Kreator- Exodus- Belphegor- Warbringer and Epicurean Live Review
by Mark Hensch
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Thrash maniacs both old and new converged upon the Chicago House of Blues last weekend for one of the most stacked lineups in recent memory. Though it looked wicked on paper, the event itself was even better – thrash metal's greatest legends still have plenty of warmongering to do and the genre is in capable, bloodstained hands for the future. Throw the whole lot into a cramped venue packed with rabid hessians and the end result is one Hell of a night.
Being a near-Detroit native, I had a long pilgrimage to make before seeing the show in all its glory. Through a variety of unfortunate circumstances, I arrived three bands too late and caught the middle of Exodus' set. Rather than skip over such equally fine opening acts, I will briefly describe the fan consensus I picked up at the show and my own thoughts on the bands themselves.
Minneapolis natives Epicurean drew audible boos anytime their name was mentioned by one of the later bands, so my assumption is that their strange brand of symphonic prog and melodic death metal did not tickle too many fancies. From what I have heard, they are a young band struggling for originality in ways which are sometimes brilliant, sometimes awkward. Perhaps by next go-round they will be more concise and the response will be more welcoming.
Californians Warbringer, for their part, had quite the metal militia at the show. For all the talk of the Thrash revival being inferior to its forebears, lots of punters were wearing Warbringer patches and ranting about how good they had been for such a young band. Even better, the band's songs for just released effort Waking into Nightmares seemingly made a killing at the gig. Judging by the songs on their Myspace, Warbringer are one of the better modern thrash bands and will be a potent force in the scene over the next year or two.
Austrian black metal perverts Belphegor were up next, and much like Warbringer, the populace seemed pleased. Personally speaking, I love the band's mix of painfully sharp blackened death metal and blatantly offensive lyrics, so missing them was a tough pill to swallow. Thankfully, their upcoming new album should soften the blow. Perhaps next go-round I will be timelier.
Arriving in the middle of Exodus, I was treated to the band's hilarious yet hard-hitting thrash much as I had envisioned it. Current front man Rob Dukes loved f*cking with the audience, often mocking things they said or did. At one point, the band even began playing a request before ending prematurely and telling the fans that only Exodus picks Exodus songs. It was all in good fun, and not only that, it was backed by the band's brawny riffs and capable shredding. Classics like "Piranha" and "The Toxic Waltz" still sounded like the best of Bay Area thrash, while newer cuts like "War is My Shepard" packed the same amount of energy into tighter, more aggressive grooves. My one complaint was that "Death Amphetamine" dragged on for what felt like 20 minutes, but other than that, Exodus were pretty entertaining.
Or so it seemed. Once Kreator took the stage, it became readily apparent that they were tonight's highlight by a long-shot. Opening up with the lethal combo of "Hordes of Chaos" and "Warcurse," the band played a sublime set of furious, flawless songs. Circle pits opened everywhere, creating mosh Venn diagrams out of thin air. The frontlines before the stage became an ocean of crowd-surfers, all while the band attacked again and again with classic cuts spanning their entire career. From howling "Phobia" with the entire audience to hearing "Terrible Certainty," "Impossible Brutality" and "Extreme Aggression" literally rip out eardrums everything was a whirlwind of insanity. In a wise move, the band let the crowd cool down during the encore with the soothing strains of "Amok Run" before blowing the lid off one more time with some faster cuts of the knife. To sum it up in three words – epic, raw and bloody.
In the midst of all the action I had a realization. Between the grizzled thrash veterans and little kids every bit as excited to be there, true metal has an appeal that no other genre can claim. Even more importantly, in the face of violence as unhinged as Kreator's notions like age, gender and class disappear. That is what concerts should be about, and on this evening it was. Thrash lives, and anyone who has any sense will go and partake in it now.
Check out Epicurean
Check out Warbringer
Check out Belphegor
Check out Exodus
Check out Kreator
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Kreator- Exodus- Belphegor- Warbringer and Epicurean Live Rating:9.0
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