Written by:	Lucas
Published:	March 30, 2010
Event:	Esoteric
Location:	W2, Den Bosch, The Netherlands

When I woke up on Friday the 26th of March 2010, I had no idea I would be going to concert in the evening. Around noon, I still had no idea. However, six minutes later, I knew. Because, at six minutes past noon, I got a call from Marcel H.: "Hey man, I just found out Esoteric and The 11th Hour are playing tonight in Den Bosch. How the hell did we both not know this?!". No clue, really, but fortunately 'we' found out just in time.

Now, I've seen Esoteric once before and that turned out to be quite a disaster - the entire festival had some many delays I could only see the first thirty minutes of their set ("Circle" and "Beneath This Face") before I had to rush back to the station to catch the last train home. They still managed blow my mind that night, even with high expectations from my side. Now, the expectations were even higher and with a different form of transport for my return-trip this time (the enigma named 'car'), neither Esoteric nor me would have any excuses. But first, The 11th Hour, Ed Warby's (of Gorefest fame) new band.

The 11th Hour
I've seen The 11th Hour once before, too, at the Dutch Doom Days VIII. They were plagued by material problems and an ill Rogga back then, but a couple of jokes and a guest performanceeee by Pim Blankestein (Officium Triste patched things up nicely. Pim handled the growls this time as well and he did this again with style. It once again surprised me how tight they sounded, for a band that only had their first live show, what, four months ago? Vocalist, guitarist and brains of the band Ed Warby is a charismatic vocalist with a good throat, although he leans more on expression than technicality in his vocals, in my opinion. The 11th Hour is still a band that will never really appeal to me because well, I want my Doom or completely clean or hellishly extreme, and a combination of that doesn't really please me. But live, I can tell you all a second time, they're a very enjoyable band.

Remains one thing to share with y'all: halfway during the gig, Ed introduced all his bandmates. And when he came to the last man, the guest-bassist Daniël Huijben, it turns out he skipped him because he had forgotten his name. He laughed nervously and told the crowd "uh yeah, I know I'm going to read about this in the reviews..." before suddenly shouting "Daniel! Oh yes, sorry man!". Well Ed, you got what you wanted.

Tracklist
One Last Smoke
In The Silent Grave
Origins Of Mourning
Weep For Me
Longing For Oblivion

Esoteric
Then came Esoteric and Esoteric said: veni, vidi, vici. They tore the place up. Beware - I'm a massive sucker for their music, so this maybe a bit (much) fanboi-ish, but they tore the place up.

Esoteric live, especially when they're playing songs of their last album The Maniacal Vale is extreme. They blend a lot more noise and feedback into their songs and with the volume turned up far beyond the capacity of your ordinary living-room speakers, there is no escape. What impressed me the first time I saw them impressed me once again - Greg Chandler does not use an ordinary microphone, he has a headpiece with a microphone on his cheek. His inhumane shrieks and growls, layer upon layer, combined with his wretched face - brutal. Why don't more bands to this?

The best moment of the set, although it was consistently great throughout, was when they played Caucus Of Mind. When they started playing the opening, as it branches far away from their usual stuff with its predominantly Death metal structure, but it was a genius choice. It deserves its place right in the middle of The Maniacal Vale and it deserved its place right in the middle of their set. In a live setting, with the volume turned up way beyond eleven, it is a monstrous song. I've never before witnessed such infernal fury. The quickening of the pace in the beginning until it stomps and stomps and stomps...

Hate...
Wild...
Pass...
Away...

Death eats away from the inside
Life eats away from the outside
In between... in between
In between... in between

In case it wasn't clear already, or if you're one of those 'too long didn't read' guys: if soul damnation and sonic destruction tickle your fancy, do not miss out on Esoteric live. They're absolutely monstrous.

Tracklist:
Insanity and infernal firestorms