Intwine was founded in 2001 by five musicians of the Dutch Fontys Rockacademy. Their debut album was released in October 2003 and they did well in the Dutch charts. Especially their first single, the ballad ‘Happy?’, made it into the top 3. The real reason why Intwine suddenly was popular in the Netherlands was because of the television program Idols. Singer Roger was one of the 10 finalist when he decided to quit the show, because he didn’t agree with the contract they offered him. The real reason was to create a big fuzz and promote his own band Intwine without being restricted by some contract.
After the first, self-titled album it all went downwards. The single ‘Cruel Man’ of their follow up album Perfect still reached the top 10 of the Dutch charts, but since then it became deadly quiet around this band. They did release a third album in 2006, but nobody seemed to know (and/or care). Furthermore their bassist and drummer left the band. With Kingdom Of Contradiction Intwine has made a “best off”-album in order to establish a new beginning. They rerecorded their best songs and mixed it with their metal and reggae roots with new band members Pablo (bass) and Eric (drums). The only new song on this album is The Police cover ‘Walking On The Moon’, recorded as a duet with Sarah Bettens of K’s Choice.
For their fans from day one this means they’ve drifted away further and further from their original sound. Most of these fans will not be that pleased at all. The ones who like some more heavier stuff could like the new approach, but for many of them Intwine always remain a poppy one-day-fly. Even if they use more metal oriented melodies and reggae-based interludes.
With the singing with Tiefdruck-Musik they’re currently focusing on the German market and with this album they even reached the top 10 of the German charts. In Holland I don’t think anybody really cares about this band anymore. Neutrally contemplated they play too heavy music for the non-metal minded countries, while it is too soft for real metalheads. Thank God we have Germany for these kind of situations!
