A dark, dramatic, intense collection of relatively extreme music, Death.Horses.Black. (Listenable Records) is delivered with commitment and no small expertise by Belgian prog-stoner outfit My Diligence.Continue reading
Tag Archives: Belgium
ALBUM REVIEW: BEAR – Propaganda
Propaganda (Pelagic Records) is the first full length I’ve gotten my hands on from Belgian exports, BEAR. In description to their sound I see lots of online chatter about it being labeled as Progressive Hardcore which to me sounds very appealing as it conjures up thought of Botch or early Between the Buried and Me. And while there are moments of zonked out Prog on Propaganda, I’d say it was akin to Groove Metal even though I’ve never been particularly jazzed about that as a genre moniker. Continue reading
Wardehns – Now Cometh The Foul
It’s not every day you get to put (sic) next to a band’s name, but Wardehns (sic) is just that group of troubadours. Spelling twattery aside, this Wisconsin trio’s self-released debut album, Now Cometh The Foul is a thing of beauty; its angry Sludge much akin to High On Fire via Entombed via, err, Alexisonfire, but in a good way.Continue reading
Saqra’s Cult – The 9th King
Sometimes Black Metal is just a mess of clichés – unreadable spiky fonts, unhinged teens in corpsepaint, blizzards… Yet Belgians Saqra’s Cult treads a different path. As their new EP, The 9th King (Amor Fati Productions), demonstrates, you can still breathe life into the old werewolf. In this case, the band draws deep from the Incan pagan heritage of their guitarist, and some strong yet original Black Metal results.Continue reading
Moments – Outlast EP
If I curve my hands around my mouth and shout, “BELGIUM,” what’s the first thing that comes to your mind (besides What is this nitwit doing randomly shouting the names of European countries)? Maybe you think of delicious, hot waffles with ice cream melting on top. Or an ice-cold Stella Artois on a hot summer day? Perhaps the national soccer team’s outstanding performance in the 2014 World Cup finals that was expected by exactly no one?Continue reading
Iron Maiden Kicks Off The Book Of Souls 2017 Tour
Iron Maiden kicked of The Book Of Souls 2017 tour over the weekend at Sportpalais in Belgium, and put on one hell of a show. Continue reading
Supergenius – Supertired
Belgian rockers Supergenius’s début album Supertired (Hypertension/9000 Records) is awash with Nineties influences, it is chunky melodic rock with a strong vein of Indie and pop-Punk running through it. ‘Charmer’ has a nice, whistleable chorus to add to its strong, radio friendly Foo Fighters vibe. They also share the fuzzy guitar tone and slight sense of melancholy of Weezer, the heavy rhythms of ‘Know Your Knots’ demonstrates this. Edward Godby’s everyman vocal style shares more than a passing resemblance to Rivers Cuomo, the lead singer of aforementioned sweater pulling rockers.Continue reading
Steak Number Eight: New album, Euro tour with Hark
Much lauded Sludge/post-Metallers, Steak Number Eight are preparing for a busy Spring by releasing new album The Hutch through Indie Recordings and immediately heading out on a tour to promote the release. The album, which is out on Friday 17th April, also the first date of the tour, is the quartet’s third album.
Tracklisting for The Hutch:
1. Cryogenius
2. Black Eyed
3. Photonic
4. Push Pull
5. Pilgrimage of a Blackheart
6. Exile of our Marrow
7. The Shrine
8. Slumber
9. Ashore
10. Rust
11. Tearwalker
Digital versions of the album will contain a bonus track, ‘The Sea Is Dying’
They will be hitting the road with the highly rated Hark, whose debut album Crystalline (Season of Mist) made the Ghost Cult Albums of the Year 2014.
Tour dates are:
Apr 17 – Vera – Groningen (NL)
Apr 18 – Volt Netherlands – Sittard (NL)
Apr 19 – De Kreun – Kortrijk (BE)
Apr 21 – O2 Academy 2 – Birmingham (UK)
Apr 22 – O2 Academy 2 – Liverpool (UK)
Apr 23 – O2 Academy Islington – London (UK)
Apr 24 – O2 Academy – Bristol (UK)
Apr 25 – L’Empreinte – Savigny Le Temple (FR)
Apr 26 – Z7 – Pratteln (CH)
Apr 27 – PPC – Graz (AU)
Apr 28 – Szene – Wien (AU)
Apr 29 – Feierwerk – Munchen (DE)
Apr 30 – C-Club – Berlin (DE)
May 01 – Underground – Koln (DE)
May 02 – Turock – Essen (DE)
May 03 – Knust – Hamburg (DE)
Steak Number Eight on Facebook
Steve Tovey
Graspop Metal Meeting 2015 Announces Lineup
Graspop Metal Meeting 2015 has released their lineup, which will be held in Dessel, Belgium on June 19, 20 and 21, 2015. The lineup so far is:
KISS
SLIPKNOT
SCORPIONS
JUDAS PRIEST
KORN
WITHIN TEMPTATION
MOTÖRHEAD
ALICE COOPER
IN FLAMES
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH
GODSMACK
BODY COUNT
LAMB OF GOD
PAPA ROACH
CRADLE OF FILTH
CHILDREN OF BODOM
BLACK STONE CHERRY
DANKO JONES
ARCH ENEMY
AT THE GATES
MY DYING BRIDE
EXODUS
IHSAHN
GOD SEED
ALCEST
CANNIBAL CORPSE
KORPIKLAANI
SARKE
SAMAEL
ORCHID
BLUES PILLS
KATAKLYSM
PRIMORDIAL
TERROR
SEPTICFLESH
AMORPHIS
SHINING
AVATARIUM
EVERY TIME I DIE
ORPHANED LAND
STRAY FROM THE PATH
BUTCHER BABIES
WINTERFYLLETH
THE SWORD
DEN SAAKALDTE
SYLOSIS
SIGH
Rare Meat And Other Belgian Treats – An Interview With Steak Number Eight
Belgian post-metal outfit Steak Number Eight are making quite a name for themselves. In 2008, they became the youngest act ever to win Humo’s Rock Rally, a contest open for bands from all over Belgium. Since then, they’ve put out three curshing slabs of experimental sludge, though still barely out of their teens. The band’s latest record, entitled The Hutch, may well be their finest to date. Enough reason to chew the fat with guitarist/vocalist Brent Vanneste.Continue reading