After peaking at number one in Germany’s album charts, and having heard a few snippets here and there, I was quite curious as to how Powerwolf’s brand new album had turned out. I’ve been following the band since their sophomore effort Lupus Dei and was blown away by both Bible of the Beast and Blood of the Saints after that, so the prospect of a new Powerwolf album was already an exciting one. So, is it as good as the last two albums? Let’s find out. Continue reading
Bed Rugs – Rapids (2013)
You don’t have to be a Dudeist Priest to accept the fact that The Big Lebowski is rightfully one of the best cult movies ever made. The Big Lebowski is great on many levels, but most of all its terribly hilarious. The Belgian hard rock band The Porn Bloopers (consisting of Yannick Aerts, Stijn Boels, Arne Omloop and Noah Melis) would fully agree to this because a few years ago they decided to concurrently to change their style and band name. Musically they chose a more retro path towards sixties and seventies psychedelics pop. Also they changed their band name into Bed Rugs, as an ode to the pissed on rug that is regularly discussed in the movie. Without any doubt all of this would be much appreciated by The Dude. Bed Rugs ‘debuted’ with 8th Cloud in 2012 and blended the aforementioned psychedelics with a flavor of nineties indie rock. 8th Cloud was successful on a small scale. During the last months of 2012 the band withdraw themselves to an abandoned church to record a follow up EP. Businesswise this is a smart move because sixties psychedelics is once again hot among the public. However, today bands such as Deerhunter, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Tama Impala and Jacco Gardner dominated this genre. With Rapids, Bed Rugs tries to grasp a piece of this cake. Continue reading
[Live Review] King Diamond at 013 Tilburg
It’s been a while since we last saw King Diamond in the Netherlands. Of course, the master of metallic horror has been out of the game for quite a while, following back pains and finally multiple heart attacks back in 2010. Last year though, King finally made a triumphant return to the stage, frequenting the bigger festivals out there and apparently making a huge impression. An appearance in a Dutch venue was also long overdue, and August 6th saw King finally return to the stage in the Lowlands (not counting the Belgian Graspop festival), in a quite fully packed 013 in Tilburg. Continue reading
Orphaned Land – All Is One (2013)
It took Orphaned Land eight years from El Norra Alila to get to 2004’s masterpiece Mabool. After that, they took another six years to arrive at The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR in 2010. When you do the math, you might come to think there is something off with this three year gap between ORWarriOR and the brand new album All Is One. I’m glad to announce that All Is One is a great album, although I definitely have some niggles about it. Let’s talk about those for a minute. Continue reading
[Live Review] Roger Waters – The Wall in Gelredome Arnhem (2013)
You’d be hard pressed to leave an integral performance of Pink Floyd’s The Wall and not be impressed. Not only by the music, which is of course excellent, but perhaps even more by the sheer spectacle of the show and the ultimately very left-wing, anti-war statement that it is, or at least has become over the years. Because The Wall, both as a concept (the idea of building a huge wall between the audience and the band famously sprouted when Waters spat a fan in the face out of annoyance) and a narrative, is as relevant today as it was back in 1979. Continue reading
Friska Viljor – Remember Our Name (2013)
I have to admit that I walked out on my first Friska Viljor show in 2008. As far as I can recall I did so because I was filling up a half hour of dead time within the festival schedule. Furthermore my harsh judgment was that the band did not impress at all and seemed uninspired. At the time, many were cyced up for this indie rock formation from Sweden who had just released their catchy debut album Bravo! (2007). Bravo! was about lost love, drinking and nightly escapades. It got a great deal of positive reviews from around the globe that justified the aforementioned buzz. In the years that followed the band proved to be very energetic, producing three full albums that I , honestly, didn’t brother to listen. It took me five years bump into the band for the second time. And yet again I was standing in on a sunlit festival field. Only now the difference was that I stayed and discovered that their live performance very energetic. Also I discovered that earlier this year Friska Viljor released their fifth album with the title Remember Our Name. That’s quite a coincidence, or isn’t it? Continue reading
[Live Review] North Sea Jazz 2013, Ahoy Rotterdam
In many regards much about The Netherlands is small, yet this stereotype is not applicable when it comes to the amount of music festivals that are organized during the summertime. Each weekend, starting from June, the concert agenda is packed with festivals ranging from dance to rock, or maybe even better, both! One of the more prominent events is the annual jazz festival North Sea Jazz, that is currently taking place at the moment of writing. Are you new to North Sea Jazz? All right, here’s a very, very short introduction.
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Oliva – Raise the Curtain (2013)
Savatage is dead, long live Savatage! That´s about the gist of how I have been feeling on the subject for the past twelve years. After the quite passable (but not brilliant) Poets and Madmen, the curtain fell for the American band, which all but continued as the travelling Christmas troupe Trans-Siberian Orchestra, of which there are now two versions touring the United States in December, raking in the dough for messrs O’Neill (for many still the reason behind Savatage’s demise and Oliva. Continue reading
Liquid Casing – A Separate Divide (2013)
Somewhere in the murky depths between jazz, prog rock and post-punk, we find the Texan-based outfit Liquid Casing, who have just released their brand new effort A Separate Divide, a thought-provoking musical work about borders and illegal immigration. It’s a difficult topic to make a concept album about, and one deserving an intricate, well thought out sonic frame. Now, many things can be said about A Separate Divide, but an easy album, this is not. Continue reading
Nehedar – This Heart (2013)
Just for a brief moment the frontcover of This Heart (2013) will undoubtedly make you think of P.J. Harvey. Although the lead vocalist of Nehedar, Emilia Cataldo and P.J. Harvey both have a deep love for New York City the similarities also end about there. For instance, the well known autumnal raw voice of Harvey is in strong contrast with the voice of Cataldo, whose voice is far more polished and controlled. Additionally, almost everything what is known about Cataldo breaths of cultural diversity. Cataldo is based in the midst of the multicultural New York, comes from a culturally diverse family and also holds a degree in Jewish Mysticism. This all echoes through in the music of Nehedar. Because of the foregoing the band is often associated with the Israeli community in the United States but can’t be pinned down as an ethnic specialized band for electonica, indie-rock and jazz are frequently added to their music. This Heart is my first introduction to Nehedar though it must be said that the band are not new to the scene, for it’s already their sixth independently produced album. Continue reading
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