Internet Warriors Of The World Unite
| Written by: | Marcel Hubregtse |
| Published: | November 07, 2009 |
Disclaimer: Although this blog was written out of frustration concerning the last couple of doom gigs I attended it can just as easily be applied to any other subgenre of metal when it comes to the respective underground.
This blog actually started off as the introduction for my Dutch Doom Days report but because of the way it progressed I have decided to post it as blog instead.
It's fall, so that means it's that time of festival season again. Yes, Dutch Doom Days on the last weekend of October, and this will be edition number eight.
Unlike last year's edition, which focused more on the more extreme side of doom, this year's edition had its eyes set on the more tradional side with some touches of sludge and death/doom.
Like last year, Metal Storm set off with a three man strong delegation consisting of Lucas, Dismaleuphony and Marcel.
Upon entrance of the always intimate and welcoming Baroeg club the first thing that was noticeable was the fact that there seemed to be a lot less people present at that hour in comparison to last year. Unfortunately this first impression seemed to be the right one, for during the entire weekend I don't think more than 150 people were present per day, maximum, and the lowpoint would be the attendance during Sunday's headliner Count Raven with at most 40 people still present.
So, this is apparently the state doom metal is in? Well, those present, including the bands, had a blast and showed those not present to be wrong.
Reasons? Recession, probably a big factor, since the Irish contingent wasn't present, neither were the Spaniards and some other non-Dutch, but why o why were there almost no Dutch present? Can't be due to the fact that on the same weekend a black metal festival was being hosted in Arnhem.
It probably has to do with the fact the line-up, although very appatising for the doom metal connoisseur wasn't as appealing for your regular metaller. But then again only 25 euros for a weekend consisting of 14 bands, so what if you don't know 12 of them? There is bound to be something surprisingly good and unknown there for you.
But here you have it, the state of metal worldwide. Always complaining that one only knows one or two bands of a line-up and that it therefore is so extremely expensive. Take a chance, check out those unknown ones, they are the ones that need support, not the well-known established acts. Bands such as the ones playing here this weekend (Tekhton, My Lament, Unsilence, Process Of Guilt, Saturnalia Temple, The Prophecy, Lord Vicar, Fatum Elisum, Möse, Sardonis, The 11th Hour, Spiritus Mortis, Ereb Altor, Count Raven make zero to no money from record sales and don't make anything from touring and merchandise either because of the herd mentality of the brainwashed mainstream metaller. Yes, that's you there that didn't show up and will never show up to support the underground. But whine you do that cd's are so expensive, that your favourite band doesn't tour your country. Well, get off your ass, stand up from behind your computer, stop downloading music, stop being that internet keyboard warrior. Go out, support your local underground, become active. Have you forgotten about the do-it-yourself ethics of metal? Apparently so, because you want everything handed to you on a golden platter. Doing nothing but getting loads of fun in return. All you do is whine and moan. Wake up, that's not how the world works. Keep on going the way you currently are and metal will die. Were it not for the fact that, thank God, there are still the underground bands around willing to work their ass off, travel across Europe for just fuel money, some food, and a place to sleep (albeit on the floor) and also thank God for the organisers like those that organise Dutch Doom Days and are willing to stick their necks out financially, same of course applies for clubs such as Baroeg and booking agencies.
So here is one mighty hail to bands, organisers, clubs, booking agencies, and record labels still willing to stick their necks out and support the underground and a big raised middle finger and shouted Fuck Off And Die to all you donwloading internet keyboard warriors.
Support the underground, or perish.
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Comments: 39
Visited by: 229 users
| Fat & Sassy! Elite Posts: 3857  |
Nice blog. I agree completely. Even though the metal scene is complete shit/non-existent around where I live, every now-and-then I travel to surrounding states to attend local shows. 
