Rockhal, Esch sur Alzette, Luxembourg19th June 2019
Anthrax, Death Angel, Alien Weaponry
After being celebrated as a second headliner on SLAYER’s farewell tour in November/ December 2018, ANTHRAX were back at the Grand-Duchy. After many festival appearances like on the Rock Hard Festival, the band is not missing to perform in concert halls. With them were DEATH ANGEL and the younger New Zealanders ALIEN WEAPONRY.
Alien Weaponry
ALIEN WEAPONRY is a Heavy Metal band from Waipu, New Zealand, formed in 2010 by brothers Henry and Lewis de Jong. The band consists of Lewis de Jong (guitar and vocals), Henry de Jong (drums), and Ethan Trembath (bass guitar). All three members have Māori ancestry and several of their songs are written in the Māori language.
Music & Performance
Three long-haired teenagers, who look more like the newly formed student metal band from the local youth centre, entered the stage and after a short Haka-Intro they started with their Mid-tempo Thrash. ALIEN WEAPONRY are the current young talents and shooting stars of the thrash scene. ‘Tū’, the debut of the New Zealanders, was released on Napalm Records, followed by appearances at festivals like Wacken or Summer Breeze. Musically oriented to New Zealand myths and culture, thundering heavy rolls broke loose here. Stylistically somewhere between SEPULTURA and RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, it was a mixture of dynamic and joyful movement. It’s really impressive what kids at this age are able to do. Unfortunately there is one point of criticism: the voice of the vocalist was not rough or evil enough, it sounded more like the friendly neighbour boy.
Somewhere here lies a stylistic break that can’t get out of your head, because with a harder voice this band couldn’t be stopped anymore.
Setlist
01. PC Bro
02. Holding My Breath
03. Ahi Ka
04. Kai Tangata
05. Whispers
06. Raupatu
07. Rū Ana Te Whenua
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 6
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 6.8 / 10
Death Angel
DEATH ANGEL is an American Thrash Metal band from Daly City, California, initially active from 1982 to 1991 and again since 2001. DEATH ANGEL has released nine studio albums, two demo tapes, one box set and two live albums. The band has gone through several line-up changes, leaving guitarist Rob Cavestany as the only constant member; he and vocalist Mark Osegueda (who joined the group in 1984) are the only members of DEATH ANGEL to appear on all of their studio albums. They are also often credited as one of the leaders of the second wave of thrash metal movement from the 1980s, and considered to be one of the “big eight” of the genre (along with METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER, ANTHRAX, TESTAMENT, EXODUS and OVERKILL).
Music & Performance
With DEATH ANGEL, the first thrash legend of the evening came on stage at 8.20pm after a short break. Since DEATH ANGEL see the title track of their latest work ‘Humanicide’ as a continuation of ‘Thrown To The Wolves’, it was almost indispensable that the show was opened with exactly this song. Afterwards, the first notes of ‘Claws in So Deep’ could hardly be heard. The frontman was very present and fan close. A title from the newer 2016 album ‘The Evil Divide’ followed. ‘Father of Lies’ thundered out of the speakers, the band was wrapped in colourful lights and you could look into several happy faces in front of the stage. The band once again showed their enthusiasm very clearly that evening. Guitarist Rob Cavestany happily switched from one guitar to another while giving his all. Bass player Damien Sisson flirted with each and every cell phone camera and was as always in a good mood. Then finally the first notes of the current title track ‘Humanicide’, obviously longed for by many, sounded. Shortly afterwards the band finished off with ‘Kill As One / The Ultra Violence’.
The front rows gave their all for a last time. Then the lights went on, the roadies quickly started to clean up the stage and the crowd was definitely ready for ANTHRAX.
Setlist
01. Thrown to the Wolves
02. Claws in So Deep
03. Father of Lies
04. The Moth
05. Lost
06. Humanicide
07. Kill as One
08. The Ultra-Violence
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 5
Total. 7.3 / 10
Anthrax
ANTHRAX is an American Heavy Metal band from New York City, formed in 1981 by rhythm guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Dan Lilker. The group is considered one of the leaders of the thrash metal scene from the 1980s and is one of the “Big Four” Thrash Metal bands with METALLICA, MEGADETH, and SLAYER; ANTHRAX is the only one of the four from the East Coast, and often credited as one of the early Thrash Metal bands to emerge from there, along with OVERKILL and NUCLEAR ASSAULT. The band has released 11 studio albums, several other albums, and 26 singles, including collaborating on a single with American hip hop group PUBLIC ENEMY. According to Nielsen SoundScan, ANTHRAX sold 2.5 million records in the United States from 1991 to 2004, with worldwide sales of 10 million.
Music & Performance
As a band of the notorious “Big Four”, ANTHRAX fit like a fist on the eye as headliner. But before they started IRON MAIDEN were celebrated as if they were on stage right now. ‘Number Of The Beast’ fades away and ANTHRAX start without detours with ‘Caught in A Mosh’. After two songs Scott Ian got an ego moment: placed quite in the middle and illuminated alone. Before that, bassist Frank Bello was the focus of the intro to the Joe Jackson cover ‘Got the Time’. Shouter Joey Belladonna swept over the stage like a young god and showed no signs of fatigue over the entire set. The front man had something to say again and again and gesticulated occasionally during the songs and especially during the instrumental parts of his colleagues with the audience.
The fraction around Scott Ian and Jonathan Donnas conjured great riffs out of their sleeves, while bassist Frank Bello ran wildly across the stage and Charlie Benante beat his drums thoroughly. If the band had a pedometer, the number would be very high at the end, because everyone feels constantly moving. ANTHRAX know of course that it doesn’t matter what they do on stage as long as they play their classics. Their eighties albums are common property, so it definitely makes a good party mood when they are presented passably. No sooner said than done. Of the songs played, only two were newer ones on the setlist. So the band added real classics like the TRUST cover ‘Antisocial’ or ‘Indians’ for the encore. Thus the end result is a solid performance that showed that it is much easier to simply take the old classics instead of establishing a modern headliner.
Whoever has the opportunity to watch ANTHRAX live somewhere this summer is sure to make the most of it, the troupe has been around for several years, but hasn’t become any quieter.
Setlist
01. Caught in A Mosh
02. Got the Time (Joe Jackson cover)
03. Madhouse
04. Be all, End all
05. Breathing Lightning
06. I Am the Law
07. Medusa
08. Now It’s Dark
09. Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)
10. In the end
11. A.I.R.
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12. Antisocial (Trust cover)
13. Indians
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 9
Total 8.8 / 10
All pictures by Elena Arens
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