I only saw three tracks of opening band Twelve Tribes, so I can really pass my judgement on that. Their combination of rock, hardcore and metal didn’t really appeal to my ears either, and my opinion seemed likewise with the lions hare of the crowd. Too bad, because there a lot of other great bands to pick from these days.

Up next was Unearth, who seem to be doing quite well with a strong following and an upcoming American tour with my heroes of Slayer. Personally I find it to be yet another one of those metalcore bands that rely on their blasting breakdowns to make it appealing. Most of the fast parts bore me, as do the melodic. I can only enjoy some of the really brutal breakdown parts, no more than that. This time my opinion wasn’t shared as much as before, because there seemed to be a whole lot more people moving to the music, even singing along as they got a microphone shoved in their face. They manage to give an entertaining show to their fans, but I don’t think I’ll be digging this band any time soon.

In a fully packed Effenaar, the legendary Hatebreed came, saw and conquered within no time. From beginning till the end the crowd was treated to top-notch mosh music with a positive attitude. Violence for a reason. The five-some was aided by First Blood’s Carl Schwartz on bass guitar and backing vocals due to Chris Beattie’s hand injury, and he did an excellent job with that. The supergroup treated its fans to material of all records again, reaching from it’s debut Under The Knife to the latest release Supremacy, which was fortunately given some more playtime than the previous time when we got only ‘To The Threshhold’. They played every track I wanted to hear, like usual and when it was over I was very satisfied, and drunk. I even tried to slam dance in the moshpit but within thirty seconds I was beaten the shit out of in forms of kicks and elbows so fast I decided drinking was a better idea. Crazy people!

 

Nevertheless, Hatebreed proved that they still reign supreme, and they guaranteed us that they would never sell out and never make a weak album. And that’s just the way we like it. Heavy-as-fuck, uncompromising mosh music with a bad ass attitude. Achieving supremacy.