94-08-20 Refused – Abhinanda – Fabric – Backdraft – Blindfold – Shortsight – Acme – Nothing Left To Grasp

Intro: 94-08-19&20&21 Hardcore Festival

see also: 94-08-19&20&21 Hardcore Festival * Italian impressions

‘Fabric’ was a (post-)hardcore band from Brighton/London that we all got to know through Vique ‘Simba’ Martin (and/or Françoise ‘Hazel’ Lepers & Jeroen Lauwers)… Another great thing she introduced us to. ‘Fabric’ would also play on 95-01-29 (and 95-01-28 @ the ‘Arsenaal’ in Marke) when Jeroen Lauwers wanted to present their EP out on his label Machination recs; but this was their first gig on Belgian soil. ‘Fabric’ was Andrew/Andy Hartwell (vocals), Anthony/Tony Sylvester (bass; ex ‘Ordinary Eye’), James ‘Jamie’ Tilley (guitar; ex ‘Long Cold Stare’), Chris(topher) Turner (drums; nowadays in ‘Orange Goblin’) and Kevin Williams (guitar; he’s on photo so he had joined the band already by then). At the time of this fest they had done a demo (that also contained a cover of ‘Heresy’s song Genocide) and released (a bunch of 7”s (e.g. Colossus, Saturnalia, Dislocations) – on their own label (Whole Car recs) and/or Doghouse recs. Not sure if the Body Of Water LP was out then…

‘Fabric’ photos by Patrick Federli (1 & 2) and Albert Cheong (3) [Nick Royles bottom pic R]

Dennis of ‘Refused’ had been sending me their (second) demo plus a note asking for concerts the year before and they ended up playing in Kortrijk. They were an sXe band from Umeå. Their first tape was with Dennis Lyxzén (vocals), David Sandström (drums), Pär Hansson (guitar) and Jonas Lindgren (bass). Jonas left and was replaced by Magnus Björklund in August 1992. They also added a second guitarist – Henrik Jansson (of ‘Step Forward’). The new tape (Operation Headfirst; that Dennis sent me) was released by the end of ‘92. In ’93 they’d recorded the EP This Is The New Deal, an LP entitled This Just Might Be… …The Truth and the CD Pump The Brakes. The Everlasting 12” was registred in July ’94 with Dennis, David, Magnus, Pär and guitarist Kristofer Steen. Pär left after the recording… Magnus and Henrik were doing their military service. They took Jesper Sundberg as bass-player…

‘Refused’; photographed by Fred Falzon

‘Abhinanda’ photographed by Massimo Moscarelli (1 & 2) [René Natzel (‘Spawn’) behind the band] and Jean-Paul Frijns (3)

Also José of ‘Abhinanda’ had provided me a tape of his band, inquiring for gigs… They were on their 1^st Euro tour (we’d seen them at Nieuwland in Herentals 94-08-14; and later played they at the V.V. 95-08-19 & 97-08), also came from Umeå. José Saxlund, their vocalist, was running the label Desperate Fight recs, which released most of their early recordings): Darkness Of Ignorance EP (‘93), Senseless LP (’94; recorded a month before this), Neverending Well Of Bliss EP (’95), Abhinanda (’96), etc. The others were Jonas Lyxzén (drums; later replaced by Daniel Berglund; played also in ‘Separation’, ‘Demon System 13’, etc.), Adam Nilsson (guitar), Kris(tofer) ‘Stone’ Steen (guitar; also ‘Refused’; later replaced by Pär Hansson) and Mattias ‘Abris’ Abrahamsson (bass). They were one of the first Swedish sXe hardcore bands. The members were good friends with the band ‘Refused’ (they did a few shows in Norway together, earlier that year).

