On a nice Saturday, towards the end of January, it was off to Weert to see Hub & Heuy Fest V: indeed, the fifth edition. Organisers Hub (Marcel) and Heuy (Xander) have set up a concept in which they book some bands that are very good but not often tour here, and add that line-up by local talent and national bands. At forehand I had anticipated, on the basis of the line-up,  a lot more visitors, and so did the organizers. That is why this Hub & Heuy Fest was not in the usual Azijnfabriek in Roermond, but in the much better equipped venue the Bosuil, which is one of the coolest concert halls I have seen in a while.

This time the basis for all was a mini-tour with Dismember, Apocryph from Belgium and Burning Hatred from Holland. The two special booked acts were Norwegian Urgehal and Gjenferdsel, and then there were some bands from Belgium and the Netherlands to complete a line up of 9 bands.

First band to hit the stage was Belgian Valkyre. The band was supposed to start at 13:45, but they got on stage half an hour later. The reason for this was that until that time, only very few people had turned up, but nevertheless the band had to start at 14:15 anyway in front of like 10 playing visitors. This show was one of their last with vocalist Mieke Diependaele, who has decided to quit with the band due to other priorities in life: a friendly split so to say. When Valkyre enters the stage, two things catch the eye: the two female singers (Mieke and keyboard player Gaelle) and the violin player: combined with the name Valkyre I had anticipated much more of a pagan metal show and less of a gothic metal performance.
The band played six songs, and musically I had the feeling that the band sounded a bit in between After Forever and Kamelot. The power metal aspect was emphasized by drummer Matijs who proved to be a real hard hitter live. The first two songs were real power/ gothic metal songs, although the second song could only be heard and not seen, due to an overactive smoke machine (a way to cover up the poor turn-up at the beginning?). Not until the third song, ‘Don’t Be Sad’ from the new “Consolamentum” demo, the violin from Cid Jimenez could be heard: Cid stayed pretty much between vocalist Mieke, and that was also the matter with hearing him.
Musically it all sounded pretty decent, but the stage presentation is something the band still has to work on: it was kind of static, and Mieke could have brought more variation in her way of singing, or interact more with the second voice of Gaelle, who has a damn good voice as well. I am pretty sure that if the band manages to find a new vocalist with some stage charisma, we will be hearing more of them: especially After Forever fans need to keep an eye on this band.

Second band up was the first of the mini-tour package, Dutch old school death metal act Burning Hatred. This weekend was their first with new vocalist Koen (Donderbaard), to some of the Dutch readers perhaps also known from Thronar.
As you may have noticed when reading Zvetan’s review of their ‘Apocalypse Of The Dead” demo, the band fits in very well with the Dismember package. The band kicked of with I believe ‘Controlled’ (but I am not so much of a death metal expert, that is my buddy martin who had to stay home sick this day), and the first thing to notice was the difference in stage presentation compared to Belgian Valkyre. Meanwhile the audience had increased to like 40 people, and I think their stage presentation jst drew those extra people to the stage. The show was continued with songs like ‘Streams of Blood’ and ‘Vortex of Lies’, also from the 2005 demo. What about their new demo”Apocalypse of the Dead”  from 2007, of which Zvetan wrote? Well, those came afterwards, when the band played ‘Silenced’ and ‘Hate Feelings’.

In between the band took some longer breaks, which put the sting a bit out of the show, but I think that with new vocalist Koen and his stage presentation the band still has possibilities left, and that they can becoming one of the band’s that uphold the reputation of the Netherlands in the field of death metal.
The set kicked off in fury, but starting with ‘Vortex of Lies’ the band managed to mix in some crunchy elements, which makes it also more enjoyable for non death metal addicts like me. I don’t know the title of the last song, but it had a great, a bit Amon Amarth like, groove. Nice show, musicalwise perhaps not much better than Valkyre, but beating them in stage presentation…

Second act to keep up the Dutch colours flying, and third act of the day, was Elexorien. This band made a considerable growth since the last time I saw them. As I just mentioned, the concert started a bit later, and it seems as if Elexorien felt responsible for that: I have never heard the band play that fast, as if they wanted to make up for the lost time schedule.
Once more I experienced that Elexorien is live much better than on their album: it is much heavier and with way more impact. I was not blown away by the album, but this live… I guess that more people agreed with me, as this was the first band to get a proper response from the audience. Although, that last one could also have been caused by the looks of vocalist Iné: hell, I saw my mate from the Dynamo Wouter with his tongue almost hanging on the floor!

It was fun to see the difference between a more experienced outfit with two ladies (Elexorien) versus the lesser experienced (Valkyre): Elexorien stands on stage with a lot more confidence and a much better interaction with the audience.  Funny coincidence is that also this band has a parting member, drummer Joris… The mix between the angel-like vocals of Iné and Lainedil (who sounds more like Mille Petrozza, and no, I won’t make any cheap remarks about the difference in looks, haha) works out very fine. It all resulted in a very good show, one of the best of the day, also because of the response from the audience.

