Op 20 april speelde Inherited in de finale van de Wacken Metal Battle. Ze kwamen, zagen en overwonnen met grote meerderheid. Niet alleen was het een hele energieke show, de nummers van de band zitten goed in elkaar en de technische skills van deze gasten is echt bijzonder. We spraken de band de dinsdag na hun winst, over hun ervaring en over hoe ze uberhaupt in de metalscene terecht zijn gekomen. Scroll naar beneden voor de Youtube video.

(English below)

Voor de mensen die jullie nog niet nog steeds niet kennen, doe even heel kort voorstelrondje. 

Marvin – Ik ben Marvin, ik ben de gitarist samen met Midas. Neal –  Hoi, ik ben Neal ik ben de drummer en uh ik ik trommel graag. Midas – Ik ben de andere gitarist. Lucas – Ik ben Lucas, Ik ben de bassist. 

We missen voor dit interview helaas Jamie, de zanger. Die kon er helaas niet bij zijn. 

Zijn jullie een beetje bijgekomen van de Metal Battle?

Marvin – Ja, ik ben nog steeds wel een beetje moe, maar echt moe. Het is nog wel even beseffen dat we ook echt op Wacken gaan spelen en al die andere festivals in Nederland. Dat snap ik echt nog steeds niet dat dat zo is. Na vier optredens inderdaad is dat nog wel lastig te beseffen ja.

Hoe kijken jullie terug op die hele Metal Battle periode? 

Marvin – Ja dat was echt vet.  Het was echt vet dat we die kansen kregen. Om bijvoorbeeld in de Baroeg te spelen net voordat die met de grond gelijk gemaakt werd om daar te spelen en een stickertje te hangen. Dus dat was wel vet natuurlijk. En ja, Estrado was ook een hele vette zaal. 

En eigenlijk begon het allemaal hier zo bij de Pit om gewoon een keertje in de Pit te staan. Het was al fijn dat we daar mochten spelen. Midas – We hadden niet echt met grote ambitie meegedaan. We wilden gewoon een keer optreden.  Lucas – Het was heel onverwachts eigenlijk. Neal – Helemaal niet dat we de Baroeg gingen winnen, dat hadden we echt niet verwacht.  Midas – Ja we dachten, een show in  Baroeg spelen das vet. En ik had helemaal niet verwacht dat we daar zouden winnen. Lucas – Het was eigenlijk na deze winst, hier in de PIT, dat we een beetje serieus werden. En toen kregen we ook te horen wat we eigenlijk konden winnen, dat wist ik van te voren niet. 

Midas – Ik wist pas nadat we in de Pit gewonnen hadden hoorden we dat het om Wacken zou gaan. Marvin – Ik weet nog heel goed dat Neal zomaar die gymzaal binnen kwam lopen, in onze repetitieruimte en zei ‘Ja, we gaan ons aanmelden voor de Metal Battle, dan kunnen we spelen in de Pit. Neal – Ja een vriend van ons zei: ‘Als je in de Pit wil spelen moet je je aanmelden’. Dus wij hadden zoiets van, okay, doen we.  Marvin – Dat was wel echt bijzonder. Echt raar dat we wonnen. 

Wordt je inmiddels al helemaal doodgegooid met interviews en en aanvragen van mensen die jullie nu willen spreken? Of valt het nog mee?

Midas – Nog niet echt met interviews, maar ik merk dat dat het een stuk drukker is in onze mailbox. Maar er zijn wel serieus veel mensen die iets van ons willen en we zijn ook veel meer zichtbaar. 

In Estrado zag ik volgens mij ook jullie ouders meekomen. Wat vinden die ervan dat jullie nu door zijn naar Wacken Open Air? 

Marvin – Ik merk wel dat mijn pa een klein beetje jaloers is. Maar ze zijn vooral heel enthousiast. En superblij voor ons natuurlijk.  En ja, zonder hun hadden we het ook niet kunnen doen. Met die bus alleen al. En dan als je dan op het podium komt, dan ben ik nog aan het zoeken naar wat er allemaal in mijn tas zit. En dan heeft mijn pa al een versterker aangesloten en twee gitaren gepakt. Neal – het is echt heel fijn dat ze kunnen komen helpen. Lucas – Ik hoor ook vaak dat ze dan zeggen ‘het is net alsof  ik weer jong ben’ zeg maar. 

Hebben zij dan ook ervaring dan in in bands en op het podium?

Marvin – Ja de vader van mij en Lucas en de neef van Neal die zaten vroeger in Poluted Inheritance. Very Technical Deathmetal.  Dat was wel een succes vroeger. 

En nou Klaiton,  daar spelen we op Cashfest ook in de Pit mee. 

Jullie hebben het dan ook wel van je ouders een beetje meegekregen. Die hele metalscene dan? 

Marvin  – Ja, daar kwam ook eigenlijk de naam vandaan. 

Wat zijn bands die jullie zelf heel vet vinden zeker?

Iedereen – Machine Head en Sepultura. Vooral die twee eigenlijk.

Hoeveel uur oefenen jullie met z’n allen? Want jullie hebben wel echt skills. 

Neal – Ik oefen af en toe ook gewoon thuis als ik me verveel ofzo. Ik heb toch niks anders te doen en dit vind ik leuk. Midas- Ik oefen thuis best wel veel. Lucas – En als band wel een keer per week denk ik. En soms de hele dag. Neal – Maar voor de Metal Battle ook, dan was hij weer naar Oosterijk toch leuk. Dat was weer ja dan was hij weer naar Oostenrijk, en toen konden we ook alleen de dag zelf nog oefenen. En toen hadden we al twee weken voor die finale niet gerepeteerd dus ja, dat was wel te merken

Jullie zijn volgens mij allemaal vrienden van elkaar. Was dat al voordat jullie met elkaar in een band gingen? 

