Live Reviews : Kreator And Death Angel @ 170 Russell, Melbourne 16/04/2014

Images: John Raptis
Words: Jonathon Besanko

Last night was special. And I think judging by the incredible turnout, I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. For what is possibly a once in a life time thing, two legendary thrash bands shared the stage for one night: Bay Area thrashers Death Angel and the Teutonic Titans themselves, Kreator.

Doors opened at 7.30, but by 8 o’clock the entire venue was packed out. I’ve been to 170 Russell many times now, and have seen a whole host of amazing international acts there (ranging from Eluveitie, to Amorphis, to Amon Amarth, and recently, Dark Tranquillity; and that only manages to just scratch the surface of the amazing bands that have played here). But still, even with all of those bands, I don’t think that I’ve ever seen the Russell this packed out before. This isn’t me using hyperbole here to try and buff up my review or something, either. I’m being honest in saying the venue was full.  Literally, once you came to the bottom of the stairs you were met by hundreds of backs of people, and you couldn’t walk through anywhere – whether it was the upper levels or the paths to the side – that you wouldn’t find yourself weaving in and out of crowds full of an eclectic group of individuals. From young people going to their first ever gig (I actually heard someone say this was their first; quite a way to start!), to couples and punks thrashing along, to people around my age (early twenties), and to old thrashers in their forties (the best I saw was this one guy in the crowd who looked like Kerry King but wearing an Hawaiian shirt screaming the lyrics and riotously headbanging).

Just from this turn out alone it was guaranteed tonight was going to be one to remember.

Beginning their set at 8 pm, Death Angel adopted the stage and gripped it tightly in their grasp for the hour they were on. With an absolutely solid rhythm section, the old Bay Area thrashers haven’t lost any of their ‘pizzazz’ and still kill it just as hard as they day they started. Mark Osegueda is an incredible frontman, and having the privilege of seeing them live for the first ever time, I was thoroughly impressed. He dominates the crowd and the synthesis between the music, alongside his interaction with the band and the crowd, made from a captivating display. Not to mention the fact he sounded as great live as the studio recordings. No joke, I was listening to Death Angel on the way up so I had their music fresh in my mind and it was honestly hard telling the difference. It was a fantastic thing to witness.

With the powerful response the band received, it was clear Death Angel lapped up the affection the crowd gave them. And understandably so. With great cheering and horns being thrust to the ceiling, the applause was only further enhanced by the aural destruction Death Angel’s sound brought forth in the venue. It was like a well-oiled machine. The band just bounced from one track to the next, and the thunderous drumming and shredding riffs only made it all the more harder to resist the urge to thrash like a lunatic while listening to them. The metallic beauty that made up lead guitarist Rob Cavestany’s sound was simply majestic. It rang through so sharp and crisp that I was simply enthralled by it. The man ruled the fret board and his fingers glided along effortlessly. Without trying to downplay any of the other band members who were just as amazing to watch, I feel I have to say that Cavestany’s guitar work was a highlight of the night for me. And kudos to the sound engineering guys who helped make it sound as great live as it did.

Introducing both bassist Damien Sisson and drummer Will Carroll for it being their ‘first time in Australia’, Mark went on to describe how Death Angel has ‘been through a lot in the past five years’ but how ‘it’s always great to come back to somewhere you fell in love with the first time’. This was met with strong applause as Death Angel led into a great intro for track “The Dream Calls for Blood” off their latest album of the same name. ‘There’ll always be naysayers, but fuck them. Follow your own path and things will fall into place’.

Closing on a great note, the band ended with “Thrown to the Wolves” and Mark’s proclamation of ‘I don’t want to see you. I want to feel you, Melbourne. I wanna see those heads banging!’ As great cheer and applause ushered in the end of their set, Mark closed with a nice little comment of ‘thank you for cheering us while drunk, thank you for being you!’

