98-01-16 Serial Butcher – Natron – Mharbh – Damn Nation

Not sure who organised this but I have a stronh hunch that it was Fred(eric) Driessens. Attending the bar that night (according tot the V.V. notes): Steph Quintens, Michael Maes & Inge Cappoen.

‘Natron’, “the godfathers of death-metal” was a band from the deep south of Italy (Bari in the Apulia region – the ‘heel of Italy’); with Max Marzocca (drums), Lorenzo ‘Fünj’ Signorile (bass/vocals) & Domenico Mele (guitar). On their debut CD Hung Drawn & Quartered ‎(1997) there was a guy named Trevor ‘Sadist’ who did guest-vocals. Mike Andriani sang on their demo A Taste Of Blood (recorded in ’96).

Playing “symphonic” death/black-metal: ‘Mharbh’ (Bari, Italy); with Francesco Simone (bass), Antonio Tafaro (drums), Dario Nitri (guitra/vocals), Luca Loreto (vocals) & Nello D’Innocenzo (keyboards). They had released a tape entitled When God Sleeps..;

The death-metal band ‘Serial Butcher’ still exists but back then they were: Nico Veroeven (drums), Hendrik Dobbelaere (guitar), Bob D’Hondt (bass) and Steven De Craeker (vocals; later Kurt ‘Monie’ Termonia). They had a demo out and would record their mini-album Exhumed Rotting. They were decribed as “a more brutal version of ‘Cannibal Corpse’…”. I believe the “H8000 Ringmaster” Nicolas Malfeyt was in the band at one time too.

‘Damn Nation’ played death-metal/grindcore and were from Lille (France). They had a demo, entitled A Hated Life, out in ’97. The people in the band were Franck Camus (drums), Jocelyn ‘Virgil’ Quesne (guitar), Yvan Debuck (guitar) and Nicolas Willaert ‘De Vermis Mysteriis’ (vocals).

Brob

I was singing in a (very bad) band called ‘Dam Nation’ that was (trying to) play somekind of death/grind back then and we did indeed play a show at the V.V. with ‘Natron’.

Here’s a kind of ‘fun fact’: after the soundcheck, while waiting to start the gig, someone was playing In The Bondage Of Vice, by ‘Dead’. That’s how I “discovered” them. Last year, I re-issued their debut You’ll Never Know Pleasure on my label Xenokort precs…

I also did Agony’Zine (2-3 issues) but then decided to sign ‘Goden’ (The Netherlands), one of the artists I reviewed stuff of. The label was named Agony recs and the zine was renamed Suffer! (that was given away with mailorders). I did something like 10 issues before the label folded and it became what was most probably one of the very first webzines on the internet in the late ‘90s (before it stopped alltogether before the change of millennium).

I don’t remember much about the gig itself besides the fact that we were very bad (especially that night) and I became so bored that I left the stage in the middle of a song; and that was our final gig. ‘Serial Butcher’ were quite good at what they were doing. Cool they’re still around!

De Vermis Mysteriis stands for The Secrets of the Worm(s?) in Latin. It didn’t mean much but for some reason I wanted to use a pseudonym and since was a big fan of Lovecraft, I took this from one of his novels… Franck relocated to Québec and still drums in some death-metal band); Yvan, I believe, is playing in a pop/reggae band (with his girlfriend) and Jocelyn became a stripper and later the promoter of the largest erotic fairs in France). We didn’t have a bassplayer back then.

I don’t remember how we ended playing but I loved the atmosphere and the place. Sadly, because of my eyesight-problems, I never had a driving-license and hence no real opportunity to visit the Vort’n’Vis

Nico(las) Willaert

Steven De Craeker joined ‘Putrid Inbred’ but I wasn’t in the band yet then. But probably attended the gig…

Kurt Termonia

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

additions wellcome!…

98-04-11 Sorehead – Lifecycle – D.S.A. – Striker – Kalashnikov – Ignominy – Powers Of Discipline – Inside

The V.V. notes mentioned that ‘Lorre’ (Laurent Peene) & ‘Sientje’ (Nico Sinnaeve) were on bar-duties that day. The bands were mostly, if not all, locals. It probably wasn’t an announced gig (because there’s no other traces) but more like a get-together…

‘Lifecycle’ (‘new-school’ HC – H8000 but not with that typical sound, Ieper/Kortijk region) was one of the ‘house-bands’ of the V.V. in that periode (97-06-27, 97-07-12, 97-08-17, may ’98-05-10). The line-up: Sofie Vantomme (vocals; co-founder Vincent Merveillie soon went on to sing for ‘Spirit Of Youth’), 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). In a letter from May ’98, Sofie mentions that their bassist Jurgen Degryse had quit the band. His last show was in that month. He was replaced by Maarten Kinet (who later played for ‘AmenRa’)… Later the band had a few more changes…

‘Sorehead’ (from Ieper) played the V.V. a bunch of times (see: 97-06-27, 97-07-12, 97-10-25, 97-12-26, 98-05-10). They did a 5-track demo in 1997. Laurent ‘Lorre’ Peene did vocals; the others were Dries Verclyte (bass), Pieter Derycke (drums), Pieter Desmyter (guitar) and Jan Lazeure (guitar). ‘Lorre’ died in 2003.

‘D.S.A.’ (Ieper area) – old-school NY Hardcore – was the band of Nico ‘Sientje’ Sinnaeve (drums; later ‘Retaliate’), Frederik Vanhee (bass; later ‘Retaliate’), Davy Verhoye (R.I.P.)/Maarten Verschaeve (vocals) and a guy called Pieter-Jan (Vandenberghe?; guitar)… Have a look at 97-06-27, 97-07-12, 97-10-25, 97-12-26, 98-08-16 for their other V.V. shows

‘Striker’ (H8000 metalcore) was a band that Laurent ‘Lorre’ Peene joined but he didn’t sing here fro them yet… The rest of the line-up: ‘Gerre’ Gerald Goedhart (guitar; later guitarist of ‘Core of Anger’), ‘Tomme’ Tom Bordeaux (guitar), PJ Vandamme (bass; later guitarist of ‘Retaliate’ & ‘Outcast’) & David ‘Terre’ Termote (drums). They released a demo entitled High Hopes For Nothing in 1999. Check also 99-11-27 & 2000-09-16.

‘Ignominy’ was a vegan straight-edge band; their guitarist Ward Dufraimont went on to play for ‘Firestone’. The others in the band were Ward Cecat (bass), Wouter Debonnet (drums; also ‘Rhymes Of Destruction’), ‘Jakke’ Jacob Vanluchene (guitar) & David Derammelaere (vocals). They recorded a demo (A Cry For Justice) early ’98.

‘Kalashnikov’ (metalcore from Diksmuide, so also H8000) would be back at the V.V. on 99-11-27 & 2000-09-16. The band was Thijs Plovie (guitar), Dave Willaert (bass), Tom Verheecke (vocals) & Bart Gouwy (drums).

‘Powers Of Discipline’ had the bassist of ‘Minotaur’ and ‘Archaï’ in their ranks.

‘Inside’ was an emo band linked with people from the first line-up of ‘Minotaur’

Brob

I can remember vaguely that we did this gig with the bands but nothing more…really.

Gerald Goedhart

I recall we did a ‘Merauder’ cover: the vocalist at the time sang the lyrics of the verse and chorus the other way round and people came up to me after the show saying that the new song resembled ‘Merauder’ a lot. (smile) It was the day we stole ‘Sorehead’s singer.  Before him we tried out some local guys: the first one was in ‘Evangelist’ [Frederik ‘Zwartn’ Deswarte], the second one couldn’t keep rhythm and became our roadie [Vincent Degryse]. ‘Lorre’ joined by the end of ’98: we played the old set a few times with him and then restarted with new tracks. He was one the demo.

PJ Vandamme

We always said ‘D.S.A.’ was short for ‘Download Society Agression’ but in fact it was more like ‘Dikke Stront Affaire’ [“a huge load of crap”] from the very beginning. ‘Sien’ and myself started ‘Edgecrusher’ to take a totally different direction (thrash-metal). ‘Retaliate was supposed to be a side-project; ‘Edgecrusher’ came earlier.

Freddy Vanhee

I only remember I liked ‘Striker’.

Wouter Debonnet

I remembered little of that show but a fellow band-member gave me some info. The bands were all just starting out; it was a matinee type of thing in the afternoon (so hardly any people whowed up – the same day there was a mega-cool show in Wevelgem with ‘Sektor’, ‘Vitality’, ‘Arkangel’, etc.), organised by ‘Schmitters’ [Stijn Desmyter], in the Vort’n Vis pub. We played with our original line-up: Wouter, Jacob, Ward, David & myself.

Ward Cecat

I set up a few gigs at the Vort’n Vis, often on request of the bands themselves… Most of them were Belgian. My principle was that we have some ‘home-grown’ gems that earn a stage and I wanted something other than ‘Madball’ clones with a fucked-up attitude. I booked bands that I could trust, knew and had seen live. I also always tried to mix styles to avoid monotonous shows.

Stijn Desmyter

‘Powers Of Discipline’ was Alexander Ronsse on guitar and some guy named Filiep or Philippe on drums. Helmert Decavele was also our bassist (‘Minotaur’ & ‘Archaï’). He replaced someone else, can ‘t remember his name. I might have rehearsed with ‘P.O.D.’ once. Long time ago…

Jeroen Algoet, ‘Minotaur’ & ‘Archaï’ drummer

Maarten Byttebier was the drummer for ‘Inside’. He was one of the vocalists of ‘Minotaur’ in the beginning…

Bram Algoet, guitarist of ‘Minotaur’, (occasionally) ‘Archaï’ & ‘The Curse’

‘Powers Of Discipline’ was me (bassist of ‘Archaï’ & ‘Minotaur’) as a singer, Alexander Ronsse on guitar, Jelle Vandepitte (bass) & Dimitri Dias (drums).

‘Inside’ was Maarten Byttebier (singer of ‘Minotaur’ in its early days), his brother Thomas Byttebier on bass, Dimitri Declerq and Bart Wattez on guitar. Natascha Jaumain & Amber Omez were singing.

Bram Algoet wasn’t part of ‘Archaï’ [he was an occasional stand-in: see 99-11-27]; that was Brecht Algoet (guitar), Jeroen Algoet (drums), Liesbeth Meyfroid (vocals), Helmert Decavele (bass) & Dimitri Declerq guitar.

Helmert Decavele

additions wellcome!…

98-04-26 Sektor – Spineless – Canvas – Arkangel – Natural Order – Outcast – Belief

This one was announced as a presentation for the new ‘Spineless’ album (A Talk Between Me And The Stars), released by SoberMind recs (Hans Verbeke)… but Roland Frey might have taken care of some of the organisation… Their Painfields CD had also been wellcomed with a release-party (97-06-27)

‘Canvas’, a noiseHCdeathmetal band from Leeds, were Andy Sutcliffe (guitar), Dan Kearns (drums), Gareth ‘Gaz’ Brown (bass), John Sutcliffe (vocals) and Karl Fieldhouse (guitar; later ‘Born From Pain’). They did 2 split-EPs in 1999 – with ‘John Holmes’ (on Devil Rock) & with ‘Hard To Swallow’ ‎(Contrition recs), and 2 albums on Household Name recs: a self-titled one (‘98) & Lost In Rock (2000). The music of the latter was described as “psychedelic rock/metal with electronics, synthesizers, effects, soundscapes; an unpredictable musical experience”.

‘Arkangel’ were/are a metalcore band from Brussels. The line-up in the beginning was Baldur Vilmurdarsson (vocals), David Vande Zande (drums), Numa (guitar) and Vince(nt) Messeuw (bass; ex ‘Out For Blood’; later replaced by Mehdi Thepegnier). Guitarists Julien Chanut & Michel Kirby (ex ‘Mental Disturbance’ & ‘Deviate’) would join after the turn of the century. Alain Herszaft did a miniCD (Prayers Upon Deaf Ears) on his label Released Power Productions (’98) and their LP Dead Man Walking would appear on GoodLife recs (’99). They were invited to play on the fest the next year (99-08).

‘Spineless’ (from Kortrijk) played their first gig at the Vort’n Vis on the fest in August ’96 and came back a few times. They were Kristof Mondy (bass; Yoda zine; later ‘AmenRa’), Colin H. Van Eeckhout (vocals; later ‘AmenRa’), Pedro ‘Fifi’ Fioen (guitar; also ‘Congress’), Mathieu Vandekerckhove (guitar; replaced Koen Sandra in ‘97; later ‘AmenRa’) and Stefaan Buyse (drums). They played brutal sXe H8000 metal-core. After their initial demo (’96) they did the Painfields 7” (‘97) and the A Talk Between Me And The Stars album (‘98) – an album inspired by their “near-dead-experience’ (car-crash on tour) – for Sober Mind recs.

‘Belief’ (Liège) wasn’t on the poster but the V.V. notes mention them playing. This was a metalcore band with – at that time – Pierre Boudry (vocals), Tito ‘Fury’ (guitar; vocalist of ‘Surge Of Fury’), Jef(f) Pauly (drums) & Ange Koetz (bass).

The ‘Sektor’ line-up had changed by then (since early ’98)… ‘Lenny’ had taken over vocals from Jeroen Therry. Wesley Bral replaced Piet Cardoen. A guy named Ringo played bass (later ‘Wulf’ Kristof Dewulf of ‘Deformity’). Drummer Bert Guillemont (also ‘Liar’) and guitarist Vadim Vandekerckhove stayed put.

‘Natural Order’ had already played here (97-10-12). They were a vegan sXe hardcore / hardline band (“violent dancers and pro-life” as someone described them once) with Roland, the brother of Cindy Frey (Hans’ girlfriend at that time) singing, hence their track on Animal Truth’s Animal Rights Benefit Sampler (out on Sober Mind recs in ‘98). The others were guitarists Pedro Fioen (also ‘Spineless’) & ‘Lenny’ Wouter Cael (also ‘Sektor’), bassist Clovis ‘Vez’ Segers (also ‘Congress’) and the drummer of ‘Spineless’ (Stefaan Buyse), I believe.

‘Outcast’ (from the Gullegem/Kortrijk area) started out as “a heavy NY-styled mosh-band”. Also dubbed as “deathcore” or “tuff guy hardcore death-metal mosh” (in 1997). They used to be an all straight-edge band. Their guitar-player also played bass in ‘Sektor’ (Wesley Bral – also played the bass in ‘Strong Individual’, together with ‘Sektor’s Lenny & Bert, and Outcast’ vocalist Gerrit). I believe their line-up here was Tim Vanglabeke & Wesley Bral (guitar), Nick Vanglabeke (drums), Nico Degroote (bass) and Gerrit ‘Gerre’ Van Horebeek (vocals; quit halfway ’99; replaced by Pieter Vanham). Read Tim’s comment below. They also played the V.V. on 2000-09-16.

Brob

‘Outcast’s first line-up was with Nico Degroote op bass (also played with us in ‘Whatever It Takes’). The vocalist and bassist changed a few times and we also had a couple of 2nd guitarists. Our first Vort’n Vis “show” was in the rehearsal-space upstairs, with ‘D.S.A’ & ‘Spineless’. In ‘98 this had to be one of our first shows with Wesley. Gerrit quit halfway ’99; later Pieter Vanham did vocals…

The line-up here was Tim Vanglabeke (guitar), Nick Vanglabeke (drums), Nico Degroote (bass) and Gerrit Hannicar (vocals). Wesley joined later as 2nd guitarist.

‘Outcast’ original line-up (courtesy of Tim V.)

We were the first band in the H8000 area that played slow slam HC-style… We were, because of circumstances, an sXe band: Gerrit and myself used dope when were younger and decided to become clean. So we ended up with SoberMind but a few months later we already dropped the X’s and our record was never released. We did a second demo instead.

