The Betrayed by Lostprophets

FINALLY! It's done, released and worth all the waiting... The Lostprophets are back, darker, greater and more honest than ever. In the last couple of years frontman Ian promised his fans a darker album, an album that would really represent their personality's. If this is who they really are, it's for sure that they have some heavy burdens on their hearts.

It all starts with a a bombastic and overwhelming "If it wasn't for hate we'd be dead by now". The song tells us that it's serious this time! No more meaningless popsongs, these guys have a mission, a message they're dying to tell us. They are fed up with something although I can't really figure out what.

The second song you're probably already familiar with; "It's not the end of the world", sounds more like one of the popsongs on "A liberation transmisson". But the song has got body, it's not an empty popsong, but again one with a meaning.

After that you're about to hear something that you haven't heard from the Lostprophets in a long while... Dstryr and Dstryr might be the darkest song you've ever heard of this band. It's a heavy song about destroying religion. This song screams HATE HATE HATE! Again, I'm not sure what is bothering this guys so much. Everybody can see that these aren't the goody-goody guys, but I didn't expect this. Even as a huge fan I think this verse is way to shocking: " Destroyer, Destroyer, Religion needs a new employer, I've got the rope to hang your Jesus even higher". Ian Watkins opened up his heart, but I'm not sure if I like what's coming out. Although I like the melody and the overwhelming amount of energy in the song, I think that Ian has crossed the line this time... They have bottled up their hate for too long, the volcano is erupting! Will this make the fans escape LP town? Of course I don't mean to limit dear sir Ian Watkins in his freedom, but I do think that as a singer of a huge band you have some responsibility. Ian is a model for millions of teenagers and it's just wrong to inoculated them with this amount of HATE! Nevertheless, it's an awesome song, the most honest Lostprophets you've ever heard and that benefits the music in a very strong way.

Even so, I'm not completely unfortunate to hear a sweeter song on the next track. "Where we belong" is a driving and catchy popsong. I like to think of it as a cooling down after Dstryr and Dstryr.

Get in the car get in the car you keep on running you won't get far, next stop Atrocity...It won't surprise you that this is again a heavy song. This might be one of the strongest songs I've ever heard of them. This violent song is a combination of bursting energy and lovely catchy choruses.

For he's a jolly good felon proofs that they haven't become too serious. It has a good party vibe and that is a good aternation for the first couple of songs.

The next songs are more serious again. They seem to refer to Ian's insecurities in love. Sunshine is a nice song, it's sensitive and sweet. That's one way to make a lovesong, but "Dirty little heart" is another story. It might be part of my jealousy, but I can't like that song! It's a whining song and it makes Ian sound vulnerable.

Even though Ian pretends to be very honest on this album, I have the hardest time to understand who he really is. Is he vulnerable? is he a hate carrying anti-Christ? Is this the real Lostprophets? Is this the Lostprophets that we want them to be? Even though they've tried to make everything clear, they are more of a question mark than they've ever been before. But one thing is for sure: This mysterious band is back, heavier and darker then ever before!

They are THE BETRAYED...

Eurosonic 2010

You've probably never ever heard of this small festival in Groningen, the Netherlands. It seems like it's some secret meeting for rapidly upcoming bands and curious journalists. All the bands of tomorrow were on the line-up, bands like Young Guns, We were Promised Jetpacks, The Megaphonic Thrift, Goldhawk, Audrey Horne, Glamour of the Kill and approximately 244 others. Yes, so many bands to see in just two days! I've have seen the best of the best and the worst of the worst. Worst comes first.

Wasting my time on the festival is not really the best thing you can do. Feel free to make your "own" music, just don't make me feel guilty to leave! I've seen this band from Finland, they're called VUK. No, it doesn't refer to f*ck. It's the most goody-goody band I've ever seen or heard. Lets just say that there were seats in the venue and I had to turn my phone off. Do you get the picture? I was forced to sit down and listen to some vocalist that was pretending to be some kind of whinnying horse I guess. When I finally got the courage I escaped, quietly...

Good news was that the next one could only be better and indeed it was! The Goldhawks look like British Next Top Britpop band, great musicians, good looks and a nice style, what more do you need?

I needed something a little bit heavier. Something like Glamour of the Kill. They sound just as bad-ass as their name. Heavily tattooed tough guys. That was exactly what I needed after one day of only soft Britpoppies and female horses. It might be the next trendy myspace band, but what's wrong with that? They really reminded me of Escape the Fate and since I've missed out on them last month, this had been a good alternative. Glamour of the Kill is just a lot of testosterone, tattoos, emo and great music.

Another great band that night was Audrey Horne. A heavy Norwegian band, with the same name as my dear mother. Long haired mysterious Norwegians with a sound and an attitude that resembled Velvet Revolver. I'm not sure if they will ever be huge in the Netherlands, cause they're too heavy for the teenager rock-chicks and too soft for the Scandinavian metal heads. But we'll see, cause they're awesome musicians and they seem to be serious stage animals.

All great bands, but we've saved the best for last. You can't image how much I love this band called Young Guns. It had been the third time that I've seen them, but it was honestly the best gig I've ever been to. They are going to be huge, and that's actually a sad thing to know. They once told me that they would like to be legendary for playing small venues with amazing gigs. I just hope that they would never be legendary for playing HUGE venues with amazing gigs. These guys are just so amazing that I wouldn't want to change them for anything in this world. It's a common phenomenon that bands change when they get bigger. I just wish please please be for always the same, cause you're just perfect the way you are. Their music makes me smile, his smile make me laugh and they just make me happy.