The setlist could have been a bit more balanced: the first three songs the band played were among their fastest, and at first I was afraid that Elexorien was seriously going for the speed record of the day. Yet later on the band managed to correct that, also because the sound became a bit better during the third song (‘Rising Of  The Storm’), which also gave room for their epic side: perhaps a bit more of a balance between the fast opening and the rest of the set would have been a bit better.  The band even made a remark towards the upcoming Carnival festival during the song ‘Smeagol’: what was peculiar that during this song there was a fan from the audience singing some lines, and he did that much better than the keyboard player. Nevertheless Elexorien delivered a very strong set, of course based upon the material from their debut, and I think they are ready for the next step: today Holland, tomorrow Europe perhaps?

Act number four, still not leaving the Benelux-borders, was Belgian Apocryph, who delivered a pretty strong album “Drenched In Grace”. Now it was time to follow that up live, and I must say, the band failed in doing so. The audience was way less interested in Apocryph than in Elexorien, and especially vocalist Jo let it get to him, which resulted in even more of a distance with the audience. Regarding the participation the band had the worst show of the day, and that is a pity. Their music is technical death metal, which reminded me of music somewhere between Amon Amarth and The Haunted, and like Valkyre the band was rather static on stage. Coincidence between the two Belgian bands was also that they first played a sound check, and that it was hard to see whether the show had actually started or not, also because of the lost time schedule.

The band had less volume on stage than Elexorien, and in a way it supported their skills, which were obvious with songs like ‘Harbinger of Silence’ and ‘Vicious Circle’, and also the thrashing song which was never released yet did sound promising. Technically the band is already in control, but they seriously have to work on their stage act and how to involve the audience, especially in a situation like this: well, only time will tell…

 

Originally it was the intention that also Helheim would have played here, but a lack of funding caused that Helheim (and Taake, about which band there had been talks at the first stage of organizing the festival) could not play over here: as a replacement, Belgian Huldrefolk was called in at the last moment. The bad thing for me was that the band played after six o’ clock, and I had to eat sometime, right? So because of the illness of my colleague we do not have a decent live report on this band.
A pity, because what I saw impressed me, and so far I thought they were the best band of five, and finally a good stage presentation by a Belgian band.  I guess I came in on the fifth song, so that I could enjoy songs like ‘Gareel Der Volksellende’ and ‘Alkoholocaust’ , although I thought it was a pity that the band had to quit their last song because of tight time schedule. Nevertheless the band made a strong impression with their song material and stage presentation which made me thinking of the late Fluisterwoud (and a bit of Walpurgisnacht): next time I hope to see the entire show of this very promising band, and I will not be surprised if they are among the top of black metal from the low countries within a very short time!

 

After these Belgian and Dutch bands, it was finally time for the bands from Scandinavia, which were at forehand the more interesting acts: I think I am not the only one thinking like that, because from this time on (and also perhaps because of the time of the day) the turn-up of people became a bit more fitting to such a strong bill, although less than 200 paying visitors is a bit disappointing: shame on the headbangers from the south of the Netherlands.

A crying shame, because they missed out on a great show by viking metallers Gjenferdsel. The band opened with ‘Svik’ after their intro. Gjenferdsel had a massive yet clear sound, thus displaying the band at its best. At first you miss the second guitar in their set, but after three songs you are completely used to it, and when you listenen good you can hear the marvelous combination of simple melodies with all the accents lying underneath. With Invictus on drums the band was the second act with a clear hard hitter on drums, but this one fitted much better into the hulking concept of the band.
With only one album in their resume the emphasis was of course put on the songs from “I”, and so we got a treatment with songs like ‘Bak Skoddelagte Fjell’, and closing, like on the album, ‘Thurs’. Although I had heard some good stories about the band, I was nevertheless surprised by Gjenferdsel live, and for me they were the best band of the day.
in the meanwhile I got a message that a clip from this show can be found at YouTube: those interested, it can be found right here!

The bands with the best interaction with the audience was Severe Torture: a band that has its roots in this area, and so the anticipations were high. To get to the point right away: regarding the show aspect, this was probably the best show of the day. Severe Torture played ‘at home’ for the very first time since long (Severe Dennis mentioned a span of ten years) and it was by far the most tight set of the day.

Severe Torture has a steady sound man and that proved a good thing: their sound was by far the best of the evening, which of course also had its result on the performance. I am not a death metal specialist, but what this band delivered today was very, very good. Severe Torture made their mission clear when they opened with ‘Pray For Nothing’ from the “Bloodletting” album: that was clear, because I could see several serious pits during their show, and I even saw two stagedivers (ye good ole times!). From “Sworn Vengeance” the band played ‘Buried Hatchet’ and then it became of kind of ‘best of set’, with songs like ‘Mutilation of the Flesh’, ‘Dismal Perception’, 'Impelled To Kill’ up until closing ‘End of Christ’. Dennis built up a great bond with the audience, and Severe Torture even dedicated a song to organizers Hub & Heuy. Severe Torture was an absolute death metal party, but also a show without any mercy. Awesome show!