‘Natural Order’ started after they’d seen us play in Kortrijk. The slow-paced bands emerged like mushrooms. We already had ‘Sightless’ in ‘95, later ‘Ignorance’, ‘Stronghold’ and that became ‘Outcast’. I also played in ‘Strong Individual’…

Tim Vanglabeke

I only played one show with ‘Outcast’… Not this one here…

Gerrit Van Horebeek

Jeroen was in the band until end ’98. We still did a 97-98 winter-tour with him Jeroen. The people in the guestbook were myself, Wesley, Vadim, Bert & Ringo (don’t know his full name)…

Wouter Cael, ‘Sektor’

I used to drive bands around in ‘Doom’s van. I drove the band ‘Canvas’ from Leeds round Europe. They played a straight-edge gig at the Vort’n Vis. I felt very intimidated and fucking hated all that hardline shit. I couldn’t believe the stupid violent karate dancing. Some young girl got accidentally kicked in the face and they all thought it was hilarious. Needless to say I sat outside for most of it and got drunk on lovely Belgian beer.

Brian Talbot

We played in Belgium a couple of times with ‘Canvas’. [Brob: I only know of GoodLife Fest 98-12-31] My memory is fuzzy, to say the least…

Karl Fieldhouse

We played the V.V. a number of times.The first time there we were really impressed with how the scene was compared to the UK. There were some really strong Belgian bands at the time. We nearly recorded something for GoodLife but for some reason it all fell through… After a while we became a bit more technical but the kids weren’t that into it as they all just wanted to do that generic hardcore dancing and show-off pit-moves that I believe still goes on today… As time went on the UK scene got a lot better and the bands were much more varied and by the time we were ready to come back over to play one last V.V. show, we broke up! Happy memories of watching ‘Regression’ and ‘Convinced’ and ‘Deformity’ etc. in the sun. Got to meet and hang out with some really awesome people.

John Sutcliffe, ‘Canvas’

We had a second guitar-player later… I just remember ‘Arkangel’ was playing that show; for the rest it’s too long ago, just that it was a sunny Sunday.

Tito ‘Fury’

excerpt from the V.V. guestbook:

“windmills are fun; a boot in your face aswell”

additions wellcome!…

98-09-18 Money Drug – Hellfiller – Charlie Don’t Surf – King Creole – Lieselotte

Intro: 98-09-18&19 10^th Leedfestival

‘King Creole’ (from Deinze) was the band my mate Frederik ‘Fré’ Danneels (who ran Bezoumny distribution and was part of our Newland collective) played bass in. The others were ‘Zimmerman’ Pieter Teirlinck (vocals), Bram Walgraeve (guitar; ex ‘Sincerity’) and Frederick De Vogelaere (drums; ex ‘Sincerity’).

‘Charlie Don’t Surf’, from Aarschot/Leuven, was Kurt De Bont (drums), Roberto Gasparini (bass), Gert Goris (vocals; gert-kleinkunst.be), Kurt Van Asselberghs (guitar) and Philippe Anthonis (guitar). That year their 7” Six Songs To Die For came out (co-released by Funtime recs, Kurt’s label Hageland Strikes Back, Filth-Ear distribution). The year after there was a split-CD (with ‘End Of Ernie’, Funtime recs & Hageland Strikes Back). Earlier that year they had already played the benefit for Dirk Van Alboom (guitarist of ‘Time Out’)’s wife and kid (98-02-13).

The band ‘Lieselotte’ did a tape (titled Pakita M.S.) in ’98, a split-LP with ‘Bagger’ (with some people of ‘Viktor’s Hoffnarren’) in 1999 and had 2 tracks on the Swiss Punk Benefit LP (Romp productions 2000). They were: Pipo (drums), Riket (guitar), Rob (bass & vocals) and Kroll (vocals). ‘Lieselotte’ were from Genève (active in the autonomous cultural centre L’Usine) and played “grind with a touch of death-metal and sludge”. They sung English, French and Spanish lyrics.

‘Money Drug’ had been the only band that played on the day that Dirk of ‘Tme Out’ died on the V.V’s stage (97-09-19). They were from Gdansk (Poland), played crust/grind and shared some members with ‘Filth Of Mankind’ (who played the day after this (98-09-19). The band consisted of vocalists Filip ‘Kalka’ Kalkowski (nowadays graphic artist) & Selim (replacing Paweł ‘Balon’ Szymański), Miłosz Gassan (drums; nowadays in ‘Morne’) and Sławomir ‘Młody’ Białecki (bass). Maciej Kowalski played guitar but (according the F.O.M. website) he wasn’t present here. ‘M.D.’ had a split-7” with ‘Wind Of Pain’ (Finland) out on Scream recs (’95) and 2 live tapes (’96 & ’97).

‘Hellfiller’ was actually ‘Holefiller’ (97-02-28 & 97-12-26) with the addition of Billy’s electronics: slow, dark, doom-metal mixed with industrial parts. Sometimes they performed as a trio producing industrial noise, then they call themselves ‘Hellfiller’. ‘Holefiller’ was with ‘Leffe’ (ex ‘Chronic Disease’, etc.) on guitar. Drummer was David Stubbe (ex ‘Neuthrone’), bassist Karel Busschop. After ‘Holefiller’ quit, David & Karel went on to play in ‘The Plague Of Gentlemen’…

Not sure if the local ‘Hellcorn’ (see 98-04-18) played aswell?

Brob

I definitely didn’t play this one… I ripped the ligaments of my ankle during soccer…

There seems to be a slight misunderstanding about the ‘Charlie Don’t Surf’ releases. In 1997 we released our split-CD with the ‘End of Ernie’. Later on in 1998 we released our 7” (Six Songs To Die For). Both were recorded at Studio 195 but the split-CD was just with me on guitar – Philippe joined later (he played on both CD releases). ‘C.D.S.’ split up in 1999!

Kurt Van Asselberghs; ‘Charlie Don’t Surf’ guitarist

We were very proud that Michael invited us to play. It was stressy to get there on time, being a Friday-evening. We had 2 rehearsal-spaces at that time and Pieter was waiting at the wrong one. No cell-phones then. I got pretty pissed and the atmosphere was not optimal, but that blew over. When we got there eventually I was probably so nervous, on the verge of fainting, that I wasn’t very conscious about anything…

Fré Danneels, ‘King Creole’ bassist

We played in the pub. I didn’t wear my glasses so didn’t see anything. In those days we also still smoked on stage.

Pieter Teirlinck, ‘King Creole’ singer

Since ‘Money Drug’ didn’t release any records/tapes when I was in the band, my name isn’t anywhere. I replaced Paweł who sang for up until ‘97 (he played drums in ‘F.O.M.’)

Selim

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

“thank you for the beers”

“that’s life”

additions wellcome!…

98-03-14 Born From Pain – Surface – Anticipation – Legion – Conspiracy

We (and probably the other bands too) were contacted by a German guy to play at the V.V. No-one local seemed to be involved. I think there were only about 5 paying visiters (the rest were band-members). I don’t think we played there with ‘Breathstealer’ [as Tim Debrabandere suggested]. This is the flyer of that ‘Legion’ show in the pub.

Mike Coens, ‘Legion’ guitarist

In 1997 ‘Born From Pain’ (Limburg, The Netherlands) recorded a demo with Rob Franssen (bass), Wouter Alers (drums), Servé Olieslagers (guitar) & Ché Snelting (vocals). Same line-up did the recordings for their Immortality EP in July ‘98. The next time they were on was 2000-08-19.

‘Surface’, from the Ruhrpott-area, played metal-core. The band was Frank Knöfler (drums), Sven Pust (bass), Thorsten Kleine-Hegermann (guitar), Boris Pracht (guitar; later in ‘Caliban’) and Sammy Eftekhari (vocals). They did 2 albums on Mad Mob recs: To Millenium…And Beyond (’97) & Shadows Cast By The Light Of The World (’99). They played the fest on 99-08-20.

