Live on Uva 3

For a few years in the early 2000s, Haatstrijd rumbled/stumbled around the Dutch black metal scene. The group around vocalist/founder Nachtvorst released a handful of (demo) recordings of the nihilistic, evil-ish, pseudo-satanic, black-and-white kind. For the non-connaisseurs among us: that means monotonous riffing, monotonous blastbeats, crude recordings and minimal musical development, more or less in the same vein as Gorgoroth’s early works - or those of their Dutch equivalent Funeral Winds. In that respect it makes sense that Funeral Winds founder Hellchrist Xul joined Haatstrijd for a while and, among others, can be heard on this live recording.

This tape was recorded at the small and short-lived Unie Van Atrecht festival, right before Haatstrijd released their Satansplaag EP. It wasn’t until that EP and the following full-length Cacodaemony that Haatstrijd actually made an attempt to try and write songs (note my proviso), instead of just being uncompromising and primitive. Most songs on this tape are interchangeable two-minute bursts of aggression with utterly unspectacular musical accompaniment. Only the last song “Satansplaag” shows Haatstrijd’s slightly more “developed” style, but it takes some effort to actually get to that point - even though the entire recording clocks in at barely 24 minutes.

Haatstrijd’s EP and full-length are both worth a listen or two if you like black metal of the primitive kind, and “Live On UVA 3” is a nice artefact to have if you’re interested in the Dutch black metal scene. But don’t expect any hidden gems or other surprises. A decade before this release, the long-running Dutch children’s choir Kinderen Voor Kinderen sang “I like it loud” and “Raw and primitive”, and perfectly predicted the essence of Haatstrijd anno 2003. Which of the two acts was the better one depends on your musical upbringing (or lack thereof).