Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - Tattoofest Twente

Details: Written by: Monica Duffels; Published: 08 December 2009

Nijverdal, The Netherlands
November 7th, 2009
Tattoofest Twente: Trail Of Tears, Izegrim, The Monolith Deathcult, Endymaeria, Stream Of Passion

A new metal festival is born. It’s organised by Metalfront Twente. It’s an organisation which promotes metal and hardrock music in the area. The intention is to make this festival a yearly returning event. Depending on how successful this first edition is going to be, the plan is to expand this festival to merely a metal- and tattoo convention with a larger variation in activities.

On this edition the festival takes place in a sportshall where the main stage has been built up and there’s also a smaller room, the canteen, in which a smaller stage has been set up. Throughout the building stands with different products, like band merchandise, jewellery, gadgets and vinyl records are stalled out. At the end of the afternoon I arrive at this festival, right before the band Stream Of Passion is going to enter the stage. It’s clear that this festival is still a rather unknown event since there are not many visitors yet. Other causes could be that at the same day other interesting metal bands are playing throughout the country and that the swine flu has finally broken out among the Dutch population.

Stream Of Passion

With their second album “A Flame Within” in the pocket, which has been realeased a couple of months before this festival takes place, this Dutch/Mexican alternative gothic rock band proves it doesn’t need to depend on the founder of this band, Arjen Lucassen. With their record deal with Napalm Records they’re determined to give the gothic metal scene a new and refreshing impulse. They’re playing on the main stage today. http://www.streamofpassion.com/

Music & performance
In spite of the lack of a large crowd in front of them Stream Of Passion succeeds in putting up a steady show. They’re trying to get some interaction with the audience, but they don’t get the feedback from them they usually get from the audience. It seems that people have just come to have some drinks and to get wild on the pounding music of some death metal bands which are programmed today. Marcella and her bandmates don’t seem to be bothered about that too much and are just having fun playing their music live on a stage. As usual Marcella plays a few pieces on her violin, which sounds a little too soft in the mix. Lots of smoke is used during the show, which blurs the vision on the drummer, the keyboardist and the background singer.

Setlist
01. Art Of Loss
02. Passion
03. Now Or Never
04. In The End
05. Deceiver
06. Games We Play
07. My Leader
08. Out In The Real World
09. A Part Of You
10. Street Spirit
11. Haunted

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Sound: 6
Light: 5
Total: 6.8 / 10

Endymaeria

One of the local bands that is programmed today is the dark melodic death metal band Endymaeria, which is based in Enschede. The original band is formed before 2001 under the name “Signs Of Zodiac”. In 2001 they change their name into “Endymaeria”. In 2002 they record their first demo, followed by the mini-cd “Invocation” in 2003 and “Resurrect” in 2008. Endymaeria is influenced by bands like Dimmu Borgir, Opeth, Anathema and Obituary. The band is playing on the wing stage. http://www.endymaeria.nl/

Music & Performance
I can’t say that this band stands out for its originality, for there are already bands which have done the same tricks as they are doing. Adding classical instruments to give their sound an extra dimension is not uncommon in different bands. In the case of Endymaeria it sounds interesting though. They have a harsh sound which in a positive way is slightly tempered by the violin. The melody line is playing an important role in this band and it gives a mysterious and doomy touch to the pounding music. The singer Dave shows himself as a professional in grunting and screaming and this sounds very well-balanced. Mostly the transitions in the slower and more uptempo parts are well-timed, and that also counts for the screams, which are mostly present in the uptempo parts and the grunts in the heavier and deeper sounding parts. Dave succeeds in getting the audience move their feet and heads and raise their fists and at times people are joining in the moshpit in front of the stage. The interaction with the audience is great and afterwards some people even scream for an encore, but due to the tight timeschedule there are no more songs left to play. The lightshow is of less importance here and that’s partly due to the fact that it’s just not possible in this small space to create an outstanding lightshow.

Setlist
01. Shithead
02. The New Doom
03. The Throat
04. The Best 1/2/3
05. Bloodcurdling Labyrinth
06. Mine Eye Keeps Hold On Judgement
07. Empty Rounds
08. Prayers From…

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 6.8 / 10

The Monolith Deathcult

The Monolith Deathcult is an experimental death metal bands which is based in the Dutch province Overijssel. In 2002 they release their first demo. Their goal is to rise above the standard sound and riffs many death metal bands usually have. They don’t want to be a band on which people just bang their heads on because they just do so because of the brutal sound. They are trying to force their listeners to really listen to their music and lyrics, to find out that their songs have a way more intelligent structure than one would think. They don’t hesitate with prominently using samples from Gregorian choirs, heavy classical music and they combine these with electronica and samples with German dialogues to give it this heavy industrial sound. http://www.monolith-deathcult.com/

