DESTRUCTION, INTO ETERNITY, MUNICIPAL WASTE

When I first met the guitarist of Virginia’s MUNICIPAL WASTE during their opening stint for GWAR, Ryan Waste was wearing a rad DESTRUCTION patch on his jean jacket. I commented on how much I liked his patch. He said DESTRUCTION is one of his favorite bands, and MUNICIPAL WASTE would be touring with them this winter along with SADUS. That was one show I had to go see. SADUS would eventually drop off the tour to be replaced by prog death metallers, INTO ETERNITY. INTO ETERNITY does not exactly fit the bill as well as SADUS, but they are one of my favorite bands, so I was not the least disappointed when I found out I would not be seeing SADUS.

This show took place at the Irock in Detroit. The Irock has a rich history. On its walls you can find autographed photos, guitars, and other memorabilia by all the bands that have played this classic venue. The venue’s resume includes FASTER PUSSYCAT, QUIET RIOT, KING DIAMOND, DRAGON LORD, SHADOWS FALL, IN FLAMES, OPETH, AMORPHIS, ENSLAVED, LAMB OF GOD, GOD FORBID, DYING FETUS and many more. It is a kind of Hard Rock Café for real metal heads.

The first band of the night was a local band called REAPER. Often venues start a show out with a band that doesn’t fit the prevailing music style of the night. That was not the case with REAPER. This group was all metal. The singer had his face painted like SLAYER in the early portion of their career—black paint around the eyes—which gave him a sinister look to accompany his quasi-death metal vocals. The group slashed and burned through a hard-hitting set of thrashy death metal. Michigan is loaded with local talent, I saw two prominent metal bands in the crowd, NOCTURNAL FEAR and ULTRATHRASH, and so it comes as no surprise that I haven’t heard of REAPER. After the way they played, I know the name well, and I’m sure many others left with their named imprinted in their minds.

MUNICIPAL WASTE has been gaining much notoriety in the modern metal scene as of late. Earache Records has pushed the band with seemingly all their available resources. The group has just reissued its Earache debut ‘Hazardous Mutation’ with a bonus DVD, and just finished a successful stint opening for GWAR. All the promotion paid off because it seemed like their fan base was much stronger at this show compared to the GWAR show. Even though more people were there to see the evening’s headliner, DESTRUCTION, MUNICIPAL WASTE did the most to fire up the crowd. Blazing through several fast hardcore/thrash songs, the group had the crowd constantly pitting, running around hitting each other as fast as they can, in circle pit formation. Songs like “Unleash the Bastards,” “The Thrashing of the Christ,” and “Deathripper” where yelled with fist-pumping conviction by those in the crowd who knew this band, which was much of the crowd. Bassist, Landphil usually started the group’s metallic engine with fast, punk rock rhythms, which create a rhythm for guitarist Ryan Waste to blaze forth with carpentunel-causing speed licks and for Tony Foresta to fire lyrics machine gun style. Dave Witte kept the pace with ambidextrous rolls and fills. The Waste was the ideal band for DESTRUCTION to take on the road with them with their thrashing style and unbridled energy. MUNICIPAL WASTE tries their hand with Swedish thrash next, going on the road with THE HAUNTED in Europe.

INTO ETERNITY took the stage next. Like I said before, INTO ETERNITY seemed the odd one out of the bunch playing progressive death metal as opposed to thrash. Many hardcore thrashers could be heard voicing their opinion on Stu Block’s clean vocal style. The ear-piercing highs Block achieves are comparable to Rob Halford or David Wayne. Because some of the crowd was older and probably listened to high-pitched vocalists in the eighties, they were able to appreciate this style more so than the younger punks and thrashers. Also, INTO ETERNITY had its own loyal fan base that was there to see them as much as any other band playing that night.

