I often hesitate before I type certain statements. Of course, what writer doesn’t, but more often than not, I find myself questioning how much truth I’m putting down. No self-respecting writer wants to publish hyperbole; it is the enemy of serious writing. With that, I think it is safe to say that heavy metal music has been experiencing a renaissance. With festivals like Sick New World, Mayhem, Metal Injection’s inaugural Summer Slaughter (upcoming), and massive world tours with sonically packed lineups like Chaos and Carnage, it’s a hell of a time to be a metal fan.
The new has worn the influence of the old on their sleeves and, quite frankly, I think they’re the better for it. Of those older bands, there is one band that arguably is the progenitor of the entire Death Metal genre. I’m speaking, of course, of Chuck Shuldiner’s Death, a band who, throughout their tenure, both started and elevated the genre until Shuldiner’s untimely death in 2001. His legacy is continued by his past collaborators, who have all proven themself as legends in the scene over the years with the tribute project Death To All, who just blasted their way across America with Canadian death metal stalwarts Cryptopsy and thrash masters Aggression, paying tribute to the first and final Death albums, Scream Bloody Gore and The Sound of Perseverance over the course of two days per city.
Thus, I found myself traveling to Downtown Los Angeles’ Regent Theatre for two days of thrashy, progressive, grindy, death metal.
6/27 Day 1
Aggression, from Canada, joined the tour as it was already in progress following shows in Vancouver and opened with oldskool fast as fuck thrash metal. These guys were having a great time, even being pressed so far forward on the stage. While they were forced into a somewhat early time slot owing to their late addition to the tour roster, they still had a decent number of people present to witness their prowess as they plucked songs from their older records in keeping with a theme of classics for night one.
Cryptopsy came out the gate swinging, playing Metallica’s “For Whom The Bell Tolls” on the PA before blasting into a set composed of the first 2 songs from their first three albums and finished by standouts from Blasphemy Made Flesh and None So Vile. If I had to compare them to another death metal band, the most obvious answer is Cannibal Corpse, but that comparison shouldn’t downplay their individuality in the genre. They combine a love of brutality, blasphemy, and gore and excel with speed, precision, and technical prowess. It was revealed that this year was the 30th anniversary of their first album, the aforementioned Blasphemy Made Flesh which brought a huge cheer from the crowd as they closed their set with “Benedictine Convulsions.”
Death To All is an all-star lineup of Chuck Shuldiner’s ex-bandmates and friends, as I said before, and they are tight heavyweights who rip their way through some truly old-school death metal classics that have influenced the genre more than anyone can begin to imagine. Featuring Gene Hoglan (Dark Angel, Testament) on drums, Steve DiGiorgio on bass (Testament, Sadus), Bobby Koelble (Death) on guitar, and Max Phelps (Obscura, ex-Cynic) on vocals/guitar, the band truly kicked ass, playing the entirety of Scream Bloody Gore while including classics from Leprosy and Spiritual Healing.
The sound and lighting were on point for night one, but unfortunately, the security lead seemed to think that the photographer’s safety was in jeopardy by crowd surfers, and within the first 45 seconds of the set, we were suddenly ejected from the barricade section we had been shooting from all night. It was both upsetting and disappointing and led to less-than-stellar photography on my end as a result. Screw that guy.
Steve DiGiorgio was the de facto hype man of the evening, taking moments between songs to talk about the history of the band and hype up the crowd, which Gene Hogland also took a few opportunities to get into. A hell of a first night was had.
6/28 Day Two
The great thing about playing two nights in one town is that the bands get a day off the road to rest and prepare. As such, Aggression’s set had an extra ferocity to it, likely owing to that full day of rest. The set consisted of contemporary material but had the same edge as their classic set from the day before. The band looked like they were having a damn good time and the audience was eating up every minute of it.
If you can believe it, Cryptopsy was even more brutal and intense than they were the night before. Delivering a set of breakneck paced death metal favoring the more recent As Gomorrah Burns album as well as classics from None So Vile and a smattering from The Book of Suffering: Tomes I & II.
Death To All’s second evening felt even more packed than the previous night, even though both nights were sold out. Thankfully, we photographers were given our customary first three songs at the Barricade this time. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who had some sharp words and questions about it.
Playing the entirety of The Sound of Perseverance and including tracks from Human, Individual Thought Patterns, and Symbolic, the band was fresh, tight, and tore the place apart. The songs on these albums are some of Death’s most progressive and technical material from their entire catalog. The boys brought it full force, including a ripping cover of Judas Priest’s “Painkiller,” as it is in the album’s tracklist, before the closing encore. All said and done it was two nights of sweaty, smiling metalheads losing their minds to some damn good metal music and for those of us who never got to experience Death while Shuldiner was alive, it was certainly the closest we’ll ever get.
