Morbid Angel -- San Antonio, TX -- October 19th, 2012

[RampinUp46]

I arrived at Backstage Live with a good friend of mine to see the almighty Morbid Angel – and introduce her to the world of metal shows. We arrived an hour early (we would have been on time if another friend had shown up) and I bought a ticket from the bassist of Hod, who complimented my AxCx shirt and told me a Seth Putnam story (if you wanna hear it, I'll post a reply).

Anyway, without further incident, we went inside and checked out the merch, bought some shirts, and then wandered over to the stage, where there was still enough room to see the bands front row center. The first band, San Antonio locals Perish the Land came out onstage with what they called “Texas metal”, delivering just what you’d expect from your local thrash band that thinks they’ll be the next Municipal Waste – a good way to kill a half-hour. The fact that they had a Hot Topic “Verb the Noun” name didn’t really matter to me. I was somewhat on the fence about them; on one hand, they bored me, on the other, they definitely gave off good energy, so I have to give them props for that.

After they left the stage, the band Hod took stage to deliver an alcohol-fueled display of blackened death metal. For thirty minutes or so, the band slaughtered the ears and minds of those who had come out early enough, with multiple heads banging and ears ringing in preparation of the night to come.

Swedish death metal band Grave was on next. By this time, the venue was filled with a good 300+ headbangers, most of whom were reasonably intoxicated, and the room felt like a powder keg ready to explode. Sure enough, as soon as the band launched into “Amongst Marble and the Dead”, a pit exploded, leaving the people vulnerable to injury (I remember seeing teenage girls running around and giving the seasoned hessians a run for their money). The crowd got really into it when their tour manager came out and sang the first verse of Black Sabbath’s self-titled song with the band.

Grave

Dystopia
Amongst Marble and the Dead
Disembodied Steps
Morbid Way to Die
You'll Never See...
Eroded
Passion of the Weak
Day of Mourning
Winds of Chains
Extremely Rotten Flesh
Soulless
Into the Grave
Epos

After Grave, Dark Funeral set up their shit and exploded with a wave of black metal. Blast beats, tremolo picking, and two drunken assholes in the audience screaming “WHOO!” and putting song titles and band names in sport-chant form (e.g. “DARK FU-NE-RAL!” “MAZE OF TOR-MENT!”) for the rest of the night, all of them were in abundance. To call their set insane was an understatement. Unlike the more extreme bands in their genre (Watain comes to mind), their live power comes from sheer energy – both from the audience and band. Towards the end of their set, Zornheym allowed the audience to touch his bass, but he reeled back when one person twisted his tuning pegs, understandably pretty pissed. They left the stage after playing “My Funeral”, promising a quick Morbid Angel appearance onstage.

Dark Funeral

The Arrival of Satan's Empire
The End of Human Race
666 Voices Inside
Goddess of Sodomy
An Apprentice of Satan
My Dark Desires
Hail Murder
The Secrets of the Black Arts
My Funeral

Almost forty minutes later, Morbid Angel finally did appear onstage, launching into the first track from “Altars of Madness”, sending the pit into a frenzy, much like sharks swarming a dying animal. David Vincent kept the audience on their toes, launching into classics from “Covenant”, “Blessed Are the Sick”, and even a Steve Tucker song. Fortunately, when they played songs from “Illud Divinum Insanus”, they chose the “least worst”, if that makes any sense. Not much could really be said about the band’s live show; the real action was in the pit, not the stage.
Finally, the band wrapped things up with “God of Emptiness”, which blended into “World of Shit” quite beautifully, and giving the audience what they paid for in a spectacular finish. At the end of the show, David bid the audience goodnight and went offstage. My friend and I went to the merch booth to pick up one last shirt, and then I hear something very faintly.
“Okay David, this is the guy you need to talk to if you need anything.”
I look up. No fucking way was David Vincent doing autographs. But there he was, signing autographs, shaking hands, and taking pictures. I said hello to him and mentioned how Morbid Angel was one of the bands that inspired me to pick up bass alongside guitar, got my ticket autographed, and left the venue to go back to Austin with my friend, who kept telling me how much she loved the concert, despite being crushed with me on the rail.

Morbid Angel

Immortal Rites
Fall From Grace
Rapture
Maze of Torment
Sworn to the Black
Existo Vulgoré
Nevermore
Angel of Disease
Lord of All Fevers and Plague
Chapel of Ghouls
Where the Slime Live
Bil Ur-Sag
God of Emptiness
World of Shit (The Promised Land)

[smearCampaign]

Great review. I was at this show as well. I was surprised how low turn out was for this on a Friday night. I went next door for a bit and watched Metalachi when I got bored with Dark Funeral, it was free to go in since the venue is attached to Backstage Live.

[christopher]

Originally Posted by smearCampaign

Great review. I was at this show as well. I was surprised how low turn out was for this on a Friday night. I went next door for a bit and watched Metalachi when I got bored with Dark Funeral, it was free to go in since the venue is attached to Backstage Live.

You are a good man for seeing Metalachi.

[smearCampaign]

Originally Posted by christopher

You are a good man for seeing Metalachi.

The only reason I wandered over there was due to your recommendation, so thank you sir. They rocked!

[ross_r]

Nice review. I am mad at myself for missing this concert, because usually these kind of bands skip San Antonio and go to Austin.