After supporting OVERKILL on their recent tour and a slot at Hammerfest, UK thrash outfit SAVAGE MESSIAH took to the stage and delivered a powerful and excellent 30 minute set to showcase their obvious talent. With a couple of solid albums under their belt, they are definitely on the right tracks along with fellow Brits EVILE in leading the way for the upcoming UK thrash acts.

With the majority of their set coming from latest album ‘Insurrection Rising’, the title track along with the superb duo of ‘The Serpent Tongue of Divinity’ and ‘He Who Laughs Last’ definitely stood out as highlights and sounded excellent live, whilst the title track of their debut album ‘Spitting Venom’ was the only track to appear in the set from it. SAVAGE MESSIAH definitely impressed again and with solid performances like this along with the quality of their material, they will only go strength to strength in the future. Keep an eye on these guys!

Everytime I have seen DEATH ANGEL, they have been outstanding, delivering a killer performance full of energy and a superb set to note perfection. And tonight was no different. Opening with the ferocious ‘Lord of Hate’, the next few songs alternated between last album ‘Killing Season’ and debut album ‘The Ultra-Violence’ with crowd pleasers like ‘Voracious Souls’, ‘Evil Priest’ and ‘Kill As One’ sounding as vicious as they did when they were first written, while the newer material like ‘Dethroned’ and ‘Buried Alive’ got the crowd headbanging just as much.

Even considering the disappointing turnout, you could see that DEATH ANGEL were just enjoying being on stage playing for those that turned up, and you get that feeling no matter where they are or who turns up, and with plenty of banter between the crowd and frontman Mark Osegueda, it made for a very entertaining night on all levels. The dual axe attack of Rob Cavestany and Ted Aguilar was on top notch form yet again as they blistered through cracking renditions of ‘Seemingly Endless Time’, ‘Mistress of Pain’ and ‘Thrown To The Wolves’, before rounding the night off nicely with penultimate track ‘3rd Floor’.

With the announcement of a new album scheduled for a September release much to the delight of the crowd, they wetted our appetites with eventual set closer in the form of ‘River of Rapture’, and if the rest of the album is as ferocious and vicious as this, then it’s surely going to be one to look forward to, and definitely one of the highlights of the year.

Reflecting back on the night as a whole, nobody could grumble at what was on offer, and DEATH ANGEL once again showed why they are so highly thought of in the thrash genre. They just seem to get better and better with every gig, never losing that passion and energy that make them such a great band to watch. I just hope September gets here quickly!

Ratings:

Photography By Alexander Shaw (Death Angel photos)

Confirmed dates include:

Apr 4, 2010 The Engine Room Brighton, UK
Apr 5, 2010 Sub89 Reading, UK
Apr 6, 2010 Rio’s Leeds, UK
Apr 7, 2010 Central Station Wrexham, Wales, UK
May 18, 2010 O2 Academy w/ Nevermore London, UK

Arriving at venue, we were just in time to catch the last couple of songs by KEEP OF KALESSIN, whose black metal with thrash tinged style seemed to be going down a treat with the crowd. From what I heard of the likes of ‘Ascendant’ and ‘Kolossus’, both of which come from latest album ‘Kolossus’, they definitely warrant further listening, and probably seeing again sometime as this brief viewing was enough to wet my appetite for more.

After being impressed by their technicality and caliber of their material at last years Bloodstock Open Air, I couldn’t wait to see Canadian Death Metallers KATAKLYSM again. From the off, you could tell the band were loving this intimate atmosphere, as well as the crowd as the pit got going for the first of many tonight. Ripping through a brutal 40 minute set, the sound was crisp and clear and a pummeling performance by Max Duhamel on drums was awe inspiring as he produced numerous trademarked blast beats and together with the rest of the band were intent on total annihilation of the venue.

Given the back catalogue of KATAKLYSM, they tried to give each album a run out, with their set being full of their best work to date. Highlights included the impressive ‘Crippled & Broken’, ‘Let Them Burn’ and ‘As I Slither’, as well as the awesome ‘Taking The World By Storm’ from latest album ‘Prevail’. As the set closed with ‘Like Angels Weeping (The Dark)’, the crowd were chanting for more, which shows you the positive reaction they left on the crowd. KATAKLYSM also announced they would be returning to the UK early next year for a headline tour. If you love death metal, get your ass to one of their shows, you won’t regret it. I, for one will definately be there!

The last time Bay Area Thrashers DEATH ANGEL played Nottingham, their set didn’t last that long as they ran into technical difficulties. Thank god that was not the case tonight as they delivered a truly superb 75 minute set full of thrash classics both new and old. Mark Osegueda was in fine form as were the dual guitar attack of Ted Aguilar and Rob Cavestany as they blistered through tracks like ‘Voracious Souls’ and ‘Buried Alive’.

The new guys to the band, Sammy Diosdado on bass, and Will Carroll on drums have fitted in very nicely to the band and were extremely tight with the rest of the other members tonight. Also, a bit of a jam session being performed in the encore between songs highlighted this as they produced some quality entertainment. Pits were a plenty tonight, and it was great to see both the band and the crowd having an absolute storm as Osegueda on more than one occasion handed the microphone to the crowd to sing along with him, and plenty of banter was passed between both crowd and the band which made for an even better evening.

One of the highlights of the set was probably one of the songs they haven’t played since before the band first split, ‘Road Mutants’ and it was nice to here even if a couple of set pleasers had been sacrificed to make way for some of the older stuff they haven’t played for ages, which was perfectly fine with me. Other highlights obviously included ‘Thrown To The Wolves’, ‘Seemingly Endless Time’, ‘Stop’, and ‘Carnival Justice’ along with encore duo of ‘Lord of Hate’ and ‘Kill As One’. This capped off a wonderful night of metal, where both the bands and the crowd had an awesome time and one that won’t be forgotten for a while.

Ratings:

Review By Adam Fredericks

UK Dates:

London, Camden Underworld – June 28th
Leeds, Rio’s – June 29th
Nottingham, Seven – June 30th