Tonight I went together with Arcane to the Willemeen in Arnhem to witness some nice oldskool hardcore. This was the fifth gig of the year which the guys from Pro-Pain played in The Netherlands. They have to be careful for an overkill with such an amount of shows, but the venue was nicely packed though. Supporting bands for tonight were Blind Sight and Strike First. 

I'd never heard of Blind Sight before, but a good friend of mine told me this band would kick ass. I asked him what kind of metal Blind Sight played. He told me it would be a mixture of hardcore and thrash. Well that sounded promising. But, he also told me they would use clean vocals as well. Aaah no! What I really don't like are emo-vocals. But he assured me I would like it anyway. So, the band began to play, and I liked it right away. These guys know how to rock. Brutal metal and hardcore riffs combined with some great vocals by a very impressive singer. And my pal was right, the clean vocals weren't bad at all. But they weren't completely clean, I guess that is why I could appreciate it. It's a pity this band was the beginning act of the evening, the band gave all they had, but the crowd was just warming up with some beers. (Arcane) 

Due to some delay I missed Blind Sight and so Strike First was the first band I saw. The name of the band is typically hardcore and so was their music. These guys from Arnhem gave away a decent show with a lot of aggression in it. They were very energetic and the stage performance convinced me. The music on the contrary was a bit too predictable. It wasn't bad at all, but they just did the expected. As a support they were on the right spot, but when they want to grow to a headliner I think they have to be a little bit more original. (Gilles) 

After drinking a beer and posing with my girlfriend for a photographer from metalshots it was time for Pro-Pain. This hardcore band from New York is touring Europe extensively in order to celebrate their 15^th anniversary. This time it was a youth centre in Arnhem which was on the point of total destruction. The band with frontman Gary Meskil – who looks like Bill from the Dutch game ‘Wie Is Het?' – gave away a great show. I had never seen them before, but I heard a lot of stories about them and I must say: they are true! I'm not able to tell you which songs they played, but I can tell you that it is worth your money to see a Pro-Pain show! This Friday they will again play a show in Holland – in Leiden with Demia – and if you like hardcore and you haven't seen them live you should definitely go there! An example for why it is worth your money is the encore of the show. Some bands play their greatest hit as encore, other ones play two or three songs, but that isn't the style of Pro-Pain. These guys played seven (!!) killer tracks before they left the stage to go to the merchandise table where they talked to the fans and signed some stuff. (Gilles)