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AARDSCHOK magazine (NL)The best-known musician of the new Dutch band The Saturnine must be Dennis Leeflang, who, until recently, handled the drumsticks with Sun Caged. 'Within Without' has been recorded at the famous Excess Studio in Rotterdam and the band ended up with a pretty fine sounding demo. The most important traits of the 4 recorded songs are emotion, atmosphere, intensity and subtlety. The musical direction that is the Saturnine's objective is the domain of the likes of A Perfect Circle, the modern Anathema and The Gathering. These Dutchmen try to put their own twist on this alternative rock section and according to me they are definitely on the right track; the vocals are convincing, beautiful melody-lines are present, the emotion is tangable, the songs 'rock' and there's musicianship. After some more evolution the Saturnine could definitely be one to stay around. Liselotte Hegt QUINTESSENCE webzine (USA)The Saturnine (Netherlands)- "Within Without" EP 2004 MUSICFROM.NL webzine (NL)When we published our first newsflash about The Saturnine we could barely hide the word 'super-group', but it's certainly no exageration when we talk about 5 known and experienced musicians. With a history containing bands like Wowbeggar, Daeonia, Sun Caged and Jambone these guys are certainly no school-boys. Something you can definitely hear on their debut, 'cause the songs are well-constructed and when it comes to musicianship you can hear the experience crashing through. Which makes it more surprising that the material is less prog-rock/symphonic than expected, and even less metal. The band keeps close to the (alternative) rock sound throughout. The vocals of Sander van den Thillart even put a little emo to the sound. The present fear of virtuose playing on every square inch turns out to be totally uncalled for, 'cause the technical abilities are there to serve the compositions and none of The Saturnine-members feel the urge to present themselves as God's gift to music. The title of the 3rd song, "Living Less", seems like the right way to describe The Saturnine's approach. All tracks harbour a perfect balance between loud rock and more quiet passages, which keeps the listener's attention focused from start to end. This 5-piece has succeeded on all accounts to deliver an EP that makes you long for more. We are waiting for the full-length. FRET magazine, December 2004 (NL)The Saturnine has a link with Within Temptation. Both bands surely have a professional attitude in common. The songs, musicianship, vocals and production are way above average. The musicians have used their virtuose abilities in name of the song above all. The guitar solo's are wisely kept very short and to-the-point. Beneath the surface of the strong performance of their melancholic metal there's a lot to discover. The melancholy thankfully doesn't result in weak rock ballads. In that vein a lot of bands could learn a lot from the distinguished 2nd song, "Inside". Gert Verbeek/FRET magazine Click for online review (in Dutch) SLAGWERKWERELD.COM (NL)In the summer of 2003 drummer Dennis, bass-player Douwe and guitarist Eric found The Saturnine, a band that with the arrival of vocalist Sander and guitarist Edo found its definite form. The band is new, but the members are all individually experienced from their work with the bands Wowbeggar, Daeonia, Manifest, Trisomy, Jambone, Within Temptation and Sun Caged. And all that's good, comes fast. A rule that certainly applies in this case. Hardly a year later the 5-piece enters the Excess Studios in Rotterdam to record "Within Without". Looking at the diverse history the musicians have, people might ask which direction their music would take. Dark gothic rock like Daeonia? Metal like Wowbeggar or Trisomy? Progressive elements like in Sun Caged? "Fairy-tale Metal" like that of Within Temptation? Their music might get the closest to Jambone, without the two female vocalists. Actually it's better to forget all the before mentioned bands for a second, because The Saturnine only sounds like themselves. A closer look: The band writes rock songs, without the brutality, but with a place to transmit the emotions and to play with dynamics. The musicians have recorded 4 beautiful songs with "Within Without". A passer-by might hear 4 real songs with a head and a tail and the necesarry hint of melody. A careful listener hears 4 real songs with an eye for details. Dennis Leeflang is not trying to show-off his technical abilities. No, it's the subtle nuances that count. Those small details, that the other musicians use as well, assure that The Saturnine rises above all the rockbands in the Netherlands. Carefully constructed and professional! Click for online review (in Dutch) LIVE XS Popmagazine (NL) - January 2005Ex-members of i.e. Manifest, Wowbeggar and Within Temptation formed The Saturnine back in 2003. On their first demo this band gives us a taster of what might be: Within Without consists of 4 intense songs, leaning on expressive melodies. It's quite amazing how approachable it sounds, despite the fact that the songs are far from simple. Power and subtlety compliment eachother when it comes to the rhythms as well as the melody lines. From this complexity in a relaxed manner you could depict the extensive experience these musicians have. Only minor point of criticism is that I find Sander's vocals a little forced on the rough parts, in which he sounds a little like other vocalists. Minus: The vocals could be a little bit more original in some parts. METALFAN E-zine (NL)Just when you think that 2004 has musically ended, you receive 3 Dutch debut EP's that are all of surprisingly high quality. Besides the works of Delphian and Frozen Soil we also received a Christmas/New Year's gift in the form of "Within Without" by The Saturnine. These gentlemen reside from the west of the country and some of them you
