Review by Greg Maki
The doors of The Fillmore Silver Spring might as well have been the entrance to a time machine when the Metal Alliance Tour rolled into town. Outside, the sun still shone on a beautiful spring day in 2013. Inside, it was 1987 all over again, with a predominantly male audience with lots of hair and denim, and plenty of sore necks the next day after a night of headbanging.
I’m not complaining or making fun. Born in 1979, I didn’t really get to experience the heyday of thrash metal in the 1980s. So this, with headliners Anthrax performing its 1987 album “Among the Living” in its entirety, is probably the closest I’ll to get.
Holy Grail, with two albums under its belt, the newest act on the bill, kicked off the show with a blend of classic, power and thrash metal. While frontman James Paul Luna’s high-pitched vocals might be an acquired taste for some (I like them just fine), the guitar heroics of axemen Eli Santana and Alex Lee were undeniable. This is a band to watch in the genre.
Up next, Shadows Fall delivered a pummeling, much-too-short, 30-minute set. When vocalist Brian Fair, with dreadlocks nearly to his ankles now, unleashes his full fury, he is a sight to behold onstage. The real superstar of the band is lead guitarist Jonathan Donais, whose solos go a long way toward separating Shadows Fall from the rest of its metalcore brethren (more on Donais later). Devastating live sets like this have been the norm for the band over the years, and it has released a handful of solid albums, as well, so I cannot figure out why Shadows Fall never has been able to make that jump up to the next level and find the success of a band like Lamb of God, for example. Whether they get the recognition they deserve or not, they’re one of the best at what they do.
Throwback thrashers Municipal Waste, from nearby Virginia, created more of a party atmosphere with songs such as “The Thrashin’ of the Christ,” “Beer Pressure,” “Terror Shark,” “Mind Eraser” and “The Art of Partying.” But they also took some time to get “political”—on a “song” that lasted about a second, consisting of only two notes and two words, called “Black Prez.” Their set offered the purest fun of the evening.
By the time Exodus took the stage, the crowd, which had been a little sparse for the earlier bands, had filled in nicely, and the response they gave the band befit a headliner. I saw Exodus three years ago in Baltimore, supporting Megadeth. I don’t know how or why, but judging from the reaction at this show, this veteran band has made quite a resurgence since then. Frontman Rob Dukes has a look that suggests hardcore, but led by the twin guitar attack of Gary Holt (who splits his time between Exodus and Slayer these days) and Lee Altus, Exodus was all metal, perfectly setting the stage for the main event.
When it comes to Anthrax, I’m more a fan of the John Bush era forward than I am of the “classic” period. So the set list on this tour was not one I would have chosen, especially when the latest release, 2011’s “Worship Music,” its first with vocalist Joey Belladonna in more than two decades, still feels fresh. But playing “Among the Living” fit with the retro feel of the evening, and it was clever how they divided the album between “side one” and “side two,” and slipped some other songs—including “In the End” from “Worship Music” and a cover of the AC/DC classic “T.N.T.” from the newly released “Anthems” EP—in between.
Rhythm guitarist Scott Ian, who had missed the previous two shows due to a bout of food poisoning, made his return and played with the same fire and energy you would expect under normal circumstances. Because a full-time replacement has not yet been found for Rob Caggiano, who left the band at the start of the year, Jonathan Donais of Shadows Fall ably handled lead guitar duties.
The real story to me, though, is Belladonna. Young metal singers need to talk to him and take notes. Find out what he has been doing during the past couple decades because whatever it is, it’s working. At 52, his voice is stronger and more versatile than ever. With a set list featuring album tracks from “Among the Living” rarely played live over the years and Belladonna in top form, I hope they recorded at least one show on this tour. That’s a live album I would love to hear.
The best part of the time machine idea I floated at the beginning of this review is that, of course, it doesn’t exist. This tour happened in 2013, and the rabid fans who attended exist in 2013. Thrash metal is alive and well.
ANTHRAX SET LIST: “Among the Living,” “Caught in a Mosh,” “I am the Law,” “Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.),” “A Skeleton in the Closet,” “In the End,” “T.N.T.,” “Madhouse,” “Indians,” “One World,” “A.D.I./Horror of it All,” “Got the Time,” “Imitation of Life,” “I’m the Man,” “Antisocial”
LINKS
www.anthrax.com
www.exodusattack.com
www.facethewaste.com
www.shadowsfall.com
www.holygrailofficial.com
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