Gavin Spearhead's Blog

Kreator had re-issued their latest opus, Enemy of God, and I suppose that was reason enough to do another tour. I had completely missed the opening act Watain due to a change in time schedules. I walked into the hall just as they started to change the set. No big loss tho as I the […]

Vital Remains went on a European tour to support their new album Icons of Evil, and the first dates of the tour were even before the actual release. They were supported by three largely unknown band. At least I didn’t know any of them. The first support act was the Italian band Kenos who play […]

An odd package assembled on this tour, that took the stage in Theater Romein in Leeuwarden. The opening band was the German death metal outfit Debauchery. Dressed in white and covered in blood, they played their 35 minute set of mostly mid-paced death metal. The band’s music is simple, straight-forward, and hundreds-of-times-heard-before death metal. Nevertheless […]

Lasts I time I saw Immolation play live was some 5 years ago. But this tour, they didn’t play anywhere reasonably near, so I had to go to Groningin to see them (When I lived in the East, they never played there, but always at the Baroeg in Rotterdam. Now I live in the West, […]

Officium Triste just released their fourth opus titled “Giving Yourself Away” and this performance was the CD release gig, a.k.a the CD presentation. It also coincided with the departure of their guitarist Johan, for whom this was his last gig with Officium Triste. And this happening took place in the rehearsal room of Officium Triste, […]

Cynic is doing a short reunion tour through Europe, playing a number of festivals and some club gigs. Local supports were brought in as the band hadn’t brought any. In this case the band Dutch band Detonation. Detonation plays a fast paced melodic death metal that sometimes reminds me of early Gothenburg style bands like […]

Shining was doing a tour through Europe for the release of their fifth album “V Halmstad” and their only Dutch show was in Arnhem so that is where I went on Friday the 20th of July. The opening act was the dutch band Isthar. These guys play a mixture of death and black metal, but […]

Amongst all these crappy – sell-out – reunions, sometimes something interesting surfaces. And so after many years – 11 since their last album the Americans of Sacred Reich decided to do a reunion and played a few shows (4) in Europe, including a show in the Dynamo club in Eindhoven – I’m quite sure that […]

The American thrash metal band Testament did a single show in the Netherlands during the festival season, which took place in the Burgerweeshuis in Deventer of all places. And as I had never seen Testament live, I went to Deventer on this Thursday evening.There was a single support slot, that was filled by the Dutch […]

Candlemass had just released a new album (King of the Grey Islands) and what better promotion is there than touring. The 2007 Candlemass tour had two stops in the Netherlands, both not very close, so I went to the Dynamo club in Eindhoven. When I arrived the first band (In Age And Sadness) was just […]