Tonight is somewhat of an usual line up with metal acts new(ish) and old gracing London's forum, spearheaded by German thrash icons Kreator – back again after last year's excellent performance at the same venue.
First up is Norwegian avant-garde metallers Shining with their experimental mash up of genres including but not limited to jazz, noise, electronic, metal and psychedelic. Needless to say, this band are as far removed from predictability as it gets, destroying the boundaries of hybridisation and giving the finger to convention. Riffs contain a mechanical heaviness and vocalist Jørgen Munkeby executes a pained shout when he's not wielding his saxophone. The setlist touches upon material from 'One One One' and 'Blackjazz' albums as 'My Dying Drive', 'The One Inside' and 'Fisheye' check out of the asylum tonight.
Tonight's Shining show is not an ordinary gig. The second half of their set sees them joined by guitar hero Marty Freidman before launching into tracks from his solo career - the perfect vehicle for Friedman to demonstrate this wizardry all bearing the stamp of the Shining's chaotic mood. The audience reaction is initially reserved (unsurprising given Shinings oddity) but by the end of their set, the first mosh pit of the night has been unleashed. Unfortunately, the sound of the venue tiptoes into tragic territory and makes a total mess of the music, smudging it to a blur buta cover of King Crimson's'21st Century Schizoid Man' sees the show conclude with a strong audience applause.
The anticipation is high in the air of melodic death metal favourites Arch Enemy, predominantly because tonight's show is the first in London with new vocalist Alissa White-Gluz. The band explodes on stage with the title track of their new album 'War Eternal' to a frenzy of screams. Most noticeably about White-Gluz is that her vocals are somewhat deeper than their recorded counterparts, suggesting a desire to meet up with fans' expectations but they certainly sound better. The other contribution to Arch Enemy is new guitarist Jeff Loomis, formerly of American progressive thrash metallers Nevermore, who handles the Arch Enemy material with particular ease, although the Forum's sound is still detrimental and drowns the guitars low in the mix.
The new 'War Eternal' material incorporates a symphonic metal influence with the inclusion of (taped tonight) keyboards that acts more like a distraction to the music.'As the Pages Burn' and 'You Will Know My Name' plod along inoffensively while lyrics flash on a projector screen behind the band. Material from 2011's 'Khaos Legions' has a similar subduingeffect as 'Bloodstained Cross', 'No Gods, No Masters' and 'Under Black Flags We March' fail to leave any significant trace in memory. Conversely, the older numbers that elevated Arch Enemy into the metal mainstream consciousness get the blood pumping – 'Ravenous', 'Dead Eyes See No Future' and 'We Will Rise' remind the audience these Swedes bore more teeth than their contemporaries in Dark Tranquillity, In Flames and Soilwork were doing at the time and the mosh pits grow in size for these staples. With 'Nemesis' seeing the five-piece out, while a change in singer might add an element of the refreshing, it seems that Arch Enemy are still dealing with the problem to get fans enthusiastic for the new songs rather than patiently waiting for the old favourites.
With the projector screen showing a compilation of the progression of the planet from the early days to modern day, headliners Kreator take the stage to an intro tape of 'The Patriarch' before firing up with the highly lauded 'Violent Revolution', spawningthe die hard fans singing along and the outbreak of a frenetic mosh pit. This opener leads into a one-two punch of material from the latest Kreator studio effort 'Phantom Antichrist', namely 'Civilizations Collapse' and 'From Flood to Fire'. Interestingly, the Teutonic thrashers' latest efforts secure formidable responses from the audience – 'Hordes of Chaos (A Necrologue of the Elilte)', 'Phantom Antichrist' and 'Warcurse' look set to be new staples in the Kreator live cannon taking the thrashing heaviness of their older material and injecting it with guitar melodies.
The setlist is a predictably safe one with all the usual Kreator anthems showing their faces: 'Enemy of God', 'Suicide Terrorist', 'Extreme Aggression', 'People of the Lie', 'Impossible Brutality' and 'Pleasure to Kill' not being a surprise to any fan who has seen these Germans live before but given the excellence of these songs, this is no negative attribute. The earliest material was bristling thrash with a dark edge and shout-along choruses that translate superbly in the live atmosphere. As time passed, the tempos were slowed down slightly but guitar rhythms took prevalence, marking the songs as incredibly memorable, helping this quarter of the Teutonic Big Four endure the test of time with just a few errors.
With 'Pleasure to Kill' concluding the set, the audience start a chant of "KREATOR" that brings the band back to the stage. What follows next is the biggest surprise of the set – a cover of Iron Maiden's 'Number of the Beast' which sees the audience cheer gloriously as this classic is transformed into something more vicious with its new found thrash element. Also during the encore, the crew of the tour in addition to members from the support act come on stage with a chocolate cake to wish frontman Mille Petrozza happy birthday, accompanied by the audience of course. Closing with the usual marriage of 'Flag of Hate' and 'Tormentor', these Germans conclude yet another visceral show that underscores their relevance after 30 years.
FUTURE GIGS
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