08-09-2012 Martyr

Supports: Powerpimps, Gloria Victis, Maldita, Izegrim, After All; Venue: Tivoli Oudegracht, Utrecht (Netherlands)
By: Sabine van Gameren

You are cordially invited to the birthday party of Martyr. The Dutch band exists for 30 years and decided to throw a party to celebrate. With five other bands they made Tivoli Oudegracht (Netherlands) to a party place to be.

The first band that would play this night were Powerpimps. The sleazy rockers were ready to shock all the early birds that made their way to Tivoli as they have a quite active live show. Besides their vocalist being very expressive in his words, he also appears to be a charismatic personality that draws your attention by the mimics he brings. Then the guys keep the tempo in their set, not much time to waste when playing a short set. Nice to start your evening with!

Gloria Victis clearly brought a bunch of fans with them and the reason why is that they make a good impression right away. Started in 2009 the band is still quite young, but on their way to release some material, an EP is coming up. With their old school Heavy Metal they at least attract the audience as everyone seem to come a little closer to the stage. What makes the band stand out is their guitarists which have in interesting pack of riffs ready for your entertainment. It are not those two who really steal the show at all times. Everyone finds their own way to hitch up front, a bit chaotic perhaps, but that does not bother too much in the end. They have won some souls tonight.

The Brazilian band Maldita had a hard task tonight. Being the bit of an underdog because of the genre they play (Industrial Metal) and them not from the Netherlands left them with the position that people really had to take the time to get use to these guys. Hear a bit of Mortiis in them, the way of building their songs may be a bit similar. What did not help for them is that not all was in English which leaves the audience puzzled sometimes as well. Earlier the band was on the road with the Finnish Black Light Discipline which seem to suit their music a bit better. Just a matter of the wrong audience for the guys because they have an intense live show which brings it all alive. It is just a bit hard to feel when the audience stays distant.

The Dutch formation Izegrim have built themselves a reputation through the years. The Death/Thrashers are female fronted and definitely not like the standard female fronted bands. A good mix of melodics and aggression is what works best for this band and defines their identity. Therefore they don’t need a whole extended show, the music does the talking for them and as the venue was filling up it seems to work here tonight. Good vocals from Marloes are giving us an extra to it all and simple said, the band makes sure you get a performance that you will remember for the music. Simply good.

The Belgian band After All was not as impressive as Izegrim. Where Izegrim defines themselves quite well After All did not really have a unique face that make you remember them. On the musical side there is not much to say, the band shows the right skills and plays a quite solid show but it was too easy to lose interest in the band and hitch up at the bar for a drink and chat. Such a pity, but the expectations were to get more interesting sound from them and therefore the show was a bit disappointing.

Then finally it was up for the birthday guys to hit the stage. Martyr founded 30 years ago and has released some albums that are considered to be some of the greatest among the Dutch scene. Last year the band came back with a brand new album called “Circle of Eight” and various live shows were played. Today the crowd is all for them, to see what the past 30 years have brought and what will be up next, because as the band mentioned themselves: “After a party like this, no way we can call its quits” seems fair as the audience here is showing the have a great time. Vocalist Rop van Haren is full energy, no holds back to jump of the pretty high stage here in Tivoli to sing from in between the audience and even though he apologizes for his voice at one point, he has been sick the week before, the party is on anyway. Songs from the whole discography got played and in the end the band brings traditionally their fans on to the stage. A great spectacle that tells us why we want to see many years of Martyr coming up. Congratulations guys, it was a wonderful evening!