ANTWERP METAL FEST WACKEN OPEN AIR SOS FESTIVAL MANCHESTER
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EPICA ARCH ENEMY AMON AMARTH ENDSTILLE STEEL PANTHER DIABLO BOULEVARD LEAVE SCARS TEMPTATIONS FOR THE WEAK And Many More
2014 PHOTO SPECIAL
EDITORIAL!
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You are now reading the first edition of Shutterwall Magazine.! After a whole year of concert photography, we think it is time to share our work with the world. You will understand this is a big step for any photographer, and it certainly is for us. To understand, you will need a little history. ! Wim Op de beeck, our main photographer, has always been a portrait photographer. Beiing tired of just shooting faces, he was looking for a challenge. It only took him one phone call, to the people of Frietrock in Belgium, to find that challenge. As of November 2013, he became a concert photographer. ! Now, I’m sure you know most bands aren’t standing still on stage. So concert pictures mostly are much more lively then a standard portrait. Movement in a picture is a challenge, but not necesseraly a bad thing. It can bring an extra dimension to the picture. For us, a picture is good when it tells u a story, when it shows emotion, or when u get touched by it. That’s all different to everybody. Starting a magazine that’s almost completely build up around peoples taste might seem a bit crazy. That’s why this is a big step. On the other hand, we are confident that all the pictures we bring u, can be liked by a very wide audience. ! This copy of SWM is a photo special. We want you to get the feel of what we are doing, by showing what we do the most. As from the next issue, (Februari 2015) There will be loads of other stuff in the magazine too. We will bring you more interviews, CD-reviews, an agenda of what is coming, an overview of where we are shooting over the next period and much more. SWM will then be a music magazine focussing largely on photography, but it will be build around music. As long as there’s a screaming guitar, a nice rumbling base, some decent kicks on the drums and a front singer that can pull his or her band… There will be camera’s pointing to the stage they’r on. Often it will be our lens you looking in. ! As we speak, Shutterwall Magazine consists of two main photographers. They both will
have their pages in the magazine where they will tell you everything they’d like to tell you. Like that, you’ll get to know them, and their work a little better each time you read SWM.! Enjoy reading us, enjoy watching our pictures, and hopefully we’ll meet at a concert.!
! For SWM - Wim Op de beeck! ! ! ! ! ! CONTENT!
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Editorial! ! ! ! P2 W.O.A.!Photospecial! ! ! P 3-24! Hell Hounds! ! ! ! P 25-27! Pär Sundström - Sabaton! ! P 29-33! Something Else!! ! ! P 34! SOS Photospecial! ! ! P 35-38! Isaac - Epica! ! ! ! P 39-41! Charlotte Wessels - Delain! ! P 43-47! Diablo Boulevard! ! ! P 49-53! Evil Invaders! ! ! ! P 55-56! AMF Photospecial! ! ! P 57-60! Review Sabaton - Delain - Battlebeast ! 013 Tilburg! ! ! ! P 61-62! CD Reviews! ! ! ! P 63-64! Wim’s Corner! ! ! ! P 65-66! Fanmail! ! ! ! P 67!
! Publisher Contact information! ! Shutterwall GCV! Wim Op de beeck! shutterwall@gmail.com! 0032 497336539! shutterwall.net/swm/!
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Every summer it happens again. A little village in northern Germany gets run over by hordes of metal heads. And for one reason or another, the villagers seem to love that invasion. Metalheads can be a bit weird, with their black clothes, their funny outfits, their loud music, their make-up even. But stil, the villagers welcome them every year. A crowd that’s more than 20 times the size of the village. Now why is that I ask myself. Is it because of the traffic jams every big festival brings year after year? Can’t imagine that. Is it for the nights ruined by loud music? Don’t think so. Is it because maybe, the villagers have an extra bit of income because of the festival? Maybe, but I still don’t think so. ! As far as I’m concerned, it’s because Wacken Open Air is simply one of the best places anyone can spend a summer weekend. !
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The Village! W.O.A has it’s own language. Not only because the festival attracts visitors from all over the world. Also because Wacken is Wacken. The Wackinger Village is a nice place to relax. Never have I seen such a variety in food on a festival. The choice is amazing. I was at W.O.A. for five days in 2014. About every meal I took, I chose something else. I didn’t need to eat the same twice. Not even close. And the food is simply delicious. Not only to festival standards. You would probably chose most of their food when going out in your own town. Relaxing isn’t about food alone. Relaxing is an experience at W.O.A. There aren’t many festivals of this size where they offer you such wide choice in things to see. Knights in shining armor? They got them. Post apocalyptic village? They ride around the field in their own vehicles. They even are dressed up as if the apocalypse happened two weeks ago, and they
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are still recovering from it. The atmosphere in the Wackinger village is just amazing. People come there to really take some time of from the crowded, noisy festival just a short walk away. And even with the festival that close, you feel like in a different world.
The Crowd! People don’t just visit Wacken. They live it. Many of them save money all year, just to be able to go to what is for them the most important weekend of the year. Forget Easter, never mind Christmas. It’s Wacken time baby.! You can easily pick them out on the roads leading to Wacken. Many vehicles have the letters W.O.A. on the back window. They all start waving at each other with more passion, the closer they get to the holy ground. As soon as people arrive at the camping grounds, something amazing happens. On most festivals, they put up their tents, and that’s it. Not at W.O.A. There you build a home away from home. You see the most amazing constructions being build. Some even have specialized vehicles complete with a second floor. Others have their own garden or a swimming pool. It all is possible at Wacken. That’s why some people don’t even leave the camping sites. They get their food and drinks at the oncamping supermarket, and they party hard all weekend. ! But of course most of the fans do want to see their band.
A festival is a festival. A crowd is a crowd. But there’s no crowd like the Wacken crowd. Some of them pick a spot in the middle of the field to see the whole festival, others rush from stage to stage to see their bands as close as possible. But they all are extremely friendly. Wherever you go at Wacken, people start talking to each other. People who don’t know each other. They might not even speak the same language. But they all understand metal. And who needs English or German when you speak a language, expressed in black and skulls. In horns and tattoo’s. In dust and crowd surfing. !
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The Grounds! As I told you before, W.O.A. is a city on it’s own. A city needs its own infrastructure. And that’s one of the best in Europe when it comes to festivals. Hot showers, supermarkets, free drinking water on every corner, plenty of security and safety workers, … All to give you the best experience possible. And all with a smile. On the camping sites, you could lose your tent easily. That’s why the people of Wacken have given all roads on site a name. Metallica Avenue, Grave Digger Gasse, Slayer Street,
Gorgoroth Road, Carcass Street or Street In Flames. They all have their population of partying, collourfull people. And they all help to find your way around the site. But still, even with the street names, people lose their own spot. Some of them just sleep outside and continue the search the next day, when they are more or less sober again. Others find a place to eat or sleep with total strangers. And that for me is W.O.A. A place resembling the most with what I think Woodstock must have been like. The spirit of Woodstock lives on in a small village in Northern Germany. People enjoying the music they love, making new friends, having a great time creating memories for life. Some will remember them the next day, others might never know what happened the day before. Still, they will have that to remember. ! My first Wacken was epic. A festival I will never forget, because of the atmosphere, the bands, the crowd,… Because it is Wacken Open Air. ! On the next pages we will bring you a selection of pictures, taken at W.O.A. 14. The pictures tell you the story. We don’t think you’ll need much explaining by the images.!
