Sunday Matinee 3 review
-- Sunday Matinee 3 --
01/08/2023
Stijn Daneels
[INTRODUCTION]
Review written by Glenn Schrijvers. Pictures taken by Audrey Chanteux & Glenn Schrijvers.
What to do day on a Sunday in January? Going to a hardcore event of course!
Belgian Metal Shredder went to Sunday Matinee part 3 in Geel provided by
Boxside Bookings with Becoming A.D., Swell, Primal Truth and Soulprison.
Boxside Bookings is a family affair (hosted by Jaro Hermans with help from his wife and his father)
that focus on hardcore events in the Campine. They organized already a
few banging events like: Sunday Matinee parts 1 and 2 and Hardcoretie (with
Warrior Records). They even provide Mosh menus at some events. That Sunday in January it was
JC De Vonk that was the place to be. It had a nice bar, good PI and an awesome
stage! There even was a huge skate ramp on it and was really something else.
They provide even a Deejay-lab to unleash your skills and a studio to
record your own music.
[BECOMING A.D.]
We kicked the event off with Becoming A.D. that played a mix of thrash, metalcore
and hardcore. They released an EP in 2021 called ‘Thy Will Be Done’. You
can listen to the EP on Spotify so check it out! The bandmembers
are Brecht Nuyts (drums), Andy Beliën (rhythm Guitar), Vanya
Frantsevitch (bass) and Daan Proost (vocals & lead guitar). Becoming
A.D. starts with Age of Becoming that, midway through the song, resulted into the first of many mosh pits that day. From melodic riffs, pounding drums, raging vocals
and tasteful breakdowns, Becoming A.D. delivered it all and played other songs
like Blade Of Wraith, Forces Of This Present Darkness and my personal favorite,
Throne & Scepter. Their set was intense and the crowd was already
heated up!
[SWELL]
Next up is Swell that played groovy hardcore and hailing out of
Tilburg (Netherlands) that signed with Blindsided Records. They released
an EP in 2022 called ‘Mercy Never Wanted Me’. Be sure to watch the title track's videoclip here: https://youtu.be/LmdFHs64Xhk.
The band consists of Jurriën Straps (guitar & backing vocals),
Maarten van Uden (drums), Victor de Meijier (vocals) en Levi van den
Munckhof (bass). Swell's opener was King Of Lies , a tune that was packed with rhythm
and melody with a huge kick of hardcore that hit you right in the face.
This resulted in lots of moshing and two stepping. Swell played other great songs
like Blacklist, Test of Time and a cover of the MindForce track Destroyer. Swell left a trail behind of nasty breakdowns soaked in
mind destroying riffs with a combination of clean and screaming vocals
that hit so deep that your spine was about to break and with all that moshing, the spine breaking could've been quite literal.
[PRIMAL TRUTH]
Then came Primal Truth who delivered a violent mix of metal
and hardcore without any limits! They released an EP in 2021 called ‘Reborn
Through Suffering’ and they're set to release their debut album later this year!
Primal Truth is Viktor Descheemaecker (vocals), Ruben Riff Daddy Roziers
(guitar), Vinnie Paul Roofthooft (guitar), Matthijs Panda Nuyts (bass
& backing vocals) and Elias Meulemans (drums). Primal Truth wasted
no time and discharged their pandemonium on the crowd! Blast beats so
fierce that it could snap your neck, riffs so sleaze that your soul would leave your body, vocals so raw that I wanted to eat a steak and dropkick
somebody in the pit. The crowd went nuts from moshing, two stepping,
side to side it was pure mayhem! Primal Truth played songs like Agony,
Spineless, Dying Breed and a new song from the upcoming album. Having seen Primal Truth multiple times already, I admit that I personally consider this particular Primal Truth gig to be the best I saw of them thus far.
[SOULPRISON]
We ended Sunday Matinee part 3 with Soulprison that gave us a mix of different layers of
metal on a cake of hardcore with groove as a cherry on top. Their
lyrical message is focused on mental health and social awareness. They
released 2 EPs. Their self-titled demo in 2020 and ‘Vision Of The
Void’ in 2022 which features a guest appearance by Paleface. Soulprison is Henry
Keller (vocals), Jan Abele (bass), Louis Weber (guitar), Robin Khorrami
(guitar), Simon Wernert (drums). They kicked off with Majesty’s Servant and
the crowd lost their minds once more! A ferocious pit with wind mills,
two steppers, side to sides. The set was filled with nasty riffs, fast
paced drums yet there still was a melodic undertone in the background. The breakdowns were so murderous that I was about to turn in Jason Voorhees from Friday
the 13th. The vocals were so wild that the crowd turned into a bunch of wild boars
that started tearing up the place. They played songs like Legacy Of
Pain, Leash and ended with my favorite tune of the band, Boiling Point! Soulprison was an
unstoppable freight train that hit you so deep that even your soul
would've wanted to come out and start moshing and yet want to give somebody a
huge hug! If you don't know this band yet I suggest giving their latest EP, the aforementioned 'Vision Of The Void' a
spin.
[CONCLUSION]
{All things considered, Sunday Matinee part 3 was a huge success thanks to the peak performances of all four bands on the lineup, the professionalism of both Boxside Bookings, Warrior Records and their respective crews and, of course, the raw energy of the crowd itself! This was truly a night to remember and I'm already looking forward to chapter IV!}