‘Backdraft’ played moshy sXe HC. They were: Rob Franssen (vocals) & Illona Stephan (guitar) – both also in ‘Feeding The Fire’ – and Marc Vleugels (drums), Kay Roderburg (bass) & Luc Vleugels (guitar). The Stream… 7” must’ve been out on Crucial Response recs. Peter Hoeren was there bringing that along, I believe. I think they’d also been recording already for their CD (The End)…

‘Backdraft’ photos by Massimo Moscarelli (1, 2 & 3) [Vik B. (1 – R)] and ? (4) [Saskia Verbeke (‘Shortsight’) behind the band / bottom pic L José Saxlund (‘Abhinanda’) & Chris van Dornick (‘Spawn’)]

The next months (Sep-Oct) ‘Blindfold’ recorded (@ Midas studio) for the World Of Fools 7” (in the original line-up). It was released on Jeroen ‘Goofy’ Lauwers’ Machination recs in ‘95. Hans reminds me that it was available on green vinyl only at a local show (94-12-23 at the Pits in Kortrijk). Also some recordings for the Astreroid 164 LP were started here but that one was only mixed in ’95 to be released in ’96 (by SoberMind and GoodLife recs).

‘Blindfold’ shots by Massimo Moscarelli (1) and Albert Cheong (2)

I believe this was the last time ‘Shortsight’ played at the Vort’n Vis. (Their very last concert ever was in November 1994, in Poperinge.) They just finished the recordings for the Cold Wounds Waking CD (at Midas Studios, July 1994). Drummer Björn Lescouhier would move on to ‘Regression’ (nowadays he plays for ‘Smoking General’). Guitarist David Dumont and Saskia’s relation finished in ‘95 and after finishing his studies he became a backliner/roadie for several (commercial) bands (‘Goose’, ‘Das Pop’ and Flip Kowlier, etc.) and later played for ‘Waldorf’ & ‘Drums Are For Parades’ (all mainstream bands). He’s also into “electronica” and vintage synthesizers. Bassist Kurt Deprez lives/works in Indonesia and singer Saskia Verbeke withdrew from the scene…

‘Shortsight’ or ‘Blindfold’? (pic by Miguel Angel Lorca) [yours truly with the AK Press sweater]

‘Acme’ from Bremen played metal-core with ‘screamo’ vocals with references to ‘Born Against’ & ‘Rorschach’; Heavy stuff! Hannes Stang did the vocals, Gregor Iwanoff drummed, Sönke ‘Sonne’ Gabriel played bass (he also hit the drums for ‘Systral’ & ‘Carol’, later he was also in ‘Mörser’ for a while) and Sven Thora was the guitarist. They had been here already on 94-04-09, a day after Jeroen of Machination recs did a show for them in his hometown. We also were able to see them perform in Herentals (94-07-22). Even though they always left a big impression, they didn’t leave a lot of ‘traces’ (unfortunately). Jeroen Lauwers (‘Nations On Fire’s bassist) released their only 7” (referred to as The Demo) in ‘94. There was a ‘post-mortem’ discography (with some extra tracks from compilations) later on…

‘Nothing Left To Grasp’, an emo band from Augsburg, were: Marco Walzel (guitar; he ran Join The Team Player recs, owns and operates Avocado Booking), Simon Czermak (drums), Ralf Bamberger (vocals), Nina Hille (bass) and Markus Hofko (guitar). After their initial demo, they did 2 7”s: The Monotonous Beat Of Nothing New (Emotion X recs ‘94) and a split with ‘Kassiopeia’ (95; on Christian Mix-Linzer’s Outlet recs). They would be invited back the next year (95-07-02)…

Vique Martin had become the zine-queen and heroine of many. We’d been writing and I think we’d met the 1^st somewhere in spring ’94. Talking to her showed she’s a damn intelligent woman; the kind of person that can influence a whole bunch of people (in a positive way)…

Brob

I was staying at Hans’ house… ‘Macca’ [Mark Wilkinson] was there, Edward demanded a lot of my attention… When the ‘Fabric’ kids arrived, I was with them all of Saturday night. I was also absorbed with Marco [Walzel] & the Americans (Sherry [Beth Sacks; see picture in the intro] & ‘Iconoclast’)…all good friends. There were many kids I left feeling I didn’t talk to ‘properly’; Kurt for one, a friend from France, Olivier for another. I had a fucking fabulous time, didn’t want to talk about negative things (consumerism, etc.) I didn’t want to be ‘brought down’. I wanted to stay on the high of being with friends, seeing bands and being really happy.

