Show Review and Photos by Kate Drexel
Huntress show photos HERE
Starkill show photos HERE
Kreator show photos HERE
Arch Enemy show photos HERE
After the incredible performance of up-and-coming band, Starkill, the crowd eagerly awaited for Huntress to bring the show to the next level. Suddenly, the lights dimmed, and one by one, each of the band members made their presence known when finally off to the side of the stage lurking in the shadows, front-woman Jill Janus, kicked their set right off with “Spell Eater,” “Destroy Your Life,” “Stoked,” and “Zenith.” Their fans threw their horns in the air, mouthing along to the songs and cheered loudly when Janus announced they were doing a meet and greet after their set, or as she put it, a “meet and eat,” adding it with a devilish cackle. Huntress then finished their highly energized set with “Children,” “Black Tongue,” and “Eight Swords,” ending the song with Jill introducing the band members individually and leaving the crowd begging for more. Next to take over the stage was German band, Kreator.
The lights dimmed and the overhead music came to a screeching halt, as it was time for Kreator to begin their set with their booming, haunting introductory song, “The Patriarch.” After each band member emerged from the hazy darkness, they immediately started their set with “Violent Revolution,” “Civilization Collapse,” “Extreme Aggression,” and “Impossible Brutality.” The circle pits started brewing and the head banging grew heavier by the second, all of the necessary elements in a metal show. They continued their set with “Enemy of God,” “Voices of the Dead,” “Endless Pain,” and “Victory Will Come.” The occasional blasts from the smoke machine mixed with the bright white flashing strobe lights added onto the intensity of the set. After the introductory music for their encore set, “Mars Mantra,” Kreator ended their killer set with “Phantom Antichrist,” “Phobia,” “Hordes of Chaos (A Necrologue for the Elite),” and “Pleasure to Kill.” Kreator certainly woke the crowd up and prepared them for the final band to conquer the stage, Arch Enemy.
At the end of Arch Enemy’s introductory song, “Tempore Nihil Sanat (Prelude in F minor),” the mixed murmurs and whispers about new front-woman, Alissa White-Gluz, came to an immediate stop after she began their set with “Enemy Within,” “War Eternal,” “Ravenous,” and “Revolution Begins.” Alissa’s beastly vocals had the circle pits going in a harder and heavier manner. Arch Enemy truly unleashed the metal show elements upon the crowd. They continued their set with “My Apocalypse,” “You Will Know My Name,” “Bloodstained Cross,” and “Under Black Flags We March.” The faithful fans screamed and sang along to the words and melodies of the songs they loved dearly, horns waving along wildly in the air. After “As the Pages Burn,” Arch Enemy kept the crowd going with “Dead Eyes See No Future,” “No Gods, No Masters,” “Dead Bury Their Dead,” and “We Will Rise.” Proceeding “Khaos Overture,” they began to finish their set with a two part encore, “Yesterday is Dead and Gone,” “Blood on Your Hands;” immediately following into the second encore, “Snow Bound,” “Nemesis,” and “Fields of Desolation,” with “Enter the Machine” as an outro. They left the crowd on such a concert high and a strong satisfaction of a killer death metal show.
Overall, all four bands truly showed what a metal show was all about. The circle pits were crazy, hair from head banging was flying, and horns were in the air. Be sure to check out future tour dates for all four bands, they put on a show you will regret missing!
Starkill, Huntress, Kreator, Arch Enemy The Palladium – MA
