Sepultura / Destruction / Arsis

Live @ The Zoo, Winnipeg, Canada

May 19, 2015

 

You have a weird combination for this tour.  Definitely casting a wide net in terms of the crowds here.  Old school thrashers feeling nostalgic will be drawn.  If they're up on the scene, they should know that Destruction keeps plugging away decades after their foundation, while a modern Sepultura show is more of a risk.  Newer Arsis gets newer fans and plenty of guitar freaks.  Should be a little something for everyone here if they don't feel the whole gig.

Micawber?  Made it down late so I only caught the last 30 seconds of their set.  Seemed legit.  Arsis?  Fast and hard to play.

Destruction

Kind of like a skeletal muppet up there, endlessly shredding with the lifelike precession of a master puppeteer.  I knew what destruction sounded like going in, heard a live album or two and listened to Metal Discharge a fair few times.  Only one album and change taken as a step down the experimental path that Sepultura never returned from.  Basically a perfectly preserved band of their era, and as strong as they're going I guess their era is still happening.

Sepultura

Did not know what to expect for these guys.  My background is heavy rotation of Schizophrenia, a few trips through the 80s output, and whatever songs they had videos for in the 1990s.  I know that latter day Sepultura have been risk takers, covering U2 and carefully balancing on the cusp of a mainstream sound.  I've also heard that despite some growing pains through the transition, some of their latest stuff has been well received in certain circles.

"There's a lot of people talking shit out there"

Pretty seamless transitions between old school death/thrash Sepultura and groovy as hell new stuff.  They play the raw early tracks like a modern thrash band, clean and chunky like Exodus around Tempo Of The Damned.  Plenty of personality, and professional like the veterans they are.  The main gimmick here is the vocalist joining in the percussion on his own small kit.  I saw the same schtick with Godsmack many years ago, but Sepultura pulls it off almost as well, especially during Ratamahatta (great performance).  Closed with Roots Bloody Roots, of course.