Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Gig review: Grinding Halt, Landverraad, Slakkengang


Only two days after "Wolves In The Throne Room", while I was still trying to shake off the awesome feeling they left me with and get back to normality, this gig came as a wonderful surprise. What I thought would be a random "local" show turned out to be a rather interesting and thrilling event. Although there are three bands present in this review I will keep things short, so prepare yourself for a quick read.

The gig took place on a lazy Friday evening of 25 May 2012 at a venue called "Willemeen" in Arnhem, the Netherlands. For various reasons I have been really excited about seeing this place, since I heard a lot about it prior to the show, and I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised. You find yourself in front of the venue after a short walk from the train station, facing a really pretty, old looking building with a big entry way and huge windows covered in posters. A couple of steps inside take you into the actual room where the gig was supposed to happen. The entire place has a very minimalist design, a small low stage, a nice bar, a merch desk and that is about it. This particular show wasn't really crowded, but the room seems like it can support a fair number of people, so it pretty much serves all needs one might have for a hardcore show.
First in line for that evening was "Slakkengang", a chaotic screamo duo from Tilburg. I have known about this band for some time now thanks to dear friend Joost who does vocals and guitar playing in "Slakkengang" and who was also a member of one other Dutch band which was featured on this blog, "Laatste Halte". In case you don't remember that band, I did an interview with them for "Tigersuit" zine and you can read it here. In any case, I was seriously surprised with what I heard that night and I really feel sorry that I put this band on hold for so long. Their set was an extremely nice mixture of tense and violent rending with some gentle and melodic guitar playing. The songs swing between being utterly chaotic, parts which are executed quite well and managing to keep you highly entertained, and those slower guitar sections that honestly reminded me of some Italian screamo bands like "La Quiete" or "Raein". The band opened their set in a loud and violent fashion, so those melodic instances showed up as an unexpected surprise. Drumming also kept bouncing between a true beating to the chest and being highly atmospheric, so despite being chaotic the band kept a certain amount of order and construction.
A short break followed after which came "Landverraad", a really angry and fast hardcore/power violence band from Amsterdam. There is a sentence on their last.fm page which describes them rather accurately. "Short songs, long speeches." Indeed, their songs are very short, explosive and they attack you without warning when your guard is down. Everything is happening with haste and it's basically as if a really pissed off storm flew over your head. The music itself is in a constant state of rushing, but what I found awesome was the fact that the vocals manage to speed things up even further. Both the main and the backing vocals flow excellently with the tunes, adding a special something to the overall mood. Microphone duties are left entirely to the two girls of the band and I think that their high pitched screams give a certain choking sensation to the ears, which is great in combination to the spasm-like tunes coming from the strings and drums. Also, as the last.fm sentence pointed out, the band took its time with talking to the audience during pauses between songs and they actually made a sort of quiz with prizes for the crowd. A couple of questions regarding anarchism and extinct wildlife were asked and patches and candy handed out as a reward, which really made the whole thing seem like a cozy house show.
Last, but definitely not least was "Grinding Halt", a project from Groningen and a band known for having ex-members of "The Last Mile" and the legendary "Shikari". And let's be honest, the legacy of both bands has carved its mark on "Grinding Halt" and it is by no means a bad thing. The band came and annihilated the senses of the audience without remorse. Rushing, violent, heart stopping and continually mind blowing, their performance swept me off my feet. Everything was superb, from the sound they created and the movement of the band to the very energy they radiated with during their set, nothing was astray. Despite me listening to their material way before this show, I somewhat forgot about them in the meantime and I really can't remember which songs were played that evening. This show definitely made me want to correct my mistake and keep the band stuck in my head permanently. The performance left a serious impression on me, since it was nothing like I expected. It was the sheer amount of chaos and just the energy transferred to the audience that managed to stun me so much, showing that special something that the older screamo bands used to have, a really passionate and heartfelt vibe.
Shortly put, excellent gig and on top of that it was free. All three bands were a real enjoyment to watch and listen, so you should definitely check them out! "Slakkengang" recently came back from a mini UK tour and there are some new things looming ahead, so check them out on their bandcamp page, found here, to keep up to date. "Landverraad" put out a split with one other Dutch band called "Sloth", you can take a listen to it here. As for "Grinding Halt", I will have the pleasure to see them live again in a couple of days with "Thou" and "Resurrectionists" and you will definitely get to read more about my impressions regarding their music. Until then, you can check them out on their facebook page found here. Hope you enjoyed this wall of gobble!

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