‘Anticipation’ (Germany) had a CD out (entitled Rude) on the German metal-label MDD (run by Markus Rösner).

‘Legion’ (Jabbeke/Knokke/Brugge, Belgium) were Maarten Berkers (bass), Mike Coens (guitar), Wim Jacobs (vocals; later ‘Blood Redemption’, ‘Crimson Falls’) & Frederic ‘Fre’ (DJ Flameboy) Flameygh (drums; ex ‘Burn Fight’, also briefly in ‘Vitality’). The band played typical H8000 style metalcore (“more deathmetal than hardcore”, references to ‘Deformity’). They did a (self-titled) demo (98) and released a mCD (Embedded In Darkness) on the British label Days Of Fury in 1999. The latter was with Dieter ‘Minx’ Meyns (later ‘Flatcat’) playing second guitar, and ‘Wulf’ (Kristof Dewulf) of ‘Deformity’ doing back-up vocals.

‘Legion’ (source unknown)

No idea about the Belgian ‘Conspiracy’…

‘Breathstealer’ was Davy De Schrooder (guitar; Distract zine; later vocals for ‘Disengage’ & ‘Maudlin’), Tim Debrabandere (guitar; later ‘Severance’), Maarten Berkers (bass; later ‘Disengage’), Mike Coens (drums) & Ken(ny) Jones (vocals; R.I.P.). They had a demo out in ’98.

Brob

I thought ‘Breathstealer’ and ‘Legion’ played together at the Vort’n Vis (the pub, not the festival) in 1998.

Tim Debrabandere, ‘Breathstealer’

additions wellcome!…

98-08-16 Reply – D.S.A. – Lifecycle – Inflexible – Ashlar – Caliban – Firestone – Arkangel – Reiziger – Eyeball – Congress

Introduction => 98-08-14&15&16 HardCore – The Next Generation festival

Laurent Chopard (from Besançon, France) wrote in his zine Co-existence (that he did with his mate Olivier Bresson): >>On Sunday I enjoyed ‘Lifecycle’, which I didn’t really like last year. The female vocals add a lot of extra. ‘Inflexible’ showed that metal-wise things are better in Poland than in Belgium. Style-wise, we can say that it’s successful. The Germans of ‘Caliban’ played slightly metal emo. I found it not bad but I was (like a lot of people) satured with metal. I was afraid that there would be more incidents since it was the Belgians of ‘Arkangel’ hit the stage. Nothing serious happened, except the pitiful hard-dancing duded happy to bust each other’s noses.

On a musical level, we got a long way from HC, it’s more like not too bad death-metal. On the other hand one may wonder if it’s useful to preach veganism in front of an informed and converted audience and if their “vegan revolution” doesn’t sound a bit ridiculous when you see their beautiful brand-clothing. Hopefully they’ll get there while growing up.

Finally emo! Yeah, the elders of ‘Kosjer D’ and ‘Reiziger’ gave a superb emo-rock concert which was a long way from some of the kiddy-play. ‘Eyeball’ disappointed me a bit, the audience loved it, it was very much old-school but I believe there’s much better style-wise. Guess who was closing the festival?… ‘Congress’! Yeah, some cancellations and there you go!: they call upon the local glories that are already playing every year. Well, let’s not be too mean: regarding metal H8000 style, it’s still the best.

We won’t insist too much on the ‘did-you-see-me’ attituded and the consumption at the festival, everybody should know by now; the same goes for the dirtyness of the site (Maybe it takes more SxE bands writing songs explaining how to get rid of trash in a garbage-can!) and and the bad smell in the venue. Well, I’ld better calm down because there’s at least there no cigarette-smoke. I regret (and I’m not the only one) the cancellations (‘Serene’, ‘Grade’ [cancelled for family-matters], ‘Bob Tilton’, ‘As Friends Rust’, etc.) and the absence of Swedish bands this year (let’s not even talk about French!) and on the other hand I’ll remember the good times and the people I met there. I don’t know why but this year almost the entire French scene was in the audience!<<

————————-

‘Reply’ (Lint/Kontich/Wilrijk): Kevin Meylemans (guitar), Jimmy Wouters (drums; replaced Yannick (Muylle?) and after that Brian De Bondt – author of the anti-windmilling flyer for 96-08-16&17&18; Jimmy also did a distro called Petition Of Menes and played in ‘One For Sorrow’) who left the band because of disagreemebts), Sven Roevens (vocals; also did Hoeëmai zine), Dries Verhaert (bass) & Michael Camerlinck (2^nd guitar later on but not here). Sven & Yannick also did Constructive zine. Kevin described his band’s music as “solid, intense metallic (emo) HC”. Their split-7” with ‘One For Sorrow’ came to the world in ’99 (Funtime recs, Firestorm recs, Fallen Angel recs). In 2000 they did a CD entitled Nine Batteries To Fuel Our Dying Teenage Love Affair (on Funtime recs).

‘D.S.A.’ was a local band that played the V.V. several times (see 97-06-27, 97-10-25 & 97-12-26). They also had a track on this year’s festival compilation-CD…

Sofie – ‘Lifecycle’s singer – wrote me (May ’98) that their bassist Jürgen had quit the band a few weeks earlier (“We did more shows without him than with him.” His last show was May ’98.) and that they were no longer an SxE band. They were gonna try out a girl as bassist but apparently that didn’t work out… They also had gotten the proposal to release a 7” on SoberMind recs. Check out their many other V.V. performances…

‘Lifecycle’ with Maarten Kinet replacing Jurgen Degryse on bass (photos by ?)

‘Inflexible’, from Łódź in Poland, were: Maciej ‘Maciek’ Derfel (bass), Piotr ‘Carlos’ Wołosz (vocals), Sebastian Niciński (drums) and Piotr Szambelan (guitar). Their music was described as mosh-core and they had a tape out entitled Progress By Hatred (Youth Culture, ’97). In ’99 their album Born To Hate was released (Shing recs). The band’s members were the founders of the B.D.H.Crew (or 248 Crew), a group of people from central Poland who wanted to promote HC & straight-edge scene.

‘Inflexible’ pics courtesy of Piotr Szambelan

The Good Life promo-talk on ‘Ashlar’ went like this: “Limburg metal-core following in ‘Kindred’s footsteps, with a more metal and Cleveland (‘Ringworm’, ‘Integrity’) influenced sound”. They were Rob Moonen (vocals; “a maniac on stage”), Raoul Cuypers (guitar; later ‘Sons Of Irah’), Frank Rogiers (bass; later ‘Ekzeem-A’) and Bert Daemen (drums). That year they released a mini-CD entitled Enthroned In A So-Called Heaven.

‘Ashlar’ (+ Rudi Brans); source unknown

‘Caliban’ are (they still exist and became ‘major’) a metal-core band from the ‘Ruhrpott’ area. The line-up in the beginning was: Engin Güres (bass), Robert Krämer (drums), Marc Görtz (guitar), Claus Wilgenbusch (guitar) & Andreas ‘Andy’ Dörner (vocals). ‎That year they did a self-titled EP on Lifeforce recs (the recording of their 1^st demo) and the next year the A Small Boy And A Grey Heaven LP on the same label (from Leipzig).

‘Caliban’; source unknown

‘Firestone’ (Kortrijk) were a H8000-metal band had played at the V.V. already (96-08-16, 97-06-27). Not sure who did vocals here (Thomas Desimpelaere or Alexander Baert or Pieter-Jan or Iris Walgraeve.), Mathieu Storms (drums), Diederik Claes (bass), Matthias Desimpelaere (guitar; later replaced by Ward Dufraimont – who was also in ‘Liar’) and Lennart Bossu (guitar; also ‘Liar’, later ‘Janez Detd’, ‘AmenRa’). They released an EP entitled Element on Sober Mind recs (’98) and an LP Aim For A New Tomorrow on Genet recs (‘00).

