Bay Area’s Best Deliver Spectacular Tribute To Paul Baloff

By Avinash Mittur

Feb 4th 2012, Oakland Metro Opera House, Oakland CA: The San Francisco Bay Area: the home of some of the greatest heavy metal music to have ever been created. As far as the mainstream music media is concerned, that story is a simply a history lesson on Metallica. Last Saturday night, the Oakland Metro Opera House was treated to an exhibition in thrash metal excellence from the real heroes of the bay area metal scene. Exodus, Possessed, Forbidden, Heathen and many more delivered a relentless assault upon the sold out crowd, and paid a fitting tribute to a true thrash titan, original Exodus singer Paul Baloff.

This concert, occurring only two days after the tenth anniversary of Baloff’s passing, was packed to the brim with bands all from the bay, but with varying ages and levels of success. Even before the doors opened, one knew that this would not just be any old concert, this would be a genuine celebration of the bay area community. Left and right, one could see lifers reuniting and reminiscing, groups of teens in denim vests, and the band members hanging out with friends in the ticket line. Right as I walked in, Exodus’ own Gary Holt could be spotted at the will-call table frantically making sure everything was going as scheduled. Seeing Gary run back and forth throughout the Metro was a regular occurrence throughout the night; it’s tough to imagine the sheer amount of effort it took to put this all together. 

I had brought an LP cover of Heathen’s latest album, The Evolution of Chaos, with me in hopes of getting it signed by the band members who had played on it. Acquiring the signatures was truly an adventure. As the night progressed and I gained autographs from guitarist Kragen Lum, vocalist David White, drummer Darren Minter and of course Mr. Double Duty himself, guitarist Lee Altus, I found myself making new friends, reuniting with old ones and even meeting musicians from bands across the bill. From Hell-Fire’s young hotshot guitarist Tony Campos to Exodus’ drum lord Tom Hunting, everyone was in jovial spirits and eager to be among this truly remarkable community. One minute, I could be grabbing a cup of water after a brutal set with an old friend, the next I could be chatting with bay area drumming legend Paul Bostaph about his latest musical project, Blackgates. The older members of the audience all had stories to share as they kicked back with their beers, and the young kids were eager to mosh their hearts out all in the name of Paul Baloff. Simply put, this was easily the single greatest group of people at a metal concert I have ever been a part of.

Now for the bands themselves- although the sets were initially timed to allow for no breaks in the music (as a band would set up on one stage, another band would play their set on a second stage), this system gradually fell apart as the night went on. This is addition to general hanging out with friends and the previously mentioned autograph hunt, I caught Hysteria, Hell-Fire, Heathen, Forbidden, Possessed and Exodus’ full sets while hearing only some songs from the others. Everything I heard was enjoyable to my ears though. From the heavy as bricks groove thrash of The Venting Machine, featuring San Jose’s resident guitar wizard/instructor Jeremy Von Epp, to Attitude Adjustment, the original pioneers of crossover thrash, every smaller band was well chosen for this event.

Hysteria, a local favorite, gave Oakland their unique brand of power-thrash that has been gaining them many fans over the last couple of years. Vocalist Jake Nunn made his influence from Blind Guardian’s Hansi Kursch apparent with plenty of thrash shouts combined with high screams. The band did well in their twenty minutes, and kicked off the show with plenty of mighty riffs and lead harmonies to supply twice that time.

The next band I managed to catch was San Francisco’s Hell-Fire, a retro thrash band drawing not from the sounds of Slayer and Exodus like many today, but instead going back farther to the music of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. It’s tough not to hear early Iron Maiden in their songs, and much of what they played truly did gallop and swing more-so than many of their peers in the thrash revival movement. Alejandro Orozco’s singing (that’s right friends, genuine power-piped singing!) was a delight to hear as he worked the band’s massive choruses with tons of energy and vigor. The other big showman was lead guitarist Tony Campos. His lightning quick solos were an obvious draw, but what was even more impressive was his ability to be a showman with only about a 3 foot radius of room. This guy clearly has worked on his stage presence, and I can’t wait to see him and the rest of Hell-Fire tackle a bigger stage.

