By Andrew Bansal
May 26th 2013, The Whisky, West Hollywood CA: Southern California’s very own thrash maniacs Warbringer have released three albums till date, and up until a couple of years ago, they were literally on a non-stop touring cycle which saw them open for a multitude of high-profile metal bands. But it came to a point where they were touring the same cities every couple of months, and thankfully, they put a halt to it and took a break. Now, they are back rejuvenated and raring to go again, as they headlined the Whisky last night on an all-thrash bill that also featured Vektor, Witchaven, Velosity and a few others. Warbringer promised to play their first album ‘War Without End’ in its entirety to celebrate the five-year anniversary of its release, so that was something to look forward to. When I arrived at the venue at around 8 PM, the place was already packed. The vibe was set for a night of nothing but thrash, and this all-ages crowd looked more than ready to soak it all in.
The first band I got to see were local thrash trio Velosity. They sounded a lot better and looked more comfortable on that Whisky stage as compared to when I saw them a couple of weeks ago. As soon as the band started playing. this crowd needed absolutely no second invitation to start the mosh pit. This was going to be one of those nights when the thrash kids would mosh to anything fast. If you’re looking for just simple, relentless, good ol’ thrash metal in the live setting, you can’t go much wrong with Velosity. This was an enjoyable set by the trio, and they once again proved that they’re worthy of a slot on any thrash show that comes to town.
I missed the next band Exterminate because of my interview with Vektor at the exact same time as their set, but I got back in there in the nick of time to catch the whole of Witchaven. This is a band that needs no introduction to LA folks, and in recent times they’ve been making a name for themselves elsewhere too. Their shows have always been a lot of fun, and so was this one. They began in typical fashion with ‘Terrorstorm’ and ‘Black Thrash Assault’, songs that got the mosh pits moving at a rate of knots. People were more than happy to hear just the fast stuff, but what made the set really interesting in my opinion was the blend of black/death metal and some punk to go with the relentless thrash in the music. The response from this crowd was great, but a lot of people are getting jaded because of seeing this band too often. Given that Witchaven’s live show is amazing, as was the case last night, with suitable gaps between local gigs they will certainly be able to maintain the strength of their fan base.
Set List (missing song #5):
1. Terrorstorm
2. Black Thrash Assault
3. Empty Chasm
4. Blasphemous Cunt
6. Unholy Copulation
The next band Vektor may be from Arizona but through their participation in underground LA gigs over the past few years, they’ve almost like a local band amongst LA peeps, as was evident from the fan fare they enjoyed at this show. Strangely enough, I actually hadn’t seen them for almost four years, and it’s safe to say they’ve improved leaps and bounds from that time. They changed up the mood of the show completely, the mosh pits weren’t as frequent but everyone listened to and watched the band intently, absorbing those sweet guitar melodies, with people in the front few rows doing the air-guitar thing. With elements of sci-fi and progressive song patterns, Vektor is not at all your run-of-the-mill thrash band, and if anything, they could be described as the intelligent man’s thrash metal. Honestly, frontman Dave DiSanto’s vocals do get a bit of getting used to, and people who’re not accustomed to music with such ultra high-pitched screams and shrieks might find Dave’s voice goofy to begin with. But the band handled the tempo changes extremely well and were able to present the full range of their musicianship on that stage. The crowd were respectful during the quieter parts, which was rather pleasantly surprising. From the Black Castle to the Whisky-A-Go-Go, it’s been quite a journey for Vektor and they seem to be loving every moment of it.
Set List:
1. Destroying The Cosmos
2. Dying World
3. Deoxyribonucleic Acid
4. Tetrastructural Minds
5. Accelerating Universe
This show was moving along much more swiftly than I had anticipated with so many bands on the bill, but the turnaround was pretty quick between sets, as a result of which Warbringer were ready to go almost exactly on schedule, at 10.50. Before they began, the house DJ played some tasty tunes in the interim. Sabbath’s ‘Fairies Wear Boots’ made me rock out almost as hard as any of the live music, so I have to give props to him/her for a job well done. The intro music blared on the PA as the members of Warbringer walked down the staircase at the far end of the stage to take their positions one by one and kicked off their 60-minute onslaught with ‘Living Weapon’ off of the latest album ‘Worlds Torn Asunder’. I remember them headlining this same venue for a mere 50 people back in 2009, so to see them come such a long way, playing in front of a packed house that was eagerly awaiting their arrival was very heartening. The band certainly basked in the glory of this night.
Quite a few thrash/extreme metal frontmen do the ‘hand chop’ as one of their stage moves, but I seriously get pumped every time I see Warbringer’s John Kevill do it. His is as good as anyone, as the fury of that stage move combined with his fierce facial expressions infused bucket loads of energy into an already lively crowd. Singing-wise, he seemed to put in more than his 100 per cent, which he does every time but for some reason I thought it was on a whole new level last night. I hadn’t seen such a ‘psyched’ performance by him since Warbringer first opened for Megadeth in late 2009. The break from touring must be a big factor in this, but the sheer enormity of the occasion brought the best out of him.
But unlike in the past, this time I felt the same level of intensity from his band mates as well. Lead guitarist John Laux has gone from being a dull live musician to a very expressive one, as was clear from his crowd interaction. Drummer Carlos Cruz was a monster on the kit as usual, but this was my first time seeing Warbringer with new members Jeff Potts on guitar and Ben Mottsman on bass. Previously in Mantic Ritual, both of them have harnessed the very same passion and energy of that band and brought it into Warbringer. I just hope this lineup remains stable, because these five members definitely gel together better than any other lineups the band has ever had.
As promised, they played the entire ‘War Without End’ album, and it was refreshing to see some of those songs that hadn’t been played since the release cycle of that album. From ‘Total War’ to ‘Combat Shock’, the band made the Whisky audience go completely berserk. The security personnel at the Whisky were surely earning their dough last night as they had to make massive efforts to control this crowd, which had opened up the mosh pit to go beyond the actual ‘pit area’ and on to the aisles. After the end of the album, they came out for a two-song encore that started with ‘Living In A Whirlwind’, but then came the major surprise as they busted out a cover of Motörhead’s ‘We Are The Road Crew’. I almost lost my fucking mind head-banging to that one. It was a totally unexpected ‘Fuck Yeah!’ moment for everyone. They ended the night with the track ‘Treacherous Tongue’ and said goodbye to this hugely grateful audience.
Overall, based on this performance it’s safe to say that Warbringer continues to be a legit thrash band who’s putting out good music, playing great live shows, and doing all things right. It turned out to be a very diverse set as the War Without End portion of the set demonstrated some of their early influences which are not so evident on the later albums. With a solidified lineup and a second wind, the band has come full circle and if you’re still unfamiliar with them, this is just about as good a time as any to check them out.
Great sound, packed house, and an all-thrash, all-awesome lineup. This is the kind of thrash festival Los Angeles deserved, and got last night at the Whisky. A fun time was had by all in attendance.
Set List:
