Hexa Mera | October Changes | Promise Down | Asvana review
-- Hexa Mera | October Changes | Promise Down | Asvana --
04/01/2022
Stijn Daneels
[INTRODUCTION]
Review written
by Stijn “Metal Shredder” Daneels with assistance from Marjolein “Mrs. Metal
Shredder” Deduytschaever. Pictures by both Stijn “Metal Shredder” Daneels &
Marjolein “Mrs. Metal Shredder” Deduytschaever.
It had been
a while since I saw my buddies of October Changes on stage (not to mention how
long it had been since I saw Hexa Mera). So we decided to take the long trip
from Deinze to Schoten for a sweet weekend starting gig at the nice and
friendly Jeugdhuis Kaddish venue when meeting both new and familiar faces.
[ASVANA]
The first
and only band of that day that I hadn’t seen live before was the young metal
band Asvana. They had formed shortly after the pandemic began and released a
few singles since then, including a new single called “Jesters and Monarchs”
which they’ve uploaded the same day as I’m writing this. The band was stoked to
be there and they promised to hype us up for the upcoming performances of the
three other bands, which they promptly did.
Asvana’s style reminded me of bands
like Linkin Park, Nirvana & 5 Finger Death Punch as well as a bit of Tokyo
Hotel back when they still played heavy rock.
Asvana’s
main musical traits included clear and intense vocals backed by melodic guitar
riffs and prominent, hard-pounding drums. Some songs, such as “Stand Up,” put
the pedal to the metal while other tunes such as “Grey” were slower and more
intimate. The band also didn’t stop banging their heads and frontman Mitch in
particular proved himself to be a very expressive singer. Waving his arms and
weaving his torso around and putting genuine emotion into his vocals. I do think
that the band could further expand on the guitar playing part. I heard some
sweet solos throughout their show and I think both guitarists could play a
little better off each other than they did during this specific gig.
Despite the
band standing and waiting on stage for an awkwardly long time before they could
begin, they more than made up with the sheer enthusiasm and musical variety
they showcased once they got the party started. While they still had some rough
edges, their grunge and alternative fueled beats already packed a nice punch.
[PROMISE DOWN]
Back when I
had reviewed Promise Down’s debut EP “I Bleed Rock N’ Roll” (read it here: https://www.belgianmetalshredder.be/reviews/237) I had good hopes for this
fledging, all-kills-no-frills rock n’ roll act and having seen them live a
couple of times in the past half year I can sure tell you they kick ass both on
record and on stage.
So what’s the deal with Promise Down? It’s simple, think of flamboyant and fast-riffing rockers like Motörhead, AC/DC and Mötley Crüe. During their gig at Kaddish Promise Down once again pulled out all the stops with catchy and rhythmic songs that blended hard, speed and blues rock. Not to mention the quartet and especially frontman William being absolute showmen! Guitarist Daniel played beautiful solos and always got joined in the act by his bassist buddy Ronny. William himself used every inch of the stage to deliver his rough but operatic vocals. The band, however, did have some technical issues, mainly the silent backing vocals and the overall echo effect during the show. They did wrap up the gig the way they should always do, by playing the raunchy track “Furious Masturbator” and spraying water at the audience during the song’s “climax” (usually they shoot heart-shaped confetti, which is even better).
Although
the band suffered from some audio mixing hurdles the band played as they always
had ever since the day I first saw them live. Pure, no-nonsense rock n’ roll
that easy to get sucked into and dance to. That being said, let’s hope they’ll
be making some new material soon, they had already showcased some new tunes
there at the Kaddish and I’m hungry for more.
[OCTOBER CHANGES]
Like Asvana
before them, October Changes is a band that didn’t allow the pandemic to stop
them from making and releasing multiple singles over the course of these past
couple of years. I first saw them live about six months ago in the Ragnarok
Music Club in Bree during Face Your Festival and I remember them being one of
the highlight performances of that 2-day event (which also featured the likes
of Splendidula, Behind Bars, Cult Of Scarecrow, Destroy Humanity and more). In
addition, I’ve always had a soft spot for dark, industrial gothic metal so I
was looking forward to seeing October Changes live again that night.
Unfortunately,
their gig at Kaddish was handicapped by one important absentee, their vocalist
Wendy was sick at home recovering from stomach flu. Fortunately, that didn’t
stop her bandmates to get on the stage and perform. Lead guitarist Bert took on
the job as frontman and the band used pre-recorded vocals to replace the absent
Wendy. When listening to her vocals on tape, however, I noticed that she isn’t
very good at hitting the high notes. Personally, I feel she would be better off
with singing a bit lower (their signature song “The Puppet Factory” is one
particular tune that shows her vocal strengths very well). In addition, these
pre-recorded vocals, combined with the already heavy usage of samples in
October Changes’s sound, made their Kaddish gig feel rather artificial while
their shows with Wendy are very organic in their overall presentation and
delivery. The remaining bandmembers did compensate for the lack of live vocals
by frequently engaging with the audience and encouraged us to clap along with
them and by still playing a solid show.
While I
certainly missed Wendy on stage, I respect October Changes for soldiering on
and still playing to the best of their abilities and successfully getting the
crowd behind them. And I hope that by now Wendy has made a complete recovery
and that she’s ready to join her colleagues back on stage so that we can all
witness the full October Changes experience.
[HEXA MERA]
The
headliner of this particular Kaddish event, Hexa Mera has been around for quite
some time now and since then they’ve more than proven their value by appearing on
such prestigious events like Graspop Metal Meeting and Slovenia’s flagship
festival Metal Days (the latter even 2 years in a row). As for me, the gigs I
saw of the band back in 2018 were all extremely entertaining so I couldn’t wait
to finally meet up with the guys and see them rip and tear again.
If you
haven’t heard of Hexa Mera before (but if you’re a Belgian metalhead like
myself or have some basic knowledge about this tricolored country’s metalscene
I’m confident that you’ve already heard of them) then I can describe them as
high-impact melodic death metal. Operatic guitar riffs with powerful rhythms
and flexible vocals that go back and forth between clean, grunt & scream.
But musical prowess wasn’t the only thing Hexa Mera had going for them when
they took the Kaddish stage, they also exhaled a certain subtle but very
powerful stage presence. When looking at them from a distance, they looked like
5 black-clad mountains of men, covered in smoke and dark blue light. Ready to
put everyone into a headbanging and moshing frenzy.
It was a
long time coming for me to witness Hexa Mera live again and it was worth the
wait.
With a performance that meticulously balanced technique, speed and raw
power topped off with a larger-than-life stage presence, Hexa Mera once more
proved to everyone in attendance why they are one of Belgium’s upper tier metal
acts, no matter how long it took for them (and any other band for that matter)
to finally hit the stage again after all these pandemic months. It was great to
see you again, Hexa Mera, let’s hope we catch up again sooner than last time!
[CONCLUSION]
{4 excellent Belgian metal acts in a spacious yet friendly and intimate venue on a cool Friday night, what more could you ask for? The both of us had an awesome time at Kaddish and we’ll certainly return to that fun venue in the near future, especially when such great acts like these are on the lineup again.