Glasgow has always had a hungry appetite for heavy music, and this night at the O2 Academy that fact was made absolutely clear. Myself arriving late, there was a mass of people still outside waiting to get into the venue and once in it was apparent why. The place was absolutely packed to the brim full of metalheads across generations, from old heads to younger faces seeing some of these bands live for the first time (myself included). From the moment I stepped through the main door of the venue, I immediately realised that tonight was going to be a proper night.
NAILS
An unfortunate hit with Glasgow traffic meant arriving mid-set, missing out on the opening songs entirely. But arriving blind with zero expectations and no prior knowledge of the band, what I seen and proceeded to unfold made a statement. Coming all the way from the USA, Los Angeles they put on an unstoppable force igniting the crowd and getting them riled up and moshing from the get go.
Reading the room and gazing down onto the pits from above showcased the restlessness of the crowd, hard-hitting punishing sound blow for blow. Closing on Unsilent Death was great, one of the most uncompromising tracks in modern hardcore. Delivered to an already insane crowd, making this set stick with me despite missing the opening.
EXODUS
If Nails lit the room on fire, Exodus adds petrol to it. Opening with We Will Rock You, Queen’s stadium stomp rehashed as a thrash metal call; the crowd responded instantly, chanting in unison before a single member or riff had played. It was a genuine moment of joy in a room full of people who’d came to have their ears annihilated, and it worked perfectly.
The set moved through Bonded by Blood and Dethamphetamine with the kind of precision expected from a band with over four decades of experience behind them, and Blacklist, a long-time personal favorite, hit with a satisfying weight that sounds just as good live as it does on record. Some songs have a home on stage, and this one one of them.
One of the greatest undeniable centerpieces came with The Toxic Waltz. Starting of with front man Rob Dukes baiting, hyping and splitting open the crowd up for it starting one of the most incredible moshes I have seen to date. Young ones crowd surfing, launching overhead, flying over the pit barrier, and repeat the cycle for the rest of the song on a constant basis justifying the song’s name. It was one of those live music moments that is difficult to put into words and impossible to forget.
Between songs, there was no shortage of personality, either the lead vocalist bantering with each guitarist Gary Holt and Lee Atlus or gesturing to the crowd like a conductor leading a chaotic orchestra. Strike of the Beast brought things to a close, and Exodus definitely earned a spot in my books as a staple of the trash community to see live.
CARCASS
Carcass were allotted to what amounted to a headliner slot in all but name, 75 minutes on the O2 Academy stage, and they filled every second of it. Jeff Walker commanded the stage with authority, sharp posturing and the kind of front-of-stage presence that makes a large venue feel close knit. His vocals are still ever distinctive as ever, cutting through to you.
But perhaps the most remarkable story of the Carcass set was behind the kit. Stand-in drummer for Carcass, Waltteri Väyrynen the current Opeth drummer, standing in with, by all accounts, minimal rehearsal time with the band if any and proceeded to display and deliver a performance of exceptional technical ability given the complexity of the material which is not forgiving in the slightest and yet Väyrynen seemed to master it which was a massive surprise to myself watching him play.
The crowd throughout the set was still stellar, from Genital Grinder to Heartwork; a song that set the crowd alive, this was my first time seeing Carcass live, and quite hard to beat for whoever was to follow.
KREATOR
By the time the German thrash legends Kreator took to the stage at half nine, the O2 Academy had been at full throttle for three hours. The production that was greeted to them was a statement itself, a commanding stage setup with an imposing backdrop, insane drum riser décor and placement, out of this world lighting, and to top it all off pyrotechnics that meant business. Burst flames help punctuate the heavy moments throughout the night, and in additional at times a miniature flame wall which sent a wall of heat rolling back into the pit which I felt hit me in the face and chest. In addition to the amazing visuals, masked figures wielding torches, a theatrical flourish that added a spectacle to an already overwhelming night.
The set opened not with Kreator or one of their tracks but Iron Maiden’s Run to the Hills, a track that is a unifier and set an immediate tone within the crowd having them sing and chat along to the song word for word before Seven Serpents and Hail to the Hordes brought the hammer down. From then, the pit never stopped. Permanent moshing, relentless crowd surfing, and cups of water being launched up into the skies and across the drenched floor, the Glasgow crowd gave everything they had and then some extra.
Mille Petrozza has a staggering presence, his vocals, after all these years, are still as ever commanding live as they are on record, raw and delivered with intensity that makes it seem it’s all he knows how to do. Through Enemy of God, Hate Über Alles, Phanton Antichrist, and the amazing mid-set that followed, the pace never seemed to die or slow down apart from Hate Über Alles, in which it experienced technical difficulties with guitars and bass cutting in and out but was offset by the crowd picking up the leg work to make up for it.
Pleasure to Kill was the peak of the night, the pit going crazy to one of thrash metal’s definitive tracks and was treated as such, crowd moshing away to every riff with an absolute monstrous atmosphere eclipsing everything that had came prior to it.
Closing out the night was Apocalyption, heavy but measured, a gradual winding down that gave the whole set and night worth of adrenaline somewhere to go. As people began to filter towards the doors, the sense was less of an abrupt ending and more of a full stop to a night that had been close to flawless from the first song to the last.
Verdict
Four bands. No filler. No weak link (. From the unexpected Nails to Kreator’s pyro-drenched theatrical headline set, this was an evening that justified every moment of the time spend the venue. The O2 Academy was packed to capacity and moving around as a photographer was its own challenge, testament to how many people refused to miss this show. Glasgow delivered, and so did every act on that stage.
A night not easily forgotten.