20-05-2023 Achterhoeks Metalfest

The opening act today is Mouflon. The guys are playing a combination of Doom and Death and their second album “Pure Filth” was released last year. It appears to be a heavy start of the day. A good amount of people showed up for the first band. The first tracks makes it clear, they like to have a thick layer of doom over their sound. Here and there some melodic riffs spice up the their set, some moments that bring variation to it. The audience watches it calmly. A good opener to a sunny festival day.

Overruled takes up the tempo a bit, the guys are more towards Thrash and they are eager to bring some energy into the crowd. The guys founded in 2012 and have a debut that dates back about 5 years now. It doesn’t take much for these guy to get some love from the audience. They have some good interaction going on and the first headbangers and moshers are lining up. This band has a lot of energy to give. Musically the band has a recognizable sound which certainly helps them. Maybe it’s not the most original sound but their enthusiasm and skills make this a good live encounter.

The terrain starts to fill up a bit more by now and with the sun peaking through the clouds and a drink in your hands it is not hard to enjoy yourself. Man As Plague is hitting the stage by now and they describe their own music as ‘a brutal and vicious mix of Metal styles”. Eager to see what that means the audience watches it and it became wild fsst. A singer that leaves the stage to join the audience, running around and coming close… a child that joins the stage for the rest of the set. (Yes, we still dont publish photos of childeren here). Nothing seems to crazy for this energetic bunch. The brutal and vicious has been ticked off the list… a complete package.

We are switching now to a more progressive sound. Enma is introducing the Achterhoekers to their tunes in a cheerful way. A bit of a contrast with what we heard earlier but nevertheless an interesting sound. You hear a bit of Tool, maybe some Opeth but a good mix with their own sound is there. With their performance a reference to Vola could be seen. But the guys are more introvert.

It seems the audience was mainly hungry as some people were withdrawing from the front of the stage. But still plenty of people to enjoy the show. Some of the songs have a catchy edge to them and if they manage to highlight this they will captivate even more next time. For an audience of prog fans they probably would have gotten a wilder response than today, but the show was good so it may just not be their audience.

Pure evil was introduced to us by Burial Remains. The guys come from the north of the country, Frysian metalheads have seen them around a lot already. Their Death Metal was screeching our ears since 2017, with two full lengths on the counter, the audience is only half aware of what is awaiting them when they start their set.

Brutality is their second name and while the field is filling up they show people a massive sound, and how to bring it live. While they don’t engage as much with he audience as previous acts the band is convincing simply with the music. The guys rage through their set with ease. Frysian formation with international allure!

The Danish Aphyxion released an album called “Ad Astra” at the beginning of this year. They have another three albums on their name and a bunch of smaller releases. So besides the new material the fans know the guys have something to choose from when deciding on their setlist. The Melodic Death has a good dose of core embedded so the movement cannot stay our here today. It does not take long for the guys to hype it all up.

The band reminds us slightly to Raunchy and not because they are also Danish. Melody and vehemence are rotating and with an eager bunch playing it is no surprise that a lot movement starts happening in front of the stage. The guys mention several times how much they enjoyed playing here and invited to crowd to party along afterwards.

Headlining tonight are metal veterans from UK: Napalm Death. They are around since the early 80’s and have been active ever since. Countless releases have taken place in the past 40 years of these guys and we sure came across them many times. Today here in Eibergen they drew quite a crowd.

While the audience has the opportunity to be intimate and come close to the stage the band is seeking the opportunity to invite people for participation all the time. Most songs get an introduction, the songs that were written decades ago are coming alive and are still relevant the day if today. A lot of the political statements are greeted with cheering and moshing. The band does have a stand-in bassist along, who seem to do a fine job in bringing the tracks alive.

Interesting to see is the faces who are standing upfront are mostly the same as the ones who were there for the first band. Some dedicated people who enjoyed all bands today. Napalm Death is a headliner that has been around long enough to know how to hype up the viewers. A good closure to Achterhoeks Metalfest, a metal day with cozy atmosphere at the theater.