By Andrew Bansal
October 18th 2013, Slim’s, San Francisco CA: Veterans of the San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal movement that originated in the early 80s, Death Angel started out as teenagers in 1982 and disbanded in ’91, but thankfully for this sub-genre, they reformed in 2001 and have been going strong ever since. They released their seventh studio album ‘The Dream Calls For Blood’ earlier in the week and kicked off a North American headline tour to promote the album by doing two record release shows at Slim’s. The gig on Thursday October 17th was more of a local affair though, with fellow Bay Area bands Heathen, Transition and My Victim in support, but Friday night was the proper kickoff for the tour, with the support bands on the touring lineup 3 Inches Of Blood, Battlecross and Revocation joining in the fun. The event was all ages, doors opened at 7 PM, and every ticket buyer was being handed a free copy of the new Death Angel CD. Things were all set for a thrashtastic evening at this sold-out show.
Promptly at 8, Revocation began proceedings with a 25-minute set. Even in such a short set, the Boston MA-based metal band came up with a strong representation of their music, a blend of thrash and modern metal which went down rather well with this crowd as mosh pits were seen even at this early stage of the evening. The set list was pretty similar to what they played on Summer Slaughter earlier this year, with songs like ‘The Hive’ and ‘No Funeral’ decorating the set. Frontman David Davidson was in his elements, displaying his fantastic guitar-playing skills through some intricate interludes that were sandwiched by heavier, thrashier segments. I say this with no disrespect to Battlecross and I have absolutely nothing against them (as you’ll see in the next paragraph), but the fact that Revocation is the opening act on this lineup is a travesty. Over the past seven years of their existence, they’ve done more than enough to earn a better spot on a lineup such as this, and I was extremely surprised to see them open the show.
Battlecross took the stage next. Their set took a couple of songs to really get into high gear, and it wasn’t until they played ‘Force Fed Lies’ that the crowd got involved. But from that point on, their set was top-notch and they proved themselves to be worthy of a spot on this tour. The song ‘Push Pull Destroy’ was as usual the highlight of the set. Contrary to their recent setlists, they did not play the Pantera cover, and quite frankly I was glad they didn’t. This band from Michigan has toured on Mayhem Fest this year and also played Metallica’s Orion Fest, so they’re turning a few heads in the scene and it’s no surprise because their live show is a treat for any fan of heavy music. With the kind of energy and intensity they bring, it’s hard to dislike Battlecross.
This show was moving along swiftly and the atmosphere in the venue was steadily building up with every passing moment. It was the kind of vibe you could get only in San Francisco, and that was part of the reasons I took the bus from Los Angeles to see this show here instead of at the Whisky-A-Go-Go in LA. The lineup’s main support act, Vancouver-based 3 Inches Of Blood were next to hit the stage and wasted no time whatsoever as they came out all guns blazing with the three-pronged onslaught of ‘Metal Woman’, ‘Deadly Sinners’ and ‘Leather Lord’. Strangely enough, this was my first time seeing them since they released the latest album ‘Long Live Heavy Metal’, and in all honesty, I was definitely not disappointed with the manner in which the new songs were portrayed in this live setting. The album has rescued the band from the metalcore pigeonhole of their past and transcended them into more of an old-school heavy metal act, which was even more evident in last night’s set. ‘Look Out’ was played with live keyboards and sounded fantastic, easily the best part of their set, but ‘Storming Juno’ was great as well, and the old goodie Deadly Sinners was as awesome as ever.
Vocalist Cam Pipes carried the frontman role to perfection and his vocals were exemplary, with able support from his band mates. As you can probably tell, I enjoyed the hell out of this 3 Inches Of Blood performance, and simply can’t wait to get more of it sometime soon. A lot of my peers and friends dislike this band for some reason. Lately, through my concert experiences, I’ve been constantly bewildered and dumb-founded by the revelation of certain bands being liked/disliked by a majority of people, totally contrary to my opinion of these bands. The apparent dislike of 3 Inches Of Blood is one such mystery. But for me, they are a great band in every aspect. Long live heavy metal, long live 3 Inches Of Blood!
