Bloodshedfest 8 - Speed, weed, and blastbeat!
On October 13th, the annual grindcore festival Bloodshedfest was set to take place for the eight time. This year the location was changed from De Bosuil in Weert to Dynamo in Eindhoven, a smart choice if you ask me. Three Metalragers were present here, Mat-Core and DemonDust had already experienced this festival numerous times, as Mindsaver got his grindcore festival cherry popped here. Here we go for a full day of beer, weed and fucking grindcore!!!
Jesus Crost (Basement Stage)
When we arrived at the small stage, we were able to catch the last two songs of Jesus Crost. It�s honestly really hard to recall any of their actual music, besides that it was loud and fast. It is a two piece and, with a screaming/roaring guitarist and a drummer that wears a show-wrestling mask. Crusty grindpunk for two songs, which means about a minute, two at max, then it was on to the next act! (DemonDust)
Putrescence (Main Stage)
Moments before their show I met the drummer for Putrescence, who seemed like a nice guy. And when I heard his nickname, I knew I had to like him; Lord Skullbong, oh yeah! Well what Putrescence brought on stage, besides a humongous vocalist, was some good ol� deathgrind. At first I didn�t expect it to be interesting at all, but that soon changed. Because besides having a cool nickname, this drummer elevates the entire band to a higher and better level. Instead of just brainlessly bashing away, this guy accented everything the guitars did in a very rocking way. I even dare to say that it reminded me of the drummer for Mastodon, and that�s a huge compliment for me. As the show went on, I started to appreciate their music more and more, mostly due to the ingenious drum parts. Need to check some of their stuff out soon! (DemonDust)
Dr Doom (Main Stage)
While most of the bands lined up on Bloodshed are from foreign countries, it was a Dutch band that enchanted me the most. Dr Doom was scheduled to perform in the basement but after some shuffling by the organisation they ended up in the main hall, where I found a spot on a safe distance from the dais. I never experienced a good sound in the Dynamo venue, but today the sound of the drums was fine. Drummer Joris took his chance and convinced me of his skills, ending up being mentioned in this report! As said, Dr Doom's death metal-orientated grind appealed a lot to me but I do have some criticism towards the band. The singer's throat was very tedious, while we as reporters also discussed Dr Doom's skills in general. We think that they've got a lot more capability then what they've shown us today. (Mindsaver)
Dead Infection (Main Stage)
I�ve seen this Polish band live several times in the Czech Republic. They started off with some new songs, but also played a lot of songs from earlier albums. The audience was apparently enjoying it, but I thought the sound was a little bit weak. I really don�t know for sure, but I did not recognize their vocalist, and the vocals were really different. Maybe their previous vocalist finally did screw up his voice then? Anyways, the show was quite entertaining but the sound could have been better. (Mat-Core)
Agathocles (Main Stage)
I�ve been confronted with Agathocles once at a grindfest in Arnhem, and I didn�t like it one bit. Their crusty grindcore with a punk attitude failed to impress me back then, but we�re talking a couple of years back here when I thought Nile was the best band in the world. I enjoyed their performance a little better this time, but I still wasn�t impressed. I like the attitude of the music, the fast crusty punk fuck everything attitude, but the music is of such mediocrity that the only way they deserved this spot on the main stage is because they�ve been doing this for too many years already. Not interesting enough to witness more that a couple of songs for me. (DemonDust)
Massgrav (Basement Stage)
While DemonDust had some other things on his mind, Mat-Core and I decided to check out some crustcore in the basement. My only experience with a band from this genre was Extreme Noise Terror half a year ago, when I walked away after a few songs. This time it didn't went any different. I'm a fan of death metal and I don't consider myself weak or something like that, but this is just too much. During the ten minutes that I was facing these Sweden's I witnessed about five/six songs, while I heard nothing but noise from a guitarist and bassist who were disorderly screaming while at the same time a negro kid with glasses (14 years old if we must believe their website) unleashed numerous blastbeats. Nice to experience. Once. (Mindsaver)
