Metalworks Battle 2022 review
-- Metalworksfest Battle --
01/01/1970
Stijn Daneels
[INTRODUCTION]
Review written
by Stijn “Metal Shredder” Daneels with assistance from Marjolein “Mrs. Metal
Shredder” Deduytschaever. Pictures by Shooting Metalhead.
Our first
live gig of 2022. We’ve been in touch with the Metalworksfest organizers for a
few years now and they were quick to invite us to the Metalworks Battle on
January 15th 2022. 8 bands entered, 2 would join the rest of the
lineup for the XL edition of Metalworksfest 2022. I joined the jury &
Marjolein “Mrs. Metal Shredder” joined with some friends in the audience to judge
the bands herself. And we’re now giving all our feedback to each of the 8
competitors.
[CRUX TENEBRIS]
The first
band to enter the Metalworks Battle was Crux TenebriS, a band I remembered from
their gig at Judasfest 2019. Of course, a lot has changed since then (not just
the pandemic, mind you) and the band has also changed and evolved since then,
appearing like corpse-painted zombies. Vocalist Ken in particular looked like
he freshly came out of the grave, sporting a shirt that was full of dirt and
filth.
Stylistically,
the band played an consistently atmospheric set of death & black metal topped
off with some doom. While the scenery had a solid zombie horror atmosphere
thanks to the dreary riffs, extreme vocals and blood-red smoke, the whole set
did feel a bit repetitive to me although the band did mix things up more often
towards the end. I believe the band’s sound could fare better with extra tempo
switches and more vocal variety (additional backings should do the trick). Also
I would double down on the zombie esthetic. Cover every band member in dirt
(and not just the vocalist) and don’t make any silly zombie walks or other
campy antics (I want Dawn Of The Dead, not The Addams Family). Just look like
genuine zombies ready to get off the stage and eat our brains.
In terms of
atmosphere, Crux TenebriS definitely was one of the highlights of the
Metalworks Battle and they had definitely shown musical and visual growth since
the last time I saw them perform.
[CATHUBODUA]
Next up was
the symphonic metal band Cathubodua. A band that I had been actively following
for years and who had competed in other battles before (including a near win at
the 2019 Wacken Metal Battle Belgium) and despite the band having to perform
without their violist Arvid, they did decide to take a shot at this particular
contest.
While
Cathubodua is a folk symphonic metal band they also have songs that put a
larger emphasis on death and black metal and those tunes formed the majority of
the band’s setlist at the Metalworks Battle. Cathubodua smoothly blends both
high operatic and raw grunt vocals with distorted guitars, pounding drums,
orchestral samples and a great sense of pacing. It created a heroic yet dark fantasy
atmosphere that in fact felt like an intense Dungeons & Dragons campaign. The
absent live violin melodies were played through samples as well and although
they weren’t very audible in the beginning of the show, their live absence became
less and less noticeable to me as the gig progressed. Cathubodua’s emphasis on
their more extreme side also helped them feel familiar yet unique compared to
most of the other bands that competed that day. One thing that I do feel could’ve
made the show better was a more colorful and contrasting stage lightning. The lighting
during their gig was pretty bland and often didn’t emphasis the impact that certain
parts of their songs had.
That being
said, Cathubodua’s energetic and engaging stage presence and flexible sound had
already pleased me in the past and during the Metalworks Battle I was once again
highly entertained. And as result, me and the rest of jury voted them to the
Metalworksfest event next March.
[WUK?!]
The third
contestant was WUK?! which stands for When Union Kills. I remember meeting one
of the band members back in 2018 or 2019 who gave me a sticker of the band.
While I hadn’t given the band much attention since I got that sticker, I did
look forward to finally seeing them live in action.
WUK?!
describe themselves as thrash/melodic death metal and while I certainly heard elements
from those subgenres in WUK?!’s sound, they also implemented nu-metal and even
some hardcore into their mix. While I do like bands that mix a plethora of subgenres
together, in the case of WUK?! the end result was quite all-over-the-place and
didn’t blend all that well. Personally, I believe they should put more emphasis
on technical, melodic guitar work and more straightforward thrash & death
metal with maybe a nod to other subgenres in a well-timed interlude. During the
show I saw the band perform some sweet solos and I want to hear more of that. Also,
while the band had two vocalists, their singing was too similar to one another.
The parts wherein both singers were performing in duet was more effective. Or maybe
one of them could do higher and cleaner and the other lower and rougher. And
finally, the band lacked energy and teamwork on stage, especially during the
earlier parts of their gig. I believe that WUK?! fares better when they can see
the crowd dance and slam into each other in some dark and sweaty backroom.
While their
overall style still needs plenty of structure and polish, the band is more than
willing to make improvements. Proof of that is that they personally asked us
for feedback immediately after the competition had ended. Not to mention, they
did have a very enthusiastic crowd when they came up stage. So WUK?!, we wish
you the best and we’ll certainly be following you in the future.
[DARKER IT GETS]
Then it was
time for the experimental metalcore band Darker It Gets to compete at the
Metalworks Battle. A band I hadn’t heard of before, but as always, wanted to
check out.
The main
style of Darker It Gets is indeed metalcore but their songs often began with
dark ambient industrial samples, something that didn’t add much to their music but
I do believe it would make their music more interesting if they had put those
samples straight into the songs themselves. The band also performed without
live drums and although they compensated it pretty well with samples, it left
the stage quite empty, especially in the middle, where there hung no banner at
all. The band did make clever use of smoke effects to make their stage presence
larger and it helped with the nightmarish setting that the band wished to evoke.