The group opened with their opening track from their latest album ‘The Scattering of Ashes,’ “Severe Emotional Distress.” This song was a great one to open with due to its captivating chorus line. Block had much of the crowding singing, “separate the anguish, separate this fear, separate from sadness, now I see things much too clear.” Block hit both his low growls and high wails without flaw. INTO ETERNITY is such a fun band to watch play live because you can sing along to their gripping lyrics, bang your head to their chugging death riffs and pounding drums or stop and marvel in their guitarist’s technical proficiency. You can do all this in one song. That is what I did when they played two of my favorites from the ‘Buried in Oblivion’ album. The first track from the said album ‘Splintered Visions’ had me staring in agog at the Malmstein like scale work of guitarist Tim Roth. This part really had the crowd anticipating the ultra heavy death metal bridge, which got the crowd moving and energized each fan’s singing during the clean vocal parts. The other song from that album that always gets me is “Spiraling into Depression.” The riff leading up to the chorus is so intense; it’s like an intense battle for your psyche. The death metal parts as well as the clean parts in this song were sung perfectly. INTO ETERNITY is a rare band with expert musicians who can write a catchy, heavy, and technical song. Expect this band to break out in a major way. Look for them next on tour with DARK TRANQUILITY (their second tour with these Swedes) and THE HAUNTED.

Although watching MUNICIPAL WASTE and INTO ETERNITY was a treat, DESTRUCTION was my top priority for the night. I saw MUNICIPAL WASTE on their last tour with GWAR and I saw INTO ETERNITY on a small clubs, headlining tour a couple years ago, but I have never seen DESTRUCTION. Not only did I miss them play last year on the Metal Crusaders tour with KATAKLYSM, VADER, and GRAVEWORM, I missed the ultimate German speed metal tour featuring them and their mates, KREATOR. I would be damned if I were going to miss them this time. The group would be performing material mostly from their ‘Thrash Anthems’ album—the group’s latest album, which is a re-recording of their classic period, the eighties; also, the era that featured vocalist Marcel “Schmier“ Schirmer. Other than newer classics like “The Butcher Strickes Back” and “Nailed to the cross,” the oldies ruled the day, which is what most fans paid their money to see.

Coming out amidst fog, a variety of lights (which made for bad pictures), and two large, side banners featuring the logo for ‘Metal Discharge,’ the group opened with “Curse the Gods.” Other tracks like “Mad Butcher,” “Unconscious Ruins,” “Life without Sense,” and “Invincible Force” had the crowd head banging to the point of whiplash. I’m sure many of those rabid head bangers would be feeling it in their neck and back the next day. I’m still sore and it has been four days since the show. Most of the crowd was in their twenties or thirties, which makes DESTRUCTION all the more amazing for their steadfastness. The group must be in their forties, but here they are thrashing, pounding away at furious speed, and banging their head nonstop every night. Also, Schirmer can still hit his high pitch screams. I commented to a friend how he still has it while Tom Araya from SLAYER doesn’t even attempt those anymore. And DESTRUCTION has been doing it just as long as SLAYER, since ’82.

DESTRUCTION’s sound was a bit muddy for the first couple of songs, but was cleared up shortly. The volume was something to praise. I put down my camera in front of a stack and my ears were blown to pieces. Once the sound was fixed they played my personal favorites “Bestial Invasion” and “Death Trap.” Those two songs have some of the best speed picking in all of speed metal/thrash. If the mix isn’t right the two, muffled speed picked sections are not as audible. The mix was perfect, though, and each note was audible.

The group did “Total Disaster” as an encore then played the second version of “Mad Butcher” “The Butcher Strikes Back.” What a great way to end the night! DESTRUCTION may not be the fastest band in this day and age of death metal and grindcore, but if you want to see a band put on a good performance who will assail your body and ears with killer thrash riffs, put down twenty bucks and watch one of the originators of speed and black metal kick your ass! If your sorry ass missed these speed metal legends, don't worry; they announced they will be back in the States with SODOM and KREATOR!

Head over to the Metalcentre gallery for pictures of the show.