Dubbed the biggest Metal tour of the winter if not the year, this crushing onslaught featuring the line up of modern day Metal giants Lamb Of God and Killswitch Engage was definitely a mega event and if you consider yourself a fan of the gene there was absolutely no other place to be this past Saturday night than at the Long Beach Arena to witness the pure unadulterated chaos that ensued. In the true spirit of the season Metalheads from all across Southern California turned out in droves to give their Holiday season a proper Metal kick off. Support for this co-headlining trek came from Santa Barbara locals DevilDriver who are fronted by former Coal Chamber frontman Dez Fafara and Swedish mainstays Soilwork.

The evening’s opening set came from Soilwork who were unquestionably one of my favorites of the night. Their introduction sent a strong yet humorous vibe through the audience as it stated ‘from Sweden where men are men and women are… men’ - a little Viking humor to break the ice. The crowd gave much deserved props for their intense if short performance. The band played song selections from their past couple of CD’s including the title track of their most recent release Sworn To A Great Divide and the show stopping “Nerve” from the bands 2005 release Stabbing The Drama. Full of energy and ready to give their very best Soilwork I’m sure gained a stronger following based on the performance they gave and the response they received from the fans.

DevilDriver followed with a brutal rampage of Metal guise. Frontman Dez Fafara has come along ways since his days with the nu-Metal outfit Coal Chamber and any doubts as to whether or not he had it in him to deliver the true Metal passion that his former band lacked, you can rest assured that this new direction he has taken with his DevilDriver bandmates is balls out in your face aggression like only a true Metal act could produce. The band currently have three albums under their belt, the most recent being the stellar achievement The Last Kind Words. Needless to say they are right on time with the growing demand for their particular brand of Metal mayhem. One stand out moment was when Dez successfully had the three small circle pits spread across the front of the arena stage unite to form one gigantic pit. Dare I say it, this made Slayer’s pits seem tame.

By the time Killswitch Engage took the stage the crowd was more than warmed up and the arena had filled up rather nicely. I have to admit that I’ve never been a huge fan of this band but they actually impressed me this time around. Not missing a beat, a note or an opportunity to share their stupid antics with the fans they pulled off a virtually perfect show. Vocalist Howard Jones was a monster and knew exactly how to work the crowd. On the other hand, while guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz did play great he was still as gay as could be with his ridiculous super hero cape. Unfortunately I was pretty wiped by this time and had to step out and chill for a bit to conserve my energy for Lamb of God. I did come back in time for the bands last song which as I suspected was their cover of Dio’s “Holy Diver”. Being that Dio is my all time favorite, any time someone decides to pay homage, I’m all for it.

After what must have been the longest change over I’ve ever had to sit through Richmond Virginia’s number one Metal bad assess Lamb Of God brought life back to the faltering crowd. With a massive wall of sound they delivered the best set of the night bar none. Playing songs from their four full length CD’s the response from the audience was overwhelming to say the least.

I don’t know what it is about this band but they always manage to hold my attention. They give great credit to the traditional Metal sound yet keep it interesting enough to warrant attention from the present tense explosion of heavy as fuck Metal fury. I do still feel that Randy Blythe is a little out of place for this band whose redneck image he does not hold. If it weren’t for his amazing guttural blasts I’d probably have written him off a long time ago however the more I hear him the more I am blown away. This trek marks the final leg of their world tour in support of Sacrament and they plan on taking a lengthy break before getting back to it with their next highly anticipated release which isn’t likely to see the light of day until 2009.

Overall this was a great package tour and I was extremely pleased to have been in attendance. Hopefully there will be more tours of this caliber in 2008. I look forward to seeing all of the bands when they come around again. Both Soilwork and DevilDriver have already announced return visits in early 2008 so the New Year is gearing up to be an awesome time for Metal once again. If you haven’t caught any of these bands in a live setting make sure you do as I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

-Priest