When I entered the concert Hal of Magasin 4, the Walloon of Garden of Decay were already going wild on stage with their melodic death metal, deliciously touched by Heavy Metal and some gothic metal. The playing was decent and done with a lot of conviction, which made this band’s sound stand as a house. Most attention got received by the singing duo, which perfectly knew how to perform on a stage. Male and female were very expressive and loom large on stage. They had the gift to stirring up the audience. Vocally they both were in good voice even with the impassionate banging between the singing parts. Hats off for the soprano-parts. A pity the PA failed during the last song, which gave the gig an anti-climax. But according to the rest I saw I can only conclude this was a perfect opening of the night.

Next on were the guys and girl from Mystica. This band is along for some years now and transformed from a fast black metal band into a more modern touching melodic death metal act with use of samples in their sound. Only the vocals reminded me of their early days. And I have to admit, they play with a lot more enthusiasm and abandoned passion as they did in their ‘evil’ years. Dedicated playing, a good stage performance, and the dissipated enjoyment of the musicians were a joy for the eye. All this had a very positive effect on their sound, which was catchy and very rich. The band got good reactions of the audience and enjoyed it to the full.

Time for one of the best bands that the Belgian metal-scene has got to offer these days. In-Quest came, saw and destroyed the place as every time I’ve seen them before. Their catchy brutal metal tones, on a solid base of massive guitars, thundering drums, a rich groovy bass and a phenomenal deep, still flowing death grunt got this place on fire. The same driving force could be found in the playing of these 5 devoted musicians. Although the turnout of people wasn’t the bees knees, they gave themselves for the full 100%. Something I really appreciate about this band.

Headliner of the night was the Dutch Callenish Circle. This well-oiled thrash-machine didn’t loose and time and started with a gig full of intense and graceful playing, still with a furious catchy effect. This resulted in a warm welcome of the audience. The sound was solid as a rock and took a lot of people thrilled. This got even reinforced by their front man, dressed in white, who perfectly knew how to play the audience. The man also provided the peerless thrash attack of some penetrating and very powerful, a bit growling vocals. The set list consisted of songs from the last 3 albums, with ‘Obey Me" and "Witness your own oblivion" as personal highlight of the night. The band made impression, since they were yelled back after their regular set, for a deservedly encore. Despite the low turn out of people, Callenish Circle gave the night what it needed, a real metal climax!