Long, long time I was hoping and looking forward to this event. 15 years after my last live experience with ARMORED SAINT at Dutch Dynamo Open Air the California guys are back for their “second coming” With the end of Bush’s singing carrier in Anthrax the Saints got reanimated. Now they headed over for some festival shows and filled the gaps in between with club shows. Since there was only one date in Germany I had once again to visit Dutch club Willemeen in Arnhem.
Downright shocked we were when we arrived and just met 10! people at the doors. With the show kicking off approx. 80 fans attended. That’s soooooo bad. Because, what we got offered afterwards was worthwhile a sold out house…

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:. AFTER ALL ~ delivered quite a bummer with The Vermin Breed. Now the have a brand new album in the pipe (This Violent Decline) and I hope that these Belgian guys recollect on old strength. And yes, although the majority of songs came from this mentioned album, plus two brand new ones, it all sounded everything than lame. Far from it! That the cats love to play isn’t new, but this time they downright rocked da house. Or maybe the sound was just better than on their Candlemass tour. And as it’s known too, AFTER ALL finished their local support slot once more with Slayer’s Reign In Blood that didn’t fail its effect, although I have heard better versions of this song.
Setlist: Reasonable Doubt, Frozen Skin, Shadow Wall, The Insufferable, Unnamed Sorrow, Maze Of Being, Drawn To The Devil, Forgotten, Reign In Blood

:. STRESS FACTOR 9 ~ is a band I actually haven’t heard of ever before. Watching the guys changing the backline three of them looked like being New York Hardcore guys. In between a dyed blond Dee Snider copy was walking around and emerges as… RANDY RAMPAGE!!!! (for metal newbies: he was the first Annihilator singer). Randy Rampage… he’s still alive? Well, dunno if you can say so. He was pissed as fuck, looked wrecked and knackered, was lurching around and did weird jumps and stretchings. Maybe I should mention that Ray Hartmann was behind the drum kit (Annihilator too). The guys are back with a new band called STRESS FACTOR 9 and showcased their entire debut album Brainwarp Mindspin in front of a grinning crowd. Musically speaking I’d like to describe the sound as a blend of Annihilator-driven thrash metal with a slight punk-, hardcore and glam rock attitude. Quite half-cocked stuff without real impact and a voice that is beyond of good and evil. In between Randy was talking strange stuff, called women bitches, since they can’t bear with him and made a stupid word game with John and Dubbya Bush, he fortunately don’t like. And he was always in the risk to come a cropper. This show was bloody funny, for sure. But I’m also sure that I don’t wanna listen to the album.
Setlist: Home Sweet Home, Taker, My Leech, Pig Farm Willy, Suck-Cess, Like A Bitch, Slowly, Provoke, Spare Change, Road-Rageacide, Bridle Sweet, By-Tor, Church Of T.V.

:. ARMORED SAINT ~ finally... one of my all-time-faves was about to enter the stage, animated by (feeble, coz of missing masses) ARMORED SAINT calls. Not that much to sense out about jetlag and tiredness. No, the Saints kicked off fittingly with Lesson Well Learned from the ‘83 debut EP. Afterwards one crusher followed the next, while the band, infected by the great feedback, was brought to the maximum output. ARMORED SAINT downright played their asses off. Sheer lunacy! The stage wasn’t big enough, what let singer John Bush entering the flanking bar and climbing the speakers. Axe-man Phil Sandoval emerged like a fidget too, couldn’t stand still any minutes, even performed somewhat of a tribal dance and was marvelously pulling faces. So did 4-stringer Joey Vera, but that’s something people already know from his performances. Just guitarist Jeff Duncan looked sort of black and rarely showed a smile. Drum master Gonzo Sandoval was hardly to detect behind his fogged kit. Anyway, ARMORED SAINT were of course frenetically celebrated. The setlist offered a great retrospective of the entire work. Just something new I missed. Something, that gives hope for another record and the chance to get the guys back to Europe in the near future. It was a fucking great show, amazing, breathtaking, unique. A show I’ll keep remembering with a smile in my face. Just a couple more of fans could have attended…
Setlist: Lesson Well Learned, Pay Dirt, Reign Of Fire, Tribal Dance, Tension, Over The Edge, After Me, The Flood, Seducer, Stricken By Fate, Book Of Blood, Warzone, Nervous Man, Chemical Euphoria // Can U Deliver, March Of The Saint

Upshot: For nothing else in this world I wouldn’t have missed this show! Ok guys, now start with the songwriting and come back for a full European tour, damnit!!!

story & pics © Dajana