I’ve managed to accumulate another huge collection of messages and deviations to comment on. Sorry for that. I haven’t got the energy to deal with them just now.

And now for something completely different, I was tagged by ~Michalesa with this meme.

Write 3 of your favourite bands from your OWN country and show us something of their work

So, here goes:

1. Heidevolk is a Dutch folk/viking metal band from the province of Gelderland. Most of their lyrics are inspired by Germanic mythology and the history of Gelderland and the Netherlands in general. My favourite song is Koning Radboud ( [link] ). It’s about Radboud/Radbod/Redbad (?-719 A.D.), a Frisian King who is known for the fact that when the missionary Wulfram attempted to baptize him, he refused at the very last moment, choosing to remain loyal to his ancestors and the old gods. This is described in the song as:

“Wulfram, de Christen, die hem bekeren wou
Beloofde hem de hemel, als hij hem dopen zou.
Doch met één been in de vont bedacht de Friese vorst zich snel;
Trouw aan zijn verwanten ging hij liever naar de hel.”

which roughly translates to something like

“Wulfram, the Christian, who would convert him,
Promised him salvation, if he were to baptize him.
Though with one leg in the (baptismal) font, the Frisian King quickly realized;
Loyal to his ancestors, he’d rather go to hell.”

Awesome. Remembering what a bunch of bull-headed, beer-drinking, boar-eating, primitive heathens we used to be almost makes me proud to be Dutch again.

2. Arjen Anthony Lucassen is the brain behind quite a lot of brilliant projects such as Star One, but most famously Ayreon. He writes the music and the lyrics, usually fantasy- or scifi-themed, and then gathers a group of guest vocalists and musicians to put it all together (for the last Ayreon album, he managed to get Blind Guardian’s Hansi Kürsch). It’s difficult to choose just one, favourite song, but I think I’ll go for Sail Away to Avalon ( [link] ), because the guest vocalist is Barry Hay, the singer of our very own internationally famous Dutch rock band, The Golden Earring. It’s very odd to hear his voice in this fantasy type of setting, though.

3. The Golden Earring ought to be mentioned, I feel. They refuse to tour the United States even though they are asked quite frequently, but they annually perform at my aunt’s tennis club in a nearby village. I mean, how awesome and very arrogantly Dutch is that? Gotta love them for it. By the way, they always refuse to go to the United States, because the American public is only interested in their hit songs, and never in any other good songs they’ve made. Anyway, my favourite song of theirs is The Devil made me do it ([link] ).