and when Trevor & Co. treated us on “Chopped in Half” this evening had a perfect start. And how strange this might sound to all you guys, I even found them refreshing. Refreshing in the wave of extreme and technical death metal bands nowadays.

Disbelief
This mid tempo death metal formation from Germany, right after a tour with Bolt Thrower and the release of their fourth release “Shine”. I never heard the new material but the previous release “Worst Enemy” impressed me with its fat wall of low tuned guitars. Tonight the band headlined on the smaller venue right at the moment Hypocrisy was playing what declares the smaller audience. Disbelief did their thing.

The sound was all-right, the band played tight. But that of course should not be a problem with their mainly mid tempo songs that vaguely reminded me of bands as Paradise Lost. The psychedelic touch gave the audience a relaxed environment to close the program on this stage. I personally prefer Disbelief’s older work.

Malevolent Creation
If there was one band I really would like to see tonight it had to be Malevolent Creation. The last time they were in Europe I could not see them and with a vocalist who spends more time in jail than on the road that could take a while. I guess the audience must have thought the same way. The reactions were great and the band was playing like reborn. With new vocalist Kyle Symons (Hateplow), who really surprised me, and a very tight playing band made this one hell of a performance.

Songs of there most recent “Envenomed” like “Homicidal Rant” were combined with some older work of which I seemed to recognize “Infernal Desire”. The really fat sound and the very amazing playing Dave Culross (drums) made this gig very amusing. Fortunately Malevolent Creation played instead of Catastrophic. They deserve it.

Vader
I do not think I have to tell you all about the live capacities of this Polish death metal cult act. For over years Vader has toured the world and did so many gigs it should be a surprise if any of the band members knows exactly how much. And also the past two years the Dutch death metal scene has got lots of opportunities to see them live in our country.

In all these years Vader has become a solid steamroller that can handle any situation, also tonight. Vader always give the fans what they want. Some recent work like “Litany” and the “The Calling” combined with older work like the classic “Black to the Blind”. The audience loved it and I also could not resist a few spins in the pit myself. And you can’t blame me for that with the lunatic behind the drums. And Doc sits there with normal face!!

The good presentation, sound and light effects made this a solid performance but I seemed to carry a feeling of overkill. It’s just like one of the people outside told me: “The same bands every year”.

Destroyer 666
I`ve seen Destroyer 666 a number of times now and most of the times there was something wrong with their sound. This time they have partly themselves to blame. Their amps on stage are turned up so loud you can still hear them halfway the hall. The problem is that the sound that far away from the speakers gets rather thin and the P.A. can`t top it without reaching a deafening volume. On the other hand the snare and toms are almost inaudible.

Too bad, because the Australian Antichrists play one of their tightest sets ever. The new drummer Chris Menning is a real improvement to the band. Better than his predecessors I think. The band play a lot of songs from their new record Cold Steel For An Iron Age. Songs like Clenched Fist really fit in with the older stuff. During all of their shows people scream for I Am The War God, their underground hit.

They hardly ever played that one. Now it`s part of their regular set and justafiably so. The war epic is one of the best black/death songs of the recent revival of this kind of metal. The bands choice to try to conquer the world from Europe seems to be a good one as their following grows with each gig.

(Walter de Korver)

Hypocrisy
Starting with Fractured Millenium Hypocrisy make The Choice, a pretty big hall in itself, seem huge. The bombastic keyboard intro builds up tension and when the band kicks in it`s clear. Hypocrisy is big. Singer/guitarist Peter Tagtgren immediately has a grip on the audience.

Most people seem to realize Tagtgren is becoming a legendary figure while he lives. With his studio/producing/songwriting he`s leaving his mark on the scene as we speak. Meanwhile he`s a good performer as well. He directs the crowd without overdoing it and the people go with him willingly.

The rest of the band is convincing too. Drummer Lars Szoke sits behind his kit like a king on a throne. While bassplayer Michael Hedlund and the guest guitarist aren`t exectly wallflowers either. The band has an extensive catalogue and although the emphasis of the set is on the last three albums there`s room for older stuff as well. A real treat it is.

(Walter de Korver)

Immortal
While most one day fly black metal bands have dropped the corpsepaint and spikes Immortal still performes in full battle dress. And right they are. There`s only three guys on stage but they hit you like a thousand daisycutters. A sound as heavy as hell and their impressive appearence grab the crowd from the start.

Immortal too have built up quite a repertoire. Not surprisingly the older stuff gets a warmer welcome. Not that it`s better, more people know it. The new material is more accessible but also less adventurous. During the show the lack of real variation in the songs take their toll.

Part of the crowd loses their attention, including me. In the end the tempo goes up and I`m back in it. But by far the biggest part of the crowd go nuts from beginning to end. It`s great to see so many people having a real good time while such an aggressive, fast and heavy band is playing.

In the end Immortal have to come back twice. The first obligatory encore is not enough. Eventhough I had my share of extreme metal after twelve bands I stayed till the end just because of the great atmosphere and elated mood of the fans. A great gig to end the day in style.

(Walter de Korver)

(Review: Teun Jans
Pics: Marcia Gransbergen)