Venue: Effenaar, Eindhoven (Netherlands)
By: Elvira Visser
 The first band to see on this old school evening, as many bands would play their old albums. The legendary Dutch founded Asphyx was ready to leave the first great impression. This death metal band was founded back in 1987. This was one of the bands today that really stood their ground and got the audience a great show. Of course this band was playing in their own country making the communication with the audience sometimes easier. You do need to like the sound of this band but when you do….it is easy to fall in love with these guys on stage. The energy was there, the backbone of their old school death metal. It was not hard for the audience to enjoy their performance and the band did not only serve them older tracks but also some really really new song was played. Asphyx is a band with a great reputation to play in their own unique raw unpolished way, and even up to day they deliver each time and time again. |
 The German band Destruction leave a great first impression. I had never seen this band live but they kicked some ass this Friday. The band was performing the best from “Sentence Of Death” & “Infernal Overkill” building a great party. The flow of the gig was good, the atmosphere was the way it should and well they just nailed it. Simply said. From the moment this band walked on stage the audience seemed already pleased. Then with the performance these guys gave, it was clear half way through the set that it was all good. A great band to listen to, hanging at the bar with your friends while drinking some beers or standing in the middle of the crowd and feel it all. They sounded better the expected and I hope to see this band again this year to see if they can again impress me, as that is what they did and I am sure if was not the only one. The guitars were in tune and everything seemed to be just about right, the only remark I can make, without knowing their music is their performance. However sometimes you just need a band that just deliver without a spectacular show. This is one of those bands. They do not need pyro’s or special light effects just them, you both enjoying. |
 The band that was headlining this evening and many people came to see was the Brazilian Sepultura. Maybe we were all expecting too much, I do not know but somewhere it went wrong, and there is nothing to pin point to what caused this. They just did not deliver even though they all seemed to really try. They were not bad, but this time they did not blow anyone’s mind. The sound was good, their energy was good their stage performance was good. They played older material that the audience seemed to like, but there was something missing. Something that they have showed the last months on the most biggest festivals and jet here in a small venue it is missing. Of course people enjoyed it and shouted and sang along. I say it was not their evening to shine bright. Still they sounded good and well these guys have a very good charismatic stage presence and they kept energetic until the last tone had sounded. The crowd seen to enjoy the show, even though it clearly was not their best. |
| Day two at the venue started with waiting outside. Luckily this year no extreme cold so all bands could make it to the festival. There are so many bands at the festival that you really have to select a few or just stay in the bigger hall with the main stage and watch the bands there. It always seems that everyone seems to know each other at the festival and that is probably what makes the atmosphere so perfect. In all the hallways and little corners you will find people chatting up, drinking and most important laughing and having a good time. The day starts slowly as most people have been to the after party at club Dynamo. |
 Milking the Goat Machine was the first band this day to play on stage and one thing was absolutely certain. Action on stage. These guys or should we say goats know how to entertain and their energetic metal was exactly what some people needed to fully wake up. They showed that there was no place for hangovers but it was time to mosh, and mosh the best you could. Jumping and cheering was their credo and well with those goats in front of you being all so energetic and their sweeping metal it is really hard to just stand and do nothing. Several people came in the hall not knowing what to expect but they all seemed to like this entertainment. It might not be the most difficult music, but it is easy to pick up. Easy to follow, which resulted in an active crowd. They all seemed t like it and before the band and us audience new they had to get off the stage. Time’s up. They build a party and invited everyone to tag along, they even took a child on stage to be apart of their energy rush. It was simply good, and exactly when we needed. |
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 The Swedish band Marduk was named after a Babylonian Sky God who created the earth and sky from the body of the great dragon Tiamat who was the mother of all beings. This band had taken more effort of their shows. Lots of smoke and dark colours. What can be said about this band is that they been known for being a relentless assault on the ears. Their brutal sound, tempo and riffing was exactly what they brought on stage again. However it all sounded brutal and fast somehow some people seemed to lose their interest and wondered off to check the metal market or to check what was playing in the smaller hall. Maybe it was too much of the same sounding tracks. They could have added a little bit of variety in their show to keep people interested. |
 Thomas Gabriel Fisher (a.k.a. Tom Gabriel Warrior) formally known from Hellhammer and Celtric Frost has been busy with a side project for some years: Triptykon, which is a homage to the religious themed paintings of the dark ages. Something they do by creating a totally different atmosphere in the hall. Smoke and darker colours had lit the stage showing dark figures absorbed with the music they make. Their occult metal plays with the lines between doom, death and black metal. The band is capable of creating a very dark and dull atmosphere. This darkness is created by pounding drumming, great guitar parts and that combined with the whispers and deep groaning and moaning from Thomas Fisher. One thing that is to be liked about this band is the bass line which is always very present, maybe it is what guides you through this darkness. |
 The Canadians from Kataklysm just knew what to do after those depressed doomy melancholy. They showed their hellish skull crushing blast beats and made sure everyone was back alive again. It was time to bring back some loud metal and to get these (drunken) men some ear problems. There were also enough women this year at Eindhoven Metal Meeting, and this bands seem to attract quite some to the front of the stage. Legendary Canadian death metal that lights up the hall, well maybe that sound cheesy but after Triptykon it was much needed, the contrast between these bands is great and for Kataklysm this really worked in their favour. It made them stand out a little more, then they would have originally done. |
 Headlining this day was Morbid Angel. And well they did what they always did. I do not see any differences between the different shows seen this year except from the bright sunlight or dark hall. Today they rocked the main stage. The sound was very good and as soon as they had set foot on stage you heard basting riffs and raw vocals. The known circle pits were formed while they were playing their first song and this continued throughout the show. It is like they put a little light spell over you and you are surly captured by them but even when you enjoy them some brief seconds or throughout the show they deliver a good show. Impressed is what you get when seeing these guys. It is the ease they seem to breath. Everything they do seems a piece of cake, but maybe also a bit dull because of that. Other bands seem to rather enjoy themselves playing and this band performs in another way. Not that they do not seem to enjoy playing, but you can wonder if they ever give their all. Would be fun to see them push themselves sometimes. |
More photo’s of this event can be found at Photographic Retentions
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