It was a calm night in Silver Spring on 5/15, but inside the Fillmore, it was "the calm before the storm". The storm consists of Thrash metal giants like - Sepultura, Kreator, or Death Angel. We were there to experience it and at the end of the night, all the fans including us were absolutely not disappointed to have their ear locked out as a result of the heavy metal music.
The storm began at 6:30 PM with SpiritWorld. The background looked like a poster of a Clint Eastwood movie with zombies. Every one of the band dressed up in rhinestone jackets and boots - it was the wild west in Maryland. Right when you would think that they will start with a “Yee Haw”, they went the absolute opposite way towards pure Thrash and heavy metal route. What a performance - Stu Folsom on the vocals was someone perfect to rule the center stage of a band. His energy was contagious to the audience to have an ideal start to the night. It was almost like a Western Hollywood Movie.
Next up it was Death Angel - one of the pioneers of thrash metal. I always wanted to see them live and I was not disappointed. A band that has been around since 1982 and contributed to creating a genre like Thrash Metal, are truly legends. Mark Osegueda’s dominance of the stage is something to look for. Rob Cavestany - one of the founders of the band was literally doing magic on the guitar. Ted Aguilar on the guitar, Damien Sisson on the bass, and Will Carroll on the drums made the crowd headbang, crowd surf, and jump. Their setlist consisted of hits like - “The Moth”, “Humanicide” and one of their iconic songs “The Ultra-violence”.
At 8:30 the stage was covered with a curtain that says “Kreator”. The music started, the curtain falls and the crowd just went crazy. There was literally an inflated giant in the background. The 4 part band consisting of the oldest members - Mille Petrozza on guitar and vocals, and Ventor Reil on drums accompanied by Sami Yli-Sirnio on guitar and Frédéric Leclercq on bass did what they do best. The German thrash metal icons just proved why they are still relevant for almost 40 years and why they have such a big fan base all over the world. The setlist consisted of songs from their old and new albums - “Satan is Real”, “Violent Revolution”, “Flag of Hate” (with Mille bringing a big flag on the stage), and “Pleasure to Kill”.
From Germany to Brazil - next up it was the Thrash metal Gods of South America - Sepultura. Everyone in the band was at the peak of their energy - Andreas Kisser was showing what speed means on the guitar with style. Paolo Jr. was literally enjoying while playing the bass. Eloy Casagrande was in the process of destruction with the Drums. As always Derrick Green was in the beast mode throughout - he was jumping, dancing, and grooving to the music. The legendary setlist included songs like - “Territory”, “Refuse/ Resist”, “Arise”, “Ali” (a tribute to Muhammad Ali), and the 2 most iconic songs everyone was waiting for - “Ratamahatta” and “Roots Bloody Roots”. Special mention to the song “Guardians of Earth” - Andreas’s acoustic guitar and Eloy’s amazing Rhythm took it to a whole different world.
I saw both Kreator and Sepultura for the second time and they never disappoint. Overall it was a perfect night for all the metalheads. shoutout to the tour and venue management for the successful execution of the show.
Sepultura
Kreator
Death Angel
SpiritWorld
