Anthrax/Testament/Death Angel - Club Nokia Los Angeles, CA 10/11
Anthrax/Testament/Death Angel - Club Nokia Los Angeles, CA 10/11
By Jeffrey Easton
When I was a teenager Anthrax were the shit. When I first laid my eyes on Among the Living and Spreading the Disease I knew this was a band I wanted to know. State Of Euphoria and Persistence Of Time followed and all were great records and seeing them on the Clash Of The Titans tour in 1991 cemented it for me. This was one of the best thrash bands, period and they mixed humor in with what they did, the total art piece. Then with the Sound Of White Noise there was a shift, John Bush was a good singer but it sounded like the follow up to Symbol Of Salvation, not P.O.T.. Flash forward to now, we have Worship Music, Joey is firmly back and they are touring which means all is right in metal. This tour was one I was looking forward to, three of my favorite bands from the 80’s are still viable and on one bill? Hell yes, it rarely gets better than this. Death Angel is touring for Relentless Retribution, a deathly killer record and they were lethal tonight. I Choose The Sky opened and the pit was a blur. This band has been nothing but massive since they reunited and live is their chosen place to be. Claws In So Deep as well as the title track to their new record burned from the stage and Mark Osegueda happily sent the fire to the fans. The Ultra Violence took another trip back for me to my vengeful thrash days and it made the show for me. This is a band to be witnessed if you have yet to fulfill that need.
Testament, what can I say about these legendary thrashers that has not been said before? They own any stage they take to and with their albums they cannot be touched. Still out for Formation of Damnation but working on their upcoming tenth record, they were as sharp as a razor. The Preacher opened but it was The New Order that put me in another place as it was one of the testament songs that introduced me to the band. Over The Wall as well as Souls Of Black were intense and the pit was manic but with the closer Disciples Of The Watch that the pit was a bloodbath. Alex is one of the most amazing guitarists but with Eric alongside he is complete and Chuck is still THE metal front man.
Anthrax, still the kings of New York thrash, took the stage to a deafening roar and the gave it right back with Earth On Hell and it was on. Fight ‘Em Till You Can’t followed up and it shows that the new shit is just as potent as the classic Thrax material and the fans got crazier. The place went ballistic when they launched into Caught In A Mosh, which is exactly what happened to the floor, the whole floor. The old shit got more intense with Madhouse as well as the Trust cover Anti-Social. The new record, Worship Music, was hit again with The Devil You Know and I’m Alive and the crowd gave it right back to the band in approval. Worship Music is a phenomenal piece of metal, that just needs to be said. Got The Time, another stunning cover from the POT record as well as the shocker that was them playing Only capped a great set before the encore. The came back to Efilnikufesin before launching into the ill-fated Metal Thrashing Mad, which turned the tide of the show. During Metal Thrashing Mad a fan jumped on stage and to which security went to grab him and in the process grabbed Joey as well taking them both to the ground. The song stopped and threats from Frank, who had to be restrained from pummeling the security guard, echoed across the stage. I hope that ignorant security guard was show the door, I mean, Joey is the singer, he was quite visible on the stage throughout the set and the security should have recognized him.. That might just be me though. The show was put on ice with their deafening run through of I Am The Law and it was history. It must said that the band was on fire, Joey as well as Scott kept lauding the crowd as being amazing and they were, this was like the old days, a real pit and an overly amped crowd. It was nice to see the band back together in its right form because Joey is the X Factor in Anthrax and when they are revolving around his vocals it’s a different beast.
Official Anthrax Site
Official Testament Site
Official Death Angel Site
