Written by:	Lucas, Marcel Hubregtse, Deadsoulman, VPeter
Published:	November 28, 2008
Event:	Dutch Doom Days VII (Website)
Location:	Baroeg, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Galleries:	Dutch Doom Days VII, Baroeg, 26th October 2008 by Deadsoulman (41) Dutch Doom Days VII, Baroeg, 25th October 2008 by Deadsoulman (43)

Another day of doom awaited us today. So upon waking up music was thrown on the stereo and breakfast was served consisting of coffee, fruits juice, milk, fried eggs & bacon, and assorted dim sum steamed. A bit of a foundation for more beer and hopefully as cure for the hangover a certain person was nursing. Once again the train journey to Rotterdam went smoothly although there were some Heerenveen supporters in the same compartment as us who had to go to Rotterdam as well but for the match against Feyenoord (that match would also see a couple of DDD visitors leaving Baroeg for some time). Just before arriving at Baroeg Collin and Lucas decided to go for some wholesome Dutch snacking fast food culture so leaving Marcel on his own to proceed to Baroeg.


Day 2, Sunday

Hooded Priest
Lucas: The openers for the second day were Hooded Priest, who took the stage with facepaint and a contrabass. Both are rare sights in the Doom scene, but they were received with enthusiasm. Their music was good but nothing spectacular, and to me that meant that it was time to get a snack to avoid nearly starving like the day before. One thing that should still be pointed out is that the sound was way too loud from the beginning, something that didn't change during the day.

Marcel H.: First up were the Belgian/Dutch combo of Hooded Priest. Visually a different band from all the other bands with their corpsepaint and contrabass. But musically what we got served by their amiable frontman Luther Finlay and friends was some old-fashioned traditional doom metal. Somehow it didn't really impress me that much, but I think the main for that being the fact that I was still nursing my hangover which only evaporated after a couple of beers. So, to be fair to Hooded Priest will have to check them out live again soon for a fairer judgement. But I do have a feeling this is the sort of doom I would really enjoy live without a hangover.



Ophis
Lucas: Ophis were next and I was fed and up for some good Death/Doom. Unfortunately the sound issues remained and the bench I was sitting on was literally vibrating. I will probably have lost a couple of pounds during their gig, it proved a real cheap way to lose weight. Musically, they were also good. Props to Felix (the organiser) for creating such a high-quality line-up! Their Death/Doom with melodic touches was played with enthusiasm and the crowd was already larger than the day before.

Marcel H.: Being unfamiliar with Ophis I had bought both their ep and their full-length on the Saturday. And upon returning home we fell asleep to their full-length which sounded really nice. So, how would it come across earlier on in the day? Well, a big surprise for me. Ophis' brand of extremish death doom isn't too original but really well-executed and the band's enthusiasm flowed over the crowd as well. One of the little gems I discovered at this year's DDD for me.



Fall Of The Idols
Lucas: Fall Of The Idols were a band that just didn't really do it for me. These Finns are by no means bad, but for some reason it didn't appeal to me at the time. Perhaps I still wasn't fully awake. Regardless, the band and most importantly the vocalist were good, so no harm done.

Marcel H.: Finally being fully in the land of the living again I was really looking forward to seeing these Fins. It took me a very long time to get into their studio albums, but once they finally hit home it is impossible to ignore the sheer quality of this great band. Fall Of The Idols plays traditional epic doom with somehow that typical Finnish touch which to me gives them a sort of Reverend Bizarre aura (maybe due to the vocals?) but a lighter sunnier version of the almighty Rev.
Live FotI did deliver though not as potent as on album. But this could have to do with the fact that the sound today wasn't as good as on the Saturday and it was just sublime. But a good cross section of both albums made sure that the crowd really enjoyed it all.



Faith
Lucas: The band Faith was unfortunately a lot less good. While I still enjoyed Fall Of The Idols' style, Faith's Folk/Doom combination is just a wrong one in my opinion. I'm not saying it can never mix, I'm just saying it takes an amazing songwriter to do it well and Faith does not fall into that category. During the first few songs they had my attention but after that it quickly drifted away and I focused on buying cool cd's again.

Marcel H.: As quite a lot of people here on Metal Storm know I have this aversion to some subgenres of metal, and folk metal being one of them. So it may come as a surprise to many (including myself) that I really enjoyed Faith. Okay so they are epic doom, but the folk elements are really dominant in their sound. The dominance of the folk element isn't that strange considering they had a violinist and nyckelharpa player on stage as well. But what really won me over was their vocalist who, probably, had the greatest pipes and range of the weekend. Christer Nilsson really did it for me. His searing vocals which are a mix of Mats Leven, Messiah Marcolin and Robert Lowe just utterly blew me away. Faith captivated me for the entire duration of their set. Another great find for me at DDD this band.

