The fact that Cruel Intentions have a new demo out on a cassette tape will probably say enough about their old fashioned style. Old school hardcore with some punk elements and overall a pretty trashy vibe. Even though there was nothing wrong with the quality of the sound system, the overall performance didn’t sound very tight. Luckily a short set so we could move on to the next one. Sorry guys, but this sounded like it needs a bit more practice! (Brent_)

 

Second slot of the night was filled by yet another Dutch act called Sandbox Rebellion. Even though I thought, according to the name, we were dealing with a punk rock band, they played a fair mix of melodic hardcore. Think Verse, Have Heart and Modern Life Is War and you’ve got something that comes close to Sandbox Rebellion. The performance wasn’t too bad, with a convincing singer in front of the stage, but was lacking in originality and exciting parts. Maybe a few more months of practice will turn out into something great! (Brent_)

 

Finally a good band took the stage, namely The Hunger who hail from the North of The Netherlands, Groningen to be exact. Their soundcheck already sounded promising, and when they kicked in their setlist it appeared it only got better. Monolithic hardcore with a high dose of Rise And Fall was spewed out by these farmers of the North, with a sound that is so dense, thick and fuzzy you almost think you’re watching the aforementioned Belgium hardcore band in the flesh. I was really surprised by the excellent quality of this band and I hope to see them around a lot more often. (DemonDust)

 

I heard many good things about Trash Talk, mainly that they go pretty much crazy at their shows together with their audience. Whilst playing some hardcore/grindcore in the shape of very short, aggressive songs of course. In a small club like the Little Devil that should work like a charm, and basically it did. Unfortunately the band was robbed on tour in England and are now struggling to get the money together to get back home, yet this didn’t stop the guys from giving a powerful show. The crowd went mildly nuts (according to the people that have seen them many times before), with some big dudes rampaging in front of the stage and just one backflip from the bass drum. Vocalist Spencer is a real maniac, running around and laying on top of the audience, thrashing all the way. Their setlist was surprisingly long, as their songs aren’t, I think they must have made it up to thirty minutes of enjoyable madness and mayhem. For me it was an excellent first experience that I hope to repeat many times to come in the future. (DemonDust)