Hub & Heuy MetalFest VII
Hub & Heuy MetalFest VII – Back in Black edition
March 20th – Azijnfabriek, Roermond
When we arrived at the Azijnfabriek a little before 4 p.m., which was supposed to be the time when the doors had to open, there were only a few people waiting outside the venue. But when the doors were still closed at 4 p.m., the line grew longer and longer. This promised to be a good evening, with lots of Black Metal, crazy and drunk people, and some bottles of orange juice, since yours truly had to drive back home.
Even though the doors opened a bit too late (what’s new at the Azijnfabriek? 
), the first band started to play right on time; when most people were still waiting outside. The honour went to the German band Blackshore to start the evening. They started of really good, even though there were only three band members. After some nice thrashy songs, the band started some slower song, and unfortunately the weakest song in their set. But fortunately after this song they climbed up again and gave away a nice show.
Second band playing this day was Angantyr. A bit surprised that they played this early already, lots of people were waiting to see them. Their show was okay, though sound was pretty bad at some points. Being a black metal band I was surprised to see the singer of the band blow a horn every now and then, since this seems more like a tradition to folk metal to me than to black metal. Nevertheless Angantyr gave away a great show for what I saw. But since my stomach started to complain and we went off to grasp some food.
Norwegian band Pantheon I was next to play. There were drastic less people watching this band, than there were during Angantyr. I have to confess that I wasn’t impressed myself by this band either. They brought a cellist with them, but expect for some small solo parts, you couldn’t hear the cello playing at all. Better leave it home next time since it was already crowded enough on stage and the sound of it wasn’t noticeable. I wasn’t convinced by the voice of the singer either, though I have to praise him for his funny moustache. The second grunts however, where a lot better and I was happy to hear those every now and then.
Den Saakaldte was my personal favourite on this day. And no, no just only because Niklas Kvarforth is playing in this band. He wasn’t the only familiar face in this band, since the singer of Pantheon I also plays the guitar in this band, only now he keeps his mouth closed (thank you!). Though this isn’t Shining, Kvarforth of course had to be a bit dramatic. I think I haven’t seen him opening his eyes for one time while he was singing. But this band doesn’t include the cutting/kissing/puking and all things that pass by during a Shining show. Besides some troubles with the microphone during the show, it all went pretty well. They played some songs from their newest cd (All Hail Pessimism, 2009) as well as their ‘first song ever made by Den Saakaldte’ (Vandringen). Guitarplayer Sykelig had to raise his middle finger to someone in the audience that he apparently didn’t like that much. Nice show!
And then there was the entire new Horna. Well, not everything is new, but there have been some line up changes in this band. But line up changes or not, this band really knows how to get the attention of the crowd. Especially their singer has some typical moves on stage. He blessed the crowd in the name of Satan, made some upside down crosses with his hands, blessed some individuals; and all that while wearing a monks robe. Though distracted by the singer, I have to say the band gave a great show, and it seemed the other people around there agreed with me. Nice sound from the singer, but also the second grunts/singing fit in very well. And though most of it wasn’t understandable, it was funny to hear some black metal in Finnish.
Headliner of the evening was Norwegian band Taake. Being one of the most well known Norwegian black metal bands, most people looked out for this band to play. Unfortunately they were a bit disappointing this evening. The band didn’t play well this night, and the sound wasn’t great either. At least singer Hoest didn’t seem that drunk this time (I’ve seen the opposite), but at the same time, he was the only one that looked like he was enjoying it. Ofcourse the Norwegian flag, showed as an upside down cross, had to be there too. Though most people seemed enjoy the band, I have to say that I’ve seen better.
When Taake was finished most people left. There was supposed to be an after party, and indeed, there was an after party band; Natrach from Belgium. They tried their very best to get the few people left moving, but it seemed most people were tired after going wild on Horna and Taake. It’s a pity because the band itself actually played pretty good, but I’m not convinced by the voice of the singer, it needs a bit more power!
We left when Natrach was still playing. It was a great day. The atmosphere at the Hub & Heuy parties was, like usual, really great! We had lots of fun, and where happy to see that the time schedule actually worked this year, so most people were able to catch their last train towards home without missing the headliner of the evening. Bit improvement compared to last year!
Reviewer: Ingrid
