We arrived early on a crisp New England night. The sidewalks still piled high with last week's blizzard. We had our tickets already so one quick frisk at the door and we entered the Worcester Palladium. The night had fallen. Leather,hair,denim patched jackets mixed with the smell of sweat and stale beer. The line to the men's room, insanity. The end result with in those stalls, horrifying. All the makings of a great night of thrashy metal.
4 arm, from Australia did not disappoint. They are what a good thrash band is meant to be. The guitarist stage right looked like he was ten years old but he shredded from opening to end. Vocals were insane and clear. This was metallica pre- kill em all days. Simple, powerful, to the point.
Flotsam and Jetsam were up next and they are quite simply an American icon. Thrashy, yes, metal, no doubt. Incredible guitar work here and the old songs sounded fresh and new. But let me say that we listened tot he new CD on the way up. The song "giddy up", when they played that one. awesome. That's all I can say. Classic metal masters have returned.
Overkill. What can I say about this band. Legendary. Unstoppable. Pure metal power. They did not disappoint. Earlier there were rumors spreading that Overkill would cancel. Those were put to rest as Soon as the hit the stage. The pit, by now a seething cauldron of bubbling hate and fists, opened into a hurricane of rage and sweat. This is metal. The moment when the music crosses the barrier into the danger of the open pit. Overkill delivers and they don't care what you say.
Testament. Let's be clear here, one of my favorites. Practice what you preach hands down my favorite early thrash album. Native blood is the best song of their career so far. But the show tonight was lack luster. Vocals, having a bad cold, led to a breakdown in lyrics. Even the audience couldn't help sing along. The problem with the volume and the power of thrash music. No sing along vocals here. But they were still an awesome juggernaut of merciless decibel murder. A knife to the throat of standard metal bands. Testament can not be un done by mere vocal problems.
10 horns up( its overkill, testament, flotsam and jetsam on one bill....of course its 10 horns up!)
--MetalRising