Antimatter and Inhalo, at De Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands, 26 November 2022
Barely two weeks before this concert it was brought to my attention that these two bands were going to be playing at Poppodium Boerderij. It was a postponed gig so maybe that is why I missed it but this new date fitted nicely in my agenda. I do not know if the release of the new Antimatter album was also postponed, but the new album A Profusion of Thought was released on November 18th so I had barely a week to check out the new songs.
Inhalo
Inhalo. Photo by Edwin Roosjen.
The support act for this evening was the Dutch band Inhalo. Their latest album Sever , left a positive impression. The sound of Inhalo is often compared with Opeth, Riverside and Porcupine Tree. Powerful alternative progressive rock with many layers in their compositions. On this evening they played the whole album Sever from start to finish.
Inhalo. Photo by Monica Duffels, courtesy of De Boerderij.
Poppodium Boerderij was not sold out but it was nicely filled, a good turn-out. Nice to see that many came early to check out Inhalo as well.
On their website, and in the DPRP review of Sever, Inhalo are called a four guy band. But since one and a half month Inhalo has a fifth member: on guitar and backing vocals is Susana Raya. Music with so many layers benefits from an extra instrument and voice. Susana alternated between acoustic and electric guitar and Roy Willems took care of all the solos.
Because of the warmth inside the venue, the guitars had to be tuned on a regular basis. In spite of this, I think vocalist Fons Herder thought it was cold. He started the gig with a hoodie cap and a beanie on his head. The hoodie came down but he never lost the beanie.
Inhalo. Photo by Monica Duffels, courtesy of De Boerderij.
Their debut album Sever is a solid release and this live performance certainly can receive that same status. The sound was perfect and they played flawless without any sign of nerves. The great artwork of their debut album was projected on a large screen and during the performance of Eventide the new video clip was shown. For a support act it was a very professional performance.
Inhalo. Photo by Monica Duffels, courtesy of De Boerderij
With Peter Cats on bass and Pepijn Gros on drums, Inhalo has a very solid rhythm section. The music alternates in pace and intensity but I never heard them missing a beat.
On the last song Last Vestige, vocalist Fons Herder shows that he can also do some heavier vocal sounds. Inhalo has a heavy sound and the clear voice of Fons suits the music very good, but I really like this heavy bit in Last Vestige. Overall a very good performance by Inhalo.
Setlist Inhalo
Omniscient Being Subterfuge Sisyphean Pretenders Eventide Mirror Door Last Vestige Sever
Inhalo Links
Inhalo Album Reviews On DPRP.net
Antimatter
And then it was time for the main act Antimatter. This was my third concert at Poppodium Boerderij since Covid19 and coincidentally, all of those concerts were recorded to be released on DVD. So now I finally know a few presents to ask for my upcoming birthday!
Antimatter. Photo by Edwin Roosjen.
The music of Antimatter can be described as melancholic dark rock. Main man behind Antimatter is guitar player and vocalist Mick Moss. Mick's barritone voice and the slow pounding rock give Antimatter a dark atmosphere. I was wondering if this type of music would be entertaining enough for a whole concert but it turned out that it certainly was. Mick appeared for an electric session with a full band. Antimatter also does acoustic performance, but I prefer my concerts plugged in.
Besides Mick, the Antimatter live band featured regular live members David Hall on guitar and Fab Regmann on drums. On bass was Paul Holligan, he usually plays guitar but for this evening he played bass.
From several messages on social media, it became clear he was a last minute addition but that surely did not show because he played like a regular pro. Paul used a bass guitar that was custom-made for drummer Fab Regmann. And for some reason, Fab Regmann used the bass drum from support act Inhalo. This also meant that the bass drum sticker featured the artwork from the Inhalo album Sever. I would have guessed they would change that on an evening that is recorded to be released on DVD.
Antimatter. Photo by Monica Duffels, courtesy of De Boerderij.
Antimatter have a brand new album out, but they started with some older songs. Three songs from Black Market Enlightment and then two songs from The Judas Table. Especially the last two, Can Of Worms and Black Eyed Man, I really liked. Before Mick and his companions started playing songs from the new album, two songs from the very first Antimatter album were played.
Antimatter. Photo by Edwin Roosjen.
I thought this part of the set was going to start with the new single Fold but they started with the album opener No Contact. After a few minutes, however, Mick stopped because he made a mistake. I did not hear anything strange but since the show was recorded for a DVD it had to be perfect and they started over.
So No Contact was played a second time, but this time I did hear some problems. At first I could not see what was going on but it sounded awful, which appeared to be Mick breaking his A-string. If you break the thin E-string it is not always a biggie, if you are lucky, but breaking one of the thicker strings immediately makes it sound awful. At the end of the show they played No Contact again to have a good recording for the DVD release. We all tried to act as if we heard it for the first time.
Antimatter. Photo by Edwin Roosjen.
Paul Holligan was not only bass player on this evening but also guitar tech-guy. Everyone was watching his fingers but without getting nervous he put a new string on the guitar while Mick was walking around nervously.
Guitar player David joked that all bad things come in threes but thankfully that did not happen. Then it was time for the new single Fold. And with Kick The Dog, we got three songs from the new album that were played tonight. The album Black Market Enlightment was the major contributor to the setlist. Wish I Was Here but also Between The Atoms was played.
Antimatter. Photo by Monica Duffels, courtesy of De Boerderij.
Personally I liked the two songs from The Judas Table at the start of the concert the most, but the songs at the end from the album Leaving Eden were very well received by the audience.
After Redemption, normally the show would have been finished but as I mentioned earlier, Mick wanted to have another go at No Contact for the DVD recording. Mick asked if they were allowed to do No Contact again considering the time but it was possible so the DVD will feature a proper rendition of this song. So with the intermezzo of the broken string and the three tries on No Contact the night ended very late.
Antimatter. Photo by Monica Duffels, courtesy of De Boerderij
At the start of the concert I was wondering if the music of Antimatter would be entertaining enough to remain interesting for a whole concert. Antimatter has a dark sound with some very slow songs, and it is not the type of music I can usually listen to for a longer period. But it turned out better than I expected, especially once you get hypnotized by the beautiful music of Antimatter. Because of the No Contact problems, it was very late, but it still felt like time had flown by.
With Inhalo at the start of the evening and this solid performance by Antimatter, it turned into a wonderful evening. I cannot wait for the Antimatter DVD.
Antimatter. Photo by Edwin Roosjen.
Setlist Antimatter
The Third Arm This Is Not Utopia Partners in Crime Can of Worms Black Eyed Man The Last Laugh Monochrome Angelic No Contact (false start) No Contact Fold Wish I Was Here Kick the Dog Leaving Eden Paranova Between the Atoms
Redemption No Contact
Links
Antimatter Album Reviews On DPRP.net
