ARCHENEMY, BLOODSHEDD, MORTAL FEAR, BADBURN, INTOLERANT

For you blokes living in cushy England, Poland, Russia, North Pole, or anywhere between the United States and the European Union, it’s hard to imagine the bleak prospects metalheads contend with a world away. (In the Philippines to be specific.) Not only is local talent scarce (total creative output: three or four albums a year, sometimes less), but quality shows are nonexistent. Or WERE nonexistent until an enterprising music magazine began bringing over heavy metal bands a coupla years ago. Starting with SHADOWS FALL back in ’08, followed by DARKEST HOUR and MAHATMA then uh, Shadows Fall again last summer, the latest were Sweden’s melo-death titans ARCHENEMY who finally had their first exposure to a Filipino audience (and vice versa) four days ago. The fans came in their dozens.

Yeah, disappointing, that. HailnKill showed up early with a school buddy of his and a ‘hardboard’ guitar. What’s that last item, you ask? Well, a hardboard guitar is a cardboard cutout of a real guitar. It saves one from the hassle of just air guitaring. You can even color it your favorite red or pink if you want. Having the forethought to bring his own faux instrument for maximum pleasure gratified HailnKill to no end, him being a nutty free spirit y’know?

Anyway, so the humongous venue was scarcely filled (say one fifth…or less) when INTOLERANT, the first opening act, came onstage. Their groove thrash pmmeled everyone’s ears for a while and once done, this other band named BADBURN cooked up a storm with their brand of chunky metalcore. A coupla death metal quintets followed, namely MORTAL FEAR and BLOODSHEDD, both of whom will be releasing albums in a few month’s time, before the lights went down and ARCHENEMY’s crew prepped the stage.

After what seemed an eternity of 80’s and early 90’s thrash n’ death metal over the PA, the much anticipated headliners came in and did an spine tingling “Blood on Your Hands” off of their acclaimed 2007 album “Rise of the Tyrant.” Barely missing a heartbeat, Archenemy immediately unleashed the guitar wickedry of “Ravenous” before the hammering “Taking Back My Soul” got the moshpit brigade moving. Ms. Angela Gossow didn’t engage in any banter till four songs deep, greeting everyone even if ‘everyone’ only numbered a few hundred at best. She also dedicated a song to the spirit of Filipino people for rebuilding their capital city Manila after the destruction wrought by World War 2 some 60 odd years ago. Charming, though WW2 history isn’t taken seriously by Filipinos. But Angela’s hot in real life, looking better than her pictures, and her growls are monstrous so she can say anything.

The truth is HailnKill may have had the sense to bring a hardboard guitar but not a camera, so no pics. (The boss man here at Metalcentre is gonna kick his arse for this.) Said hardboard guitar was destroyed in the middle of a swirling moshpit, which is HailnKill’s favorite spot in ANY concert, while ARCHENEMY kept busy slaying the crowd with songs from the “Doomsday Machine,” “Rise of the Tyrant,” and “Burning Bridges” albums. A drum solo, two guitar driven instrumentals—“Intermezzo Liberte” and “Snow Bound”—plus a three hit knockout of “Dead Eyes See No Future,” “We Will Rise,” and “Nemesis” made the night memorable for those present. Despite the poor showing, ARCHENEMY disported themselves, why, perfectly. They’re a great live band and Angela just loves eliciting “Hey-hey-hey!” chants from the audience to keep the worshipful hordes horny. Boiling circle pits, tons of air guitar wankery, a vicious wall of death, it was a wonderful evening. Better than sex.

As ARCHENEMY bowed out and threw stuff at the audience, HailnKill rushed the barrier between the VIP ticketholders and the masses (that’s him and his mates) to blow Angela a few hundred flying kisses, screaming at the top of his voice “Angela, call me!” Oh, and those two Amott brothers were pretty tight as well, though Christopher was rather sullen. He was probably too engrossed with his impecable chops.
The saying goes you can never capture the ecstasy of a great concert, so HailnKill simply conclude this account by stating ARCHENEMY are the sex. Total Euro porn.