05) Municipal Waste at the Brooklyn Monarch on 2/17/24
Municipal Waste, brought a toxified rager of a staked bill with Ghoul, Necrot, and Dead Heat in all of its animated, liverish, and blood stained glory presented by Tankcrimes to party down at the Brooklyn Monarch for noche número tres of the Brainsqueeze Tour as part of the Waste’s first US headline circuit in a long while to honor twenty-one years of their debut album Waste ‘Em All. They turned in a headlining set of high-energy, kegger-made thrash to increase the flow of mosh pits, crowd surfing, and stage diving. The frenzy from the moshketeers was non-stop. The toxic-waltzing never slowed down and increased in crucial velocity as the audience shouted, “MUNICIPAL WASTE IS GONNA FUCK YOU UP! MUNICIPAL WASTE IS GONNA FUCK YOU UP! MUNICIPAL WASTE IS GONNA FUCK YOU UP!” in between every song. Brooklyn broke down the Brooklyn Monarch throughout an overarching great night of metal mania. All four bands were great. The entire evening was a test of endurance.
04) Gatecreeper at the Brooklyn Monarch on 9/26/24
If Gatecreeper were to be summarized with one word, great would be that word. Although firmly rooted in death metal – there is some of that crushing weight of the better bands of the eighties rock like W.A.S.P, but Gatecreeper will manage to puncture your soul. They bring it live. I will see Gatecreeper whenever they’re supporting or headlining. They’re one of the most brutal bands I’ve seen to date. And so, with Gatecreeper rifling the night away with Flamethrower, Brooklyn’s finest waited in line for merch or hung around outside. As for yours truly, I got to see a three-way Diablo touring package that was perfect for this sPOoOOooOooOOOOOoOoky time of the year. Three bands, three unique approaches to the extreme side of the metal spectrum. From the vampiric presence of Worm to the chilling stronghold of Frozen Soul to the foul darkness of Gatecreeper, these different shifts in melody ultimately pay off throughout two hours plus of sonorous music. All killer, no filler metal madness!
03) Sodom at the Brooklyn Monarch on 9/09/24
Photo Credit: Tom Mis
It was better late as hell than never for the return of Sodom, and I felt the gravity of how the expansive crowd was curious to see them. With a technically proficient live rhythm section that included Tom Angelripper on bass Toni Merkel on drums with Frank Blackfire and Yorck Segatz delivering the shred, they had eighteen songs to get their point across with Tom Angelripper commanding the chaos to keep the pit bouncing. They made up for a sixteen-year absence by giving their all. Sodom mixed ultra technicality with a lot of energy and were not lifeless for a single moment. Sodom, Whiplash, and Hirax more than justified surviving the night. I would gladly go again if a similar bill featuring Sodom as the headliner sells out a venue similar to the Brooklyn Monarch.
02) Blind Guardian at Palladium Times Square on 5/12/24
After the New York bards ignited Palladium Times Square, it wasn’t like exiting your standard metal show. You know those concerts where the beer drinkers go to pay off their hefty bar tabs or head to the merch stand or rasp to each other – damn, that was fucking great! Everyone looked at their fellow concertgoers with gleeful looks of amazement. In a rare instance, I’ve seen the crowd dazed after a show. And not from singing. Simply because of the sheer sorcery that was Blind Guardian. Everything throughout the show was a holy fuck, holy fuck, holy fuck, holy FUCK! I cannot believe this is happening moment for me and many others in the best way possible, from the waiting period for the concert to the charged atmosphere at the venue to witnessing two stellar bands in Blind Guardian and Night Demon. I felt effervescent, almost like a new person. I know why I felt this way. I got to see one of my absolute favorite bands again since my little sixteen-year-old ears first heard Imaginations from the Other Side. Disregarding Dr. Emmett Brown’s theory of a time paradox, if 2005 Ian had told 2024 me that penning a perfect evening like this would ever happen, I would have told him to stop playing Guild Wars and get a girlfriend. But, hey. I’m glad it happened during our lifetime.
