On Saturday we got back to Eindhoven. While on the train we were checking out what bands we were going to see. Ready for today, I had my little flask of rum. And we were ready to party again!
We had to rush for the first band on the Large Stage. The opener today was Origin, who bring you completely utterly chaos, but in this case it is controlled chaos. They know what they are doing, these really are great musicians with great techniques. Normally I am not that fond of technical death metal. It gets too random most of the time. But Origin really knew how to keep me sticking to their show. This was really good.
At this point I really have to say something about the atmosphere of the festival. We had a really good time with friends and met some new people. But it was hard to walk from one point to another. It was way to crowded, everybody wanted to be in the same place at the same time. You could hear people nag about this. In my opinion it was better when they were sold less tickets. But hey.
Next we were going to wait for Exhumed, after seeing them several times we know this was going to be a party. The songs of this band are bonded together with beer and puke. Nevertheless this is a tight band that knows what to do! I love Exhumed. I would be more pleased if they would be performing on a later time. Or even as a afterparty. Because this is a party band. Nobody is completely smashed at 17:00. So we noticed that it was hard for the band to loosen up the crowd, what normally wouldn’t be a problem for them.
Shortly after Exhumed we went to see Thyrfing, this was recommended by some friends of mine. I never heard of this band. The name to me sounded like this must be a viking- metal band. Not really my genre, but hey. In my opinion everyone should be open to new things. Thyrfing was a good example of such a band. It was rather enjoyable. A very energetic band with a huge dose of black and doom metal, which I like, with a big hint of viking. Oh and by the way…. headbangers. Headbangers everywhere. So much so, the whole venue smelled like hair products.
Now for a band that sets every molecule in movement and a band that really caught me. Bölzer can call themselves one of the best bands of the festival if you ask me! I am really astonished with the fact that this band consists of only two people, but really produce a huge wall of sound. My nostrils were shaking and I felt the music through my whole body. This is hard, dark, hypnotising and notoriously good. Awesome changes in tempo makes this band interesting to listen at. After the show I heard a few people nagging that the sound was completely off. But maybe this had more to do where you were standing in the District 19 venue. Where I was standing there was nothing wrong with the sound.
Now we were getting somewhere. Dinnertime and time to get into the city of Eindhoven to get a nice evening snack. The whole town was drowned in metalheads, and every shop owner seemed to hone in on this. Well, after a nice pizza we went back. Don’t bother with eating to much. The Effenaar is a venue that is good when you have to work on your conditioning. Its halls and stairs get you enough body exercise for the day.
And now we were getting ready for Aborted. One of my favorite bands if you ask me. This could have something to do with some patriotism. Aborted is one of the better death metal bands of its time. They bring you brutality to the max. If you want to go crazy on a band, this is that one band where you should go crazy on. They know exactly where to place the brutal passages in the music. This way they keep your interest throughout the entire show.
I was well on my way to getting pretty drunk, or else I don’t think I would have liked the next band, Ensiferum. I really don’t know what to think of this band. It is not a bad band, they are in sync, in tune and you can see they are doing what they are supposed to do. But I don’t really get this, what do I have to do with a few men standing on the stage, without any shirts on or stuff. Doing some folk metal. I never really get that genre I think. Though I was enjoying this set, at this time, everything would have been rather enjoyable considering.
The last band of the day was Morbid Angel. One of the most important albums in death metal history was played from the first to the last song. The first death metal album released from a major label, Covenant was ahead of its time and helped put death metal on the map. Which is why it is still is one of the most important genres in the world of metal. Once we heard they would play this album in its entirety, we knew we had to be there to experience this. We definitely were not the only ones who thought this. Morbid Angel was really crushing this show! David Vincent was as impressive as he normally is. I don’t know how he does it; but he is classy, yet brutal at the same time. This man is a charismatic wonder. I am a woman, but even all men should notice this! The crowd was munching on every moment of this show. Morbid Angel still is one of the big bands out there. And they are not going to give up this position any time soon.
altogether I have to say that Eindhoven Metal Meeting is a nice festival. This year showcased some of the biggest bands of their genre, Triptycon, At the Gates and Morbid Angel for instance. But there was also place for some new winds in this storm. The line-up this year was awesome. There also were A LOT of bands, the downside of this was that there was too much overlap. But in the end we can live with that.
When you walk past the overcrowded hallways of the Effenaar, you can hear and see a lot of different kinds of Nationalities. I see this as a positive thing. This means the Netherlands could be pretty notorious for our metal shows. The organisation was smooth and you could notice this in the “spit spot” times the bands were performing.
We are looking forward to Eindhoven Metal Meeting next year again!
Thank you for reading!
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WORDS: KAAT VAN DOREMALEN