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| Daggon Underpaid M.D. Posts: 1689  |
Oh man, your blog really touched me, once in a while I attend local shows, but what I do the most is buying CD's of national bands, for two reasons, first, they are cheaper than the ones from other countries and second, because the metal scene here in my country is becoming greater each year, slowly, yes, but there it goes. It's very hard for me to get some foreign albums, they are not expensive, but shipping is quite expensive.
---- "Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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| Jeff Freaky Admin Elite Posts: 7078  |
Marcel you know that I agree with you and your statement... (sadly). It's not better here in France. You know how French are, always whining and complaining. "We don't have enough concerts..." but when we have some, even cheap ones at 5? nobody move his/her ass. I have two conclusions. First some tickets are damn too expensive in general that's right (and it's a good reason)? but some are ok too (12? to see Toxic Holocaust, Goatwhore, Skeleton Witch etc in Nantes. 11 tickets have been sold so far...) so where are they? Also I just think that a LOT of "pseudo" metalheads are just posers and, as you say, just stay in front of their PC and just pretend to be a metalhead to be someone because "it's cool". If you're "true", you must like to see your fav bands live and not only the big famous ones! (And if you have money damn just listen to local radios they always give free tickets (that's just an example of course). I know a TON of people like that? It's just sad really but the real metalheads are not a lot? PS: not really linked to this blog? but a bit. All the "Gold pit" tickets for Bon Jovi in Bercy in June have been sold within a day. The price was ?140. I understand some promoters (even if I don't like them...).
---- Come with us to Hellfest 2011!
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by Jeff on 08.11.2009 at 00:02 The same price was charged for Minsk, A Storm Of Light, Simón, last Sunday in Baroeg as well and only 30 people showed up. Seeing that only that amount showed up I felt guilty for being on the guestlist so decided to buy some T-shirts, cd's and vinyl and support the bands in that way.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Jason W. Razorbliss Staff Posts: 3523  |
The fact that there were barely more than 100 at Baroeg at any given time was likely my biggest surprise of the entire DDD weekend. I'd seen none of the bands before, and so I had no real idea what type of crowd, or the size that would show up, outside of what Marcel and Lucas had mentioned on the way to the club. Of course I was pleased to have a relaxed, intoxicated group which is very different than the usual obnoxious, mosh-obsessed crowd that makes up half of every show around here. But the numbers were unfortunate and for that price, really, even 35 euros would be a deal, not just 25. I have learned why none (or near none) of the bands will be touring the US any time soon, I'm sure the flight costs alone would put all the bands in the red! And if you can't get people to go to the show, it's obvious you'd never get anyone to do some word of mouth and flyer promotion of it either. About the lazy metalhead, that's really my problem with all but one of the people I know into metal. Besides my close friend who does go out and buy the limited editons, shirts and such like myself, the other "fringe metalheads" I talk to about metal a lot never buy more than 2 or 3 releases a year, but are always the first to blurt out their (totally offbase too) opinions on bands, and of course beg me for mp3s each time I see them. I'm constantly at a crossroads as to whether I should give them music, because I know they won't buy it, but if they don't hear it, then the band will have missed an opportunity to affect someone new. At least they attend some shows though, despite all the torrents they have queued up while they are at the venue  I'm not sure what the quality of the rest of the places in Europe are, but the two I went to, Baroeg and the Oktoberhallen in Belgium this past month were excellent places for metal in their own way. Out of the 4 places I normally go to for metal, only 1 in my area is good, and the rest are poorly designed or just terrible in all accounts (let alone the atmosphere), so it seems a lot of people don't even know what they've got for quality in clubs sometimes either...
---- "After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15303  |
For shame, mother fuckers, for shame. we hear so much about this "i dl but i support the band" bs, how much of it happens aside from massive festivals. i would kill (ok, maybe not kill, just beat someone senseless with a claw hammer) for such a festival within driving distance... and it's easily accessible on the "old continent" and the turnout sucks worse than $2 domestic night at (pick your local bar)... FOR SHAME.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13262  |
Well you know, apparently Damnation this year made a loss - and that's the same weekend as this doom festival. There were just less people there this year, and there were some big names on that bill. That's just how things are now.
