DEATH ANGEL, Suicidal Angels, REsistance, Roots of Death, Adimiron

17.03.2011, R.B.F. club, Sofia - Bulgaria
words byВ Stefan Yordanov - Stiff, poto: TBA

Everything’s fine when it ends fine and this week’s ending beyond any doubt is just beautiful. Only two days after the D.R.I. mayhem we witnessed, another cult band made their first appearance here, in Bulgaria. It’s DEATH ANGEL.

In the dark ages of totalitarism they were not among the most favorite bands of the Bulgarian fans but so many years later, in the rainy night of March, 17th there were at least 200 people who decided to come and pay tribute to this underestimated band.

Actually it was tribute to five bandsВ  because this East European hell on wheels featured four more acts to go and bang your head on to.

R.B.F. Club wasn’t exactly the welcoming place ADIMIRON were hoping for, but they were quite generic, to be honest, so most of the crowd stayed outside smoking cigarettes, drinking beer and pissing around.

ROOTS OF DEATH stirred the situation a little bit as their metalcore was kind of refreshing, kind of UNEARTHESQUE at times plus they finished their set with a good rendition of SEPULTURA’s “Territory”.

The sound was just perfect and the bands changed pretty quickly so we had no chance to yawn with boredom orВ  shoot the shit during the breaks. Fortunatley there were not any late soundchecks and shit. You could go to the bar and buy yourself a beverage without being bathed in beer or run over by some fat drunk old thrasher.

RESISTANCE played last before SUICIDAL ANGELS and despite the expectations of certain class and so on, they were boring and as generic as fast food metal. After the third song I preferred much more to stay outside and drink with friends. Deathcore and modern death metal is great, but this band was not even close to CARNIFEX or WHITECHAPEL.

SUICIDAL ANGELS from Greece were the first band who gained the crowd’s interest. By that time it was much bigger. It’s old school thrash metal to the bone, with all the cliches and trappings that we love so much.

DEATH ANGEL hit the stage at 11:05 PM and started to shoot point blank. MARK is one amazing frontman - smiling, in mood, with a bottle of Bombay Saphire in his hand. He’s constantly nodding and pointing at somebody in the crowd but it takes time and attention to get it that he is actually doing this for no one in paticular. Good. All decent frontmen have their bags of tricks and they should have one, that’s for sure. It’s showtime, baby!

DEATH ANGEL set 200 people on fire. First, they admitted it was the warmest welcome they had ever had and second, they gave us such presents as  “Mistress Of Pain” off “The Ultra-Violence” (1986), “Seemingly Endless Time”  and “Room With A View” off the greatest “Act III”. After the end of the first hour of the gig, MARK presented the band and announced the party time segment of the concert, which, in my opinion, had already begun with the small particle from the MAIDEN classic “Purgatory”. Now they exacuted “Bored” and then flowed into SABBATH’s “Heaven And Hell”.

I hardly remember what happened next. It was a vertigo of great music that swpt us all away. Yes, DEATH ANGEL were here last night. At least 200 people will remember that gig forever. Will you?