In Thrash We Trust the tour featuring legendary bay area Thrashers Death Angel and New Jersey’s God Forbid hit town recently and I opted to go for the Bakersfield CA date as opposed to the Hollywood date for a couple of reasons, the first being that it was sure to be less of a media crunch and the second being that I was actually covering another show in San Diego on the night of the Hollywood gig. I have been really looking forward to seeing Death Angel live since I received a copy of their latest CD Killing Season which is by far one of the best Thrash albums of all time.

Also on board for this trek were the bands Soilent Green and Light This City whom I really did not have any interest in as I know absolutely nothing about them. I decided that I wasn’t going to bust my ass to get there at any early hour because of this but somehow still managed to catch Light This City’s set. Not much to my surprise they were mediocre at best and I had problems accepting their inclusion on this tour. They are not Thrash! Needless to say I didn’t stay for more than a few songs and headed outside for a breath of fresh air.

God Forbid was up next and it had been some time since I last saw these Garden State madmen. I had been falsely informed that they had released a new CD and hoped to hear a couple of new tunes but that obviously did not happen. However, they did put on one hell of a show. Not the best I’ve seen them but given the sub standard environment I cut them some slack. Byron Davis was as threatening as ever with his seriously intimidating baritone and thick snake like dreads flying in all different directions. Guitarists Doc and Dallas Coyle were also extremely precise with their twin lead attack. The small crowd in attendance was very receptive as well and I had to fight tooth and nail to hold my position in front of the stage. It’s definitely a difficult task to shoot a band while being knocked around in a pit.

With not much of an intermission the main event was underway and I must say that this took me back a bit to the shows I’d attended as a kid. The venue was this tiny hole in the wall with a stage not much bigger than my front porch. The lighting was absolutely atrocious and the smell of sweat and alcohol that permeated the air created an atmosphere that I am all too familiar with. This was such an exciting way of taking it all in old school baby! I feel very privileged that I was able to see a band of Death Angels in such an intimate setting. The band played a fully energized and straight forward set drawing on tracks from all five of their studio efforts but giving credence to the last two releases especially. Sadly they did not play “Bored”, but I really had no basis for complaint as they utterly tore it up and I was kicked in the face as least twice during the performance by some crowd surfing diehard. Awesome!

-Priest