Vique Martin, Simba zine, personal communication Sep ’94 [This was a response on a column that I, Brob, did on the fest…]

I remember having a great time, we were treated well and well received from what I can recall. The place was full, kids standing on top of stuff to see the stage. Cool stalls set up, good vibe. It was hot as fuck too, I remember that much. I’m sure I was asked to lend my cymbals to ‘Acme’. Hadn’t seen/heard them before at that time. When they started I thought the dude was going to destroy them. Terrifying and awesome at the same time. Didn’t people also sleep over there? I have a memory of the gig finishing, and then people throwing sleeping-bags everywhere they could and crashing; it was nuts.

Christopher Turner, ‘Fabric’s drummer

‘Fabric’ chillin’ in Ypres (photo by Vique Martin); L=>R: Jamie-Kevin-Andy-Chris-Tony

I can’t believe there was so many bands! Have been racking my brains trying to remember stuff but I’m coming up vague… It’s 20 years ago! I remember I had a cool ‘Parliament’ shirt. The food was great and we did a lot of hanging out with all kinds of people, was fun times to be in Europe. We were at the festival the whole weekend but we did stay with someone… I still do music, just my own one man band (soundcloud.com/dootraanougat); I play the drums, the gits, the whole shabang!

James Tilley, one of ‘Fabric’s guitarists

I know that we where on our first Europena tour ever. We played Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands. The Senseless album was released just before the tour and we sold alot of CDs at the festival. From what I recall we stayed there the whole weekend, played some soccer (we were the unbeatable Swedes!!) and watched a lot of bands. I think I even made a guest-apperence with ‘Refused’ and sung some silly Swedish rap (not sure though!). As it was our first time we got to know alot of people and made a lot of new friends. I discovered bands such as ‘Spawn’, ‘Blindfold’, etc.

José Saxlund, ‘Abhinanda’ vocalist

There’s a ‘black hole’ in my memory for Friday and Sunday (2 nights of no sleep). I think the UK bands played on Friday, and Sunday ‘Iconoclast’, ‘Undone’ & ‘Vanilla’. [???] On Saturday ‘Refused’ did a semi acoustic set, ‘Fabric’ played their first show outside the UK, ‘Acme’ probably their last ever. ‘Iconoclast’ was another US band that had actually already split but toured to get a free European tourist-trip (same as ‘Downfall’, ‘Merel’, … during that period). For me personally this day was the best ever at the V.V.: no bullshit, good atmosphere… I’m certain that everybody knew everybody that day. It also was the last time the fest took place in the pub. The next year it was in the ‘barn’ in the back and there were loads more people. I also attended in ‘96 or ‘97 and that was totaly shit, with 2/3 of the bands being metal-core ‘Congress’ clones an the rest playing uninspired emo-core. Then there was a huge crowd but you knew nobody and most had no idea about hardcore/punk before GoodLife recs. Most had never heard about the ‘Dead Kennedys’ or ‘Zyklome-A’ according to me…

Jeroen Lauwers

I remember our first European tour and our first Vort’n Vis gig quite well. We recorded Senseless in the spring of ´94 and in August we rented a van and drove the long way from Umeå down to play HC in Europe. To afford the trip we brought Sara Almgren [‘Doughnuts’ guitarist; see guestbook-entry] and Jonas Lyxzén’s girlfriend Jenny along (they contributed with gas-money, great spirits and helped selling merchandise). On our way South we stopped in Stockholm and the record-store Sound Pollution (with which Desperate Fight and Birdnest [Swedish punk label formed in 1980 and run by Per Granberg] collaborated with for distribution) to pick up a few boxes of our newly pressed album which none of us had seen prior to that. Excited we set off to Hultsfred (12-14 of August), Sweden’s biggest music festival at the time, where our friends ‘Refused’ were to play. Since we could only stay for one day (and didn’t have the cash to pay for the entrance); me, Adam and José gate-crashed the festival by pretending to have bracelets to be able to see the ‘Refused’ show, worked like a charm. I remember that we gave the guys in ‘Refused’ a copy of Senseless and they seemed a bit shocked when they could hear the massive improvement between Darkness of Ignorance and the new album. The contributions and musical influences Kristofer Steen brought with him to ‘Abhinanda’ had really upped our ability and musicality.

