Bonded By Metal Over Europe
9 October 2003
Camden Palace, London

It`s encouraging to see that the UK is now being included on European touring packages such as the No Mercy Fest and now the Bonded By Metal Over Europe Tour. Reports from the opening night in Sheffield however were that the show had been rather poorly attended and was very sparse when it finished at 1am. In London thankfully the show started over 2 hours earlier which, although a pain if you hadn`t taken the afternoon off work, meant a respectable 11pm finish and the healthy turn-out staying until the end.

This was my first visit to Camden Palace and it`s certainly somewhere I wouldn`t mind seeing metal at again. Although only one balcony was open tonight it`s easy to get a view, the sound quality was very good and there`s even somewhere to grab some food, very important for an all day event.

I unfortunately missed first band Prospect and Occult were well into their set by the time I had eventually secured my photo pass and entered the hall. I hadn`t heard anything by these Dutch thrashers before, though I had heard they had a male and a female vocalist, but tonight there`s just the bloke. It`s thrash with a deathly edge and the little I heard was quite good if a little samey.

Callenish Circle were the first band I was looking forward to seeing on the basis of the excellent new album Your Passion My Pain. Another representative from Holland, though you`d think they were from Sweden from the melodic death metal riffing that guitarist Ronny Tyssen and Remy Dieteren peel off. Vocalist Pat Savelkoul bears a striking resemblance to Dexter from The Offspring, though his rasping vocals are a world away. The band does not disappoint with their short set today and cover material from across their discography. Stand out tracks for me were Soul Messiah and Forsaken from the latest album.

The Swedish flag draped over a guitar amp indicates that Grave are next on stage. I wasn`t alone tonight in having not yet heard Grave`s come-back Back From The Grave, though on the strength of this performance it`s certainly something I need to get my hands on. Grave simply crushed, with the bottom end being so low you could feel it reverberating inside your torso. Guitarist Jonas Torndal and bassist Fredda Isaksson resemble a couple of menacing pit-bulls flanking the long haired Ola Lindgren on guitar and vocals. The crowd were baying for the old stuff and amongst others they played Turning Black, You'll Never See and Into The Grave.

Back to Holland again for God Dethroned, another band who I had no previous experience of. The band dwells at the thrash end of death metal and came as a very pleasant surprise. The band is centred on mainman, and Anton LaVey look-alike, Henri Sattler. Whilst to his right, I have all kinds of problems trying to get a photo of guitarist Jens who whizzes round stage windmilling his hair. There`s plenty of speed in a lot of their material, though it`s always kept harnessed. Prime cuts of the evening were Into The Lungs Of Hell, Soul Sweeper, Serpent King and Boiling Blood

There`s a healthy number of shirts in support of Mortician tonight, but I have to be honest I just don't get them at all. Suspicions were raised beforehand when Will Rahmer sound checks his bass and nods in approval at the distorted rumble which god knows how he knows in tune. Apparently they usual use a lot of horror samples, though lacking these tonight there monotone grindcore seems terrible exposed. I haven`t a clue what they played other than a dreadful version of Celtic Frost`s Procreation Of The Wicked.

The news from Sheffield the previous night was that guitarist Bernie Versailles was missing and Agent Steel had played a short set of old material. It was therefore a relief to discover he`d caught up with the tour tonight and the band was back to full strength. Someone next to me commented how he`d seen them before back in 1987 at Hammersmith, however, none of the line-up tonight played that gig, John Cyriis having sacked the lot prior to the tour. Well Cyriis is gone and Juan Garcia and Bernie Versailles have resurrected a much stronger unit today. Bruce Hall wipes the floor with Cyriis, his range is jaw-dropping. Quite simply Agent Steel stole the show tonight and were as tight as hell. The old-school contingent in the crowd want to hear the old stuff and Mad Locust Rising and Unstoppable Force satisfy them. However, it`s the newer material that`s really in a different league. The likes of Illuminati Is Machine and Ten Fists Of Nations place Agent Steel today in a similar vein to Nevermore and they really deserve your attention.

Agent Steel Set List:
Avenger / Rager / Illuminati Is Machine / Ten Fists Of Nations / Human Bullet Brainwashed / Bleed For The Godz / Mad Locust Rising / Unstoppable Force / Know Your Master. (Think there was one other earlier too, could have been Earth Under Lucifer).

After the abomination that was Nuclear Assault`s last London show on the No Mercy Fest I was expecting nothing tonight, but was in for quite a surprise. Opening with Rise From The Ashes, it was immediately apparent that tonight they had tuned up, John Connelly was sober and the band had solidified as a unit again. These facts hadn`t gone unnoticed as Dan Lilker comments, "We`re better than last time already right?". Yes indeed and the crowd were loving it. Great fun is what I wrote down, which pretty much sums things up. Connelly invites the crowd on to the stage to sing if they know the words, Wake Up being a particular favourite for invasion. Though the funniest moment is when he tells us to ensure we tip the bartenders which is met be a less than enthusiastic reception - this is England John! We get one new song which seems to continue the NA sound, though you have to go back to the first album for my favourite of the evening, Sin. A Rise From Ashes then!

Nuclear Assault Set List:
Rise From The Ashes / Brainwashed / New Song / Critical Mass / Game Over / Buttf**k / Price Of Freedom / Sin / Wake Up / My America / Hang The Pope / Lesbians / Trail Of Tears

Finally headliners Exodus take to the stage and I have to say initially they seemed a bit rusty. The guitar chops on set openers And Then There Were None and Piranha didn`t seem as tight as I remember Exodus and after the mainly speedier and heavier bands preceding them they did seem a little pedestrian. However as the set progressed things seemed to improve and overall this was an enjoyable nostalgia trip. Nostalgia being the word as the set leaned heavily on their first album Bonded By Blood. Two new songs were played which reminded me of the Fabulous Disaster era and Steve "Zetro" Souza comments "You didn`t think we`d wimp out like Metallica did you?", which was met with disapproving glances from the rest of the band to which Zetro retorts, "What, they haven`t put money in my pocket!". AC/DC cover Dirty Deeds seemed an odd inclusion given the wealth of material left out tonight, but Metal Command is more welcome. Toxic Waltz gets the crowd going, though certainly Gary Holt and Rick Hunolt don`t bound around like they used to as seen on that tracks promo video. Bonded by Blood closes the evening and a great day`s metal.

Exodus Set List:
And Then There Were None / Piranha / Til Death Do Us Part / Exodus / Scar Spangled Banner / Deliver Us To Evil / Dirty Deeds / War Is My Shepherd / Metal Command / Toxic Waltz / Bonded By Blood.