LIVE REVIEW: Kreator @ O2 Academy, Glasgow

Is this the best metal tour of the year? 80s thrash titans KREATOR and EXODUS, infinitely influential death gore deities CARCASS and grinding powerviolence puglists NAILS have joined forces for a lesson in violence that Glasgow won’t soon forget. All these bands need no introduction and it’s a privilege to attend this show on a chilly Sunday evening. The queue of ragtag metallers outside the city’s O2 Academy snakes down many metres in anticipation of such a shit hot event.

First up is American powerviolence ideologues NAILS. A sizeable contingent has rocked up to the O2 Academy mostly to catch them. They’re a rare sight in Glasgow, having last nuked the city in 2013, and mainman Todd Jones is accompanied by a new lineup since then. While the trio start their agitated paroxysms, unfortunately, the venue is still filling up and isn’t even half full when they roar out opener I Can’t Turn Off. This impacts their usual performance as a mosh pit is slow to form and is minuscule in proportion to the venue’s size. The sound is a mess for half of the set; Jones‘ guitar cascades into a wall of noise and it takes some time to discern the songs. The band plays with the rabid conviction that their bastardisation of grindcore and hardcore demands, but looks lost remaining static on such a broad stage. I Will Not Follow, Endless Resistance and You Will Never Be One of Us are brilliant for oozing your worldly frustrations from your pores. They’re the most intense act of the night, as closer Unsilent Death confirms, but they really benefit from levelling a compact, squalid sweatbox, rather than a voluminous, ornate theatre.

Rating: 7/10

This concert marks Bay Area thrash veterans EXODUS‘ return to Glasgow, following their days-before-lockdown gig in 2020. Like the openers, they really should’ve come back sooner. Since then, vocalist Steve Zetro Souza sadly waved goodbye to the ’80s thrashers, so previous vocalist Rob Dukes is back in the fold. QUEEN‘s We Will Rock You sees the band take over the stage before tossing themselves with full force into 3111 from the new album Goliath. While the fans may not like or be very familiar with this release, it doesn’t prevent them from ripping open a hole in the centre of the room. But it’s the following favourite Bonded By Blood that transmogrifies the venue into a total maelstrom, with tides of thrashers flowing over the barriers. EXODUS commands the largest pit of the night and it doesn’t stop for the whole set either, as you’d expect.

With a shorter set than they should have, the Americans have to be picky about their setlist. Wisely, the plodding title track is the only other song from Goliath. The usual suspects, like Deathlist, A Lesson in Violence and Toxic Waltz (teased before with a snippet of SLAYER‘s Raining Blood from Gary Holt, the now live guitarist for that unholy alliance), get showered in glory. Hyper-caffeinated tempos, electrifying solos and drumming that hits deeper than an oil rig smack all four walls of the room are reasons EXODUS rose to the forefront of thrash metal four decades ago. They’re also impacted by major sound drawbacks – the guitars sound hollow but this improves after a few songs. In defiance of their age, they’re dynamic, constantly moving and headbanging. There are some intriguing stage moments, such as Dukes strumming on Holt‘s guitar while the guitarist’s left hand hammers out a solo, and someone wearing a weird ape mask with long curly red hair taking over Lee Altus‘ rhythm guitar for a bit. The galloping Strike of the Beast closes the performance and leaves its mark on the venue. This is an utterly devastating showing that the following two acts will struggle to match.

Rating: 8/10

It’s time to wake up and smell the CARCASS, the originators of both impressively goregrind and melodic death metal. They’ve hit the city more frequently and recently than the preceding acts, but you really can’t ever have enough of them. The soundman has got his shit together as the English death legends sound solid from the opener, Unfit for Human Consumption. Perhaps the crowd need a break after the intense action from EXODUS, as their energy is markedly lower for this stellar reunion song. The melodically inclined Buried Dreams from the incredibly influential Heartwork gets a slightly more enthusiastic reaction. But it’s the third song, Incarnated Solvent Abuse, from the seminal Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrius album, that truly ignites the fire under the crowd’s arses.

