Location: The Loods H.O.F. Roosendaal (Netherlands)
South of The Netherlands, Roosendaal to be exact, is having a festival ging on today. Roosendaal Open Air supplies you with metal, from local to European Baest!
The thrash metal band from Brabant, Headless Hunter has the pleasure of opening this small but wonderful festival. The audience that came out in the early hours are still waiting at the sides not yet standing in front of the stage, but the inflatable pool things are already flying through the air because of these guys who have not been in the band together for very long. Apparently this isn’t just for power metal. After playing various band battles, they released their first CD last April entitled: “The Undertaker”. You can clearly see that they were looking forward to being here and with their fast songs they blast through their set with great enthusiasm and eagerness to play. Old school Thrash with a nice approach, that not everything has to be so serious.
Today’s second band has been around for many years. They come all the way from Sliedrecht (actually pretty close). Where they used to have influences of black metal, they now play tight death metal. Their new singer Felipe Menegossi brings it all together nicely between their raging and crushing songs. The riffs are flying around your ears. They achieved the first small circle pit of the day. Somewhere halfway through the set they invite Ben de Graaff, one of their previous singers, on stage to belt out a song and he flied across the stage from left to right.
The sun slowly comes out, but initially it is a bit emptier in front of the stage when the Belgian Your Highness enters the stage. This band has also been around for a long time and that is clearly visible in how they perform on stage. Although this Antwerp stoner monster plays viciously pounding music, this band also sounds a lot more melodic than what was playing so far. Singer Ben Baert has a nice raw edge to his voice. Here and there we even hear a little blues tune woven into the music. By the end of their set they have managed to convince the audience of their abilities and the audience seemed to enjoy this band.
Time for the next Belgian band on stage, we are talking about Mordkaul that opens up a full arsenal of blast beats but still manages to cycle in quite a few groovy parts. The men have just left their studio and are probably broke because they are promoting their merch and would love it if they didn’t have to carry everything back with them. In any case, they did their best to get the audience breaking a sweat. It is busy in front of the stage and fists are raised. Their track ‘Lack of Comprehension’ has a nice intro with string instruments. Which sounds very nice from a bench in the sun. Nice drum parts, guitar and screaming violence.
Then it’s time to take a step back from all that violence. The Eindhoven trio An Evening with Knives (founded in 2013) serves us a nice portion of stoner doom. Dark, compelling and heavy at times. But also nice and groovy with wonderful bass lines by Peter van Grunsven. They don’t get all the attention they deserve here because it was a bit empty in front of the stage. However, these gentlemen gave away a great set. Fascinating from start to finish. If you’ve got a taste for it, you should definitely check out their latest CD ‘FNR Sessions’.
Before the Belgian Coffin Feeder starts, the stage is already packed. The audience knows what they are going to be presented with. They bring brutal death metal with hardcore influences. This band was born during the Covid period and is an amalgamation of band members from Aborted, Fleddy Melculy and Leng Tch’e. Well then you know more or less what you’re going to get. And that is exactly what these men brought today. The vocals of Sven from Aborted are razor sharp today. He also knows how to play and excite the audience. The front row moves away from the crush barriers that slide forward and back. Behind it, a circle pit forms and even a small wall of death. The other men on stage also fly back and forth, with raging guitars and pounding drums, they appear to have inexhaustible energy. What a show! What a violence from start to finish.
A band that is working hard is Scotland’s Hellripper. Next year they will be at Into the Grave, among other bands. They start their set a little late, but frontman James McBrain promises to just blast a little harder so that they can play everything on their setlist. That’s exactly what they do! Constantly, intensely and unforgivingly fast is what they deliver. These guys show an incredible amount of fun. And I think that has an effect on the audience who were already excited by Coffin Feeder. James is having a great time and sprints off stage and plays right in front of the audience and even while crowdsurfing for a bit. The end may seem too soon in sight but it leaves the crowd hungry for more!
The last band to take the stage is the Danish Baest. It may not be very difficult to get this audience involved tonight because they have been really excited by the two previous bands, they gave everything from the first note. They are clearly up for a party. With a dirty guitar sound they bring a good portion of old school Death Metal. Singer Simon Olsen also decides a few times to leave the stage and go offstage to perform his horrific vocals up close. They’re pounding away and no one can stand still with this delicious noise. They build on the great friendly vibe that hangs here at this festival and are a perfect ending to this party.
This festival in Roosendaal is a pleasant, small-scale metal festival. Definitely worth a visit. Various drink and food options: from coffee to specialty beers and from BBQ to vegan options. Nice tables to sit at. Next year the festival will return to the Loods on August 31 with the following bands: Distant, Carnation, Vanaheim, Bladecrusher and Temptations for the Weak.
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Links:
Roosendaal Open Air
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