With only Dismember to go finally Urgehal came on stage, the band that I was looking forward for most, especially as I had heard that they would play two new songs. Some of you might wonder what Urgehal exactly is: well, just before the band started the set with ‘Goatcraft Torment’ from their latest, same titled album vocalist T.(om) ‘Nefas’ announced that is was to be satanic black metal, and hell yeah, it became just that!
After their second song the Urgehal fans got what they wanted: some new material! The first song was called ‘Dřdenatt’ or something like that and in a way it fitted perfectly to the latest album: first slow, then becoming ravaging fast and I must say, that it had some more nekro influences. After that came another new song, which started in the title with ‘Selfdestruction To…’ and I think that it is safe to presume that the upcoming album will be a must for all those who love Norwegian black metal.

After that the band played a splendid mix form all their five albums (and fifteen years of fine black metal), with songs like ‘Possessed (Raped By Evil)’ , ‘Anti-Religious’ and from their debut “Arma Christi” ‘The Eternal Eclipse’ amongst others. Funny thing is that just before Urgehal went on stage, the DJ’s played Possessed’s ‘Exorcist’; that can’t be a coincidence, can it?
With three more songs to go Urgehal went for a cover: Sepultura’s ‘Antichrist’ (which other title would have fitted this Norwegian outfit better?). In totally the band played like ten or eleven songs and gave a splendid performance, showing the audience what true Norwegian black metal is all about. What was kind of pathetic was the farewell to the audience: dropping your pants, show your ass and walk off the stage with the middle finger. Okay, it might fit into the concept of the band, but it doesn’t shock or provoke and so it is only a wrong closure of a furthermore highly succeeded set.

Together with Gjenferdsel, Urgehal was to me the best act, although I must admit that I am prejudiced because of my musical taste. Simplicity kills, that much is proven. What is fun to report, is that some dudes came all the way from the other side of the country just to see Urgehal, and one of them got so drunk that he had to sleep out a bit, earlier on the day. In spite of a friend of him (our former writer Piertje) they managed to wake the guy up not until the start of Dismember: indeed, only after the show by Urgehal. That dude surely missed out on a hell of a show.

All good things come to an end, and that also goes for this day of Hub & Heuy Metalfest V; as headliner, the headliner of the minitour package Dismember closed the festival. The band started after a race to gain on the expired time schedule, at precisely 23:00, but did make it only to midnight and not until 00:15, as was planned before. Later on I found out that this was due to an injury of drummer Thomas Daun. Organizer number one, Heuy, announced the band on stage, while other organizer Hub closed the set by yelling out through the microphone his famous way of calling ‘Allllright’, and I must say that both voices sounded affected by a substantial amount of alcohol. Well, that can be forgiven when you organize metal parties like these, in spite of the poor turn-up from the people from this area…

Dismember is death metal, simple as that. Right after Heuy’s announcement the band kicks off mercilessly, and immediately after the first song the band already plays one of the new songs from their upcoming album which will be released on February 18th: ‘Europa Burns’. Do I need to tell you that this is anything but a love song? I guess not!
Bands may come and go as trends dominate the scene, yet that is not what Dismember is all about: so that is why ‘Trendkiller’ from the legendary “Death Metal” album from 1997 is played next. And if you were still wondering what Dismember is all about: the next classic played is ‘Reborn In Blasphemy’. Next songs up are ‘Collection By Blood’ from the “Massive Killing Capacity” album and from their latest album “The God That Never Was” we are presented “Shadows Of The Mutilated”, and from the debut we get to hear ‘Bleed For Me’.
Although I think that Dismember I s not the best band of the day (and I think the injury of Thomas had to do a lot with that) vocalist Matti has a great interaction with the audience: this is where 20 years of stage experience shows off. Dismember live is death metal played with a Motörhead-attitude: ‘Killing Compulsion’ is next, and with a small joke about Europe’s ‘Final Countdown’ the set continues with ‘I Saw Them Die’.
Even when you play twenty years in a death metal band, you still have your influences which caused you to make fucking loud metal: for Dismember that act is Iron Maiden, to which they dedicate ‘Tragedy Of The Faithful’. And so, altogether, we come to the end of the regular set with ‘Dreaming In Red’. After that the audience is screaming for more in this best of set, but the band does not return to the stage to play three more songs, something which pisses off some people in the audience, but at that time no one knows of the drummer’s injury. And so the ironic situation comes that the festival started a bit too late and ended a bit too early.

And so I witnessed a great festival, with good acts, and once more the turn up of the audience is disappointing. The show was known way before, the acts were good and the Bosuil is a wel known venue in the south, so either the southern fans are too damn spoiled or they were saving their money for the upcoming carnival. As much as I hate to say it, I think there are too many spoiled fans out here.

A huge thanks to Marcel (Hub) and Xander (Heuy), and to Mira from Metalshots, who allowed us to use some pictures (and on which site you can find a lot more pictures from this festival). If anyone who was there is reading this: I have lost my own digital camera: it was packed in a red small bag, and a Canon Powershot from the 700 series. I would be very grateful if someone had found it and delivered it either to the organizers or the people from the Bosuil (a guy called Roel): if you can do so, thank you very much!

This live report is dedicated to my godfather Wim Lafeber, who died the very same day and of whose death I heard just minutes before Valkyre started to play…