Here in the Netherlands the metal scene is very much alive; plenty of longliving bands and new or obscure projects originate from here. There are tons of venues to visit for gigs. Even some of the smallest bars host gigs on a regular basis. As an example: a venue called P60 (with space for about 200 guests) booked Septicflesh a couple of months ago; pretty sweet i'd say. And of course there are the bigger gigs mostly hosted in the cities of Amsterdam, Utrecht and Rotterdam. Besides those obvious locations, metal thrives outside the big cities. Festivals like Into The Grave (in the northern and not very densely populated province of Vriesland), Fortarock (in Nijmegen, near the border of our German neighbours; sadly quit this year) and the Graspop Metal Meeting are yearly gatherings to look forward to. So, jumping to an obvious conclusion: metal thrives and is indeed very much alive in the Netherlands.