Marvin – Midas z’n vader. Die kwam altijd hout brengen voor ons om in de kachel te gooien. En dan kwam die wel eens binnen zitten en dan speelden we samen Minecraft. Dus  vooraf kende ik Midas al een beetje. Maar ik had er echt op dat moment nooit geld op durven te zetten dat hij bij mij in de band zou zitten en dat we dan  ook nog eens naar Wacken zouden gaan. Dus ja, dat is eigenlijk bijzonder. 

En Lucas en ik kennen elkaar echt al super lang, we kwamen vroeger wel eens op verjaardagsfeestjes en zo. Toen zei ik eens een keer tegen hem en nadat ik een gitaar had opgepakt van mijn pa van ‘leer jij ook eens gitaar spelen?’ Heeft ie uiteindelijk voor de basgitaar gekozen. En toen via een vriendin van mij kwam ik Neal tegen. Die zeiden daar moet je een keer mee spelen. Neal  – Ja daar is het toen een beetje mee begonnen, met Marvin en Geen Peter. Marvin – ja Lucas heet Geen Peter. En uiteindelijk heb jij toen Midas erbij gehaald volgens mij.  

Neal – Ik kende Midas omdat m’n pa hem gitaarles gaf. Dat was dus niet zo, en zei Marvin dat hij een nieuwe gitarist had gevonden en dat was Midas. Marvin  – En uiteindelijk heb jij dan Jamie erbij gehaald omdat die bij jou in de band speelde.

Midas – Ja dat is wel het bijzonderst eigenlijk. Hij zingt echt nog helemaal niet lang. Ik zit met hem in een andere band, Four in Blood, en hij speelt bas. En als we niet aan het repeteren waren dan zaten we muziek te luisteren en dan schreeuwde hij soms mee, en ik dacht, dat klinkt wel vet. We waren op zoek naar een zanger. En eigenlijk kende Lucas ook nog iemand. Maar die was niet zo van de metal eigenlijk. Maar als we het een week eerder hadden besloten dan was Jamie er nooit bijgeweest denk ik. Neal – En toen waren we op Festrock en toen hadden we het echt vastgelegd dat Jamie de zanger zou worden. Midas – volgens mij was dat echt een maand voor de Metal Battle. Marvin – Hij is ook echt heel erg vooruit gegaan in korte tijd. We zijn eigenlijk allemaal een stelltje beginners. 

Hoe gaat het met schrijven van jullie? Is er een iemand die schrijft of doe je dit allemaal met iedereen bij elkaar?

Marvin – Meestal is het Midas of ik die komt met ‘ik heb weer een riff bedacht’. En dan gaan we dat een beetje spelen en dan verzint de ander weer iets wat daarbij past. Midas  – Ja meestal komt een van ons met een riff en dan zegt de ander ‘nee dat vind ik niet vet’ en dan wordt het uiteindelijk echt een compleet ander nummer. Neal – De enige keer dat het wel in een keer lukte is Denial, het laatste nummer in de set. Marvin kwam met een riff en Midas zo ‘ja, die kunnen we wel meteen gebruiken’. Marvin  – Ja dat nummer is wel het soepelst gegaan van allemaal. 

Hoe gaat dat dan met lyrics? Doen jullie dat ook samen of is dat vooral Jamie.

Neal – Nee dat is echt Jamie. Hij schrijft het in de bus als hij naar school gaat, dat doet hij ook echt snel. 

Waar gaan jullie teksten over? 

Iedereen – Het gaat over iets, maar het gaat niet echt over iets. Het is wel een heel verhaal. Het verschil heel erg. Wat bij Shitfaced dat gaat over een of andere geest die vastzit aan de aarde. En bij Failed to Resist gaat het weer over een drugsverslaafde die doodgaat. Dat is echt een heel verhaal. De ene heeft wat meer betekenis dan de ander. Shitfaced is ook een heel verhaal. 

Zit er ook echt ‘eating spagetthi’ in de tekst van Shitfaced?

Neal  – ja hij kwam ook echt zo naar me toe van ‘Neal, zal ik eating spagetthi in het nummer doen’. Lucas – volgens mij zij hij dat ook gewoon omdat hij het lekker vond klinken. 

Hoe kijken mensen hier in jullie omgeving naar en naar jullie als band? Vinden ze het vet dat jullie dat doen? 

Midas – Ze willen ons het liefst op Zaamslag op het plein openbaar executeren? Marvin – Ik heb drie buren en die zijn allemaal inderdaad zwaar gelovig en sommigen waarderen het niet zo dat ik dit soort muziek speel. Maar ja, het is ook maar gitaren met een beetje distortion eroverheen. Het is ook niet dat we Satanistische zijn of zo. Lucas – Persoonlijk heb ik het idee dat we best wel veel support hebben. Neal – ja we hebben echt onwijs veel support van iedereen.

Hoe komt het dat het zo leeft in Zeeland? Jullie hadden een bus met 90 man mee naar de finale. 

Neal – Ja, ik denk dat het gewoon de scene een beetje aan het terugkomen is. Midas  – Ja, door Frats he, dat is serieus.  Het was in 2020 denk ik, net na Corona, toen was er zo’n talentenjacht in Hulst. Ik deed daar aan met met Four in Blood. En toen kwamen er gewoon steeds meer mensen die muziek maakten. Die wilden ook in een band en die gingen ook optreden. En zo zijn we eigenlijk allemaal bevriend geraakt met mensen die muziek maken.

Neal –  We kennen bijna wel elk bandje hier zo in de regio. Marvin – maar dat is ook het leuke, iedereen die hier in die metalscene zit die ken je ook en daar ben je ook bevriend mee. Neal – We hebben gewoon echt een hele grote groep vrienden met alleen maar metalheads die ook allemaal in metalbandjes spelen. Marvin – Maar ook van de generatie van Polluted Inheritance en Klaiton enzo. Lucas – Het heeft ook altijd een beetje in die groep gezeten, in die vriendegroep van elkaar, en ze hopen dat het terugkomt. Misschien dat ze daarom ook allemaal zo enthousiast zijn. Neal – ik heb ook wel random mensen in Terneuzen gesproken en die zeiden ook ‘ik ben wel blij dat het na 30 jaar eindelijk weer aan het terugkomen is’. 