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For SWM, Wim Op de beeck!
Pictures originally taken for Snoozecontrol Magazine.
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Fotospecial Wacken Open Air 2014! ! ! ! !
Viviana from!
Hell Hounds! !
How was this band founded, and where do you know each other from?! The band was unofficially formed in mid-late 2012 with Ryan and Joey playing covers with some other friends. It wasn't until Febuary 2013 when Emma, Ryan and Joey decided to make this a real project. Viviana joined in July 2013 upon her move from Europe. We were joined by Justin Hoffman on drums in September, and debuted as Hell Hounds in November. Joey and Ryan went to high school together, and Ryan met
Emma at the university. Ryan and I also occasionally ran into each other through mutual friends.! ! Can you introduce your members to us?! Ryan - Guitars, vocals! Ryan is kind of the mastermind. This band is his baby, and he composes basically all arrangements (although the rest of the band sometimes throws ideas and requests at him, which he mostly uses). He also tends to be our spokesperson. ! ! Emma - Keyboards! We like to describe Emma as awesome, because that's really what she is.! She's our amazing keyboard player (and a flautist,
as well!), and probably the most organised person in this group.! Emma is also the one that deals with most paper work that has to be done.! ! Joey - Bass! Joey is the guy that always has a joke to tell (we are undecided on whether those jokes are actually good, but they do make you laugh). While he likes to scare us by acting as if he forgot important things, he is actually reliable and a great guy to have around.! ! Viviana - Vocals! Viviana is also called the Swissie, and everyone thinks she lives off cider (which may or may not be true). She likes to surprise concert attendants by doing the growl parts in most songs besides singing clean vocals. ! She is also the web admin, graphic designer and kind of the booking agent for the band. ! ! What backgrounds and musical influences do you have?! I think we are influenced by a wide spectrum of music, and our backgrounds and understanding vary, but we have in common that we all kind of grew up with music. Emma is majoring as a music performer, Ryan took a similar programme for quite a while, and both of them as well as Joey and myself have played one or more instruments for a while. ! Our musical influences are very spread out, including metal bands like Children of Bodom, Nightwish, Epica. Symphony X and Delain as well as classical composers including Vivaldi and Bach.! ! How do you describe your music, and what makes it special?! I like to describe our music as symphonic metal on speed. While Ryan is heavily into power metal, he is also heavily influenced by Children of Bodom. The rest of us leans a bit more towards heavier styles, with symphonic and progressive metal being one of the bigger common grounds. We also all appreciate classical music, and you can clearly hear those influences. But everything seems to end up being a bit faster than what you may be used to from symphonic metal Ă la Nightwish or Epica.! I think our music is also rather various, with some songs tending to be more melodic death metal, while others are really obviously symphonic and pompous. A good mix of that will be available on our promotional tracks release, planned for
February. ! ! How do you compose and write your songs? Who is involved?! Most of the time, Ryan throws a composition at us (after figuring out a new nifty riff), we add comments, he may fiddle around with it a bit more, and then it is put to the other songs that aren't finished yet. ! It also happens that Emma, Joey or I have an idea that we present to Ryan, and then he turns it into a composition - happened so with King beneath the Mountain.! When we decide to add a new song to our repertoire, we pick one from the list of unfinished pieces and start working on them.! The compositions do not include everything, though. The vocal arrangements are done by me, Emma writes her solos, and most of the time it is me who writes lyrics. With some songs, Emma helps or comes up with text, and sometimes Ryan already has more or less finished lyrics he wants to be used. ! ! Where are you based?! We are based in Regina. It is the capital of Saskatchewan, a province in the southern central prairies of Canada. Its nickname is Queen City, and it used to be called Pile of Bones. ! ! Which major band(s) would you love to open for?! We all have our bands. Personally, I'd kill to open for Epica, Delain, Galneryus or Sabaton. I am pretty sure if we'd get to open for Children of Bodom or Symphony X, Ryan and Emma would be more than happy.! ! What are your songs about?! They cover a wide variety of topics. When I write, it usually is about what is currently on my mind, or about a topic I set after listening to a composition. That can be social and political issues, mental issues, stories and fairy tales and really whatever comes to mind. ! With our more folky pieces we like to write about folk tales, and for those, Emma and I often do some research. ! I like to have the lyrics go well with the atmosphere of the song. A heavy song most likely won't be about a happy, funny folk tale, but for a composition that has a kind of hopeful atmosphere, I probably won't write about death and destruction.! ! What are your plans for 2015 and beyond?!
Well most importantly, I think, is the release of our aforementioned promotional tracks. It will be available as a physical CD as well as online, but we haven’t quite figured out the details yet. It is planned for February, and will contain two professionally recorded songs and one demo. Equally important will be finding a new drummer, as Justin, whose drums will be on the promo tracks, just parted ways with us. ! Other than that, I think we want to just get back playing after a rather long break that we somewhat had to take due to some work permit related issues on my part. We have a show set up in March (thankfully we will have a stand in on the drums), and I am really excited for that.! For that show, we want to finalise a few more new tracks, and beyond that I guess our goal is to
finally getting to work on an EP or even a full album. ! There are also a few festivals in 2016 (and 2015 if we manage to find a new drummer in time) we plan to sign up for.! ! Where can we find you online?! You can find us on! facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ hellhoundsmetal! youtube: http://www.hell-hounds.ca/youtube! web: http://www.hell-hounds.ca! reverbnation: http://www.hell-hounds.ca/ reverbnation!
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Pictures have been provided by the band
Pär Sundström - Sabaton! Meeting one of the most famous bass-players in the metal scene today might be something many fans wont be able to do. For me, it’s an opportunity to talk about more then just his band - Sabaton - or the weather. It’s time for a chat with Pär Sundström.!
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Pär, easy opening question: Who is Pär Sundström?! I’m 34 years old, or at least I’m getting there. I’m a founding member of Sabaton, and these days, I also manage the band. Besides that, I still am the bass-player in Sabaton. In the past I used to have other tasks in the band as well, but these days I’m just glad the band is growing, and we can hire people to do these things. Mostly, it’s done better this way, and I can focus more on the things I do well. I’m always finding new ways to get the band out to the people. Or new audiences. I’m always looking for new fans. Booking new shows is still one of my main jobs besides the playing.! Finding new audiences, does that mean: finding your way in new technologies as well?! Of Course. That’s one way. But on the other hand, I try to play new audiences at least every other show. That’s a better way for us to find new fans. Sabaton isn’t a band that will be played much on mainstream radio, or feature in the biggest newspapers just overnight. Our way to meet new people is just to play for them. That’s always the best way to show who you are, and what you do. We love playing sup-
port shows. People come to see their idols. And they get to know us.!
