LIVE FROM THE PIT: Municipal Waste, Tortured Demon, Xentrix and Death Angel

Electric Brixton got thrashed by the legends from Virginia, USA, Municipal Waste, and it sure was a sight to see. Currently on their UK and Europe tour, alternating between festivals and venues, the band is visiting various countries, and the London date is their only concert in the UK.

Supported by the amazing Tortured Demon, Xentrix and Death Angel, the whole evening was a nostalgic setback with powerful energy and fluctuating emotions.

The first support band of the three – Tortured Demon – is originally from Oldham in England and formed quite recently in 2018. Consisting of the founding members and brothers Joe Parkinson, who is playing the drums and Jacob Parkinson, who is a vocalist and plays guitar, and the guitarist Rory Marsland-Smith and bassist Joel Bayley, the band surely knows how to put on a show worthy opening for one of the groundbreaking bands of the genre, with the electric guitar riffs and ground-shaking vocals. Although they still had their soundcheck going on when the audience was let into the venue and started immediately from there, and their set was very short, they were still welcomed with a big moshpit and enthusiastic audience.

The next opener, Xentrix, was not short on success since the beginning, as they chose the iconic theme song from the original Terminator as their opener. Since then, the audience has showed the four-piece from Preston in England the support throughout the moshpits and the songs they loved. Being on the trash scene under its current name since 1988, with the founding members, lead guitarist Kristian Havard and drummer Dennis Gasser, and the newer members, guitarist and vocalist Jay Walsh, and bassist Chris Shires, the band surely knows how to captivate their fans, and the showed it off with their mesmerising set, that was enjoyed by the fans to maximum. At the very end, the band threw a big handful of tshirts into the crowd, surprising the audience with great memorabilia.

The third opener, and a band, many fans went to see, was the thrash force from San Francisco, the unforgettable Death Angel. Currently being fronted by Rob Cavestany, who is one of the founding members of the band, and Mark Osegueda, who is Cavestany’s family member, the band also consists of Ted Aguilar, who has joined the band after their reformation in 2001, and the newest members Will Carroll and Damien Sisson. The band chose the track “Endure” from The Last Of Us as their introductory track, and it was surely met with grand cheers from the audience, who was excited the band was back after countless years. The band was unfortunately met with couple of technical issues during its performance, but Osegueda saved the day both times with his expressions of gratitude for the London crowd, who in his words always welcomed the band with opened arms and is the reason thrash metal is still thriving. In return, the audience gave the band many crowdsurfers and songs sang back with no hesitation. As the band was leaving the stage, the fanbase was filled with mixed emotions, because they did not want the Death Angel set to end, but were also excited, because the main band of the evening was about to come out.

As Municipal Waste came onto the stage, the floor instantly transformed into a battlefield formed from a massive moshpit. Out of nowhere, a very visible inflatable balloon in the shape of “wiener” appeared and was continuously making its way through the crowd, until it sadly deflated. Together with the balloon, someone pulled out a broken cardboard box and the venue staff released inflatable balloons into the crowd, resulting into a chaotic scene that was mesmerising to watch. Municipal Waste, as the band is known for, took over the scene immediately, and gave the fans an unforgettable load of riffs, screams, drums and giggles, as well as swear-words, as the lead vocalist of the band, Tony Foresta, actively tried to start a moshpit on the left side of the floor, while also making a femme-only moshpit during one song, stating that “gender, race, it does not matter, we are all here to enjoy the night”. Crowdsurfers were flying left and right, and it was obvious that the night was about to become one of those iconic moments, that ate bound to never forget. As the set seemed to slowly come to an end, the band decided to play a song, they have not played in twenty-years – “I Just Want To Rock”, and the fans went absolutely nuts. At the end of the show, the fans did not want to let the band leave, but gave them one last round of applause, that was enough to make one emotional.

All three support bands were a perfect fit to support as big band as the Municipal Waste. Each brought their own unique twist to the thrash metal and managed to get the crowd excited about the headliner, and some might have brought in even more fans, such as the thrash metal icons Death Metal. Electric Brixton has seen a lot in the years since the opening, but this night surely was once-in-a-life experience with an unmatched energy, that was flowing around the whole night.

Photos: Jenny Parker

Words: Katerina Stepanikova