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!…

96-09-22 Sektor – Vitality (photos)

More on this concert: 96-09-22 Strain – Ananda – Systral – Elision – Sektor – Vitality – Family Of Dog

photo-shoot by Sarah Van de Mosselaer

‘Sektor’: ‘Lenny’ Wouter Cael (bass), Bert Guillemont (drums), Piet ‘Pete’ Cardoen (guitar), Vadim Vandekerckhove (guitar) & ‘Jerre’ Jeroen Therry (vocals)

‘Vitality’: ‘Chief’ Steve De Clercq (vocals), ‘Noptje De Mens’ Bob Van Lierde (guitar) & ‘Alien King’ Chris Paccou (guitar), Olivier ‘Ollie’ Dobbels (drums) & ‘Switch’ Marc Paccou (bass)

[bottom pic: St-Niklaas crew with Nicolas Malfeyt)]

97-08-16 Culture – Liar – Kindred – Blindfold – Sektor – Serene – Spirit Of Youth – Intensity – Metroschifter – ODK Crew – Thumbs Down

Introduction => 97-08-15&16&17 HardCore – The Next Generation festival

‘Thumbs Down’ (from Antwerp) played “youth crew hardcore”. If I’m correct the band consisted of Roeland De Keulenaer (bass; later replaced by Andries Beckers of ‘Diablo Blvd’), Ken (drums; since ’99 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).

Barricada #2: “I was baffled by ‘Thumbs Down’ because I thought they resembled ‘Battery’. There was also a black person in the band, reminding of ‘Battery’s Ken Olden (even the guitar was the same). An even bigger surprise was when they played that great old-school ‘Bold’ cover.”

‘Thumbs Down’ (photo by Sergi E. Costa)

‘ODK Crew’ played old-school HC influenced by ‘Judge’, ‘Rise Above’, etc. They were from Oostduinkerke (Belgian coast-town). That year Hans (of Sober Mind recs) released a 7” entitled Old School vs New School. These guys were members of ‘Vitality’ (guitarist Bob Van Lierde & bassist Marc Paccou) and ‘Congress’ (drummer Ilja De Ceuleneire); singer was Micha(ël) ‘Mika’ Sallaerts. They reformed halfway the noughties with ‘Lil’ Wayne’ (Chris Weyne; ex roadie of ‘Vitality) on vocals…

Barricada #2: “Boring old fast metal in the vein of ‘One Life Crew’.”

‘Metroschifter’ – from Louisville, Kentucky – did a first tour of Europe (22 days) with the band ‘Omaha’ (from Toledo, Ohio; with Dirk Hemsath of Doghouse recs) Dec ’96 – Jan ‘97. Drummer Chris(topher) Reinstatler (a.k.a. ‘The Hört’; ex ‘Transcend’) had joined the band because Mario Rubalcaba left. Mark Ritcher filled in on bass as Pat(rick) McClimans (ex ‘Endpoint’) was unable to go on the trip. But it was Brendan Bogosian who played bass on ‘Metroschifter’s August 1997 Euro tour. In June ’97 they recorded the Metroschifter 4 LP – “loud, distorted, mathematical rock”; post-HC – (released on Doghouse recs) and then came over to Europe again. The line-up here was Scott Ritcher (guitar/vocals; Slamdek recs; writer and graphic designer – kcomposite.com), Pat and Chris. Dec ’98 they came to Europe for the 3^rd time; and a 4^th time Dec ’99 (with Curtis Mead on bass).

Scott Ritcher (photo by Sergi E Costa)

Here’s a few words by Scott (from the zine Love, Sweat & Tears) on this:

Barricada #2: “They cleaned our dark ears and cooled the air in the hall.”

‘Intensity’, from Malmö/Lund (Sweden) played “fast, intense old-school HC à la Minor Threat”: Jonas Nilsson (guitar; later Mathias Blixtberg & Andy Dahlström, both also ‘Satanic Surfers’; works for Bad Taste), Rodrigo Alfaro (vocals; also ‘Satanic Surfers’; founder of the Putrid Filth Conspiracy label), Kristoffer Lind (bass) and Simon Ricci (drums; later Tommas Svendsen). At that time they had 2 albums our on Bad Taste recs (where Jonas & Rordrigo helped out – Bought And Sold (1996) & Wash Off The Lies (1998), and a 7” – Battered Soul – on Rodrigo’s label Putrid Filth Conspiracy. The band came back to the V.V. on 99-06-27 (because Bruno Genet recs had re-released their Bought And Sold album as a 10”)

‘Intensity’ (photographed by Sergi E. Costa)

Barricada #2: “Old school with vocals reminiscent of ‘Ignite’ but the music sounds more punk.”

‘Spirit Of Youth’ (Roeselare/Poperinge area; heart of the H8000 area) had played in there new line-up (their “second phase”, more new-school metal-HC) at the V.V. already (97-06-27). Dominiek ‘Dompi’ Denolf (guitar) & Frederik ‘Fré’ Denolf (drums), bassist Kris Casier of ‘Solid’ (who played on Source, recorded in May) was replaced by Sim Meersseman (of Strike One zine; later ‘Kingpin’) here, guitarist Vincent ‘Vince’ Theeten (a.k.a. ‘Tweet’, also Strike One zine) and Vincent ‘Marvel’ Merveillie (vocals; also ‘Resist In Pain’, ‘Lifecycle’). They would do 3 LPs: Source on Sober Mind recs (1998), a split with ‘One King Down’ ‎on GoodLife recs (1998) & Colors That Bleed on GoodLife recs (1998).

‘Spirit Of Youth’ (pic courtesy of Sergi E. Costa)

‘S.O.Y.’s ‘Marvel’ (+ ‘Lifecycle’s Sofie) (pic kindly donated by Jan Beckers)

Barricada #2: “A mix of metal and old-school. Their new album on SoberMind sounds quite good.”

‘Serene’ (from Gävle, Sweden) – Olle ‘Hård’ Johansson (drums), Petter Karlsson (bass), Fredrik Nygren (guitar), Klas Joakim Eriksson (guitar; later ‘Leiah’) and Anders Nähslund (vocals) – had been at the V.V. earler that year (97-03-30). ‘They did a split-7” with ‘Separation’ on Genet recs that year. Their LP Inward Flowering was released on the same label in ’98. “Melody-driven hardcore and screamo punk.”

Barricada #2: “The surprise of the evening. After some small technical problems, they got started… So we could fly off. A brutal emo band lead by a teenage singer who made considerable effort. Only a shame that the band didn’t talk that much.”

‘Serene’ photographs ([1] courtesy of Olle Johansson, [2] Laurent Chopard)

The band with silliest nick-names: ‘Lenny LadyLover’ Wouter Cael (bass), Bert ‘BabyNipples’ Guillemont (drums; also in ‘Liar’), Piet ‘Pete’ Cardoen (a.k.a. ‘Mousti’ or ‘Tripple Nipple’; guitar), Vadim ‘KarateKip’ Vandekerckhove (guitar) and Jeroen Therry (a.k.a. ‘KungFu Mike’ or ‘Morbid Mike’; vocals). Since they were from from “Beseloare”; Beselare, a village close to Ieper, they’d played the Vort’n Vis sevral times already (96-05-12, 96-08-17, 96-09-22). 1997 was the year Hans SoberMind released their 12”/CD Human Spots of Rust.

Barricada #2: “One of the spiritual fathers of the H8000 crew. [Oh irony!] Ultra-fast brutal metal with some aggressive dancing [see video], so we preferred staying outside where we felt safer (but it wasn’t that terrible).”

‘Blindfold’ did NOT play their last ever gig here at the ‘97 V.V. Fest. (see intro) Their set was recorded an released as Live At The Vort’n Vis on SoberMind recs. Mich Decruyenaere (ex ‘Fungus’, later ‘Hitch’) had started as 2^nd guitarist; he’d already played on the band’s 1996 German tour. Most in the band were V.V. ‘shitworkers’ and practically the ‘house-band’ so they played their umpteenth set…

Wim ‘Blindfold’ (pic by JanCoert Toerse)

‘Blindfold’ (photo-shoot by Sergi E. Costa)

Barricada #2: “When hell passed away, we quickly returned inside since ‘Blindfold’, pioneers [???] of the hardcore in Belgium, started to play. The atmosphere was excellent: they played their most famous songs; music on the border of melodic HC and metal. Their performance was [NOT just yet] the last of the band’s six-year existence.”