José had set up the tour so we didn’t really know what to expect but we drove South and played a couple of decent shows in some punk-squats in Holland. On the 19^th of august we arrived in Ieper and we were greeted by some truly amazing people (Bruno and Edward) who took the time to show us around. The first night we slept in the loft assigned for the bands but then decided to sleep on some of the grassy spots around the city, running naked around the cemetery and a church became a regular routine.

At the time vegetarianism hadn’t really taken off in Sweden so we were really impressed with all the vegan alternatives Belgium could offer. On the 20^th we were supposed to play and we received a meal-coupon for a fantastic vegan meal that we all appreciated (having only eaten punk-stew and chips for the last week). The atmosphere at Vort’n Vis was amazing, everybody seemed very supportive and though the ’94 festival was quite small it was quite big for us, since we hadn’t really played any HC festivals earlier.

‘Refused’ arrived quite late on the 20^th (if I remember correctly), just in time to see our show. They were probably the only ones who had heard the new material. But it seemed like the audience had heard a rumor regarding the new album because the small venue was packed with people when we entered the stage. I remember that we wanted to start the gig with something different (as many of the bands we heard played a quite generic version of HC), we wanted to stick out. And for some reason I had the idea to play Bulletproof Poet by Dogs D’amour in a semi-acoustic fashion. Still don’t remember why but I did and the crowd cheered on and gave the start of the show a real boost in energy. The show was amazing, a milestone for us, the first really awesome show in Europe with one of the best crowds in my life. I think a real starting-point for us and Desperate Fight. That show made the word of mouth spread about the new album and the intensity of our live shows all across Europe. Hardline was a big thing at the time but our new song Competition In Hatred that opposes it was really appreciated, we had the ‘Refused’ guys on back-ups on that one, easy to sing along to…

Later at night ‘Abhinanda’ and the other Swedes got a guided tour of the Ieper (by Edward and some other guys). I remember David Sandström reading a book about WWI and the battles in the trenches in Europe at the time. And finding some names off the memorial arches that contained names from the book, crazy coincidences like that happen often on tour. The next day we enjoyed playing football and all the other bands. I remember another band borrowing the 5150 head we had borrowed from Pär Hansson [guitarist of ‘Refused’] and blew a fuse so we had to drive around in order to search for a store that could replace it so that we’d have something to play on. Big hassle back then without internet, GPS, etc.

After the festival I remember Edward setting up an extra gig in order to help us out with money for gas. Fantastic how the HC-scene can help you out! The rest of the tour we played with a self esteem and energy that the festival had given us. Thanks again for a fantastic festival. August of ’94 still has that extra place in my heart and Vort’n Vis especially.

Mattias Abrahamsson, ‘Abhinanda’ bassist

‘Abhinanda’ soccer-team (in Herentals, Belgium), by Jean-Paul Frijns

We only played Ieper once and it was a pretty wild. We had a good time. I remember that all the punks were really sceptical about us since we showed up wearing new shirts but the show was great. Really sweaty and intense!

Dennis Lyxzén, ‘Refused’ vocalist

I thought ‘Kassiopeia’ played there as well with us, at least I remember them being there… Claudius Gagalka was with us most of the time; he might have some photos…

Markus Hofko, ‘Nothing Left To Grasp’ guitarist

I do remember that show. I was there. But I never played guitar for ‘Acme’, that was Sven Thora. I was the singer of ‘Abyss’…

Sven von Thülen

Volker [Pohlschmidt] and me were just one time in Ieper for this one: we saw ‘Abhinanda’, ‘Backdraft’ and so on.

Stefan Uhe, ‘Steadfast’ guitarist

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

Spanish visiter

additions wellcome!…

97-07-12 Lifecycle – Spirit Of Youth – Family Of Dog – Sincerity – Sorehead – Instinct – Fanta’s Farm – D.S.A. – Cult-T

Most of these (local) bands had played a month earlier on ‘Spineless’ CD release (97-06-27). Steve Lammertyn and ‘Lifecycle’s Steve Noyelle & Sofie Vantomme organised this one here (see flyer). According to the V.V. notes ‘xSchmitterSx’ (Stijn Desmyter from Oostnieuwkerke) was also involved. Michael Maes & Inge Cappoen attented the bar…

‘Family Of Dog’ were not local (from Deinze) and had already performed at the V.V. on 96-09-22. They played “metal” (Steve Noyelle’s words). The band was: Bert Walgraeve (bass), Stijn Everaert (drums), Peter Staelens & Wim De Taeye (guitar) and Tom Claus (vocals; also sang for ‘Congress’ on their Angry With The Sun CD). They released a promo-tape in ’96, did a split-7” with ‘Liar’ in ’97 (Genet recs) and a self-titled CD (Midas prods, ’98).