Hebben jullie tips voor bands die meer richting de randstad wonen om metalheads van jullie leeftijd meer te bereiken?

Midas – Nou, ik zou zeggen omdat we zelf jong zijn, dat is het hele ding denk ik. Marvin – Ik zou zeggen pak gewoon je kans want er zijn er nu genoeg. En ik weet niet of mensen bang zijn dat hun vrienden het niet leuk vinden, maar doe het gewoon lekker. Neal  – Pleur je telefoon weg en pak een instrument. 

Jullie zijn een beetje achterstevoren begonnen, de volgorde van een beginnende band is meestal niet eerst alle grote zalen spelen. Heb je enig idee wat je hierna gaat doen met Inherited? 

Neal  – We hebben eigenlijk niet echt een plan, we willen gewoon zo veel mogelijk spelen. Marvin – Ja gewoon lekker lekker spelen en alles wat op ons afkomt. En ook weer die kansen pakken zeg maar.

Waarschijnlijk gaan jullie nu wel voor minder publiek in kleinere zaaltjes spelen. 

Neal –  Ja, dat vinden we ook prima. Het is ook niet per se te doen voor geld. Optreden zelf is gewoon leuk.  Midas – Ja dat is zo, maar eerlijk is eerlijk, je wilt wel gewoon doorbreken en je wilt wel groot worden. Ik wil gewoon dat mensen Metal weer leuk vinden. Neal – maar inderdaad net zoals toen we hier in de platenzaak speelde dat was ook harstikke leuk. En daar stond 60 man binnen ofzo. 

Zetten jullie dan ook zo’n zelfde show neer als het zo klein is? 

Marvin – Ja, geen excuus. Neal – Midas kon iets minder springen. Het was kleiner, dat was het enige eigenlijk. 

Wat vinden jullie van de Nederlandse metal? Jullie kennen dus best wel veel bands uit de omgeving. En ken je ook bands van buiten Zeeland? Of eigenlijk niet veel?

Neal  – Pestilence. Ik hou van Pestilence. Marvin – Ik hou ook heel erg van Pestilence. Neal – Ja we kennen nog wel meer bands, Bodyfarm enzo. Midas – ik zal eerlijk zijn ik kende ze nite voordat we ermee zouden op gaan treden. 

Wat luisteren jullie verder zelf dan? Machine Head en Sepultura?

Marvin  – Ik ben echt heel erg fan van Meshuggah. Ik vind dat echt  een hele vette band. Neal – Ik ben fan van Sepultura en Machine Head, maar ook heel veel Death Metal. Entombed en Obituary enzo. Marvin – Gojira is ook wel echt een hele grote inspiratiebron voor mij denk ik. En Midas luistert punk. Midas – ja, Dead Kennedys. Marvin – Dat is ook wel een beetje terug te horen denk ik in de muziek. Midas– we moeten Jamie niet vergeten, Jamie luistert naar stoner.  

Wat vind je van bijvoorbeeld Lorna Shore en Distant?

Midas – Distant gaan we mee spelen. Dat is echt vet. Neal – Lorna Shore vind ik zelf niet heel leuk. Midas – hoe vaker ik ernaar luister, ik begin het wel te waarderen. Ik vind Distant nog beter eigenlijk. 

De rest van het interview was vooral een shout-out naar de favoriete snackbar van de gasten van Inherited. Kijk dat vooral even terug op Youtube.  Super bedankt voor het interview jongens, ik hoop dat jullie ver gaan komen op Wacken Open Air! 

Je vind Inherited op Instagram en Facebook. 

On April 20th, Inherited played in the final of the Wacken Metal Battle. They came, they saw, and they conquered by a large margin. Not only was it a very energetic show, but the band’s songs are well put together, and the technical skills of these guys are truly remarkable. We spoke with the band the Tuesday after their win, about their experience and how they ended up in the metal scene in the first place.

For those who still don’t know you, could you briefly introduce yourselves?

Marvin – I’m Marvin, I’m the guitarist along with Midas. Neal – Hi, I’m Neal, I’m the drummer, and uh, I like to drum. Midas – I’m the other guitarist. Lucas – I’m Lucas, I’m the bassist.

Unfortunately, Jamie, the singer, couldn’t join us for this interview.

Have you recovered a bit from the Metal Battle Finals?

Marvin – Yeah, I’m still a bit tired, but really tired. It’s still sinking in that we’re actually going to play at Wacken and all those other festivals in the Netherlands. I still can’t believe it. After four performances, it’s still difficult to grasp, yeah.

How do you look back on the whole Metal Battle experience?

Marvin – Yeah, it was really awesome. It was really cool that we got those opportunities. For example, playing at the Baroeg just before it was demolished to play there and hang a sticker. So that was cool, of course. And yeah, Estrado was also a really cool venue.

And it all started here at the Pit, just to stand in the Pit once. It was already nice that we were allowed to play there. Midas – We didn’t really participate with big ambitions. We just wanted to perform once. Lucas – It was quite unexpected actually. Neal – We never expected to win at the Baroeg, really. Midas – Yeah, we thought, playing a show in Baroeg is cool. And I never expected us to win there. Lucas – It was actually after this win, here in the PIT, that we became a bit serious. And then we were also told what we could actually win, I didn’t know that beforehand.

Midas – I only knew after we won at the Pit that it would be about Wacken. Marvin – I remember very well that Neal just walked into the gymnasium, into our rehearsal room, and said ‘Yes, we’re going to sign up for the Metal Battle, then we can play at the Pit. Neal – Yeah, a friend of ours said, ‘If you want to play at the Pit, you have to sign up.’ So we were like, okay, let’s do it. Marvin – That was really special. Really strange that we won.

