The Black Crusade
Machine Head / Trivium / Dragonforce / Arch Enemy / Shadows Fall
24 / 25 November 2007
Brixton Academy


On its stop off in London, the Black Crusade took residency at the Brixton Academy for two nights and Rockers Digest was there for both. Johan’s photos are from the second of the two nights, whilst the reviews will touch on both days. For the second night, arriving with a ticket I was confronted by the longest queue I had ever seen at this venue, which completed circled the venue and headed off down the main road. As a result, I only saw Shadows Fall and Arch Enemy on the first night when I was lucky to get early access.

Had you not been in the queue from early afternoon, the chances of catching Shadows Fall would have been pretty slim. When the band took to the stage with Forevermore, the crowd barely passed the first safety barrier and was less than half full by the time they wrapped up with Redemption. Maybe it was due to the lack of bodies in the venue, but the sound was appalling throughout their short set and it was a struggle to pick out the guitars.

When Brian Fair announced that The Light That Blinds was for the Guitar Hero II fans here and they we’re going to “Set that shit to expert”, you could see it was well meant by the band, but making little impact through the P.A. Easily the most melodic song of their set, Redemption made enough of an impact to get horns raised, encouraged by Fair stood on the barrier with microphone in the crowd.

Shadows Fall set list Saturday 24th:
Forevermore / Failure Of The Devout / The Light That Blinds / Thoughts Without Words / Redemption


Initially Arch Enemy seemed like they were going to suffer a similar sound quagmire fate, but the energy of Angela Gossow had the crowd pumping their fists to opener Blood On Your Hands. It was during Ravenous when things suddenly clicked with the rich guitar melodies of the Amott brothers cutting through.

Wisely sticking to their more instant material, Revolution Begins appears to be already a crowd favourite anthem to rival We Will Rise, which itself closed the set. Condensing all her vigour into this short set, Gossow was a human dynamo, darting along the front of the stage with lofty bassist Sharlee D’Angelo towering behind her. Six songs was a mere taster which certainly left the crowd wanting more and provided a good advertisement for the Metal Hammer Defenders Of The Faith tour, which the band are taking part in here next year.

Arch Enemy set list Saturday 24th:
Blood On Your Hands / Dead Eyes See No Future / Ravenous / Revolution Begins / Nemesis / We Will Rise


So here we reach the point on the second night when I finally entered the venue to the strains of Dragonforce’s comical intro tape, which was taking the p*** out of overblown orchestral intros. Whilst the setlist remained the same across the two nights, the second night stood head and shoulders above the previous, in terms of sound, performance and audience reaction.

Somewhat of a square peg on this line-up, on the first night in amongst the cheers and chants, Dragonforce were met with a pocket of booing which did not raise its head the following night. Characteristically, the six-piece got on with things in their usual light hearted manner, with members darting all over the stage and jokes shared with the crowd. Slipping big ballad Starfire mid-set was a brave move which paid off in breaking up the pace and saw a sea of raised lighters. Feeding off the reaction and the better sound that second night, Dragonforce raised their game and seemed to enjoy the experience far more.

Dragonforce set list both nights:
Fury Of The Storm / Operation Ground And Pound / Starfire / Valley Of The Damned / Through The Fire And Flames



Once again a small minority greeted Trivium with boos on the first night which was disappointing to hear. If you don’t like a band then f**k off to the bar. What the rest of the crowd enjoyed was a slick quality metal show, with a stage set and lighting rig that brought back memories of Anthrax’s Among The Living tour in 1987. With ramps and microphones all over the place the band were constantly on the move.

It had been a while since I’d seen Trivium and one thing that had changed was guitarist Cory Beaulieu now handling all the gruff vocals, presumably so Matt Heafy could preserve his own for the clean singing. Two songs, Fugue and Pillars Of Serpents, from the band’s debut were a thrashy surprise, though it was A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation that really set things off in a solid run to the end of the set. Anthem may sound a bit like Mötley Crüe, but got the crowd singing along, though not more than closer Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr.

Whist having its moments, The Crusade seemed somewhat rushed and calculated, seizing on the success of Ascendancy. Heafy has stated the band will take their time over their third album, which should see them closing tours like this if they get it right.

Trivium set list both nights:
To the Rats / Fugue (A Revelation) / Entrance of the Conflagration / The Deceived / Pillars Of Serpents / A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation / Becoming the Dragon / Anthem (We are the Fire) / Rain / Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr


In the queue, in the toilets, in the bar, during other bands sets, anytime a chant of “Machine F**king Head” was liable to break out over both nights at Brixton. My favourite being the last one I heard whilst passing the rather perturbed looking parents who’d come to collect their kids! A return to form with Through The Ashes Of Empires has been furthered by The Blackening and seen Machine Head’s status rocket.

With their cabs arranged in the diamond Machine Head logo and the stage bathed in ominous red light, the intro to Clenching The Fists Of Dissent raised a deafening cheer, before the mayhem began. This was at a marginally higher level on the second night where following Imperium, Rob Flynn noted, “There’s a sense of danger in here tonight”.

As ever Aesthetics Of Hate was dedicated to Dimebag and this song seems to have become the anthem from The Blackening. Old took us all the way back to Burn My Eyes and the response after had Flynn observing it was “Almost like a soccer hooligan chant”. Saluting that many were attending both nights, one fan, Colin, was brought up on stage to share a drink with Flynn, before diving back into the crowd.

The sombre yet uplifting melodies of Halo seeped through the Academy with a fantastic piece of guitar interplay and harmonies between Flynn and Phil Demmel. The next two songs differed across the two nights, with Ten Ton Hammer and A Farewell To Arms on the Saturday and Take My Scars and Descend The Shades Of Night on the Sunday. The acoustics came out for the latter, which amusingly Flynn noted the crowd response was better for on the second night – amusing as they hadn’t played the song the previous night.

With the length of the songs from Machine Head’s last two albums, sixty minutes passed very quickly and Davidian was soon upon us, with a deafening shout of “Let freedom ring with the shotgun blast”. These two nights at Brixton saw Machine Head move up a level, with the fans showing a higher level of dedication than even the much noted Slayer devotion. Quite frankly they could probably pull off a Download headline slot right now and it would be well earned.

Machine Head set list Saturday 24th:
Clenching the Fists of Dissent / Imperium / Aesthetics of Hate / Old / Halo / Ten Ton Hammer / A Farewell To Arms / Davidian


Machine Head set list Sunday 25th:
Clenching the Fists of Dissent / Imperium / Aesthetics of Hate / Old / Halo / Take My Scars / Descend The Shades of Night / Davidian



LINKS:
Machine Head
Trivium
Dragonforce
Arch Enemy
Shadows Fall