‘Sincerity’ was another band (metal-influenced HC) from Deinze. Members: ‘Sjaab’ Frederic Chaboteau (vocals), Maarten Kinet (bass; later ‘Lifecycle’ & ‘AmenRa’), Bram Walgraeve (guitar; brother of ‘Family of Dog’s Bert Walgraeve), Fré(derick) De Vogelaere (drums) & Thomas Hauttekeete (guitar; also ‘Instinct’). Bram & Fré were later in ‘King Creole’… The band played another show a few months later (97-10-12) but they split up somewhere in ‘98…

‘Spirit Of Youth’ had done a show at the V.V. in their new line-up (more new-school metal-HC) already. Guitarist Dominiek ‘Dompi’ Denolf, drummer Frederik ‘Fré’ Denolf and bassist Kris Casier (who had been in ‘Solid’ with the bros), recruited Vincent ‘Vince’ Theeten (also Strike One zine) on second guitar and Vincent ‘Marvel’ Merveillie (also ‘Resist In Pain’, ‘Lifecycle’) on vocals. ‘Dompie’ had tried to reform ‘S.O.Y.’ with originals Hans Verbeke & Jan Maelfait in ’96 but that didn’t work out.

Vincent Theeten (photo courtsey of Karel Deweerdt)

D.S.A.’ were playing old-school NY Hardcore. Nico ‘Sientje’ Sinnaeve (drums; later ‘Retaliate’), Frederik Vanhee (bass; later ‘Retaliate’), Pieter-Jan ‘PJ’ Vandenberghe (guitar) and the singer was Davy Verhoye (on the 1^st demo) or Maarten Verschaeve (2^nd demo). They did a few more shows at the V.V. (97-10-25, 97-12-26 & 98-04-11)…

‘Fanta’s Farm’ was with Korneel Barbry (bass), Sim Meerseman (guitar; ex ‘Voices At The Front’), Stijn Dequidt (drums) & Jeroen Beyens (vocals). Steve Noyelle labeled them as “melodic pop/rock”. They played again on 97-09-19.

‘Sorehead’, another local (Ieper) band, had also been at the V.V. already (96-12-30 plus the one mentioned above) and would be here again 97-10-25. They were: Laurent ‘Lorre’ Peene (vocals; R.I.P.), Dries Verclyte (bass), Pieter Desmyter (guitar) and Pieter Derycke (drums). According to Steve N. their music resembled that of ‘Sektor’. The music on their demo sounded metal-influenced and the vocals were raw & aggressive. Jan Lazeure (guitar) might’ve quit for half a year… But according to Dries he’s always been in the band…

‘Instinct’ already did V.V. shows on 97-03-01 & the one mentioned in the intro, and they would be back for 15/16/17 aug ’97: Hardcore – the Next Generation festival. Alex Dierickx & Thomas Hauttekeete (also ‘Sincerity’) played guitar (both were also playing in the new-school metal band ‘Eulogy’ with Tom of ‘Family Of Dog’), Vincent ‘Pit’ Maes sang (he was also in ‘Hundred Years Of Forgetting’, later ‘The Deal’ & ‘Rise And Fall’), Pedro Tallieu did the bass and the drummer was Tuur Delodder.

‘Lifecycle’, a ‘new-school’ HC band from the Ieper/Kortijk region (H8000 but not with that typical sound), had done their first gig at the V.V. a bit before this (97-06-27, the release-party of the ‘Spineless’ CD) and may more would follow. I believe at that time the band consisted of Sofie Vantomme (vocals), Karel Deweerdt (guitar), Steve Noyelle (guitar), Jan Volckaert (drummer of ‘Resist The Pain’; was stand-in a few times for Jan ‘Relle’ Verhelst ex ‘Convict’) and Jurgen Degryse (bass; later there were a few others).

