The Heavy Metal Maniacs Festival is always something to look forward to throughout the year. This is mainly because the organizers don't follow the rules of putting bands on the bill that are on tour at that particular moment. They pick the bands that they like to hear and sometimes this will lead to some surprising names. Those bands, that exclusively come over to the Netherlands to play at this festival. That's what makes it interesting for us to go there. I must admit that not every band is my cup of tea. Let's be honest with you. Everybody knows that I love US Metal, NWOBHM, Dutch Metal and Japanese Metal the most. I'm not really interested in every band on this festival. That's why some bands receive more space in this review than others. Clearly, this review is my own personal reflection on the festival, nothing more and nothing less. Your opinion might be different from what you read in these lines.
You can't make me happier than by putting two Texas metal bands on the bill. And for an old school rocker like myself a name such as TORCH gives me a very good feeling. The fact that a band like WICKED ANGEL plays at this festival, made us decide to push our summer holidays forward to the middle of September. There's no way we would miss out on that. Our good friend Gerrie Lemmens from Limburg thought exactly the same, so we decided to stay at a hotel nearby the P60 for one night to cut down the expensive parking costs. So far, so good.
On Friday evening there are three bands on the bill, of which two are quite interesting to us. ANGELIC FORCES from Holland will kick off. They are a band, whose star is rising pretty fast. Their new album will be out soon and we are already looking forward to it very much. IRON SAVIOR, the second band, is a German power metal band around front man Piet Sielck and Friday's headliners HELSTAR are the first Texas metal band of two on the bill. I guess, if you don't know this band, you are reading the wrong review.
Friday, September 4th: The day of the festival started out quite busy. Getting home after work, take a quick bite, jump under the shower and hit the road to drive to Amstelveen to check in at our hotel. Our friend was already there, when we arrived. It's a ten minute walk to the P60 and already outside the P60, we bump into the first familiar faces. This festival is also like some kind of a reunion party for every rock and metal fan, which is a nice thing because it's also good to meet so many nice people sharing the same interest in music.
Once again the bands were announced to us by Stefan 'Bozzy' Bosland and Paul van Rijswijk. We already watched ANGELIC FORCES a couple of weeks ago, when they supported RAVEN in Ommen, which tasted for more. And we got more, because the band was ready to kick some ass today. Their set is a good mix of new material and songs taken from their debut album "Arise". The guitar tandem, which consists of Harm ten Hoove and Maurice Gijsman has a good sound, whereas Harm's sound seems to be a little bit louder. Singer Joey van Kempen has also found his spot in the band. His performance makes you believe, that he has been in the band for many years. His natural enthusiasm is contagious and will make you enjoy the songs a little bit more. Especially when he discovered, that he could manipulate the fog machine with his feet a bit later on in the set. He seemed to enjoy that a lot. "Formation Divine" and "Through The Fire" are storming openers and "Against" is another song from that marvelous debut album "Arise". Also newcomers like "Left To Die" and "The Beasts Of Night" really impress the fans, that eat out of their hand. They close their set with golden oldies like "Thunder And Lightning" and "Angelic Forces", at least that's what they are to me. These songs are taken from their first demo, released in 2018. ANGELIC FORCES is a mix of old school RIOT and IRON MAIDEN and they have a very positive message in their lyrics, which would relate them to a white metal band, such as WHITECROSS and/or STRYPER. The next step on the ladder to success will be the release of their new album. I predict, that this will be a major breakthrough for this highly talented band from the Northern part of our country. The begging for guitar picks made us go home with a giant collection of memorabilia from this gig. We even received the drum sticks from the driving force in the back, Rudie Kingma, including a set list. Thank you very much for that.