‘Kindred’ was an SxE outfit from Limburg (metallic style of HC, often compared with ‘Unbroken’) with Jan Beckers (guitar) and Maarten Beckers (drums) – Jan was in ‘Acoustic Grinder’ (see: 93-02-27) & both in ‘Strength Of The Will’ (92-09-06 & 93-09-19) and ‘Churn’ (95-08-20); later ‘Enemy Of The Sun’, ‘Kabul Golf Club’) – Eric Sefton (vocals) & Walter Beckers (bass). Their earlier sets here (96-05-12 & 96-08-17) were with Raf Gielen playing 2^nd guitar. The recordings for the LP on GoodLife recs (File 01) were done in October ’96 without Raf. The band was touring with the Americans of ‘Culture’ so there was a split out (on GoodLife recs) with tracks from ‘Kindred’s recording-session of March that year. (see ad below)

‘Kindred’: (1) Eric & Walter (pic courtesy of Jan Beckers), (2) Maarten (source unknown)

Barricada #2: “There were more people on stage than just the band: Belgian fans stood everywhere in-between the band-members. I couldn’t breathe so I went to out to gains some strength for ‘Liar’.”

‘Liar’ (UxJx – bass, Josh – guitar, Bert- drums & Hans – vocals) had recorded the Invictus album in Feb/March at Midas studios. There was also the split-EP with ‘Family Of Dog’ (a freebie with H8Z fanzine #5)…

Barricada #2: “Contrary to last year – when ‘Liar’ seemed to be very intolerant towards people – their performance had changed a lot and there was a new ‘Liar’ in front of us. Even the singer (‘Blindfold’s guitarist) seemed very sympathetic to me. An excellent clear sound and new songs gave the concert dynamics. The hymn Blade was sung along by perhaps all Belgians. I was so excited, the dancing was not so brutal and the band was visible from the back of the hall.”

‘Culture’ was a vegan straight-edge band from Gainesville, Florida that was active from 1992-1998. The line-up changed a number of times over the years. Stephen ‘Steve’ Looker wrote me he was the guitarist of ‘Culture’ when they were on tour with ‘Kindred’ in 1997. The CD entitled Heteronome (“chugga chugga HC”) and the Oath 7” that GoodLife recs marketed in ’97 was recorded with Steve (also ‘Morning Again’), Jason Dooley (drums), Gordon Tarpley (bass; also in ‘As Friends Rust’), Rich Thurston (guitar) and Damien Moyal (vocals; also ‘Shai Halud’, ‘Morning Again’, ‘As Friends Rust’) – the guys who were on this tour.

Damien ‘Culture’ (pics by JanCoert Toerse & Laurent Chopard)

commodification…

Barricada #2: “They started with songs from Born Of You [1995 album on Conquer The World recs], followed by tracks from the split with ‘Kindred’. Towards the end, it got too hot on the stage: dozens of people packed together on a few square meters. They also played new things from the last mCD [Heteronome; which GoodLife released right before the fest] and when the microphone broke (it was astonishing that it lasted so long), they played the last song on this tour (They ended their summer-tour with ‘Kindred’ here in Ieper.): the older song Deforestation – the whole crowd sang and the vocalist could do nothing else than climb the iron girders that supported the roof, and watch the hell below him. Highlight of this Saturday night.”

Brob

I remember playing the Vort’n Vis in 1997 with ‘Culture’ on tour with ‘Kindred’.

Stephen ‘Steve’ Looker, ‘Culture’ guitarist

I didn’t do the first euro tours… I started the band but left shortly after we recorded the ‘Kindred’ split but currently I’m in ‘Culture’ again… Jason Dooley was on the 97/98 tours.

Joshua Williams, ‘Culture’

I played the Vort’n Vis twice with ‘Culture’ in both 1997 and 1998, and it was everything a hardcore punk show should be: sweaty, intense, crowded. I remember the stage being over-run with people singing along, and there was barely room to play. The height of the stage was perfect, the setting was perfect, the era was thriving. I’ll never forget those shows.

Damien Moyal

I remember I had to work and regretted I couldn’t stay. I do recall being very impressed by ‘Abhinanda’ [the day before]. It might be the day when ‘Vinnie’ said someone lost their clock and he’d found it: it was one of those giant clocks hanging on the wall… Vincent wore his giant nerdy specs. At the end of our set, I sang this song… Together In The Sand…? By ‘NoFX’…? No sure if it was then? We did so many gigs. And of course I a lot of had fun… Ah, and I assume there were loads of people sleeping at our house. My mom sometimes couldn’t open the door because our living-room was full of people.

Fred Denolf, ‘S.O.Y.’

Our show here is partly on the H8000 DVD. The venue was packed and loads of people were diving and singing along. The best time we ever played there. The video shows everyone from the scene standing around us really, all colleague’s bands. It’s shot from the rear of the stage, in the direction of the crowd…

Dominiek Denolf, ‘S.O.Y.’

97-08-16 was the first time we met the overly tattooed guys from ‘Endstand’. Great guys! We also hung out with the ‘Serene’ guys. I think we played another gig with them two days later at some small club. Awesome band! I think we were well taken care of at the festival but I don’t remember any details. I do recall that there was a disturbing number of pro-violence vegans everywhere. Guys with tank-tops, lots of muscles and a really bad attitude. And lots of Milk Is Murder shirts. It would surprise me greatly if any of them is still vegan today. They were just bullies looking for a fight, people who could just as easily have been nazi-skins or gay-bashers if they had grown up in a different environment. During our gig there was an extremely violent mosh-pit, where lots of people who had travelled a long way to see us couldn’t get near the stage. It was, of course, the well-muscled guys with shaved heads and tank-tops that were violent. I’m all for a little craziness in the pit but these guys were just nasty. Like entering the pit with a fly kick, hard. Idiots. Rodrigo, our singer, told them to calm down, or we would leave the stage. Anyway, macho assholes aside, the place was cool and I had a good time.

Simon Ricci, ‘Intensity’

That show is etched in my memory as the most intense show ever. The response and the commitment grabbed me by the throat. I still know that I looked at Vadim who was going berserk. Our sets weren’t ever quite long but I always gave myself completely. That time it was as if I could keep going, purely on adrenalin. I will never forget this! Thanks to the Vort’n Vis and everyone that was there that day.

Jeroen Therry, ‘Sektor’

That ‘Triple Nipple’ thing in the guestbook doesn’t ring a bell but it could be about me…

Piet Cardoen, ‘Sektor’

I remember the HC fest quite well; it was still in the ‘barn’. There’s a live LP from our show there. The shack was packed to the top of the roof, 35 degrees, people piled together and on top of these more people :-) Good times. I recall being mega-psyched about the fact that ‘Metroschifter’ was playing; I was already a big fan of that band.

Mich Decruyenaere, ‘Blindfold’

It was really super-hot that day, my lower lip was slightly lacerated because someone from the audience accidentally jumped against my mic. It was really wild in front and on stage. After the show I immediately got of the stage ‘cause I felt like passing out. Dead tired! It was also the lasts show of the ‘Culture’/’Kindred’ tour.

Eric Sefton, ‘Kindred’ vocalist

August ’97 was the only time I went out with ‘Metroschifter’; 5 weeks: Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Czech Republic and England (but the dates in England got cancelled so we just hung out). The bassist at the time (I don’t recall who it was; Pat maybe?) had a family-emergency and could not go on that tour. I was friends with Chris (‘The Hört’) and he asked me a few weeks before they were leaving if I would like to jump on bass! I had to learn a bunch of songs real quick, and rush to get a passport!