Is that why you guys are touring with Delain at the moment? Your styles are quite different. So the fanbase might be different too.! Not really. In the past, we’ve booked Delain to play „Sabaton Open Air” in Sweden. I’ve seen them play there, and almost the entire crowd really enjoyed them on stage. On „Sabaton Open Air”, everything is about us. Fans come from more then 30 different countries to see us. If that crowd likes a band that plays there, it will work great on our tours as well.! Delain is a band that really enjoys being on stage. They have a charming front person. There we are not so different. (I guess he means mostly the enjoying part, red) Sure, the musical part is a bit different, but still, people come to see both bands for the same reason. That’s why our fans like Delain as well. It’s al about the feeling you get, when seeing both bands perform. They are having fun, and want you to have fun too.! Last year we were supporting Iron Maiden. People told us it would be really hard, because the bands are so difficult, and the Maiden crowd is really tough to play. Ok, the music from Maiden and Sabaton is different. But the whole idea is similar. It’s just two bands, who want to play, who have a lot of interaction with the crowd, a frontman that appeals a lot to the crowd. It’s not that different at all. The same I see with Delain.! Was it the same story when u were touring the States with Iced Earth last year?! Perfect match! But with them, the music matches even more. We both play heavy metal, but we also both have this power metal thing going on. The singers are really different though. It really worked great.! I’ve seen Luke Appleton, the bass player from Iced Earth on several occasions. Are you guys similar bass players?! I don’t really look at other base players. I want to do my own stuff on stage. ! How did that grow? How did u find your own style?! I’ve always got a lot of energy on stage. As a kid, I’ve never been impressed by any bass player. They all seemed boring to me. Singers always have interested me more. Sebastian Bach of Skidrow and Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, They were the main reasons why I started playing music. They were absolutely crazy. That is how I wanted to be. I didn’t want to be a bass player standing in a corner of the stage, banging my head. I wanted to be the crazy singer. Unfortunately, i don’t sing that good, so I ended up with the base.!
But still, since 2012, you take care of the backing vocals in Sabaton. ! We lost a couple of band members then, and we needed to fil the slots. I don’t do as much backings as the other guys, they fill in the most. I don’t want to be stuck at the microphone for an entire show. I hate that. Chris and Thobbe have to be at the mike a lot more. Sabaton has a lot of choruses. So they can’t move around that much. Iff I would have to be that static, there wouldn’t be that much show on stage. ! Bass players are sometimes a bit neglected by the fans, because they can be really low-profile. ! I tend not to take that much space on stage. We focus a lot on the guitars, the drums and of course Joakim. I try to focus most on my jobs beside the stage. I am the manager for Sabaton, and that is how i try to profile myself. On the stage, I just enjoy being there. I’m still having the time of my life on stage.!
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Sabaton Open Air goes Germany.! Sabaton Open Air is expanding to Germany this year. How come?! We wanted to do something special in Germany in 2015. Besides Wacken Open Air, there are not that many festivals we play in Germany this year. And it’s going to take a long time before we tour Germany again. Everything matched. We found this great location, where used to be Rock Hard Festival, and we took the chance to have our own festival over there. It’s going to be a one day event with a couple of really good bands. Sabaton Open Air in Sweden is a three day festival where people come from all over the world. This one will be more for the German fans. It’s two completely different things. The shows will be different as well. And then there’s the Sabaton Cruise, which is totally different too. On the festivals, we bring a big show, with pyro’s and stuf. On the cruise it’s all a lot tighter. There’s not enough room for a full show, but that makes it a more private, intimate show. There’s nothing to hide behing. No tanks on the stage or things like that.! That would be great on a boat.! Well, maybe we can bring a submarine to the cruise.! A question for the Belgian Panzer Battalion. Will there be pyro’s on stage in Antwerp, later on in this tour?! We are still talking with the people of the bigger venues. Antwerp is definitely one of them. Our show is pretty strong the way it is now, but maybe
we’ll bring pyro’s on some of the bigger shows. We are touring with the biggest production we had until today. On most stages we can’t even bring our full show. People may have seen some videos on youtube from the first shows of this tour. They were not the full show. So in the bigger venues, there will be a lot more to see anyway.! Today, your stage looks a bit crowded, even before the show. Does that bring problems with it?! Not really. We like all these props, and we’re used to move around them. Or interact with them. The stuff we bring on stage, we can walk on, and really use in the show. It looks just great for the fans. It ads an extra dimension to the feeling Sabaton brings.! Is bringing a great show, with it’s own identity something specific for Scandinavia? You guys do so, but also Nightwish or Lordi.! There are many thing about Scandinavia that give us advantages. Younger bands are very well supported. Cultural support, but also doe support from the governments. Bands get studio time, the possibility to print cd’s and lot’s of chances to play live. There’s a lot of free festivals where they can play. But on the other hand, we are far from everything. We always have to travel far. ! When we were touring the States, I noticed that the many starting bands are treated really bad. When you are a small band, supporting another small band, they treat you like shit. In Sweden, even the small venues are nice to play, and you
will always get some decent food. Even if you can’t sell tickets for the show, you will have something to eat, and some nice showers for after the show.! All this helps to build the dream these young musicians have. If you dream of becoming a rockstar, and everybody makes life as difficult as possible, chances are you will not make it. Beiing treated so bad, being stepped on so hard at an age of 14, really kills your dreams. In Scandinavia, organizers welcome you. You get the treatment you deserve. Sure, you may not be so good, because your only 14 years old, but they welcome you as a musician. This mentality encourages people to keep playing, to become better at what they do. And I think that mentality has helped Scandinavia grow some of the best bands in the world.! I’ve touched it in the beginning of the interview. Do you guys aim for new technologies regarding to distribution of your music? Maybe that’s something Scandinavians do more then other people?! We came right in the middle of the change. we had the traditional distribution, but we also grew into the new ways. Bot Joakim and I are very interested in computers and new technologies. We used some technologies really early. As a 13 year old kid, I was programming servers, creating
software for that. ! I saw early there was a huge revolution going on. Many older bands and even big labels try to fight
against it. Millions and Billions of people are going in the direction of new technologies. They know they can get stuff for free. In my world, it’s easier to cope with that knowledge, and find ways to turn that into profit, than it is to fight against it. We need to use, for example Myspace. Some people only place samples online. The only result you will get from that, is that your fans will go look somewhere else to find the whole song. So actually you are sending them off to someone else. It’s better we keep them on our websites. There we offer the content, and we can get our message trough. Today, I love things like Spotify. It’s a way to keep your fans close to you, and we even get payed for it. But the main thing is that, again, it’s us communicating with the fans. And not somebody else.! The music business has been rather chaotic the last few years, but not it’s almost back where it’s supposed to be. The new structures are finding their place. It has changed a lot. More artists are competing for the same amount of money. You don’t have mega bands anymore that sell millions of records. That doesn’t happen anymore. ! Is the market getting smaller now?! The market is actually getting bigger. The pieces for all the bands are just getting smaller.! Many bands in Belgium and the Netherlands seem a bit stuck in one scene. They don’t seem to grow above it.! There’s always the risk factor. Because there a lot more concerts then there used to be 15 years ago, many promotors don’t dare to take a chance
on starting bands anymore. And of course, the competition is really strong too at the moment. Again, there’s more people eating from the same cake. As a band, it may be hard to think outside of the box a little, and start looking for other ways to get your message out.! Even us, at Sabaton, we constantly keep looking for new stuff, and people that can help us with that.! For the last couple of days, I’ve been wondering whether I’ would touch this last subject, because with the events in Paris, it’s got a bad taste to it. Singing about war, the battles, the pain it brings with it, How does that feel these days, where terror is on peoples doorsteps?! We are telling the stories, the history of great battles. We are not encouraging anybody to go out and start a war. We are anti-war. Even if it would mean that we would have nothing to write about, I wish there was no war. We would just have to look for something else to write about.! Iff we tell our story, we just remind people of those terrible events. Iff anything, our songs are little lessons in history. Not a recommendation for anyone to start a war, or go fight in it. We don’t try to change peoples minds, we just try to keep the memories alive. These days, there are a lot of powers in our world, and they all want their part in history. They fight over it. That makes it a bit complicated to live in our world. But you know… What can we do. We are not here to change the world. ! With that, I would like to thank you for this interview.! Thank you.!
