Hail!/ Age Of Evil

Age Of Evil are a rather new band from Arizona. The current lineup features the brothers Jeremy (vocals/guitar) and Jacob (bass) Goldberg and lead guitarist Jordan and drummer Garrett Ziff on drums. The boys play traditional metal/hard rock with elements of speed and thrash metal thrown in and they took the stage with energy and attitude receiving a positive reaction from the crowd rather quickly. Musically they are very tight and play beyond their years and my only issue is with the vocals. I think Jeremy has a bland tone and lacks range and style. Their sound would benefit by getting another singer and letting Jeremy just stick to playing guitar.

Songs in their set included the title track to their debut "Living The Sick Dream", ‘Cruel Intentions’ and ‘Get Dead’ from their recently released E.P. of the same name and a solid cover of Skid Row’s ‘Slave To The Grind’.

Hail!, the all-star band who perform heavy metal covers featuring bassist David Ellefson (ex Megadeth), guitarist Andreas Kisser (Sepultura), vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens (Yngwie Malmsteen, ex Judas Priest and Iced Earth) and newly appointed chameleon drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), played their first U.S. show tonight at BB Kings in NYC.

As a special treat for New York, Savatage/Trans Siberian Orchestra guitarist Chris Caffery joined the guys on smoking renditions of ‘Lights Out’ by UFO, ‘Metal Church’ by Metal Church (which featured an excellent guitar solo trade off between Chris and Andreas), and Judas Priest’s ‘Green Manalishi’. Bobby Blitz from Overkill was such a fitting voice for AC/DC’s ‘Highway to Hell’ and ‘TNT’, and Motorhead’s ‘Overkill’, and Anthrax’s Frank Bello was a ball full of energy for Kiss’ ‘Cold Gin’ and Anthrax’s rendition of ‘Got The Time’.

BBs was rather packed with a very energetic audience singing along (especially on ‘Cold Gin’), banging their heads to some of metal's greatest anthems. Winger frontman Kip Winger was also in attendance hanging out following his appearance with bandmate Reb Beach on VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show taping (hosted by Eddie Trunk) which will air in March or April.

Hail! setlist:

Ace of Spades (Motorhead)
Territory (Sepultura)
Grinder (Judas Priest)
Stand up and Shout (Dio)
Balls to the Wall (Accept)
Mouth For War (Pantera)
Walk (Pantera)
Neon Nights (Black Sabbath)
Wrathchild (Iron Maiden)
Lights Out (UFO)
Metal Church (Metal Church)
Green Manalishi (Judas Priest)
Highway to hell (AC-DC)
TnT (AC-DC)
Overkill (Motorhead)
Cold Gin (Kiss)
Got The Time (Anthrax)
Run to Hills (Iron Maiden)
Four Horsemen (Metallica)
Symptom Of The Universe (Black Sabbath)
South Of Heaven (Slayer)
Refuse / Resist (Sepultura)
Whiplash (Metallica)