99-07-17 Deformity – Mindstab – Cry For Change – 187 – [Barton Dean] – [Fokkum]

‘Deformity’ played on one of the fests before this (97-08-17). I found no track of this gig in the V.V. notes but the band mentioned it in their internet-writings of that time… Perhaps it was announced but never happened? ‘Deformity’s drummer Dominiek ‘Bolle’ Defrancq provided the flyer but no idea if these bands actually played…

The band played death-core/metal and were from the H8000-area (Menen/Houthulst/Roeselare). They started in the summer of ‘95, with ‘Bolle’ (Dominiek Defrancq, drums), ‘Wulf’ (Kristof Dewulf a.k.a. ‘Christopher D. Wolff’, bass; also sang for ‘Solid’ for a little while), ‘Lookmulle’ Davy Vanlokeren (guitar; also in ‘Regression’, later bass in ‘Spoil Engine’) and ‘Gaze’ Steven Sanders (guitar; later ‘Spoil Engine’). A “power-throat” was found in the person of ‘Becque’ (Laurent Delbecque; later in the blues-band ‘Smoking General’ with Bjorn Lescouhier of ‘Shortsight’ & ‘Regression’). After a few months ‘Becque’ and ‘Lookmulle’ switched places (the latter sang on ‘Misanthrope’ & ‘Murder’…). Around the end of ’96 they recruted Michael (‘Micha Soprano’ Pintelon; also ‘Congress’) as second guitarist because “they sounded a bit too empty for your average metal-outfit”.

Their 1^st release was the Beyond live demo (in Dadizele, ‘96; with Dave/y Vanlokeren on guitar and Laurent Delbecque doing vocals). The CD Misanthrope and the split-7” with ‘Congress’ followed (GoodLife ‘97). Recordings for Murder Within Sin were in spring ‘99 and that got released July ‘99 on Next Sentence recs (Charleroi, Bel) and Blasphemour recs (U.S.).

Early 2001, ‘Lookmulle’ left ‘Deformity’ due to throat-problems, with ‘Wulf’ replacing him as main singer. Promo-talk of that era mentions: “Nevertheless, ‘Deformity’ kept on raging and sees this effort paying off in a record deal with ‘Displeased recs’, one of Europe`s largest metal-labels”…

‘Mindstab’ (H8000 “industrial metalcore”, from Lichtervelde) had a CD (Borderlined) out on GoodLife recs in 2000. The people in the band were Francis Borlé (guitar/vocals), Niek Devos (guitar), Bjørn Bossu (vocals), Brecht Verduyn (bass) & Domien Crevits (drums). They had also done a 5-track self-titled mCD (1998) on Polar Bear recs.

‘Cry For Change’, from Deinze, (not the band with the same name from the early 90s) played their 1^st show @ 4AD in Diksmuide (with ‘Congress’; 99-03-14). The guys described their music as “viking mosh core” (mix of metalcore and old-school HC) and mentioned ‘Liar’, ‘Congress’ & ‘Family Of Dog’ as influences: Stefan ‘Billy’ Van de Voorde (drums), Dimi(tri) D. ‘Tri Dimi’ (vocals), Alex Dierickx (guitar; also ‘Instinct’) & xThomasx (bass). Alain Cheng (guitar) joined a bit later. They did a demo in ’99, and a promo-tape and a mCD (Broken Hearts, Broken Trust) in 2000. Stefan was replaced by Thomas Hautekeete after the demo.

‘Barton Dean’ (Nl) was a skatepunk band with (ex)members of (the mainstream power-doom-metal band) ‘Within Tempation’: Remko Klumpes (guitar), Richard ‘Ries’ Willemse (vocals), Floris Backx (drums), Michiel Papenhove (guitar) & Jeroen van Veen (bass). They did 2 tapes (Stiekum Ontzettend in ‘97 & Coming Out in ‘98).

‘Fokkum’ (Hazerswoude, Nl) played grindcore or “melodic crust-core” as they put it themselves. The line-up early on was with Richard ‘Ries Fokkum’ Willemse (drums), Daniël Bal (vocals), Michiel Papenhove (bass) & Floris Backx (guitar). Later Lisa Wessling (Ries’ partner) joined on bass…

‘187’ (or One Eight Seven; from Ingelmunster / Meulebeke) played “deathcore”. The band consisted of Kathy Verhelle (vocals; sister of ‘Retaliate’s vocalist Geoffrey), Steve Vanhoutte (bass; later vocals for ‘All My Sins’), Wesley Gielen (drums), Steven De Backer (guitar) & ‘Rumme’ Rumminick Vanluchene (guitar). Some of their tracks were recorded live at the Animal Truth Benefit Festival in Eeklo (98-02-22) and they did a demo in 1999. (See also 2000-09-16)

‘Tempest’ ???