IRON SAVIOR from Germany is next on the bill. The fact that we don't have any music of this band in our collection says it all, I guess. Obviously, we give them the benefit of the doubt tonight to prove their strength. Their appearance of eleven songs was definitely worth the wait. This is German power metal all the way. The band started out almost thirty years ago with Kai Hansen in their line-up. However, when you think of IRON SAVIOR, you also think of Piet Sielck, who is the driving force behind this band and keeps it going. Their set is a good mix of old and new material. I must admit that we only saw the beginning and the last three songs of the show. They opened with "Way Of The Blade", "Roaring Thunder" and "Starlight" and some decent power metal filled the P60. You can tell that there's an experienced band at work here and they have got some pure heavy metal floating through their veins. After that, we moved towards the cafe area for some coffee, a cup of surviving elixir to keep me sharp. When we came back, the band just started the song "Heavy Metal Never Dies", which says it all. "Atlantis Falling" is next, which is from the very first album "Iron Savior" released in 1997. They close their set with the JUDAS PRIEST cover "Breaking The Law". I guess, you can't go wrong with that!
Texas metal band number one on the bill is HELSTAR. A band with a reputation to hold high, that goes on for forty plus years and hopefully many more to come. It is 1983, when this Houston based band took me by surprise with their first demos. James Rivera's high-pitched vocals are truly amazing. The man looks like a vampire that is able to see the light of day, which makes him standout against all the other vampires. The band starts off with "The Devil's Masquerade", taken from the new album with the same name. This album is the ultimate prove that their holy fire hasn't faded out yet. They also play "A Carcass Of A King" and "Seek Out Your Sins" from this new HELSTAR release. "Evil Reign" and especially "The King Is Dead" will make you think back longing to the days when the band was in Holland in the late eighties playing these songs as well. It's quite obvious, that James is loving every single second of this gig and he thanks the audience after each and every song. The same goes for his long term partner in crime, Larry Barragan, of course. After "Fall Of Dominion" and "The King Of Hell", we are treated to a song, that gets very close to being a ballad, so James tells us. It's the single taken from the album "Clad In Black" and it's called "Black Wings Of Solitude". It receives a very warm welcome from the crowd. The tension is rising with each song. The enthusiasm of the band is huge and they deliver an extremely energetic and high class performance, which simply can't be topped. It's also cool to hear that their whole long spanning career is being reviewed tonight. Did I talk about "Nosferatu", the title track of one of the HELSTAR albums in 1989, next is a song called "To Sleep Per Chance To Scream" from that very album. "Pandemonium" is a rather new one, whereas "Winds Of War" is another flashback to the roaring eighties. The seclusion of tonight's performance is one song you can only dream about. Can you see my mouth watering? "Baptized In Blood" gave me visions from their earlier shows here. To me, this is one of their most memorable songs. It's followed by "Run With The Pack", for which they have a very nice surprise for us. Singer Michael Vasquez of WICKED ANGEL and SYRUS joins the band on stage and does some serious head banging in this song. This is the perfect song to shout it out loud. Which I did, and I can tell you it’s not easy to scream without lungs. Luckily I found them back, lying on the ground, later on in the song. The perfect set of this perfect performance closes with "Burning Star", it simply couldn't have been better. The bass player was a beast, James's voice sounded powerful and the guitar tandem fought their way perfectly throughout the whole list of tracks, while the drummer didn't skip a beat. It was far beyond how a great HELSTAR gig could possibly sound. It sounded like heaven on earth to me. A killer ending of a great first festival day for me. And we weren't even halfway through. A short midnight sleep should do the trick before getting ready for day two.
Saturday, September 5th: After enjoying a good night's rest and a decent breakfast, we decided to discover the shopping center of Amstelveen for a change. Cup of coffee, walk in and out some shops, you know the drill. The Vietnamese restaurant opposite the P60 served us a fine meal and before we knew it, it was time to cross the street again and get ready for more metal mayhem.
First on the bill are the guys of TROJAN. After playing their five CD boxset, I got hooked on the NWOBHM of this band, led by guitar wizard Pete Wadeson. Yesterday they did a gig in my hometown Breda in the Sound Dog, so the engines are hot and ready for this show, I presume. They start off quite heavy with "Bring Out Your Dead". The show is a whirlwind of riffs and solos and fast blasting songs, which could be categorized as solid and furious NWOBHM. Pete doesn't waste any time and he rages on like a storm through songs like for example "Tonight We've Got It Made", "Hot 'N' Ready" and "Take No Prisoners". It's good to see, that this man has found himself a great new band around him, since his former band members left him out in the cold all of a sudden. It gave him a lot of power and strength, which he proves this afternoon with heavy versions of "Bring On The Night", the not to be missed "Icehouse" and "Only The Strong Survive". Sometimes the band sounds a little bit thrashier than before, but the soul of the NWOBHM sound of TROJAN is always there of course. I think, that Pete's enthusiasm give the songs more power and make it sound a bit rawer, too. "Hypnotized", "Born For War" and "Chasing The Storm" are next and the excitement grows each and every moment, as far as I'm concerned. This band brings out the best in themselves and because of that they give it even a little bit more. When they close with "Aggressor", they have warmed up the audience perfectly. Some of the metal heads were knocked off their feet already, and I can consider myself as being one of them. It was a tsunami of energy that I survived gladly, and this was only the beginning of this second day.