Are you already being bombarded with interviews and requests from people who want to talk to you now? Or is it not too bad yet?

Midas – Not really with interviews yet, but I notice that our mailbox is a lot busier. But there are seriously a lot of people who want something from us, and we are also much more visible now.

I saw your parents helping out in Estrado. What do they think now that you’re through to Wacken Open Air?

Marvin – I notice that my dad is a little jealous. But they are mainly very enthusiastic. And super happy for us, of course. And yeah, we couldn’t have done it without them. With that bus alone. And then when you get on stage, I’m still searching through my bag for what’s in there. And then my dad has already connected an amplifier and grabbed two guitars. Neal – it’s really nice that they can come and help. Lucas – I also often hear them say ‘it’s like I’m young again’, you know.

Do they also have experience in bands and on stage?

Marvin – Yes, my father and Lucas’ father, and Neal’s cousin, they used to be in Poluted Inheritance. Very Technical Death Metal. That was quite a success back then. And now Klaiton, we’re playing with them at Cashfest in the Pit.

So you basically grew up in the metalscene.

Marvin – Yes, that’s actually where the name came from.

What are some bands that inspire you?

Everyone – Machine Head and Sepultura. Especially those two, actually.

How many hours do you all practice together? Because you really have skills.

Neal – I practice occasionally at home when I’m bored or something. I don’t have anything else to do and I like this. Midas – I practice a lot at home. Lucas – And as a band, maybe once a week I think. And sometimes the whole day. Neal – But for the Metal Battle too, then he was back in Austria, right? That was again, yeah then he was back in Austria, and then we could only rehearse on the day itself. And then we hadn’t rehearsed for two weeks before that final, so yeah, that was noticeable.

You all seem to be friends. Was it like that before you started the band together?

Marvin – Midas’s father. He always used to bring wood for us to throw in the stove. And then he would come inside and we would play Minecraft together. So I already knew Midas a bit beforehand. But at that moment, I would never have bet that he would be in my band and that we would even go to Wacken. So yeah, that’s actually special.

And Lucas and I have known each other for a really long time, we used to go to birthday parties and stuff. I once asked him, after I had picked up a guitar from my dad, ‘do you want to learn to play guitar too?’ He eventually chose the bass guitar. And then through a friend of mine, I met Neal. They said you should play with him sometime. Neal – Yeah, that’s how it started, with Marvin and Not Peter. Marvin – Yeah, Lucas is called Not Peter. And eventually, you brought Midas with you, I think.

Neal – I knew Midas because my dad gave him guitar lessons. So that wasn’t the case, and Marvin said he had found a new guitarist and that was Midas. Marvin – And then you brought Jamie because he played in your band.

Midas – Yeah, that’s the most special thing actually. He hasn’t been singing for very long. I’m in another band with him, Four in Blood, and he plays bass. And when we weren’t rehearsing, we were listening to music, and sometimes he would sing along, and I thought, that sounds cool. We were looking for a singer. And actually, Lucas also knew someone. But he wasn’t really into metal. But if we had decided a week earlier, Jamie wouldn’t have been there, I think. Neal – And then we were at Festrock and then we really confirmed that Jamie would be the singer. Midas – I think that was really a month before the Metal Battle. Marvin – He has really improved a lot in a short time. We are actually all a bunch of beginners.

What is your writing process like? Does one person write or do you do it all together?

Marvin – Usually it’s Midas or me who comes up with ‘I’ve come up with a riff again’. And then we play that a bit and then the other one comes up with something that fits. Midas – Yeah, usually one of us comes up with a riff and then the other one says ‘no, I don’t like that’ and then it eventually becomes a completely different song. Neal – The only time it worked right away was Denial, the last song in the set. Marvin came up with a riff and Midas was like ‘yeah, we can use that right away’. Marvin – Yeah, that song went the smoothest of all.

What about lyrics? Do you all write those together or is it mostly Jamie?

Neal – No, that’s really Jamie. He writes it on the bus when he goes to school, he does it really quickly.

What are your lyrics about?

Everyone – It’s about something, but it’s not really about something. It’s a whole story. There’s a big difference. Like Shitfaced, that’s about some kind of spirit trapped on earth. And with Failed to Resist it’s about a drug addict dying. That’s really a whole story. Some have more meaning than others. Shitfaced is also a whole story.

Is there really ‘eating spaghetti’ in the lyrics of Shitfaced?

Neal – yeah, he really came up to me like ‘Neal, should I put eating spaghetti in the song’. Lucas – I think he just said that because he liked the sound of it.

How do people in your area look at you as a band? Do they think it’s cool what you’re doing?

Midas – They’d rather see us publicly executed on the square in Zaamslag? Marvin – I have three neighbors and they’re all indeed very religious and some of them don’t appreciate me playing this kind of music. But yeah, it’s just guitars with a bit of distortion. It’s not like we’re Satanists or anything. Lucas – Personally, I think we have quite a bit of support. Neal – yeah, we really have a lot of support from everyone.

Why is it so active in Zeeland? You had a bus with 90 people to the final.

Neal – Yeah, I think the scene is just starting to come back a bit. Midas – Yeah, thanks to Frats, seriously. It was in 2020 I think, just after Corona, there was a talent show in Hulst. I participated with Four in Blood. And then more and more people who made music came. They also wanted to be in a band and they started performing too. And that’s how we all became friends with people who make music.

Neal – We almost know every band around here in the region. Marvin – but that’s also the fun part, everyone in the metal scene here, you know them and you’re friends with them. Neal – We just have a really big group of friends with only metalheads who all play in metal bands. Marvin – But also from the generation of Polluted Inheritance and Klaiton and so on. Lucas – It has always been a bit in that group of friends, in each other’s friend group, and they hope it will come back. Maybe that’s why they’re all so enthusiastic. Neal – I’ve also talked to random people in Terneuzen and they also said ‘I’m glad it’s finally coming back after 30 years’.