‘Arkangel’ (Brussels metalcore) were: Baldur Vildmurdarson (vocals), David Vande Zande (drums), Numa (guitar) & Mehdi Thepegnier (bass; or was it Vince(nt) Meseeuw of ‘Length Of Time’?). Kirby Michel (guitar; ex ‘Mental Disturbance’, ex ‘Deviate’) replaced Numa later on; they became a five-piece with Julien Chanut (guitar). Their EP Prayers Upon Deaf Ears got out on Alain Herszaft’s Released Power Productions (1998) and their LP Dead Man Walking on GoodLife recs (1999). Filip Staes’ girlfriend Adina ‘Storm’ Hepworth was ‘Arkangel’s webmaster and she started working for GoodLife.

‘Reiziger’ evolved from ‘Kosjer D’; their music was described as “post hardcore” and “emocore”. I think they were an ‘indie’ band on the edge of the DIY scene… The band consisted of Sven Gielen (drums), Pascal Hens (guitar), Kristien Hendrix (bass) & Geert Plessers (guitar/vocals). The year before Bruno (Genet recs) had released their 1^st (12”) EP Don’t Bind My Hands. And I think now the split-12” with ‘Bob Tilton’ and their LP (Our Kodo) was available from the same label. Tracks for a 7” (Grab And Nailed) on the Czech label Day After were recorded (at Patrick Delabie’s 195 studio) Nov ‘99. Other show of this band at the V.V.: 97-06-14 & 97-08-15.

‘Reiziger’ (photo by Vincent Troplain)

‘Eyeball’ was a German SxE HC band with Daniel Frankowski (guitarist of ‘Spawn’) on vocals. Ingo Engelhardt (the guitarist) also played in ‘Degradation’ & ‘Upright’. The others were Tim Kriependorf (bass), Thorsten (guitar) & Jörn (drums), Peter Hoeren informs me… Christoph (‘Spawn’) used to play bass in the beginning but he soon dropped out of the band. Their slogan ‘Tri-City Straight Edge’ refers to the fact that the members came from different cities. Crucial Response recs released their Talkin’ Straight 7” in 1998 & More Days To Come LP in 1999.

‘Eyeball’; photographed by Philippe Tuffet

1998 was the year of Angry With The Sun (LP on GoodLife recs) for ‘Congress’. It featured the usual gang: ‘U.J.’, Ilja, Pierre, ‘Josh’ and Michael. They also played the Graspop Metal Meeting that year…

Brob

‘Reply’ and my friends always meant a lot to me. We played there – replacing a band – on borrowed equipment (of the guys of ‘Building’, I think). The intensity and charm of that shed behind the original Vort’n Vis has never been surpassed; it was unique, even with all the shortcomings that came with it. We played there another time [???].

Kevin Meylemans, ‘Reply’ guitarist

I don’t have any stuff from that time (flyer etc.) but some good memories… I have been to the V.V. a couple of times…and yes, we played there too… I remember drinking my first Alpro soja choc drink there… And listening to ‘Queen’ in the car outside…and enjoying a lot of great bands there (‘Arkangel’ here, ‘Swing Kids’ & ‘The Locust’ on other occasions, and tons of more) and meeting friends…

Claus Wilgenbusch, ‘Caliban’ guitarist

The ‘Ashlar’ pic was from the infamous set where ‘Spirit Of Youth’ played a few songs – that got ‘Ashlar’ kicked from SoberMind recs even before there CD was released! [‘Ashlar’ gave ‘S.O.Y.’ the opportunity to play before their set, even though the organisation (Bruno & Hans) told them not to and hence ‘Ashlar’ was dismissed by SoberMind…]

Rudi Brans

‘Spirit Of Youth’ (Vincent Theeten & Sim Strike One); source unknown

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

additions wellcome!…

98-08-15 Sad Origin – Highscore – Opposite Force – Pray Silent – Clouded – Seein’Red – Spineless – Thumbs Down – Facedown – Earthmover

Introduction => 98-08-14&15&16 HardCore – The Next Generation festival

Laurent Chopard (from Besançon, France) wrote in his zine Co-existence (that he did with his mate Olivier Bresson): >>Saturday I saw two or three songs by ‘Sad Origin’ who played trite and uninteresting metal. Then the Germans of ‘Highscore’ impressed me with their very successful old-school HC (Olivier would have loved it!), ‘Seein’Red’ didn’t disappoint me musically but also attitude-wise (long explanations between the songs): fantastic! ‘Spineless’ with their unconvincing death-metal, ‘Facedown’ and their personal, technical HC gave a good concert in front of an active and convinced public, and finally ‘Earthmover’ who’d listened and looked too much at ‘Earth Crisis’… a pale copy.<<

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‘Sad Origin’ (from Dendermonde) played metal-core with NYHC influences (style: ‘Facedown’, ‘Chokehold’, ‘Strife’). The line-up was Peter De Bondt (bass), Wim Aerts (drums), Wes(ley) Steels (guitar) & Hans ‘Link’ Teirlinck (vocals). In 1997 they did a first demo Sober & Clean. Window Of Sarcasm (self-releases on Inner Belt recs) followed in 1998. Genet recs would release the LP A Double Edged Sword In A Triangle Of Emotions (reviewed in On Display #3 as “bad death-metal”) in  1999 (presented on the Fest of that year). Alain Herszaft put out the split-CD with ‘Misura’ on Released Power Productions in 2000.

‘Highscore’ were from Münster/Göttingen/Berlin and played energetic and intense old-school SExHC (sometimes compared to ‘Minor Threat’ or ‘Uniform Choice’). Guitarist Jobst Eggert (had been at the V.V. with his old band ‘Peace Of Mind’ on 94-11-05 & 95-03-25); the others were Sebastian Stronzik (vocals; later ‘Short Fuse’), Matthias Volke (guitar), Matthias Borgmann (bass; Chris Fold according the guestbook) and Volker Schlüter (drums). That year they released a demo (It’s For Real) and a self-titled 7” on Sebastian’s label La Familia.

‘Highscore’ (photo by Vincent Troplain)

‘Opposite Force’, a vegan SxE band from Rome, played “tough as hell in-your-face old school hardcore”. After a demo (’93), they had done an LP entitled Near on Vacation House recs (label of Rudy Medea, the singer of ‘Indigesti’) in 1994. Their LP History As We Lived It was released by Genet recs in 1999. Performing on that record were Andrea ‘Monster’ Campanelli (guitar), Cristiano Suriano (drums; also ‘Timebomb’), Marco Ciccone (bass; also ‘Timebomb’) and Simone Tripodi (vocals).

‘Pray Silent’ was a vegan straight-edge metalcore band from Switzerland (Sankt-Gallen) who released records on Genet recs (The Golden Flag 7” in ’97 and a split-7” with ‘Andromeda’ in ’99). The people in the band: Andi Grob (guitar), Attila Varga (vocals), Etienne Geyer (guitar; ex ‘Cwill’), Philipp Zimmerman (bass; replaced Jan) & Roger Cadalbert (drums). They came back the next year…

‘Pray Silent’ (photographed by Patrick Federli)

‘Clouded’ (from Kontich) were: Björn Van Loy (bass), Jeroen Verelst (vocals; also did Paradise Regained zine), Serge ‘Serch’ Carriere (drums) & Wout Bosschaert (guitar). Their 7” Inheritance was done by Genet recs (’98).

