Metal Roadtrip: Epic Metal Fest in Tilburg!

Like I wrote in my last post, my main reason to go to EMF this year was The Agonist, but there actually were some other great bands on the billing that made the trip worth all the money and stress.

For example Myrath. I had never seen them before but I've been listening to their music since 2012. Kahina Spirit is a bellydancer on youtube and I found her videos back in 2010 and one of her videos also introduced me to them! So, I was very excited to see them live for the time and a week before I went I read that she was joining them onstage! Maximal fangirl moment <3

Another band that was on my list was Textures. You would think that seeing them 3x with amorphis would be enough for one year, but I'm Amy. When I like a band, I want to see them as often as possible :D

Also, Stream of Passion would play one of their last shows in Tilburg. They decided to split up after this year. I haven't been paying a lot of attention to SoP in the last years, but I'm a huge fan of their two first albums and I never had seen Stream in concert. I went for old time's sake.

So, I didn't sleep AT ALL after the concert Düsseldorf. I was in that dorm with 6 other girls and I was drunk as fuck and couldn't close my eyes. I don't know why, but I just couldn't fall asleep, I was a mess: happy, confused, drunk, all at the same time, so I didn't find any sleep. My alarm went off and I scurried through the dark, searching my stuff together and getting dressed in the dark, because I had already annoyed my cohabitants enough that night. I felt sick and took a walk to the train station. The cold air actually helped and made me feel better. I ate a bun at the trian station and then was picked up by Jessie and her friends and we were off to Tilburg. I honestly don't remember much of the car ride but listening to music and almost falling asleep. I almost told the girls to go to the festival without me and I would just sleep at the hotel all day, that's how bad I felt. 

Well, I'm glad I went anyway!

After the doors opened I went to see the first few shows on the main stage. Myrath actually were the first band to play there and they were perfect. I cried a little during Merciless times, because it was just so beautiful. And I hardly ever cry during a concert. But this time I did. There's something about arabic in songs that always touches my heart.

Textures were on next and of course they didn't disappoint. It was their first show of the day, they had another one at another festival on the same night. It's normally not really my style of music, but they already made me a fan on the second show I saw them play (earlier this year in Munich). I can't really describe it, but the energy and the changes in rhythm really do something to you if you let it happen. 

After Textures Stream of Passion was already on, but I only stayed until the middle of their set because I wanted to have a good spot at the Agonist (I know I saw them a day before, but...who cares? :P)

I screamed when Vicky came on stage, because, she was wearing my shirt! Yes, she decided of all the clothes she's had with her, she would wear mine! I can hardly believe it. It's one of the best feelings ever when your favorite singer wears one of your designs.

Yeah, so The Agonist played to an overpacked room and during some songs I thought the people behind me were trying to kill each other. I always stick to front row, so I seldomly take part in moshpits, but the guy who stood behind me got smashed into me quite a few times, although he wasn't participating. But hey, it's great when people have fun, just don't kill each other (I think Chris said something like that on stage as well, but I really don't remember a lot of details because I was so tired). They played a shorter set because they weren't a headliner that night, but it was a great mix of old and new songs.

So afterwards I just sat downstairs were all the merch was and made friends with another The Agonist fan, talked a little more with the guys and girl, made a complete fool of myself and met Kahina <3 I think the just sitting there and talking to nice people, making new friends was the best part of the trip! Thanks to everyone who was there with me <3

Amys Favorites #2: The Phantom Agony

Dieses Mal möchte ich euch etwas über das Album, oder vielleicht sogar die Band erzählen, die mich zum Female Fronted Metal gebracht haben. Angefangen habe ich ja schließlich mit Dimmu Borgir und Graveworm. Wie ich zu Epica kam ist eine eher lustige Geschichte: Eine Schulkollegin hatte mitbekommen, dass ich mich der Musik, die die ganze Klasse hörte abgewandt hatte (das war für meine Kollegen übrigens ein Skandal!) und wie es der Zufall wollte, einen Metalhammer, den ihr Vater gelesen hatte, bei sich daheim gefunden - und mir kuzer Hand mitgebracht. Wie ihr vielleicht wisst, ist im Hammer (das Magazin hieß damals noch so) immer eine CD dabei, die ich natürlich daheim sofort anhörte.

Die gekürzte Singleversion von "The Phantom Agony" war mit drauf und ich hörte sie mir, neugierig wie ich war, an. Natürlich hatte ich davor schon von Nightwish und Within temptation und anderen Bands mit Sängerin gehört, allerdings blieb ich da eher skeptisch. Simones Stimme und die Musik haben mich dann aber doch überzeugt und ich habe bald, ohne mir weitere Lieder anzuhören, sofort das Album gekauft.

