After more than a year of waiting, I finally got to see the first band that I discovered as a crewmember of Metalrage, namely death metallers Devious. I found their second effort Domain one of best Dutch releases of 2007, and in my writing about that album I was already shouting about a band that certainly must realize huge mosh pits while performing live. It unfortunately didn't come that far. To my surprise it was Devious who had to open the ball, and due to the small amount of people in the hall at that time (all standing on a distance from each other as well as from the stage) there was no atmosphere at all. The band did well, opening with a two minute instrumental intro before their frontman came up and opened his throat. A relatively short set followed with tracks from both Domain and Acts Of Rage, their debut which I'm not familiar with. My mouth accidently fell open by Devious' ultrafast death metal passages, and by the lack of a moshpit I just closed my eyes a couple times to let it overcome. Definitely hoping for a better atmosphere next time, because this band has a lot of potential. (Mindsaver)
 

When the second band of the night, Pleurisy, came on stage the venue was a bit more crowded, but still this night wasn't heavily attended. That’s a shame, because just like Devious, Pleurisy also is a promising band with talented band members. Singer of the band is for example the Death Metal look-a-like of Trivium's Matt Heafy, George Oosthoek (ex-Orphanage). These locals have built up a great live-reputation by supporting acts like Obituary, Entombed, Vader, Arch Enemy and many others. This was the first time for me to witness a Pleurisy-show and in the beginning I wasn't that fond of their Death Metal. They just sounded very average; there was nothing new under the sun. The songs weren't that great, but that changed halfway their set. They truly saved the best for last and although I can't say which songs they saved for last I can say that the second half of their show was very convincing! I myself especially liked the parts where they took their feet off the accelerator a little bit and I definitely want to see these guys again (if they skip the first part of their setlist, that is). (Gilles)

The first foreign band of the evening then was Collapse 7 from Austria. This was noticeable in the totally different sound than the first two bands. Collapse 7 had a more modern and stronger sound and it was very clear that the bassdrums were triggered, but fortunately it didn’t cross the line where it would become too artificial. Melodic death metal was what these guys played, but not in the standard Scandinavian style. They add a great groove to it, which is what sets them apart from all those others bands in the crowded genre, it creates their own style. Vocalist/bass player Mario Klausner and guitar player Werner Freinbilcher were live musicians for the also Austrian band  Hollenthon, and Klausner was in Pungent Stench and Belphegor. A professional and impressive set was the result and although we missed Fleshcrawl it was a good night for metal. (Sledgehammer Messiah)