Brendan Bogosian

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

additions wellcome!…

 

96-09-22 Strain – Ananda – Systral – Elision – Sektor – Vitality – Family Of Dog

Intro: 96-09-20&21&22 8^th Leed festival

‘Strain’ had been at the V.V. before (95-04-09). These Canadians (from Vancouver) played “metallic mosh-core in the vein of ‘Snapcase’ & ‘Chokehold’ with staccato rhythms”: Eric ‘Flexyourhead’ Thorkelsson (bass; ex ‘Fratricide’; does the Flex Your Head radio-show), Jody Taylor (vocals), Chris Rayes (drums; replaced Len Greenblat), John Franco (guitar; replaced Greg Dinardo) and Sean Lande (guitar; seanlande.com). They had put out some 7”s (self-titled on Overkill recs ’94, Cataract & Driven on HeartFirst ’94, Remorse on Pushead’s Bacteria Sour recs ‘95) and later recorded for several more releases on the label ran by Flo(rian) Helmchen (my mate from Berlin; ex ‘Squandered Message’ bassist): HeartFirst recs. In ’96 New Age recs released their CD Here And Now (recorded in January).

‘Strain’

Some live photos of ‘Strain’ & ‘Elision’ here: 96-09-22 Strain – Elision (photos)

‘Ananda’ came from Parisian suburbia. They’d been at he V.V. before (95-07-02) and earlier that year (February) they’d recorded a demo. Recordings of their show with ‘Policy Of 3’ and ‘Avail’ (95-05-30 in Poitiers, France) were used for a split-tape with ‘Symptom Of Isaac’. The band consisted of Chrystèle Grall & Jean-Yves André (vocals), Thomas Guillanton (guitar; ex ‘Fingerprint’, ‘Jasemine’) & Sylvain Klein (guitar), Jérôme ‘Mizou’ Bessout (drums; ex ‘Fingerprint’, ‘Jasemine’) and Jérôme ‘Gunthar’ Lacombe (bass). (Günthar studio was Jérôme’s the home recording-studio in the 90s.) Their 10” Masqué had been recorded that summer and was released by Olivier Lépine on his label La Libre Expression. Later Stéphane ‘Stu’ Joly (ex ‘Undone’) replaced Sylvain and Michaël Clergeot joined December ’97 (did vocals in stead of Jean-Yves; after the 10” and the Habeas Corpus LP); the sound changed “from screamo to heavy gloomy hardcore sludge”. They would come back to the V.V. on 99-08-21.

‘Elision’, from Würzburg (Germany), were: Christian ‘Mosh’ Ebert (vocals), Franky G (guitar; R.I.P.), Tobias/Toby (bass), Schmitze (drums, ‘Mosh’ drummed on the 7”) & Marco Reuss (guitar). They did a self-titled 7” in 1994 and an LP (Thoughts) in ‘96 on Steffen Rose’s label Navigator productions. He also relesed a double live 7” of the band with ‘Yuppicide’ (who they toured with), ‘Strain’ & ‘Radical Development’ in ‘95. Their music at that time could be described as NY-style, fast new-school hardcore. Navigator HQ organised their tour…

‘Sektor’, a H8000 veg(etari)an straight-edge metalcore band, did 2 7”s on Hans Verbeke’s Sober Mind recs: Ultimate Threat (1995) and a split with Vitality (1996); later there was also a 12”/CD (Human Spots of Rust, ’97). ‘Lenny’ Wouter Cael (bass), Bert Guillemont (drums; also in ‘Liar’), Piet ‘Pete’ Cardoen (guitar), Vadim Vandekerckhove (guitar) and Jeroen Therry (vocals). The band already played the V.V. pub (96-05-12) and the fest that (96-08-17) that year; and would come back a few times…

‘Vitality’ had also made an appearance on the fest a month before (96-08-16). This “tough-guy edge-metal” outfit, from Oostduinkerke (ODK; Belgian coast), consisted of ‘Chief’ Steve De Clercq (vocals), ‘Noptje De Mens’ Bob Van Lierde (guitar) & ‘Alien King’ Chris Paccou (guitar; nowadays sound-engineer for ‘Carcass’), Olivier ‘Ollie’ Dobbels (drums; also nick-named ‘Simon’ or ‘Original Gangster’) and ‘Switch’ Marc Paccou (bass). In their early days they did one show with Frederic ‘Fre’ Flameygh on drums (ex ‘Burning Fight’, DJ Flameboy see 92-02-22) and also Ilja (‘Congress) played a short while for them… They supposedly recorded a demo that year; and Hans ‘Liar’ released 2 7”s for them on his label Sober Mind: a split with ‘Sektor’ an one entitled Bloodline. They would also play the 1997 fest…

Some live photos of ‘Sektor’ & ‘Vitality’ here: 96-09-22 Sektor – Vitality (photos)

A year before this (95-09-16) ‘Systral’ played in Ieper for the first time. This band (from Bremen) played brutal crust-grind/death-metal with a screamo edge (2 vocalists). The members were Björn Schmidt (vocals; also ‘Carol’/‘Mörser’), Denny Schmidt (vocals; also ‘Mörser’), Dirk Kusche (bass; also ‘Rusty James’; started the Chrome Saint Magnus label with ‘Acme’s drummer Gregor Iwanoff in ‘98), Sönke ‘Sonne’ Gabriel (drums; bassist of ‘Acme’) and Andy Lohmüller (guitar). In 1995 Per Koro did 2 releases (Fever…The Maximum Carnage 10” & Maximum Entertainment 7”) for them. In 1998 a split-7” with ‘Acheborn’ and the Black Smoker CD would follow…

‘Family Of Dog’ were from Deinze (Belgium). Their music often labeled as “death-core” metal. The people in 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).

Brob

Things grew very fast at the V.V.; I played there with ‘Rusty James’ a couple of years before and had the impression that it became a fair for labels and distros…

Dirk Kusche

Good memories. Our recollections of the Vort’nVis is that we played as one of the first bands there and somehow we managed to break the stage. It was destroyed before all the other bands got to play… I still have the Vort’nVis T-shirt! We were on tour with ‘Strain’. Don’t remember much about the other bands.

‘Mosh’, ‘Elision’ vocalist

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

additions wellcome!…

 

 

96-08-17 Voices At The Front – Kindred – Sektor – Saidiwas – Regression – Timebomb – Burning Defeat – Congress – Racial Abuse – Despair

Introduction => 96-08-16&17&18 Hardcore, The Next Generation

Since I (Brob) was rather disgusted with and had commented on the increasing commercialism, violent/sexist/homophobic attitudes, I spent most of the time I was there (for my literature-distribution) talking to fellow “PC emo-morons who stop everyone from having a good time” (as mentioned in the Hate 8000 Zine) in the courtyard and therefore hardly saw any of the bands, I reprint a review I found on the internet:

>>The next day started with ‘Voices At The Front’. I didn’t really check them out but what I heard was heavy metal. ‘Kindred’ had a good sound and played OK heavy metal (à la 8000 crew). ‘Sektor’, another local band, played extreme death-metal, the audience was so stupid I left after 2 songs. ‘Saidiwas’ was probably the best band on the festival. Dog knows I dislike emo but they were damn good. (I’ld probably hate them on a record). Very young kids from Sweden playing American style poppy emo with lots of things to say between songs. No more tough guys here and the crowd was just wondeful, pogoing and slamdancing wildely. They were all so cute. Wonderful. Back to heavy metal with ‘Regression’ and their OK but boring brand of New York influenced music. ‘Timebomb’ were powerful but not as good as last year. They have great lyrics but it seems like they thought it was unnecassary to explain any of them on stage. ‘Burning Defeat’ were good too, very melodic and emotional, but the crowd took a long time to get into it and started dancing only on the 2 last songs. ‘Congress’: I liked the music as always, brutal death-metal, it was the kingdom of the bare-to-the-waist (tough) guys (singing along to choruses they didn’t even know what they were about). ‘Racial Abuse (Austria) were funny. I kind of enjoyed the music: modern HC, a drummer who’s only 12 years old is quite impressive. A lot of people were wondering how a band on Lost&Found ended up playing the V.V., and it was funny to see the Austrian crew making fun of them too! Last on were ‘Despair’. I totally loved their ultra powerful metallic HC, excellent sound-quality, but the audience ruined it all and I left in a bad mood…<<

