The opening act for the first part of the tour is UK’s Burning Skies, of whom I have reviewed their latest album recently, and that pleased me quite well. Their sound tonight was a bit messy, but their strongest point came through quite good, the groove. We unfortunately missed the first part of the set, but saw enough to get a good impression of what these guys are capable of. Their combination of hardcore and death metal proved to be effective on the crowd as well, they got some people moving and received some enthusiastic reactions. I’m very curious to where this band will be in a couple of years. (DemonDust)

 

Origin!! In Rotterdam? Whoa dude, that’s awesome! That was my first reaction when I heard that Origin was to perform with Misery Index and Burning Skies in the Baroeg tonight. I heard it just in time to arrange transportation and when I walked in, the first band, Burning Skies, just started their set. Well, that’s not interesting for this part, because it was the second band that really blasted the crowd away. The bass player’s height was about the same as his bass guitar, but he molested his instrument in such a devious way, it was almost impossible to fathom. Well, 4 dudes who make music that sounds like a crossbreed between Liturgy, the Mexican Disgorge and Internal Suffering. People who know these bands can imagine the sheer brutality of this band. I thought I saw everything after seeing Brodequin on Obscene Extreme, but nooooohoooo, Origin is fucking faster! Don’t ask me what songs they played, because they all sound the same, which is: brutal, hard and incomprehensive. They did some of the new album, but the only difference was that those songs were even a little faster…. I banged my head, drank some beer and smoked some joints, perfect Friday evening! And you know what the good thing is? They have 2 more shows in The Netherlands, one in Den Bosch, my original home town! Hell fucking yeah!  (Mat-Core)

 

So thanks to Necrophagist the headlining band for tonight was Misery Index, which is no problem for me at all. I own all of their material, except for their seven inch on Garden Of Exile Records, which they released especially for this tour. After being battered to death by the high speed technical death metal of Origin, it was time for some Napalm Death like grindcore with a good dose of death metal and hardcore in it. To be honest, with Nasum out of the way (no disrespect intended, I feel very bad about this), I find it hard to point out a new grindcore giant to fit in Napalm Death’s shoes besides Misery Index, although they don’t stick to just grind. It’s their energy and their ‘messy’ way of playing that resembles the cult leaders. Lyrically we have mastermind Jason Netherton spewing out his anti-social/political talk while mangling his bass guitar, while two guitarists shred the living hell out of their six-strings. The newly added Mark Kloeppel also provides lyrics and vocals for the band, which helps with the variety and impact the band has. Also the newly added drummer Adam Jarvis proved to me that he has gotten a whole lot more tighter than last time I saw them play with Fear Factory, that guy can fucking bash away at high speeds with some awesome power man! Their set consisted of material from most releases, excluding some splits of course, and we were even treated to one of the new songs from the seven inch, which seemed to go even faster than their normal material. Kick ass!! After this set it was very obvious to me that Misery Index is now again stronger than ever, I can’t wait to see them again next month! And this time, with Necrophagist!!! (DemonDust)