RoD header

Translate

de Kade, Zaandam, The Netherlands
April 14th 2007
Suicide Commando, Grendel, Centhron

De Kade in Zaandam is just a small venue and yet it was the stage for the 20th anniversary of Johan van Roy's Suicide Commando. It all started with the venue slowly filling up, but once the second support act Grendel entered the stage the venue was filled up nicely. Many people from Germany and Belgium had dropped by to see the shows of tonight something that really pleased the bands. After the show DJ's gave the visitors a nice after party, Zaandam was the centre of EBM music for one night.


Centhron

A German band that has successfully released their album 'Gottwerk' in 2006. Even though they should be rated somewhere between Suicide Commando and Horacio they obviously don't agree. At their MySpace they say they are similar to Centhron, speaking of self promotion! Although there seems to be many more people involved in the band, tonight there are 4 of them on stage. Elmer Schmidt takes up the mean male main vocals while Milly Thies does backing vocals. Stephen Klapps plays bass and for live keyboards the band relies on Anette Schmidt.

Music
Some bands make music to try out new things while other make music they know works. Centhron is no progressive band but they managed to nicely integrate all the good elements they've heard from other bands into a solid and danceable piece of music. The music played tonight was however not totally grabbing the audience, maybe it wasn't aggressive enough or maybe people just needed to get warmed up. The live bass did sound a bit weird in the mix and the vocals of Milly were at times way to low. But all in all it sounded well, so people next time dance!



Performance
This is what this band has thought about, their performance opens dramatically with Elmer wearing a gasmask with his microphone cleverly attached to it. The energy of the both Elmer and Milly is good both really like entertaining the audience, Milly just loves to dance while Elmer prefers to show a more powerful attitude. Stephen walks around on stage but otherwise he leaves the stage to both singers and Anette is focussed on her keyboard and has least chance to show off. An impressive mic stand however blocks much of the action and interaction with the audience. But their enthusiasm never wore down. A nice performance with a colourful lightshow, can we all lower our fists now?



Setlist
01. Melek Taus
02. Gasman
03. Gottwerk
04. Lichtsucher
05. Einheit C
06. Friss
07. Eisenfresse

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





Grendel

The band was founded in 1997 and consist of 3 guys with names that resemble weapon designations or automated systems. Maybe the Marine Corps doesn't like robots but killers, and the bootcamp was live on stage. These Dutch guys released quite a few CDs and EPs and with their latest one 'Harsh Generation' they are well on their way in 2007. Today their regalar keyboarder is replaced by Daniel (Aesthetic Perfection), MRK.0 is currently touring with VNV Nation.

Music
There is no denying the band on stage, but the music has it's own attractive power. And forceful power it is, it just keeps on coming like a machinegun. With explosive beats it's hard to resist at least some sort of movement. Even though the distortion on the vocals was a bit heavy, much more than on their CDs still most of the time it was not too hard to get the lyrics. The band has some fascination with the armed forces, too bad however they picked the Marine Corps, after all we all know it's the tanks that really make the difference in all out wars. Annihilation, total devastation, dance or die... take no prisoners!



Performance
Even though the concept of camouflage is the blend in with the environment this band has decided that this pattern should represent them and it suits them well. It's like you have just put down your bags after leaving the bus at boot camp. Two instructors wait in the back, in support of master drill sergeant Jos who shouts orders at the audience. No matter what, they won't surrender but looking at the audience it seems like Grendel has got their attention and happily follows the lead of the band. Whether or not he's singing, the shouting NCO is all over the place pushing the audience to join them. A very versatile lightshow made by their light tech, who would not be misplaced on stage doing a live lightshow, gives the violent performance just an extra edge. Either join the victorious team or die... no prisoners, that much is clear

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 9
Total: 8.5





Suicide Commando

Back in 1986, the year Suicide Commando started there were almost no options for starting bands to release demo's, for years Johan van Roy used taped to release his music to the world. It was only in 1994 he released his first CD in a row of 11 full length CDs, the latest being the 2006 release 'Bind Torture Kill'. Even though Johan started 20 years ago he first went on stage in 1993 and from that year on he's played at many festivals and visited many clubs. An anniversary is always a happy moment and even though much of the references to damnation, hell and death, the band is very much alive today. And for some strange reason Belgian Suicide Commando decided to pick the Netherlands to celebrate this.

Music
With 20 years of music behind you, how do you decide on what songs to play at your party? Well just pick your biggest hits, shuffle them a bit and you get a great treat for the audience. Starting of with the title track of your latest album and them jumping back to the 1994 'Save Me' before moving all the way back to 'Conspiracy with the Devil'. All the big club hits of the past years are met with lots of anticipation by the frantically dancing audience with his big hit 'Hellraiser' closing the normal setlist. After that Johan returns once again for an encore of two more songs. Of course the audience wants more but a tragic medical problem with one of the fans makes the band decide to cancel the second encore. Apparently everything turned out well for that fan, we hope he gets well soon. As for the music, live drums and keyboards make sure all the songs get a powerful and rich sound. Johan and his distorted vocals just complete the full spectrum of 20 years of Suicide Commando music.



Performance
A powerful beamer had projected the logo of Suicide Commando on the screen in the back for the entire night but when the band started paying 'Bind Torture and Kill' the video show started with a fact sheet on the famous serial killer Dennis L. Rader aka the btk strangler. From that moment on powerful statements and disturbing images alternated on the screen. With the help of a laser and a nice lightshow the picture on stage was almost complete. Just the fact that the lack of front light prevented the fans from seeing Johan's expressions clearly was a downside. But still, you could still see him take his poses, do his kicks and characteristically sticking his tongue out. Johan is all over the place while the rest of the band provided the music.



Walking back and forth, sticking his face almost into the audience, it's no surprise Johan again had problems with a curling up mic cable. This however didn't stop him and with a little help from his stage technician he could just go crazy at his anniversary. This was one of those energetic concerts that will pump you up and makes you move. With some 300 people dancing to the music you can only feel sorry for those who have missed this one off show. For those of you who weren't there, you really missed something. All you can do is wait for the anniversary box, watch the included DVD, listen to the CDs and feel sorry you weren't there. 



Setlist
01. Bind, Torture, Kill
02. Save Me
03. Conspiracy with the Devil
04. Face of Death
05. Mein Herz, Meine Gier
06. Love Breeds Suicide
07. Necrophilia
08. One Nation under God
09. See you in Hell
10. Raise your God
11. Cause of Death: Suicide
12. Hellraiser
---
13. Murder
14. Fuck you Bitch

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 6
Total: 9





More photos on page 2

{jos_sb_discuss:17}

Comments powered by CComment