Beyond hardcore

Sunday matinee shows are generally pretty cool. This Sunday den Eglantier in Berchem hosted a show for the Veloz/Lich tour. I have never heard of these bands. You probably haven't either. If you have, that's cool, and you were probably there.

The show was opened by Millions Of Them. I saw them some time ago, rather passively, and I thought 'yeah… cool.' But there's this thing about the backstage/basement room of den Eglantier that makes everything way more intense. And so it did. Really technical hardcore/mathcore/physicscore/chemistrycore/biologycore/quantummechanicscore. Rhythmically really tight, plus metal-ish guitar riffs and solos/melodies and pissed off vocals. This last thing applies to almost every hardcore band, but yeah, the singer was clearly into it and his Darkthrone shirt made him look bad-ass. The vibe was definitely there. Great attitude, great performance, didn't get boring.

The next band was Lich from the UK. They're supposedly crusty hardcore punk but I'm not really familiar with the genre (the 'crust' part) so I didn't knew what I should prepare for. Hence, I came unprepared. But I had a great time. They have a female vocalist, which is generally a plus. By the vocals solely I wouldn't have known that fact, but you know, women have boobies so that was an easy guess. Musically slightly chaotic but primarily mid-tempo and really dirty. Great guitar interactions, and again heavy rhythms. They have a 12" split out with Resurrectionists, who play in Gent (Den Barbaar) on the 26th of July. I'm guessing both bands are worthwhile checking out. Just guessin'.

I also bought a couple of great records from a distro they brought along. Among others from Gods And Queens, The Holy Mountain, Suckinim Baenaim, Pizza.

The last band to play the Sunday evening was Veloz from Boston Mass. (I'm not sure how to spell Massachussets so I'll just abbreviate it.) From the USA. Apparently on the best tour of their lives with Lich. Which is cool. They were really grateful for the show, the people watching them and I guess the opportunity to tour here. Friendly guys. They all have beards. They played something crust-esque as well but faster and only one guitar player. Sick songs, once again astounding rhythms, really. Some really awesome tunes that I will hope to recognize on their 7" EP called Sleipnir.
Both bands will join eachother on a split 7" that will come out somewhere autumn 2011, and they both played their songs of it, so I'll need to check that out then.

If you're into sharp-edges guitar riffs, wicked drum parts, dirty bass and desperate screams, check out each on these bands.
And I suggest you go to Gent 26/07.

PS: Oathbreaker was supposed to play this, but cancelled. Anyway, they're great too. I'm just saying. They have a record out on Deathwish Inc.