The five metal giants Vicious Rumors were the winners of the "Aardschokdag" two years ago, being the first band on the bill. Still, the band hasn't been able to withdraw themselves from the underground swamp in the US, but things might change for the better now that they have signed a contract with Atlantic. In any case, at this years Dynamo Open Air festival Vicious Rumors was the third band on the bill.

A pretty rough breeze was still blowing across the field, causing the sound to falter just about half way ( standing near the mixing tables, you could hear the sound swaying from left to right). But right in front of the stage, the sound was perfect. A wall of sound, but crystal clear. And then it becomes evident, that Vicious Rumors have only solified their position in the Netherlands. Flawlessly, these metal giants raged through their set of twelve songs, without even the slightest hitch. The polyphonic and twin-guitar work of Thorpe and McGee was again ravishing and gave the music a lot of extra color and melody, a thing most bands lack. It was amazing to see how these two are well attuned to each other. Their strongest trump however is the short but yet gigantic singer/frontman Carl Albert. Being the best heavy metal singer together with Savatage's Jon Oliva, he overpowered everyone today without difficulty.

The set was opened with the fast "Minute To Kill" and then with "Worlds And Machines" they took a step back to the phenomenal second album. The higlights followed each other in a rapid tempo. Whether it was the better stuff from their most recent album ( the fast "Hellraiser", "Ship Of Fools", "Down To The Temple") or the highlights from Digital Dictator ( the title song, "Out Of The Shadows", "The Crest"). Yeah...we might complain that the worldly "Lady Took A Chance" or the raging "D.H.L" were forgotten, or that the number of songs from the underestimated debut was limited to just one ("March & Die"), but with such a strong set and whirling performance nobody really had a right to complain.

The power of Vicious Rumors is hidden in the fact that the mid-tempo material does hardly yield to the faster compositions power-wise. And the excellent compositions are always interwoven with a large dose of melody. It's about time for the large public to discover this band because it's actually hilarious that they are still playing the small club circuit in America. Europe welcomes this band with open arms but it remains uncertain how Vicious Rumors will develop themselves in their home country.