By Jase Walker
After spending the morning dealing with the after effects of the night before – especially a head splitting hangover – I’m marching off to another place in Antwerp for an all day metal fest in a… fort? As I approach I can hear the music blasting as the day begins and I get shivers just thinking about what I’m getting myself into!
Just in time to catch Affenpinshers on the second stage to open the day up! And this is some real real loud stuff to blow my hangover away in some style and I’m actually kind of surprised how much this is erring on the side of metalcore! Bits of the likes of Machine Head and Killswitch Engage showing through as well, this is the correct way to kick off a festival like this, no cobwebs remaining on me at all. These guys have some solid riffs, all energy, no subtlety, just straight up going for the jugular. Great start for today, this is going to be a good one today, I know it.
Next up on the first main stage slot is Cathubodua and it’s fucking symphonic metal?! WITH A VIOLIN PLAYER?! I am so SO sold on this immediately! The singer has the same sort of style as Tarja (ex Nightwish), the powerful vocals with super high register melodies, excellent! I legitimately did not expect this sort of thing today so that’s already two bands that have blown my expectations out of the water right away. I am a complete sucker for this kinda thing! These are definitely getting added to my Spotify rotation, more symphonic metal please!
Back to the second stage for Stab but it seems they’re having some issues getting things started unfortunately. Definitely music aimed at throwing down and two-stepping but very much not for me: I can’t say I really like hardcore all that much but the band does sound pretty great though. Rolling with a dual vocal setup and using it well to bounce the duties between them both but admittedly I don’t think people are awake enough to start battering each other at the front just yet. Hardcore can be fun but yeah, not for me.
Anyway time for something a bit more along my tastes with some blackened metal courtesy of Verwilderd. The sound is a bit disappointing and feels quiet for a main stage band but blast beats, disgusting vocals and some tremolo picking is definitely right up my street. Not a lot can be said for the dynamics of the movement though, seemingly quite static and letting the music do the work instead. I do love the mic stand being a tree branch with a horse skull though, that’s pretty damn cool. Sadly I think the overall sound let the set down a bit and I wish it was stronger to really drive this sort of style.
Next up is Moments who I’m absolutely sure I’ve seen before at some point, anyway time for riffs! Definitely a more refreshing sight with a lot of movement on stage and big dynamic songs. Not only that but the crowd is much more engaged in this set, Moments are getting straight to the point, it’s time to fucking move. Reminiscent of the likes of Counterparts, Landmvrks, Novelists and the like, Moments are fully delivering on all fronts. They’ve connected with the audience well and people are clearly enjoying this with a few at the front throwing themselves around. Moments have really sold me on their sound, definitely one to keep an eye out for if you like your metal and hardcore, their live show was a ton of fun and they clearly love doing this. I think they did expect a bit more shenanigans from the crowd but it’s still early as far as this festival goes so I think people might be saving themselves a bit for later.
Fractured Insanity up next and I’m having a very pleasant time eating some lovely Belgian fries while getting my ears blasted with some top tier death metal. These guys are showing off that they’re incredible musicians with the sheer amount of sudden phrase shifts and obscene note runs up and down the neck on both the guitar *and* bass while the drummer is smashing out relentless double bass work. This is death metal at its absolute best, the most astounding show of endurance in metal, everything is obscenely heavy and busy. Compared to earlier as well, they’ve got the right level of volume for the main stage, absolutely thunderous! I thoroughly enjoyed a bit of solid death metal on a sunny afternoon.
After a bit of a break it’s Schizophrenia up next on the main stage and I only needed to take a quick glance to see the thrash metal uniform of tight pants, vests and long hair (and a V guitar of course). Running with some pretty filthy vocals, these are most definitely a solid slice of good old fashioned thrash though! Fully appreciating the sometimes dreamy and psychedelic guitar solos too, Schizophrenia has a lot going on and even feels quite proggy at times. Schizophrenia are legitimately a fun band to watch even if I’m not really huge on thrash, they’re constantly moving around and actually projecting themselves to the audience, it’s such a small thing on the whole but makes a real difference to the overall show. I’m definitely feeling yesterday catching up with me by this point but it won’t stop me enjoying what Schizophrenia are doing, everything about this performance was fantastic!
- Schizophrenia will open for Cannibal Corpse on their October/November tour.
Back to the Core stage for Nervosa, a band that I’ve been meaning to see live for quite some time and today is as good of a day as any to get my first experience! This all woman extreme metal band is absolutely killing it right from the start and playing to a completely packed out tent as well, clearly their appearance has been well anticipated by today’s attendees too. The crowd response has been absolutely brilliant as well, you can see how many people are throwing their fists around in the air and headbanging from the back. Fearsome vocals, ferocious riffs and above all, unfettered aggression in the delivery. Nervosa are absolutely slaying on their set right now, it looks, sounds and feels incredible and they’ve got the crowd eager for more and more. We’ve finally got a crowd solid enough to start supporting crowd surfers as well and people aren’t passing up the chance to get themselves over the top. Absolutely brilliant set, Nervosa are a force to be reckoned with.
And the final band for me today is Wiegedood as I have to head back early sadly! Anyway, time to get my ears around some catastrophically heavy black metal! I’ve missed many chances to see these live and finally able to, and they’re every bit as terrifying as I could have possibly expected! Admittedly a fair chunk of the crowd seems a bit more amused if anything at Wiegedood’s sound, not exactly hard to understand given the noise they’re kicking out as it’s not particularly easy listening. Wiegedood sounds absolutely massive though, a true cacophony of screams, relentless drums and rapid fire playing. These guys are absolutely smashing the main stage with this performance but it does seem a bit of a shame that the crowd doesn’t seem super engaged though.
Overall what a fantastic festival. It was well run and kept the times tight and running properly and not only that but the prices for beer and food were pretty reasonable too! Great place for a show like this too and I’m definitely already looking forward to returning to this next year. Seriously get yourself to Antwerp and especially for this festival: you get far more value than a lot of other festivals and the spread of music was quite something also!
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