{"id":72556,"date":"2017-06-22T14:28:53","date_gmt":"2017-06-22T12:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/?p=72556\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:48","slug":"ik-ben-geen-fanboy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/06\/22\/ik-ben-geen-fanboy\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I’m not a fanboy’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Name: Rik Wehrens (33)
\nPosition: Assistant Professor iBMG
\nType of reviews: Music albums at www.metalfan.nl (some 10 per month)<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

I\u2019ve been writing for Metalfan.nl, one of the larger webzines in the Netherlands dealing with all things metal, since 2004. I mainly write album reviews, but occasionally I also contribute concert reviews or a band interview.\u00a0That\u2019s something that comes out of my regular activities for Metalfan: the chance to talk with bands that I think are really good. I get to hear a bit more about how they work and how an album is realised. I\u2019m not a fanboy or anything, but I usually ask them to sign my CD while I\u2019m there. You won\u2019t find me standing in line at a festival signing session however.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018It\u2019s also nice when people read one of my reviews and say: oh, that sounds interesting, I\u2019m going to check out that band\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

The thing I like most is when one of my reviews inspires discussion. This often means a band is doing something new \u2013 at which point the old guard tends to sign off, and they gain new fans. This leads to the most fantastic exchanges. It\u2019s also nice when people read one of my reviews and say: oh, that sounds interesting, I\u2019m going to check out that band.<\/p>\n

The most difficult albums to review are the ones that sound exactly the same as the previous five albums put out by that band, and that tick all the boxes for the metal niche they are working in. This doesn\u2019t make it a bad album per se, but you could hardly call it innovative. Because that\u2019s what I\u2019m into: bands like Deafheaven and Shining, which work in an existing genre but take it in a direction that is completely their own and add all sorts of progressive elements, like jazz, classical music or more acoustic post-rock sounds.<\/p>\n

Other reviewers<\/h2>