By Andrew Bansal
December 26th 2014, Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: Even though many rock ‘n roll bands have carried the tradition of playing at or around Christmas over the past several decades, San Francisco Bay Area thrash veterans Death Angel certainly were never one of them. But to change that fact, the band announced two late December headline gigs in Los Angeles and San Francisco. They arrived at the Whisky-A-Go-Go, their most favored LA venue, for their first ever Christmas show last Friday December the 26th. Having been an ardent follower of Death Angel’s fortunes for the past six years and bearing witness to the consistent progress they’ve continued making in this ‘revival’ period, I knew they would have something special up their sleeve for this occasion, and expected them to not only pull out rarities in the set list but also bring up a guest or two. Although, I was hoping against hope that this guest would not be Kirk Hammett.
As always, a slew of local openers preceded the headline act, with doors opening as early as 6:30 and the show starting at 6:50. I missed the first band but arrived at 7:30, just in time to catch all of Vile Descent. The South-Central LA heavy quartet made every attempt to ignite early fireworks in proceedings here with a solid 25-minute set. Their slower, groove-based style probably wasn’t exactly the thrash crowd’s cup of tea but that didn’t deter them from putting their best foot forward. I’ve been seeing some of their members at every Death Angel show for years now, and can only imagine how much it must have meant to them to share the stage with that band. Vile Descent managed to turn a few heads their way by the end of the set and put on a good show overall.
The next two bands largely failed to keep my attention, and the second of them in particular, Revmatix, was frustrating to watch because they had three guitarists on stage but I could barely hear one, and there were no interplays or dynamics between them whatsoever . It just didn’t make any sense. At such shows, it’s during times like these that you feel like stepping outside the club for a bit, but the onset of the brutal winter (by Los Angeles standards) did not allow me that luxury and I had no choice but to continue watching this band. Thankfully, the following act Thrown Into Exile provided some welcome relief and gave a good account of themselves with a more-than-decent performance, presenting their new lineup for the first time on the big stage. After appearing on the 2013 Mayhem Festival tour, the band surprisingly lost momentum but led by guitarist and founder Mario Rubio, they now seem to be back on track with some well-crafted new material and excellent musicians to play it, including Zack Morris on drums, the go-to guy for several LA modern metal bands. They got a good response from a crowd which was by now desprate for a good opening act and readied them for the two San Francisco bands up next.
Stoner metal quartet Orchid played in Los Angeles at the Scion Rock Fest earlier this year, and on that occasion, they were slightly underwhelming in the live setting. I already had a feeling they would make a better impact this time around, and that they did. The atmosphere inside the Whisky, the size and layout of the stage, the nature of the sound system, and various other factors led to this venue turning out to be a much more righteous temple for Orchid’s Sabbath worship, and resulted in an incredible performance from them that left a strong impression. Finally, after many failed attempts at understanding or appreciating the positive aspects of this band’s music, this set of theirs might have swayed me towards them better than ever. They hit the groove right from the get-go and never let their guard down even for a single moment. Their energy levels were far greater this time too, and they certainly got a louder reaction from this crowd as compared to any of the other bands. They attracted quite a few of their own fans to this event, some of whom so devoted that they went home after Orchid’s set. All in all, a truly impressive set from Orchid.
At 11:35, the lights went out, the intro piece was played on the PA, and the stage was lit with an array of blue Christmas lights all around the drum kit. Shortly after, Death Angel arrived in front of an absolutely packed house to begin a very thrashy Christmas celebration with the first two tunes off of the latest album ‘The Dream Calls For Blood’. They then laid into ‘Claws In So Deep’, the best possible selection from the ‘Relentless Retribution’, and went on to play the entirety of ‘The Dream Calls For Blood’ album, but with a fair sprinkling of older material in between groups of two new tunes, presenting material such as ‘Seemingly Endless Time’ and ‘Buried Alive’, the worthiest representatives of the ‘Act III’ and ‘Killing Season’ albums respectively. And of course, no Death Angel set is complete without full-blooded renditions of ‘Thrown To The Wolves’ and ‘Thrashers’. But the highly anticipated surprise items were all saved for the latter half of the set.
Chris Broderick, who recently quit Megadeth, was spotted in the crowd earlier in the evening and I had a chance to briefly exchange pleasantries with him as he remembered me from the countless interviews we’ve done over the years. I was honestly surprised to see him casually hanging out in the middle of the crowd, just a few rows from the stage, at a show where everyone clearly knew who he was. As expected, people rushed up to him to talk to him and take pictures, some even demanding a reunion with Nevermore. He humbly acknowledged and responded to everyone. But little did anyone know that he would actually step up on stage during Death Angel’s set, and even more surprising was the fact that the song he jammed with them was not be a cover, but a Death Angel tune from their latest album. Thanks to Broderick, Death Angel became a three-guitar band while they performed the song ‘Empty’, and the excitement levels in the building went sky high.
Other than falling on the day after Christmas, there was nothing much Christmasy about this Death Angel show, until they played a couple of season-appropriate covers nobody ever thought they would, The Beatles’ ‘Drive My Car’ and Elvis Presley’s ‘Santa Claus Is Back In Town’. This was towards the very end of the set, the thrashers in the crowd had stunned looks on their faces, some choosing to leave the show as they couldn’t handle any Beatles or Elvis. But they definitely missed out, as Death Angel saved the best for the last, playing ‘Kill As One’ to bring an end to a spectacular hour and 45 minutes of the best Christmas celebration I’ve ever attended. All five members of the band were in top shape physically and sonically, and combined excellently to reiterate Death Angel’s standing as thrash metal’s last great survivors. Overall, this was the most perfect way to end another fantastic year of heavy music, and one expects plenty more from Death Angel for several more years to come.
Set List:
01. Left For Dead
02. Son Of The Morning
03. Claws In So Deep
04. Fallen
05. Seemingly Endless Time
06. The Dream Calls For Blood
07. Buried Alive
08. Succubus
09. Execution – Don’t Save Me
10. Truce
11. Caster Of Shame
12. Detonate
13. Thrown To The Wolves
14. Empty (with Chris Broderick)
15. Territorial Instinct / Bloodlust
16. Thrashers
17. Drive My Car (Beatles cover)
18. Santa Claus Is Back In Town (Elvis Presley cover)
19. Kill As One