Something Else…! Susan Clynes! Belgian singer - songwriter Susan Clynes is the offspring of a very musical family. Describing her is almost impossible. Almost. ! Since I met her for the first time, which was the result of a conversation on Facebook, I’ve seen her perform on a few occasions. One of those was the set she played in the concerthall, De Roma in Antwerp, opening for the „Steve Swallow Quintet”. This American Jazz-band is well know for its intelligent music, highly melodic compositions and intimacy that goes with their style of music. ! Same goes for Susan. She understands how to put emotion in her music. Susan brings this emotion in ways that seem to grasp your troat when listening to her songs. And then suddenly, she lets you go in a whirlwind of free dancing piano tunes. She always makes me feel fragile while listening to her play. Her music invites me to open up my mind for great things. Susan already has proven to be capable of great things. For example by writing a well received piece for a full concert orchestra. Performances in the USA, like the one in the ShapeShifterLab in NY, have given her some international recognition. Her two time appearance on JIM TV will have helped her career. And her recent winning the contest “SongsNotBombs” at the prestigious „De Munt” (the national opera house) with her new duo RUNtoSEED is another great achievement for this young composer. I’m sure she will be heard of in the future. For
now, you can find her CD at moonjune.com and on her own site www.susanclynes.be.! Wim Op de beeck for SWM.
SOS FESTIVAL MANCHESTER 2014
Epica - Isaac! Isaac, your the only Belgian in Epica. How did you become a member of the band?! Long story. I studied popmusic at the conservatorium in Rotterdam. In 2003 I played with Epica when their former guitarist wasn’t available. Over the years we stayed in touch. I played in „God Dethroned”, and when I left that band, about two weeks later, Epica called me. They were looking for a new guitarist, and since I played with them before, I seemed the best choice. Today, that’s six years ago.!
Then you must know this. Epica is a band from the lowlands wich has already proven to be successful worldwide. What’s the secret to success?! That’s always hard to tell. Most likely it’s a combination of things. Mark Jansen founded Epica. He already had been in „After Forever”. So he had that experience already. From the beginning, Epica had the support of a label. So they did a lot of work for us. A label can really push a band onto the market. We played a lot, practiced even more. I guess the rest is „right time, right place, right people”.!
More then just a woman! Is it different to play with a front woman? ! I wasn’t a fan of female fronted metal when I started with Epica. I was afraid of the clichés. But when I played with them for a while, I found out there’s more to their music then just the woman in front. In our newer work, the sound became a lot heavier then before, and I like that. Our latest CD actually is a rock hard metal album. We still are that symphonic band, but we’ve got more metal in our later work. In our earlier work, sometimes the symphonic part of the music was more important. Now, it’s subordinate to the song itself. I think that’s how we are different to other female fronted symphonic bands. Both me and Arjen, the drummer, have played death metal before. I guess we might be part of the changes in Epica towards the heavier sound. For now, it’s the road we’ve taken, that heavier sound, but who knows what the future will bring us.! Your shows often are a treat for the crowd. They are highly visual. Is that the influence of Simone?! From the beginning, there have been these extra’s. We’ve had pyro’s, a snake on stage. Our sound and light technicians have been with the band since the start. So they know us very well. ! The whole experience has always been very important with Epica. The more budget we have wile we are growing, the more of those show elements we can use. I guess that’s how it works with all great bands. Take Rammstein for example. Their music is great, but they also bring a great show.! Simone always does her own makeup, and the stage clothes are designed for us. Simone has her input of course, but she’s not the only one in charge of the visual aspect. ! Being a female fronted symphonic band. there’s always the comparison with Nightwish and Whithin Temptation. What’s the difference?! I think Epica got heavier and heavier over the years, where other bands may be a bit more symphonic. Whitin Temptation is a bit more
mainstream. They are played on the radio. Our songs are much longer. And we know we won’t be played on the radio. ! All these bands have a common ground, but they developed their own sound over the years.! Does that mean all these bands are your competition?! They are, but every band is. Not only symphonic bands. But iff you start focussing on that competition part, there’s not much fun in playing anymore. When I meet Floor (Jansen, Nightwish), there’s no competition. We know each other from the „After Forever”! days. We still are friends.! Touring with bands that are so different, is that a risk you guys take?! I don’t think we’re that different. As i said before, Epica got a lot heavier the last few years, and I’m sure that Diablo Blvd and Dragonforce will fit our style very well. They both are pretty heavy, in your face kind of bands, and so is Epica. We think it’s important that our supports can really shine on stage. The better their set, the better the crowd will respond when we play. That’s why we let our support bands use all the equipment that’s available. When there’s light, use it. Iff there’s space on stage, use it. Make your support into a show.! The last show of this tour is in Anciënne Belgique in Brussels. A special show for you?! It’s already sold-out. So that’s great. But AB always has a special place in my heart. As a kid, I’ve seen Pantera play there. Still he best show I’ve ever seen. As a kid, I’ve been blown away
in the AB, now we’re playing the same venue. That’s awesome.! Will you play the same set in AB?! No, the last four shows, including L’olympia in Paris, we’ll have a bigger show. There will be pyro. So the show will be even greater.! By the end of the month, you guys will have finished your first tour of 2015. What’s next?! Late Februari, we’ll leave for South America, the second part of that tour. from there we go to Scandinavia and Russia, Greece and the first time to South-Africa. In the summer we’ll play at festivals all over Europe, amongst which Wacken Open Air. And in September we’ll be touring North America. And in 2016 we’ll start working on a new album.! Your lyrics often are about topical items. What about the recent events in France?! What happened at Charlie Hebdo could certainly be an item that ends up in one of our songs. Maybe not literally, but it may definitely inspire us for a song.!
The funny thing is that we already have a song that speaks of events like this. „Martir of the free word” tells about events that are very similar. Every so many years, this kind of events returns to the news. History repeats itself. It’s a neverending stream of inspiration for us. Depressing as it may be sometimes, we always try to have a positive note in the lyrics.! Allright. Good luck to the entire band in tonights show, and tnx for the interview.
Charlotte Wessels - Delain! On a cold winter afternoon, I meet Charlotte in the backstage of Tilburgs 013 arena. She suffers from a slight cold. A few hours before their support act for Sabaton that’s no blessing. I’m sure the tea she’s drinking during this interview, is a last attempt to cure here voice before the show.