Malignant Tumour (Main Stage)
Yes! Finally I can see Malignant Tumour live again. I�ve seen them once on Obscene Extreme but not the entire show. This time I wasn�t going to miss this and hell yeah, the grinding bastards didn�t fail. Most songs I recognized from their last album Burn In Hell, and correct me if I�m wrong but in my opinion this music is perfectly suited to drink a goddamn lot of beer! This I also did, and that�s why I don�t remember that much of it anymore, but what I do remember is that Malignant Tumour used to have 2 Dutch members. Those quitted some years ago, but were both in the audience. Of course this leads automatically in a song with those 2 guys on vocals, and that song was really blasting! Time went by quickly and after a short 40 minutes Malignant Tumour was done, and the audience was thrown over, sodden drunk and screaming for more. Nice show! (Mat-Core)
Drugs Of Faith (Basement Stage)
I must confess that I was really wasted when I was watching this to pass the time until Regurgitate would destroy the stage. I remember a chick on bass, and some crusty grinding music. The sound wasn�t that bad, but that could also be my state of mind. Anyways, I did not watch the entire show, because after a time it became a bit of the same. (Mat-Core)
Regurgitate (Main Stage)
Now it was finally time for what I had been waiting for all day, my actual reason of being here; Regurgitate. I was never a hundred percent convinced by this band on disc, so I just had to see them live. Especially after I missed them twice on their previous tour. For this show then, simply put it was like this; Regurgitate came, saw, and fucking destroyed everything! Now I know where the true power of this band lies, they know how to make (gore)grind sound like rock �n� roll baby. It is as if Lemmy himself felt that it was time to pick up the pass and brutality. I could not resist to raise my fist with every song and bang along to their tunes. The show started with some minor bass guitar problems though, but that was of real effect on their set in my point of view. The band was tight, the sound was good, and I just luuuuuved Rikard�s pitch-shifted vocals as well as the screams he does. This totally made my day! The Monday after I played three Regurgitate albums in a row, and I can now say that I am a convinced fan and I intend to buy all their stuff very soon. Pitch-shifted grind �n� roll, how can you say no? (DemonDust)
Jesus Crost (Basement Stage)
When we arrived at the small stage, we were able to catch the last two songs of Jesus Crost. It�s honestly really hard to recall any of their actual music, besides that it was loud and fast. It is a two piece and, with a screaming/roaring guitarist and a drummer that wears a show-wrestling mask. Crusty grindpunk for two songs, which means about a minute, two at max, then it was on to the next act! (DemonDust)
Putrescence (Main Stage)
Moments before their show I met the drummer for Putrescence, who seemed like a nice guy. And when I heard his nickname, I knew I had to like him; Lord Skullbong, oh yeah! Well what Putrescence brought on stage, besides a humongous vocalist, was some good ol� deathgrind. At first I didn�t expect it to be interesting at all, but that soon changed. Because besides having a cool nickname, this drummer elevates the entire band to a higher and better level. Instead of just brainlessly bashing away, this guy accented everything the guitars did in a very rocking way. I even dare to say that it reminded me of the drummer for Mastodon, and that�s a huge compliment for me. As the show went on, I started to appreciate their music more and more, mostly due to the ingenious drum parts. Need to check some of their stuff out soon! (DemonDust)
Dr Doom (Main Stage)
While most of the bands lined up on Bloodshed are from foreign countries, it was a Dutch band that enchanted me the most. Dr Doom was scheduled to perform in the basement but after some shuffling by the organisation they ended up in the main hall, where I found a spot on a safe distance from the dais. I never experienced a good sound in the Dynamo venue, but today the sound of the drums was fine. Drummer Joris took his chance and convinced me of his skills, ending up being mentioned in this report! As said, Dr Doom's death metal-orientated grind appealed a lot to me but I do have some criticism towards the band. The singer's throat was very tedious, while we as reporters also discussed Dr Doom's skills in general. We think that they've got a lot more capability then what they've shown us today. (Mindsaver)