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| thesabbathfan Posts: 410  |
Man, i need a fucking job. i want to go to festivals and not pirate music 
----
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| Doc G. Full Grown Hoser Staff Posts: 9723  |
Written by BitterCOld on 08.11.2009 at 05:49 What is it with you and your fetish for claw hammers? I really could rant on and on about this topic, but I can best sum it up by saying; that was beautiful, Marcel. Support or go to hell, blowhards.
---- "I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck." - George Carlin
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| Deadsoulman Elite Posts: 8004  |
About the poor attendance at DDD this year, I guess recession and high travel prices probably prevented a lot of foreigners from showing up. I, for instance, couldn't afford paying 250? for a trip to Rotterdam. Also, despite the high opinion a lot of metalheads have of themselves (with all that crap about metal fans being more dedicated, more involved, and generally better than your average lesser music genres fan), they are just the same as any mainstream music listener: they just go for the big names, stick to what they get fed by the biggest labels, and are not interested whatsoever in discovering anything beside their familiar little circle of popular bands. Because hey, everyone knows that if a band is underground, it probably deserves it because it's bad, and if a band is famous, it's only because its music is so much better. So many people can't be wrong, can they? And that kind of attitude leads to about 1 show out of 3 or 4 being cancelled here. At least it makes things simpler: once the underground disappears, you don't need to worry about supporting it anymore 
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| Derwood Posts: 511  |
Written by Doc G. on 08.11.2009 at 09:47  I don't have much to add to the discussion because I'll just be repeating what's already been said, but that sums it up perfectly, Doc.
---- You can't fight evil with a macaroni duck!
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| Jan Posts: 247  |
So strange that a Doom festival can't draw a larger crowd - this sort of collides with the sheer number of quality releases we are seeing at moment. But I think that Doom by definition is underground; saw Candlemass and Trouble playing in Malmö a month and a half ago - they didn't manage to draw more than (guesstimate) 150 people either. And Candlemass is sort of the superstar band of doom. Is it the same picture for the extreme genres? Somehow I have a feeling that a death metal festival is more appealing to the younger segments...
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| Dangerboner Lactation Cnslt Posts: 7262  |
Well, an entire festival of bands playing the same genre, relatively, sounds a little boring to me. Even a festival of my favorite genre, thrash or grind, would become boring after a while if there wasn't enough diversity over such a long period of time. I haven't heard most of the bands on the lineup so I'm assuming they range from the entire doom spectrum which is quite diverse, but especially in times like these, I'm not exactly sure I'd spend much money (depending on how close it was and if I have work off - my current job doesn't exactly allow calling off lol) on a bunch of bands I haven't heard before, especially since I don't have a computer. I've been to too many death metal festivals filled with over 20 crappy death metal bands I hadn't heard of before to make me a little cautious when it comes to future concerts. Sorry if I sound like a poserfag but I'm just trying to give an alternate viewpoint... ...buuuut only 25 Euros for a weekend of awesome doom is something I would definitely be a part of if it was closer... doom sounds so fucking good live that I find it hard to believe there were so few people who showed up :/ eh this reminds me of when I saw the last Candlemass headlining tour about two years ago or so - there were only like 200 people! wtf that was one of the best performances I've ever seen too people suck@Joose
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| Valentin B Iconoclast Posts: 10096  |
Written by Deadsoulman on 08.11.2009 at 11:49 wtf 250 euros? aren't there any cheap low cost flights at least to Amsterdam from Lyon?  yeah, it seems this year it's all going a bit bad for festivals/tours etc. in Europe, i know at least 2 gigs and one big-scale festival were canceled here because of money-related problems... i'm a bit low on cash right now but i'll just say this: between paying 100 Ron(25 euros) for a WASP show and paying 9 dollars to this local band called 9.7 Richter for their future EP and 16 dollars(out of which at least 9 constitute mail order costs from fucking Brazil) for Hazy Hamlet's album i'll definitely choose the latter option... that WASP show is overpriced as hell(well on the other hand i did pay 150 Ron or 35 euros to see Manowar but since they're one of my favorite bands i'd say it was worth it)
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| Warman Erotic Stains Posts: 7695  |
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| jupitreas hi-fi / lo-life Staff Posts: 6660  |
Here is an interesting article about how to promote new and underground bands properly in the contemporary market. http://www.fistfulayen.com/blog/?p=509
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| AiwiAstwihad AiryanaKhvarenah Posts: 1421  |
"donwloading internet keyboard warriors" I concure Marcel. But sometimes, sadly, there's almost NOthing you can do. 