Ich verbrachte  den restlichen Abend damit, die CD anzuhören, die Lyrics mitzulesen und die lateinischen Chöre zu übersetzen (ja, ich bin echtes Nerd-Girl!). Wie mich das zum Female Fronted Metal brachte, weiß ich nicht mehr genau, aber man kann sagen, dass Epica wohl meine Horizont erweiterte und ich entschied, auch andere Bands mit Sängerinnen anzuhören.

Inzwischen haben Epica drei weitere Alben, jede Menge Singles, eine EP mit DVD, ein Live-Album und einen Soundtrack zu einem Film herausgebracht. Nächsten Monat kommt das vierte Studioalbum heraus.

Wenn ich mich entscheiden müsste, welches Album mir am Besten gefällt, würde ich aber trotzdem immer noch The Phantom Agony wählen. Warum? Es ist vielleicht nicht das Härteste von allen Alben, hat für mich aber einfach Atmosphäre. Lange Zeit war mein Favorit "Cry for the moon", jetzt ist es "The Phantom Agony". Ich finde es außerdem sehr abwechslungsreich, ohne dass die einzelnen Lieder dabei den Charakter der Band verlieren. Dass eine Band einen eigenen Klang hat, ist mir sehr wichtig, denn gerade im Genre Female Fronted Metal wird oft geschimpft "Das klingt ja alles wie Nightwish!". Epica haben diesen Klang und das bereits auf diesem ersten Album (es gibt auch bands, die ihn ersten finden müssen). Dieser eigene Klang oder Stil hängt großteils auch von der Stimme der Sängerin ab und ganz ehrlich, Simone könnte mir das Telefonbuch vorsingen. Aber auch ohne den Gesang zu hören haben die Lieder eine Art Signatur und das gefällt mir, dass sie trotz ihrer Diversität zusammen gehören.

Translation: This time I want to tell you something about the album, or even the band that brought me to Female Fronted Metal. Remember, I started with Dimmu Borgir and Graveworm. So a girl from my class back in those days, had heard that I abandoned the "normal" music everyone was listening to (trust me, as the whole class found out, it was kind of a scandal!) and found a Metalhammer her father had read at home and gave it to me. As you might know, there is always a CD included and the short single-version of "The Phantom Agony" was on it. I listened to it and came to like it immediately. Of course I had heard of other bands with a female singer, like Nightwish or Within Temptation, but I was kinda skeptical. But Epica kind of opened my mind and I soon started to listen to other bands with girls, too. I bought the whole album a little later and then spent the whole evening listening to the songs, reading the lyrics and translating the latin choirs (yes, I'm nerdy as that).  

Now Epica have released three albums, a ton of singles, an EP with DVD, a live album and a soundtrack. Next month their fourth studio album will be released. If I had to chose, I would still pick "The Phantom Agony" as my favorite album. It is not the hardest, but to me it has the most appealing atmosphere. For a long time, my favorite track was "Cry for the moon", now it is "The Phantom Agony". What I also like is that the songs are so diverse, but don't lack the "Epica feeling". I mean the certain sound or style a band has, is very important to me, especially since in Female Fronted Metal you often hear complaints like "But this all sounds like Nightwish!". Epica do have that sound and they already had it on this, their first album (some bands need to find that style at first). This sound often is tied to the voice of the singer and to be honest, Simone could sing me the phonebook. It's not just her voice, even without it, you have that signature feeling, that marks the songs as belonging together.

Metal Bellydance

So I wanted to share some videos I saw on youtube and found deadly amazing.

I think she is very talented...and I must say, I like her boobs. *cough* They're hard not to notice ;) The song is from Orphaned Land, a band from Israel, it is called "Seasons unite", if I remember right.
Anyway, it will take me a painfull lot of dancing lessons and practising and exercising, to get anywhere near her style. Her channel name is dianabelly and she has a bunch of other cool videos (which don't have as much views as this one), go check them out!

An this one:

First: it is a song from Epica, so I kinda liked it before I watched it ;) . Second: that girl is only 19, is a bellydancer since 6 years (all according to her channel info) and I'm in awe at her moves and expertise. She has a hell lot of belly dance videos, go check her out. Although i must say that I think she overuses the shimmy, a move quite popular when it comes to dancing to Metal...

Anyways, my quest for the coming time is, to practise more bellydance, so I might be as good as the two of them one day!