Release the River, a blackened death metal band from Leiden, presented their album Virtues Of The Vile on Friday the 27th in Nobel, Leiden. They celebrated their debut album together with Beyond The Pale, Black Rabbit and a bunch of their friends. Safe to say, the venue was packed! Of course, we were there to take some pictures and check out their album being played live. Scroll down for pictures of the night!
Beyond The Pale
It had been a while since we’d seen Beyond The Pale live, so I was looking forward to their performance this night. Last year this band released their long-awaited debut EP Monuments in Time, and of course they played a bunch of songs from their EP tonight as well. One of them was Walk The Plank, a pirate-themed song that requires some crowd participation for the chorus. After vocalist Janneke taught the crowd how to shout along, they really got into it.
Beyond The Pale has a lot of energy on stage. At the end of their performance, they decided to take that energy into the crowd when they actually stepped off stage. Speaking of energy; they started with a new track, which even though it was quite long, was quite a banger as well. Nice to hear some new music from these guys!
Black Rabbit
Black Rabbit is steadily growing their following, performing all over the Netherlands currently. They take performing seriously; with a massive backdrop and banners on stage, a lot of interaction and movement on stage and constantly making faces and intereacting with the crowd as well. Their performance starts with the stage lights off, and only light shining from below their side banners for some extra ambiance, which, I have to say, is pretty impressive.
The energy they bring to the stage is contagious, and after Parasite, we get the first (mini) circlepit of the day. It’s obvious most people in the crowd are waiting for the headliner of the day, even though Black Rabbit has some fans shouting along and headbanging to their tunes as well. It wasn’t because of their performance; the tracks are catchy though heavy, they brought all the energy to the stage and their performance was tight AF. I can only imagine what happens when these guys play in front of a crowd that actually knows their music.
Release The River
Time for the headliner of the night, and the band most people had been waiting for: Release The River. Despite it being an album release party, Release The River takes some time to thank friends and family during their show as well. Not just in words; they play some of their older tracks (for instance, Behold The Skygazer) for their fans as well. I personally hadn’t seen this band live yet and I wondered what their live performance would be like. Safe to say Release The River didn’t disappoint.
These guys, though just being a trio, bring a massive wall of sound to the stage. To see Zeno play these intricate riffs while also killing it on vocals, and interacting with the crowd is impressive, and the same goes for their bass player Jeroen.
Release The River is dark and fast; and if you want to know how to kill a drummer, you’d probably need to see them live. I’m amazed Mark was still standing after this performance.
With the red lights still shining and the dark tunes still ringing in Nobel I have to leave during their final song to catch a train, but I’m glad I got to experience their set live.
If you haven’t heard Virtues Of The Vile yet, go check it out on Spotify. Release The River also recorded a video for the track In Crimson Rays, which is available on Youtube. Want to know more about Release The River? You can check out the interview we did with the band on Youtube as well!
Beyond The Pale
Black Rabbit
Release The River
