RAGINPIT MAGAZINE

As I sit here at my computer, I am still trying to shake off that last remnant of cobwebs that fog in my alcohol soaked, sleep deprived brain. My body, battered and bruised from the multiple pits I jumped into during the 10 hours of nonstop metal at the "Thrash against Cancer" show, a benefit for families who have children with pediatric cancer. I suppose that a good reporter would have spent his time taking pictures, interviewing the bands, event organizers and writing about his observations of the show. Well, I basically wasn't allowed the tools I needed to help me bring you this show review the way I would have liked too so…

Well let's start this story at the beginning. Fellow staffer Darien and I arrived at the show at three p.m. After getting thoroughly patted down at the entrance, the security staff confiscated my mini tape recorder. I was told that once I picked up my reporter credentials that I could come back and retrieve it. I spent a good half hour trying too rundown the person in charge of handing out the credentials only to find that I was not on any of their lists. I would like to note that I was also told beforehand (when I made arrangements for my credentials) that there would be NO cameras allowed inside the show other than the two pros designated to do so, no exceptions.

So here I am at a show that has 16 bands playing with no camera, no recorder, no credentials to interview any of the bands and all around me people are milling about with cameras or video cameras hanging around their necks. "No cameras allowed." My ass! Luckily, Darien, rebel that she is, brought hers along, so hopefully there will be some good pics for you to check out.

This whole benefit seemed disorganized from the get go. Keith Regan, who organized the show, had no prior experience with this kind of event, especially one of this magnitude, much props, he somehow pulled it off. He also had to deal with a new management team at The Pound as the old one was let go some time prior to the show. I tried to find out more details, but everyone was tight lipped about it. So for now, what happened to Jimmy will remain a mystery.

Here is what I can recall from the show, those of you who are familiar with The Pound know that there are now two stages, one indoor and one outdoor. The show was set up so that once a band was finished playing on one stage the next started on the other so the music was just about nonstop all evening except for the prize drawings.

Kicking things off was Mystic Rage, on the indoor stage for a thirty minute set. They killed as always and played some impressive new material that I hadn't heard before. Mystic Rage's music is a fusion of melodic metal and hard core punk. Guitarist, Angel, who also handles the vocal duties, has an excellent singing voice that smoothly transverses in range from guttural too melodic. He is also a dynamic front man who is constantly in motion while singing or shredding on his guitar. John on bass handles the backing vocals that blend in perfectly with Angel's while holding down the bottom end duties melding in with Pete on the drums keeping everything tight and in time. At this point there were about 250 people at the show; my best guess is that by the time Testament went on there was close to a thousand.

All the bands playing indoors had the good fortune of having an excellent tech guy working the board so the sound was top notch in there all night. The bands that played on the outdoor stage had inconsistent sound that ranged from good too bordering on complete incompetence by the techs manning that board. This was especially evident when Hirax played their set and you couldn't distinguish the guitars from bass because they were so muddied in tone. Most of the crowd (from what I was hearing) and I would have liked to have heard them the way they are supposed to sound.

All the bands were great and put on an energetic guitar shred fest for an enthusiastic crowd that was surprisingly young considering that a lot of these bands made their bones in the 80's when the metal seen was exploding in San Francisco in what I like to refer to as the Golden age of Aggression.

Kaos held the honor for getting the first pit going. As always, these guys destroyed. Their set consisted of songs off their Kaos Among Us CD and they threw in a cover of a Venom tune for good measure. I can't for the life of me remember which one it was, but at that point I was settling into full on party mode. Kaos for those of you who haven't seen or heard them (they were on our Chamber show last Sunday) are in my opinion one of the best unsigned hard core acts here in northern California. First off their showmanship is off the hook. Lead singer Jason who has one of the best screaming voices with range in the area. He possesses what all front men work so hard to develop, but in reality, either have or don't, which is the charisma to manipulate the crowd and bend them to his will. Then you got Jay on bass who stalks the stage like a caged animal. Their two guitarists Stacy & Kevin throw down licks with the best of them and last, but not least their drummer Bruton who employs those wicked solid beats that hold the whole thing all together. They are to an empty pit floor what gasoline is to a fire, put them together and you are going to have an explosion.

One of the great things about this show was that I got to see some bands I hadn't gotten a chance to check out yet. Most of you may have already had either seen them or perhaps already own one of their CD's. If not, I suggest you check them out. In my opinion these were the best of the show and deserve your attention: Testament, Dekapitator, Imagika, Anger as Art, Kaos, Mud Face and Mystic Rage. Darien and I hope to bring you interviews of these bands in the next month.

Testament closed out the show with an 80 minute set of music that sampled from most of their music catalog, luckily for whoever was doing the sound, they got it together, otherwise I think there may have been a riot. My guess - it was one of Testaments guys. Testament has taken aggression metal or thrash if you prefer into its highest level as an art form, with two guitarists trading frenzied licks interlaced with powerful rhythms, a bass player filling in the down beats with modal riffs, a drummer providing a relentless attack with a singer who can emote anger, angst and outrage without having to resort to guttural growls to help make the songs lyrical point.

I think one of the reasons that thrash isn't appreciated as much today as it was in the 80's is that so many bands who call themselves thrash/speed metal just can't pull it off or they just plain suck. So if you are one of those people who are not into thrash and are for some strange reason still reading this article, my humble suggestion to you that if ever get a chance to see Testament while they are still touring, do so because they embody all that was and is great about it.