Metalcon IV 20th & 21st of may 2016

15/06/2016 15:09
This years Metalcon festival returned with 14 bands in 2 days, 4 bands on friday 20 may what was called the pre-party with the bands Mullet, SkullSuit, Mourn and Martyr. And 10 bands on saturday 21 may as the festivalday with the bands Bodyfarm( headliner ), Rectal Smegma, Saille ( only band from outside the Netherlands ), Bleeding Gods, Korpse, Sisters of Suffocation, Facelifter, Defazer, HellBender and Warborn Waste.
The pre-party was started at 20:00 o'clock by Mullet from The Hague, this enthusiastic band played their set in front of an almost empty venue. The people that were there got an nice set to hear which included some metalcovers like 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'( Metallica ), 'Vicarious' (Tool ) and a great medley with parts from Pantera, Metallica, Megadeth, RATM, AC/DC, Maiden and Judas Priest before ending their set with a cover of the song 'Beer' from an controversial Dutch rapper.
 After Mullet it was time from the groove-metalband SkullSuit from Limburg. Roy Goossens, Dennis Carroll, Rob Meisters and Roel Käller already played the Occultfest and Baroeg Open Air in 2015. They're influenced by bands like Pantera, Metallica, Down, BLS, HellYeah, Crowbar and more which you can hear in the groovy style of metal they play. Their set included songs from their EP 'Raw, Loud, Immoral but Evident' (released in 2011 ) and their debut-album 'Momentum' ( early 2015 ). Personally I like this band because of their kind of groovemetal, especially because I'm a big fan of Pantera and Down. So hopefully we can expect more from this band.
 At 22:00 it was time for the 3rd band of this pre-party, the band Mourn from Breda. They call their music HeavyStonerBluesGrooveRockSludgeMetal, got no idea where they got that idea probably because they like mixing all kinds of metal in their sound ;-) This band founded by bassplayer Robin Zielhorst (ex-Cynic, Exivious ) in 2013, released their EP 'The Beaten Path' (summer 2014 )  together with Yordi Lopez ( Guitar ), Thomas Frankhuijzen ( drums ) and Pieter Verpaalen ( Vocals (ex-Textures )). They put up a wall of sound where you can't stand still or must headbang to. This was my first time seeing Mourn and I hope to see and hear more from them.
 And now it was time for the headliner of this evening  Martyr ( founded in 1982!) from Utrecht, promoting their latest album 'You are Next'. Now the venue was a bit more crowded because they closed the terrace and all who were there wanted to see this well oiled machine. Vocalist Rop van Haren backed up by Rick Bouwman ( guitar ), Marcel Heesakkers ( guitar ), Jeffrey Bryan Rijnsburger ( bass ) and Wilfried Broekman ( drums ) enjoyed themself on stage. Playing old and more new songs the crowd was going crazy in front of the stage and also got invited on the stage by vocalist Rop. Martyr was the perfect band to close this night later then was planned with the old one 'Speed of Samurai' and so this pre-party with 4 bands playing diffirent styles of metal ended with everybody ready for the next day.
So after the pre-party and only 6 hours of sleep it was time to go back to Musicon in The Hague for a full day death, thrash, grindcore and brutal slam metal package. This saturday 21st of may got Sold-out, what showed that the metal scene is very much alive in this part of the Netherlands. 
Starting the party on this saturday is the band Warborne Waste from The Hague, this very young band ( vocalist Victor Weise just turned 16 ) plays  a mix of death, deathcore and thrash which sounds refreshing. Unfortunately I was a bit late so I only saw the last 3 songs of their set, but what I've heard sounds promising for the future. The crowd went crazy on the songs of Warborn Waste which also included a serious Wall of Death during the last song. Way to go guys and now record some songs, so I can listen to you guys at home.
The second band is HellBender from Leiden, this is the second time seeing them on stage after they played on Scream Bloody Scum in Katwijk in september 2015. This groovy thrash/ death metalband seems to be having lot's of fun on stage and they will play all kinds of festivals if you put them there. Didn't know any of their songs, but I loved their performance at the Metalcon fest. Don't know if they have an album, but if you don't then make one please.
Next band one stage is another band from The Hague, the Thrashband Defazer to show what they got. After parting ways with vocalist Marty Black, guitarist William Carolina also performs the lead vocals. Defazer plays Thrashmetal inspired by bands like Megadeth, Exodus, Testament, Slayer and Metallica so you know a little of what to expect.  Defazer put on an enthusiastic show today and also got a guest playing air-guitar on the inflatable crocodile ( Victor Weise from Warborn Waste ). Great performance guys.