No idea who/what ‘Cult-T’ was…

Brob

I have vague recollections of ‘Sjaab’ writing something in the V.V. guestbook but don’t know if it was this day… We also played there with ‘Catharsis’, ‘Gehenna’, ‘Natural Order’ and some more bands. It’s been a while… We also used to visit the Vort’n Vis quite often. I also rehearsed there with ‘Lifecycle’ when ‘Sincerity’ disbanded. I certainly like to reminisce that show with ‘Sincerity’, a band that I was proud of.

Maarten Kinet, ‘Sincerity’ bassist

I believe that our singer Tom tooted along on a dilapidated clarion during a song and that our bassist put on a blond wig for the occasion… The usual ‘F.O.D.’ silliness.

Peter Staelens, ‘F.O.D.’ guitarist

I’m almost certain that we [Fanta’s Farm] didn’t play…

Korneel Barbry

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

additions wellcome!…

97-05-18 Präparation-H – Boycot – Açao Direta – Konstrukt – Força Macabra – Bloodsuckers – Real Chaos

Another gig organised by Fred(eric) Driessens – with practical help from his bro, his girlfriend and Jan Claus…

‘Präparation-H’ was a grindcore (“mince crust”; influenced by ‘Napalm Death’, ‘Sore Throat’, ‘Assück’, ‘Hellnation’, ‘Disrupt’, etc.) band from Cincinnati (Ohio) with Dan ‘H’ Sucio (guitar & vocals), Burke (bass & vocals; in stead of Doug ‘Zombie’) and ‘Agent’ Klaus Grabke (drums). Ash (guitar/ bass/vocals/drums) was in the band until 1996. There was a tape with recordings from ‘94, a split-tape (with ‘Agathocles’) entitled Fair Is Fair! – released by Axioma Promotions (1995) – and a promo-tape for the ’97 tour. They also recorded several 7”s (e.g. with ‘Hellkrusher’, ‘Cripple Bastards’ and ‘Agathocles’) for numerous labels.

‘Açao Direta’ came all the way from São Paulo, Brazil. On the ‘97 tour the were: Paulo Gepeto (vocals), Pancho (bass), Alan (guitar) and Marcão (drums). Their (first European) tour was organised by Michael Kopijn and his girlfriend Eva (from Groningen), I believe. It was between the release of the Entre A Benção E O Caos (Between The Blessing And The Chaos) LP and the Intervenção (Intervention) LP. Musically they range from straightforward hardcore to fast crossover.

‘Açao Direta’ (courtesy Paulo Gepeto & Dan ‘Präparation-H’)

‘Boycot’ (from Alkmaar) were Bill(y) Kuiper (vocals), Pim Bakker (vocals; ex ‘C.K.N.), Taco Rietveld (drums), Jeroen (bass) and Lennaert Roomer (guitar; also ‘Distress’; replaced Erik-Jan, who played the first time they were at the V.V. on 96-09-20). I got to know them because of the Only Stupid Bastards Help Epitaph 7” (on Axiome Production, 1995). After that there were several 7”s (together with ‘Distress’, ‘Insane Youth’, ‘Betercore’, ‘Yuppiecrusher’, ‘Fleas And Lice’, …); also a tape with ‘Jobbykrust’‎ with live recordings of ‘Boycot’ (released in 1996)…

‘Bloodsuckers’, from the very South, French-speaking part of Belgium (Arlon area), played grind. Members were Pierre Marchal (drums), Christophe Pels (guitar), Gregory Pels (bass) and Michael Thiry (vocals). They had a few tapes out, one of which was a split-tape with a thrash/metal-HC band with the same name from Slovenia. Later they also did a 3-way split CD with ‘Kisaac’s band ‘Bob’s Bizarre Bazaar’…