The “H8000 Press” (‘Ringmaster’ Nicholas Malfeyt) highlights that Vik (‘VATF’ vocalist) spent more time in the crowd than on stage, ‘Kindred’ (‘Unbroken’-style SxE heroes) played a nice set, ‘Sektor’ started a fairly modest pit… “While I was outside, I heard the Swedish band ‘Saidiwas’ was playing with a naked – as in ‘no clothes’ – drummer. It was time for the emo-faggot brigade to spread their message of peace, love and animal sex. A friend told me the singer was talking about the day before and mentioned the ‘fucking windmill crew’… Imagine a feminine guy with eye-shadow (!!) saying that… Since these wimps obviously had a thing against violent dancing, we had the bright idea to start a bloody windmill-pit… All the emos were crying their hearts out up-front… When the ‘Saidiwas’ set was over, the drummer – still butt-naked – got from behind his kit and stood there shaking his john in front of the audience. Next thing you know, the singer was giving him a French kiss. [Brob: A case of macho insecurity, Ringmaster?] ‘Regression’ did a very brutal set; too bad their 2^nd guitarist was there. ‘Timebomb’ rocked the stage. When ‘Congress’ played, the place exploded once again… I could hear bones breakin’, everything went almost as violent as the night before. A fantastic show with singalongs and pile-ups… ‘Despair’ got on stage way past midnight. They rocked… Before their final song the singer summoned everybody to do the ‘pizzamaker’…”<<

It wasn’t the first time at the Vort’n Vis for ‘Voices At The Front’ (96-05-12). Vik Bulik (vocals), Stefaan ‘Merel’ Merlevede [R.I.P.] (guitar), Vincent Theeten (guitar), Sim ‘Simtje’ Meersseman (bass) and Gaëtan Golvet (drums) were locals (from Poperinge).

‘Voices At The Front’ (pic taken by Steve Lammertyn)

‘Kindred’, the SxE outfit from Limburg (metallic style of HC, often compared with ‘Unbroken’) were here before too (96-05-12). The guys in the band were Jan Beckers (guitar) and Maarten Beckers (drums) – Jan had been in ‘Acoustic Grinder’ (read: 93-02-27), ‘Strength Of The Will’ (92-09-06, 93-09-19); later, ‘Enemy Of The Sun’, ‘Kabul Golf Club’) – Eric Sefton (vocals) & Walter Beckers (bass). Another pre-‘Kindred’-band was ‘Churn’ (95-08-20) feat. Jan, Maarten, Raf Gielen, Peter (ex ‘Acoustic Grinder’) and Raf ‘Thrasher’ Gelenne… I believe Raf Gielen still played 2^nd guitar here. The recordings for the LP on GoodLife recs (File 01) were done in October ’96 without Raf. They would be playing again 97-08… A split with ‘Culture’ got out in ’97.

‘Kindred’ (photograped by Sarah Van de Mosselaer)

‘Sektor’ had played their 1^st show at the V.V. a few months before (96-05-12). This vegetarian straight-edge metal-core band (from Beselare, near Ieper) was: ‘Lenny’ Wouter Cael (bass), Bert Guillemont (drums), Piet Cardoen (guitar), Vadim Vandekerckhove (guitar) and Jeroen Therry (vocals). They had done 2 7”s on Hans Verbeke’s Sober Mind recs: Ultimate Threat (1995) and a split with ‘Vitality’ (1996); later there was also a 12”/CD (Human Spots of Rust, ’97).

‘Sektor’ (photos 1-2-3 by Valerie Afschrift, 4 by Roel Brals)

‘Saidiwas’ was an “anarchist vegan straight-edge” band from Umeå in Sweden. “They got alot of attention because of their political lyrics and also because their drummer used to play naked.” In 1996 their first self-titled mCD was released By José Saxlund on his label Desperate Fight recs. “They made a big impression on the Belgian kids by refusing to play for a violent crowd.”, one can read on the www… I believe Anders Johansson played bass, Erik Åsell-Johansson hit the drums & sang, Philip Sundberg guitar, Peter Hellqvist guitar, and Michael/Mikael Berg was the vocalist. Sara Almgren (guitar; ex ‘Doughnuts’) also played for them later… “After that, they kicked their singer out, because (according to the rumours) he dropped sXe/veganism. Their former drummer switched to vocals, which left the band without a drummer for the recording of their debut full-length.” (All Punk Cons; released April ‘97, also on Desperate Fight recs. This was described as “art-punk” or “post-hardcore-new-wave-influenced-alternative-rock-with-occasional-emotional-ranting/yelling-but-oh-so-many-keyboard-and-piano-parts-core”.) I think Ludwig Dahlberg became their drummer later…

‘Saidiwas’, photographed by Patrick Federli (1), Sergi E. Costa (2), Philippe Tuffet (3) & Jean-Paul Frijns (4)

‘Regression’ (from Menen/Roeselare) played H8000 style, crunchy metallic (vegan) straight-edge HC: “Perhaps the most heaviest of all the ‘edge-metal’ bands: uncompromising death-metal mixed with straight-edge hardcore spirit.” Hans Verbeke wrote about them that they “created their own style of technical hardcore/metal with ‘Carcass’ and ‘Machinehead’ influences”; other people compared them with ‘Earth Crisis’. They were Bjorn Lescouhier (drums, ex ‘Shortsight’; replaced Raf -who was in ‘Liar’ too- around July 95), Kristof Taveirne (bass; nowadays in ‘Spoil Engine’), Niek Jacobsen (vocals) and ‘Stuutje’ David Decoutere (guitar). It was their second V.V. show (after 95-03-25) They had recorded a demo in ’95, then did the x-Heartless-x CD on GoodLife recs (‘96) and a split-CD with ‘Breach’ from Sweden ‎followed (also GoodLife recs, ‘97). Early ‘96 they had taken ‘Lookmulle’ (Davy Vanlokeren of ‘Deformity’) as second guitarist but he didn’t play here… I read that later he was replaced by Laurent (who used to sing for ‘Deformity’).

‘Regression’ (shot by Sergi E Costa)

‘Timebomb’s second appearance at the V.V. (95-08) They were a Roman communist, vegan sXe band band playing metallic HC. The guys in the band: Cristiano Suriano (drums; later ‘Opposite Force’), Daniele Marini (guitar), Giorgio Fois (vocals; later replaced by Emiliano; also drummer of ‘Comrades’), Marco Ciccone (guitar; later also ‘Opposite Force’) and Simone Marini (bass; Kill For Love zine). In 1993 they did a demo and a 7” (Fury) released by SOA recs. Paolo Petralia also did their Hymns For A Decaying Empire CD (released January ‘96) and in 1998 The Full Wrath Of The Slave got out on Genet recs (last recordings with Giorgio). They also came back for the fest the next year…

‘Timebomb’ (photo by Sergi E. Costa)

‘Burning Defeat’, an emo-core band from Alessandria (Italy), had also played the V.V. already the year before (95-08-18). They were: Diego Cestino (vocals; also ‘Permanent Scar’), Alessandro ‘Alex’ Azzali (bass), Andrea ‘ics’ Ferraris (guitar; also ‘Permanent Scar’) and Umberto Fabbri (drums). ‘They had 2 realease on Green recs: Singlin’ Out The Aims 7” (‘94) & Seldom LP (‘96).

‘Burning Defeat’, pics by Patrick Federli (1) & Sergi E. Costa (2)

In 1996 GoodLife recs released ‘Congress’s LP The Other Cheek. 4 songs come from the 1993 demo (with Roy Cappan on vocals).

