For the first time this summer, we decided to travel to Tilburg outside of Roadburn. The occasion was quite special in itself, as there were quite a few interesting live shows in town at that time. One of them happened to be WOLVENNEST‘s visit to the Little Devil, accompanied for the occasion by the local death/doom act AETURNA on July 31st, 2026.
The small venue, which we are used to seeing really packed during the festival in April, was sold out tonight as well, so the premise for a good night was all there from the moment the crowd started flowing inside and outside the first drinks. AETURNA received a warm welcome, given their status in the local scene, despite the band itself being very young. Even so, the original vocalist, William, passed away less than two years ago, and the band hasn’t forgotten to keep his memory alive to this day at each performance. One of the two guitarists also played tonight with a broken leg; nonetheless, the guys did quite well in setting the stage for the headliners, thanks to their traditional blend of doom and death metal, getting the fans quite excited with their set, and entertaining them occasionally with jokes about air conditioning and such. Among the songs played tonight, “The Last Funeral,” “Altars of Ash,” and “From Eternity I Call” are some that stuck to mind.
The good feeling from the warm-up made it so that the crowd was already quite excited, but when WOLVENNEST took over. And what can go wrong when you have a tiny stage with three guitarists, a bass player, keyboards, a theremin (and of course a drummer)? The Belgians focused, of course, primarily on their latest effort, “Procession,” and while the stage setup was a bit tight, the venue worked quite nicely in terms of atmosphere, giving the fans a very intimate experience for sure. The imposing presence of the vocalist Shazzula and Marc De Backer above all, showed that the band was still comfortable in front of the 100+ people gathered here tonight: the gig went pretty fast with the band’s hypnotic riffs and that trademark sounds made of guitar loops, old-school melodies, and that occult, atmospheric component highlighted by the vocals. At the height of the show, things got more heated among the audience, while “Ritual Lovers” and “Accabadora” concluded the band’s set for the night.
The evening went on still into the wee hours for many, as the venue still had plenty of good drinks to offer, and of course, it’s always a good occasion to catch up for the people in the scene. Some guys were even playing chess, which is definitely something you don’t see every day. Clearly, the expectations for tonight were met quite nicely, and it wouldn’t be strange to see these guys play here again in a few months at Roadburn. Speaking of, it was really nice to see that the local scene is so active all year round, even while, for example, there were no train connections between Tilburg and Breda. From our side, we should start keeping a closer eye on what happens in these parts, as it seems here at the Little Devil, the fun hours are all year-round.
