SLAYER + HATEBREED + ARCH ENEMY

ENGLISH VERSION BELOW

De lejos, este ha sido el show al que mas pronto he ido. Una rapida llamada al club me permitió enterarme que las puertas se abrirían a las 6:45pm y el primer grupo estaría en escena a las 6:55pm. Debo admitir que este factor me hizo muy dificil poder disfrutar de las 2 o 3 cervezas previas al show.
Todavía esaba en la cola de entrada cuando llegaron las 6:55 y escuche el inicio de lo que yo pensaba que era el set de ARCH ENEMY. Me mosquee ya que quería verlos tanto como a SLAYER una vez mas.

De todas maneras, tras esperar casi 30 minutos en la cola y entrar al recinto, otra banda comenzaba su concierto. Y en vez de HATEBREED eran ARCH ENEMY. Lamentablemente, me perdí algún telonero que debía ser bueno. Luego me enteré de que su nombre era DRYKILL LOGIC. De todas formas, ahora era momento de prestar atención a ARCH ENEMY.Me los perdí cuando tocaron en el L’amour durante el pasado verano, así que estuvo bien poder verlos en la gira Jagermeister.
ARCH ENEMY son una banda muy poderosa, liderada por la vocalista Angela Gossow. Sus rugidos metálicos pueden superar a los de cualquier cantante masculino por si quereis saberlo. A la guitarra estaban Michael y Christopher Amott, con Daniel Erlandson a la batería /y fue genial, un doble bombo matador).
No creo que el bajista fuera Sharlee tal como pone en su pagina web, y si lo era lo siento por no saberlo. Angela no habló demasiado con la gente, solo habló de lo bueno que era estar de gira y estar en la gran ciudad que es New York. La banda interpretó "Silent Wars", "Hearts Of Darkness", "We Will Rise", "Dead Eyes See No Future", "Dead Bury Their Dead" (con un fragmento de ‘Burning Angels’ intercalado) y para cerrar, "Ravenous".
Angela Gossow vestía una camiseta con un craneo y su dialogo con el público fue mínimo, diciendo como mucho "Keep Metal Alive" mientras abandonaban el escenario. El publico pidió mas pero no volvieron a escena.

Los siguientes fueron HATEBREED, y me recordaron mucho al NYHC(New York Hardcore) de la vieja escuela. No es generalmente la música que sigo, pero he de admitir que lo hicieron con intensidad y dedicación. Anunciaron que su nuevo CD, "Rise Of Brutality"salía a la venta en breve, y algunos de los temas que pudimos escuchar fueron "Tear It Down" y "Empty Promises". Debería intentar escuchar algo mas de su material ya que tras este concierto me convertí en un nuevo fan. Mientras estaba metido en el concierto, realmente no podía coger los títulos de los temas ya que no los conozco. El público estaba muy volcado con ellos y hubo varios fosos de mosh a la vez.

El club se oscureció para el principal evento de la tarde. Era el momento de que SLAYER tomaran el escenario. Con el escenairo de color purpura oscuro y la proyección "God Hates Us All", la banda explotó con el tema del mismo nombre. SLAYER estaban de vuelta en NEw York y les dimos la bienvenida. Es genial ver a la banda con su batería original, Dave Lombardo. Siempre me alucina con su poder y la manera de ejecutar los temas.

Jeff Hannemann y Kerry King estaban en plena forma, y su mareante trabajo a la guitarra combinado con las incesantes luces flasheantes provocaba un entorno hipnótico. Tom Araya mantuvo el contacto con la audiencia al mínimo, ya que SLAYER no es un grupo "hablador". Se trata de intensidad y de interpretar correctamente los temas. Lo mas brutalmente posible. En ese aspecto, no decepcionaron a nadie.

Como mucho, Araya hablaba para girtar el nombre de la siguiente canción, nombres como "War Ensemble", "At Dawn They Sleep" o "Necrophiliac". Incluida en el set estaba "Fight Till Death" del primer disco, que a duras penas habían tocado en directo alguna vez según me indicó un amigo que había ido a montones de conciertos de SLAYER a lo largo de los años. Lombardo estuvo especialmente enorme en este tema. Realmente sabe actualizar su propio material. Gran parte del primer disco está tocado con un solo bombo, y el ahora añade doble bombo, dandole una nueva dimensión al tema.

Debo admitir que el moment álgido del concierto de SLAYER fue cuando decidieron tocar el "Reign In Blood" entero. Tal como comenzó a sonar "Angel Of Death", el lugar se convirtió en un hervidero, incluso mas que en los momentos anteriores. Desde arriba (salté a la zona de seguridad para ver el foso un momento) la audiencia era un gran oceano, con cabezas y cuerpos miviendose salvajemente y volando por el recinto. Lamentablemente, no pude tomar fotos, pero si me hubiera acercado lo mas mínimo al escenario habría perdido bastante mas que mi camara, ya que lo que estaba sucediendo era muy intenso.

Tal como finalizó el último tema, Araya simplemente dijo "Gracias, buenas noches" y todo se acabó. Aunque me lo pasé genial, encontré una razón para decepcionarme. Estaba disfrutando como un enano, pero me habría gustado escuchar temas como "Chemical Warfare" o "Seasons In The Abyss", que son mis favoritas de SLAYER.También me sorprendió que no comentaran nada de su inminente caja de DVD y CDs de rarezas. Como he dicho, SLAYER estan mas por la música que por hablar y el cambio es bienvenido.

