JRRZZ Blog

Here in the Netherlands, we’ve got a tradition called Sinterklaas. It’s about an old, single bearded man with a love for children dressed in red coming down the chimney with presents around December. But unlike Santaclaus, he’s got black people instead of reindeer. Who said the Dutch abolished slavery and apartheid? The Americans pretty much stole the whole thing, and made it Geneva-compatible, but that’s neither here nor there.

Sinterklaas comes from Spain in our traditions, on a big ocean steamer. This year though, he’s delivered his presents through email. And the email didn’t even come from Spain, it was sent by our Swedish friends. So I guess it wasn’t Sinterklaas this time. Unless these guys are Sinterklaas, that is.

Because Opeth has been going strong since way before I knew about them, that’s like 20 years of Opeth, they’re celebrating with a series of concerts. They kind of forgot to schedule a concert in the Netherlands, so we’ll have to come to them. To Germany. Not that I dislike our eastern neighbors, but you know, there has always been a bit of a friendly competition between the two of us. Let’s just don’t mention the war, now shall we?

Anyways, to make this extra special, the concert’s being held at the Lichtburg in Essen. As you can see, it’s not that much of a moshpit-esque venue. They’ll be playing the entire Blackwater Park album though, so they do deserve a venue with a certain style to play in. Not that the Lichtburg has that particular style, but at least it’s a proper recognition of the sheer musical quality these people have been producing for the last two decades.

Aaand, to make this whole deal even more awesome, me and my brother have got VIP-access. Another meet ‘n greet, wooh. It’s getting a bit tedious now, isn’t it? So I guess my brother can get his guitar signed again and I’ll be fumbling around, looking for the right words in front of gods again.

Otep’s new album, Smash The Control Machine.

A real poetic protest album, throwing the dark side of humanity in your face with unprecedented vigor. Just when you thought you’ve come to know Otep, she surprises you with new aspects of her mind. Art is war. Words are weapons. This album is the WMD.

But I’m afraid it’s not all honey and bliss. The production of this album is vastly different for earlier work. Whereas Sevas Tra damaged my speakers, Smash The Control Machine leaves me adjusting the volume up constantly in search of the oompf eViL j’s bass lines should deliver. Guitars sound flat out wrong. To quote Curt Cobain: “What are they tuning, a harp?”. It could have been intentional, to emphasize the lyrics. But I highly doubt it.

Anyway, I still really recommend this album. Just make sure to reconfig your equalizer.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted some really good music videos. Here are some. Enjoy. If not, die a slow and painful death by a lethal injection of liquid MTV.

The best death metal band of my generation. Bloodbath. Dude. Mikael Åkerfeldt, Anders Nyström, Jonas Renkse and Dan Swanö. What do you expect?

Here’s another deafening blow to your sanity. Everything louder than everyone else. Motörhead. Just remember life’s a bitch.

These guys are brilliant. Sludge-like doom metal, loud enough to demolish your neighbor’s house with. Minsk is one of my favorite bands in their genre.

I’m new to the noise genre and it’s sub genres, but I can appreciate this. I might even say I like it. Weirdly enough. This specimen calls itself Whitehouse. Two well dressed blokes making a bloody racket while swearing randomly into the microphone. Fuck you you fucking fuck, go fuck you mom’s dog and watch bestiality pornography while doing so! Aaaargh!

Okay, okay, here’s some more Motörhead. A blues song this time.

One of the best shows so far. Even though I had to stay overnight at a hotel in Amsterdam because they chose to play at the Melkweg.

The Ocean opened with some of their songs. The band is quite good at what they do, and didn’t bore me to tears like most of the support bands these days. Cynic performed very well, with a nice mix between their old stuff and the latest album. Too bad the microphone was tuned down a lot, since half of Cynic’s atmosphere is created by the unusual vocal line.

Anyway, Opeth. They completely obliterated the place, as usual. Playing the least progressive set yet, the crowd almost lost it. It might just be the venue, but there was some serious moshing going on. A friendly mosh though, helping each other out instead of beating people’s eyeballs out while pretending to be a windmill. One guy even managed to get on the stage after some crowd surfing and ended his seconds of fame with a stage dive.

Because of the heavy set list there wasn’t much time to get some footage. And I’m not that fond of looking at a little screen when the actual band is playing right in front of me. But, here’s the best part, including a very happy brother of mine.

The meaning of life is to give life meaning.

Ayreon’s brilliance. Now go buy his albums!

These words might sound a little overdone, but words can’t really describe this album. And it’s true, for a change.

On the third of June Watershed was released to the general public. Of course I went to Amsterdam to receive it from the gods themselves. My brother got his guitar signed and we both got our collectors edition albums signed.

