Tuesday November 5th, The Legends Of Thrash Tour presented by Columbus Events Group swept through Columbus stopping at the Alrosa Villa like a loud sonic whirlwind as bodies crashed and collided into each other in the pit like a human tornado of souls.
LA’s young guns Warbringer brought the early battle cry with Germany’s Euro-thrash hero’s Kreator screaming in at over 30 years of devastation and New Jersey’s green lit thrash veterans Overkill who’ve been on a screeching bat-winged blitz-krieg since 1980. Tonight was stop number seven on the twenty-four date North American Tour.
It’s a double fisted metal spiked, thrash hammer to the face and guitar shredding to the ear as Overkill continues touring in The Electric Age and Kreator brings America the Phantom Antichrist. With Warbringer bringing their new October released Warbringer IV: Empires Collapse to the state capital, promoting their new video for Black Sun, Black Moon. Filmed in the forbidding desolation of the Mojave Desert under pitch-black nightfall, Black Sun is a vintage highway throwback to Judas Priest.
The war begins as they open fire with the razor-sharp riffs and cutting edge technology via science of the hunter-killer, the Living Weapon. The pit opens immediately as we wake into the nightmare of Severed Reality staring into the black murky void before us. John Kevill hand chops the crowd samurai style summoning their energy ready for a throat-slicing good time. The Turning of the Gears is what we hear tonight but for them it’s day after day, year after year. When it’s over John Kevill’s yell, John Laux and Jeff Potts’ guitars will still be stuck in our ears.
They tear across the dusk lit illusive highway under the mystic fading blaze and rising glow of the Black Sun, Black Moon. Scars Remain from the pit of inner pain, as you’re Living in a Whirlwind of addiction and mother nature’s metal fury. They break out classic Exodus, Sepultura inspired Combat Shock. As Laux and Potts throttle blasted their guitars, Kevill called for one more pit before the show ended. Want musical pestilence, famine and conquest, Warbringer cometh.
Kreator bathed in a feast of strobes came forth as Mars Mantra played, opening with the obliterating Phantom Antichrist conjuring up a pit at will. Destroy this fucker! Mille Petrozza yelled starting From Flood Into Fire harnessing the energy from all sides. Columbus, The Kreator has returned! They bring out the madness of the Reich on Warcurse, splitting the crowd in two, preparing the biggest pit of the night. Counting to four in German he wanted to see what a floor wide Ohio Coma of Souls circle pit looked like, in return they gave us Endless Pain. Are you ready to kill? Are you ready to kill, each other… Pleasure to Kill. It’s everyone against everyone in the Hordes of Chaos, a Necrologue for gladiators and ‘pit’ fighters alike.
Petrozza shreds reveling in the roaring feedback before calling for a dance floor thrash pummeling Riot of Violence. Purity and innocence are killed by the Enemy of God. A paranoid Phobia forms, is someone following you? The Patriarch roars over its metal family warning of Violent Revolution. Sami Yli Sirnio plays the acoustic into United in Hate. Let there be darkness tonight with the Civilization Collapse.
Petrozza brings the flag of Kreation on stage waving its emblem high and proud. They tease Billie Jean’s bass intro and drums on Painkiller before finishing with Flag of Hate and unleashing the Tormentor. The Kreator will return!
The legendary East Coast wrecking crew opened old school with Deny the Cross. We get modern-day Ironbound with Bring Me the Night. Blitz asks for/demands crowd noise, he’s got fuckin’ high standards, you better fuckin’ remember that shit. We watched them shake and bake with the Electric Rattlesnake and got knocked on our ass like a Hammerhead via 1985. Blitz grins announcing “it’s an old school fucking show tonight. You motherfuckers get uglier every year.” Because Columbus is Rotten to the Core! From the back alleys and street sludge of Franklin County, welcome to the mother fuckin’ gutter! Ohio’s one hell of a metal state and together we’re strong, together we’re Ironbound!
Wrecking necks for over 30 years with 16 records, 2 live albums, 2 DVD’s and a video-documentary; you know they’re doing fine, basking in the light of the Necroshine. The days Horrorscope said, Thanx for Nothin’ so take a trip with the pale rider at midnight to Overkill and seal your fate. Time to quit fuckin’ around and pay attention, long ago and far away like a runaway train the record was called The Years of Decay. Time for some E-limination!
Encoring with Horrorscope, Skullkrushers worldwide know when you go see the ‘kill and it’s time for the last song, you don’t wanna sound like a pussy. Columbus, we don’t care what you say, FUCK YOU!
Photography by Samantha Stewart.
