Belgium's BLIKSEM Signs With ALONE RECORDS

December 7, 2012

Alone Records has announced the signing of Belgium's BLIKSEM. The band's debut album, "Face The Evil", will be released on February 25, 2013 (three days earlier in Germany). Combining blistering tandem guitars, thrashing drums, pounding bass and furious vocals, the resulting eight songs not only explore themes including revenge, oppression and madness but also celebrate the timeless glory of metal. Mastering was done by Herbrand Larsen (ENSLAVED) at the Earshot Studio in Bergen, Norway.

Lightning is one of the most spectacular displays in nature. Bolt temperatures hotter than the sun. Shockwaves radiating out in all directions. In Dutch, this deadly natural phenomenon is called "bliksem." A fitting name for an electrifying five-piece thrash band from Antwerp.

In late 2008, their quest to find a singer on par with Chuck Billy or Dave Mustaine took an unexpected and brilliant turn with the arrival of Peggy Meeussen. Her commanding razor-edged vocals are reminiscent of the late Dawn Crosby (DÉTENTE, FEAR OF GOD) and Nicole Lee (ZNÖWHITE),slicing through the existing legions of goth or guttural female-fronted bands.

BLIKSEM quickly established a strong live reputation playing dozens of youth centers and local metal and rock festivals around Belgium and soon moved up to bigger stages.

In 2010, the band recorded its first EP, which got rave reviews in numerous magazines/e-zines such as Germany's Rock Hard, Aardschok, Lords Of Metal, France's Rock Hard and Rock Tribune as well as alternative-oriented press. Critics praised the quality thrash and some went as far to declare BLIKSEM the best thing to happen to the genre in years.

In 2011, BLIKSEM expanded its horizon, playing shows in the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland, along with a fiercely convincing performance at Slovenia's Metalcamp festival.

The band went on to play Holland's Paaspop, which featured fellow heavy acts like HELL, ENSLAVED and ACCEPT as well as Dutch chart-toppers, and the renowned Eindhoven Metal Meeting (with EXODUS, HEATHEN, IMMORTAL and other metal greats). The momentum continued, and BLIKSEM was asked to support CHANNEL ZERO, ANGEL WITCH, VANDERBUYST and PRONG. Meanwhile, BLIKSEM created a buzz in the leading alternative media in the Benelux, including 3voor12/VPRO and Kindamuzik.nl, which called them one of the bands to watch in 2012-2013.

The BLIKSEM song "Insanity's Curse", taken from the "Face The Evil" album, can be streamed below.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).