‘Clouded’ (courtesy of Steven Anthonis)

1998 was the year of the split-releases for ‘Seein’Red’: they did an LP with ‘MK Ultra’ (recorded October 1997) and with one with ‘The Judas Iscariot’ (recorded April 1998), both released on Coalition recs (Jeroen ‘Beertje’ Vrijhoef & Marcel Palyama). No further introduction for the band necessary I guess… Jos & the brothers had been here already a bunch of times (90-09-15, 95-04-28, 97-03-01)…

‘Seein’Red’ (pictures taken by Vincent Troplain & Philippe Tuffet)

‘Spineless’ (from Kortrijk) played their first gig at the Vort’n Vis on the fest in August ’96 (96-08-18). They band consisted of Kristof Mondy (bass; Yoda zine; later ‘AmenRa’), Colin H. Van Eeckhout (vocals; later ‘AmenRa’), Pedro ‘Fifi’ Fioen (guitar; also ‘Congress’), Mathieu Vandekerckhove (guitar; replaced Koen Sandra in ‘97; later ‘AmenRa’) and Stefaan Buyse (drums). They played brutal sXe H8000 metal-core. After their initial demo (’96) Hans Verbeke of Sober Mind recs released the Painfields 7” (1997) and the album A Talk Between Me And The Stars album (1998) – inspired by their “near-dead-experience” (car-crash on tour)… There’s a video them playing their song Exalt The New God here…

‘Thumbs Down’ (Antwerp) played “youth crew hardcore”. They were Andries Beckers (bass; later ‘Diablo Boulevard’; or was it still Roeland De Keulenaer?), Ken (drums; from ’99 on Benjamin Buschgens – later ‘The Setup’), Raf(aël) Balrak (guitar; later ‘The Setup’) and Steven Tuffin (vocals). They were also signed to Genet recs (Going For Gold 7” – with bassplayer Roeland – in ’97, No Retreat No Surrender 7” and Crossroads LP in ’99). They also played the fest the year before (97-08-16) and earlier that year (98-05-10).

‘Thumbs Down’ (shot by Vincent Troplain & Philippe Tuffet)

‘Facedown’ had been playing at the V.V. various times (96-08-16, 97-08-15 & 97-10-12). The ‘new-school’ (metal-influenced) vegan SE-HC band from Kontich consisted of: Thomas Baeken (bass), Youri Baeken (drums), Daniel Mies (vocals), Niko Poortmans (guitar) and Geert Ceuppens (guitar). Genet recs released the Beyond All Horizons album earlier that year and the Education, Contemplation, Dedication EP in ’99. They changed their name to ‘Calibre’ when they got a record-deal with a major label (Warner Music).

‘Facedown’ (pic by Steve Lammertyn)

‘Earthmover’ (from Detroit) played pounding metal-core and were Andy Dempz (guitar; owner of Ann Arbor based hardcore/punk label +/- recs), Mike Hasty (guitar; also ‘Walls Of Jericho’), Wes Keely (drums; ex ‘Walls Of Jericho’), Chris(tian) Mueller (bass; replaced Nick Bristow), Jason/Jay Clifton (drums) and Len Adams (vocals). Releases: Abuse (7” on Autonomy recs ’95), Themes From Everyday Life (10” on +/- recs ’96), split-7” with ‘Facedown’ (Moo Cow recs ’97) and Death Carved In Every Word (LP on Genet recs ’98).

‘Earthmover’ (photo by Patrick Federli)

Brob

I liked the atmoshere at the festival. Ieper seemed occupied by (straight-edge) HC troops, and the streets surrounding the venue seemed like they were ours, haha. Until today this is my best moment on stage. Memorable line-up too. A quite unique registration of Members Of Futility: the only time we played that song live. Heydays of 90s metalcore. It gives me a lot of pleasure that influences of that 90s metalcore are emerging again with new and old bands. With my new band ‘Royal Jake’ we try to keep doing similar things. Our EP definitely has a number of musical references to my time in ‘S.O.’

Peter De Bondt, ‘Sad Origin’ bassist

Oh yeah! I remember very well. That was the first hardcore show that size any of us had ever seen/been a part of. Usually there maybe a few hundred people losing their minds. This place was packed with over 3.000 people ready to go! You could feel the place about to explode. We only had a few minutes to frantically get our gear up before we played, everything was a mess. The stage was all the way at the back, we had to plow through all 3.000+ people just to get to the stage. It was all a mess, but absolutely glorious at the same time.

Chris Mueller was not in ‘Earthmover’ at that time. That was where I came in. I joined ‘Earthmover’ for that tour, played with them for their duration. Then we started ‘Walls Of Jericho’ out of the ashes…

Aaron Ruby

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

additions wellcome!…

98-08-14 One X More – One Fine Day – Driven – Building – Contrition – Stack – Timebomb – Liar – Culture

Introduction => 98-08-14&15&16 HardCore – The Next Generation festival

Laurent Chopard (from Besançon, France) wrote in his zine Co-existence (that he did with his mate Olivier Bresson): >>We arrived around 18 hours. As usual, I will only give my opinion on the bands that I saw (more or less for a longer time). Know that there were about 25 of them. ‘Driven’ was playing at the time we got there. They’re Dutch and play a new-school HC, unpretentious but not too bad. Then it was up to ‘Stack’ to go loose. A very good powerviolencore gig; spoiled however (as well as the evening) by an individual, fan of windmilling and shouting homophobic slogans. Some people objected and there was a brief confrontation later on. It’s entirely legitimate, in our opinion, to prevent these types of people from spreading their hateful messages in this scene, and it’s even rather surprising to see that very few people in the end reacted to this kind of aggression. The atmosphere was tense from that moment on. The Italians of ‘Timebomb’ unleasehed their devils. I saw them two years ago. There had been some changes in the band; it was less black-metal and very disappointing musically. ‘Liar’ then took over. We see them every year and it seemed a little better than the other times but without convincing me; the nice surprise was that the singer took a stand against homophobia and violent dancing during their set. However, the homophobic individual from Brussels had to get noticed again, on scene. It’s sad to see that this type of people refuses dialogue, has no arguments and hides behind violence. The festival was taking a rather bad turn because of this kind of tension. ‘Culture’ started in difficult conditions (because there were also problems with the material). What could have been a great concert turned into an average one. The band had to stop playing several times. This is where we learned that there was a lot of agitation outside. Guess who was involved? The individual from Brussels in question and his friends who had been at a nearby pub. It’s truly pitiful for a community that claims to be alternative and “better” than society in general. Let’s no longer talk about unity.<<

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‘One X More’ (from Wortel) were Jan Matthé (bass), Tim ‘Petrel’ Van de Plas(-Peeters) (vocals; did Cosy zine), Sis Matthé (guitar) and Krist Torfs (drums). They appeared on a couple of compilations with their “fast, blasting old-school HC with a positive message”. Around the time of this fest Robert Voogt released their debut 7” on his label label Commitment recs. Their 2^nd (They Say That You Sold Out) came out in 1999. Needless to say they were a SxE band. The Matthé brothers were also active on the zine-front: Jan & Sis did X Realm X and Pol did Willow Tree.

‘One Fine Day’ (described as a “post-hardcore” band) were Adriano ‘Baulo’ Fontaneto, Alessio Fornasiero (bass), Andrea ‘ics’ Ferraris (guitar; also ‘Burning Defeat’, ‘Permanent Scar’, etc.), Luca ‘Mouth’ Fontaneto (vocals; editor of the zine Outlet) and Stefano Bosso (drums). In 1998 the Vladimir Illich Ulianov’s Failure 7” (with Matteo Masciaga instead of Andrea) came out on Cycle recs (Stefano’s label) & Tough Guy Anthems CD on Impression recs. They did a demo earlier on.

‘One Fine Day’ (pic by Federico Albertini)

‘Driven’ from Amsterdam were: Bas Sondervan (bass), Nickel van Duijvenboden (drums), Joris Oonk (guitar), Rogier Stevens (guitar) & Vincent Hausman (vocals). Their music was described as “political hardcore metal” (quote by GoodLife). They did a demo in 1996or97 and Ed released the Cowardice Consumer Of The West EP on GoodLife recs in1999.

‘Driven’ (photographed by David Pujol)

‘Building’, a “youth-crew style” SxE HC from Antwerp, were: Olivier ‘Paco’ Packolet (vocals; later ‘True Colors’), Jelle De Cremer (guitar), (P)Andy Van Den Wijngaert (bass; later Werner Boes) & Bruno (drums; replacing Joris). They released material on SoberMind recs: In Time We’ll Grow (1998) & split-7” with ‘Up Front’ (1999). There’s also a live-tape of them playing at the GoodLife 1999 summer-fest.

