I once again find myself in Delft, The Netherlands. My chemical engineering graduate studies have taken me abroad for a second time. I had the opportunity to spend a little over 4 months in Europe at the end of 2007 and into 2008. My time was divided between two cities in France: Caen and Lille, and Delft in The Netherlands. Each city had a University where I was able to perform experiments to gain experience towards my PhD, though this time around I have it quite easy. I am simply here to observe and learn about a unique experimental setup and the equipment involved so that when I return, our lab can purchase and recreate this system. For those feigning interest (Nerd moment #1), it is an ATR FT-IR spectrometer and cell modified for UV irradiation for monitoring photocatalytic splitting of water… Metal? Not so much. Brutal? Depends who you ask. Anyways here are some friends and people I worked with at the Technical University (TU Delft):
On a personal note, I wanted to express my feelings as I pulled into the train station in Delft and saw the crooked and leaning bell tower of the Oude Kerk (Old Church). I simply smiled and laughed to myself, "I am in Delft... again!" I have been travelling a lot within the US to do my research and have had the previous stint in Europe, so I felt kind of jaded and hassled when I first learned I was to return to the Netherlands. But at that moment in the train, I had to remind myself that I should not take this for granted. I never expected to spend time in Europe as part of my graduate studies, let alone be lucky enough to travel across the pond twice. Pretty cool.
So I could talk about Dutch metal, but (no offense to their metal scene) the world has not been too greatly affected by Dutch metal. I will however offer up Holland’s biggest musical export as my discussion since this band could fall into the outskirts of symphonic metal.
But first let me clear up something for the people that are really confused at this point by my use of “The Netherlands, Dutch, and Holland” to describe where I am and the things within that place. You see… IT’S ALL THE SAME THING!! The Netherlands is the country and we call the people from that country and the things from that country Dutch. Holland is a large region of the Netherlands so technically may not apply to all things Dutch, but for most all intents and purposes, it is the same. I have heard too many Dutch people make fun of Americans for not knowing this during my time here and I honestly do not care, but I prefer not to have defend Americans' right to stupidity by isolationism, so if you read this, just take note.
OK, symphonic metal from The Netherlands: Within Temptation, as I said, Holland’s biggest musical export. Check 'em out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reGlno9aUpw
For Americans, they should remind you of Amy Lee’s Evanescence, but to those in the know, Within Temptation formed in 1996 and had European success long before the commercial success of the American goth rockers' album Fallen in 2003, but only now are truly reaping the benefits due to Evanescence's international success. Indeed, since 2004 Within Temptation have released their music under Roadrunner Records, one of the biggest, oldest, and well respected labels in metal. There are a few other Dutch, female fronted goth/symphonic, rock/metal bands (whatever you want to call them) that clearly formed due to Within Temptation’s success. Whether or not this is what the Dutch actual prefer, I know not, but like I said, it is their largest contribution to the worldwide metal scene. And of course there are those that would argue this kind of music’s metal credibility (this goes for both Within Temptation and Evanescence). I am not here for that discussion today. It is certainly not my favorite style of music, but it can be very beautiful and certainly has its place. My opinion is that it is only very slightly metal and certainly not that heavy. I want to talk about this whole metal vs. not metal and true metal vs. fake metal BS another time.
I mentioned just a second ago, that I was unsure as to whether or not the Dutch prefer this brand of metal. Well, from what I can see, the "popular" majority prefer very, very dirty euro techno. It’s disgusting. I cannot handle it or the fashion that goes with it and I will leave it at that. As for the metal heads, if I had to guess based on the my exposure to the metal social scene in Delft, Within Temptation is not the order of the day.
One thing I do really love about Europe is the ease of finding a metal bar. Two of the 3 cities I lived in had a great one, and I am guessing the third did as well, though I did not know to look for it at that point. Forget a dance floor, it is a “mosh floor.” No, you do not need live music to have a mosh pit. It is awesome. And the one in Delft played all the classics and not so much the symphonic/goth metal. "Raining Blood" by Slayer came on in the Delft bar and I got so revved up whilst moshing that I completely slipped and ate shit right on my knee. But like any good mosh pit where the “unwritten rules” are in effect, someone is there to help you up.
I am inclined to talk about some of the observation I have made in the Netherlands such as how tall everyone is, their love of milk and sandwiches, their ability to speak English well, the Red Light District, and the koffie shops. But I am told that I tend to ramble in my blog and, as I am doing now, I do not seem to have clear point to the paragraphs I write. I am of the belief that this is because I just have too much that I am trying to get out at once. I have received complaints about the length, but as J.R.R. Tolkien (Nerd moment #2) said of his work, my only regret is that it is too short. It turns out that I have a lot to say about all this and in my attempts to get as much in as possible, it comes out as rambling. I am convinced that I have at least improved my writing on a sentence to sentence basis… that’s what I am going to go with, anyways.
