{"id":1,"date":"2011-11-13T10:22:04","date_gmt":"2011-11-13T10:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/?p=1"},"modified":"2012-05-02T02:57:47","modified_gmt":"2012-05-02T10:57:47","slug":"exodus-gives-hollywood-a-free-lesson-in-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/2011\/11\/13\/exodus-gives-hollywood-a-free-lesson-in-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Exodus Gives Hollywood A Free Lesson In Violence"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Avinash Mittur<\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Nov. 12th 2011, The Roxy, Hollywood CA:<\/strong> On a dreary, overcast, Saturday afternoon, metal fans from all over Southern California flocked to the Roxy in Hollywood to see four bands for the amazing price of zero dollars and zero cents. All hailing from the label Nuclear Blast, the bands gave worthy performances and reinforced their company\u2019s reputation as a champion for bands representing a wide spectrum of metal. For a price that couldn\u2019t be beat, Scion A\/V gave metalheads an immensely fun way to kill a Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Decrepit Birth started off the show with thirty minutes of solid old-fashioned death metal. The band, who I came to the concert completely unfamiliar with, delivered a brand of death metal reminiscent of classic acts such as Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse. Lead guitarist Matt Sotelo contributed surprisingly melodic, yet amazingly fast solos to the songs, and his playing was a certain highlight of their set. Vocalist Bill Robinson worked the crowd well enough, and repeatedly encouraged audience members to stage dive and participate. Although Decrepit Birth\u2019s music didn\u2019t resonate with me much, their performance was respectable and energetic, and warmed up the Hollywood crowd for the madness that would follow.<\/p>\n

Next was Origin- Topeka, Kansas\u2019 biggest contribution to death metal yet. The band delivered their technical and progressive brand of death metal with absolute perfection, yet managed to remain fun as well. Their live vocalist, Jason Keysner, must have had the most radio-friendly voice I have ever heard from a heavy metal frontman. While this may seem like a strange and random compliment, his addresses to the audience were always clear and direct, making his communication with the crowd all the more effective. His voice had a level of charisma all its own, and I cannot think of many singers that could effectively summon dozens of people to hop onstage for a stage-dive wall of death. Seeing this was truly remarkable, especially considering the relatively minute size of Origin\u2019s present fanbase. Sadly, the stage-dive wall of death was derailed by the concert organizers for fear of the audience\u2019s safety. Origin carried on with the set anyway, and made sure their final minutes counted. I came away very impressed with the performance and the talent of all of their members, even if I couldn\u2019t claim to be a fan of their music.<\/p>\n

The final opening act, All Shall Perish, was met with what could easily be called a mixed reception. It seemed as if the crowd was firmly divided between audience members who loved the band or were willing to give them a chance, and the thrash metal fanatics who were more than happy to publicly display their abhorrence for them. It seemed for every chorus loyally shouted from the front, a call of what sounded like \u201cBob Saget\u201d could be heard from the back. I will readily admit that I am not a fan of deathcore whatsoever, however if a band is up onstage playing their music (especially for free) then the least one can do is not heckle them. The band, especially their singer Eddie Hermida, took the verbal abuse with a classy level of professionalism. Sure, the music may have been no fun for me personally, but those who did enjoy it were treated to a rock-solid show from a band that clearly loved their fans. In between the booing and name-calling, Eddie would thank the audience and even took a request in addition to providing steady growls. I don\u2019t think I will ever buy an album of theirs or see one of their shows any time soon, but I admired their spirit and determination to give a great performance.<\/p>\n

Finally, the time for good friendly violent fun had come. After what seemed like an eternity, the house lights dropped and a strangely familiar spoken word piece played on the PA. After a short time spent wondering where that intro was from, the crowd surged in energy and volume as we realized it was the intro to The Last Act of Defiance, a forgotten and underrated cut from Fabulous Disaster, the band\u2019s 1989 masterpiece. The song was a pleasant and welcome surprise in a set full of great songs, and kicked off over an hour of pure joy and violence. Rob Dukes continues to improve in the frontman role with every passing year. The big man was always active onstage, constantly working the audience or interacting with the axe wielders. As audience members flew about the pit and leaped from the stage, his smile could not have been wider. His voice continues to focus less on screaming and more on traditional thrash metal shouting, a welcome change from the all-out brutality first heard on 2005\u2019s Shovel Headed Killing Machine.<\/p>\n