Charlotte, for those who don’t know Delain, what kind of band are you?! We are a symphonic metal band from the Netherlands. Our setup is rather basic. Bass, Keyboard, drums and guitar. And then me on vocals.! Martijn used to be a member of „Whitin Temptation”. Does that influence Delain?! That’s been a long time ago now. I believe already ten or more years. Around 2002, Martijn wrote the first demo’s for what is now „Delain", but of course, the music you used to play, and the music you grew up with, do influence you later on in life. So if people feel there’s an overlap in sound or style between „Whitin Temptation” and „Delain”, I think that’s absolutely normal.! In earlier interviews, you stated that you had been classically educated in singing. What about the rest of the band? Had they some relationship with classical or symphonic music?! (Laughing) Yeah, that’s a bit of a misunderstanding. I did follow music school in the Netherlands, and they call classical music just that, and everything else, they call jazz. There’s only those two choices. So even, metal and pop, they put under „Jazz”. Actually, they use „Jazz” as a name for „popular music”. When „Delain” just started, I mentioned that in an interview, and
apparently, many people still think I’m schooled in jazz-music, even ten years later. The actual truth is, that ever since I was 14 years old, I have been in rock- and metalbands. Just before i joined „Delain”, I was part of „To Elysium” and „Infernorama”. That was only a short time when their previous singer left. So actually, all the members of „Delain” today, do have a rock- and metal history.! Is that a symphonic metal history for all the band members?! I did have some gothic experience with „To Elysium”. And actually they had some symphonic elements in their music, but it was a bit heavier than „Delain” today. Obviously, Martijn had loads of symphonic experience before he stared this band, and the other band members all have their previous experiences.! !
Taking time for new work, not always guarantees good response.!
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„The human contradiction”, the most recent „Delain” cd is out for about half a year now. How was it received?! Oh, that was so great! We’ve put that album together in a record time. And it has been great to see how the public reacted to that new work. In
the past, we’ve taken our time to bring out new work, and it hasn’t always been a guarantee for great response. For the band, „The human contradiction” has been a confirmation. We’ve really done our own thing with that cd, and the crowd loves it. That made this cd really special for me personally. ! Does that mean that „Delain” hasn’t been themselves in their music before?! No, we’ve always maid our own style of music. But in the past, when writing, there were some times where we wrote songs again, and again, and again. Always changing details, until we felt it was perfect. For this cd, the writing felt good from the beginning, so we didn’t change that much as we used to in the past. Sometimes we wondered if we found the songs good enough because they are, or because we’d given ourselves a time limit. That was a quite tense period for me.
As it always is, the months between writing and the first responses. But the cd was received very well, so I guess we chose right. ! Some critics have said that on the new cd, your singing wasn’t used to it’s full potential.! Often they talk about that classical singing again. For me, the really high notes, the parts that sometimes sound a bit like classical singing, are mostly a gimmick. I can reach those notes, but it’s not what I prefer. I know there are people who prefer the singing in symphonic metal to be done in high pitched notes, with a kind of opera-voice. That’s a mather of taste. In some bands i like that to, but for „Delain” i prefer not to exaggerate with those high parts. The parts in songs where I’m telling a story, I rather do with my normal singing voice. That singing voice is suffering from a cold these days, unfortunately. (Charlotte switched with Martijn for the interview she had to give just
after this one).! In the early years of metal, some musicians were not so sure of the quality delivered by most metal bands. Do you see an evolution in that quality? Or does the music industry appreciate metal more for what it is?! Metal is so broad. That makes it very hard to say something about the overal quality or professionalism. I do think that metal allows more virtuoso musicians to do their thing. They will be appreciated by the fans because metal has a crowd that accepts things that my not fit in a mainstream genre. For example, Pop- or Jazzmusic have more set rules for musicians.
Metal doesn’t really. If you have an idea, you can just try it. That’s what makes metal so much fun.! Does this liberty stimulate the creativity in a band?! Not really. The more options you have, the more freedom you are given, The more difficult to stay within your own set borders. So sometimes that liberty actually makes life a bit more difficult.!
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On the cd, „Delain” had Alissa White-Gluz from „Arch Enemy” as a special guest. You don’t exactly have matching voices. Why did you choose her?! When you’re looking for guest-performances, you look for someone that suits your style, but is different enough to bring some contrast. Knowing that, the choice for Alissa was the perfect match. We’d toured with them for five weeks, and after that, we asked her to sing with us.! As singer, how hard is it in metal to pull the crowd to your band?! It is, but I think that’s not specific to metal. As a singer, you tell the story the band want’s to bring. You are the communication-frontline with the crowd. It does matter wether your playing support, or your headlining. When a crowd comes to see you or your band, they will warm up more easily. Pulling the crowd isn’t something most people do the first time on stage. Those who can, are really talented.! „Delain” is now touring with „Sabaton”. Did they invite you?! There isn’t much history between the two bands. We did meet on a few occasions at festivals, and we did play „Sabaton Open Air” in Sweden. But this is the first time we tour together. Meeting Sabaton has always been a guarantee for some good times and great memories. And of course „Sabaton” is a great band to tour with.! Both bands are great on stage. Do you see some common grounds between the two?! Our music is totally different. Both in sound as in the show, „Sabaton” is hyper masculine. Where that’s not so much the case with „Delain”. „Sabaton” always sings about history and war, and shows those aspects in their performances. Maybe „Delain” is a bit less in your face.!
When we support „Whitin Temptation” there is much more overlap. Most people know us then, and the chance they like our style and our music is bigger. I don’t really know if the crowd on this tour knows who we are. Or even if they like our music. We have to convince the crowd a bit more, but that makes it exciting. Sometimes when there’s to much overlap between the bands, it might get a bit boring for the crowd to watch. There has to be a common ground between the bands playing on one stage, but they can’t be to similar.!
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How about the Dutch metal scene? Is it alive? Is it growing?! The balance between the offer and the market isn’t great. There are so many good metalbands in
the Netherlands. But they seem to be a bit underestimated in their own country. They all seem to be having their fans in other countries, while they aren’t playing in their home country that much. ! How do you see the future for the Dutch music industry?! I think there are a whole lot of new things coming at us. They all have to find their place in the music industry. Bot for live shows, and for the consuming of music. At the moment there’s quite an unbalance between the old ways and the new ones. Fans used to physically buy the music they wanted, now they can download most of it, almost the moment it gets published. The time will come that the market settles down a bit, and bands will make decent money again, using the newest technologies, but right now, many bands are still finding their place in all this. I think this evolution follows generations. Elder people might not like all these changes, they may still prefer the cd or lp. Younger generations might see these changes as necessary or even something they really like.! Do you see a future for „Delain” in those new technologies? Is that something you pay attention to?! We’ve been in the last generation that actually went to the local shop, to buy a cd. but we have to follow the technollogie. our fans do, so we can’t stay behind.! What brings the near future for „Delain”?! After the tour with „Sabaton” we plan some small shows, also in the Netherlands. That will be somewhere in March. April, we tour the United States for about six weeks. That tour will be with „Sabaton” and „Nightwish”. We think that’ll make for a nice package. During summer, we will mainly be playing at European festivals. ! SWM hopes you have a great time, and we thank you for this interview.!
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For the most up-to-date info, visit: www.delain.nl
Diablo Blvd! Alex and Dave! As we sit down, the tone is set. Introducing themselves turns out to be a true a session of joking around between two longtime mates who love to jank each others chain. In a two minute story, Dave explains his family name being an error, and Alex makes sure to point that out ever so kindly. Two mates, joking. How about that interview guys?