After an abonimable set on the fest in September ’94, ‘Força Macabra’ showed up again here. The band with the Portugese name and lyrics are actually from Finland. They ‘worshipped’ Brazilian bands and also did covers of bands such as ‘Ratos De Porão’, ‘Olho Seco’, ‘Cólera’, etc. We got to know them when Bruno (Genet recs) released the split with ‘Corpus Christi’ in ’93. I also hung out with Otto and his mates some time in Ghent when they were staying over at the Genet HQ. The vocalist was ‘Taurus’ (‘Oswaldo’ Otto Luotonen), bassist ‘Chakal’ (‘Jaba’ Jaakko Penttinen), guitarist ‘Porco’ (‘Lalli’ ‘Pedro Anthares’ Petri Niskanen) and drummer ‘Antitese’ (‘Oscar’ Otto Itkonen). Some of them also played in ‘Selfish’. The band did numerous records and tapes. A few days later (97-05-23) they also played the Hogepont squat in Ghent…

‘Konstrukt’ was a grind/noise-core band (unpredictable, fast, chaotic, noisy, brutal stuff with references to ‘Anal Cunt’, ‘Man Is The Bastard’) with avant-garde/industrial touches. Dietmar Eicher (guitar), Sascha Confus (bass), Pablo (drums) & Ronald (vocals) were from Vienna (Austria). That year they recorded for their Dis-Co LP, that was released on Dietmar’s label Hammerwerk. He had already released their split-7” with ‘Kito’ in ’95. There was also a split-7” with ‘Wasserdicht’ on Jay Walk (Dejan Pozegar from Slovenia) in ’96. And in 1999 the In Girum Imus Nocte Et Consumimur Igni 7” was put out by Hammerwerk again. The band had ties with the local squatted social centre E.K.H.

Not mentioned on the flyer but in the guestbook and the V.V. notes were ‘Real Chaos’ (grindcore from Germany; “the name says it all”) who’d also been on the bill with ‘Präparation-H’ at the in Sint-Niklaas gig a few days earlier.

Brob

We were only there brieflly because the moment we arrived, we were asked if we could play in Lille [France] too later that day. After some negotiating we could plug in immediately and in the evening we played with ‘Unhinged’! I believe that the day before there was a gig planned in Geel or Diest (about the same line-up) [Diest, 97-05-17: ‘Açao Direta’, ‘Präparation-H’, ‘Konstrukt’ & Honey Honey (Bel)] but when we got there, we were told we couldn’t play… That had also happened the day before, in Veldhoven [The Netherlands]. Good bands by the way…

Bill, ‘Boycot’

On this rainy Sunday the public filled the small room. ‘Boycot’ played hardcore and had an ex-member of the old ‘Sore Throat’ [Lennaert Roomer]. The Finnish ‘Força Macabra’ tried singing in Portuguese and played covers of ‘Ratos De Porão, ‘Armageddon’, ‘Cólera’ and ‘Lobotomy’. ‘Açao Direta’s performance was great. We made many friends and the balance was very positive. We were back in Europe in 1999, 2001 & 2004! In 1999 & 2001 things were organised by Michael [Kopijn; drummer of ‘Catweazle’ etc.] & Eva from Bacteria (Groningen)! 1997 we made it with lots of letters and friends spreading the word around Europe…

Paulo Gepeto, vocalist of ‘Açao Direta’

We played that one… ‘Bloodsuckers’ were immensely entertaining in their insanity. Grade-A ‘developing country grind’! We played many shows with ‘Konstrukt’ along the way.

Otto Itkonen, ‘Força Macabra’

>>Five long weeks of touring around Europe. The Spanish/Portuguese and the French legs were cut off as the van seriously broke down in ex-Yugoslavija. A grassroots-organised tour with a shoelace budget can’t always be the best possible way to do things – and ‘Força’ certainly had its ups and downs in the long series of gigs in squats and bars.<<

forcamacabra.net

There was a great atmosphere!

Chris Pels, ‘Bloodsuckers’

It was our bassplayer’s birthday and the guys in ‘Rubbish Heap’ came to the show with a cake that they smashed in his face. It was really, really funny! I don’t recall much about venue or specifics of the show. I do remember that the guys in ‘Konstrukt’ from Vienna were super, super cool and we remained in touch for years after. We played a few shows with ‘Força Macabra’ and I can tell you, they are great drinking partners! I remember I gave my favorite ‘Los Crudos’ T-Shirt to the singer of ‘Boycot’. It was WAY too small for him. I have a photo. Hahaha!