Do you have any tips for bands that live more towards the Randstad to reach more metalheads of your age?

Midas – Well, I would say because we’re young ourselves, that’s the whole thing I think. Marvin – I would say just seize your chance because there are enough of them now. And I don’t know if people are afraid that their friends won’t like it, but just do it. Neal – Throw away your phone and pick up an instrument.

You started a bit backwards, the usual order of a starting band is usually not to play all the big venues first. Do you have any idea what you’re going to do next with Inherited?

Neal – We don’t really have a plan, we just want to play as much as possible. Marvin – Yeah, just play and take advantage of everything that comes our way.

You’ll probably play for smaller audiences in smaller venues now.

Neal – Yeah, we’re okay with that too. It’s not necessarily about the money. Performing itself is just fun. Midas – Yeah, that’s true, but let’s be honest, you do want to break through and you do want to become big. I just want people to like metal again. Neal – but indeed, just like when we played here in the record store, that was also really fun. And there were like 60 people inside or something.

Will you put on the same show if it’s that small?

Marvin – Yeah, no excuses. Neal – Midas could jump a little less. It was smaller, that was the only difference actually.

What do you think of Dutch metal? You know quite a lot of bands from the area. And do you also know bands from outside Zeeland? Or not really?

Neal – Pestilence. I love Pestilence. Marvin – I also really love Pestilence. Neal – Yeah, we know some other bands, like Bodyfarm and so on. Midas – I’ll be honest, I didn’t know them before we were going to perform with them.

What do you listen to besides Machine Head and Sepultura?

Marvin – I’m really a big fan of Meshuggah. I think they’re a really cool band. Neal – I’m a fan of Sepultura and Machine Head, but also a lot of Death Metal. Entombed and Obituary and so on. Marvin – Gojira is also a really big inspiration for me, I think. And Midas listens to punk. Midas – yeah, Dead Kennedys. Marvin – You can hear that a bit in the music too, I think. Midas – we shouldn’t forget Jamie, Jamie listens to stoner.

What do you think of bands like Lorna Shore and Distant?

Midas – We’re going to play with Distant. That’s really cool. Neal – I don’t really like Lorna Shore myself. Midas – the more I listen to them, the more I start to appreciate it. I actually like Distant even better.

The rest of the interview was mostly a shout-out to the favorite snack bar of the guys from Inherited. Definitely check that out on YouTube. Thank you so much for the interview, guys, I hope you’ll go far at Wacken Open Air!

Check out Inherited on Instagram or Facebook

No Kings Allowed was just there, out of nowhere. They suddenly appeared online, and shortly after, released a banger of an album. We had the chance to sit down with these guys and ask them more about their inspiration, how they got together, and of course, the masks.

Read the interview below, or just watch it to see the guys live.

Can you please introduce yourselves? 

Well, we’re no kings allowed. A metalcore/deathcore band based in the Netherlands and Belgium. We try to remain anonymous. That’s why we’re wearing the masks. And we’re talking English, you know, because obviously. Otherwise, you’d guess, according to our accent, where we’re from. And who’s on the couch, you can tell by the color of our masks. 

Red – Yeah. well, I’m red, basically, and I’m the lead guitar player. And I’m also the mixing mastering engineer. That’s kind of what I do.

Green –  And I think, I do more like, the planning stuff. Everything about, arrangements for the video clips, the shows, everything from the planning and I’m the rhythm guitar player for No Kings Allowed. 

You already released an album. But your lineup wasn’t complete until, well, after the album or maybe right before. How did your band come together?

Red – so it basically started with just the two of us as a project. We were not actually planning on becoming, like, a full band. We wrote a couple of songs, and then, Green here, he got into contact with our lead singer, Gold, and he kind of, like, put vocals on some of the demo tracks that we just like we made, which was, I think in May, June, like last year.

And, we were like, okay, so this is really cool. Perhaps we could do something with this. In just like two months time, we basically wrote the entire album Dethroned and our vocalist put vocals on it.  We thought okay, let’s just start releasing and slowly but steadily, the whole process came together and we decided that we wanted to become a full band.

When we started to get at least some recognition on the internet, we didn’t want to just be a studio project. So then we started to look for band members, which was Green’s thing. So you can tell us more about that.

Green – I just searched the internet for people. And then, eventually, it all came together. I think in two weeks time, we finally found everybody.

I think we’re like a group of guys now that are becoming truly friends. It didn’t take as long as expected. So, now we’re working on a second album with the guys, and everything is going well.

So you two started the band. Do you also write most of the music? 

Red – So basically, almost all of the tracks are written by us together, so we just like book studio time. Well, basically it’s just in my studio. We sit down and write the songs, from start to finish. Drums, guitars, samples, synthesizers, like everything. The vocals are done by Gold, so he gets the instrumental track and then it’s up to him. Sometimes we bring up our own ideas as well. 

So the album, Dethroned, was written by the two of us. And the vocals were written by Gold. Right now, since we’re a full band now, we want to get everyone’s input. So on the second album you’ll be hearing a lot more of the other guys influences as well. But we’re still the main writers of the songs.

Is the second album going to be really different from the first, or is it still going to be mostly the same stuff? 

Red – I think, we wanted to prove something in the second album and we wanted to go a little bit heavier. I think this album is a little bit more going towards metalcore. I think it’s almost the same vibe, but we wanted to go heavier and we wanted to sound a little bit harder. I think especially also for the shows we wanted to bring in some more punch. I think it’s it’s going more to the core side, symphonic deathcore side, something like that.

Your current album Dethroned, it’s more like symphonic metal, melodic death metal maybe than actual, metalcore or deathcore. 