So I could talk about Dutch metal, but (no offense to their metal scene) the world has not been too greatly affected by Dutch metal. I will however offer up Holland’s biggest musical export as my discussion since this band could fall into the outskirts of symphonic metal.
But first let me clear up something for the people that are really confused at this point by my use of “The Netherlands, Dutch, and Holland” to describe where I am and the things within that place. You see… IT’S ALL THE SAME THING!! The Netherlands is the country and we call the people from that country and the things from that country Dutch. Holland is a large region of the Netherlands so technically may not apply to all things Dutch, but for most all intents and purposes, it is the same. I have heard too many Dutch people make fun of Americans for not knowing this during my time here and I honestly do not care, but I prefer not to have defend Americans' right to stupidity by isolationism, so if you read this, just take note.
OK, symphonic metal from The Netherlands: Within Temptation, as I said, Holland’s biggest musical export. Check 'em out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reGlno9aUpw
For Americans, they should remind you of Amy Lee’s Evanescence, but to those in the know, Within Temptation formed in 1996 and had European success long before the commercial success of the American goth rockers' album Fallen in 2003, but only now are truly reaping the benefits due to Evanescence's international success. Indeed, since 2004 Within Temptation have released their music under Roadrunner Records, one of the biggest, oldest, and well respected labels in metal. There are a few other Dutch, female fronted goth/symphonic, rock/metal bands (whatever you want to call them) that clearly formed due to Within Temptation’s success. Whether or not this is what the Dutch actual prefer, I know not, but like I said, it is their largest contribution to the worldwide metal scene. And of course there are those that would argue this kind of music’s metal credibility (this goes for both Within Temptation and Evanescence). I am not here for that discussion today. It is certainly not my favorite style of music, but it can be very beautiful and certainly has its place. My opinion is that it is only very slightly metal and certainly not that heavy. I want to talk about this whole metal vs. not metal and true metal vs. fake metal BS another time.
I mentioned just a second ago, that I was unsure as to whether or not the Dutch prefer this brand of metal. Well, from what I can see, the "popular" majority prefer very, very dirty euro techno. It’s disgusting. I cannot handle it or the fashion that goes with it and I will leave it at that. As for the metal heads, if I had to guess based on the my exposure to the metal social scene in Delft, Within Temptation is not the order of the day.
One thing I do really love about Europe is the ease of finding a metal bar. Two of the 3 cities I lived in had a great one, and I am guessing the third did as well, though I did not know to look for it at that point. Forget a dance floor, it is a “mosh floor.” No, you do not need live music to have a mosh pit. It is awesome. And the one in Delft played all the classics and not so much the symphonic/goth metal. "Raining Blood" by Slayer came on in the Delft bar and I got so revved up whilst moshing that I completely slipped and ate shit right on my knee. But like any good mosh pit where the “unwritten rules” are in effect, someone is there to help you up.
I am inclined to talk about some of the observation I have made in the Netherlands such as how tall everyone is, their love of milk and sandwiches, their ability to speak English well, the Red Light District, and the koffie shops. But I am told that I tend to ramble in my blog and, as I am doing now, I do not seem to have clear point to the paragraphs I write. I am of the belief that this is because I just have too much that I am trying to get out at once. I have received complaints about the length, but as J.R.R. Tolkien (Nerd moment #2) said of his work, my only regret is that it is too short. It turns out that I have a lot to say about all this and in my attempts to get as much in as possible, it comes out as rambling. I am convinced that I have at least improved my writing on a sentence to sentence basis… that’s what I am going to go with, anyways.
So I will just wrap it up with the “Power of Two Words” phrase of the day. It is going to be something in Dutch. As many of their words sound the same as ours, it can lead to some great phrases. One of my favorites comes from the television commercials that come on after midnight when the airwaves are taken over by phone/texting sex advertising. One of them allows you to text where you are so that you can drive and meet up with someone for what they call:
PARKEER SEX
Literally this means “parking sex,” but I just really like it because when an English speaker hears this phrase it, of course, sounds like “park here sex,” which essentially is the same thing but just more audibly entertaining. It is actually not that novel a concept for the US especially if you are in high school.
Godspeed on the Devil’s thunder, getcha’ pull, and may the power of the riff compel you always.
Godspeed on the Devil’s thunder, getcha’ pull, and may the power of the riff compel you always.
