[Dajana] Ha! HEATHEN! Finally as a headlining act on tour ;) And no, I of course would not have missed that. Luckily work did not force me to twist and turn to get to the • Turock • club. Well, it might be a twist of fate, err… chaos, if things work out too easy. Chaos always bites my ass then. In this case it was my 50+€ bill as I lost my beverage card (or it got stolen). No hard feelings anyway. As often as I am allowed to drop in I take it as kind of sponsoring ;)
[BRT] Catching the train and off to Essen to see HEATHEN headlining a show for the first time. So far I only saw them playing as opener or second band, which always meant to cast pearls before swine. I hooked up with a bunch of friends and got me some beer… so what could have gone wrong tonight? Right… NOTHING!

:: pics ::

[Dajana] It was an early evening kick off when German Thrash Metal hopefuls :: DUST BOLT :: entered the stage. I already witnessed them opening for Obituary here on this stage one year ago and they left a great impression. And the cats again lived up to my expectations. It is really a pleasure to see DUST BOLT playing live. I felt reminded of early Metallica & co, back then. And yes, I forgive some sloppily played riffs and hooks, especially when singer/guitarist Lenny and bassist Bene go that wild, whirling over the stage like tornados. This was a very short but crispy and much entertaining as well as sweaty show ;) Great!
[BRT] Yep, that’s utterly swinging Thrash Metal as one might know from Kreator, Metallica and Slayer, combined with a very lively stage performance. Interplay was quite “untight”; also the dash-drum-like snare added a not so inconsiderable rumble factor to the music. That actually does not bother me really, but it wasn’t intended either.
Setlist: Intro, Into Madness, Violent Abolition, Pleasure On Illusion, Children Of Violence, Toxic Attack

[BRT] Next up is :: GENERATION KILL :: fronted by uncongenial Rob Dukes, singer in Exodus. I did expect anything and got - musically - surprised in a positive way. Straight Thrash Metal with a proper portion of NY Hardcore…
[Dajana] … for what former Pro-Pain four-stringer Rob Moschetti has to be credited for…
[BRT] …with psychedelic-tinged acoustic passages and great background vocals. Rob Dukes himself acted much restrained…
[Dajana] …which did not mean that GENERATION KILL would pussyfoot around at all. Much more they just left scorched earth. So to say ;)
Setlist: Hate, Feast For The Wolves, Fog Of War, Born To Serve, Vegas, Prophets Of War, No Hope, We Are All Gonna Die

[BRT] What more to say about :: HEATHEN :: fans don’t know yet and means to carry coals to Newcastle. Technically an outstanding band, great song material (although The Evolution Of Chaos bored me somehow but live those songs work very well), a charismatic singer and classics such as Hypnotized and Death By Hanging that truly kick ass. There was much action on stage and the band close to its fans. Awesome show!
[Dajana] I agree, agree and agree ;) Finally HEATHEN playing more that just 5 tracks or so. Needless to say that the Turock club was turned upside down and the crowd going wild. Such craziness I did not expect. Wow! Songs from The Evolution Of Chaos rocked as hell while the crowd was freaking out and singing along the classics. This was truly amazing!
Setlist: Intro, Dying Season, Control By Chaos, Open The Grave, Arrows Of Agony, Mercy Is On Virtue, Fade Away, Hypnotized, No Stone Unturned // Goblins Blade, Death By Hanging

story © Bert & Dajana • pics © Dajana