Dark Roots Of Thrash Tour Pummels Hollywood

By Avinash Mittur

February 2nd 2013, House of Blues, Hollywood, CA: When grunge hit in the mid-nineties, thrash was one metal genre that truly suffered. While hair metal simply died with a whimper, many of the reigning thrash groups at the time attempted to alter their style to fit in with the new musical landscape. There were however, a small number of bands that refused to be anything but themselves. Berkeley, CA’s Testament and Overkill from New Jersey were among those stubborn bands, and today they are enjoying some of the greatest success of their careers. Now what happens when those two bands decide to embark on a cross-country tour together? You get a night of utter chaos and a couple hours of amazing music. This ‘Dark Roots of Thrash’ stop at the House of Blues on Sunset was all that and more, an outstanding night of thrash metal by any standard.

The first band up was Kauze, a local act added exclusively to this Hollywood date. This band seemed more in the vein of older groove metal (think early Machine Head, later Pantera and Roots-era Sepultura) than the thrash represented on this tour. Vocalist Lane Steele gave a spirited show, constantly patrolling the stage- one certainly couldn’t knock this act for giving an unenergetic performance, even if their style of metal wasn’t exactly a perfect fit for the music that would follow. However, the crowd offered a warm applause for the band upon the end of their set, and that alone was indicative of Kauze’s success at this show.

4ARM from Australia was the first of the touring acts, and kicked off the thrash on this night. Usually at these kinds of shows, kids tend to stand with their arms crossed during the opening acts. It’s all the more impressive then that 4ARM was able to incite a pit for the majority of their set. This was straightforward no-frills thrash; maybe there was a touch of groove here and there, but it never got in the way of the old school 2/4 beats when they were called upon. Singer Danny Tomb and bassist Andy Hinterreiter were the most active presences onstage, and looked to be having a great time playing for this sold out crowd. 4ARM’s set ultimately proved to be a great warmup for the carnage that would soon ensue, both in a musical and physical sense.

When Overkill last visited Los Angeles, they were greeted by a poor turnout. This time around however, the band was given the audience they truly deserved. One thousand rabid thrash fans came to the House of Blues to wreck the place, and for 45 minutes Overkill provided the perfect soundtrack to said wrecking. The eternal classics were accounted for so the thrash kiddies couldn’t complain, but the band made sure to throw in a few newer cuts to please their more loyal fans. Even the rare “Infectious” from Horrorscope made an appearance, a perfect offering for the die-hards in the crowd. For a 45 minute set, it was impossible to ask any more from Overkill.

As for the performance- well, if you’ve seen Overkill once already what you’re about to read will seem redundant. Bobby ‘Blitz’ Ellsworth is easily the most active and commanding thrash frontman alive, and when he isn’t stalking the stage his partner D.D. Verni provides more than ample stage presence. As with every Overkill show, the sound was utterly perfect. Luckily the crowd was able to match Overkill’s show. Even during the intro tape to “Come and Get It” a pit began to flow and it only grew in intensity as the set progressed, peaking with a total explosion of energy and violence during “Elimination”.  It was only fitting that such an amazing battery of thrash occurred on February 2nd, the day the world lost Exodus’ original frontman, Paul Baloff.

Overkill Set List:
1. Come and Get It
2. Rotten to the Core
3. Wrecking Crew
4. Bring Me the Night
5. Electric Rattlesnake
6. Infectious
7. Ironbound
8. Elimination
9. Fuck You

Last up was Testament, who were making their first full solo headlining U.S. tour in nearly four years. Though the crowd seemed somewhat tired from the chaos that was Overkill’s set, Testament turned in a killer show that still made everyone leave happy. The set list was full of deep cuts and forgotten classics, and was sure to please fans of nearly every era of the band. Four tracks from Testament’s 1999 masterpiece, The Gathering found a place at this show; though the pit stalled for these and the newer songs, the hardcore Testament fans could be heard hollering as they were played. It was the rare older songs that really got the crowd going however. “Burnt Offerings” and “The Haunting” from the band’s debut saw some of the most frenzied pit action of the set, but it was of course, “Into the Pit” that saw the House of Blues give a final expulsion of fury.

Once again Chuck Billy made an imposing presence of himself onstage and his vocals only sounded stronger as the set progressed. Of course, he made sure to show off his signature air-guitar chops often, and his glow in the dark mic-stand was admittedly pretty cool. Alex Skolnick was in prime guitar hero mode throughout the show, nailing his signature solos with the talent and skill we’ve all come to expect from him. The new songs Dark Roots of Earth were the real delight though, since it saw Alex and his partner Eric Peterson pulling off their new dueling solos and harmonies. Seeing Eric take a few solos with Alex was truly great, though having him be more audible would have been nice. The sound as a whole was spotty throughout the first few songs, with bassist Greg Christian jumping in and out of the mix and the guitars occasionally mashing together in a wall of noise instead of separating into distinct parts.  ‘The Atomic Clock’ himself, Gene Hoglan didn’t seem to run into this sound issue though, as he constantly punched through and let the crowd hear his shockingly perfect drum parts. The guy managed to nail three decades worth of music, and did justice to four other drummers’ performances with what appeared to be barely any effort.

Luckily the sound problem was solved by the time “True American Hate” came around, and the rest of the set sounded great. Once we were able to hear him, Greg proved to be a standout as he strolled across the two-level stage, made goofy faces and still had his right hand fly about the strings. His bass playing was the push and pull behind “Eyes of Wrath” and filled the sound quite nicely during the quieter parts of “Riding the Snake”. After a final intense run through of the title track to The Formation of Damnation, Testament took their bows and left the stage. Though the crowd stayed and even chanted their name, the band didn’t return. An encore would have been well earned, but after a full 90 minutes onstage it’s tough to complain about the length of the set.

Testament Set List:
1. Rise Up
2. More Than Meets the Eye
3. Burnt Offerings
4. Native Blood
5. True American Hate
6. Dark Roots of Earth
7. Into the Pit
8. Practice What You Preach
9. Riding the Snake
10. Eyes of Wrath
11. Trial By Fire
12. The Haunting
13. The New Order
14. D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)
15. 3 Days of Darkness
16. The Formation of Damnation

When all was said and done, the 1000 patrons of the House of Blues were treated to two outstanding sets from two bands that have remained true to thrash metal for three decades. This sold out crowd is what these bands deserved twenty years ago when the music world left them for dead, and one can only hope that they will continue to see these kinds of audiences as the ‘Dark Roots of Thrash’ tour continues. Audiences all over the country can attend this tour knowing they will have a great time however, and anyone who has ever even remotely connected with thrash metal music is absolutely encouraged to throw down their cash to attend this tour.

Related: LA photo gallery

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