How did Diablo Blvd see the light?! Alex: That all started with my wife, Yasmine. Then my girlfriend. She knows Dave since they were kids. I was thinking about singing in a metalband. She told me Dave was a good guitarist. Obviously, I had my doubts. Everybody knows a bloke that can „play some guitar”. (Dave laughing) ! Dave: Then one day, we met as his place, and started playing a bit. ! Alex: And about three seconds later I knew that guy really could play the guitar. That first rehearsal with Diablo also had Marc De Block on drums, and Yasmine on bass. In that setting, we played only one show. Very soon, we found out we needed some more power in our sound. Dave needed a bit more freedom to really work out his solo’s. Enter Andries, another good friend of the both of us. Having him in the band, meant another big change for the band. He turned out to be a great songwriter. In the early days, our songs developed in jam-sessions. Andries just turned up at practice with whole songs. From that point on, Diablo really took of. Evertthing just seemed to go faster. Before, the songwriting was done by the whole band. now, we just needed to fill in the gaps or dot the i’s. The songs were pretty complete,
and each of us could just fine tune a bit. It’s still a group effort, but with a strong base to start from. Sometimes Andries just tells us where to fill in our own parts. ! Dave: Andries also had the know-how about running a band. I didn’t. (Laughing)! Alex: None of us did. Today, he’s the one taking care of everything that has to do with social media. Or Kris, our drummer. I’m not into that at all, but people want to know about the band, and what we are doing. So thank god we have Andries and Kris.! Back to the music. Dave, you are a really technical guitar player.! Dave: I take playing guitar very seriously. I do tend to practice a lot.! Alex: Both Dave and Tim are schooled musicians. Andries isn’t, but he just feels the music. He can hear the complete composition in his head, even before we play it. And he plays the guitar really tight. Tight and heavy. There were times he couldn’t play with us, and then you could really hear the difference. He really brings heaviness to the entire band. His guitar play makes for a large part of the bands sound.! We were still talking about the early days.! Alex: Right, so at a certain moment, both Yasmine and Marc left the band, and we found Tim. ! Dave: again, a mate of us. That’s an unwritten rule. You have to be a mate to play in Diablo. We never held any auditions, but always seemed to find great musicians amongst our friends. Raf,
who is replacing Andries today because he just became a dad, is a longtime mate.! Alex: Tim actually is a solo guitarist, but in Diablo he plays bass. Actually, since we recorded our first album, our line-up hasn’t been changed. That must have been somewhere around 2005. Around that time, I pitched our music at Pias, the publishers of my DVD’s as a stand-up comedian. The seemed to like te music, what lead us to recording
„The greater god” in 2009. That record really took us to playing a lot! .!
Circle Pit.! Was that the time when you got your own style?! Alex: That must have been at our first show at Graspop Metal Meeting. There, I think, I became a frontman for the first time. Before I was the singer, but not so much the frontman. We opened the „Marquee” around 12.00. An ungodly hour for every descent metal head. So we would have been happy to see 100 half sleeping metal heads. About 10 minutes before the set, I took a peak in the tent, and it was full. There and then, I knew I had to step it up to give them a real show. Andries told me I had to interact with that crowd, really get to them. That set, I found out that when a frontman asks a crowd for a circle pit, they actually do that. GREAT!! From that day on, I had the feeling we became a band. That also was the time people started taking us serious as a band.! Now, you’r on tour with Epica and Dragonforce. Your style of music is…! Alex: … pretty much the same (Hilarity) ! Dave: They too play the guitar.! How does such a tour come together? Did u guys buy yourselves in?! Alex: No, Epica doesn’t do buy-ins. They invite bands they want to tour with. They came to check us out at Pandafest in Belgium. (pictures of that show elsewhere in this SWM, red.) Our tour supporting Machinehead last year, worked just the same. Where we stand now, in the international scene, it wouldn’t be profitable to buy us in to any tour. People don’t know us yet, so there won’t be much return for us. This time, being on the same label as Epica, that’s how we ended up playing together. So obviously, you don’t need two bands that are pretty much the same, to build a great tour. Especially with bands like Epica. Their fans are really open to all kinds of metal, so they accept us. Even though our sound is totally
different, there are some common grounds. Our music is rather technical, quite heavy and melodically. Same goes for Epica and Dragonforce. We all sound different, but we are compatible. ! Opening the stage, as the heavier band of the night. Isn’t that a risk?! Alex: I don’t know. On the first shows of the tour it worked out great. The crowd was really responsive. The responsibility of opening a stage, is to wake the crowd up. I guess being the heavier band, we’re doing that. If we can get the crowd from „what’s this” to „Yeah” in those six songs, I
guess our mission is accomplished. That’s our stage mentality is all about. Right, you don’t want to party? Wait a second… And we kick it up a notch.! Dave: For us, every gig is Wembley. ! Alex: Even when playing a tent in The Netherlands with 30 people.!
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We outsold you fuckers.! How is the respons outside Belgium?! Alex: We’re getting there. Since we are signed by Nuclear Blast for our Worldwide release, people start noticing us. For Belgium, we still are with
Sony, but outside Belgium, Nuclear Blast does our promotion. Something that really changed since we are signed by Nuclear Blast is, they don’t knock on the door. They just kick it in. Or even better, the door opens when people see them coming. That’s part of the success of „Follow the deadlights”, our latest CD. We charted 5th in the mainstream lists in Belgium. Not easy as a metal band. Especially since the mainstream media hardly speak of it. Same with the „MIA’s” (Music Industry Awards in Belgium). When I see that on tv, I can only think: „We outsold most of you fuckers”. Not that I want to be at the MIA’s, I couldn’t care less. It’s just that what mainstream media tell you, and reality is sometimes pretty far apart.! Februari 1st, you guys play Ancienne Belgique in Brussels with this tour. Will Andries be there?! Alex: Yes. And in Köln he’ll be playing to. ! What can the fans expect?! Alex: The same we always do, maybe with a little extra atmosphere and a little extra show. We will entertain the crowd as we always do. And of course Dragonforce and Epica. I’m sure our fans will love them too. ! Guys, thanks very much for the interview, and have fun on stage.!
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Wim Op de beeck for SWM! Pictures Wim Op de beeck and ! Lies Vercaemere.
Evil Invaders! What better time or place to interview a band, than right after a great live set. We meet Evil Invaders at Pandafest, close to Antwerp. They just came of the stage, and are kind enough to talk to Shutterwall Magazine.!
largely. If we were a glam band, we would sound more like Poison or Mötley Crüe, wich we don’t at al.! You guys just released a VHS cassette. Why release this 80’s medium in 2014, when even the DVD almost has been outdated yet?!
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Guys, who are you?! The band are Senne (Drums), Sam (Guitar), Joe (Guitar and Vocals) and Nico (Bass).! Some people have called you guys slightly glam in the past. Do you see why?! The whole band, unisono: NO WAY!!! ! Sam and Joe: We definitely are a thrash metal band. Maybe a little speed metal. We have nothing that gives us a glam metal look or brings us even close to bands as KISS or Steel Panther. We definitely are trash metallers. We do bring 80’s music though. Maybe that’s where some people may see a resemblance. ! What makes Evil Invaders the band your fans know?! Sam: Mostly the tempo of our music I guess. ! Nico: Mainly the bands that we were influenced by. Agent Steel or Exodus definitely come from the thrash metal scene, and have influenced us
Senne: What bigger fuck you could you imagine? (whole band laughing) And because we all love the VHS. !
