Alcatraz Line up: 2022

In the dying days of 2007, guitarists Peter Egberghs & Kurt Blommé made a pact with bassist Roel Van Doorsselaere to create music in the vein of the Peaceville Three (Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Anathema). Vocalist Arne Vandenhoeck and drummer Dennis Lefebvre were recruited some months later and after an intense initial run of live shows they hit the studio to record their maiden EP ‘Norizon’. The EP was unleashed in 2009 to positive reviews and several short tours ensued. Meanwhile songwriting for their first full-length continued and ‘To Drown’ hit the shelves in 2011. More gigs and tours followed and shortly before the recording of their sophomore effort ‘Roots of Grief’ bassist Boris Iolis joined the fold. Their growing notoriety saw them embarking on several tours with international doom acts such as Ahab, Saturnus and Beloveth, performing in 10 countries. 2015’s ‘Into the Arms of Darkness’ saw them break new ground in the US and their most recent effort ‘Einderlicht’ (2020), a collection of lengthy doom/death tracks that make for an excellent slab of metal, is arguably their best studio album to date, with standout vocals that run the gamut from screams to cleans and growls. Lyrically, the album deals with the theme of suicide. If you didn’t catch them in Antwerp last May, this is the time to make amends.