Category: Reviews

releasedate: 23 februari 2023

Heidevolk, Dutch pagan/folk legends since they first released their music, are back. And back with a vengeance! It has been 5 years since the release of their latest album Vuur van Verzet, and a lot has happened in those years. Not only the worldwide pandemic but also internally. In 2020, former vocalist Lars decided to leave the band, which led the band on the search for a new vocalist. That place has been filled by Daniel Wansink. Heidevolk has had a couple of changes in their line-up in the past so far, but let’s hope the current line-up will stay for a while, as this latest album sounds epic. 

releasedate: 23 februari 2023

STURP is weird. I knew that, because ages ago when I first started with MetalFromNL I reviewed one of their albums too (I think it was Rapid Germination). STURP is also awesome, because it’s just one guy creating it all. Multi-instrumentalist Daan combines elements of all kinds of music into some weird soundscape that’s heavy and sometimes crosses borders with alternative rock, progressive metal, jazz … all in all, pretty diSTURBed.

Weird stuff

STURP describes it’s music as ‘instrumental crude noise with a twist’, or InstruMetal. However, really interesting to listen to and keep listening, cause I guarantee you everytime you hear the tracks you’ll discover something you haven’t discovered before. 

The weirdness makes for exciting tracks, in the way Primus does, but purely instrumental. The country twang in the guitar and the use of the slider are also reminders of that name. The whole album feels like background music to some weird animated movie. Let’s dive into this 46 minute, 13 track realm of weirdness!

25 november 2022

Lucifericon has been around since 2009. The blackened death metal band front the South of the Netherlands released their first EP ‘The Occult Waters’  in 2012. In 2016 they followed that up with Brimstone Altar and in 2018 they released an official album, Al-Khem-Me. During covid, the band released a single, and to keep in line with the schedule of releasing something substantial every 4 years, the band released their second full-length, ‘The Warlock of Da’ath’ in November last year. They played an official album release show only one week ago, so it’s not too late to dive into this album!

27 jan 2023

Dutch band Myth of Origin was born in 2018, combining different genres of metal with visuals and an energetic live performance. Their debut EP ‘Rites of Passage’ got released in 2019 and since then the band has been working on releasing a full album. Their latest release, Sane Asylum, drops on the 27th and the band hopes to conquer the stages with their new tracks. Lets dive in!

8 december 2022

I didn’t know Baris Dai before I learned about this release, but hell yes, I like this a lot! As a Dream Theater fan I definitely hear the influences, and I’m here for it! I have a lot of respect for multiinstrumentalists anyway, and people who can create these intricate pieces of music should be celebrated. That being said: I’m well aware that this kind of music isn’t for everyone and even in the progressive scene not everyone will enjoy this. Being an instrumental release, this is really well suited for listening too while doing something else (like reading a book, chilling in a bathtub, sitting next to a fireplace and drinking a cup of tea). Like a mini-holida, this 13 minutes of me-time will be benificial to us all.

Releasedate : 19 januari 2023

For I Am kIng is a 5-headed metal band from Amsterdam. They play a mix of melodic death and metalcore, nice melodic melodies are interrupted by skull crushing vocals and tight-ass breaks. Vocalist Alma’s power and dedication grab you by the throat right through your speakers. Mix that with some orchestral parts and interesting guitar riffs, and you’ve got the beasts of an album that is Crown. The band has previously played on Wacken Open Air and Metal Days, which shows they are recognized in their greatness worldwide. Crown is the bands 3rd album and with their previous release I receiving great reviews, I’ve been looking forward to this one. 

Velozza is an old-school thrashmetal band from Limburg, the Netherlands. They released their album Apocaholic during the covid lockdown and because of that, it maybe hasn’t had a much attention as it could have. We are of course happy to give it a listen and tell the world what we think.

ZubZero released their first demo ‘Lost Sun’ a while ago and I finally got to it today. ZubZero is a thrashmetal band from the Netherlands and they have been around a while. In May this year they released a new demo called ‘Lost Sun’. The demo is available through bandcamp and you can even get a physical copy if you want through Big Bad Wolf records.

Xeno is a progressive metal band from Middelburg that draws inspiration from Periphery, Opeth, Plini, Leprous, and Lamb of God. Their first official album Sojourn came out on the Spanish label Art Gates Records in October 2020 during the pandemic and was very well received. Now the band is back with a new EP: Reconstruction. Reconstruction is 22 minutes filled with heavy riffs, synths, piano, clean vocals, heavy grunts, and interesting lyrics. They are playing their release show on November 18th in Middelburg so if you want to see them live after this review, grab your tickets here.