Once again I'm several weeks behind in writing this review; its getting worse and worse, I need to pick up my game. This show is one that I can review probably as good now as I could then, however, because it was a thrash metal show. In my experience, most thrash metal shows feature bands that blend into each other pretty solidly so it's like one long night of the same riff. That's not even a denigration to most thrashers either, that's like what they're going for. So I will review each band's set as well as I can with the warning that even during or directly after the show I had trouble distinguishing the bands completely.
I showed up a bit late for this one and missed the opening bands Monolith and Devastation. Both of those bands are not the legendary bands you're thinking of, they're local kids who are putting their ignorance of thrash on display by using the names of already-established decades-old worldwide-known metal bands. For shame. It would be hard for me to like them even if I had seen them with that kind of lameness.
The thing that really struck me about this show was that it was the first time that I really felt old in the crowd. So many of the opening bands were high school bands that half the crowd or more were high school kids, and for once I really felt like an out of place old bastard at only 22 years old. These kids are still just discovering metal and punk and don't know which one to pick and they're stubborn about outside influence and...they're like me in high school!! It's like I identify but I no longer identify. I remember but I don't wanna be that kid anymore and it's weird to be surrounded by a bunch of them sometimes. Luckily my homeboy Evan from the Coltranes was there and we hung out for the night but he's in high school too he's just already my homie so it felt a little less awkward. I don't get this old-piece-of-shit feeling at most hardcore or indie or art punk shows but local thrash and punk in particular is very high school oriented and I guess that makes a ton of sense but it feels weird for the first time.
I arrived towards the end of local band Xpulsion's set, who I've seen before when my own shitty local metal band Melting Corpse opened up for them at some backyard show. The circle pit was going and kept going for pretty much the entire rest of the show; what more can you expect at a thrash show? You think they're gonna change it up? Nah, circle pit that shit. Last time I had seen Xpulsion I didn't really like them because they struck me as yet another sloppy generic thrash band, and while in a way they still kinda are that, this time they seemed alot more together and the songs just seemed cooler. Their lead guitarist is a real short kid who seriously looks like he's 13 or 14 or something but he shreds it! The singer, who also plays either bass or rythm guitar, is a real cool guy as well and has good stage presence for this type of band. The last song they played was a really long instrumental song that had alot of clean guitar and was a bit tedious but a welcome break from the constant thrash. They were releasing their demo "Pizza Incision" that day and I picked one up for $2; I later talked to one of them about it and they said they ended up making like $250 from demos and patches and stuff. Wow.
The next band up was called Spectre, and they appeared to have a more professional sound set-up; I can't remember what it was about their set-up that made me think that, I guess it was the drums or maybe big nice amps, I can't remember I just got that feeling. They were extremely similar to Xpulsion except I would argue their vocals weren't as good or at least not as audible. They kept it fast and predictable the whole time and the pit was average. I really didn't walk away thinking much about them really, but I got a copy of their demo and it was pretty good as far as local demos go. Nothing super special but not a sloppy mess like all the bands a few years back were.
After them was Witchaven, who was ostensibly the band I came to see. I'd heard an album of theirs before and liked it pretty good, but their live set was just alright. I guess it's part and parcel of having just seen 2 similar throwback thrash bands but Witchaven's set just didn't stay with me very much. The singer appeared to be pretty drunk and was saying random obscenities and insults etc. in between songs, which is all good and well, but got a little tiresome for me. I couldn't really make out most of the solos, which is oftentimes a problem at this venue, but I did like the mid-tempo parts they threw in. Sometimes these thrash bands keep the same super-fast quasi-punk beat going their whole set and never break it down for some headbang/mosh parts. Witchaven delivered on that front.
The next band was called Dred, and I had never heard of them before seeing their name on the flyer before the show. I had wondered why they were listed above Witchaven, who I had heard of many many times, but Evan later told me that all the thrasher kids at his school wear their stuff all the time so I guess they have a bit of a local following. To be honest I don't really follow new thrash anymore so I'm well out of the loop on who the new up-and-comers are. All I can say is that Dred was fucking awesome, maybe the best band of the night. Of note was the singer's high-pitched, Bruce Dickison-inspired singing which was a stark contrast to the Slayer or D.R.I. influenced vocals all the other bands had. The guy was really wailing too, he wasn't doing like shitty highs his parts were really cool. And the music was kinda upbeat, almost like the less-dramatic parts of power metal mixed with classic thrash. Power thrash. I really enjoyed their set alot and especially after 3 very similar bands it was a nice little change-up.
Finally it was time for the headliners Fueled By Fire, who played excellently. They had a good dual-guitar attack thing going on and unlike Witchaven I could actually hear the solos pretty well. I spent alot of time in the pit for them, which I hadn't expected to do, which means both that I was digging it pretty hard but also that my memory of the setlist is pretty hazy. They did a good job, like Witchaven, of mixing up their tempos more than the local bands who had come before did. On the whole, however, a thrash band is usually a thrash band for better or for worse and my having spent the whole time in the circle pit means I don't really have much more to say about their set than thrash.
It was cool and I had a fun night for sure, but none of these bands really offer anything new and are all actually kinda blatantly doing throwback 80s-thrash stuff. I get it because I love throwback 80s-hardcore usually but I dunno, it seems predestined that some of these kids, especially the younger ones who haven't really allowed themselves to travel outside the realm of their friends or older brother's tastes in music, are in a phase of mindless, shameless Metallica reproduction that will be short-lived. There will always be older cats who keep on keepin it real but that same circle pit gets boring after awhile.
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