After the thrash of Defazer it was time for the Extreme metalband Facelifter from Eindhoven founded in 2014, in 2015 they opened the first edition of the Dynamo Metal Fest and also played on Baroeg Open Air 2015. On their setlist are songs from their recently released EP 'Bethlem' and the crowd was going insane in front of the stage. I find it difficult to really hear something special about this band, but that could be my problem and maybe I need to listen to the EP more and listen better to their songs.
So now it was time for something diffirent, the all-female metalband Sisters of Suffocation from Eindhoven. That they are diffirent was allready noticeable hearing the introsong 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' by Cyndi Lauper, but after that they played their metal just like the other bands. Vocalist Els, guitarist Simone, drummer Amber and bassist Puck played the entire EP 'Brutal Queen' as well as their first single 'Boundaries'. A special note on vocalist Els Prins, she looks sweet and innocent but when she starts screaming and grunting their are many male vocalists she beats. Great performance and don't forget to bring the EP to the Stonehenge Festival girls !!!!
So we have had 5 bands and still 5 more to come and not the worst bands. At 6 pm it was time for the first of the last five, Korpse the Brutal Death/Grind Slam band. Just existing 3 years and after their self-titled debut, they just released their second full-length album 'Unethical' and it's not a surprise that they got 6 songs on the setlist including the intro. The crowd was going insane on the 9 cluster bombs, new songs played were 'Collateral Casualties', 'Incinerate', 'Stone Age', 'Unethical' and 'Retaliation'. Sven, Mart, Floor and Marten crushed the crowd and ruled the stage. This band will become even bigger in the future, impressive performance guys.
Now it is time for Bleeding Gods, a grooving and shredding Death metalband founded in 2012 and promoting their debut album 'Shepherd of Souls' which was almost played in it's entirety. It was the first performance of the new bandmembers Rutger van Noordenburg (guitar) and Marco de Groot (drums) and they did a great job. The atmosphere on and in front of the stage was great, which is not strange with the experience of the bandmembers had with their former bands such as Altar, Houwitser, Supreme Pain and Sinister. And a special thanks for the soundguy, all instruments and the vocals were sounding excellent. Worldclass performance, can't wait to see this great band again. Hopefully I can make it to the Eindhoven Metal Meeting in december.
Just three more bands to go, when it was time for the band Saille from Gent in Belgium. They play an Atmospheric style of blackmetal. I need the apoligize to the band, because I was outside on the terrace socializing and drinking beer. So I can't say anything about this performance. And then it was time for the two bigger bands of the day, first we had the Porn/Grindcore band Rectal Smegma from het Westland. This band just released their new album 'Gnork' and plays everywhere they can to promote their newest album. Stijn (guitar), Baard ( bass ), Walter (drums ) and Yannic ( vocals ) played and partied their asses of and the crowd enjoyed every minute of it. Personally I don't like the vocals in this style of metal because I can't scream along the lyrics, but that's just me. This band also knows how they must enjoy the crowd. If you see vocalist Yannic, you might think he is at the wrong party because he looks like a gabber. But on stage he's an animal, roaring up the crowd.
So then we are getting ready for the headlining band of this year's Metalcon, namely Bodyfarm from Amersfoort and you know what you can expect from these guys who were recently opening for Death DTA on their European tour. So Thomas ( guitar, vocals ), Bram (guitar), Alex ( bass ) and Quint ( drums ) know how to play their deathmetal. Still supporting their 3rd full-length album 'Battle Breed', tonight they play a good set with new and old songs. From their second album they played 'Vortex of Terror', 'the Couming Scourge', 'Der Landkreuzer', 'the Well of Decay' and the last song of the set 'Unbroken'. This is the deathmetal I like the most groovy, with a bit of a hardcore feeling with some nice guitarsolo's. They were the true headliners of this amazing festival.
 
I want to thank the organization and crew of the Metalcon festival, for an amazing festival and I can't wait to come back next year and see what bands they will have on the bill.
Cheers guys,
 
Patrick Klos