Then there was of course Gary Holt, a man who has become an absolute thrash metal hero in recent years. His recent gig filling in for Jeff Hanneman from Slayer was near-legendary: Gary recreated the solos more accurately than Jeff himself while the band gave some of their best performances in decades, and the setlists were among their longest ever. Not to mention, there was his massive creative resurgence, having written four Exodus albums in six years, each heavier and more complex than the next. Without a doubt, the man yet again proved his mettle with a commanding live performance. Tech issues, including a broken strap and an unplugged cable, did little to deter him from providing a master class in thrash metal guitar. Whenever he soloed, a large swarm of people seemed to gather near him, no matter where he would move on stage. The same couldn\u2019t be said of Lee Altus, Gary\u2019s equally talented counterpart. Lee, a guitarist who pioneered Exodus\u2019 recent razor-blade guitar tones with his playing on Heathen\u2019s Victims of Deception, seemed content to cede authority to Gary, but still managed to run about the stage and headbang when he could. Lee\u2019s past triumphs were not forgotten by the Hollywood crowd; chaotic shouts of \u201cHeathen!\u201d could be heard upon his introduction from Rob.<\/p>\n

The set managed to be a near-perfect mix of old and new. In addition to The Last Act of Defiance, the other big surprise of the night was Metal Command- a song that sent the pit into a frenzy of fists in the air, banging everywhere. The set was also full of classics such as A Lesson In Violence, Piranha and War Is My Shepherd, which kept the more casual fans happy. Deathamphetamine, Beyond the Pale and Children Of A Worthless God were more than worthy choices to show the audience that modern Exodus tracks are darker, heavier beasts than their thrash classics. Beyond the Pale especially was a highlight of the set, boasting thrashy verses, a mid-tempo NWOBHM chugging section and signature fret-shredding solos from Gary and Lee. It has future Exodus classic written all over it, and I hope the band keep it in their set for years to come.<\/p>\n

Sadly the show was cut short because of time constraints, but the band led the crowd through the most violent version of The Toxic Waltz I have ever seen live or on video, and a jackhammer run of Strike Of The Beast with the customary wall of death thrown in, even if it felt somewhat rushed. According to the written setlist, Brain Dead and Bonded By Blood were cut, but the crowd didn\u2019t seem to care. After the sheer metal massacre induced by The Toxic Waltz, the crowd seemed to invade the stage at an unstoppable rate during the set-closing Strike of the Beast. The entire band seemed to be smiling ear to ear as thrashers young and old leaped off the stage and flew about in the pit.<\/p>\n

To sum up, while I couldn\u2019t say I appreciated the music from the opening bands, Exodus provided seventy-odd minutes of some of the most insane live thrash metal I have ever seen. At the very least, every band turned in respectable performances for a price that couldn\u2019t be beat. And Exodus of course, turned in a typically spectacular performance worthy of their reputation.<\/p>\n

Note: On an objective level, this show deserves a ten out of ten: Anyone who attended the show received an afternoon\u2019s worth of heavy metal music for only the cost of their time. However, I have to note that mixing such disparate genres as deathcore and thrash was not a good idea whatsoever on Scion\u2019s part. While the show certainly attracted greater numbers as a result, I would bet that few fans genuinely enjoyed every band. As such, I feel that the rating should reflect most of the attendees\u2019 general level of satisfaction at the concert as a whole. This is why the overall concert is rated as an eight, despite what I considered performances that ranged from good to flawless.<\/p>\n

Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Avinash Mittur Nov. 12th 2011, The Roxy, Hollywood CA: On a dreary, overcast, Saturday afternoon, metal fans from all over Southern California flocked to the Roxy in Hollywood to see four bands for the amazing price of zero dollars and zero cents. All hailing from the label Nuclear Blast, the bands gave worthy performances … <\/p>\n

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