• Midnight / Cyclone / High Command @ De Kreun, Kortrijk

    Midnight / Cyclone / High Command @ De Kreun, Kortrijk

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    Midnight has been on my radar for a while, being one of the more prolific blackened speed metal bands and having put out a banger of an album with Hellish Expectations last month. Supporting them was High Command and Belgium’s own Cyclone. High Command started the evening off with a blistering pace. The five-piece from…

  • Morgul Blade – Heavy Metal Wraiths

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    Philadelphia’s Morgul Blade has quickly made a name for themselves after the release of 2021’s ‘Fell Sorcery Abounds’. The Tolkien-inspired band brings a mix of traditional heavy metal and black metal. This sounds like a mad combination, but it works wonders. This sophomore album ‘Heavy Metal Wraiths’ brings us 10 tracks totaling just shy of…

  • Battlecreek – Maze of the Mind

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    The German Battlecreek have been around since 2004. Having already released ‘Wake the Plague’ in 2011 and ‘Hate Injection’ in 2015. For their 20th anniversary, they are releasing ‘Maze of the Mind’, and for the first time in their career, it’s released on a label instead of independently. The album is divided into 12 tracks…

  • Extinct – Incitement of Violence

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    Extinct is a German thrash metal band from Kiel, at the coast of the Baltic sea.The band was originally formed in 2003, although none of those members are till part of the band. Vocalist and bassist Helge Hentrop joined in 2004 and is now the oldest member. They brought out their first album, ‘Pain Palace’…

  • Bell Witch / Fvnerals @ 4AD, Diksmuide, Belgium

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    On a Friday, it’s always nice to slow down, leave the workweek behind and enter slow down the pace to enter the weekend. To help us with that, Bell Witch performed at the 4AD in Diksmuide, Belgium on Friday April 5th, with Fvnerals in their wake. I’ve grown a lot more fond and appreciative of…

  • Thrashtastic @ DVG Club, Kortrijk

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    Last Saturday, March 30, ‘Thrashtastic’ took place at DVG Club in Kortrijk. As the name suggests, the event was an ode to thrash metal. For only €20 (in pre-sale) you could heartily headbang, mosh, and crowd surf to no less than 7 bands. There were supposed to be 8, but Severdhed had to cancel a…

  • Taake / Nordjevel / Theotoxin @ De Kreun, Kortrijk

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    The Norwegian Taake is doing a 15-stop European tour, supported by fellow Norwegians Nordjevel and the Austrian Theotoxin. I thought it would be a great idea to start the week off with some good old fashioned Norwegian black metal. The venue is called “De Kreun”, an is located right next to the Kortrijk train station.…

  • Skálmöld / Seven Spires / Atavistia @ DVG, Kortrijk

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    Thomas
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    I’m not the biggest folk-metal fan, but Skálmöld’s 2023 release Ýdalir was one of my highlights of the year. When I saw they had planned a Belgian stop on their latest tour, attending was a no-brainer. The show took place at De Verlichte Geest club in Kortrijk. The club used to be in Roeselare, but…

  • Sabotage – Pishach

    Sabotage – Pishach

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    Thomas
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    Sabotage (on multiple streaming services billed as ‘Sabotage India’ is a thrash metal 5-piece from Bassein, about 60km north of Mumbai, India. They released an EP, ‘The Order of Genocide’ in 2019 and now follow this up with their first full length entitled ‘Pishach’, which apparently is a flesh eating demon in Indian mythology. The…

  • Griffon – De Republica

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    Griffon is a Parisian band which was started back in 2012. With ‘De Republica’ they are on their third album. Lyrically, De Republica is somewhat chauvinistic, choosing to cover historic French events. They are labeled as being black metal, but there’s a heavy dose of death metal involved as well. Stylicstically they remind me of…

  • Esodic – De Facto De Jure

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    Esodic is a thrash metal threepiece based out of Los Angeles, but was originally formed in Jordan. The band consists of Jordan-born drummer Zed Amarin, together with Americans Kevin McCombs on bass and vocals, and Michael Nolasco on guitar and vocals. They’ve previously released a split with Generichrist and an EP entitled ‘Mirrors of Disgrace’…

  • Cobrakill – Serpent’s Kiss

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    Cobrakill is a German fievepiece that was formed in 2020. They released their first album ‘Cobratör’ in 2022 and are now following it up with Serpent’s Kiss. The album consists of 12 songs for a total runtime of 47 minutes. From the cover art to stage names as Toby Ventura and Tommy Guns, their styling…

  • Night Slasher – Night Slasher

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    The Lithuanian Night Slasher is a a new kid on the block, having formed (as Night Slasher) in 2023. Previously, the foursome was known as Alcotopia and released one album, ‘It Hits the Spot’ in 2019. Night Slasher is a speed/thrash metal band with some (proto) black metal influences in their sound. From the first…

  • Slower – Slower

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    Well, from the name of both the band and album, we don’t need to expect any high octane thrash metal here…although we do get a bit of just that. Slower is a project by Fu Manchu guitarist Bob Balch who, after teaching a guitar lesson to a student wanting to learn Slayer’s South of Heaven,…

  • Boarhammer – II: Chemognosis – A Shortcut to Mushrooms

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    Boarhammer is a two-piece outfit out of Germany, consisting of Wodwoz on guitar and vocals, and The Vessel on bass, drums and vocals. They brought out an EP ‘I: Cutting Wood for Magickal Purposes’ back in 2021 and with this release their first full length. They bring their take on first wave black metal. Think…

  • Abbath / Toxic Holocaust / Hellripper @ De Casino

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    Concertvenue ‘De Casino’ is a beautiful musichall with a capacity of about 600 people. On January 24th 2024, Abbath’s Dead Reaver Over Europe tour landed here. The Scottish Hellripper was the opener of the evening. If you’ve never heard of them, Hellripper plays blackened speed metal with a good dose of thrash. It’s the project…

  • Messiah – Christus Hypercubus

    Messiah – Christus Hypercubus

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    The Swiss Messiah has been going at it since 1984, and have somehow managed to stay off my radar untill now. After a split in 1994, the band got back together in 2018 and released ‘Fracmont’ in 2020. Since then, vocalist Andy Kaina passed away from a heart attack and the band decided to record…

  • Surgical Strike – 24/7 Hate

    Surgical Strike – 24/7 Hate

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    Thomas
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    The German Surgical Strike have an interesting history. They released 2 demo’s in the 90’s and then the band went silent until the release of their EP ‘V-II-XII’ in 2016, followed by the first album ‘Part of a Sick World’ in 2020. With ’24/7 Hate’ the band presents a 44 minute long whirlwind of thrash…

  • Gig Report – Mind Wolf + Liquid Silver @ B52 Eernegem, Belgium

    Gig Report – Mind Wolf + Liquid Silver @ B52 Eernegem, Belgium

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    Thomas
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    This is the first gig of 2024 for me, and immediately it’s something somewhat out of my comfort zone of (black and thrash) metal. Mind Wolf is a Belgian threepiece bringing a mix of classic rock with some psychedelic and stoner influences. Just before the show started, the guitarist suddenly had a technical issue with…

  • Toxikull – Under The Southern Light

    Toxikull – Under The Southern Light

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    When you’d ask me about Portuguese metal acts, I would struggle to even name a handful of bands. However, I love exploring music and came across Toxikull. The band is located around the capital Lisbon and started back in 2016 with their first album ‘Black Sheep’. With ‘Under The Southern Light’, they are already on…