After more adventuring, I came to the main stage just in time for Heathen’s set. I had the pleasure of seeing them play with Exodus at Slim’s in 2010, and back then the band delivered a killer set while still fresh off their latest album, The Evolution of Chaos. Now after much touring, I immediately noticed the band was far tighter than they had been two years ago. Darren’s drumming in particular has considerably improved since the last time I saw them. While he performed competently last time, he was always in the pocket this night, and nailed his immensely technical double bass parts flawlessly. David’s voice in turn sounded even stronger than last time and he did a great job of keeping the crowd engaged. On The Evolution of Chaos, local guitarist Terry Lauderdale and Gary Holt had contributed solos to Control By Chaos and Arrows of Agony- these solos are covered by Lee Altus live. Two years ago, Lee was noticeably improvising on the solos, often missing notes. This time around, the solos seemed more composed and were certainly tighter. Kragen’s solos were as expected, flawless. His addition to the band has been nothing but great for them. Their set worked backwards through the catalog, which only helped to show that their new songs channel both the pure thrash and progressive sides of their music effectively. For Goblin’s Blade and Open the Grave the band was joined by their original bassist, Eric Wong. For Death by Hanging, Exodus’ Rob Dukes came out to sing backing vocals. They were fun touches to the set, and made it all the more special. As far as highlights go, Arrows of Agony remains my all-time favorite Heathen track, both on and off-stage. Opiate of the Masses was also executed to perfection despite its myriad of tempo changes and the sheer number of riffs and licks it contained.

Heathen
1. Dying Season
2. Control By Chaos
3. Arrows of Agony
4. Hypnotized
5. Opiate of the Masses
6. Goblin’s Blade (with Eric Wong)
7. Open the Grave (with Eric Wong)
8. Death by Hanging (with Rob Dukes)

Next up on the main stage was Forbidden. Sadly I have to admit, that I came to the show largely unfamiliar with most of their material. After this set, I can assure everyone that this will change. Simply put, the band pulverized the Oakland Metro. Singer Russ Anderson may not have his over the top vocal theatricality anymore, but he more than made up for it in sheer brutality. His voice has become so much more aggressive it’s not even funny, but he still managed to nail his old John Gallagher-esque screams. The songs all seemed just a tad faster than their studio counterparts, and were better for it. Original guitarist Craig Locicero and his partner, Nevermore and Testament alumnus Steve Smyth, headbanged furiously during the set and attacked their solos with deadly precision (even if they weren’t note for note copies). The new tunes were just as potent as the classic, with Forsaken at the Gates standing out as an absolute killer. The final one-two punch of Through Eyes of Glass and Chalice of Blood sent the pit into a frenzy and capped off Forbidden’s exercise in sheer thrash brutality. I don’t think these tracks have sounded better than they do live in 2012, so as a fan, I seriously hope these guys put out a live record soon.

Forbidden
1. Infinite
2. March Into Fire
3. Step By Step
4. Omega Wave
5. Forsaken at the Gates
6. Through Eyes of Glass
7. Chalice of Blood

Making their return to the bay for the first time in about two years, was the modern day version of Possessed. I, like some other fans, had their reservations since the band’s lineup, which used to be made up of the members of Sadistic Intent, had shifted around significantly this year. However, any reservations I had were quickly thrown away upon the first minutes of The Exorcist. For every single track the band played, the pit was active and crazy. Jeff Becerra sounded even more evil live than he did on record, and drummer Emilio Marquez’s toms sounded like they came straight out of hell. Even if the songs began to sound the same after a few tracks, the intensity and energy alone were enough to keep me banging my head. Possessed were easily the surprise of the night for me; one can debate the validity of this lineup as much as they’d like, but this band flat-out destroyed Oakland on Saturday night. The band tore through the small catalog of tracks, managing to cram fifteen songs in only an hour (a feat that not even Exodus pulled off in their 90 minutes later this night) Even though the band ran a few minutes over, Jeff managed to convince the soundman to let them to play a couple more tracks, and the band finished off their set with Heretic and the genre-defining Death Metal. Simply put, Jeff and company absolutely exceeded my expectations for what a band with two albums and an EP could deliver in a full hour.

Possessed
1. The Exorcist
2. The Eyes of Horror
3. Holy Hell
4. Seance
5. Evil Warriors
6. Pentagram
7. Swing of the Axe
8. Phantasm
9. My Belief
10. Fallen Angel
11. Burning in Hell
12. Beyond the Gates
13. Tribulation
Encore
14. Heretic
15. Death Metal

