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It’s minus 7 degrees outside, but inside Godset, expectations aren’t dampened by the cold. Overkill visited Godset last year and delivered a killer performance. Can they top it this year, the 25th anniversary of one of the most influential speed/thrash bands to come out of the 80s.
Before the veterans are to prove themselves, three young and hungry bands want to show us what they’ve got.
Cripper
First off is German CRIPPER. Fronted by someone we believe to be Angela Gossow’s younger sister, the five-piece prove to be an alright warm up for the lazy punters in the crowd. Britta Görtz manages to wake the dead a wee bit with her brutal voice and enthusiasm on stage as well as on the floor when she runs down from the stage and physically pushes members of the crowd forward.
I’m not saying that we’re overwhelmed by the originality of Cripper’s at times jump friendly thrash metal, but the power and dedication of the front woman in particular could indicate a promising future for the Hanover five.
www.myspace.com/cripperthrash
Rating: 60/100
Savage Messiah
One thing that should be said at this point is that Cripper is loud. A tad too loud, in fact. To the point things were tend to get muddy. This doesn’t change with the rest of the bill.
SAVAGE MESSIAH from the UK head off on a tour of old school thrash. Throughout the set, we have a small competition: Spot the reference. The first tune is straight out of Testament’s Disciples of the Watch. The next sounds like Dark Angel, emphasized by the singer’s voice. Then we have a ballad-ish tune that sounds like a clash of Vicious Rumors and Iced Earth. The references go on: Exodus, Megadeth, Metallica (Whiplash), etc.
This sounds very cool, but, really, it’s not. The first two songs are excellent even if unashamedly copied from the masters, but from the ballad and onwards, it just doesn’t work. A couple of songs sound as if they’re not completely done yet, and the singer/guitarist has major difficulties reaching the higher notes.
www.myspace.com/savagemessiahmetal
Rating:
35/100
Suicidal Angels
One of the hot, new names around at the moment are SUICIDAL ANGELS from Greece. I can see why they appeal to a lot of thrash fans. They seem like a driven bunch, and that always works on stage. The front man is driven to the point where he looks slightly insulted because the audience is not screaming their heads off for his merry men.
Although the crowd is decidedly more enthusiastic now than it was during the first two bands, there are still a lot of people who are just waiting for Overkill, and Suicidal Angels don’t really manage to win over the crowd.
Some of the explanation could be that the Greeks follow up on what Savage Messiah started; they sound a lot like early Sepultura and early Slayer and perhaps not so much of themselves.
But all in all an entertaining gig with great riffs here and there. And who cannot be entertained when someone so enthusiastically shouts ‘Vomit on the motherfucking cross!’? Not us, that’s for sure. Very metal, indeed.
www.suicidalangels.com
Rating:
70/100
Overkill
Speaking of metal…with ‘Ironbound’, OVERKILL have a new, strong release out, again proving that this band simply cannot die.
They look older and more worn with every tour, but they keep going. 25 years it is now, and music is still coming out of these five New Jersey stalwarts.
Blitz is taking the lead as usual, and in great shape he appears to be. The rest of the wrecking crew is more laid back, Dave Linski on the right flank in particular.
DD, now with his hair cut completely short, looks relaxed but fully concentrated and completely absorbed by the music. Derek Tailer on the left is a bit more of an entertainer, constantly grimacing and communicating with the crowd in front of him.
There is little to complain about when it comes to the selection of songs and the execution of the classic tunes as well as the title track from the new record and one more newie, Bring the Night. The title track from ‘Feel the Fire’ is a bit of a surprise, but a welcome one indeed. Very cool. In Union We Stand is one of the songs that make me go completely nuts because it’s one of the coolest songs ever, and Elimination just kills every time. Overkill from the first album is also more than welcome. This is the kind of song the heavy metal soul of made of!
Where we disagree slightly is the first encore, Necroshine, which I think is a very, very cool and groovy track, whereas Jørgen could easily do without it. We do agree, however, that the inclusion of one of Overkill’s less fortunate moments, Old School, could have been avoided. It must be fun to play or something since it’s now a regular part of the set – it’s not that great a song.
The same cannot be said of the final song of the night. Fuck You, the ultimate go-home tune, and wrapped inside it Sonic Reducer, finishes off another splendid evening with Blitz, DD and the rest of the wrecking crew.
www.wreckingcrew.com
Rating: 90/100
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Promising brutality
with a female
touch - Britta and Cripper
Savage Messiah:
good start, and then downhill
Very motherfucking
metal –
Suicidal Angels
Still eliminates after
25 years -
Overkill
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