‘Congress’ (photos by Sergi E. Costa)

‘Racial Abuse’, an “edge-metal” band (which was compared to ‘Strife’, ‘Unbroken’ and ‘Side By Side’) from Olbendorf, Austria. They were: bassist Sancho Holper, drummer Pascal Holper, guitarist Jürgen Pallisch (he replaced Rainer Paul) and vocalist Aaron Tauss. In 1996 they did a demo (Influence) and 2 CDs (on Lost And Found recs: No Need‎ & Climb). Their CD What Mirrors Conceal ‎was released by GoodLife recs in 1997.

‘Racial Abuse’ – pics by Sergi E. Costa (1) & Sarah Van de Mosselaer (2-3-4)

‘Despair’ (Buffalo, NY) consisted of Brian Fligger (bass), Jesse(y) Muscato (drums; replaced Phil Popielski), Joe Garlipp (guitar), Matt Dente (guitar) and Scott Vogel (vocals). They played metallic mosch-core. There was a demo and a mini-CD (One Thousand Cries) out. That year (‘96) the CD Pattern Life was released on Josh Gabrelle’s Trustkill recs and the CD As We Bleed was recorded right before this tour (I think) with Brian, Jesse, Joe, Matt & Scott.

‘Despair’ (source ?)

Brob

I was at the “Ieperfest” in ‘96 (and also in’97). I remember ‘96 very well indeed because it was such a special time, a great line-up and much fun for me and my travelling-party from Vienna. we were loads of people, all sleeping inside the Vort’n Vis too. I have quite a few photos: they’re all on film of course and but haven’t scanned them all yet, it’s a task to do all of that…

Daniel Eberharter, Eloquence zine (Vienna, Austria)

I have a zine with a ‘Saidiwas’ interview with a funny anecdote about windmillers spoiling their set…

Tijs Schelstraete

It was nice to see all these other Roman people (Paolo, Vegano, Venezuela, Simone, Daniele, Costanza, Cristiano, …) there.

Dario Adamic (in his zine Zips & Chains #10)

I wasn’t a part of ‘Saidiwas’ at that time. I played on the first EP and then they kicked me out! Erik Åsell was the drummer/singer… I’ve seen that their show at the “Ieperfest” was discussed on forums lately here in Sweden. But I don’t know… Mostly people who weren’t there, with their own theories. I remember it as a good show with some nude/male kissing controversy. Not that they (‘Saidiwas’) weren’t going to play because of a violent crowd, as the theories that are going around…

Axel Stattin, ‘Separation’ bassist

I was the drummer on the first 7” of ‘Despair’. I left the band before that tour.

Phil Popielski

I guess I was at this gig… The singer of ‘Timebomb’ was also the drummer for my band ‘Comrades’. He became a sort of nazi… To me he is a nazi. He always denied being one but effectively plays with the same band for the last 12 years and they’re all nazis playing only in their circle.

Paolo Patralia

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

additions wellcome!…

97-08-15&16&17 HardCore – The Next Generation festival

‘Blindfold’ was supposed to play their “last show ever” but they still did shows, even toured during the summer, in ’98, their drummer Chatn informs. According to Hans their last gig was at ‘t Molentje in Kuurne. They recorded their live-LP (with 2 new songs only to be heard there) at the V.V.

Brob

We released our CD [Redeem The Monsters] at this fest but we didn’t actually play… Our singer Mark arrived with the first 500 copies, straight from the prsssing-plant and they were practically all gone in a day (sold to people attending and on consignment to various distros. We had to order a second pressing immediately. Crazy!

Sven Leys, ‘Rain’s guitarist

I ended up there with some SxE friends from Vienna (Daniel Eberharter of Eloquence zine), from Vienna (Austria), that were going to the fest. I was also friends with ‘By The Grace Of God’ (ex-members of the Louisville band ‘Endpoint’ [BTGOG had been touring earlier. They were already back in the states by August.]) who I think played the fest. They were on tour in Europe and I dragged along as van-duty, slacker, bad jokester for some shows. I toured with them on and off throughout the tour. We had a blast at Ieper and met great people. It was a nice meet-up of us all. I slept in the ‘loft’-area on an old couch. I had a giant necklace with a cock-ring on it. Good times! The venue was pretty unique in what I’ve seen around the world. It was impressive seeing the show set-up and so successful, especially with so many bands. The diversity in the punk-styles was evident and it was great to be apart of. There were New York style harcore, crust-punk and metal bands; and kids all hanging out.

Kevin Zelko; Wellfair? zine (also helped putting out ‘The Get Up Kids’ record)

Kevin Zelko & friends (Daniel Eberharter and Henrik from Stockholm)

I was at the Vort’n Vis with ‘Acheborn’… I have very good memories of sleeping in the park nearby in the festival. It was only us and another two people the first time The next year it was pretty full in there. The groundkeeper was actually so friendly that he almost didn’t let us go. A bit like in the movie Misery ;-) (Where a nurse takes care of an author that had a car-accident, in her house; and at the beginning she is all caring but then becomes this psycho who doesn’t let him leave her house, etc. We thought maybe he is all nice and then he won’t let us leave anymore…)

Here’s a few random memories:

There were 2 guys sleeping in the middle of the main square close to the venue because it was super-packed with people occupying every inch on the floor. We were walking past the main square when they were waking up and they were surrounded by market-stalls and people shopping. I guess they were too polite to wake them up to tell them that there is a market going on in their new bedroom….

There was this guy selling rare test-pressings of ‘Infest’, etc. for big bucks and American bands were spending a lot of money on it. I was sleeping at this guy’s house once on tour and he had hundreds of sleeves left and was making a test-pressing every once in a while. Power-violence hardcore capitalism…

And once I hitchhiked half way and was picked up by two guys from Munich at a highway-stop along the way but didn’t have a seat to get back. I didn’t really find anyone and at the last night there were four guys with a tiny car from Frankfurt that didn’t have any space as it was loaded with records that they were selling… Either way they squeezed me in and we all had records literally up to our nose driving for 6 hours or so. I think that was in the top 10 of the worst car-drives I ever had. but I guess that was the price to pay for going to the Vort’n Vis.

Christian Mix-Linzer (Outlet recs)

I was here aswell: I drove ‘Acheborn’. That was my first time at the V.V.

Marc Hartmann (Scorched Earth Policy, ‘Man vs Humanity’ drummer)

The persons (Jan & Jakub ‘Kuba’ Dušek of the sXe band ‘Balaclava’) that wrote a report in the Czech zine Barricada #2 mentioned that they got a discount on the admission-fee (a ticket for all three days costed 40 DM [20 Euro] – which was too much for them). The first day “of the three-day marathon” started about half past three. They spent the first (hot) night on the sand near the shore, and in the morning went skipping in the sea. They came back to the city and after lunch got ready for “the next round”. After day 2 they they left the hall “soaking in sweat and with torn earrings”, looking for a place to sleep in town. But there was hardly a place to lie down? “It’s not easy at all in this part of Belgium: there’s either cow-pastures and corn-fields surrounded by wire, or villages everywhere; but no forests where one can lay down one’s head.” After straying around for a long time, they found that single one place in the whole state and “slept the sleep of the righteous”. The last day started early right after lunch to get everything finished by nine o’clock… “Compared to the year before, there were fewer bands that took our breath. We probably also knew what was coming and the Belgian bands weren’t that big of a risk. But where else can you see so many wonderful bands and people together, find things you don’t know about, and especially to meet new friends and learn about European scenes. Beautiful memories…”

(full posts with photos of some bands playing are planned…)

[‘Natural Order’ & ‘Timebomb’ were not listed on the poster but they signed the guestbook. They didn’t play… Some bands got switched around… ‘Lifecycle’ was added to the bill last-minute.]