Dead Infection (Main Stage)
I�ve seen this Polish band live several times in the Czech Republic. They started off with some new songs, but also played a lot of songs from earlier albums. The audience was apparently enjoying it, but I thought the sound was a little bit weak. I really don�t know for sure, but I did not recognize their vocalist, and the vocals were really different. Maybe their previous vocalist finally did screw up his voice then? Anyways, the show was quite entertaining but the sound could have been better. (Mat-Core)
Agathocles (Main Stage)
I�ve been confronted with Agathocles once at a grindfest in Arnhem, and I didn�t like it one bit. Their crusty grindcore with a punk attitude failed to impress me back then, but we�re talking a couple of years back here when I thought Nile was the best band in the world. I enjoyed their performance a little better this time, but I still wasn�t impressed. I like the attitude of the music, the fast crusty punk fuck everything attitude, but the music is of such mediocrity that the only way they deserved this spot on the main stage is because they�ve been doing this for too many years already. Not interesting enough to witness more that a couple of songs for me. (DemonDust)
Massgrav (Basement Stage)
While DemonDust had some other things on his mind, Mat-Core and I decided to check out some crustcore in the basement. My only experience with a band from this genre was Extreme Noise Terror half a year ago, when I walked away after a few songs. This time it didn't went any different. I'm a fan of death metal and I don't consider myself weak or something like that, but this is just too much. During the ten minutes that I was facing these Sweden's I witnessed about five/six songs, while I heard nothing but noise from a guitarist and bassist who were disorderly screaming while at the same time a negro kid with glasses (14 years old if we must believe their website) unleashed numerous blastbeats. Nice to experience. Once. (Mindsaver)
Malignant Tumour (Main Stage)
Yes! Finally I can see Malignant Tumour live again. I�ve seen them once on Obscene Extreme but not the entire show. This time I wasn�t going to miss this and hell yeah, the grinding bastards didn�t fail. Most songs I recognized from their last album Burn In Hell, and correct me if I�m wrong but in my opinion this music is perfectly suited to drink a goddamn lot of beer! This I also did, and that�s why I don�t remember that much of it anymore, but what I do remember is that Malignant Tumour used to have 2 Dutch members. Those quitted some years ago, but were both in the audience. Of course this leads automatically in a song with those 2 guys on vocals, and that song was really blasting! Time went by quickly and after a short 40 minutes Malignant Tumour was done, and the audience was thrown over, sodden drunk and screaming for more. Nice show! (Mat-Core)
Drugs Of Faith (Basement Stage)
I must confess that I was really wasted when I was watching this to pass the time until Regurgitate would destroy the stage. I remember a chick on bass, and some crusty grinding music. The sound wasn�t that bad, but that could also be my state of mind. Anyways, I did not watch the entire show, because after a time it became a bit of the same. (Mat-Core)
Regurgitate (Main Stage)
Now it was finally time for what I had been waiting for all day, my actual reason of being here; Regurgitate. I was never a hundred percent convinced by this band on disc, so I just had to see them live. Especially after I missed them twice on their previous tour. For this show then, simply put it was like this; Regurgitate came, saw, and fucking destroyed everything! Now I know where the true power of this band lies, they know how to make (gore)grind sound like rock �n� roll baby. It is as if Lemmy himself felt that it was time to pick up the pass and brutality. I could not resist to raise my fist with every song and bang along to their tunes. The show started with some minor bass guitar problems though, but that was of real effect on their set in my point of view. The band was tight, the sound was good, and I just luuuuuved Rikard�s pitch-shifted vocals as well as the screams he does. This totally made my day! The Monday after I played three Regurgitate albums in a row, and I can now say that I am a convinced fan and I intend to buy all their stuff very soon. Pitch-shifted grind �n� roll, how can you say no? (DemonDust)