might still remember from bands like Wowbeggar, Sun Caged and Daeonia. In other words: No starters! And that's definitely noticable when you listen to the 4 rocksongs included. They play slightly progressive (rhythms!), dynamic rock with a hint of emotion. Thankfully they didn't forget to bless every song with a strong chorus, which makes
the product suitable for mainstream rock-lovers as well as refined King's X or Dead Soul Tribe intellectuals. Production-wise there's also nothing to complain about (Excess Studio) and the entire product looks very professional. I think we'll be hearing a lot from these guys in the near future. Leaves you with the task of just clicking the
link below. STAGEDIVE.ORG E-zine (B)The Netherlands have produced several promising bands as of late and also The Saturnine can be acknowledged as a band with a lot of potential. All the members, for instance, already played in pretty promising bands, like: Wowbeggar, Daeonia, Jambone and especially Sun Caged was already well-known. But experience isn't the most important factor
of course, strong compositions are demanded!And The Saturnine knows very well how to write a catchy rocksong, with a slight hint of progressive influences. It's very hard to pin-point the best song on this 4 track EP. They are all of equal quality. But to me the powerful "Living Less" sticks out. The vocals by Sander run over with emotions. The
guitar-riffs are captivating and throughout all four songs, the drum-sound of Dennis Leeflang is very characteristic. An EP I can recommend to everybody. If this band can keep up the current level of musicianship we could end up hearing a lot from The Saturnine in the near future! QUINTESSENCE webzine (NL)If you look at the musical past of the members of The Saturnine you should get some musical appetite, at least I did. The 5 members have been active in bands such as Within Temptation, Sun Caged, Deaonia, Manifest, Jambone and Wowbeggar which is quite a varied bunch. The Saturnine, however, is very hard to compare to their former bands. Musically
I would call this alternative melancholic rock with some slight metal influences. Recorded at Excess in Rotterdam the result is very satisfying and I also have to give a “thumbs up” to the song writing. This is actually a very good EP by this band from the The Hague area and I am positive that we will hear lots more from them. The music should
appeal to quite a large audience. If you want to get an idea in what direction these guys are you should think in the direction of bands such as The Gathering, Anathema, Katatonia or The Wounded for instance. Without being copycats of either of those bands this should give you an idea what you can expect from The Saturnine. When interested in buying
this EP you should contact the band through their website (see link below), the EP is available for 8 euro. STORK ON STAGE magazine (NL)How great! Old-fashioned metal. Or is it Hardrock? The metalscene in The Hague has been dead to the world. So it's time for a new band that can make a stand in this genre. Recorded in the Excess Studios (Rotterdam), because there you will find people that know how to make this explode off of the digital recording disc. The vocals by Sander van den
Thillart remind me of the old masters! The guitar-duo Edo v/d Kolk and Eric Hazebroek compliment each other terrifically. It's too bad that this genre doesn't appeal to a big audience, otherwise there would be a golden future lying ahead for The Saturnine. Especially because you have to suppress the urge to play air-guitar to the opening track
"The Sun Sets Red"! METAL-OBSERVER webzine (D)When I held the nice promo by THE SATURNINE in my hands, I could have sworn that the band already had a record deal, as the EP „Within Without“ is made up quite professionally optically. But a label is missing here. The five-piece from the Netherlands, that was formed in 2003, is still walking on underground paths. However the musicians were already active in other Dutch bands such as WITHIN TEMPTATION (!), SUN CAGED, DAEONIA and MANIFEST.
Musically they move on the trails of NICKELBACK, CREED or ALICE IN CHAINS, that is Alternative music with a slight Metal touch and a pinch of melancholy. All of the four songs of the EP are quite well-done, and especially “Living Less” and “The Alice Inn” (an allusion to ALICE IN CHAINS maybe???) stick to your ear. The compositions don’t reach the status of CREED or ALICE…, but yet the Dutchmen do a good job. Besides the professional make-up THE SATURNINE can also gain credits through their good sound. The guitars roast thoroughly and the rest sounds decent as well. You definitely notice that the respective musicians are already experienced in recording albums and that two competent sound men were at their side in Hans Pieters and Dennis Leidelmeijer in the Exess Studios in Rotterdam.
I wouldn’t be surprised if THE SATURNINE would really break through soon. The soil for Alternative bands is almost as good as it was in the nineties and the band certainly isn’t too heavy to get radio airplay as well. If the guys keep working on themselves and somewhat move away from their “idols?”, if they develop an on touch, that is, a record deal could soon be beckoning. Let’s wait to see what will come. In any case you can order “Within Without” on the band’s homepage for only 8,- euro (shipping costs included) if you are interested.
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