As usual, the band are tight, with outstanding musicianship rarely seen in any variety of death metal they march through. Guitarist Bill Steer can construct leads that burrow through your entire torso, like Genital Grinder (where he also handles growls). Yet he can also pen catchy, meandering grooves, as demonstrated on No Love Lost, all while refusing to stand still even for a second. “Just when you thought he couldn’t get sexier, did you know his mum’s from Glasgow?” quips frontman Jeff Walker. All albums are touched upon, except the death ‘n’ roll Swansong.

Getting personal with the chaotic organ-squelching Exhume to Consume, the blast-furnace intensity of Corporal Jigsore Quandry, the bluesy reign of Dance of Ixtab (Psychopomp & Circumstance March No. 1 in B) and catchy iconic closer Heartwork (supplemented with a quick dash of Carneous Cacoffiny) is a tour de force of versatility. Walker‘s idiosyncratic snarls are on point. Evidently, the band still influences new blood, with most of the overproduced, plastic modern death metal production flimsily trying miserably to ape his renowned rasped growls. Drummer Dan Wilding is temporarily substituted with OPETH drummer Waltteri Väyrynen. Walker remarks that they didn’t rehearse with him, and this was his second time playing with them; he is impressively nailing it. It’s truly hard to top CARCASS – their musicianship, innovation, memorability, humour, continued relevancy and spirited live shows mean they won’t ever be a nostalgia act, a fate that afflicts too many metal luminaries.

Rating: 9/10

Finally, Teutonic thrash divinity KREATOR take aim at the venue. New song Seven Serpents begins the expedition through over forty years of their existence, accompanied by scorching pyro. They’ve recently progressed their music to incorporate melodic death metal elements, building on the tuneful guitars of their mid-era. This genre-bending has seen many fans fall out of love with their later albums, and tonight, these songs don’t elicit the same level of crowd participation as their more purist compositions. However, with a munificent set that clocks in over one and a half hours, there’s something for every fan of these calamitous Germans tonight.

It’s Enemy of God that first gets those thrash metal die-hards salivating. It’s bitter 2000s-fuelled take on the sub-genre remains a classic today, proof KREATOR aren’t a nostalgia band. The quartet sounds smooth for most of their set but not all of it. After Hate Über Alles, frontman Mille Petrozza walks to the side of the stage and dashes his guitar on the floor in frustration, following the guitar and bass inexplicably cutting out. Fortunately, this is the only tantrum he shows the fans in this city. The eldest songs, like the acerbic Betrayer, the scrappy Endless Pain and the more Americanised and restrained People of the Lie, have no problem raising mosh pits and currents of supine bodies floating towards the barrier. It’s fantastic that they haven’t neglected their mid-era, with cuts like Hordes of Chaos, Violent Revolution and Phantom Antichrist showcasing the renaissance of the group. In years before, Petrozza would pepper his set with unintentionally cartoonish evil introductions to his songs. While these are mostly gone these days, there’s an element of cheese that still remains. Microphone stands are adorned with plastic-looking severed heads, and interludes are decorated with two people dressed in robes and rubber masks of the KREATOR mascot Violent Mind, holding torches. As if this wasn’t a bit much, for Loyal to the Grave, Petrozza dons what appear to be some Halloween costume-style demon wings. At least the pyro’s (paradoxically) cool!

Petrozza‘s guitar proficiency and venomous snarl are still on top form, as is original drummer Ventor, who slaps the skins with resounding force, in spite of his age. The band’s energy and showmanship make it clear they’ve run tight live performances for decades. Even if the songs from their latest album Krushers of the World, like the title track, Loyal to the Grave and Satanic Anarchy don’t hit the spot, their musicianship can be easily admired. There are peaks and troughs to the spectators’ energy, and quite a few start heading for the door prematurely, but this doesn’t deter the headliners. Closing classic Pleasure to Kill shatters the venue for a final time before the band separates from their instruments. It’s surprising that they don’t play usual staples Flag of Hate or Tormentor, but this is just additional evidence that KREATOR are far from a nostalgia act.

Rating: 8/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Glasgow from Duncan McCall here: 

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