Brob

I do believe that show took place but I’m not a 100% sure ‘cause I played the V.V. so many times with my bands and I can ‘t remember every show. The timing could be right though because the guys from Evil Sheep recs asked us to be on their label in that period…

Alex Dierickx, ‘Cry For Change’, ‘Instinct’

I joined ‘C.F.C.’ in July 1999 and my First show was a few weeks later in Bornem… I never played the V.V. with them.

Alain Cheng

I can barely remember but we seem to have played that show. It was for ‘Schmitters’ [Stijn Desmyter from Oostnieuwkerke] birthday. Our first line-up was me (vox), Alexxx (guitar), Stefan (drums), Karim (guitar) & Jamal (bass). Stefan was indeed replaced by Thomas Hautekeete; later Jamal was replaced by xThomasx [Maes]. After a few years Alex and the 2 Thomas’s formed ‘Fullcirclebroken’ (now ‘Lotus Tree’)… Oh, and I set up a few shows…

‘Tri Dimi’, ‘Cry For Change’ vocalist

What I can remember of that period is that we were often billed with H8000 bands, even though we weren’t officially part of that scene but we didn’t really care a lot. We got along well with bands from that scene. There was a mutual respect. The aucience sometimes needed some more convincing from our part but that was mainly because of the style we played: it wasn’t really HardCore so for some that was more difficult to digest. We were just doing our thing and tried to expose people to another genre or musical style.

Francis Borlé, ‘Mindstab’

I believe our Marshall stack got stolen that day and hence (as protest) went back home; so ‘Barton Dean’ & ‘Fokkum’ never were on the V.V. stage. I still play in bands: ‘Zonde’ [sin] (fast melodic hardcore/punkrock with Dutch lyrics) & ‘Slavery Farm’ (absurd brutal D-beat/HC/deathmetal).

‘Ries Fokkum’

additions wellcome!…

2000-03-18 Feh Muh Nist

Workshop ‘Dismantling Patriarchy Using Jedi Mind Tricks’

– ‘Flopi’ (Buenos Aires, Argentina) & Laura Synthesis (London, UK)

‘Flower’ & Laura welcome males, trans, intersex, females and all those who identify with the women’s cause in quest for sex/gender equality to this workshop. We will delve into the Dark Side and beyond in an attempt to deconstruct, resignify and integrate sex/gender. The ultimate aims of the workshop will be experience-sharing, awareness-raising, empowerment, mental enhancement, innermosttransformation and collaborative endeavor so that we can keep on tracing the lines of a future -HERE AND NOW- we are so dearly longing for.

This Vort’n Vis event was for International Women’s Day, and ‘Flopi’, my Argentian friend, and I did a workshop. But I can’t remember anything about it now except that we all sat in a circle on the floor, people made contributions and at the end we did a nice evaluation where people wrote their feedback on bits of paper that were put together to make a flower. I really don’t remember much else of this V.V. event but I think you’re right, that Isabella did an acoustic set. If the programme from the event turns up, I’ll scan it…

Laura W. Synthesis zine and distribution (London); used to put on gigs as the x dot cotton grrrls crew x

At that time I was living in Göttingen [Germany] and would go to Gent [Belgium] on the weekends to visit my friend Bartje Praet [zine-maker]. Not sure how I ended up at the V.V. to be honest… I was 18 at the time. I improvised an accoustic set. There were maybe 15 people there.

Isabella Gargiulo, bassplayer of ‘Dominatrix’ (São Paulo, Brazil)

Maria-Florencia Kais (from Buenos Aires, Argentina) used to be the singer for the all-female Argentinian straight-edge hardcore band ‘Venus GenetriXXX’ (featured on the Emancypunx – Polish label ran by Jenni Ramme – compilation x The Sisterhood x) and is a political activist. She’s also a DJ at Salón Pueyrredón, an anarcho-punk club in Buenos Aires (as DJane Mary Flower).

My friend Laura W. was the editor of the feminist straight-edge zine Synthesis and ran a distro (zines and books) in the second half of the 90s, she was also active in London anarchist women’s collectives and co-ran the London Social Centre Network. Later they did a workshop entitled ‘Dismantling Patriarchy Using Jedi Mind Tricks’, at the Noc Walpurgis Fest in Warsaw (invited by Jenni). The aim of that workshop was to get men thinking and talking about how they are affected negatively by patriarachy.

Brob

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

additions wellcome!…