And lastly at 11:15, hometown heroes Death Angel appeared on stage amidst raucous applause and began the Dream Calls For Blood tour in the right earnest with two songs off of that album to start the set, namely ‘Left For Dead’ and ‘Son Of The Morning’. Straightaway, one could sense that these new songs carried a similar energy and vibe to those on the predecessor album Relentless Retribution. Music-wise, the two songs provided a lively start to the set, but since the majority of the crowd wasn’t familiar with the new album, the atmosphere wasn’t like your typical Bay Area thrash show as of yet.
‘Sonic Beatdown’ was the first of the older songs to be played, and despite it not being a ‘classic’, it certainly raised the intensity in the room, and there was clearly more movement in the crowd. The show was heavily focussed on the new album though, with as many as seven of the 10 songs being part of the set list. It wasn’t a surprise because they had a similar approach on the headline tour for Relentless Retribution, talking of which, I really enjoyed everything they played off of that album. With the release of this new album, the Relentless Retribution material has now graduated to being classified as ‘old’, and the impact of the three songs ‘Relentless Revolution’, ‘Claws In So Deep’ and ‘Truce’ was definitely stronger on the audience in comparison to the seven new tunes. But besides, the fans did get treated to some of the ‘hits’, so to speak. Through rigorous touring and the release of some truly fantastic recent albums, Death Angel has become one of the most well-oiled machines in the metal scene, and last night they delivered a show absolutely worthy of that title.
During the aforementioned previous touring cycle I became so accustomed to hearing tons of Relentless Retribution material, I actually wished for songs like ‘River Of Rapture’, ‘This Hate’, ‘Opponents At Sides’ and ‘I Chose The Sky’, but overall the set was pretty much how I expected it to be, heavy on new songs but having a good blend of older material. My favorite moment came at the beginning of the encore, when the intro to ‘Lord Of Hate’ began rolling on the PA. They skipped the song on their last three North American tours as opening act to Anthrax, and that moment alone was worth my trip from LA. The band reappeared on stage to belt out Lord Of Hate in all its glory, followed it up with Truce and ended the set in largely typical fashion with ‘Thrown To The Wolves’.
Vocalist Mark Osegueda was his usual self, indulging in lengthy monologues between songs, soaking and basking in the hometown vibe to the fullest. The band looked and sounded genuinely delighted to play to a sold-out crowd here, and to be quite frank, there is no better Death Angel live experience than their headline shows in San Francisco. Even though they tour all over the world, this is the best crowd they can possibly get, and I’m glad I got to be a part of it for one night. If you’re into thrash at all, go attend a Death Angel show on this tour.
Set List:
1. Left for Dead
2. Son of the Morning
3. Sonic Beatdown
4. Fallen
5. Relentless Revolution
6. Claws in So Deep
7. The Dream Calls for Blood
8. Seemingly Endless Time
9. Succubus
10. Execution – Don’t Save Me
11.Thicker Than Blood
12.Mistress of Pain
13.Caster of Shame
Encore:
14.Lord of Hate
15.Truce
16.Thrown to the Wolves (w/ The Ultra Violence outro)
Remaining Tour Dates:
10/19/13 The Whisky – Hollywood, CA
10/20/13 Ramona Mainstage – Ramona, CA
10/21/13 Orpheum Theater – Flagstaff, AZ
10/23/13 Dirty Dog – Austin, TX
10/24/13 Scout Bar – Houston, TX
10/25/13 South By So What – Dallas, TX
10/26/13 Chameleon Room – Oklahoma City, OK
10/27/13 FuBar – St Louis, MO
10/29/13 Webster Hall (Marlin Room) – New York, NY
10/30/13 Empire – Springfield, VA
10/31/13 Altar Bar- Pittsburgh, PA
11/01/13 Mojo 13 – Wilmington, DE
11/02/13 Middle East – Boston, MA
11/03/13 Foufounes Electriques – Montreal, QC
11/04/13 Opera House – Toronto, ON
11/05/13 Reggie’s – Chicago, IL
11/07/13 Summit Music Hall – Denver, CO
11/08/13 Sunshine Theater – Albuquerque, NM
11/09/13 Rocky Point – Tempe, AZ
11/10/13 Observatory – Santa Ana, CA