While a storm raged over the Netherlands, I drove to Tilburg to see the Chilean Pentagram. I already had settled on not seeing Pentagram on this tour as the previous date coincided with Swallow the Sun, the Saturday before. This gig however, was added very late to the tour. It started quite early on the Sunday evening, but as usual with this venue later that the time schedule indicated. So I was well on time to even see the supporting band.

That was the Brazilean Nervochaos. I hadn’t heard of them, but checking the internet, they seem to be around for quite a while and had released a handful of albums already. When they started the venue was nearly empty. The band didn’t seem to care, as they gave it their best shot anyway. Musically, it was quite simple. In particular the drums were very basic and repetitive, with way too many plain polka beats. The riffs on the other hand were quite okay. Nothing earth shattering, but decent death / thrash.

After a quick change-over it was time for Pentagram Chile. The venue remained quite empty as they started their set. So it was a bit of a private gig as Anton said for about ten or fifteen people. They also brought only a single guitar, as the second guitarist had to stay home over family affairs. They started with the very old tunes Fatal Predictions and Spell of the Pentagram. I really dig their old school death / thrash riffing, and the pounding drums. Demented – next on the set list – is probably one of their finest songs with aggressive yet melodic riffs. They also played couple of songs of their debut album, that was only released a few years back with a bonus disc containing all the old songs re-recorded. And the newer ones fit in perfectly. Obviously they ended with Demoniac Possession. So I was really glad to have the opportunity to see them, despite the short notice, and the terrible weather. A truly great show, from a great, underground and under-appreciated band. Hopefully they have a couple of gigs with a much better turnout, and come back for another tour in the future.