Music & Performance
This band is programmed on the main stage. The show starts with an intro from a Dead Can Dance song. The band consists of four bandmembers: a guitarist/grunter, a bass player/grunter, a second guitarist and a drummer. Most of the music we hear is coming from a tape. Of course it’s not possible to put a whole choir and an orchestra on stage, but this tape-music is that prominently present that it’s like you’re just not attending a live-show. The musicians seem to be more interested in each other than in the audience. Not that there are many people in front them to play for, but in my opinion this should not be a reason not to make any contact with the audience. They cannot totally be blamed for that though, for there are some people who are misbehaving. With their full weight they’re bouncing against the ramshackle fences in front of the stage, which have to be held back by a lane of crew-members and security guards working on this festival. During this performance these troublemakers are ordered to leave this festival. My conclusion about this performance is that I’m convinced that this band is able to perform way much better than they are doing today.

Rating
Music: 5
Performance: 5
Sound: 6
Light: 6
Total: 5.3 / 10

Izegrim

The thrash metal band Izegrim, which name means “growler”, is founded in 1996 in the town Zutphen in The Netherlands. In 1998 they record their first demo and during the years they receive a lot of positive feedback from the press. They are invited to play on recommended festivals like last year on Metal Female Voices Fest in Belgium. In 2008 two prominent bandmembers leave Izegrim. One of them had for now been the female vocalist who did the grunts, but fortunately Marloes, the charismatic bass-player of the band is very well capable of taking over this new job and she does a great honour to the bandname for she is a real growler. http://www.izegrim.nl/

Music & Performance
Izegrim is the last band to play on the wing stage. During the day lots of beer has been spilled across the floor which makes it as smooth as a mirror. And that makes creating a moshpit only way much funnier. People are sliding across the floor and are falling across and bouncing against each other. The bandmembers are very amused to see all this, but they’re also a little afraid things could go wrong and for safety they pull back their microphone standards a little bit. Marloes remarks that this is probably one of the wildest gigs they’ve ever played on and that it might be the first one she might accidentily break her teeth. During the songs her voice is very powerful and in my opinion she can easily compete with bands which have a good male grunter. But what attracts the attention most during this performance is the great enthusiasm this band is showing. The interaction with the audience is great and when the show is supposed to be over they still play some extra encores because the audience wants them to.

Setlist
01. Warmonger
02. In The Name Of Freedom
03. Sword Of Damocles
04. Angel of Demise
05. Point Of No Return
06. Deliverance
07. Fuck Your Glorious Nation
08. Persona Non Grata
09. World Power

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 6
Light: 5
Total: 7.2 / 10

Trail Of Tears

Trail Of Tears is a gothic-black metal band from Norway which has proven to be one of the most qualified bands in the metal scene. Trail Of Tears is founded in 1997 and during the years this band produces several albums which are well-received by the press. The line-up is not consistent through the years and the biggest change takes place in 2007 when nearly all bandmembers decide to leave the band. This period also marks a new beginning when frontman Ronny Thorsen forms a new band around him, in which one of the former members, the soprano vocalist Catherine Paulsen, returns. This year a new album, “Bloodstained Endurance” is released. http://www.trailoftears.no/

Music & Performance
Today’s headliner is Trail Of Tears. With a new cd just brought out they kick off with two songs from this album and throughout the show lots of public’s favourite songs from former albums are played. Their show starts about an hour too late, but I’m not bothered with that, because I am quite late back in front of the main stage myself. The audience has calmed down a little bit. There’s no more bouncing against each other or against the fences. The real troublemakers are not allowed back inside anymore and the others who were just having fun and acted frantically during the performances of the previous bands are tired now and it’s about time to actually listen to a band. During the show Ronny seems to be totally absorbed in the music. These are actually very photogenic moments when he seems to be in total ecstasy, with his arms spread and his face turned to the sky.

When seeing this you can actually feel this intensity. Catherine proves to be an excellent singer. Without any problems she’s able to reach the higher and the lower parts and she doesn’t show any hesitation. Ronny’s grunts and Catherine’s vocals together form a symbiotic whole and it’s obvious that Ronny’s very happy that she’s part of the band again. It’s sweet to see how they’re acting towards each other on stage, for example when Ronny strokes her hair. Fortunately there’s also time left to interact with the audience. Although there are not many people left on this festival the remaining visitors are reacting enthusiastically and are clapping along with the songs.

Setlist
01. Once Kissed By The Serpent (Twice Bitten By Truth)
02. Bloodstained Endurance
03. Deceptive Mirrors
04. Decadence Becomes Me
05. A Fate Sealed In Red
06. Splendid Coma Visions
07. Obedience In The Absence Of Logic
08. In The Valley of Ashes
09. Take Aim. Reclaim. Prevail
10. The Desperation Corridors
11. My Comfort
12. Dead End Gaze
13. The Feverish Alliance
14. Ecstatic
15. Crashing Down

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 7.5 / 10