EXODUS, EVILE & GAMA BOMB
LEEDS RIOS 09/04/08
The queue is only a fraction the size of the one for Paganfest two days ago, and yet the venue is still too rammed to move (well, without spilling your beer at least). It is nights like tonight when you can really notice the step down in size from the old Rios location in Bradford. Asmodia have been kicking around for a few years now, and have recently returned following somewhat of a hiatus with a new line up, although I managed to miss their opening set, arriving just in time to catch Gama Bomb. I was rather thrilled when I heard these Irish nutters would be playing tonight after seeing them alongside Evile, at Full Thrash Assault ’07. Tonight Gama Bomb demonstrate that all their practice is paying off as their comical take on the thrash genre is played with a sharper and more refined edge than their makeshift performance of yesteryear. Their set is comprised of tracks taken from their forthcoming album Citizen Brain, although those who are already familiar with Gama Bomb should know tracks like ‘Hammer Slammer’, ‘Final Fight’ and ‘Zombi Brew’. Tonight they manage to win over a good portion of the crowd, although there’s still a feeling that we’ve not heard the best of them yet.
Having only just returned from an arduous trek across Europe with thrash titans Megadeth, Evile’s stature continues to grow with tonight being their third Exodus support of the tour and it’s a job to count the number of Evile shirts sported in the audience tonight. The days of this Huddersfield four piece tripping about on tiny stages, playing to twenty-or-so apathetic kids and a handful of hardcore thrashers are surely a thing of the past, as tonight they look completely at home on the larger stage with them looking as confident as a band who have been at it for a decade. Evile always put on a great show, and tonight is no exception. ‘Bathe In Blood’, and fan favourite ‘We Who Are About To Die’ are played with vigour and pure thrash spirit. ‘Enter The Grave’? Well I doubt there’s any risk of Evile doing that just yet!
Exodus are no strangers to touring the UK although I’ve always managed to miss them. Perhaps one of the reasons I haven’t made more of an effort to catch them recently is due to the fact that Rob Dukes’ vocals haven’t really spoken to me on the same level as Souza or Baloff did and I presumed that no way could the current vocalist do some of my favourite Exodus classics the justice they deserve.
Tonight I mentally made my peace with Rob Dukes, after hearing his meaty vocals applied to the likes of ‘Piranha’ and ‘Metal Command’, as he growls the lyrics out with an authentic rage and ferociousness that is almost contagious. The frontman has a charisma to match his rotund physique as he engages in crowd banter about football, leading into a loutish chant of “You fat bastard” which he takes in great spirit. Gary Holt and Lee Altus work out a powerhouse of crunchy riffage as they hammer through old and new tracks alike, including ‘Children of a Worthless God’, ‘Deathamphetamine’ and the venomous ‘Black List’. While the more recent tracks get the crowd singing along, it’s clear that the majority are there to hear the classics, and thankfully they deliver, as they return for an encore of ‘And Then There Were None’ and ‘Toxic Waltz’, which ended the night on a solid thrashing high.
Luci Herbert
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