10-08-2013 Into The Grave

Location: Leeuwarden (Netherlands)
By: Sabine van Gameren

Right in the citycenter of Leeuwarden up north in The Netherlands, a cosy festival was planned. A square, a tower and the history of the graves make it the perfect location for Metal. A low entree price made sure that people from far came to see this event, which had an amazing line up to present.

Just as a few weeks ago, at Dokk’em Open Air, it was the local band Stonehawk that was opening the day. The band has convinced some of the visitors last time, as the band gets a dedicated attention of the early birds. With their groovy sound the band wakes everyone up and seem to be stronger than the last time we saw them. More balanced, with the strength of the vocals embraced by the rest of the band. Most impressive track the band plays is “Burn The Book” which was maybe unintended a joke towards the friendly people handing out the so-called ‘Metalbibles’ around the festivalarea.

Formation Bliksem from Belgium is going quite strong lately. A lot of nice shows on the giglist and with the release of their album “Face The Evil” earlier this year the band has got their name out there. The band is blessed with Peggy, the strong vocalist, that really puts her stamp on the sound. She has the attitude of I-Don’t-Care and brings a passionate performance. The audience starts a little moshpit during their performance and so the party broke loose from that point. While most of the tracks played are coming from their latest album the band closes their set with a track that dates back to 2010 and is obviously known at the audience: “The Life on Which I Feed”. Bliksem surely lightened up the festival.

Death Metal band Jungle Rot has quite some years on their discography, starting at 1995. The guys are presenting the Into The Grave audience with a solid sound that has a great combination of the guitars that bring up the vehemence and the drums for a steady backbone. But not underestimate the effect that vocalist Dave Matrise has. With his controlled and calm way of spitting these words into the audience he simply tops of what Jungle Rot is about. Pure class! While the band has the intensity of their music behind them, they never lack to bring that passion alive in their show either. A show with the most fierce tracks from their latest releases spice dup with tracks like “Face Down” of their 2004 release “Fueled By Hate”. An impressive show of the Americans, we did not see them for a while but they surely showed why their performances should never be skipped.

The British hard Rock formation Heaven’s Basement has a solid fanbase waiting for them. A lot of screaming for them when the band showed their faces on the stage. Obviously their shows equal a little madness. Crowdsurfing crocodiles, girls climbing on other’s shoulders and anything whatever makes it easier and more entertaining to see these guys perform. Fair enough, with songs titled “Heartbreaking Son of a Bitch” it is not hard to guess that they may speak to many people’s imagination. A flirt with the audience by any of these guys is enough to simply heat it up again and while one ends up shirtless the front row ladies leave in awe when their set is over. The band gives a show that is musically worth to see but the question is whether the show is taking over of it at some point? What is sure, is that many people have enjoyed the show wildly today and that’s what count.

While Heaven’s Basement had a fanatic crowd, you would be surprised about the many that scanted Sodom. A mixed audience for the German Thrashers though. With over 30 years of existence it is no wonder that they have find their ways to a wide audience. With a sense of joy the band works their way through a long setlist that does holds material from throughout their career. “Sodomy and Lust” played early in their set is shouted along and this only shows how much the band is wanted here. Even though the band has plenty material of their own, they did enjoy playing a cover of Motörhead as well. “Iron Fist” it was and it seem to please the audience. While Sodom was probably today’s most welcomed act, the band shows great joy in playing here too. With a smile on their face and their continues interaction with the audience they played the most entertaining show of the day!

Devil Driver is ready to take over where Sodom have left. The band is fronted by Dez Fafara who with his bling bling microphone and impressive charisma stands strong up on the Into The Grave stage. His vocals are impressive, brought with passion and strength and never fail to make an statement when needed. The band is releasing a new album called “Winter Kills” later this month and the guys played a couple of songs of that release. While these songs sound strong in line with what the band made before, it was clear that most of the audience was not familiar with them yet. The second half of the set the band gave some extra strength and the guys played some of their strongest songs which the audience clearly appreciates and while the band talks about how they appreciate festivals like these, they stole the hearts of those in doubt.

The mighty Satyricon never disappoints. It’s a myth and the band was proving this to be true once again this day. With a brand new album ready to be released in September, the band had their reasons to be back on the road but what their set was mainly about was the songs that made them as strong as they are. “Black Crow On A Tombstone” was played while many were singing along and the fact that this band plays with such a precise timing and in good tempo leaving no time go to waste makes that the show of these Norwegians is overwhelming. Two brand new tracks were played as well in which the band gives the fans a little sneak preview of the album, but after that they play the killer tracks “The Pentagram Burns” and “K.I.N.G” which underline exactly what Satyricon is about. It’s said before, Satyricon never disappoints and they did not do that either. A wonderful show that sets the expectations for that new release very, very high!

Headlining was the British Paradise Lost. As pioneers of the Death/Doom scene the band is probably one of the most mentioned bands at info sheets of other bands that send their material towards us and with an impressive discography on their name there is plenty material to be played. The band digs deep into it tonight. Finding tracks like “Say Just Words” from their 1997 release “One Second” or “Widow” from their 1993 release “Icon” onto the set will please the long-time fans of this band a lot. Though the calm and subdued songs of these band compared to the more wilder acts before them is struggling to make its impression through the back of the field. While being close to the stage it is easier to get dragged into it but further away it seemed to get a little lost. The band have planned an encore which comes with four tracks, leaving the audience after those with a thankful note. Paradise Lost is probably not the most lively act, but they make up for that with their intensive tracks. They were a good close for the day on this cosy square in Leeuwarden.