97-08-15: Instinct (Bel), Purification (Ita), Clouded (Bel), Endstand (Fin), Reiziger (Bel), Spineless (Bel), Facedown (Bel), Abhinanda (Swe), Veil (Ger)

97-08-16: Thumbs Down (Bel), ODK Crew (Bel), Metroschifter (USA), Intensity (Swe), Spirit Of Youth (Bel), Serene (Swe), Sektor (Bel), Blindfold (Bel), Kindred (Bel), Liar (Bel), Culture (USA)

97-08-17: Lifecycle (Bel), Acheborn (Ger), Starmarket (Swe), Deformity (Bel), Mainstrike (Nl), Rubbish Heap (Bel), Vitality (Bel), Congress (Bel), Morning Again (USA)

crowdshots by Sergi E. Costa

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

visiters from the Czech republic; some of them wrote a review in Barricada #2

‘Roman vegan sXe legion’

militant… or hardline…?

all sorts of visiters…

additions wellcome!…

 

96-05-12 Feeding The Fire – Kindred – Sektor (photos)

More on this concert: 96-05-12 Feeding The Fire – Kindred – Shaft – Resist The Pain – Sektor – Voices At The Front

Photos courtesy of Letske M. (these are the ones mentioned in the original post by Steve Lammertyn)

Illona Stephan (‘Feeding The Fire’)

René Natzel (‘Feeding The Fire’)

————————-

‘Kindred’: Jan Beckers (guitar), Maarten Beckers (drums), Eric Sefton (vocals), Walter Beckers (bass) & Raf Gielen (guitar)

————————-

Piet Cardoen (‘Sektor’) + Karen Rolly & Valerie Afschrift

‘Lenny’ Wouter Cael (‘Sektor’)

Bert Guillemont (‘Sektor’)

Jeroen Therry (‘Sektor’)

96-09-20&21&22 8th Leed festival

Accounts of the actual festival-days can be accessed by clicking on the links below… My descent into hell had commenced a bit before this, I don‘t think I attended this fest (or not all of it); so not really sure about the playing-order…:

96-09-20: D.D.I. (Ita), Boycot (Nl), Eversor (Ita)

96-09-21: P.A.I.N. (UK), Witchknot (UK), Quarantine (UK), Bad Influence (Bel), State Of Filth (UK), Kirous (Fin), Carcer Molochi (Bel)

– Clutch Assembly (Bel) was invited to set of a techno night/party

96-09-22: Strain (Can), Ananda (Fra), Systral (Ger), Elision (Ger), Sektor (Bel), Vitality (Bel), Family Of Dog (Bel)

‘Portobello Bones’ (from France) were announced at some timepoint but I think they didn’t come… There was a photo of the Berliner band ‘Y’ playing in the V.V. barn in Sascha May’s zine Evilspeak or was that from a gig earlier that year…?

Some pics courtesy of Dario Quatrini (‘D.D.I.’) – taken by the members of the band:

distro-stalls in the pub (first evening) – Joeri Hoste, Jeroen Lauwers, etc.

AZ distro from Pavia (with the charming Irith Davidzon on the left)

The ‘D.D.I.’ gang cooking dinner in the yard, DIY-style (L => R: Mila – Luca – Gio)

‘D.D.I.’s Gallo taking a break in front of the famous corner-shop…

96-08-16&17&18 Hardcore, The Next Generation

pre-posters

Right before this fest Stephane Boens (74-04-17 * 96-08-06) a.k.a. The Famous Vegan (a friend of some collaborators at the V.V.) passed away…

photo: Roel Brals

This trend that had silently been creeping in during previous years (commercialism, violent/sexist/homophobic attitudes) got even more established here. Earlier in ’96, I had been isolated, denigrated and vilified because of my criticisms (by the H8000 buisnessmen and their disciples). For many I wasn’t wellcome but I tried to be one of the few who offered radical/political literature, and went over to explain to those who wanted to listen and support my few remaing friends. This here below shows there were also still a few people trying to get (part of the) message across…

someone from The NL in Yann Boislève’s SxE Bulletin #20

It was the last time I attended… I refused to pay entrance and hardly saw any of the bands. I believe this was the programme (but some might have been added):

96-08-16: Firestone (Bel), Facedown (Bel), Vitality (Bel), Outrage (Bel), Victims Of Society (Bel), Down For The Count (Spa), Liar (Bel), Spawn (Ger), Unborn (UK)

96-08-17: Voices At The Front (Bel), Kindred (Bel), Sektor (Bel), Saidiwas (Swe), Regression (Bel), Timebomb (Ita), Burning Defeat (Ita), Congress (Bel), Racial Abuse (Öst), Despair (USA)

96-08-18: Spineless (Bel), Resist The Pain (Bel), Stampin’ Ground (UK), Vanilla (Fra), Approach To Concrete (Ger), Bruma (Ita), Separation (Swe), Swing Kids (USA), With Love (Ita)

the marketplace… :-(

courtesy of Karel Deweerdt (Wim ‘Blindfold’ & UJ ‘Liar’ on the left)

photo by Joeri Hoste (central: Eric Allen, Marco Walzel, Justin Pearson)

the international crowd… :-)

even the local girl-scouts visited…

…and a little British kitten named Vique… (photo courtesy of Joeri Hoste)

photos by Sergi E. Costa (unless where otherwise mentioned)

There were people from all over but there was especially an Italian invasion… Quite a few bands from there played and some people who were in Italian bands that didn’t play also came over. One of them was Federico Oddone (ex ‘Maze’), the guitarist of ‘Sottopressione’ (from Milano). In that band he played together with ‘Diste’ Andrea Di Stefano (bass), ‘Kuku’ (drums; replaced Mauro Dossi ex ‘Crash Box’) and Mayo Maggiore (vocals). The band released a 7” through Mele Marce recs and 3 albums on Rudy Medea’s Vacation House recs. Federico wrote this entry in the guestbook:

Veganism was a big issue too… Animal Truth zine (by Cindy Frey & An Lehaen) a reference…

additions wellcome!…

97-10-12 Catharsis – Gehenna – Sektor – Facedown – Sincerity – Lebensreform

Vort’n Vis last day of the tour ?

I think I organised that show at the Vort’n Vis! Cut, pasted and wrote the poster! I’m still friends with them [‘Catharsis’], met them at Ieperfest 2013. I believe Brian is the one who stuck to the anarchistic roots most – he didn’t feel ‘well’ because the [Ieper]fest was “too manly”. “There are not enough women here”…

Lieve Goemaere

I remember visiting Lieve (Ugly Duckling) at the place where she lived during her studies one sunny day when she said ‘Catharsis’ was playing (98-05-19) at the Frontline (a pub in Gent where Bruno VdV of Genet recs/Pyrrhus often booked bands). I disliked the place (too commercial and a history of extreme-right sympathies) and certainly didn’t want to support Pyrrhus). I knew about the band and of CrimethInc and their publications (Harbinger and Brian’s zine Inside Front)… Lieve (who did an interview with Alexei and Brian for her zine Ugly Duckling #2) said I ought to have a talk with Brian since she knew I was connected with the anarchist scene in Gent, collaborating at the infoshop, and distributing radical literature and pamphlets. So I joined her and had a conversation with Brian in front of the pub. Even though I value his and the collective’s activities, he couldn’t convince me of why they would have to play such a place.

Another reason to go see them that day, was because my pen-pal Eric Boehme (After The Revolution zine) travelled with ‘Catharsis’ and he’d written me to come and say hello…

Because ‘Catharsis’ wasn’t really part of ‘my scene’ (Certain people I knew in the US were shrugging their shoulders when hearing the name ‘Catharsis’: “a jock-band”. I did tape the CDs Lieve borrowed me though so I know what they sounded like), I also didn’t go see them at the V.V. here (they also had connections with the ultra-commercial label GoodLife)…

A few of the guys of ‘Gehenna’ spend some weeks in Gent after the tour…

Some people that were at the gig at the V.V. (I was told): Tom Claus (‘Family Of Dog’), Bjorn Dossche (One Step Down zine); on the pic: Thomas ‘Bieter’ (Bistro distro), ‘Kluze’ (‘Wise Up’ vocalist), ‘Rain’s guitarist, Steve Lammertyn, Carlo Steegen, etc.

