Bark — Full Show at Cinema, Aalst
Antwerp five-piece BARK doing a full set at Cinema in Aalst. Their own bio reads 'the bad way, but faster' and that is exactly right. Groove, sludge, thrash and hardcore tangled together. One of the Belgian underground bands that actually plays out.
BARK have been at it since 2015, with seven Bandcamp releases up to The Time Has Come (2025). The Belgian metal press calls them “groove, sludge and thrash with hardcore influences” — Zware Metalen gave their 2020 album Written In Stone an 80/100 and described the sound as “pot vuige metal, spekvettige grooves, thrashy guitar leads.” I cannot translate “spekvettige” without losing something so I won’t try.
Lineup is Ron Bruynseels on vocals, Martin Furia and Toon Huet on guitars, Jorn Van der Straeten on bass, and Ward Van der Straeten on drums. Written In Stone was self-released in 2021 because they could not find a studio during COVID — Suburban Music Group later picked them up.
This is a full set, recorded on 4 April 2026 at Cinema in Aalst. Cinema is one of those Belgian venues where the booker has taste and the sound engineer cares. If you have been there, you know. If you have not, that fact alone should make you trust the room.
They are touring out to Konzerthaus Liebfrauen in Wernigerode, Germany on 27 June 2026 — they are not just an Antwerp-circuit thing anymore.