013 - Tilburg - The Netherlands
Paradise Lost, Opeth, Samael, Cathedral, Madder Mortem, Autumn, Without Face, Tapping the Vein
(2 March 2003)
When the doors finally opened, we immediately took some "013 coins" from the automates in the hallway (which are to be used for food and drinks). Much to my pleasure, there was also a metal market. As those usually have a good amount of stalls with rather cheap CDs, I decided to have a look in there and spend some money. Few minutes later I was doomdancing of excitement when I got hold of a copy of Funeral's 'Tragedies' album, after more than five years of searching for it. Patience is a virtue, dear people. And if you're still looking for that album: tough luck, I probably bought the last available one ;).
After exploring the CD stalls and finding myself distanced from the money I had brought with me, I decided it was time to go to the concert hall and see what the first bands had to offer. First band on was Tapping the Vein. What I heard was a young band trying to add their thing to the gothic metal scene, but without anything that would make them outstand the mass of bands that have ventured this kind of music already. Not a bad concert, but nothing memorable neither. Next.
Within the same range of music, the band Without Face tried to convince us of their thing. They failed. While being a tad better and more progressive than the band before, they still did not manage to make me remember much more about them. Admittedly, their female vocalist was very fancy looking. But there was still a long evening to go. Next.
The Dutch metal band Autumn is one I have seen a couple of times before. With their energetic female fronted gothic/heavy metal and a tradition of good live shows, it was no surprise that the crowd was enthusiastic for their performance, especially considering the fact that they were playing a home-gig. I enjoyed this gig, whilst it wasn't entirely my cup of tea. With this band you should expect no surprises, but a decent set of gothic metal, with all the typical characteristics of this kind of music: clean female vs. growling male vocals, melancholic vs. bombastic parts, energetic headbanging vs. romantic dreaming. Then again, we came to see other stuff too. Next.
As the first one of the "bigger" bands of the evening, Norway's Madder Mortem hit the stage. With excellent musicians and a very good female vocalist, they should be able to make excellent music. Alas I don't like the way in which they incorporate very nu-metal sounding riffing in their music. The older songs they played stood out to the rather mediocre new stuff. A pity to see this band going that way, but then again, everybody has his or her own taste. I'm sure some of you will disagree with me on this, and Madder Mortem will be grateful for that. Next.
Being among the very first bands to unleash the wave of doom/death in the UK in the late '80s, Cathedral has a long tradition of albums in the doom and stoner genre. Their latest effort being merely a good metal album and exploring somewhat new territory to them, Cathedral never fails to release an interesting album. Their set contained some songs of the new album 'The VIIth Coming', along with several older songs from different albums. Even the classic 'Ebony Tears' was enforced upon the masses. And oh my, did they like it! Singer Lee Dorrian has a very own way of moving and dooming, enjoyable to watch. Especially if you know that he probably hardly sees anything on stage, cause his eyesight is really bad. When standing in front of his microphone, his hand on his hip, legs crossed, almost blind to see what is in front of him, it looks like a doomy way to sing his songs. The crowd was quite responsive and some movement was spotted on the left. A first highlight.
The metalfest in Tilburg was the combination of three tours that were hitting Europe at the time. Paradise Lost, Opeth and Samael being the headliners of those. Thus now it was the time to see and enjoy those bands, the bands that most had come for. First on were Samael. Their singer had a broken leg, forcing him to play the gig while sitting down on a chair in front of the microphone. This didn't hamper him in any other way than forcing him to stay put though. Their drummer / programmer being a real showman, their bass guitar player totally going for it, the lightshow adding very much to the present atmosphere, this gig was really one to remember. Breathtaking sound, excellent songs, heavy atmosphere, all that is needed to transform a crowd like this into a bunch of wild madmen. Really good gig, lots of songs from the 'Passage' album, but all in all quite varied set.
Seen the amount of band shirts that featured their logo, it was obvious that a lot of people had come to see Opeth. This is not surprising, seen their good live reputation and a serious number of excellent albums. They manage to bring their complex and technically challenging songs on stage just as they are put down on the album, something that will never cease to amaze me. Their 'Deliverance' album has been recently released so obviously the set was built up around that album, but without forgetting their earlier stuff. A balanced set, ending with a great rendition of the excellent 'Demon of the Fall' from the 'My Arms, Your Hearse' album. Mikael asked the public if they enjoyed it. The answer was an obvious "YES".
Headliners were the former doom band Paradise Lost. Their 'Symbol of Life' has recently been released and this tour is meant to promote that new album. This band has gone through a lot of changes in the past years, and a lot of the earlier fans seem to have turned their backs towards this band after the last couple of albums. The fact that their sound is turned to a more "popular" one is probably one of the main reasons for that. In this way, the new album will even further distance the band from their old fans. The new songs sound a lot more radio-friendly, and I would even dare to say that influences from Rammstein and other more electronic sounding bands are not foreign to the modern Paradise Lost. Their set being a combination of new material and (slightly) older songs, but with focus on the last album, a lot of people stood there, watching and asking themselves where it had all gone to. Songs like 'True Belief', 'Jaded' and 'As I Die' warm the heart of the metalhead, but sound rather strange in a modern Paradise Lost set. Not a bad set, but you have to like their new stuff. Which I personally don't.
After this, it had become late, and time to go home. Only thing left to mention is how smoothly things were organized there and what a great venue the 013 is. It was the first time for me to attend a gig there, but I will certainly go back. The venue, the sound, food and drinks, metal market... everything as it should be. And thanks to Pieter and Vera for the lift and the company.
- Heiko Isselee
(13 April 2003)
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