Brob

One of those legendary shows one remembers in full detail… I recall that all of us in ‘Spineless’ were big fans of ‘Catharsis’. The persona of front-man Brian will have played a big role in that. Brian was active on many levels and was one of those people that seemed to fill a room with his presence. The fact that they were from ‘Clevo’, the area where ‘Integrity’ originates from, did the rest. [Brob: Cleveland, Ohio is pretty far away from Greensboro or Atlanta…]

This was the first appearance of ‘Catharsis’. ‘Gehenna’ was still unknown to me… I met the band at Pyrrhus in Gent [record-store ran by Bruno of Genet recs], the favourite hang-out for H8000 sect-members [sic]… To be honest they didn’t really make the impression that I had hoped (says maybe more about myself in that period than about ‘Catharsis’ & ‘Gehenna’. Internet didn’t take the form yet that we know today. We had to get by with vague, photocopied pics from fanzines.

That night my preconception disappeared radically. Even more: I can ‘t remember a thing about ‘Sektor’ & ‘Facedown’; something that is significant when you know that H8000 bands were almost worshipped by the audience at that time. ‘Gehenna’ played with so much energy and power that Tsjernobyl seemed like a commonplace. The singer [Mike ‘Cheese’] seemed to come straight out of a prehistoric cave, wielding a big bottle of water as a club, furiously swaying it among the crowd. [Supposedly he has Tourette’s Syndrome…] We were all doomed! And then… Booooom! With a hard blow he slammed the bottle amidst the spectators… Such a smack hadn’t been witnessed in Ieper for over 80 years. The audience went beserk. We moshed on the glass; the day after I could still pich the pieces from my sole. After their show – I remember it vividly – Lieve Goemaere [editor of Ugly Duckling zine] was reprimanding the Neanderthal about how irresponsible it is to smash a bottle of water on the ground in and how disrespectful it was towards the collaborators of the Vort’n Vis. As fierce as he was during the show, as quiet afterwards. The man apologised over 10 times and promised to clean things up (not so sure about that anymore ;-) …).

‘Gehenna’ (photo courtesy of Vincent Maes, ‘Instinct’ singer)

And then ‘Catharsis’ still had to take off… Well, what can I say. The show was fantastic. I still don’t understand how a band can play so tight and solid at the same time. And above all, it was so real, no rehearsed ‘Biohazard’ moves or breakdance-steps; pure power, pure emotion. Like a demonic preacher Brian strung the songs together with power-speeches, confronted us with the capitalist robbery; visionary, thinking back. The impression was overwhelming.

I saw ‘Catharsis’ back in Ieper in 2013, Brian still hasn’t lost any of his youthful anger against a system that is rotten to the core. The band played tighter than ever, still blowing an entire Roman legion out of their sandals.

Pedro ‘Fifi’ Fioen (guitarist of ‘Resist The Pain’, ‘Spineless’, ‘Congress’, etc.)

I don’t remember any of that! But it would’ve been my 2^nd run-in with the singer of ‘Gehenna’ ‘cause I lashed out at him at the Pyrrhus store for treating me like his dog…

Lieve Goemaere

‘Catharsis’ was an “anarchist” hardcore band (metallic with heavy riffs and raw vocals) originating from Greensboro, North Carolina, releasing their albums through the CrimethInc. Collective (Atlanta, Georgia). Their singer, Brian, was editor of the political hardcore punk fanzine Inside Front and later went on (with other ex-members of ‘Catharsis’) to form the band ‘Requiem’. The 7” released in 1996 (by Endless Fight recs) featured Brian ‘Diablodein’ Dingledine (vocals/guitar), Jonathan Raine (bass), Alexei ‘Rasputin’ Rodriguez (drums; later ‘Walls Of Jericho’, ‘Prong’, etc.) and James ‘Jimmy’ Chang (guitar). The same on their 1^st CD (CrimethInc ‘96). According to Lieve the band here was Brian, bassist Ernie Hayes, drummer Alexei and guitarists Matt Miller & Dan Young. The band came back on 99-10-31. They still exist/play…

>>The ‘Catharsis’ guitar-player died after they released the Samsara album. He had psychological problems and took drugs to die says Brian D. (Inside Front #11 mentions Dan Young’s problems).<<

Visit the CrimethInc Ex-Workers’ Collective website: www.crimethinc.com

‘Gehenna’ was a HC/metal band (“blending death, black and thrash metal”), originating from San Diego (California) and Reno (Nevada). The band described their musical style “negative hardcore; an extreme brand of hardcore with raw black metal influences”. On this tour the band consisted of Jensen Ward (drums; later ‘Iron Lung’), ‘Reno’ Dean C*** ‘DC’ (guitar), Mike ‘Apocalypse’ Cheese (vocals; apocalypsewestcoast.blogspot), Mike Rhodes a.k.a. ‘Mickey Featherstone’ (bass) and original guitarist Justin Holbo.

In 1997 the band was offered to release the War Of The Sons Of Light And The Sons Of Darkness CD (first full-length release; a compilation of the band’s early discography in chronological order, all recorded ‘94-‘96: a 3-song cassette, The Pain Of Life split-7” with ‘Apartment 213’ and The Birth Of Vengeance 7”) on CrimethInc recs. They also did a split-LP (‘Gehenna’ live at CBGB’s) on Wicked Witch recs with ‘Catharsis’ (Live In The Land Of The Dead / Eat, Fight, Fuck). The new drummer (on the Negotium Perambulans In Tenebris album) couldn’t go to Europe so they got a friend from to fill in on drums.

‘Sektor’ was a H8000 veg(etari)an straight-edge metalcore band (from the Ieper area). Heavy stuff! They did 2 7”s on Hans Verbeke’s Sober Mind recs: Ultimate Threat (1995) and a split with Vitality (1996); later there was also a 12”/CD (Human Spots of Rust, ’97). The band consisted of ‘Lenny LadyLover’ (bass), Bert ‘BabyNipples’ Guillemont (drums, also ‘Liar’), Piet ‘Pete’ Cardoen (a.k.a. Mousti; guitar), Vadim ‘KarateKip’ Vandekerckhove (guitar) and Jeroen Therry (a.k.a. KungFu Mike; vocals). See also 96-05-12.

‘Facedown’ (who had already played on the fest 96-08) was a socalled ‘new-school’ (metal-influenced) vegan SE-HC band from Kontich: Thomas Baeken (bass), Youri Baeken (drums), Daniel Mies (vocals), Niko Poortmans (guitar) and Geert Ceuppens (guitar). The Ferket brothers released the Friendship Is Everything 7” (Evil Twin recs in 1996) and Bruno re-released it (with some additional tracks) on Genet recs in 1997). They did also a split with ‘Earthmover‎’ (7” on Moo Cow recs in 1997) and Beyond All Horizons got out on Genet recs in 1998. Some of them formed ‘.Calibre’ (and got a record-deal with a major label)…

‘Lebensreform’ (from Hamburg), a “straight edge thrash/ hardcore / screamo outfit”. At that time they had 2 7”s out on Per Koro (Licht + Luft + Leben & Retor) recorded with his line-up: Christian Wruck (drums), Mark Wehrmann (guitar), Niels Abele (bass; didn’t play Vort’n Vis ‘cause he quit the band before that and was replaced by Dennis Becker) and Sven Christiansen (vocals).

The ‘Lebensreform’ guys (and Patrick Federli) with met Mike ‘Gehenna’ (courtesy of Sven Christiansen)

According to Ernie Hayes, at the 1997 show also ‘Sincerity’ and ‘Natural Order’ played. While the German ‘Sincerity’s vocalist says they didn’t. The poster indicates the band was from Deinze (Belgium). Members were: ‘Sjaab’ (vocals), Maarten Kinet (bass; later ‘Lifecycle’ & ‘AmenRa’), Bram Walgraeve (guitar), Fré(derick) De Vogelaere (drums) & Thomas Hauttekeete (guitar; also ‘Instinct’). They had already played the V.V. on 97-07-12.

The German ‘Sincerity’ were a youth-crew / old-school band from Werne (Germany); they had a tape out entitled Positive Hardcore. (A whole bunch of stuff followed in the new century.) The band consisted of: Birte (drums), Salat (bass), Olli (guitar; later Daniel) & Björn ‘Lexi’ Lexius (vocals).

