My night began arriving for Magus Beast to do a writeup for the guys. Mixing part old Metal Church with a touch of old Overkill is the backbone to their music. Vocally and lyrically I drew lines of comparison to Rob Halford and Bobby Blitz. Even though the crowd was small they were very into the band with a few classic headbangers at the front of the stage which is a compliment for any band old or new. Their brand of U.S. traditional like power metal hid hard and solid appealing to the crowd.
Appearing on the second stage was a feast of industrialized chaos called Bile. The band assaults your senses both audibly and visually with a barrage sonic pandemonium and visual atrocities. This meshes together to form an eclectic and artistic stage show that you cant help but watch. Fronted by both male and female vocalists lyrics were aggressively spewed with vigorous guitars and digital drums that resembled a tangled octopus emerging from its den. Dance beats were intertwined bulleting patterns that were similar to Nine Inch Nails and old Marilyn Manson. Overall they provided the audience with an entertaining experience.
EXODUS
Exodus, Testament, and Overkill are all well known and loved for consistently carrying the flag high for Thrash Metal. Exodus has been absent for some time and have just released a fantastic and strong return album called “Tempo of the Damned”. This release has spawned an awakening not only for die hard fans but a birthing for the younger generation. It was amazing to see how many younger fans were familiar with almost every song played. For this weekday show the crowd was intimate, and was probably the reason for the incredible energy produced by both the audience and the band.
Exodus produced all the crunchy riffs and maniacal solos that are synonymous with their name. Gary Holt does all the wild and chaotic soloing that is a major factor to their frantic delivery. Playing like this is the foundation for what became known as thrash.
I spoke to long time guitarist Rick Hunolt and he expressed his excitement for being back on tour in the States and seemed happy with the response the new CD is getting.
Track selection covered all sorts of ground from “Strike of the Beast”, “And Then Their Were None”, “Piranhahahah”, and the title track from the classic “Bonded by Blood”, “Only Death Decides” from “Impact is Imminent”, “Braindead”, to newer tracks and soon to become classics ‘Scar Spangled Banner”, “War is My Shepherd”, “Tempo of the Damned”, and clearly a crowd favorite the mid tempo “Blacklist”.
The crowd really lost their minds stirred into a frenzy of sorts when the banner tune ‘Toxic Waltz” was played, the band actually encouraged the insanity and wanted to see the old school style metal waltz. The pit resembled a human washing machine complete with plenty of stage diving and tag line in hand, “If you hit the floor you can always crawl”.
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