Arutha: I was looking forward to it because what I had heard of it sounded right up my alley, slick Folk Doom. Too bad it was pretty disappointing... the vocalist looked pretty nervous and he sounded pretty static and that was the rest of performance as well - static and flat. To some extent it was enjoyable but it was far from convincing or memorable.



Pantheist
Lucas: Pantheist were one of the biggest bands of the day and with Worship and Skepticism the reason for most of the visitors to come. Unfortunately Pantheist was really crippled by the overly loud sound. Marcel and Collin, who were standing somewhere else in the venue, didn't seem to be bothered by it too much so perhaps it was just me. However, that does not change the fact that at times I couldn't hear the vocals at all and Kostas looked pretty goofy with his face all wretched from the growls, without any sound coming out at all. Other than that, Pantheist is a great band and it showed. I believe they also played a new song which sounded just as good as the others, so if you haven't heard the new album yet you know what to do.

Marcel H.: Pantheist, one of the bands most of the people came for today (the others of course being Worship and especially Skepticism). Kostas handling the vocals from behind his keyboard really reminded me of the Mar De Grises gig earlier in the year at this exact same venue. Another parallel with Mar De Grises is the fact that also Pantheist are moving away from their earlier sound into more progressive territory. A couple of new songs were played of which the most outstanding one was Loss Of Innocence, which is nearer to the Amartia material than some of the other new songs. Although Pantheist came across as a well oiled professional band which was very enjoyable live it never really sparkled. There was something missing but I just can't put my finger on it.

Arutha: I was also looking very forward to Pantheist and they didn't disappoint, luckily. Mostly new songs were played and that's a good thing since it blows anything away from the old albums. It wasn't anything special but a good performance from the Melancholic Belgian (not really anymore, ed.) Funeral Doomsters.



Worship
Lucas: Worship were, along with Faal and Forgotten Tomb, the best band of the festival, in my opinion. Damn, what an amazing band. Glad I picked both their albums up before and after the gig. Slow, heavy and amazingly eerie. "The Doommonger" is a not a front man of running around and doing crazy stuff, but his tall and slow appearance matched the music perfectly. Great screams, wailing solos, dark spoken passages and lots of smoke, a perfect Doom gig! After the show he invited everyone to start up a conversation with him, once again emphasizing the friendliness and kindness within the doom scene.

Marcel H.: Worship, are a band I do enjoy but I never really understood all the adulation surrounding them. Yes, they played some enjoyable extreme death doom, funeral doom, whatever. But nothing earth shattering to my ears. Let me tell you... this concert has proved me totally wrong. This was absolutely brilliant stuff blowing me right out of Baroeg and bulldozing me like there was no tomorrow. How could I have been so wrong? Ah well, I have mended my ways and now see what makes Worship so special. As stated, this was one hell of a show, with an eerie as hell atmosphere that fell over the crowd as a Lovecraftian fog. Doom as doom is meant to be.



Skepticism
Marcel H.: The band most people had come for. But also the band a lot of people had to miss because of the change in the playing order and the programme running an hour late. The reason for the change was something to do with the drums of Worship (who, if I understood correctly, had to use Pantheist's drums.). One of the people missing Skepticism was our own Lucas. Strapping Young Lad have recorded an album called Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing... from now on that title shall only be used when referring Skepticism playing live. Skepticism's latest, Alloy, is extremely heavy on the bottom end. Keep that heaviness in mind and multiply by two or three and that's what Skepticism live is. The epitome of heavy bottom end. Not only are they epitome of heavy but also the epitome of funeral doom. Just listen to that organ live, the drumming, the keyboards, the guitars, and the vocals deliverance. Now that is what funeral doom is supposed to be like. Smartly dressed in suits and white shirts Skepticism came across great live. They certainly knew how to captivate the audience and send them into a trance. A truly magical carpet ride, which unfortunately ended just after 11 bringing us all back down to earth.
Skepticism were certainly the right act to end the proceedings of two days of varied doom. (Before Skepticism's gig an interview was conducted by Collin and Lucas. You can read it here.)



Two days (18 hours) of great varied doom were once again brought to an end, alas, an hour late on Sunday. That single hour being the only minor glitch together with the SubRosa's bass problems. Dutch Doom Days have once again proved to have a rightful place on the festival calendar with this year's edition drawing more visitors than ever before. And judging from what was spoken at the festival I think that at least 75% of the visitors were from outside The Netherlands. Not only is DDD characterised by its unrelenting great line-ups but also by its great atmosphere. It surely is one of the most fun (if not THE most fun) festival to attend. No annoying macho characters who want to prove themselves in the pit, just all relaxed and chilled people (some due to some grassy substances The Netherlands are renowned for ) who attend DDD first and foremost for the music. Thanks go out to the organisers of Dutch Doom Days for putting together an ass-kicking line-up with surprises for everyone. Be sure to see some of us from Metal Storm there again next year, Felix & Pim.