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! Sam: Maybe next time, we’ll go even further, and! bring you some nice wall paintings about our tour.! Senne: Then the photographers will have their work cut out painting the entire show. Or maybe we’ll bring the floppy disk back. That’s another great retro medium that’s long gone.! Joe: You wan’t our MP3? Great. Here’s the stack of floppy’s.!
May too, and then you can see us at some great summer festivals again.! JOE Evil Invaders be touring as a support Will again, or will you guys upgrade to the headliner status?! Joe: More news very soon. (Band laughing)! So no way you will tell us more now?! Joe: We will communicate before the tour off course, but as for now, our lips are sealed. We can say now that it’s going to be very cool. Both for us and the fans.!
JAPAN! Recently you guys toured in Japan. What’s the next step for Evil Invaders?! Joe: We are having our album release party at Biebob in Vosselaar (Belgium). The same place we recorded the video, and a heaven for every metal fan. The show is Februari 28th, and tickets are still available. (www.biebobconcerts.be , red.) Soon after the release party, we’ll start touring Europe in March. We’ll be touring most of April and
Which mayor band would you guys like to play before Evil Invaders?! Whole band: MAIDEN.! Sam: If they’r lucky of course.! Joe: They would have to step up a bit though. (Laughing)! So only Blaze Bayley wouldn’t be enough?! Sam: Oh no.! Senne: Oh yes. He still rocks.! We’ll deliver the message.! Guys, thank you all for this interview, and we will meet again soon.! Whole band:Thank you.!
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Since this interview was taken, Evil Invaders announced their bass-player for many years, Nico, will be looking for other challenges in his future, and will be leaving the band. His replacement has been found in the person of Max. SWM wishes both the best. Tnx Nico for your great musical input in the band. Good luck Max. I'm sure you’ll be a valued member of the band soon.! SWM knows the band is working hard at the moment. They are building their new show as we speak. We are sure that the setup will be very recognizable for the long-time fans, but it will be the next step for the band, in their search for the best show.! Evil Invaders describe themselves on their facebook page as difficult to put a tag on. And maybe they are. But when you like eighties rock and metal, you will love to see them perform. They always bring down the house. I’ve seen them both in small venues, and on big festivals. On every ocasion, they just trow you over by being who they are. A very hard, very technical, up in your face and always motivated thrash metal band.! They are Evil Invaders, and they will be invading a stage near you this summer.!
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Review Sabaton - Delain - Battlebeast 013 Tilburg !
My first visit to the „013” in Tilburg, and I won’t forget it soon. Opening the debates was Battlebeast. For me, the big unknown. I had no idea what to expect, and could watch the show with an open mind. They stormed the stage, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if they would have stormed right into the crowd. And in a way they did. The songs they played were very tight, and frontladyNoora Louhimo really touched the crowd. Her singing was sometimes a bit aggressive, to sound even fragile two seconds later. With their heavy metal, Battlebeast brings a highly contagious show. In my opinion, they can definitely open any MainStage on a big festival. Maybe they can even be seen somewhere in the middle of the line-up in a rather short time.! ! Delain was no surprise to me. I know their work. Not that I’ve been following them in the past, but I knew who they are before today. Before the show, Charlotte Wessels took some time for an interview, wich u can find in this SWM. In that interview, she told me she had a cold, and her voice wasn’t in the best condition. It needs no explaining, I was a bit worried. Those worries were al gone after the first song. This lady knows her job. She may not have used her voice to the fullest today, wat you will understand at the beginning of a five week tour, with a cold, but her professionalism definitely made up for that. The fragile, polite girl I spoke earlier, turned into a stage beast. She carried the band, and the crowd loved it. They ate every bit of Symphonic Metal Delain put on their plate. The band visibly enjoyed playing in their own country, before
Sabaton, and the enthusiasm they showed on stage, warmed the crowd for the headliner.!
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Knowing that Suzan Mclee, one of our photographers, is webmaster for the Belgian Panzerdivision facebookpage, you could expect me to be too kind for Sabaton. That would make me a bad journalist though. But I’m lucky. The band delivered everything I expected. A great show, a well build stage (with tank, although the stage is not that big in „013”) and great music. Every self-respecting metalhead, should at least once, see Joakim and friends live. You might not like their Heavy Metal, you might not like their songs. That’s all fine by me. But the energy these guys have on stage, is something that transcends style or lyrics. During the interview with Pär Sunström he looked small and fragile. I know the photo pit at „013” is rather deep, and perspective does weird thing, but This wasn’t all about perspective. How small he looked backstage, in his hoody, the bigger he seemed on stage. How fragil he seemed before, the more impressive he became during the show. I’m convinced that Pär and Joakim would even scare their viking ancestors away. When you see that pair kicking ass on stage, you can only start kicking ass in the moshpit and have the time of your life. And when you’re having such a great time, and you see the band being blown away by the response they get from the crowd, that only makes your night better. These guys love playing for us, and who am I be, if I would say I don’t appreciate that. Thanks Battlebeast, Delain and Sabaton for a great night.
Review! Band: The Wrong Kid Died! Album: Away With Traitors ! Release: 13/11/2014! Genre: Metalcore/Deathcore! Label: Clench Your Fist Records!
This Belgian band from Antwerp was formed in 2012. In these few years they played a lot of shows and shared the stage with bands like Crimson Falls, Black Tongue, As Prayers Fail and Embrace The Tide. They already released a Demo cd in 2013. But in 2014 they were ready to come up with their first full length album: “Away With Traitors”. The song “Your Mouth” was already on the demo cd under the name “Your Mouth Puts A Cheque That Your Ass Can’t Cash”.!
But none the less, this is a pretty good album. From the beginning until the end, it is a kick in the ass. !
The Album has 9 songs on it. The album has a variety of styles. Especially vocal wise. !
My favorite track: “Empty”!
When I pressed the ‘play’-button and heard the first notes of “Faceless”, I heard a strange Dub Step intro, which gives you the “what the fuck”feeling for a few seconds. This intro quickly changes in brutal, aggressive deathcore riffs, which you will hear throughout the entire album. The last song “Deadly Words” gave me that feeling again. ! The different drum tempo’s give you some time to breath. Not all the songs are perfect timed and tight, but I guess that’s just a work in progress. To me it has a natural feeling to it, in this world of overproduced albums. !
The album art is simple but good. The bloody knife on the cover gives you an image of what they mean by “Away With Traitors”. With the lyrics in the booklet and the track titles on the back, the album is complete. !
! Score: 7.8/10! Double D for SWM
Rock Or Bust shows AC/DC is still alive and rocking! Artiest: AC/DC! Album: Rock Or Bust! Label: Columbia! Released: 28 November 2014!
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We had to wait six years for AC/DC to bring out a new album, but it’s finally here. Even without Malcolm Young, who was forced to quit because of dementia, they still rock like never before. Stevie Young, his cousin who’s replacing him, proved he’s worth a place in the band. AC/DC has been dominating the world of rock music for over forty years and won’t stop until they return to dust on stage. !
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We can once again hear the classic AC/DC sound in their sixteenth album: Rock Or Bust. The album follows the guidelines from their previous ones. The feel-good tracks make you forget your troubles and invite you to sing along. However, AC/DC could have added some more spice to their tracks. There’s only a few moments where you are overwhelmed by excitement because there aren’t many climaxes. By playing on safe, they don’t risk to release a failure into the world. Still, their typical sound is in a way charming, fans like the sound and the band gives them what they want, album after album. !
