Netherlands 4

Netherlands 3

“I'm from Eindhoven, a rather big city (in Dutch terms) in the south of the Netherlands. The hardcore scene around these parts is quite active in my opinion. With a bit of traveling I'm able to visit one or two shows almost every week, so in the Netherlands we have nothing to complain about. The style of hardcore I like is simple, old-school hardcore. At first I'll show you my favourite bands from my province, North-Brabant, and then a couple of good bands from other parts of the Netherlands.

Brabant:

No Turning Back
Of course worldwide known band No Turning Back are the leaders of the pack in this area. After almost fifteen years of playing their music all over the world, I don't think I need to say more about them.


State Of Mind
My personal favourite. State Of Mind plays their very own, groovy, style of hardcore influenced by old American bands since 2005. You either love their style or you don't. They have released a few records, and a new one titled “Knowledge Of Self” is coming.


Reaching Forward
Reaching Forward was a straight edge hardcore band that lived from 1997 to 2002. Unfortunately I have never seen this band live because I was still very young when they quit, so my love for their music is only based on the records they released.


Tech-9
This is a more punk-influenced hardcore band from my hometown that's already been around for a long time. I've seen them numerous times, at small venues and at bigger stages, and every show is funny, intimate and full of energy. Tech-9 has put out quite a lot of records, and every single one of them is great. Everyone here knows some of their old songs like “Survival” and “We Will Remember You” which are still played at every show. You have to see this band live to understand!


Human Demise
A powerful hardcore/metal band formed in 2004. Their first full-length came in 2009 and the second one is coming this year. Human Demise has already supported many big hardcore and metal bands.


The Butcher
The Butcher is a band from a small town that plays very fast and aggressive hardcore, often with funny lyrics about barbecues in the neighbourhood, meat, beer and of course their classic song about Gilles De La Tourette. The Butcher about their fifth album “Bad Blood”: “This piece of premiem punk rock sounds like a shitload of raw flesh hitting the deepfrying pan while standing between two freight trains passing by”. Eleven songs in nineteen minutes!


Payback
After Violation Of Trust, one of the Netherlands' first hardcore bands, had quit, some of the members wanted to start a new band. This is how Payback was formed in 2000. Payback played fast, old-school hardcore with very cool, recognizable vocals. It's a shame that the band decided to quit about a year ago.



State My Case
Another very fast-playing band is State My Case from Tilburg. Their songs are rarely longer than one minute and twenty seconds. Some members of this band have been in the Boerenkool Meej Worst Band (The Kale With Sausage Band in English), a sort of partyband that mainly revolves around drinking beer, eating Dutch food, making jokes and funny Dutch lyrics. State My Case resembles this band in terms of music, but the lyrics are in English and more serious. Both bands didn't and don't hit the stage very often, and the Boerenkool Meej Worst Band played their final show at the end of 2010.


And last and, for now I hope, also least: Fatal Distraction.
This is my own band. We've just started this thing, but we try to make original, old-school hardcore. New recordings with better quality will become available very soon, and I hope that we will play our first shows soon too.


But of course not all good Dutch bands come from Brabant:

Backfire!
From the southernmost point of the Netherlands, Maastricht, comes Backfire!. I guess they are our best-known hardcore band after No Turning Back. After their first full-length Backfire! went on a European tour with legends Warzone. Numerous years, and records, later, Backfire! broke up a couple of years ago. But they are already back together and even the release of a brand new record has been announced!


New Morality
This band from Arnhem has become well-known due to relentless touring and a very good CD called “Fear Of Nothing”. Currently they are at the end of a full-US tour and their new full-length “No Morality” is scheduled for the end of 2011 or the beginning of 2012.


Strike First
Another great band from Arnhem. Strike First lived from 2003 to the beginning of 2011. I saw their final show, where also ex-members participated in a few songs, and it was a total chaos. Their last record “Gospels For The Deceived” received very positive comments, and I'm waiting for a reunion show!


Show Of Force
Show Of Force is a New York-styled band from Utrecht. They started out in 2007, and not that much later their first record was finished. A self-titled disk containing seven songs. I've seen this guys a couple of times now, and for me this is one of the best uprising bands in the Netherlands at the moment.


Cornered
Another great band from the northern parts of the country. Solid music and in my opinion maybe the best vocalist in the Netherlands, who knows how to interact with the crowd in a funny way. All of their records are good, but a Cornered live show is insane! You definitely have to see this band.


Angry Old Wankers
Fast, old-school hardcore from Rotterdam by guys who have all been in different bands before. They know how to do it. I've only seen them live one time, so I can't tell you much about this band, but the show was sick. I immediately bought their only CD so far, “Bruised, Broken, Breathless”, and it souds exactly the same as at the live show, raw and good!


Striking Justice
This is a very young band from Hengelo, in the north-east of the Netherlands, and they're growing fast. Their new CD called “Building” was just released, so check the guys out and support them!


Apologies to the bands I may have forgotten!

Something about the venues:

Of course I can't write something about all the venues in the Netherlands, so I'll limit myself to my own city Eindhoven, and Tilburg that's very close. For the small shows we have The Rambler and Kafee Aloys in Eindhoven. Aloys is a bit more hardcore- and punk-orientated, while in The Rambler much more shows take places with a bigger variation in genres. The number of hardcore shows in The Rambler is growing. In Tilburg you have Little Devil for the smaller concerts.

Then, for the bigger shows, you have Dynamo in Eindhoven. Dynamo has his own voluntary hardcore and punk session, which takes responsibility for all shows of this genre. In Tilburg there's 013, a big pop-centre where very many concerts are held. Most of the concerts are from big artists, but sometimes there's a cool hardcore show in the small hall.”