The number of Opeth fans has increased dramatically since Ghost Reveries back in 2005. I bet more than a hundred fans turned up to get something signed or to just shake hands with it’s creators. And as I’ve expected, most of them are the regular prog metal fans. Open minded people with a vast musical knowledge.

The album is something completely new. Something Opeth has done with every release, but this time they’ve evolved into something completely new. The lineup is vastly different from the Damnation/Deliverance era. A new drummer has joined the band after Martin Lopez left because of his condition. Martin “Axe” Axenrot. He’s a very friendly guy and maybe one of the best drummers I’ve ever seen. He’s right up there with Probot/QOTSA/Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl and Kataklysm drummer Max Duhamel in my opinion. Although his technique and sound are different to Martin’s, he fits right in. He makes up for the loss of Latin percussion by offering superior blast beats and sharp snare drum riffs. As many of us fans still regret, Peter Lindgren has left the band due to personal issues. Fredrik Åkesson of Arch Enemy fame has replaced Peter. Fredrik is a real Technical Death Metal guitarist and he, as he stated in the DVD’s interview, had to learn how to play the mellow acoustic parts from Mikael after joining the band. You can clearly notice the new Technical Death Metal influences in this album, but it’s not right on the surface. The album isn’t a second Deliverance. Per Wiberg, who joined the band after Ghost Reveries was released, is now a full-time member. For the people who don’t know, Per is the guy playing the keyboards and backing vocals. The new album includes more of his handiwork and resulted in an even more progressive edge to this album. I think his contribution isn’t only that of a keyboard player, but he also functions as a source of inspiration and new ideas. Like Porcupine Tree’s Steve Wilson was during the Deliverance and Damnation recordings. This is also Opeth’s first self-produced album. Oh, I almost forgot, Axe’s girlfriend, Nathalie Lorichs, lets her beautiful voice shine in one of the songs. I’d really like to hear more of her in future Opeth songs and I’d really like to hear her perform live.

As I said at the start of this post, I can’t really describe the album’s contents. It’s just great. It features the stuff you can expect from a band like Opeth. 10+ minute long songs with mood and tempo swings, mellow parts and brutal Death Metal. A great use of both electric and acoustic guitars, supported by keyboard magic and stunning drums. Luckily Martin Mendez hasn’t lost his touch so you’re also guaranteed to hear one of the best bass players in the world do his thing on this album. But even the most devoted Opeth fan has to get used to this new album. Opeth has evolved and I’m sure most of the fans will follow. I know I will.

And while I’m at it I’d like to point out two other new albums worth checking out. Korpiklaani, the Finnish Folk Metal band, has released another album called Korven Kuningas. They haven’t changed a bit, so if you didn’t like them in the past you won’t like them now. Also, Kataklysm has released a new album called Prevail. It’s definitely worth checking out if you like speedier Morbid Angel-like Death Metal.

Opeth has released a new video off of their new album, Watershed. We’ll have to wait for it’s release until early June.

The video has been recorded at Bogesund castle in Waxholm, Sweden. Directed by none other than Lasse Hoile. It’s is a must see. The track has been edited a bit by Mikael to fit into the attention span of the less enlightened “promo” public. The entire track on the album is, as usual, much longer.

Grab it here. If the link’s dead drop me an email and I’d be happy to supply a mirror.

p.s. don’t forget to vote for the Riff Lord title.

It’s going to be a boring spring this year musically. I can’t go to the following gigs.

Fields of Rock. Reason: MOJO.

Neurotic Death Fest. Reason: guy with tickets chickened out.

Roadburn Festival. Reason: Fontys Eindhoven. note to self: don’t kill the dean

Has anyone got some gigs listed (or maybe tickets) that are worthwhile?

Because evil MOJO had fucked up Fields of Rock, several bands ended up with a gaping hole in their touring schedule.

But guess what, Opeth and Apocalyptica are coming to Bospop! The boring festival in our back yard gets some major headliners. I’ll be there, and so will be all of the people who got screwed over by MOJO. Weert is going to get some prog metal fans over, the weirdest bunch of people they’ll ever see next to the German invasion every once in a while.

See you July the 13th!

Yes. Really. MOJO Concerts…

Because of the lack of headliners leading to disappointing ticket sales, we are very sorry to inform you that Fields of Rock 2008 is cancelled. This very difficult decision was made eventually, because it wouldn’t have been wise to continue with this edition of the Fields of Rock festival both financially and creatively. We offer our sincere apologies to Fields of Rock visitors who had already bought their tickets for this edition. Tickets for Fields of Rock 2008 can be returned until 1 July next.

They’ve promised to reschedule some bands to separate gigs, but I doubt it.

Damn, this sucks.