Dan, ‘Präparation-H’ guitarist

I travelled a few days with the guys from ‘Präparation-H’ when they were touring Europe. The were also joined by Scott (the drummer of ‘Blatherskite’ & ‘Ice Nine’) and a Polish guy named Marcin. The German band ‘Real Chaos’ – German crust/grind with really nice (and a bit smelly haha) people – was touring with them aswell. The days before Ieper, the band played in Sint-Niklaas (97-05-15) – with ‘Wojczech’, ‘Cut Your Hair’ & ‘Real Chaos’, Veldhoven [The Netherlands] 97-05-16 – with ‘Boycot’, ‘Distress’, ‘Real Chaos’ and I believ ‘No ID) and Diest (97-05-17) – with ‘Intestinal Disease’, ‘Açao Direta’, ‘Rubbish Heap’, ‘Real Chaos’, etc. The show in Veldhoven was the same weekend as the Dynamo Open Air festival and the guys from ‘Disfear’ were at the show as they were also going to this metal-festival. The morning after the show in Veldhoven we had a quick visit there aswell. The guys from ‘Präp-H’ were super nice and had a great sence of humor. A few weeks later I met some of them in Liège when ‘Dystopia’ played there. I remember getting that really nice “thank you” card afterwards. Still have it somewhere. Their last show was in Ieper. I was pleasantly suprised by ‘Bloodsuckers’ – as I was allready writing with some of them and this was our first actual meeting. ‘Força Macabra’ and ‘Konstrukt’ were nice additions. The next friday I organised a show for ‘Força Macabra’ in Mol.

Erik Minnen, ‘Cornucopia’ vocalist

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

additions wellcome!…

2000-08-17 Retaliate – Surge Of Fury – Killed In Action

We did a pre-show at the Vort’n Vis pub in 2000, on a Thursday…  The actual 2000-08-18&19&20 Ieperfest was in a school-yard. I just remember my band (‘Surge Of Fury’) and ‘Killed In Action’ played, I don’t recall who else played… It’s possible that ‘Retaliate’ was a that show but I can’t remember. At that time ‘Surge Of Fury’ was Emeric on drums, Dave & Sam playing guitars, John on bass and myself, ‘Tito’, doing vocals,… The line-up is different nowadays… I just remember the ‘Killed In Action’ singer’s name… Max…

‘Tito Fury’ [also played at the V.V. with the Liège band ‘Belief’ on 98-04-26]

‘Tito’

‘Surge Of Fury’ (hardcore metal from Liège) did a demo-tape in 1999…

‘Retaliate’ was a band from the Ieper area playing brutal metal-core. Members: Frederik ‘Freddy’ Vanhee (bass; ex ‘D.S.A.’), Geoffrey Verhelle (vocals), Thomas Allegaert (vocals), Nico ‘Sientje’ Sinnaeve (drums; ex ‘D.S.A.’), Nick Rebry (guitar) & Frederik Plets (guitar). They recorded a demo in 2000 and released it under the name W.A.R. in 2001, and later (2002) a split with ‘Outcast’ (DHM recs): Hate Injected. This was probably their first show here. They were also on a poster for a gig with ‘Kingpin’ at the V.V. on 2000-09-16 (on which they were labeled “NY HC”). The line-up changed a great deal later on…

‘Retaliate’

People of ‘Killed In Action’ (from Rouen, France) apparently were later in ‘The Elektrocution’… Maxime Prieux was the singer.

‘Killed In Action’

Brob

The pics are indeed pre Ieperfest 2000 with ‘Killed In Action’, ‘Surge Of Fury’, etc. I think also ‘Striker’ played [Brob: No mention of that in the V.V. notes]…

Frederik Plets, ‘Retaliate’ guitarist

I believe we started out in 2000… In 2001 ‘Retaliate’ opened the actual festival.

Geoffrey Verhelle, ‘Retaliate’ vocalist

The pre-fest before Ieperfest 2000 was organised by me and ‘Lorre’ [‘Striker’ vocalist].

Alexander ‘Lex’ Decoene

It was a wonderful time and a super venue!

Maxime Prieux, ‘Killed In Action’ vocalist

additions wellcome!…