Red – There’s definitely some of that as well. I think. It’s always hard because everyone wants to put you in some sort of box. What kind of genre is your band? And we never really thought about that. We were just like, okay, we’re going to write music. This is the music that we come up with and that we like. And we’re not really interested in, like, okay, we want to be a metalcore band or a deathcore band. So it’s I think for the second album it will also be melodic, but everything is a little bit more, darker.

we also dropped a bit in tuning, I think I can say that, so it will be heavier. There’s more technical stuff going on, like, technical breakdowns. And we wrote the second album, keeping in mind that we want to play the songs live. And how would the songs, affect the audience? That’s that’s basically our whole mindset. So we always say, okay, we’re going to write another banger. For the first album, I think we had perhaps 14, 15 songs and 12 made it on the album. Now we’re already at like 20 songs, and we know that they’re not all going to be on the album.

We, we heard like, we were metalcore, we were progressive, progressive deathcore. We were progressive. I think it’s a good thing about the music that we write that you cannot place it in like one corner? I think that is something that we really like about our music. It’s just the riffs that we write and the and the drum parts and the and the bass line. It’s not about like, let’s stay in that genre or go with that. We’re just going like from a vibe. And it’s a vibe that we want to push through  to the podium.

You haven’t actually performed as No Kings Allowed yet. Do you have any stage experience as individuals or maybe in some other, projects without spoiling, any names? 

Red – We do have we do have some experience. But also, this entire year we are really focusing on rehearsals to make surein 2025, we’re going to hit the stage that the whole show will be, I wouldn’t say perfect, but, we want to make a damn good show. So, we don’t have the stage experience in this group, but each band member has been on stage in the past. and it’s also a reason why we do a lot of live rehearsals and all that just to, you know, get used to, the fact that people are, watching you.  Stage presence is will be a very important thing for us.

We really want to make a show that people can go to and think holy shit, this band is crazy. And they’re just so high energy on the stage. We think it’s really important and we’re going to be working really hard to achieve that this year.

I can see, I can see in the videos that you posted online that there is quite a lot of energy with you guys.

Red – He’s got ADHD. Like this guy is all over the place. I’m the calm one. 

Green – This is just, where I put all my energy. And I think that, like, now that we are getting to know each other, us as guys, it’s not always just like playing music together. It’s also when we meet and, we do other things together. I think we are starting to feel like a true band, like mates from each other. And I feel like in the last rehearsal that we had, the energy was just fucking going. And I think that’s what we want, and that’s what we want to create on stage as well. We want to keep it going. It should be like a whirlwind on the stage.

What bands are you inspired by both musically and maybe, like stage presence and stuff like that? 

Red – so, for me personally, I’d say, I grew up listening a lot to Trivium and As I Lay Dying, Killswitch Engage, and even some Children of Bodom. Also, Parkway Drive is one of one of my biggest influences. But also deathcore bands like Suicide Silence. And currently I’m listening a lot to bands like Shadow of Intent, sometimes stoner. I think you can hear that, in the music. Oh and Slipknot, before I forget. And with the stage performance, I don’t know. I think it’s Parkway Drive.  because I also have the high energy vibe. 

And you were asking where the symphonic influence came from, I’d say Shadow of Intent. When I was a little boy, I was listening to Within Temptation and Delain. You know, like those bands perhaps.

Green – For me it’s something else because I started listening more to power metal, Masterplan. Stratovarius and all that kind of stuff. And then I went more to In Flames, the old stuff from In Flames. And then I got to know this guy and he just put me down and told me what to listen to haha. So, I think, my influences were mostly because of this guy. Parkway Drive is our common love. 

Have you ever seen them live?

Red – So you actually have a funny story about that.

Green – We wer at Graspop last year. Ans we were watching some shows together. And then I met a girl.  And then we separate but we never found each other again until, after Slipknot. So we never saw it together.

Red – And that’s the last time you’ll ever do that.

Why the mystery? Why the masks? Why the secret? Why, why keep the mystery going? 

Red – How did we come up with this again? I think it was Blue and Gold. We decided to to wear the masks, so I think I think it’s more like an influence of, know Slipknot. I think being anonymous on stage also gives you more freedom to do whatever you want on stage.

I think, that that was the main factor to do it.

Green – yeah, maybe also a little bit  Sleep Token vibes, to keep the mystery. I think that was the two main reasons to to keep on the masks.

In earlier stuff you put out on Instagram, we really couldn’t see you guys at all. Not even your eyes. And you had your hands covered with black stuff. And then I saw, I think, in your most recent video, I’m not sure which one it was, but, at least one of you with the black glass out of the mask, and then you could see the eyes. Was that an accident, or is that on purpose? 

Red –  actually, speaking to you right now, everything is just condensed. We cannot see anything on the guitar or stuff. So what we wanted to do is we wanted to take out the glasses. Are we going to schmink our eyes for on stage. Because it’s absolutely not possible to play with the glasses, because everything gets so condensed in here that you cannot see anything.

It’s just like practical reasons. And also, during video shoots, we always put the glasses in during rehearsals. We want to get used to the idea of, okay, how is it to play with a mask on? And we just so like after two songs, it’s so foggy you can’t see shit, basically. We might upgrade to other type of masks that will be more practical for on stage, but because obviously it’s very cool if you wear a mask and all that, but you have to be able to perform.

You’re actually doing things like the other way round, because normally, bands get together, they start rehearsing, they start putting maybe one song out, play some gigs, and then, yeah, grow like that. You actually came out of nowhere with a banger of an album, with no shows yet. How is that working for you? Because I saw you have quite some streams on Spotify with the album as well. How’s your fan base growing without playing any, shows?

