The Metal Alliance tour continues to never disappoint by giving concertgoers an experience to watch different genres of metal packed into one evening. This year’s trek had New Orleans metal titans Goatwhore headlining. However, the assortment went from blackened thrash, doom, to punk as it included The Casualties, Black Tusk, Great American Ghost, as well as Mortheron on the first half of the run followed by Gozu. We were there towards the end of the tour on November 28th at New York City’s Gramercy Theatre.
Gozu
Gozu kicked off the evening giving the crowd more of a doom vibe, which could have picked up from their time sharing the stage with bands such as Pallbearer. The Boston metal outfit continued to bring in sludge for the lucky early attendees as they introduced their latest effort Equilibrium.
Great American Ghost
After a short break, it was time for Great American Ghost to conquer the stage? Question mark due to frontman Ethan Harrison spent most of his time on the floor interacting with the fans. The group delivered a Rage Against the Machine meets Poison the Well set as they went into songs such as “No Savior,” “New England Misery,” “Ann Arbor,” and more.
Black Tusk
Next up, was Savannah, GA metallers Black Tusk as they were there to promote their latest effort T.C.B.T, which was released earlier this year via Season of Mist. As the lights flickered and dimmed, it didn’t stop them from delivering a killer set as they infected the crowd with their new tunes. However, it was evident that the group performed in memory of former bassist Jonathan Athon who died back in 2014 after a motorcycle accident.
The Casualties
Punk rock collided with metal and not the crossover style fans experienced with Black Tusk; it was full-blown punk rock when it was time for the Casualties. The group destroyed the stage promoting their latest effort Written in Blood, which was released this past October. The group went through a significant change back in 2017 when vocalist Jorge Herrera left the group, that also marked no original members left in the band. Despite the major change, these New York City punks recruited David Rodriguez on vocals and during their hometown show, the crowd seem to have welcomed Rodriguez. He had an incredible amount of energy as he went into the pit asking the audience to do the wall of death as he continued to sing. Songs included “Feed Off Fear,” “Under Attack,” “For the Punx,” “Ugly Bastards,” “1312,” Resistance,” and more.
Goatwhore
Goatwhore closed the night with a remarkable performance as it didn’t matter how many or little attended. The band gave it their all. Prior to the show, we spoke to frontman Ben Falgoust as he told us how concertgoers should always go to shows and check bands out, even if they never heard of them. Falgoust was correct. Unfortunately, this night didn’t sell incredibly well but, avid concert goers missed an incredible evening that consisted of five bands with a distinct and strong musical delivery.
With that said, Goatwhore somehow manages to put on a successful show that consisted of a vibrant energy, heavy riffs, and an extensive amount of headbanging as they continued to support their latest effort 2017’s Vengeful Ascension. Songs included: “An End to Nothing,” “Chaos Arcane,” “Alchemy of the Black Sun Cult,” “Under the Flesh, Into the Soul,” “In Deathless Tradition,” “Carving Out the Eyes of God,” “Vengeful Ascension,” “Blood Guilt Eucharist,” “Mankind Will Have No Mercy,” “Cold Earth Consumed in Dying Flesh,” “Abandon Indoctrination,” “Collapse In Eternal Worth,” “Apocalyptic Havoc.”
