Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Nina Grad
Venue: Gala hala, Ljubljana
Gig date: May 21, 2012
Attendance: 50
Canadian heavy metal outfit 3 Inches of Blood are no strangers to our stages. We’ve had plenty of chances to catch them here – from their Metal Mania set all the way to their most recent one at Kino Šiška. This time, in the spirit of the Canadian landing on Juno Beach in Normandy, 3 Inches of Blood (if I’m not mistaken, for the first time) stormed into Gala hala as headliners, bringing their brothers-in-arms Havok, Angelus Apatrida and Goatwhore along for the ride.
In front of a measly ten, twenty metal-thirsty souls, American thrashers Havok took the stage a little after eight and carved up the crowd with wreckers from their debut Burn (2009) and its even better follow-up, last year’s Time Is Up. Denver, where Havok come from, isn’t exactly famous for metal, though Cephalic Carnage and Satan’s Host did crawl out of there. The Colorado capital is known for thrash even less, but if Havok are anything to go by, Denver could become the third thrash capital of the US. Havok play thrash exactly the way thrash is supposed to be played – heavy, punchy, fast, aggressive and uncompromising. Even better, they don’t sound like a cheap knockoff of the eighties pioneers, but fresh and youthful. Built on the riffs of Exodus, Slayer and other veterans, Havok have successfully added their own modern twist. The riffs don’t sound like the lines from Bonded By Blood or Reign In Blood that have been chewed over a million times (though you simply have to love those Araya-style »worship« screams from vocalist David), and the songs are high-octane thrash on the scale of the Tsar Bomba, the biggest nuclear bomb ever detonated. The phenomenal sound had roughly the same effect on everyone’s eardrums, making the riffs cut like a scalpel and the drums roar like the Battle of Kursk – and for once, even the rattle of the bass strings was properly mixed. That superb sound carried on right up until 3 Inches of Blood, who were the only band of the night with somewhat worse sound! With raw energy and the swagger of purebred thrash, led by the hits D.O.A. and Covering Fire, Havok easily warmed up the decimated crowd, which came alive thanks to the great vibe onstage and gave the band the loud support they’d earned in blood.
We stayed in thrash waters with the next band too, as the Spaniards of Angelus Apatrida took the stage. They’ve just put out a new record, The Call, and they’re no strangers to Slovenian stages either – this was their third time playing here. After Havok, who played their half hour with such an energy bomb that you’d think the world was ending right after Monday, the Spaniards had a really tough job justifying their spot as the band following Havok. Angelus Apatrida managed to saw through their slice of the evening confidently and energetically, but their take on thrash went down a bit harder. Their riffs aren’t as catchy and take a little longer to lodge in your ear. Their strengths are the beautifully interwoven twin harmonies, the dynamics of the songs (which, at times a bit too much, recall Megadeth), and charismatic vocalist Guillermo. The band served up a thrash paella spiced with extra helpings of the new album The Call, from which the Street Fighter-flavored You Are Next (why Street Fighter? Check out the video!), At the Gates of Hell and the beer ode Fresh Pleasure stuck in my ear most. A few older songs weren’t missing either, led by the title track of their previous album Clockwork.
The biggest genre detour of the night was without a doubt the New Orleans band with the coolest metal name around. Goatwhore! The Goat Whore delivered a serious dose of hard-hitting black/death metal, which the four-piece pulled off in top-notch style. The band is currently made up of members of proven metal names like Nachtmystium, Soilent Green and Crowbar, so nothing less than a black mass dedicated to the goat was to be expected. And what a mass it was! The band didn’t talk much but played all the more, with words replaced by the vocalist Ben’s demonic barking, hellish riffs, a thundering rhythm section and excellent soloing from Sammy Duet, who doesn’t do the cliché death or black metal wankery of pinch harmonics and fast arpeggios, and would sooner find a home in Judas Priest than in Darkthrone. Goatwhore devoted the lion’s share of the set to their recently released Blood for the Master, wedging classics like Carving Out the Eyes of God and Apocalyptic Havoc in between the new tracks. The Americans’ debut blood drive here was more than a success. Blood for Goatwhore!
In fourth place, we finally made it past Niagara Falls to pay tribute to heavy metal and everything that comes with it. Long Live Heavy Metal, said Canada’s 3 Inches of Blood, who you could also call the spiritual successors of Manowar, at least in the sense of playing traditional heavy metal with all the fitting themes – metal, beer, women and fantasy stuff from orcs to knights, gladiators and pirates. But with one big difference: despite their fairly cliché devotion to true metal, 3 Inches of Blood manage to stay credible and avoid sounding like a caricature or a (self-)parody, which today could easily be pinned on the above-mentioned. The Canadians’ new album, title included, sounds like one big homage to Rainbow, and it’s packed with riffs that even Ritchie Blackmore wouldn’t be ashamed of, if he weren’t wasting his time these days picking flowers around castles and strumming a lute. 3 Inches of Blood kicked things off by blowing away every metal babe in the room with Metal Woman, then lined up a selection of songs from the new record, sprinkled with a wreath of older ones, from God of the Cold White Silence (a real metal band can’t be taken seriously if it doesn’t bow to Lovecraftian horror at least once, in this case the »Great Old One« Ithagua) through Isle of Eternal Despair and Trial of Champions (with a guest spot from the Angelus Apatrida guitarist) to the closing The Goatrider’s Horde. The setlist could have used a few more treats, and the band looked a bit tired, especially newcomer Byron Stroud and Cam Pipes, who definitely screamed his heart out but could have given the crowd (admittedly already a little worn out after three bands) a few more words.
It’s been a long time since we hosted a package this good here. It’s truly rare for every act, from the first opener on, to be excellent, which makes it all the sadder that there were barely more of us in Gala hala than members of the whole touring crew – journalists and photographers included, a pitiful fifty. Whether the reasons for such a poor turnout were the rainy Monday, the approaching festivals or exam season doesn’t even matter anymore. It’s just a shame that four killer bands had to play to a half-empty hall and that the promoter probably sank deep into the red. But whatever happened, those of us who were there proved that the title of 3 Inches of Blood’s new album is no empty slogan. Long Live Heavy Metal!
Setlist
HAVOK:
1. No Amnesty
2. Fatal Intervention
3. Morbid Symmetry
4. Out of My Way
5. D.O.A.
6. Covering Fire
7. Afterburner
ANGELUS APATRIDA:
1. You Are Next
2. At the Gates of Hell
3. Clockwork
4. Killer Instinct
5. Blood on the Snow
6. Fresh Pleasure
7. Blast Off
8. Legally Brainwashed
GOATWHORE:
1. Collapse in Eternal Worth
2. Provoking the Ritual of Death
3. The Black Art of Deception
4. In Deathless Tradition
5. Carving Out the Eyes of God
6. Alchemy of the Black Sun Cult
7. When Steel and Bone Meet
8. Invert the Virgin
9. Judgement of the Bleeding Crown
10. An End to Nothing
11. Apocalyptic Havoc
Photo gallery
