Bloid, despite their name, play energetic Death Metal. Bloid is Frisian for ‘happy’, and judging by their album cover these guy are pretty ‘Bloid’. They’ve just released a new EP, ‘The Perfect Machine’ and I’ve been enjoying it for a few hours now. Their answer on facebook as to why there are geese on their album cover was ‘why not’. I guess the guys have been playing ‘untitled goose game’ too much during lockdown. That, or there is a pack of killer geese on the loose in Alkmaar that we don’t know about.
The Perfect Machine (EP)
The Perfect Machine is a 6-track EP released early July of 2022. The whole EP is recorded, mixed and mastered during one of many lockdowns by the band members themselves and we are glad they did. It makes this EP feel like you are with these guys in the studio and they are playing these tracks live.
Inspiration and breakdowns
The Perfect Machine is this EP’s title track and the band released a hilarious video to it, that shows these guys probably don’t take themselves too seriously. Severed is the fastest track and I can feel the circle pit building up in the first 15 seconds of the song. Leech is more on the heavier and slower side, and starts with a melodic bass intro that gives us a nice rest before the heaviness starts again with a typical death metal twin kick riff. However, there is some Gojira-like vibe to this track that makes me wonder what bands these guys are inspired by. Also; in line with the ‘Bloid’ theme, the breakdown that starts at 2:48 sounds like the Dutch kids song ‘alle eendjes zwemmen in het water’ would fit over that perfectly, so maybe the band needs to record a version of that to accompany the Geese video they made for the track ‘The Perfect Machine’ 🤣.
Rorschach is probably my favourite track of this EP and I imagine this being a crowd pleaser live. It has the best guitar solo of the EP as well. Speaking of solo’s, at the end of the next song ‘I Am’, there is a bass solo that almost makes the song feel like a rock ballad, which is a big contrast to the fast heavy riffs in the beginning of the song. The final song, Insomnia takes it right back to the heavier side of things, with the growls of frontman Mike in full force again.
One point of critique: of course they aren’t robots and it won’t be flawless all the time. There is a little stutter in the first track (ironically, called ‘The Perfect Machine’) and while normally this wouldn’t really bother me, because it’s the first track it really stood out to me. Luckily the rest of the tracks sound pretty solid.
Verdict
All in all: The Perfect Machine is overall an uptempo, headbangable circle-pit-in-the-living room kinda release, with blast beats, heavy riffs and death metal rage in the vocals. An enjoyable record to listen to, and a hilarious video that I would definitely recommend 🙂
This is more than just music. This is a challenge. This is a calling out to those who know that knowledge is of more value than a pose. This is for those to whom questioning, criticising, reflecting are modes of expression. This is raging passion.
Terzij de Horde combine an amalgam of progressive black and doom metal with a rawness and live presence reminiscent of extreme hardcore or chaotic screamo. Throughout their existence, Terzij de Horde has been described as a mix between Khanate, Wolves in the Throne Room and Neil Perry. The band has received widespread international attention and many very positive reviews both of their recorded music and of their explosive live performances.
The 2015 album ‘Self’ focuses on the problem of self, with each track exploring different ways to live or fail to live with self and world, and the struggles these paths and strategies create: the blindness, suffering, desire for release, for the destruction of self and others, and the turning toward or away from life. Self as prison, self as a source of power, self as vessel for manipulation by outside forces, self as shield and as inner world, self as medium for Dionysian rapture, self as something to be overcome. Here, the rage of black metal is paired with a cathartic destruction as well as a contemplative melancholy. Instead of navel gazing or the worship of constructs, Self is analysis forced. A cerebral celebration of liberation at all costs and a requiem for spheres rendered apart.
Foundations for :NODFYR: were laid by Joris and Niels in 2011, fueled by a desire to make heathen metal inspired by the folklore, mythology and nature of their native Gelderland. The term “nodfyr” refers to a pagan Germanic practice of fire making, mentioned in the 8th century Indiculus superstitionum et paganiarum. “Nodfyr” is one of the oldest (proto-) Dutch words.
Early versions of songs were recorded with the help of violin player Irma and after Niels went on to pursue other goals in 2014 Jasper and Mark joined in 2015. The “In een andere tijd” EP was released in 2017, followed by the “Eigenheid” full-length in 2021.
We are The Unslain, a four piece Modern Old-School Metal band based in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Our music consist of a combination between 80’s and modern heavy metal. Raw vocals supported by heavy riffs and a nasty groove with a polymetric flavor and maybe some breakdowns are characteristic for our songs. By taking inspiration out of the classic 80’ heavy metal and nowadays modern metal(core), The Unslain created a crushing new sound. Live we bring a dynamic show in which we play only self-written work. Songs from our debut album “We Will Battle” are played alongside newer material from our upcoming album called ‘Descending’. Together with our stage production we promise a highly energetic yet extremely tight performance. On the 20th of April 2019 we won the audience prize in the Dutch (Wacken) Metal Battle. Very proud of this result, new music is coming very soon!
Better late than never! Quintessence has allready been live since May this year, but I didn’t have time to review it properly until now. Two years after their latest release, I am glad to see these guys are still alive and kicking (and even harder than before!). And with allready over 9000 streams on Spotify, I know I’m in for a great song.
Hellevaerder, founded in 2017, started as an idea to make black metal sung in Dutch. After some searching and fiddling with the line-up, the first release ‘Aan de aarde teruggegeven’ saw the light in 2018. After this release, Hellevaerder got a taste for it which resulted in the single ‘Gehekeld door een ieder’, and was released in early 2019. After a change in the line-up, the single ‘Krijgers’ was released at the end of the same year.
nn
nn
nn
nn
nn
nn
