It's hard to believe Overmars once was a side-project to Donefor. At the time, Donefor was slowly dying before our eyes, and most of us secretly hoped they'd call it quits so that Overmars could finally grow genius. Cause Overmars has been one of those “promising bands” since the very beginning. Even at their roughest and less sophisticated. The first handful of shows they played already had this insane magnetic vibe they later mastered. But hey, it'd be way too easy for me to romanticize their story, and tell you a whole bunch of seductive lies about the “unchallenged heydays of the early Overmars” as I was part of the band for a short period of time in 2003. Those of you who met these guys face to face have probably been amazed by the unfathomable gap lying between their everyday good-heartedness and their darker-than-thou sonic barrage. Overmars draws a line that goes from thwarted philanthropy to assumed misanthropy. And I like that. ‘‘Affliction, Eendocrine... Vertigo'' shows a band with an unshakable will to offer the best of themselves, an all-time generosity they just can't hide away. A multi-layered record wrong-footing its audience (How many records built on crescendo ? And how many bands to do exactly the opposite ?), an album that will surprise those who were waiting for an increase In greasy violence and who'll sink their teeth on an amazingly quiet (not you run-of-the-mill “quiet”, rest assured) piece of wax instead. Starting with full-force velocity, ‘‘Affliction, Endocrine... Vertigo'' knows no cruising speed and sinks in swamps of confusion from the third track on. Punctuated by five amazing segues (‘‘Destroy all dreamers'') and tracks broadening their war fields (the goth-like ‘‘Buccolision'' revealing all the intensity Marion now brings to the band), ‘‘Affliction, Endocrine... Vertigo'' is a demanding record. For Overmars as much as for those on the other side of the speakers.

Is such an achievement that surprising ? Well, yes. And no. Lotsa hard work and a natural evolution. From their very first record (a split album with Donefor released in March of 2002) to their latest (a split album with Japan's Fugue,
recorded a year later), after so many days and weeks on the road through Europe, Overmars now fully masters a work scheme based on “serene soaking”. No futile hurries, no run after a mandatory first album like most of those young
bands lacking in experience who'll inevitably fail in the end, a will to go beyond the limits any scene or style can set (sharing writings, Arno's video work, drawings, pictures, etc. on their website or on the DVD coming with the album). ‘‘Affliction, Endocrine... Vertigo'' appears as ‘‘vortex-record'', the epicentre of an experience in creation by a band generously offering their guts on a plate.

They're now yours to embrace (or not).