Review & photos by Andrew Bansal
March 30th 2014, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: German thrash veterans Destruction are currently on a North American headline tour, supporting their latest Nuclear Blast release ‘Spiritual Genocide’ and presenting their ever-powerful classic material in front of their devout fans all across the continent. A couple of weeks into the tour, they visited the Whisky-A-Go-Go in West Hollywood and as expected, brought out a large horde of the LA thrash faithful. Support act for Destruction on this tour comes from Brazilian death metal trio Krisiun, along with Los Angeles’ own Exmortus who joined the trek a few days ago. Even at an early point of the evening, the Sunset Strip was abuzz with thrashers clad in denim and leather, and judging by the length of the queue at 6 PM, I had no doubt that this was going to be another sold-out show.
Because I was running back and forth between the Whisky and the Roxy in an effort to cover two shows in one night, I missed all the four local openers that played this show, and the first band I got to see was the touring opening act Exmortus. I caught the last 15 minutes of their set, and it was clear to me that the band has collectively grown as a musical force and have a much better grasp of what to do on a live stage. I’ve been seeing them play shows for more than five years now, and with the touring opportunities coming their way, they are finally at a point in their career they deserve to be at. Being on the long hard touring road has seemingly taught them a lot and made them better live musicians, as was evident from the epic shredtastic performance they put on at the Whisky last night, with guitar leads and harmonies galore that got the air-guitar fingers moving in the crowd and resulted in the odd mosh pit or two. In all honesty, my appreciation for shred-based music has decreased hugely over the past few years, to the extent that I can’t even stand watching certain shred guitarists like Yngwie Malmsteen who at one time used to one of my favorite musicians, but Exmortus is one band I’m certainly happy to see succeed and fans of this style of metal can’t go wrong with seeing Exmortus live and picking up their stellar new album ‘Slave To The Sword’.
Visit Exmortus on the web:
facebook.com/ExmortusOfficial
instagram.com/Exmortus_Official
I returned to the Whisky in time to catch the second half of Krisiun‘s set. The Brazilian death metal three-piece powerhouse drew their own set of fans to this show, and before and during the show I talked to a lot of people who were as excited to see Krisiun at this show as Destruction, some even more so. Krisiun suffered a raw deal on their North American tour last year, when they were supposed to be support act for Hypocrisy and Aborted who both dropped out at the last minute, leaving Krisiun to headline venues that were too big for them. But they powered through and played for their fans, which has paid off for them now as the same fans have turned up to support them on this tour. In complete contrast to the massively below-standard Vex where they played last year, they got the proper-sounding stage and the aptly sized venue that befits their stature as longtime purveyors of unabated extreme music. They put on an absolutely crushing performance here and had the mosh pits moving in unending circles and waves, the tunes ‘Ravager’ and ‘Blood Of Lions’ standing out as the best of the lot, at least among what I saw. They’re without doubt one of the most underrated death metal bands in existence today, and it was great to see them receive this level of support from the Whisky crowd. If you’re attending a show on this tour, definitely do not miss Krisiun.
Visit Krisiun on the web:
Krisiun.com.br
facebook.com/Krisiun.Official
twitter.com/Krisiun
instagram.com/Krisiun
Set List:
01. Kings of Killing
02. Combustion Inferno
03. The Will to Potency
04. Vicious Wrath
05. Vengeance’s Revelation
06. Descending Abomination
07. Ravager
08. Drum Solo
09. Blood of Lions
10. Ominous
Destruction hit the stage at 11 o’ clock. I walked in to the Whisky just as they were starting ‘Life Without Sense’ and caught a good chunk of their typically devastating 90-minute set. Frontman Schmier was at his fiercest best on the vocals and bass, and going by his interactions with the crowd between songs, he seemed to be in good spirits. In Mike Sifringer on guitar and Vaaver on drums, he enjoys the company of two excellent band mates, and the trio combined to live up to the band’s name and destroy this place. It was completely packed with people, perhaps more people than it could hold, as even the aisles were blocked off by the sheer number of people at one point. The response from this crowd was nothing short of insane, and it made for an amazing scene. Mosh pits were going full-tilt, and groups of friends were seen forming circles and headbanging together. The Whisky was converted into a temple of thrash, and it was in full-on berserk mode. If at all a fire had broken out, there would be no way to escape and we’d all be toast.
Set list-wise, Destruction never disappoint and always put together a solid collection of classics encapsulating their 30-plus years at the Teutonic thrash forefront. They played only a couple of songs from their latest album ‘Spiritual Genocide’ and the rest of the set was laden with old gems, of which ‘Death Trap’ was one they hadn’t played on a regular basis in the past, while the staples ‘Total Desaster’, ‘Bestial Invasion’, ‘Curse The Gods’ and ‘The Butcher Strikes Back’ were received with unbridled excitement by the massive gathering of fans in attendance here.
With this performance, Destruction successfully maintain their reputation of putting on the most violent live shows and bringing the absolute best out of the LA metalheads in terms of energy and passion. If you claim to love thrash and haven’t seen a Destruction show yet, you need to rectify that and do so at the earliest possible opportunity.
Visit Destruction on the web:
Destruction.de
facebook.com/Destruction
twitter.com/Destruction
instagram.com/Destruction_Official
Set List:
01. Thrash Till Death
02. Spiritual Genocide
03. Nailed to the Cross
04. Mad Butcher
05. Armageddonizer
06. Eternal Ban
07. Life Without Sense
08. Release From Agony
09. Carnivore
10. Hate Is My Fuel
11. Death Trap
12. Total Desaster
13. Bestial Invasion
Encore:
14. Curse the Gods
15. The Butcher Strikes Back
Remaining Tour Dates:
4/1 San Francisco, CA @ DNA Lounge
4/2 Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
4/3 Portland, OR @ Tonic Lounge
4/4 Vancouver, BC @ The Venue
4/5 Edmonton, AB @ Pawn Shop
4/6 Great Falls, MT – Machinery Row
4/7 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
4/8 Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room
4/9 Des Moines, IA @ Wooly’s
4/10 Chicago, IL @ Reggies Rock Club
4/11 Rochester, NY @ Montage Music Hall
4/12 Toronto, ON @ Virgin Mobile Mod Club
4/13 Quebec, QC @ Complexe Meduse
4/14 Montreal, QC @ Foufounes Electriques
Visit the Whisky-A-Go-Go on the web:
WhiskyAGoGo.com
facebook.com/theWhiskyAGoGo
twitter.com/theWhiskyAGoGo
instagram.com/theWhiskyAGoGo