“METAL IS ALIVE AND VERY MUCH KICKING” screamed Channel Zero at Miracle Metal Fest, just before the festival summer. And, here at Ancienne Belgique, we took that to heart.
The musical season at AB sounds hefty, hard and good! There will be no less than 50(!) metal bands passing by this year. And, of those fifty bands, there are ten who wave the Belgian flag: Brutus, Wallace Vanborn, Off The Cross, STAKE, Your Highness, Wolvennest, Raketkanon, Black Leather Jacket, Slowcrush and Arson
So what sorts of things are on the metal menu then?
Deafheaven/Touché Amoré
04.10.19
Deafheaven manages to reconcile black metal, post-rock and shoegaze harmoniously and this provided their album Sunbather with a first place on Pitchfork’s 'Top 40 Metal Albums of 2013' Chart. The striking pink artwork of this album was provided by Nick Steinhardt. He, in turn, is the guitarist of melodic post-hardcore band Touché Amoré. So it’s quite natural that these two creative, heavy guitar bands would go on a co-headline tour.
As I Lay Dying
16.10.19
We already received a small foretaste with the single 'My Own Grave', but we’ve still had to wait 7 years for a new As I Lay Dying album. Now the moment has finally arrived and the iconic metalcore band returns to AB to present 'Shaped By Fire'.
Killswitch Engage
22.10.19
Atonement, that’s the title of the long-awaited new album by Killswitch Engage. The metalcore band that enjoyed hero status in the mid 2000’s with albums like 'The End of Heartache' and 'As Daylight Dies' still plays in the premier league! After countless festival visits and a tour as support to Parkway Drive, it’s finally time for an entire own headline show again!
Opeth
06.11.19
30 Years on from their inception, Opeth is still a high-flyer in the progressive metal scene. This year will see the arrival of their thirteenth album 'In Cauda Venenum' (Latin for 'the venom is in the tail') via Nuclear Blast. There will be two versions of the album, one in Swedish and one in English. We are pleased to welcome Opeth to AB for the sixth (!) time and for what will no doubt be another bombastic show full of old and new work!
Wolvennest
29.02.20
WLVNNST is a musical partnership created by Kirby Michel (Arkangel /La Muerte/Length Of Time), Corvus Von Burtle (Cult Of Erinyes/LVTHN) and Marc De Backer (Mongolito). It proposes a compositional process of guitar loops, repetitive beats, synthesizers keys mixed to darkened hypnotic ambient vocal sounds. Wolvennest's début album (2016), featuring Der Blutharsch and The Infinite Church Of The Leading Hand members Albin Julius and Marthynna as guests and co-writers of the album, was described as a mix of 70's Krautrock sounds mixed with early 90's Norwegian Black Metal, the whole unfolding like a swirling movie score.
A heavy handful of metal names and we want to celebrate that!
Take part in our competition and have a chance of winning a duo-ticket for three metal concerts of your choosing.