Emerging on stage at 9.45, the fearsome quartet that makes up Kreator opened with a bang and didn’t let up for the rest of the night. With a fantastic banner for the Phantom Antichrist album looming ominously in the background over the band, a sea of horns filled 170 Russell as blue strobes of sapphire lighting and flickering white blasted in time with drummer Jürgen “Ventor” Reil’s insane double kick pedaling.

Miland “Mille” Petrozza, band frontman and the vehicle that steers this might thrash engine, was great on the night. Continually coaxing the crowd into violent frenzies of moshing and circle pits, Mille would ponder to the audience whether the rumours of Melbourne, Australia being the ‘most metal capital in the world’ were true. It was a neat trick to get everyone pumped to tear shit up and headbang and/or windmill furiously in time to their music to prove the validity of this claim. One of the best parts of Kreator’s set was how the lighting was used to enhance their stage show. Easily one of the most awesome things I saw on the night (and it happened more than once which was cool) was seeing Mille launch his hands into the sky as the rest of the stage would darken and only white light would shine over him. The light silhouetted him as if he were some type of unholy deity awakening from a restless slumber. It just looked fucking awesome!

Kreator were incredible to watch; not only for their engrossing performance but also for the ecstatic response it brought forth in the crowd. Remember the eclectic group of individuals I mentioned earlier? Yeah, well pretty much every one of them was banging along. It was such a great thing to see. I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again: there’s nothing quite like watching the synchronicity between a band and a crowd all moving as one to the music. As Mille went on to say later, ‘You know, music brings people together of all ethnicities; whereas politics and religion tears people apart.’ And preference and bias aside, there is a lot of truth to that statement.

It’s been four years since Kreator’s last trip over here, and even in that time, and more so considering these guys have been at this since the early 80s, the years haven’t been unkind to them in the slightest. Kreator are still just as much the beast they were in their Endless Pain and Pleasure to Kill days. And you could tell from the get-go that Mille and the boys just feed off this kind of thing. Proof of this was in a comment Mille said later on, ‘You know, we’re not just saying this because we’re in Melbourne, but we don’t get to come here often. It’s special for us. So thanks for coming down!’

There was a real concussive force to Kreator‘s sound and it just exploded in the pit – driving this erratic frenzy of crowd surfing, moshing, thrashing, and pretty much every maneuver in the metalhead’s arsenal was given its chance to shine. You’ve got to give kudos to a band when they can evoke that kind of response. And of course you’d expect nothing less from a band like Kreator.

Playing a great range of tracks from across their whole discography, unsurprisingly on songs like “Pleasure to Kill”, “Hordes of Chaos”, and “Death to the World” the crowd went ballistic, and Kreator who were continually encouraging wanting to see ‘more violence, more brutality Australian style!’, wouldn’t have it any other way it seems.

With a great solo part from Mille near the end of the show and an opening acoustic segment by guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, these little unexpected moments made for nice transitions between the crushing moments that made up the rest of Kreator’s set.

The crowd clearly loved every moment of it. There was rarely a moment when you wouldn’t hear people cheering, clapping, or singing in choir to the band’s melodious intros and interludes.

Being the first leg of the Kreator-Death Angel United Thrash Nations tour, Mille went on to say how Kreator and Death Angel were expecting ‘a good night’ (based on all the positive word-of-mouth our country has received from past international acts) in Melbourne but how it was instead a ‘fucking perfect night!’ that far exceeded their expectations. That was a pretty neat thing to be a part of.

Going on to ‘raise the Flag of Hate!’ there was a great moment there of crowd-band interaction and with Mille flying a flag specifically made to pull this off, the rapturous applause and screams he received made this song and the couple that followed one of the better closers to an evening I’ve had the privilege to be a part of.

All in all, Death Angel and Kreator killed it. And I feel very glad to have gone and seen it happen.

Related Posts

• 

  Markus Saastamoinen – Puzzle Pieces
• 

  HJELVIK – Welcome to Hel
• 

  AC/DC – Power Up
• 

  Depravity – Grand Malevolence