I must admit, that I was not really familiar with the Belgian band STEELOVER. They just have a new album out, called "Devil's Highway". To be honest with you, I think that the organization booked these sympathetic Belgian metal heads because of their debut album "Glove Me" from 1984, when former SCORPIONS drummer Rudy Lenners was still in the band. That was then and this is now and the new album has to be promoted here tonight as well. A good mix of old and new songs are played, starting off with newcomers, like "Devil's Call", "Chains Of Love" and "Keep On Running". It doesn't take too long before STEELOVER has got you in their spell. Their presentation is very down to earth. This gives them all the respect that they deserve, mainly because they deliver the goods so well. Just listen to some oldies, such as "Hold Tight" and "Struck Down", that are mixed pretty easily with a new song, like "Out Of A Living Hell". Guitar player Pat Freson asks for a lot of attention. His playing is fast and very impressive. However, the enthusiastic interaction of bassplayer Nick Gardi with the crowd also gives their show a special boost. During the final track "Rock Bottle", they even launched two giant balloons in the form of a rock bottle. that they rocketed into the audience. Sometimes it will distract the focus by some fans, because they have something to play with, however it also made the audience cheer even more because of this fiery performance of STEELOVER, that easily can go on for ages and ages. I am glad to see that they are also on the bill of the old school hard rock festival Golden Age Of Rock in Liege a couple of weeks later. They even supported DEMON during their show in Belgium. STEELOVER is here to stay and they definitely taste like more.
The adrenaline level rises to a very high level, when WICKED ANGEL enters the stage. This show is actually the reason why we are here. Already during the sound check, we managed to get in touch with all the band members, tuning their instruments and setting up their gear. We noticed the CIRITH UNGOL and WATCHTOWER shirt of the two guitar players. That's a good start already, if you would ask my opinion. Well, here's the story. San Antonio based metallers WICKED ANGEL were ready for touring in the original line-up and label boss Henk van Delden released their 2025 album "Return Of The Witch Kings" on his Dutch label No Dust Records. To promote this release, it was a great opportunity to play it live in Europe, together with fellow Texas metal outfit HELSTAR. Unfortunately, singer David Caballero wasn't able to be on stage with the band. Helping hand came from vocalist Michael Vasquez, from the band SYRUS, who was sent from heaven. Lyrics of all the songs were printed out and armed with a good feeling the band came over to Amstelveen to rock out for the fans in Europe. It became a huge success. WICKED ANGEL had the crowd going from the first moment on with opener "Ferryman". The technical type metal by WICKED ANGEL isn't the easiest to comprehend, but they came, they saw and they conquered the audience pretty easily. Next up are two more songs from the new album, namely "Battle For Evil" and "Phantazma", followed by three songs, that were on the 1987 demo "Chaotic Intellect" and re-recorded for the album. While with "Realms Of Chaos", "People Of The Black Circle" and "Stealer Of Souls", they will step into this amazing time machine for sure. What a blast! Vocalist Michael must read some of the lyrics from a piece of paper next to the mike, however he is also doing some serious head banging onstage. Obviously, the band is having the time of their life. Yet there is more and there is so much more for every Texas Metal adept to enjoy, because the band surprises everyone with two songs, that are somehow related to WICKED ANGEL one way or another. "City In The Sky" is from the first SYRUS demo, released in 1986, that also got on the "Syrus" compilation album in 2008. Michael knows those lyrics by heart of course. "Breaking The Spell" is an even bigger surprise, originally recorded by Texas Metal outfit WYZARD on the "Future Knights" album. I can't believe it and I'm in Texas Metal heaven by then. The band's glorious ride ends with the knock out punches of "Night Of The Sacrifice" and "Legions Of The Dead", which is the very first song the band ever recorded, back in 1986. That's forty freaking years ago. What more can I say about this awesome performance. You should have been there to believe how the Dutch crowd yelled for more after this flawless gig. Step into the shoes of a singer that was not familiar with the material, step into a plane and kick everybody's ass here, like you've always been part of the band. Respect and thanks for a marvelous show. After the well-known photo moment, the band clears the stage and Amstelveen gets ready for the next band in line. However, to me, the highlight of the festival had just taken place and was their moment of fame. I have nothing more to wish for after this. Next year I vote for MILITIA to come over. More Texas Metal, please!
