Review by Chris Pineau

And what a blast of noise it was! Even with the first three bands sharing gear (and Amon Amarth's normally massive guitar sound suffering noticeably for it), and some minor technical difficulties, effort was put out all around to make a good show tonight. It was quite the multinational bill tonight, with bands from America, Poland, Germany, and Sweden, all heavy-duty veteran bands. The crowd was not that big, given that it was a weeknight show, but they certainly were into it, and Fitzgerald's is to be commended for booking such a good, consistent bill. On to the show!

Goatwhore I had heard of, but never actually heard until tonight. And I'm glad I had the pleasure, as their old school blackened death approach impressed me with its feral intensity. Anchored by a heinously fuzzed-out bass guitar, they reminded me of the old classic Venom releases with their drive and vigorous delivery and only occasional use of blast beats to propel the tunes along. Ben Falgoust's vocals were not as high in the mix as I'd have liked them to be, but he was still very obviously into what he was doing even with the tiny amount of stage space he had. I enjoyed his haunting clean vocals as well, accompanied by his convincing facial expressions as he dominated the edge of the stage. Definitely worth my time in the end!

http://www.goatwhore.net

Amon Amarth really don't move around on stage, so their being crammed into such close quarters didn't seem to faze them at all, as the hair still was flying and drummer Fredrik Andersson's legs were pounding away like mad behind his kit. Johan Hegg bellowed away with aplomb, but the guitars sounded noticeably thinner since they were not using their own equipment (Randall solid state amps for you gear geeks out there like me-nothing like a really good tube amp to make all the difference!), but they still cranked out their Viking anthems with that uniquely Swedish style and flair. It would have been even better for me if they had played "The Sound Of Eight Hooves", "Victorious March", or even "The Dragon's Flight Across The Waves", but oh well, they only had so much time. Short but sweet were the operative words here.

http://www.amonamarth.com

Polish veterans Vader were unfortunately cut short by technical difficulties (drum monster Doc's triggers were acting up and refusing to behave, evidenced by the fact his kick drums were all but inaudible throughout their brief set), which was a shame, because they played well and were tight as it gets. Ex-Behemoth bassist Novy was one of the more up-front and personal performers tonight, getting right up on the monitors and in the front row's faces, and Peter and Mauser were shredding hard, all flinging their manes with reckless fury. Their set was only about 4 or 5 songs long, as they gave up once it was clear Doc's drums were dead in the water, but it was still excellent. I hope they can return under better circumstances and play a longer set so I can hear more of their excellent death metal stylings.

http://www.deprofundis.tk (official English language website)

One more thing-by this time there was one idiot in particular who insisted on repeatedly stage diving and knocking things over, screaming and yelling all the while in immature glee like the mental defective he obviously was, and he was really annoying the various bands he was imposing on! Security finally got on his back and he quit it, but really, this crap shouldn't happen in the first place. It's highly disrespectful of bands, especially when they have limited stage space and the fools in question who insist on infringing on it run the risk of damaging the band's gear. Not that the fools in question care, which really bothers me-they just want their moment of glory, and if they damage an effects pedal or mike stand while they're at it, whoops! Back to the review now--sorry for the rant, folks, but that had to be said.

Ah, Kreator…the last time I caught these guys was in, oh, 1990 or thereabouts on their Extreme Aggressions tour with Coroner! It was a joy to see them again, and they are truly back with a vengeance. Mille commanded the stage the moment they began, and his brooding, glaring stage presence was commanding. His stage patter was rather corny and canned in spots, but he still came off as the professional he is. And did they ever deliver one ball-buster of a set! The energy and fury is back, they were tight and powerful, and Mille's vocals have improved quite a lot for the better; he is nowhere near as screechy as he was when he was younger, settling in more of a midrange screaming style as he grows older. (An amusing side note; guitarist Sami was on the receiving end of some very affectionate attentions from a beautiful Latina audience member who not only flashed him her boobs, but also jumped onstage at one point near the end of the set to give him a big wet kiss between songs-he wasn't exactly complaining!) Many tracks from "Violent Revolution" were played; especially the opening blaze of "The Patriarch", "Violent Revolution", and "Reconquering The Throne", as well as select tracks from their '90s releases, and of course the old chestnut "Pleasure To Kill" (from one of my all time favorite albums of theirs) was trotted out and given a sound thrashing. Ventor's drumming was tighter than it's possibly ever been before, and overall they pleased me very much.

http://www.kreator-terrorzone.de

The demons of the Du'at (Egyptian underworld) once again were unleashed, and even though this was my 5th time seeing them play, Nile have yet to disappoint me. The customary oil drum-sized can of whoop-ass was opened and it was all over! Bassist Jon Vesano is still one of the most wild-eyed, crazed front men out there right now, and his intimidating stage presence really fits this band beautifully. Unfortunately, he had to practically kick one moron in the head to get him to quit tumbling onstage to stage dive and fetching up against his legs. I mean, really-Jon is about three times bigger than the average fellow, would you want to risk incurring his anger? Me balls aren't that big, y'all. Karl and Dallas shredded the riffs and solos perfectly (not an easy task, as close inspection of their playing live will attest) and Tony's drumming was spot on as always (an even more daunting and physically draining/demanding feat). They even played "Unas, Slayer of the Gods", a song I never thought they'd play live given how long (over 12 minutes) and involved it is, which really thrilled me. No "Defiling The Gates of Ishtar" this time, but they ended with "Black Seeds of Vengeance", one of the greatest death metal songs ever recorded, in my humble opinion. More people need to realize that death metal is a legitimate form of music, and bands like Nile, with their innovative combination of extreme metal and Egyptian melodies and sounds, are in the vanguard (the very sparingly populated vanguard) of bands who are poised to prove that it's not all just noise, grunts, and blast beats. Too many USDM bands are simply content to rehash and rehash again the same old Cannibal Corpse records, and it grows tedious-give me a band like Nile who are not afraid to take chances and really push the boundaries until the break.

http://www.nile-catacombs.net