Finally came Exodus, and they gave the crowd, who now packed the main stage area to the brim, a special set that I will never forget. Kicking off their set with Bonded By Blood, Exodus immediately set the template for the rest of their set: loud, fast and absolutely punishing. One could tell something was special about this set when the band busted out their rare self-titled song, which was then followed by the even more rare Pleasures of the Flesh. The crowd ate these rare classics up; crowd surfing was common and the pit was rarely still. After every other track or so, Gary would say a few words about Paul Baloff. Normally one of the most articulate and talkative people in thrash, Gary was often choked up when talking about Paul and thanked the audience for coming repeatedly. This was truly an emotional show for everyone, and seeing so much sincerity from the man behind it all was something else. As the show continued, the fun did as well. During Brain Dead, Harald Oimoen, perhaps better known as the bassist for D.R.I., came out to do the Russian Cossack dance (the one where you squat, fold your arms and kick repeatedly) across the stage. It was random, yet pretty awesome at the same time. Frontman Rob Dukes gave a reliable vocal performance as always, but this time he toned down his barking in favor of more traditional thrash metal shouting. It worked well for the older songs, and he engaged the crowd well. He even ordered security to let audience members stage-dive. I have said this before when reviewing Exodus shows, but Rob seems to get better and better with every single concert. Now if only he could get the city he was playing in right (thanks to Lee Altus for correcting him mid-set).

The rare songs continued to flow, with the pre-Bonded By Blood track, Hell’s Breath making an appearance for the first time since their 2010 headlining show at Slim’s in San Francisco (yet another show I was lucky enough to attend- thanks for the ride there and back Dad!). This was followed by the fan favorite, Metal Command, for which Rob had the audience shout the chorus. Fists were most certainly in the air for that song. Gary then introduced No Love as one of Paul Baloff’s all time favorite Exodus songs, and proceeded to fingerpick the acoustic intro flawlessly on his electric. The band then tore into the track, which the audience of course loved. For the next three songs, Lee and Gary were joined by Rick Hunolt. Now armed with a triple axe attack, this lucky Oakland audience witnessed the legendary H-Team in action, with support from the more than able Lee Altus. Despite Rick’s absence from the music industry in the years since 2004’s Tempo of the Damned, he worked the stage with the energy and enthusiasm of a guitarist half his age (not unlike Hell-Fire’s Tony Campos had done only a few hours earlier). Rick ran all over the stage, hi-fived Lee repeatedly, jumped on Tom’s drum riser and struck many classic guitar poses with Gary. It wasn’t hard to tell that he was having the time of his life. After three songs with the band (upon which some fans realized that they had just torn through Bonded By Blood in its entirety and then some), Rick exited the stage. After another story about Paul (this time about how he sold his trailer to two different parties and split before the deal could be finished) Gary introduced the original half of the Exodus guitar duo, Kirk Hammett. Needless to say, this was one of the coolest guest appearances I have ever seen at a concert. Kirk gave a few words on Paul, and Gary then introduced Jeff Andrews, Exodus’ original bassist, who traded positions with current bassist Jack Gibson. After the crowd stopped maniacally cheering, Rob announced that they’d play “a track from 1981, Whipping Queen!” The majority of the younger and even most of the older fans had no clue about this song, but the few that did freaked out like a child on Christmas morning. Whipping Queen, one of the four on Exodus’ 1982 demo, was given a top-notch performance by the band (and it far better sound quality than the demo had to offer, that much is certain). The NWOBHM-influenced sound sported plenty of guitar harmonies from Kirk and Gary and a rollicking drum performance from Tom. Getting to hear the song was an absolute blast, and many a bangover was induced this morning from Whipping Queen alone.

Rick and Jack rejoined the party for a reading of Impaler, the final sendoff of the night. The band tore through the song with wild abandon, as if it was 1982 all over again. The band extended the song with solos from all four guitarists on stage, which was amazingly cool to bear witness to. The Exodus members, both past and present, gave their final goodbyes of the night and once again dedicated the show to the memory of Paul.

This concert was among the happiest and most joyful I have ever attended. From the crowd, to the warm and friendly vibes from the musicians, and of course about eight hours of killer music, I experienced nothing but pure fun at this show. If this concert was any indication, bay area heavy metal is alive and well. The young bands are doing a damn fine job, and the old guard continue to deliver some of the best thrash in the business. As far as I am concerned, the bay area is, and will remain, America’s greatest heavy metal community.

Long live bay area thrash and long live the legacy of Paul Baloff!

Rating: 10/10

Exodus Set List
1. Bonded By Blood
2. Exodus
3. Pleasures of the Flesh
4. Piranha
5. Brain Dead (with Harald Oimoen)
6. Deliver Us to Evil
7. Hell’s Breath
8. Metal Command
9. No Love
10. And Then There Were None (With Rick Hunolt)
11. A Lesson in Violence (With Rick Hunolt)
12. Strike of the Beast (With Rick Hunolt)
13. Whipping Queen (With Kirk Hammett and Jeff Andrews)
14. Impaler (With Rick, Jeff and Kirk)

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