The band also had a solid melodic side of which I hope to hear more from of in
their following gigs and releases. In terms of energy it was frontman Thomas in
particular who lived and breathed his band’s material. Roaming around, banging
his head and screaming like a possessed maniac and I wished his other bandmates
would have also moved around the stage some more. Also some more interaction with
the crowd would’ve been a welcome addition.
Although
the show felt a bit too repetitive for me, I was glad to encounter Darker It
Gets. Their metalcore is more atmospheric than what I usually expect from the
subgenre and hopefully they’ll find a dedicated drummer soon.
[OBSOLETE HUMANITY]
Like Darker
It Gets before them, I had no prior knowledge of Obsolete Humanity, but the
fact they came from Liège did please me for the simple reason that I love it
when bands from both the northern and southern parts of Belgium join and play together
during an all-Belgian metal event.
Obsolete
Humanity played straightforward death metal with all the necessary ingredients combined
with some hardcore elements, but what made them stood out was their great stage
presentation, with the band wearing jumpsuits and gasmasks while the stage was
covered in smoke, creating the impression of a gas attack. The riffs were powerful
and the band engaged the audience very well, especially when guitarist Simon
jumped off the stage and jammed a slow, intense breakdown in front of the crowd.
Also their use of Edith Piaf’s iconic song “La Vie En Rose” as the opening
sample for a vicious death metal tune was quite funny and original. At times I
did feel that Obsolete Humanity’s style was a bit unbalanced and repetitive,
maybe they could use their non-metal samples in more unpredictable and
surprising ways or further expand on the post-apocalyptic setting the band aims
for.
A band I
was very pleased to meet at the Metalworks Battle, Obsolete Humanity’s style
may not be all that original, but their commanding presence and solidly built material
did prove they could end up becoming a Belgian metal force to be reckoned with.
[ANTHROPHAGUS]
The sixth
band at the Metalworks Battle was Anthrophagus, another death metal band that I
didn’t know of until I saw them appear on the lineup of this event.
The band
quickly drew my attention with their heavily pounding beats, rough grunts and thunderous
riffs which instantly reminded me of other Belgian death metal acts like
Carrion and Serial Butcher. The Anthrophagus guys didn’t roam around the stage much
during their gig, but their bassist Antoine did headbang a lot. The band had a
less-is-more-approach in terms of their music and it proved to be quite
effective. Sudden tempo changes, very rhythmic beats and long, technical guitar
solos and naturally sounding raw grunts. There isn’t much else I can say about
Anthrophagus’s style or presentation. It wasn’t overly spectacular, complex or
bombastic, but it did the job well and they left me hungry for more.
Anthrophagus
was one of the more experienced bands of the Metalworks Battle and it showed.
They gave off a lot technique, finesse, confidence and pure fury and they left
me quite impressed. I’m certainly going to keep an eye on them for the
foreseeable future.
[PROMISE DOWN]
Because the
old-school heavy metal band Scarbringer was forced to do a last-minute
cancellation the old-school rock n’ roll band Promise Down joined the roster that
very same day. A couple of months earlier the band helped us out during the Face
Your Festival event as a last-minute replacement so I was happy to see them
again.
Promise
Down’s hard rock is catchy, energetic and varied with songs that had elements
of blues, stoner and speed rock and just old-school rock n’ roll, narrated by a
very expressive frontman. But what I like the most about Promise Down is the
huge chemistry between the band members. They beautifully play off each other,
especially guitarist Danny & bassist Ronny who always jammed together
during the former’s many solos. And that sense of manly virility and sheer
enthusiasm also seeped through the crowd. I did, however, wish they ended their
gig with the song “Furious Masturbator,” since the explosion of confetti makes
for a perfect climax to every Promise Down show. Instead, they ended with their
eponymous Promise Down song that I believe would’ve been more suitable as a gig
opener.
While this
wasn’t the best Promise Down gig I had seen, the band did easily please the
crowd and had a great time performing as well. Promise Down is versatile rock n’
roll energy, nothing more and certainly nothing less.
[BEHIND THE VEIL]
The
Metalworks Battle ended with its eighth contestant, the newly formed metal band
Behind The Veil. I was already informed about the band’s existence thanks to
vocalist Arne, who’s always eager to personally introduce me to new material
from the bands that he’s a part of.
In front of
a very enthusiastic crowd Behind The Veil performed their live debut with a sound
that mixed punk, hard rock and metalcore in various ways and what glues it all
together are the high-octane performances from the vocalists Sofie and Arne.
While Sofie sings in a classic hard rock voice Arne screams his way through the
songs in a metalcore fashion. And even when they sing together, their seemingly
incompatible styles mix together very well. It’s like a marriage of Heart with
Hatebreed. One thing that did cost them a few points in my book was when they played
a cover song, in this case it was “Riot” by Three Days Grace. While Behind The
Veil’s rendition was nice, I really wished they had enough original material to
fill their 30-minute slot, especially when that slot is a metal battle. But
other than that, Behind The Veil rightfully deserved the audience vote and so we’ll
be seeing them, along with Cathubodua, at Metalworksfest next March.
Despite
being the band’s debut gig, Behind The Veil left a very positive first
impression on me and given the band members’ earlier band experiences it was to
be expected that they would be bringing something very interesting to the table.
A very lively, tightly put together and multi-faceted band that I believe could
make a significant impact on the Belgian metal scene.
[CONCLUSION]
{The Metalworks Battle 2022 was our first live gig of this year and it was one well worth attending. We met up with bands we had already seen in the past and talent which we hadn’t heard of before. For me personally, it was an especially educative experience, judging 8 unique bands and trying to figure out their respective strengths and weaknesses and I hope that this detailed and constructive review will help these young and aspiring acts to further perfect their respective crafts.}