---- You who will come to the surface
From the flood that's overwhelmed us and drowned us all Must think, when you speak of our weakness in times of darkness That you've not had to face
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| Bas Retired Staff Elite Posts: 5591  |
Written by jupitreas on 11.11.2009 at 18:26 Thanks Jerry, an interesting read
---- BAS - Beautifully Accented Sexiness
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| jollygreen Posts: 32  |
Very true there used to be an underground event that would happen every Sunday and it was only two dollars to get in for an entire night of shows and I always felt the bands were being taken for granted and now they cancelled it and it was the only thing in my area that would allow any band with no prerequisets. I totally agree with the no downloading thing. I don't even own an mp3 player or anything I still only buy cds. If you want your bands to make more music people you have to support them!
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18439  |
I try to downlaod as little as possible and buy more... This last few months I've been buying lots of stuff not only because my "economy" got better but also because I really want to support the bands because I can't travel way too far and my mom goes crazy if I go alone somewhere more days. But next year I fucking swear I will do everything I have to do to be in DDD and I don't give a rat ass if I don't know 3/4 of the bands.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| K✞ulu Seeker of Truth Posts: 2574  |
Dude, great article (or blog or whatever). Totally agree with you.
---- Savor what you feel and what you see Things that may not seem important now But may be tomorrow R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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| Warman Erotic Stains Posts: 7695 |
I'm proud to say that I've downloaded music only once in my life. It was the whole Rush discography but I soon deleted it and started buying the albums instead. I guess music is more to me than an audio file on my computer.
---- 
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| Insineratehymn Account deleted |
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by [user id=5630] on 24.11.2009 at 09:39 So that means no music for you then. I don't have enough money to buy a Ferrari yet I don't go about stealing one  You go on about needing money for food, yet you own a computer, an internet subscription, most probably a tv as well. Talk about priorities
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15303 |
Written by Jason W. on 08.11.2009 at 00:56 it's a conundrum. i've made metal mixes (a double disk black comp and a single disk doom comp... ) for one of my friends who may or may not buy anything i send his way, but he's fringe on metal and heavily into other music. his overall collection exceeds my own (not all of mine has found it's way to entry) so if he does dig it, he's likely to buy it. aside from that, i'll point to myspace pages for incoming bands to try to eggt some friends into attending. and it's a clear sign how bad the record industry is doing based on how many tours are going on. we're getting a ton down here. i guess bands like being in our 75 degree weather when winter rolls around.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| Insineratehymn Account deleted |
Insineratehymn
Account deleted Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 24.11.2009 at 18:50 They were gifts from my mother, you inconsiderate jerk!
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by [user id=5630] on 24.11.2009 at 21:44 How much rent do you pay?
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Insineratehymn Account deleted |
Insineratehymn
Account deleted Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 24.11.2009 at 21:46 Actually, I'm just toying with ya. I live in my mother's basement and I can't get any albums unless mother says I can.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by [user id=5630] on 24.11.2009 at 22:03 Then kill mum.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Insineratehymn Account deleted |
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