Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - Graspop

Details: Written by: Cristel Brouwer; Published: 16 June 2005

Graspop festival, Baflo, The Netherlands

June 4th 2005

Nemesea and Intwine

After a goodnight sleep and recovery from the night before at Herrie Festival in Heerde, the band and I started the day with fresh energy. Around 3 o’clock Manda (vocals), Hendrik-Jan (guitar) and I drove to Groningen to pick up the rest of the band and head out to Baflo. There we were friendly received and all ready to perform…

Nemesea

After a hard crowd at the Herrie festival Nemesea was looking forward to a new and fresh crowd to please today and they were hoping for a better reaction this time. Luckily they were.

Music
Nemesea started off with a new intro belonging to the new song ‘Broken’. At least 50 % of the people in the crowd were not familiar with Nemesea, but they welcomed the band after the intro by applauding and screaming as loud as they could. This was just what Nemesea needed after yesterday’s disappointment at Herrie Festival, Heerde. Although the sound was a little bit too garish till the second song ‘Empress’, Nemesea gave Baflo their very best. Heavy songs like ‘Beyond Evil’, Evanescence’s ‘Going under’ and ‘Mortalitas’ made the audience go wild. Therefore closing the show with the impressive ‘Lucifer’ was certainly the best choice Nemesea could have made, which I could tell from the load of people coming to my merchandise stand after ‘Lucifer’ had ended. Before playing Lucifer Manda told the audience about her great influences, like ‘The Gathering’. Immediately after her speech Nemesea started off with a great cover of The Gathering’s ‘Strange Machines’, which is always loved by the audience.

Performance
That the show at the Herrie Festival, Heerde wasn’t what the band had expected was not to be seen in the performance of Nemesea on stage at Graspop, Baflo. Manda looked very confident and really claimed her position on stage by moving around the whole stage and making a lot of contact with the audience just as the rest of the band. Berto (keys) had a good position on stage and played with the audience by making faces and he made the crowd join in and clap along with the beat. The easier songs of the set list like ‘Angel in the Dark’ and ‘Disclosure’ were sung with many emotions on Manda’s face. During the part in ‘Violated Lady’ where you can hear a woman murder her husband by slashing him with a knife, you see the emotional pain on Manda’s face as if she feels the woman’s pain herself. During the show there is a terrific lightshow as well for the public as for the photographers. This was really a great show of Nemesea in my opinion as well as the audience’s.

Setlist
01. Broken (new)
02. Empress
03. Going under
04. Angel in the Dark
05. Mortalitas
     - The Taker
     - Dies Irae
     - Morendum Tibi Est
     - From Beneath You It Devours

06. Violated Lady
07. Beyond Evil
08. Disclosure
09. Strange Machines
10. Lucifer

Rating
Music 8
Performance 8
Sound 8
Light 8
Total 8

Intwine

It was clear most people had showed up to watch Intwine. Not only was the front of the tent much more crowded than with any previous bands, the audience started yelling when the band and crew worked during the changeover. It is safe
to say that Intwine has conquered the North of the Netherlands as well as the rest of the country (though I assume there will be people who travelled a long distance to see them at Graspop). Because I didn't know the band before except from their hit song, I watched and was amazed.

Music
Though I had to get used to the typical voice of their singer Roger, I soon adjusted and enjoyed the variety of music Intwine played. Too bad I couldn't score a set list, but their songs were versatile and it was a smooth mix between the more rocking songs and calmer ballads. The sound was well balanced, though overall a bit too loud, even with the earplugs.

Performance
I was surprised by the length of their singer, who isn't that tall but who can produce an enormous, amazing voice. The other band members seemed to enjoy themselves at the stage as well, and the diversity of instruments contributed well to the music. It's clear the band has had some experience in playing the public, which they succeeded in doing. The light show was of less quality, but not entirely the band's fault because the place itself didn't have much front light. They did manage to give the crowd a nice show and the people that had showed up didn't mind at all. The show was definitely worth watching.

Rating
Music 7
Performance 8
Sound 6
Light 6
Total 7 (6.75)