Before the next band was about to get on stage, 'Maniac' Knarf is saying goodbye as DJ during the festival, which he did for many years. Thank you for all the amazing songs, that you have played over the years, Knarf! May your successor be as good and diverse, as you proved to be!
TORCH is a completely different cake. I adored the band in the early eighties, when Dan Dark was still the singer in the band. Their newer stuff sounds quite similar to UDO or ACCEPT to me, while their old school sound was more like pure metal and especially their debut album and the well-known "Fire Raiser" EP belong to my all-time favorite Scandinavian true metal albums. Their entrance starts with kick ass basher "Knuckleduster". It's good to see this band back on stage, after I saw them at Keep It True in 2005. And like I expected already, I hear a lot of UDO back in the first part of their set, which includes new songs, like "Trail Of The Damned" and "Wages Of Sin", both released in 2025. However, the next track called "Mercenary" is the first golden oldie from that well-known EP. "Electrikiss" is the title track from their second full length album. "Collateral Damage" is next, which is from their 2020 release "Reignited". The guitar work is amazing, the songs are catchy and the band does exactly what the fans want them to do and that is to rock hard and loud. The best is saved for last, when the band finishes off with four old classic songs. It's time to get in the front row, as far as I’m concerned. "Beauty And The Beast" starts off this firing last part, followed by "Watcher Of The Night" and "Warlock". The venue of the P60 is set on fire with my personal favorite, "Fire Raiser". What a great slot and a magnificent show by these old school Swedish rockers. The old songs really made the difference to me and it definitely was a show to remember. For sure, they lighted the torch for me again.
The headliners of tonight, FIREWIND, are not really my cup of tea. While the fans almost fight their way in front of the stage, I stepped on the side. I have nothing at all with FIREWIND. Gus G is a great guitar player and the band is very successful, but it's just not my thing. I decided to watch the first half, but it didn't change my mind. The band has got a huge back catalogue in their thirty years of existence but not a single album made it to my personal collection. Their set starts off with "Fallen Angel", "Wars Of Angels" and "I Am The Anger" and clearly, the band's highlights are the incredible skills of Gus. No wonder that he became the new KING DIAMOND guitar player and that he has played with OZZY OSBOURNE in the past. The guy is a technical genius, however the songs that are just not my taste. Once again I must state that this is my own personal opinion, nothing more and nothing less. Obviously, the fans eat out of their hands. "Destination Forever", "Destiny Is Calling", "World On Fire" and "The Fire And The Fury" are up next and I noticed that the band has got a huge following. The show is not promoting the new album "Gods, Myths and Titans", which will be released early 2027, but it's like a warming up show for their tour as support to ENSIFERUM. The bass player also takes the opportunity to wear a helmet, that would look good on Achilles and Gus even leaves the stage to enter the hall and visit the hungry crowd, while playing one fiery lick and solo after another. To me, he is by far the star of the show. It would have been a good opportunity to present a new song to the crowd, however this 'best off' show, if I may call it that way, did the trick as well. FIREWIND closed the 2026 version of the Heavy Metal Maniacs Festival. We had a marvelous time and we already look forward to the line-up for 2027. Heavy Metal Maniacs Forever, Forever Heavy Metal Maniacs. \m/\m/
*Text: Toine van Poorten, October 2026
*Photos: Rita van Poorten/www.metalmaidens.com