SLAYER tocaron, por orden, "God Hates Us All","War Ensemble", "At Dawn They Sleep", "Necrophiliac", "Stain Of Mind", "God Send Death", "Payback’s a Bitch", "Mandatory suicide", "Fight Or Death", "Dead Skin Mask", "Hell Awaits", "South Of Heaven", "Angel Of Death", "Piece By Piece", "Necrophobic", "Altar Of Sacrifice", "Jesus Saves", "Criminally Insane", "Reborn", "Epidemic", "Postmortem" y "Raining Blood".

Para conseguir mas información d estas bandas, mirad sus paginas oficiales.

Arch Enemy = www.archenemy.net
Hatebreed = www.hatebreed.com
Slayer = www.slayer.net

Texto:Ken Pierce (ken@themetalcircus.com)
Fotos: Sergi Ramos

This by far was the earliest show I have ever attended. A quick call to the club made me find out that it was going to be "doors open" at 6:45pm, and first band on at 6:55pm. I’ve got to admit that this factor made it really difficult to enjoy the pre-show beer or three. I was still waiting on the entrance line when 6:55 hit and I heard the rumbling sound of what I thought was the Arch Enemy set. I got pissed since I had wanted to see them as much as seeing Slayer once again.

However, after waiting almost 30 minutes on line and gaining access to the venue another band was starting. Instead of Hatebreed it ended up being Arch Enemy. Sadly, I missed some opening act who was probably really good. Later I would find out that their name was Drykill Logic. Yet now it was time for me to focus on Arch Enemy. I missed this band when they made an appearance at L’Amour earlier this Summer so it was nice to see them on the Jagermeister tour. They are a powerful group led by Angela Gossow on vocals. Her metallic growls can run up against any Male counterpart if you ask me. On guitars were Michael and Christopher Amott, with Daniel Erlandson on drums (and he was great, lotsa killer double kicks). I did not think the bassist was Sharlee as is noted on the website and if it was I apologize for the oversight. Angela did not talk all that much, only to say how great it was to be on the tour and to be playing this great city New York. Arch Enemy Set Listing was: Silent Wars, Hearts Of Darkness, We Will Rise, Dead Eyes See No Future, Dead Bury Their Dead (which has Burning Angel in the midst of it before finishing DBTD), Ravenous was the closer. Angela Gossow wore a skull faced shirt and kept the jabber to a minimum while just saying it was Keep Metal Alive she said as they left the stage. The crowd screamed for more but sadly there was no return.

Hatebreed came on next and reminded me of old school NYHC (New York Hardcore). It’s not generally the music I follow but I admit they delivered it with intensity and dedication. They announced their new CD "Rise Of Brutality" was coming out soon and a few choice tracks that I could catch titles of were "Tear It Down" and "Empty Promises". I must find myself the time to listen to more of their stuff as their appearance made me a new fan. While I was getting into them there was no way to catch the songs since I had limited background on them. The audience was very into them and there were several small mosh pits going on at the same time.

The club got dark for the main event of evening. It was now time for Slayer to take the stage. With the stage in dark purple light and projected words of "God Hates Us All", the band exploded into the track of the same name. Slayer was back in New York, and we welcomed them. It is great to see the group with their original drummer Dave Lombardo. He always amazes me with his power and execution of the music. Hanneman and King were in top form as their buzzing guitar work combined with the hypnotic flashing lights made for dizzying surroundings. Tom Araya kept the banter to a minimum as Slayer truly is not a "talkie" sort of group. Its more about the intensity and delivery of the music. Brutal as possible. There was no disappointment there.

At most, Araya only spoke to scream the name of the coming tune such as "War Ensemble", "At Dawn They Sleep", and "Necrophiliac". Included in the set was "Fight Till Death" from the first album which they hardly ever do said a Friend of mine who attended a score of Slayer performances over the years. Lombardo was especially great on that one. He really "updates" his stuff well. Alot of the first album is single-bass and now he throws alot of double-bass stuff in there that really "kicks it up a notch".

I must admit, that by far the highlight of the Slayer performance, was the decision by the band to play the entire "Reign In Blood" album. As soon as "Angel Of Death" started the place was in a frenzy, even more so than earlier it seemed. From above (I jumped away to safety for a short while to see the pit) the crowd looked like one big ocean, heads and bodies moving wildly and flying about. Sadly I was not allowed to take pictures but I think if I got near the stage I would have lost more than my camera, as it was that intense.

Once the last track had been done, Araya simply said "thank you goodnight !" and it was done. Although I had an awesome time, leave it to me to find one simple iota of disappointment. I was enjoying myself beyond belief of course, yet I was sad to not hear tunes such as CHEMICAL WARFARE and SEASONS IN THE ABYSS which are among my Slayer favorites. I was also surprised that they did not talk much about their upcoming DVD and CD box set. Like I said, they are more about the music than the chatter, and it’s a welcome change.

Slayer’s Set: (I could not make out one of the tracks, but everything else is here)
– God Hates Us All
– War Ensemble
– At Dawn They Sleep
– Necrophiliac
– Stain Of Mind
– God Send Death
– Paybacks A Bitch
– Mandatory Suicide
– Fight Or Death
– Dead Skin Mask
– Hell Awaits
– South Of Heaven
** Reign In Blood (full album performed)
– Angel Of Death
– Piece By Piece
– Necrophobic
– Altar Of Sacrifice
– Jesus Saves
– Criminally Insane
– Reborn
– Epidemic
– Postmortem
– Raining Blood