‘Natural Order’ was a vegan sXe hardcore / hardline band (“violent dancers and pro-life” as someone described them once) with Cindy Frey’s brother as singer, hence their track on Animal Truth’s Animal Rights Benefit Sampler (out on Sober Mind recs in 1998). There’s also a live tape recorded in Poperinge 97-11-15.

Brob

We didn’t play the Vort’n Vis.

Björn Lexius, ‘Sincerity’

We played here with ‘Catharsis’, ‘Gehenna’, ‘Sektor’ and a bunch of others. There is a famous photo (amongst others) of me lying under the stage while our bassist kept screaming into the crowd. It was printed in some fanzines, on internet-platforms and in the German music-magazine Visions (which did a feature on the 1990s emo/screamo scene in Germany). Just for the record: we weren’t a Straight Edge band by then anymore; only half of us were and we didn’t play those two/three songs anymore that had ‘those’ lyrics… As for the line-up: Niels wasn’t with us anymore, it was Dennis Becker (also in ‘Loxiran’ at that time) on bass. Myself, I married afterwards and took my (ex-)wife’s name, so to be correct in timeline I was Sven Chojnicki by then…

Sven Christiansen, ‘Lebensreform’ singer (horizonsinc.blogspot)

(pics courtesy of Sven Christiansen)

 A lot of the 1997 tour was done with ‘Lebensreform’.

I have some pictures from ‘97, including a group-shot with ‘Catharsis’ & ‘Gehenna’ and some of you local guys, and some good shots from when we played on Halloween 1999 [99-10-31]…

Ernie Hayes

I remember playing there a few times. Seemed like a great place.

I remember ‘Gehenna’ being upset about money. They didn’t know ‘Lebensreform’ was going to play shows with us (we didn’t either)… Three bands on tour means the money gets split three ways instead of two…

Matt Miller

I didn’t play in ‘Catharsis’ in those years.

James Chang

Members of ‘Catharsis’ & ‘Gehenna’ stayed at my place in Gent after their gig at the Pits in Kortrijk. They asked me if there were people who could offer them a place to sleep for a few days. I’d heard that records got stolen from earlier hospitable concert-visiters that had put them up. I told both bands what I’d heard but they promised me that this was absolutely untrue. Anyway, few days after they’d left I discovered 10 of my LPs were stolen, some very rare. Still they continued to claim it wasn’t them but perhaps a few crusty Americans that toured with them and also stayed at my place (& others). Assholes!

One of the guitarists of ‘Catharsis’ and myself jammed quite a bit. (Dan Young also played my Gibson because his was broken I believe.) Shortly after their tour in Europe he started going totally crazy and committed suicide. The others must’ve been aware of the thefts because those crusties were driving along in their van. So, fuck those ‘scene’ guys if they steal from people who wanna help and support them.

Steve W. (‘Neuthrone’)

I seem to remember that Brian ‘Catharsis’ behaved like the king of the ‘anarchistic realm’ and that Alexei was their damn good drummer. About ‘Gehenna’: the singer was a twisted fuck but the music was reasonable. ‘Facedown’: can’t remember (played together many times)…

Bert Guillemont, ‘Sektor’ drummer

It was October. We drove through the night and slept in the van in the cold. I’d pulled a muscle in my lower back a few days before and couldn’t stand up straight. Our tour was screeching to a halt within the next few days. We were upset with the booking-agents (Drive To Play [Markus Große]; they set up the whole tour through Brian D. of ‘Catharsis’.), for not having a backline, doing nothing to promote the tour and adding a band from their label which cut into the already non-existent guarantees. We were upset with our driver, Patrick F***, who took every opportunity to explain how a hardcore band should be on stage and what we should listen to off stage. We were upset with Brian D. for making us carry his pseudo-political newspaper around and his unending need to use sign-language to preserve his delicate voice for his half hour speeches between songs. We were upset with the double-talk and horse-shit of the music-industry sneaking into punk and hardcore. So we said “fuck it”. We loaded our stuff into the Vort’n Vis while hearing Patrick tell tales of the legends that walked there before us and how lucky we were to stand in a rotted building. He told us the names of bands who had graced the world with a performance on the Vort’n Vis stage (oddly enough all of the bands contained Damien Moyal [‘Culture’, ‘Shai Hulud’, ‘Morning Again’, etc.]. We were underwhelmed to say the least. The ‘magic’ of this room seemed to be another set of typically embellished and fabricated suburban straight-edge lore. I made my mind up that this place was just another shitty club.

But that was before the crowd got there. As kids started to gather and get together inside and outside the club something different happened. It seemed as if everyone who came into contact with one another stopped to say ‘hello’ and exchange some conversation. Between bands it was the same and after the show the same thing. It was then that I realized the Vort’n Vis wasn’t just a venue (because in the end the building didn’t matter). It was a community of folks who did everything and anything they could to help touring bands.

I felt like the truth of the matter is that we were having a shitty tour but in cities like Ieper, Gent and Amsterdam the punk community made things great. What I wrote is all fact. The Vort’n Vis wasn’t just a building where some bands played. It was a community of people that got together to support touring bands. Long after the doors of Vort’n Vis are closed, the bands and the building will never be as important as the community of people who made it all possible.

Mike ‘Apokalypse’

We played the Vort’n Vis on October 12, 1997, and then again on October 31, 1999. Traveling in Europe and being exposed to independent, collectively organized spaces like the Vort’n Vis was tremendously important to my development as a person. As Lieve says about me, that the most lasting result of my involvement with the DIY underground is a lifelong commitment to anarchism, and if I hadn’t seen spaces like that all around the world, it would have been much harder to imagine that a world without capitalism and authority could be possible. I still remember the drink-tickets, a pirate currency proclaiming “Independent Republic of Vort’n Vis”.

Looking back, the main thing that strikes me is how much gratitude I owe to so many people. Lieve, who set up that show, Patrick, who booked our tour, Bruno, who housed us, the members of the bands who made us welcome, everyone whose volunteer efforts kept the spaces open and made the shows happen – most of those people had no particular ideological affinities with us, and none of them ever made any money off us (not even the ones who were trying to make money from hardcore). They helped us out of the kindness of their hearts. In return, we had only our poverty, confusion and self-destructive emotional problems to offer, loosely translated into an obscure form of art. I hope that life has been as kind to all those people as they were to us.

Seeing the entry in the Vort’n Vis guestbook from Dan, my old bandmate and best friend, stops me in my tracks. Please understand, Dan didn’t kill himself because he had psychological problems – he was struggling with depression because he was a beautiful, sensitive and sincere individual in a society that crushes beauty and sincerity. What happened to him could have happened to any of the members of our band, and the rest of us owe our survival to others’ generosity. Let’s make a world that no one would ever want to leave.

There’s a lot more to say but I’ll stop there for now. Thank you, friends.

Brian D., ‘Catharsis’

Those were some hard, depressing times back then. We lived on people’s couches, office-spaces with no running water, squatting at some kid’s grandma’s house while they were gone… but somehow we scrambled and got the cash to roll bare bones. I remember feeling pretty bummed on a lot of shit… It’s no ones fault I suppose but things didn’t go as planned.

As for this show… I remember people coming up to us after our set being confused and happy or confused and bummed out. Asking “Why would you do this?…punching your face?”… “Why did you not play off the stage?”, “Why did you brake this glass?” Apparently my jumping from the stage to the floor at any given time – people didn’t understand how we feel our music and go with it I guess. But everyone was friendly and we enjoyed the DIY atmosphere.

Pretty sad we are still accused of theft. Our reputation for living free and being black sheep bring many false accusations. Ha, too bad thats the life of a ‘Gehenna’ boy – LOL.

It’s very cool and caring you have put this together. Thank you

‘Reno’ Dean, ‘Gehenna’

‘Catharsis’ & ‘Gehenna’ at the Vort’n Vis (photo courtesy of ‘Reno’ Dean)

 excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

‘Sjaab’ of ‘Sincerity’ (Deinze)

additions wellcome!…