Green – I can answer that. Because we had a strategy. We’ve had some experience in other bands and we did  the usual thing, as you said.  And usually it would lead to playing shows for like 10 to 20 or 30 people. And it was all great fun. But our goal is obviously to hit the bigger audience and we’re like, okay, how are we going to do that? And we thought, if we succeed to put out an album and build an audience online already, that’s a great start. Obviously, we still have to, I’d say start from the bottom and, you know, like, work your way up from there, hopefully.

But, yeah, we just thought it made sense. And also because we write really quickly, we were able to write the album and yeah, we did everything ourselves. So I kind of think this is just what works for us. And I think it’s also very important to get known on the internet before you play shows, because if you’re just a band and you don’t put out the content, I don’t think people will start to know.

And I think we also want to show a little bit of ourselves in our content. And we want to do some stupid things and some funny things also. But nowadays, you have to get a little bit more known on the internet before you go live.

You’re partly Dutch and partly from, Belgium. Is there, a big difference in the metal scene in both countries, or is it more or less the same?

Red –  I think it’s more or less the same. We’re both known somehow in the local communities. And I think in the metal community is usually, you need to have the connection. But mostly people are pretty supportive. We both sometimes go out and see local bands, and I think it’s very important to support your local scene and then go to the bands that are playing in your local community. But in 2025 we have shows planned in the Netherlands and Belgium. I hope people will be supportive. 

I’m doing an interview with Inherited as well. They won the Metal Battle and they got, I think a touring car of 90 kids from from Zeeland to go to their shows. So there probably is a large metal crowd around here?

Red – Yeah there is in Zeeland and Belgium. We’re thinking about also playing the metal battle maybe next year, if we’re allowed. And also, well done Inherited. 

Back to Dethroned, your first album. Can you explain a little bit what the album is about or what the inspiration behind the Dethroned was? 

Red – This should be a question for our lead singer, Gold. But, the whole idea came from, our band’s name. I’d say No Kings Allowed. We wanted it to feel like a medieval story. When we were searching for the name, I wanted to mix the more modern with the more medieval stuff. And then Gold took that inspiration and made it really awesome. 

So final question. what’s in store for No Kings Allowed in the coming year?

Red – I’m going to start off by saying that in November, think 22nd of this year, we will be releasing our new album, which is not official announced yet. We haven’t decided what name it will be. So, 2025, we’re gonna, hit the stages. We’re gonna play shows. Hopefully, we’ll be playing a lot of shows.

So if you’re a venue, you want to book us, just go to our website, look on our contact details to send us information. I think the main goal after releasing our album will be playing live. I think that will be our main goal. We’re also doing a big investment in, materials that we need and stuff that we need to to play live. And we want, really want to put down a big show for you guys. So let’s go buy the album. And there will be merch soon.

So basically conquer the world. That’s our goal, that’s basically every band’s goal. Rise to conquer the world. 

Check out No Kings Allowed

You can find No Kings Allowed on Facebook. You can also find the video interview here.

Last Sunday, Bildtstar performed in Iduna, Drachten. With a lot of shows under their belt and their debut album dropping the 26th op April, it was time to have a little talk with these guys. We had Jose live at the venue to take some amazing pictures to go with these questions. Let’s get to know these guys a bit better, and maybe they’ll tell us what we can expect of their album release show the 27th in Neushoorn, Leeuwarden!

See all the pictures of the show below the interview.

What is your routine on the day of a concert? Who is always last to arrive and delays the bands’ schedule?

Simon – That depends on the show. Sometimes we have multiple shows in one day. We meet up at the studio where we rehearse to drink some coffee, and load in our gear. Get our stuff to the venue. Sometimes it’s plug ‘n play, and then we play, put everything back in the car, and onto the next. Sometimes we get to drink a beer after the show. 

In terms of people being late, it’s probably me, the vocalist. I think vocalists are always a bit later. 

Do you have any pre-stage rituals?

Simon – I think the only pre-stage ritual that we have; sometimes we give eachother a hug. But most times we just drink a couple of beers. I as a singer like to warm up, but that’s about it.

What’s the secret to getting the audience in a good vibe? 

What do you enjoy most about interacting with the audience? (for example, when we sing along with you) How does that influence the atmosphere of the show? 

Simon – I discovered that I really love to play with the crowd. We have multiple times in our show where we play with the crowd, and get them to sing along. I love it when you can warm them up. You start with a more familiar song, and it’s easy to sing along. Then there comes a certain point in the show where you get everyone to put their hands in the sky, screaming ‘Hey, hey’. That’s stage two.

And then at a certain point, we go to one of our own songs, ‘Burning After Midnight’, we released that two months ago, and then you say ‘Okay, now I know you guys can sing, let’s do this one together’ and then you tell ‘em what to sing. I go one, they go two, I go one, they go two. And then they all know what to do and they sing. And I love it. It’s such an amazing feeling if people are singing along to your own songs. 

And sometimes that even happens naturally, people just start singing. Which is really cool. They sing along and they scream and go crazy. That is a huge boost for the band. That’s what keeps us going, to give more and more and more, and put up the best show we can. 

Have you experienced something really funny or unexpected during a concert due to interaction with the crowd? Can you share an example? 

Simon – There once was a festival where we played with a couple of other bands. And in the middle of the show, someone walked up to the stage with a big present in their hand, and we opened it up and it was a big diamond painting of us, a gigantic diamond painting that she made of a photo of us. And she worked on that for almost 3,5 months to give it to us at that show. And I almost started crying at that moment, it was very special to see people do that, they do that for us, you know.

That same show, like 15 minutes later, another person walks up to the stage, next song, and she comes out with a hand-drawn painting of our logo and everything that she had been working on for two months. And that was the same show and I was like, what the f**k is happening over here. So we are getting it more often that people are bringing presents to the stage, and that’s very nice. 

How do you deal with unforeseen events during a concert? 

Is there any exciting news you can share with us regarding the upcoming album release?