‘Building’ (pic Martijn Wouters)

‘Contrition’ (a “metallic hate-edge” band from Schleiz/Jena, ex East-Germany) released the following: in ’96 a self-titled mCD on Time For Revolt recs (Rico Majchrzak), a demo recorded live 97-07-30 in Jena, a 3-way split ‎-7” on Threesome recs (’97) and the Transitory CD (’98). They were: Eddy Langner (guitar), Lars Ostermann (vocals), Andreas Ferge (bass), Alex(ander) Fischer (guitar) & Ulli Walther (drums). Some of them went on as ‘Fall Of Serenity’.

‘Stack’, the powerviolence band from Ludwigshafen, had been at the V.V already (95-04-28). They recorded for the Mondonervaktion 7” in September ‘96 (their former bassist Corey released it on Equality recs in ‘97) with Bernd Bohrmann on vocals, Chris(tophe) Klimmer & Marcel ‘Croissant’ Hanneman playing guitars, Ralf Bock on drums and Michael Bergweiler on bass. This resulted in “deranged pissed-off blasts of total mayhem that threaten to split the ear”… The same sessions served for the Selbstfindungsgruppe 6” (Coalition recs), the split-7” with ‘Carol’ (on Holger Ohst’s label Summersault) and the two songs for the A Tradition Of 7″ compilation (on the US label Fall recs). In January 1998 they entered the studio again to record the songs for the split-7” with ‘Narsaak’ (released by Per Koro). After a 3 weeks tour in the summer of 1998 Marcel left the band and they became a four-piece for a few months before they split up for the first time in November 1998 (due to personal difficulties). In June 1999 they reformed with a new bass-player called Steffen Hinkel (the guitarist of ‘Fear Is The Path To The Dark Side’), Ralf on drums, Chris on guitar and Bernd on vocals. In March 2000 Chris decided to leave the band due to personal reasons. Steffen took over the guitar and Michael returned to bass again. In 20001 The Konkret Lichtgeschwindigkeit 10” – fast blasting manic HC – came out on Bernd’s label Scorched Earth Policy and Ralf’s label Flowerviolence recs. This was recorded with Chris doing the guitar-tracks.

‘Stack’ ([1] by ?; [2 & 3] courtesy of Roel Brals)

‘Timebomb’, from Rome, were a communist, vegan and straight-edge band playing metallic HC. They played at the V.V. on 95-08-20 & 96-08-17 aswell. The band consisted of Marco Ciccone (guitar), Daniele Marini (guitar), Simone Marini (bass; Kill For Love zine), Cristiano Suriano (drums) & Giorgio Fois (vocals; replaced by Emiliano). After releases on Paolo Petralia’s SOA recs they did The Full Wrath Of The Slave on Genet recs in in 1998.

‘Liar’ had been playing the V.V. August fests since 1995. The Invictus album was recorded in Spring ’97 with U.J., Josh, Hans and drummer Bert Guillemont. Don’t know if additional guitarist Lennart Bossu played here already (he was on Deathrow Earth that got out in ’99).

‘Culture’ was a vegan straight-edge band from Gainesville, Florida that was active from 1992-1998. If I’m well informed the band conisted of singer Damien Moyal (also ‘Morning Again’ & ‘As Friends Rust’), Rich Thurston (guitar), Stephen ‘Steve’ Looker (guitar), Jason Dooley (drums) and Gordon Tarpely (bass). They had been over here the year before (97-08-16) to promote the split with ‘Kindred’ and the Oath 7” (both on Good Life recs). The latter was – in the spirit of ‘free enterprise’ – extended to the Hetronome CD. Good’ole chugga chugga HC for the H8000 kids.

Brob

I joined ‘Liar in ‘99 so I didn’t play here.

Lennart Bossu

I remember ‘Culture’ and of course ‘Seein’Red’. I left the band to start ‘Prone’ later that year… [Powerviolence trio with Christophe Klimmer (guitar) and Ralf Bock (drums), all ex ‘Stack’]

Michael Bergweiler, ‘Stack’ bassist

I remember that we played second or third, and that we just got back from our first touring-adventure in Spain (together with ‘Between The lines’). Fantastic and fun times!

Tim ‘Petrel’ Van de Plas(-Peeters), ‘One X More’ vocalist

We played our last show on our European tour with ‘Building’ here.

Jan Matthé, One X More

We got there after a trip of more than 20 hours (problem with IDs, gas and various shit)… It has been a great esperience and we hope someone enjoyed our gig; we thank everyone who was there standing in front of us, waiting for us to play even if we were late…

‘One Fine Day’

In a first version of ‘One Fine Day’ we were called ‘XconsciousnessX’ (with Matteo Masciaga).

The V.V. Fest was like our home away from home. Bruno treated us well…

Let me tell you this: looking in retrospective, let alone few humans and few ideas that stuck in life, HC has been a bunch of white guys preaching to the converted; a toxic heterosexual environment where girls where treated like human hangers. The whole emo sucks. I find it equal to the black-hating and the whole way women are treated nowadays. I find the entire hardcore-movement to be a very conservative and old-thinking component of people that are mostly white and male. What’s so interesting? Also a bit jaded and naïve. As of today… I’m the only PUNK I know, including all the people I met during my punk years. I still live up to it.

Luca Fontaneto

I think we played twice at the V.V. I recall spending the night on the camping. And that the mosh-pit was extremely aggressive. I have a recording of the concert in ’98 … It was one of the better shows we played despite the preaching of our frontman Vincent, who was rather preoccupied with expressing his beliefs. There are still people confused if we were a completely vegan straight-edge band. Looking back a rather childish matter. ‘Driven’ was mainly about the music, we were musicians and for the hardcore scene dependent of the ideological passion of our frontman, who maintained all contacts.

I have a lot of memories about ‘Driven’ but nothing specific. The musicianship stayed, the political shifts, the adolescent militancy disappears for a big part. I’m not in touch with the other bandmembers anymore (Vincent is the singer of ‘Howl’ (US); Rogier is a lawyer, Joris is a composer, Bas is a journalist, philospher, musician; Max Porcelijn [the first bassist] is a director (won a Gouden Kalf [prize at the Dutch Film Festival]) and I’m a graphic artist, teacher, writer & classical tenor); we share too little to meet up.

The person in the pic singing along with Vincent is Antje Klaster (who’s running a model-agency, I believe)…

It was awesome to be in the band ‘Driven’. We toured 3 times (twice across Europe, all the way to Spain, Slovenia & Hungary; once across the UK with shows in Leeds, Londen & Manchester). People can watch a movie with footage.

Nickel van Duijvenboden, drummer of ‘Driven’

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

additions wellcome!…

 

98-09-19 Doom – Oi Polloi – Link – Outrage – Sarah – Alcatraz – Filth Of Mankind – Reller

Intro: 98-09-18&19 10^th Leedfestival

[all pics here by Henk Loobuyck; except ‘Link’ courtesy of Michael Maes]

Both ‘Oi Polloi’ (Deek Allan was accompanied by Calum Mackenzie – bass / Ade Crawford – drums / Ricky White – guitar) & ‘Doom’ had been here several times before (The Scots even less than half a year: 98-04-18); no need to introduce them. ‘Oi Polloi’s 7” THC was recorded right after this. ‘Doom’ had recorded for the split-10” with ‘Cress’ (out on Sned & Alec’s Flat Earth recs) in March with Chris Gascoigne (bass), ‘Stick’ (drums), ‘Bri’ & Denis Boardman (guitar) & Wayne Southworth (vocals; R.I.P.).