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The title track, ‘Rock Or Bust’, contains a good riff with a similar build-up as the rest of the songs. After half a minute, you are already familiarized with the lyrics, so you will sing along. Even though the song might be a bit too short, it shows they can manage, even after the loss of Malcolm and the problems with drummer Phil Rudd. ‘Hard Times’ has a deeper meaning to it: it tells us what the band has been going through. It’s a bluesy song with a good beat. AC/DC never promised anything more than full speed rock ‘n roll and that’s exactly what they deliver with ‘Rock Or Bust’. !
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On account of their new album, AC/DC has announced the ‘Rock Or Bust World Tour’. They already released the dates of at least 25 shows but surely, more will follow. The first of which will be in Arnhem, The Netherlands. They recently announced there will be a performance in Belgium, on July 6th. We don’t know for how long AC/DC will keep on rocking, but while they still do, they do it exquisitely well!!
Lies Vercaemere for Shutterwall Magazine!
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Tracklist: 1. Rock Or Bust 2. Play Ball 3. Rock The Blues Away 4. Miss Adventure 5. Dogs Of War 6. Got Some Rock & Roll Thunder 7. Hard Times 8. Baptism By The Fire 9. Rock The House 10. Sweet Candy 11. Emmision Control
start building. As a photographer, you learn by mistake. Especially today. With digital cameras you now have the option to shoot as much as you want to edit the day after. Your no longer bound by a 36 shot film. This means you can easily learn by trial and error. Take a shot, watch it on your computer, just change one setting on the camera and shoot it again. What has changed? Do you like the effect on the picture? What happens when you change a different setting? This is how I learned photography. And with me many more. ! Off course you can take lessons, and I’m sure there are pretty good ones, but photography is more then just the math behind it. It needs passion, professionalism and feeling. But most of all, it needs loads of experience. Going for a walk? Take the camera with you. Meeting friends? Take the camera. Visiting an event? Right… People might not like you when you are shooting, but they will love you when they see the pictures. !
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What camera do I need?!
WIM’S CORNER! !
As a photographer, many times people told me my pictures were looking great, because I have great equipment. Not only isn’t that true, it’s even a bit of an insult. ! It’s not because I’m working with professional camera’s, my pictures look good. And the other way around as well. It’s not because you are shooting with a smaller or cheaper camera, or even with a cellphone, your pictures are crap. ! The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Being a photographer means that you have to pay attention to details. In those details lies the difference between a snapshot and a professional picture. My first photo’s, at the age of seven, were no more than snapshots I took with my dad’s camera. Even though it was quite a decent camera for that time, I only made a snapshot. I just pushed the button. Just like most people when they take pictures. Over the years, I’ve learned there’s much more you have to do before you take good shots. There’s light, diafragma, shutter speed, the construction of the image, positioning to the subject, … And those are just the basics. They are pretty much the same on all camera’s. Even the cheap ones. But with those basics, you
Every one takes pictures his own way. So before you start running to the camerashop, you might want to know some basics.! When you just want to take some snapshots at party’s, with your family or friends and don’t really care about the quality of the picture, you should do great with a pocket camera. There are some pretty good ones these days, and they get pretty cheap. Don’t expect a professional shot, but you can open the box and start shooting for some great memories.! The next class are system cameras. They are still very compact, but you can change the lens. They don’t have the same range in lenses as a reflex camera, but they have much more possibilities then a pocket cam. This type of camera is for the more demanding photographer. You will find out the size of the pictures is often smaller, and you might need more light for a good shot than with a reflex cam, but you payed for a mid class not the luxury class. And that makes a big difference. Both in the wallet as in the picture. ! Would you want to take really great shots, you can choose a reflex cam. They are pretty much the direct descendants of the analogue camera your dad might have used. They work the same in every way. Except for one of course. They use a digital sensor instead of the old film. But thats basically it. You can buy yourself new lenses and options as much as you want, and they all have their purpose. This range of cameras is the one used by most serious amateurs and professionals. !
In every class you will have many different brands and types of cameras. Like with many things: you get what you pay for. And that may be a lot!!
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I got a camera, now what?! There are some ground rules you should always consider when shooting. They’re not binding, just a good basic guide.! First and most important rule: A photographer needs to see, not to be seen. When you are shooting, be discreet. Even with a half the camerashop around my shoulders, I often manage to be unseen to those I’m taking a picture of. And that’s important. When people know they are taken a picture of, they get nervous. They will start making faces, and you don’t want that on your picture. ! Second rule: know what you want on the picture. Even with moving subjects, you should always consider the image, before you shoot. Is there a trashcan in your shot? Is something blocking the view? Can you get the whole family in the shot? Iff not, try moving your position. Do you have the right lens for the shot? Or with a compact camera, is your zoom set right? Please, never, and i can’t stretch this enough, so, NEVER!!! use digital zoom if you want a good picture. With digital zoom, the camera just cuts out a piece of you picture. You actually trow away part of it. Wait until your working on the computer to do that. You can consider this rule three.! Fourth on the list: camera set right? Modern camera’s have many options. Most people don’t use them. The salesman told you the automatic setting is good enough, and you let it on that preset. Then why haven’t I used that setting on my camera, while It has about 100.000 shots on it since I bought it in June This year? Because it kills creativity. Try the other settings, and keep trying what happens when you mess around with them. The camera won’t break, I’m sure, and maybe you’ll be surprised when you see the pictures. Building on this topic, you should never trow away pictures on the camera. Just make sure you have enough memory cards. They aren’t that expensive anymore, and you might be surprised when you see the pictures on a bigger screen. The only thing you can see on the camera screen, is that the camera took a picture.!
Be demanding is the fifth rule. Be demanding in every way possible. Learning photography takes years. Don’t expect to be a professional after reading this article. With every shot you take, you will have the opportunity to evaluate what you did good, and where to improve. Compare your newer pictures with the older ones, and try to find out why there is a difference. Was the lighting the same? How about the positioning? Did you support the camera to avoid blurry pictures? Did you use the same settings? You can almost always check the settings in the metadata that are saved automatically with every picture. That comes in handy to compare.! And finaly: looking is not stealing. Look around when you can. See what other photographers do. And how they do it. As a concert photographer I’ve learned the most by comparing settings with colleagues. They never are completely the same, but they can help. You might not have the same camera or lens, but the conditions are the same. Take the difference in gear in account, and start experimenting. You will find new and better ways to take a picture. After a while you will notice other photographers looking at your settings too. ! In short:! 1 See, don’t be seen! 2 What do you want in the picture?! 3 NEVER use digital zoom.! 4 Camera set right?! 5 Be demanding.! 6 Looking is not stealing.!
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Hope you enjoyed reading this bit. I know it may seem a lot, but I’m sure you’ll like the results.!
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Wim Op de beeck for SWM
Fanmail! !
In the future, we will show the other side of concerts and festivals on this page. The fans. This page will be filled with shots we make at live shows, or can be filled with pictures we make specifically for this purpose. The will have one thing in common. Only fans will be allowed. We want to show how people enjoy the efforts their favorite bands make, and how they live in real life. ! This month, two shots of Ilke and Laura. Two Belgian metalfans that love a great party. They kindly volunteered to pose for this first fanmail page.