All I can say about our album release show is that it’s the biggest show that we have done until now. It is a very, very big production. With lots of fire, special effects, a lot of things happening on stage. Very professional, big, new songs. You don’t want to miss this one, it’s going to be very, very nice!

Check out Bildtstar on their Facebookpage, and make sure to catch them at their album release show! More info on the releaseshow can be found here.

Pictures of Bildtstars live set @Iduna, Drachten on April 14th

All pictures were taken by Jose Luis Ferreira.

Een jaar geleden was Loyalty Ends Here de winnaar van de Wacken Metal Battle Nederland. Inmiddels hebben ze een videoclip uitgebracht voor de nieuwe track Deadweight en komen ze op 18 mei met hun debuut album ‘The Darkest Red’. We spraken de band over de weg hiernaartoe en hoe je de volgende stap kunt maken als band.

Check Deadweight op Spotify en hou de socials van de band in de gaten voor meer updates!

In two weeks, the debut album ‘Escape Into Darkness’ by Dance With Dragons will be released. This symphonic metal band, with no less than four vocalists, has everything it takes to perform this epic music live, without a backing track. We asked the band some questions about their inspiration, their new album, and more.

I read an interview online with Femme Metal Webzine, where you already talked about recording an album. That was in 2021. Why did it take so long for this EP to come out?

That’s correct, during the corona period, we couldn’t practice for longer periods, so we wanted to use our time wisely by making recordings at home. (Perhaps somewhat overconfidently) we decided to record all the songs and make an album out of it. Although we had no experience in this, we tried to do everything ourselves. Eventually, we realized that this was not going to yield the desired result and we called upon the help of Stijn Donders from Raiko studio. For various reasons, we reduced the number of songs from ten to four, so it became an EP. Eventually, with Stijn’s help and tips, we re-recorded all the drums and instruments, after which he took care of the mixing. And now we are happily left with a result that we are very pleased with.

Your band hasn’t been together for very long, but the core of the band (Pim, Wouter, and Kenji) have been playing together for a long time. How has the metal scene in the Netherlands changed over time?

Trends can also be observed in metal, and certain genres do better at certain times than others. For example, at the beginning of the millennium, “gothic” was a huge hype, thanks to bands like Within Temptation and The Gathering. At that time, it was easy for a metal band with a female singer to get gigs because every festival or community center wanted a “gothic band”. Now that genre is not popular at all anymore, and you also see little influx of young people among the audience. It’s largely the same people as 20 years ago who come to watch. Interestingly, the quality of the (unknown) bands in the genre has (perhaps because of this?) greatly improved in my opinion.

What musical inspirations do you bring to the stage? Is that inspiration very diverse or are you all on the same track?

Quite diverse, Sanne is a big fan of the symphonic metal genre, but also a fan of Queen since childhood. Wouter is inspired by bands like Nightwish and Amon Amarth, but has also been a fan of Pink Floyd since a very young age. Michiel draws inspiration from bands like Marillion, Nightwish, and Skyclad, and Peter from bands in the symphonic and progressive metal genres. Kenji grew up with music ranging from classical to The Beatles and still likes to listen to everything from pop to metal. Pim draws his inspiration from the music he is working on rather than his musical preference.

What does the writing process look like? Is it a collaboration in the studio, or does someone provide a track that the rest then adds their own input to?

We write together in the rehearsal room. Usually, Wouter brings in a basic idea for a song that we shape together. We don’t limit ourselves to our own instruments, but the composition is also a group process.

It’s a conscious choice for you to be able to play everything live. How difficult is that, especially as a symphonic/melodic band? I mostly see bands in this genre playing with backingtracks, sometimes even with (terrible!) backing vocals on track! How do you manage to do it?

We balance a bit between different genres, one song more of one, the other more of the other. That’s why we stick to melodic metal with. We write our songs so that we can actually play them live. Of course, we have the luxury of having no less than four vocalists, which gives us more options. In the studio, we did add some backing vocals and extra lines, but nothing that would be indispensable live.

There’s a lot of energy at your performances. I also see a lot of costumes and a well-thought-out concept when I watch videos and photos. Do you decide that together as a band or are there one or two people who take the lead on that? And which bands are your inspiration for that?

We make all the big decisions as a group. Often there are one or two people who are more involved in working out the concept. So Sanne and Wouter took care of the style of the outfits, and Pim, for example, worked on the stage decoration.

Can you tell us something about Escape Into Darkness? What can we expect? What was the inspiration?

The title of the EP comes from the lyrics of the song “After Dark”. We chose this because it thematically fits well with the songs on the EP. The four songs are also a good example of our versatility, with “Judgment Day” as a catchy sing-along, “The Key” secretly being quite poppy, “After Dark” being more symphonic and bombastic, and “Mortality” being nice and heavy with a lot of grunts. When we looked at the lyrics of these songs from a distance, it turned out that they often dealt with being trapped and wanting to break free. Apart from the limitations imposed on you by the world, by others, but also by yourself.

Will there be a music video too? Or will it only be music for now?

That is certainly the plan! We just had so much to arrange for the EP release that we want to do that later. In any case, there will first be a lyric video, but a “real” music video is still on the wish list.

What else is on Dance With Dragons’ bucket list? What would you as a band really like to experience someday?

Performing at a (major) festival or as a support act for a big band would be really cool. And it would be even more amazing if the audience there would sing along to the chorus of, for example, “Judgment Day” or “Mortality” at the top of their lungs!

The EP Release of “Escape Into Darkness” is scheduled for April 14 at Bibelot, Dordrecht. Keep an eye on Facebook or check their own website for more updates from the band! Dance with Dragons is also in our band database.

(English below)

Arluna is een relatief nieuwe, symphonische metalband. Een week geleden hebben ze de eerste single van hun nieuwe album, Universal Destiny, gereleased. Tijd om de band wat vragen te stellen over hun inspiratie voor dit nieuwe album, en om ze beter te leren kennen.