Reflections Tour wrap up

Whereas I initially planned to be a part of this tour for all ten dates due to circumstances I only ended up attenting the first two shows of the tour and the last one. But hell it was a great time.

Reflections Records turned 15 years old this year. I still remember getting to know Reflections through the magazine they did which eventually grew into a label releasing bands like Reaching Forward, American Nightmare, Modern Life Is War, Paint It Black and No Turning Back to name but a few.

To celebrate this six current bands on the label played ten shows together all over Europe.

The whole thing kicked off in Ibbenburen Germany where a full crowd moved to the likes of Deal With It, Ritual and No Turning Back as you can see here:



The second date was in Mol, Belgium at the same venue where True Colors said goodbye last year. This show was great as well if only for the awesome hangouts behind the distro and the boys of Deal With It singing boisterous songs.

The next couple of days I couldn't attend but I sure as hell didn't want to miss the last show in Den Bosch. Deal With It did an impressive cover of Life Of Agony, Midnight Souls and New Morality both showed why they're the future of European hardcore each with a style of their own and Ritual raged as usual. No Turning Back finished it all off with one last set full of singalongs.

To have such a package of bands go on tour with only great shows... amazing.

Ritual - Kissing Pavement - 7"

The German masters of hardcore, style and great shows are back. 'Kissing Pavement' is the new two song 7" from one of the best hardcore bands around in Europe at the moment. Exaggerating? Just put the needle on the A-side of this 7" and hear a band that comes close to the quality of The Hope Conspiracy without truly emulating said band.

The song ' Greenest Meadows' is somewhat faster than the songs on Ritual's previous full length 'Beneath Aging Flesh And Bone'. Whereas the song on side B ' Kissing Pavement' has the same tempo as the songs on 'Beneath Aging Flesh And Bone', yet bring new structures, melodies and great guitarwork to the Ritual sound. Almost making it sound like a mix between The Hope Conspiracy and Refused.

This ep is a teaser of the new Ritual full length which will be released next year. It shows that these Germans have grown and it makes anyone into this kind of hardcore want more.

The 7” is packed in a big fold-out poster consisting of six photographs demonstrating the yin and yang-metaphor that lies within the songtitles 'Greenest Meadows' vs. 'Kissing Pavement' - natural vs. urban elements.

Good times ahead

So you went to This Is Hardcore fest and saw Kid Dynamite and Hands Tied or enjoyed the mayhem at React! Fest? Big deal. Tonight and tomorrow Europe will have the best fests and I'm going.

Midnight Souls release show - october 1st - Herenthout

Readers of this blog probably know I like the new Belgium band Midnight Souls a lot. Thankfully Johan Reflections asked me to go with him to the record release show in Belgium last friday. Upon arriving with the van we thought this show was going to be a disaster. No one was at the venue besides two or three guys from Midnight Souls. And we were already late.

At last the show started 1,5 hours after scheduled with Fundamental. This is a fairly new band form Belgium who remind me a bit of Rise and Fall. They played 'Paint It Black' by the Rolling Stones which is okay, but not if you fuck it up. Meanwhile the venue got more and more packed, I think in the end at least 150 kids were there. If this show took place in the Netherlands I think there would only be 30 people attending, so expectations were set for the rest of the night.


Belgium youngsters Accept the Change put up an impressing set. I'd seen the band before but love the new direction they're taking. Think Have Heart meets Undertow and done really intense. These guys should record these songs soon and get on the road. Definately a band that stands out in the crowd.


Together is a band from Germany. I never heard of them before but boy did they also play a solid show. Defeater and Verse come to mind when seeing this band. They have a new record coming out which I'll definately check and it was great to see the mayhem when they kicked in a Modern Life Is War song.


Though the crowd was moving and appreciating all the bands, none got as much response as hometown heroes Midnight Souls. Stagedives and singalongs, pit action and all around chaos ensued when they started playing. They gave everything and received even more from the kids. This set alone was worth the drive.


A hard task for Ritual to finish up the night. But if there is one band capable of doing so it's them. They played lots of songs from the awesome 'Beneath Aging Flesh and Bone' record and some songs from the upcoming 7". This band is such a tight live unit it's incredible. I will for sure check them out this saturday at This Is Europe Fest.

With the show over, it was time to put the merch back in the van. That's when we noticed it was pouring. After an okay drive back to Johan's place I got on my bike for the last fifteen minutes home. I was soaking wet when I got there, but it was worth it.

All pics by Nous Davidse. See more of this show here.

Ritual - Beneath Aging Flesh And Bone

Honestly up to now I haven't paid that much attention to Ritual from Germany. Somewhere in my mind I had the idea the band was a would be Modern Life Is War.

But man was I wrong. Well at least where it concerns their new full length Beneath Aging Flesh And Bone. The record starts off with an instrumental track that could be written by Modern Life Is War had they actually managed to write a song with this much atmosphere.

Then all registers are open and the band crushes all current releases with their dark, emotive and original tunes. This is better than Blacklisted and up there with Modern Life Is Wars' Witness. Only Ritual isn't about the working class American but about the lost generation of Europeans which somehow makes a difference. They also have a bit of an Unbroken thing going on, without sounding like an Unbroken rehash.

I even dare to say Ritual is a bit more sophisticated than the aforementioned bands. Yet they don't come across as a band of know it all nerds.

Where lots of bands and records sound the same. This is definately a record for my yearlist and one of those few and far between releases that make hardcore interesting.

Ritual Beneath Aging Flesh and Bone on splatter
Originally uploaded by xroldx

I managed to pick up one of the limited to 250 copies on blue/splatter vinyl.

Myspace: Ritual