Open the Gate

This is part two in my “Unknown Underground Dutch Metal” series.

Vortex is another one of those traditional heavy metal bands that was lost in the shuffle in the mid-80’s after NWOBHM was basically dead and thrash really started to take over. The band was further hindered by their location, as the Low Countries have never exactly been famous for metal, despite being home to quite a few good bands.

The first thing you’ll notice when listening to Open the Gate is the fine production. For the debut of an underground band, the production is excellent, with the nice meaty guitar tone right up front alongside the singer. The rhythm section is more in the background, but still audible. The second thing you’ll notice is the really weird voice of the aptly-titled Jurjen “Thunderforce” Tichelaar. He has a strong midrange, and tends to sing deeper than most other metal vocalists, but his tone is just bizarre. It’s really hard to describe, and if it sounds weird when I liken it to a cross between Messiah Marcolin and Sean Killian of Vio-lence, it’s because it is weird. He sings in a semi-operatic style, with some mild vibrato, but at the same time he drawls and slurs as if he were drunk (this is most noticeable on “The Beauty & the Teeth”, which could be intentional as it’s about an insane killer). There’s also this sort of hollow, echoing quality to his voice, which may be attributable to the production. It certainly took me a while to get used to Thunderforce, but his distinctive style really serves to set the band apart. I’m not exaggerating when I say his voice is unique.

But enough about that, let’s talk music. As you might have guessed from the review title, what we have here is some strange heavy metal. There’s a lot less British influence than you’d expect, with an identifiable NWOBHM sound basically confined to “Bastards”, which reminds me of Cloven Hoof’s “Laying down the Law”; and the inferior “Growing Power”, which is probably the weakest track on the album. The rest is somewhat similar to what Hanker would do almost ten years later on their first two albums, in that they take simple riff constructions that resemble the basic meaty heavy metal of Omen and other such US bands, add a dash of Mercyful Fate’s melodic sensibility, and combine them to come up with something that has a very different flavor from either of those bands. Maybe if I had an encyclopedic knowledge of metal I’d be able to come up with a closer comparison, but when Vortex’s style is in full force, they don’t closely resemble anyone I’ve heard but themselves.

The songs on the album fall into four categories. The first includes the title track and “Soul Killer”, which are basically upbeat, catchy numbers that are simple but fun. The choruses in particular are excellent, with the gang shout of “OPEN THE GATE!” or the escalating greatness of “Soul Killer”, which has one of my favorite choruses in all of metal. The Dutch scene was home to a disproportionately large number of Christian bands in the 80’s, and many more that were ambiguous in their attitude towards religion (such as Angus), so it’s refreshing to me to hear Vortex state, in no uncertain terms, their dissenting opinion. As the chorus states, “soul savior is a SOOOUUUUULLL KILLER!! Salvation is a fake! Is a fake! IS A FAAAAAAKE!” that last repetition being SCREAMED out with such high-pitched anger that I can’t help but imagine Thunderforce shaking both fists in the air with rage. The last song in this category is “Massgrave”, which has a gang chorus like the title track and the pounding riffage of “Soul Killer”. It’s probably the weakest of the three, but it’s still a solid track.

The second category is the one I mentioned before, comprising of the tracks with a more obvious NWOBHM influence. While “Bastards” is pretty good, “Growing Power” more or less sucks, and is really the only weak track on the album. It’s not horrible, per se, but definitely a low point. It just drags on for too long without doing anything particularly interesting. The closer “Get Out” also falls into this category, and is the best of these, with some really great pounding riffs and excellent dual-lead-guitar harmonies. As with “Bastards”, it reminds me of early Cloven Hoof in all their blunt glory, and is a fine way to end the album. Overall, this is probably the weakest category, as the more overt NWOBHM touch only serves to dilute the stronger Vortex sound, but aside from “Growing Power”, the songs are still solidly enjoyable.

The third category is what I call the “horror tracks”. The first of these is “Horrible Dolls”, and despite how silly that sounds to a native English speaker such as myself, the verses are much better (all the lyrics on the album are quite good, actually, if you can excuse the occasional bit of Engrish) and Thunderforce really sells the whole thing with a fantastic vocal performance; it honestly sounds like he’s terrified of the horrible dolls that are stalking him. The ascending minor-key riffs do a great job of building the tension during the verses, which then bursts into the chorus. Unfortunately, as with so many of its brethren, the first dual-lead section goes on for just a tad too long, but after the solo, the second dual-lead section is just the right length. Second is “The Beauty & the Teeth”, which in addition to having the most over-the-top vocal performance on the album, also has some of the best riffs. The song narrates the Edgar Allen Poe story "Berenice", in which the protagonist is to wed the titular woman, but an illness destroys first her beauty and then her life. The man is unable to bear her ugliness and becomes obsessed with her teeth, the only part of her retaining its former beauty. After she dies, he blacks out and only later realizes he has dug up her grave and ripped the teeth out of her corpse's mouth, and placed them in a box. Thunderforce's delivery is again very good, conveying the man's mad obsession very well; as long as we have that lyric sheet firm in hand, of course. I can't understand a goddamn thing he's singing half the time. The ominous main riff is definitely one of Vortex’s finest, and the way the song alternates between the heavy sections and slower, softer, bass-only interludes is quite effective.

Last but not least is “Glory Gone”, which falls into a category all its own; it’s the closest thing we have to a ballad on the album, and it’s very good. Thunderforce gives another emotionally powerful performance here, singing as a surviving member of a dwindling tribe, which he knows will never regain its former glory. The song follows the common “heavy ballad” practice of having the softer verses contrast with the heavier chorus, and it works very well here. The solo especially is excellent, as it starts out in one of the softer sections and then escalates as the guitars underneath explode into a great heavy riffset. It’s definitely one of the strongest tracks on the album, possibly even the best, and a fine example of a metal ballad done right.

Open the Gate is one of the best albums the 80’s Dutch scene had to offer, and stands the test of time as a really weird slab of heavy metal with a great distinctive singer. As LooseNLethal states in his review for Hammer of the North: “All you'll find here are the slashing guitars, pounding drums, and Tichelaar's incomparable vocals which were always what Vortex were here for, with songwriting that's unique because it was Vortex playing Vortex, not Vortex playing Iron Maiden plus (blank) or Vortex playing Judas Priest crossed with (blank).” That’s really the best way to put it.