10-11-2007 Houten Deathfest

Venue:  Houten (Netherlands)
By: Wouter van de Kamp

A first edition of a festival is always a risk. How many people will find their
way? Will people like it? Are people willing to pay the entrance? And so forth.
Promotion shouldn’t have been the problem since it was everywhere. And upon arrival
I saw that everything should be ok as far as attendance goes.

  First off were Belgian brutal death metallers Moker. They were already playing
  their first songs when I got in, but their airvibrations tickled my eardrum
  brilliantly. Fortunately, besides having brutal death metal as a starting point,
  they are influenced by what nowadays is called deathcore and/or metalcore. Great
  performance and the testosterone of the younger attendants spluttered around
  the venue from the moshpit.

Toxocara. Dutch death metallers to entertain the crowd. Currently working on
  their second release this band is surely on the road of becoming one of the
  better Dutch bands in their genre. Not wholly suprising though when you have
  members of Prostitute Disfigurement and The Monolith Deathcult amongst you.
  And what a great performance. Perfectly fitting their oldschool death sound.
  And the gradually growing crowd seemed to think likewise. With an increasing
  moshpitsize Toxocare should be complimented on giving away an entertaining,
  and, above all, brutal show.

  Something to be beaten by the next band: Defeated Sanity from Germany. Although
  I didn’t find out until after I looked at Stonehenge Festival. Looking
  through the pictures of Stonehenge I could have known that a brilliant performance
  should not have been a suprise to me. As if hell broke loose… The venue was
  filled now with 192 visitors (official counting), add to that the present volunteers
  and bands and Chipolata was filled more than ever before.

I immodestly claim to be quite an expert in the metalgenre, but unfortunately
  to me the bands started to sound quite the same to me. Death metal is cool,
  but it starts to bore me after a while. Perhaps the Greek metalheads of Extreme
  Violence could entise me? Well… they did for quite a while, actually. Playing
  their first abroad show and having just one release on their disco they did
  give away quite a performance. Especially when you realise they played without
  bassist (after inquiring the organiser I found out that he stayed home due to
  personal circumstances). First thing that came to mind was Dying Fetus. So for
  those of you who like them… check them out!
  I must honestly confess I did not watch the whole Extreme Violence set because
  I found out that a whole evening with only death metal is not something I can
  stand. The audience though, seemed not to be like-minded as they were eager
  to stay in the hall. Props to the moshing people by the way. Ever from Moker
  on their was a moshpit (with gradually increasing average age, funny thing as
  well). Not contintually, but repetitively people started bumping into eachother
  and all other physical contact that belongs there .

 
    So up to the headliner: Despondency. As you might already have gathered I was
  getting quite fed up with all the death metal. Again a German brutal death band.
  They got what they deserved: a very enthusiastic crowd and lots of moshing.
  Very technical as well by the way. They know how to play there instruments and
  they certainly know how to play their instruments. What an act!

With a final total attendance of 196 (a number that I haven’t seen Chipolata
  getting near to, ever since they started doing live shows) I think this really
  is a good start of a newly arisen metal festival. Big props to the organiser
  and his fellows. Keep up the good work. The province of Utrecht was in desperate
  need of a proper metal evening and this seems to be a very promising one to
  become the leading death fest here. If everything goes upwards it has the potential
  to go even beyond that, but we’ll have to see about that. The next Houten Deathfest
  is announced to be at 12 April and the headliner will be Benighted… How about
  that! Be there or be square!

Despondency official
Extreme Violence official
Defeated Sanity official
Toxocara official

Houten Deathfest