I’m getting straight to the point here; this band lit the place on fire! Opening their set with ‘Echoes’, the title track from their debut album released on April 22nd 2022, Secondhand Saints showed who they were. Their clean singer Jelle starts the song, a few lines later screamer Laszlo joins in too. The vocals alternate between each other, creating an awesome melodic metalcore vibe that can handle calmer parts as well as rough mosh pits. They even put some electronics in there too, creating a little Electric Callboy vibe in one of their songs. Secondhand Saints was only founded in 2020, but is already playing like they’re in a band for much longer. Definitely check them out, as they’re playing small shows throughout Belgium.

Secondhand Saints were very appreciative of the crowd. It was a sold out venue and it was only their second show ever. A great support band to warm the crowd for the following bands.

Three Times Royal just released their first single on October 7th, 2022 called ‘Do You Know What It’s Like?’. That’s exactly what they opened their set with. The first live performance of their freshly released song. Not only of the song, it was the bands very first live performance. It was nice to see lead singer Iris Goessens (ex-Spoil Engine) have fun again on stage. Something that looked like it was gone during the last shows with Spoil Engine. Three Times Royal produced a solid wall of sound that craves for more. It was noticeable that guitar player Willa Rose Ashley and bass player Mason Ivy didn’t have as much stage experience as Iris yet, but then again, it is only their first show and they are usually working behind the stage and not on stage. But many shows will follow and I’m sure this band will grow into a true metalcore beast.

Unfortunately, they didn’t play as long as I would have hoped, they only played six songs. But that’s because this band has literally just started. Not even all of their songs have names yet. The one song with a loud and clear name was ‘Deathbells’. There was also a song named ‘Queeeeen’, but the name is most likely going to change in the future.

I’m already looking forward for their debut album. From what I’ve heard this night, it’s going to be a blast to listen to.

Mantah came out on stage by starting with the first song of their freshly released album ‘Evoke’, called ‘Drown’. The album released the day before the show, and I already heard people in the crowd singing along loudly. ‘Drown’ was one of the singles that was already released, together with ‘Game Over‘ and ‘The Enemy‘.

Lead guitarist Bart Vandeportaele quit Spoil Engine 4 years ago because he wanted to combine the band life with the family life. He couldn’t do that with Spoil Engine, because they were getting too big and had too many shows abroad. But since Bart didn’t want to give up his guitar, he started Mantah together with singer Sven Herssens (Fields of Troy), drummer Lothar Ryheul (Fields of Troy), bassist Bert Nauwynck (Diecast Unit) and guitarist Dennis Wyffels (Lethal Injury/Bloodrocuted).

On stage, they brought all their energy and blasted us with a mix between modern metal and 90s nu metal. Using a mix between scream vocals, clean vocals, pounding drums and fast guitars, Mantah shared their sound with the world for the first time that night. They say it’s not too ambitious of a project because the band members still want to be able to be with their families, but what I heard that night, is something that might get a little bigger than planned.

At the end of the show, the crowd wanted an encore. Mantah didn’t have more songs though, so they played ‘Game Over’ again. And how they played it. With even more energy than before and Iris Goessens came out on stage to sing the song with them. She climbed up on the speakers on the side of the stage and everybody gave it their all. The band was very thankful for fans and family to come and check out their music in this sold out venue. I’m predicting we’re going to see Mantah filling a slot on a summer festival some time soon.