Last week, I spent a few days in Amsterdam and didn’t see too many signs of a rock scene – more the happy hardcore that Holland is famed for. But I can’t have looked too hard as we’ve met some great bands from the Netherlands.
And now we’ve got another band to add to that list in the form of Amsterdam heavy rock band Horizon Tide, who intriguingly and slightly randomly describe their music as “the lemon in your coffee.”
We thought that must be a Dutch thing until Daan kindly explained: “The lemon in your coffee means that the listener will listen to songs with elements that you wouldn’t automatically expect to come together.”
Horizon Tide originally started out in 2015, when drummer Hasan met a guitarist and bassist ten brought in vocalist and guitarist Daan – who’d posted a paper advertisement to find a new band. They recorded their debut EP in 2016, before bringing in new bassist Nicky and focusing on gigs through 2018. But then disaster struck as the famous Dutch pastime of cycling saw Hasan suffer a bike accident, breaking his arm and elbow to save his dog. That put the band on hold for a while, before Nicky’s husband joined the band on guitar, then COVID happened…
But despite all of that, the band is still going strong and returned better than ever with the recording of Disappear, which was released in July. It opens up with a cool riff of low guitars answered by a higher-pitched noodle, then heavier guitars and big rolling drums kick in to build a moody atmosphere. A funky riff continues as vocals jump in, then gruff vocals take over alongside big chugging guitar chords. The vocals intensify then drop into a cool riff, that give way to the chugging guitars under heavier vocals.
It drops into an edgy guitar section with moody background sounds, then a piercing guitar solo jumps in over the top. Then another moody section ends with stabbing guitars and a big cry, which gives way to wild guitars.
On the track, Daan told us: “We know our music isn’t to everyone’s liking and we don’t write radio-friendly or easy-listening rock. So the reception has ranged from ‘not my kinda music’ to ‘wow this is awesome!’ But those who understand what we do see our influences and how we’ve created our own style.
“The song has a steady build-up to really set the mood; it’s melancholic, heavy, somewhat sludgy even. The break section really takes the listener to a different state of mind to erupt in a wall of sound towards the end!” Check it out in the video below:
Since this interview, the band has released another track Rivalry, which opens up with wild sounds then a gradually building instrumental of plodding guitars and drums under a little lick. Edgy vocals come in, and build to a powerful chorus “It must be lonely in your position, With aversion as a disposition, Pull me out, pull me under, Where does this lead us, don’t you wonder.”
Second time around, the chorus extends with the extra lines “No I can’t imagine, how it must feel,
Caged inside, without a key, Most of you, is none of me, This shouldn’t call, for rivalry.” That gives way to a cool laid-back guitar solo, which gets heavier and drops into more intense vocals and plodding guitars with back atmospheric backing vocals. It suddenly drops into a moment of calm, before a delicious high-pitched guitar lick kicks in over an intense final smash of the chorus and heavy guitars bring the track to a superb conclusion. Check it out in the video here:
The Horizon Tide sound is inspired by a solid list of the finest rock and metal bands, including the likes of Tool, Chevelle, Rage Against The Machine, Machine Head, Pearl Jam, Metallica, Disturbed, Taproot and Alice in Chains.
And on what inspires them to write music, Daan tells us: “I write the lyrics and often the first melody line for a song. Often songs are written around themes like what’s going on in the world, the downfall of things, the messed-up state of politics, economics and life in general. So yeah, not happy go-to songs!
“There’s no explicit political statements like RATM, but you can take from lyrics whatever you want. That’s why I also prefer to write somewhat ambiguous or describing rather than just saying ‘hey the world is shit and we need to do better you idiot.'”
Having said we’ve found plenty of great Dutch bands – we have, check them out here – it has been over a year since we featured one. So we asked Daan for his thoughts on their local scene. He told us: “It depends on where you live, more towards the East and South the scene is more vibrant. Unfortunately, we don’t live (near) there. So for us, it’s tricky to find suitable places and promote ourselves to programmers to book us.” And that answer puts me at ease for my ignorance in seeing zero evidence of rock music in Amsterdam.
We’re intrigued to hear more from this exciting band and from Dutch rock and metal bands in general. And the band adds: “You should try lemon in your coffee, no really. Just do it. Now. Oh and Daan is a pedal maniac, his pedal board is only half of what he owns. He can create all kinds of sounds from whacky to spacy. Yes, those are real sounds too.”
You can follow Horizon Tide on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and YouTube.
GigRadar 
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