Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Nina Grad
Venue: Orto bar / Ljubljana
Concert date: 20.04.2017
Anyone who claims thrash is dead and buried should have been at Thursday’s gig (headlined, first and foremost, by Warbringer, Havok and Exmortus, plus Gorod, even if they play a different genre), because it was living proof that thrash is alive and kicking. We got one of the best tours to hit Orto in a long while, and the turnout was a pleasant surprise too: the big hall at Orto bar was packed practically to the rafters.
First on stage were California death/thrash metallers Exmortus. It was their first time playing here, but by the end of their set they’d still pulled a nice crowd in front of the stage for the opening act. At their core, Exmortus play a typical mix of death and thrash metal, but what sets them apart from the flood of similar bands is the technical, neoclassical elements they weave into their music. Guitarists Jadran »Conan« Gonzalez and David Rivera lead the charge here, firing off fretboard pyrotechnics that even Yngwie »I-am-god« Malmsteen wouldn’t be ashamed of. Thankfully, Exmortus don’t overdo it: they’re still a quality, melodic death/thrash metal band at heart, and the neoclassical bits are a nice shot of freshness for a pretty worn-out genre. In half an hour Exmortus showed the Ljubljana crowd their best side and said goodbye with Metal Is King, during which Gonzalez and Rivera pulled off a spectacular trick, soloing on each other’s guitars with their bodies crossed.
The “black sheep” of the night was undoubtedly Gorod, and not just because of their nationality, as they were the only European band on the bill, but also because of a style rooted deep in technical death metal. The French have played our stages before, so they weren’t total strangers, and more people were waiting for them in front of the stage than for Exmortus. In a solid half hour, Gorod put a good chunk of their latest album A Maze of Recycled Creeds on display, threw in a few older tracks, and shoved Orto into a blender of technical death metal full of constant tempo and rhythm changes and interweaving guitar and bass lines, which the guitar trio passed around like snails stuffed with cheese of the noblest mold. The mood on stage was relaxed the whole time, with plenty of goofing around, and medals go to bassist Benoit for his popping and for abusing his bass, and to vocalist Julien, who looks like Eros Ramazotti at San Remo rather than a death metal vocalist. Julien thanked the crowd several times in nicely fluent Slovenian, and for cranking up the tempo and the temperature, Gorod deserve a big »hvala lepa« in return!
Warbringer are also old friends of our stages, so you know exactly what to expect from them every time: nothing less than a proper thrash war. This time was no different. In fact, Orto hasn’t seen thrash this fierce in a long while. Warbringer came back this year after a short silence during which their very existence was in question, returning to the battlefield with a slightly changed lineup and their fifth studio album, Woe to the Vanquished. With it, Warbringer came back strong and hungry for blood, and they proved it at Orto, greeting the crowd with the first half of the new album. The riffs in these songs may not hit as hard as they did in guitarist John Laux’s days, but Warbringer remain one of the best young thrash outfits around. The credit goes first and foremost to the mad frontman John Kevill, who comes across on stage as a mix of the crazed, psychotic Sergeant Hartman from Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket and Paul Baloff’s »kill the posers« attitude. A real thrash frontman, in other words! Kevill and his thrash soldiers had no trouble getting Orto moshing like the hall hasn’t seen in a long time, and even more so for the wall of death, and Warbringer burned Orto to the ground with the crushers Living Weapon, Combat Shock and Total War. Seeing Warbringer on the second stage at this year’s Metaldays is therefore mandatory!
After Warbringer’s stellar show, Havok had a very tough and thankless job. They did it with distinction and confidence, but still didn’t leave the same impression as their predecessors. Havok also visited Ljubljana with a new record, Conformicide, greeting Orto with an ominous pre-recorded intro of someone reading a bit of Orwell’s novel 1984 (»If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever«) and then hitting the gas with Point of No Return. Havok gave the new album plenty of room, won people over with excellent stage energy and a top-notch sound, and frontman David Sanchez was in good vocal form, but sadly they just couldn’t match Warbringer’s punch this time. Still, they proved that alongside Warbringer they’re probably the best young thrash duo on the scene right now, and with bands like these, there’s no need to worry about the genre’s future.
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