Tonight in Manchester we were witness to something pretty darn special because tonight was the night that the Thrash of the Titans package had steamrolled into town and it was epic beyond belief on all levels.
First up on the brutal package were Nervosa and they absolutely crushed the venue with their brief opening slot. The vocals from Amaral were guttural and barbaric with every breath that she expelled, she spat out each word with a hungry desire to absolutely annihilate all that stood in her path. With each track that passed, tracks such as the savage ‘Behind The Wall’ and the toxic ‘Perpetual Chaos’, the crowd grew more and more rabid and showed their appreciation by turning their volume up with each minute that the Thrash flavoured Death Metal was served upon us. Kotina managed her wing with raw flair, taming her axe with elegance and obvious ability while the drums were beaten and defeated by Abud with technical precision. Then that was it, with one final raucous roar and one last piercing chord, the set was done and it had been absolutely colossal, a true success on all levels and one that I certainly want to reenact as soon as is humanly possible.
Next up and it was time for some all-out thrash by way of the German Teutonic demigods Destruction. The house lights went down and we were infiltrated by Schmier et al and all hell then broke loose, ‘Curse The Gods’ annihilated us with searing guitar riffs and crunching bass lines and this was then followed by the absolutely anthemic ‘Nailed To The Cross’ which was absolutely caustic and titanic with magnetic and animalistic addictive qualities flowing through its very makeup. The set progressed with speed and momentum, the vocals from Schmier seemed to get more and more endearingly aggressive while the kit work from Black was almost superhuman and mechanical with its ability and desire which was displayed with utmost passion and pride. ‘Mad Butcher’ was primal, ‘Thrash Til Death’ was acidic perfection and ‘Destruction’ was simply regal in its presentation to us tonight. That was Destruction and that was Germanic Thrash Metal stripped back, it was without doubt primal savagery personified.
Death Metal of the highest order next, the Floridian legends and Death Metal royalty Obituary. Strategically opening with ‘Redneck Stomp’ they allowed the instrumental fragments of the Death juggernaut to warm the crowd up before John Tardy joined the party and unleashed his vocals which acted as a catalyst for immediate carnage on the floor in front of them. The set was a comprehensive example of quintessential Death Metal, ‘A Lesson In Vengeance’ was absolutely crushing and ‘Cause Of Death’ was utterly sublime. Tonight was a celebration of the magnificent ‘Cause Of Death’ record and with nearly half of the set dedicated to its honour it was obvious why the album is such a prime example of how a Death Metal record should sound. ‘Chopped In Half/Turned Inside Out’ was barbaric, colossal, absolutely mesmerising and neck breaking in its subliminal commands for you to bang your head as hard as was humanly possible. The set was signed off with a mammoth ‘Slowly We Rot’ which saw the whole venue erupt and the whole floor turned into a seething mass of bodies and an explosion of heads all banging in complete unity with one another.
The stage was then transformed one final time and we went from one juggernaut to another, this time for some Bay Area Thrash by way of Testament and before we knew it we were launched head first into ‘D.N.R’ and it was clearly evident that these Thrash overlords were on fire. All factions of the band were on point, Chuck Billy was his usual imposing figure and stalked the stage with an obvious desire for controlled aggression and a hunger for mayhem, he dispatched his vocals with authority and influence and conducted the hordes who were stood before him like a master with his marionettes. Peterson and Skolnick were like two flamboyant fireworks, traversing the stage with obvious joy and technical ability, their fingers navigated the fretboards with intricate dexterity and precision, letting go of the riffs and chords with detonating exactitude and ostentatious verve. ‘Practice What You Preach’ was absolutely gigantic, and a prime example of what a thrash anthem should look like, and ‘More Than Meets The Eye’ was simply titanic. As the evening was closed out with a raw and aggressive ‘Into The Pit’ many, if not most, of the bodies leaving the academy tonight would be leaving either battered and bruised or joyful and triumphant (maybe even both to be fair) and merely reflecting that they had just been a part of something that will undoubtedly be penned down in Metal folklore for a long long time to come.
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