‘Doom’

‘Oi Polloi’

‘Filth Of Mankind’ (Gdansk, Poland) hadn’t been able to play the year before because of the general cancellation of the festival (see 97-09-20). This time they were invited back…

This is from their website (www.filthofmankind.nsm.pl): >>The organiser of the Leed Festival asked us (and ‘Money Drug’ to come over and do 3-4 shows with ‘Doom’. Unfortunately, a few days before we left, it turned out there were only 2; and when we got to Ieper we were told that there was only going to be this one at the fest. Bummer! Even before the journey it was clear that Maciek [Kowalski; vocals] couldn’t travel along, Milosz [Gassan; guitar] & ‘Balon’ [Paweł Szymański; drums] took the roaring name upon them – off course an enormous mental task. We played early on Saturday; the first part of the V.V. hall started to fill up. Milosz wanted to get things started but – still numb of the night before (alcohol & co) – had to look really hard to find the right strings. Once tuned, it seemed another key than the rest, so he started anew. That took about 10 minutes (if not more)… When we finally managed to get going, things were OK and the audience seemd to like it…<<

I believe the others in the band were Lazej/Anders Storm (later Michał Jędrejek) on bass and Pawel ‘Scream’ Rzóska (guitar). The band did a 7” (Czas Końca Wieku [End Of The Century]; ‘99) and an LP (The Final Chapter; 2000) on Scream recs. Their music was described as “Apocalyptic Crust” (dark, heavy and metal-influenced)…

‘Filth Of Mankind’

The band ‘Link’ had people from the Ieper/Ypres & Lille (France) area: Vort’n Vis ‘shitworkers’ Michael Maes (guitar) & his partner Inge Cappoen (vocals), and Greg ‘Briko’ (bass) & ‘Juju’ Julien Dejonckheere (drums). After a couple of demos their 1^st CD The Last Sacrifice (recorded with a drum-computer) was released in 2000. The music: “brutal metallic HC with a serious crust-punk edge & raging female vocals”. One reviewer actually believed Inge was really from Sweden… They’d played the V.V. a few times already (97-09-12, 97-12-26, 98-04-18; those last 2 times also with ‘Oi Polloi’).

‘Link’

‘Sarah’ were Bretons “fighting for their future, their language”. Their address stated “Breizh via France”. Breizh is the Breton name for Brittany (Bretagne, a region in the North-West of France). They wrote: “The French laws are improper for what is going on in Britttany, e.g. concerning water-pollution, agriculture,…” but they didn’t see themselves as nationalists: “We are communists.”. They were also a SxE band…“to show people that it is possible to live without drugs or alcohol”. They played hardcore/punk and also did a zine named An Eeunded. This was also their second appearance at the V.V. (after 98-04-19). The band consisted of Fabien Lecuyer (vocals/fiddle), Michaël Genevée (drums/accordion/fiddle), Erwan H. (guibasse/mandoline/piano) & Jérôme Bouthier (bass). They did 2 demos (Herzelomp Betek An Trec’h & Latcho Drom) and in 1999 they released Ez Eterninmens (4 track CD).

‘Sarah’

‘Alcatraz’ (from Oulmes/Niort/Poitiers) was the band of Gérome Desmaison (who did the zines Cheval de Troie & J’ai le Regret à la Joie Mélé) and Séverine Rambaud (Acajou zine & Soja Service zine-distribution). She was doing bass/vocals, her brother Thierry ‘Titi’ Rambaud (also ‘Robotnička’) played the drums, Gérome did guitar/vocals, and Laurent ‘Ballon’ Daudin (guitar; ex ‘Peu Être’) & Mickaël ‘Mike’ Ramounet (vocals). Gérome & Laurent were also running a distribution called Le Brun, le Roux Corporation. Mike did Opale distro (together with Stéphanie Courret; nowadays his partner). People called their music emo-core.

‘Alcatraz’

‘Outrage’, from the Herentals area, were Sigi Loots (drums), Steven Van Goubergen (guitar), Ringo Van Dingenen (vocals) and Nico Peeters (bass). This was after their 7” To Terrorize Ear And Mind (“a DIY product distributed by a network of friends”; recorded November ‘97) got out… They had played here a few times before (96-03-24, 96-08-16 & 97-03-01).

‘Outrage’

‘Reller’

‘Reller’ were the guys from ‘Outrage’ (Nico – here vocals, Sigi – drums, Steven – guitar & Ringo – here guitar) with Yannick Daems (vocals; later ‘Vuur’) & An Caers (bass; Nico’s partner at that time).

Brob

‘Peu-être’ have split up but 3 of them and 2 other people have formed an other band: ‘Alcatraz’.

Mike Ramounet, personal communication Dec. ‘96

I was proud to be able to play in that fabulous place that was the V.V. I’d already been there as a spectator and I never thought I’ld play there one day. To me the Vort’n Vis was like ABC No Rio. I remember we were wel recieved by everyone. This was a punk festival so there were a lot of people.

Mickaël ‘Mike’ Ramounet, ‘Alcatraz’ vocalist

I don’t remember much about the festivaI where I played with my band ‘Alcatraz’ except for the ‘Oi Polloi’ and ‘Outrage’ concerts (great!). Nico from ‘Outrage’ was very nice. We stayed at his place and I think it’s him who brought us to a woman whose job was producing great tofu. We had some of course :-).

Séverine Rambaud, ‘Alcatraz bassist’

We were and are always close to Breton and Basque separatist circles. Our bassist has been in prison for 2 years, accused of terrorism (he was acquitted). We did over 100 concerts in various countries…

Fabien Lecuyer; ‘Sarah’

That was my first performance ever! I remember that people from France video-taped the gig but I’ve never seen the footage.

An Caers

We did indeed also play with ‘Reller’… I Recently found back an old demo…trying to digitalise that… I know the ‘Alcatraz’ guys filmed our performance…

Nico Peeters, ‘Outrage’ bassist

The atmosphere was rather relaxed, contrary to HC ’98 in August. Only a few idiotic brawls outside the Vort’n Vis.

Stef Goos; personal communication Oct ‘98

I remember this concert. One of the few posters I kept…with the old ‘Link’ logo I drew…

‘Juju’ organised concerts in Lille for more than 10 years with his association Rock’n’Roll Jihad…

Greg, ‘Link’ bassist

I played there too.

Michał Jędrejek; ‘Filth Of Mankind’

Our line-up here was Miłosz, Michał, ‘Balon’ and myself.

Pawel ‘Scream’ Rzóska/Krzykowski

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

additions wellcome!…

98-12-05 Jaded

Davy Bright, an English guy living in Scotland who moved to Copenhagen for a while, was a correspondent of mine. This Danish band, ‘Jaded’ were friends of his but he didn’t travel with them. As they wrote in the V.V. guestbook: they were on their Towards Extinction tour… This gig was probably organised by Lieve Goemaere (Ugly Duckling zine) who was also friends with Davy.

The band consisted of Morgen Van Buren a.k.a. ‘Dan Bishop’ (bass), Diego Mocci (drums), Rene (guitar), Donovan (guitar) and Lars Berndt Jensen (vocals). Their music was described as “brutal metalcore with engaged lyrics”. They had a track on the Copenhardcore Ungergrund compilation double-LP (1998, on Jan Svejstrup’s label Error recs). The same year they released a self-titled 7”. And in 1999 the 10” End Of The Millennium.

The band signed the guestbook on Sunday Dec 6^th but according to the notes they played on Saturday the 5^th.

Brob

They played in Europe a few times. Did a 7” and a 10”. Good guys. Did a few bands afterwards. One now lives in The Netherlands, was the [Italian] drummer for the popular melodic punk band ‘Bambix’. [Wick ‘Bambix’: “He played for us during a year – around 2010. I’m not in touch with him anymore.”] Kim played bass for a while, he was also in ‘Tourist Trap’ with Lars and Diego [& Emil ‘Sune’ Sunesson?].

Davy Bright

We played Ieper but I’m not sure what other places in Belgium. We did a few gigs in Belgium for every tour we did. Diego probably knows it all a bit better than I do!

Lars Berndt Jensen

We played there both in 98 and 99… Rene and Donovan played guitar, Donovan only played on the first 7”…

Diego Mocci

excerpt from the V.V. guestbook:

additions wellcome!…