Words by DJ Monk. Photos by The Dark Queen.
They say that good things come to those who wait, and as we entered the doors of the original Limelight for the second time in 24 hours there was a sense of palpable anticipation in the air. Well, it had been almost three decades since Sacred Reich, one of the progenitors of the crossover thrash movement, had first graced a stage in this corner of the Überverse (one of only two previous visits), and nigh on a quarter of a century since the Arizona mob had had the opportunity to present new music in a live environment. Reports from dates on the massive tour accompanying the release of their appropriately entitled ‘Awakening’ comeback album had indicated that, despite their lengthy layoff, the band were on absolute fire – so, it was perhaps understandable that the blue lights across the street had been placed on full alert…
Opening up proceedings, local heroes Sinocence have endured a traumatic and troubled time over the past year or so, with the departure of both their drummer and, more so, their founding frontman. So, tonight we are faced with an almost completely new look five-piece band. Any fears that the latest incarnation of the Sins may not be battle ready, however, are blown completely out of the water right from the off as they batter the audience into immediate submission with the majestic ‘Long Way Down’.
Duane Watson, the band’s first dedicated vocalist, is a real find and an invaluable addition, bringing a new power to the material and an enthusiastic and infectious dynamism to the role. The songs themselves are towering, as they plunge straight into their back catalogue with a storming ‘Rule As One’, before ‘Ascension Code’ dominates and subjugates any doubters. And I swear that this was the fastest, and heaviest, I have ever heard set closer ‘Metalbox’ played. If you’re going to make a comeback, this is how to do it: the Sins are a band re-invented, rejuvenated and revitalized – and they’re taking no prisoners or quarter in the process.
- Sinocence play Voodoo in Belfast, with Ifreann, Crossfire and Acid Age, on Friday 13 March. They then play the Clang Festival at Dublin’s National Stadium on Saturday 2 May and Über Rock’s own Helfast 2020 on Saturday 23 May.
Night Demon literally hit the stage running, bounding up the steps like Olympic sprinters straight out of the starting blocks, setting the pace for a fast, ferocious and frenetic set, which is literally ‘Full Steam Ahead’, with the pedal to the metal all the way through. Despite having felt extremely unwell earlier in the day, Jarvis Leatherby is in fine humour and voice, interacting easily with the audience, who reciprocate with a good knowledge of the band’s catalogue. The power trio’s unrelenting energy is interrupted only when they leave the stage expecting to return to the sampled intro to ‘The Howling Man’, only to find that it’s not playing, which in turn leads Leatherby (perhaps needlessly) to berate the sound engineer…
With a set drawn more or less equally from their three releases to date, they add a touch of cheesy theatrics (but, then, a touch of cheesy dramatics never goes awry at a metal show) when they are joined by two hooded and masked figures, who invite us to drink from ‘The Chalice’, before finishing off with back-to-back versions of Thin Lizzy’s ‘The Sun Goes Down’ and ‘Johnny The Fox’ (and it was nice to see them veering away from some of the more “conventional” cover choices). All in all, it’s a superb set, disappointing only in the piss-poor lighting which saw them playing in virtual darkness – but, that was their choice as they like to add some “mystery” to their onstage performances: fortunately, there was no mystery about the quality of the musical side, which we look forward to hearing more of when they make their promised return to the Über Kingdom next May.
- Watch our interview with Jarvis Leatherby HERE.
The Thin Lizzy theme that finished off the previous set is continued as ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ booms from the speakers, heralding the imminent arrival of our headliners. The anticipation levels have now reached fever pitch, as Sacred Reich storm onto the stage and proceed to ‘Divide And Conquer’ with another fast and furious start, before introducing us to ‘The American Way’, and its ‘Manifest Reality’, the first single to be taken from the new album and the second of four tracks from same to be given an airing. It’s perhaps not surprising that only half the songs on ‘Awakening’ (the others are the title track and ‘Killing Machine’) are included on the setlist, as most of the crowd are old enough to remember the Reich “first time around”.
It’s an audience profile picked up on by Phil Rind, as he jokes about the severe lack of hair on display: it also explains why, for a thrash metal show, moshing and surfing is thinner on the ground that the hairlines… but, then none of us are getting any younger, are we? And this doesn’t mean that the audience aren’t into the onstage action: far from hit, as necks are being stretched as far as they can and voices raised as loud as possible, with even the new songs being sung back with unbridled energy and passion. It’ a reaction by which Rind seems genuinely humbled: “we haven’t recorded in 23 years, and we’re hardly toured, so the fact that any of you fuckers are here is great”. He also points out that second guitarist Joey Radziwill wasn’t even born when they released their last album!
Back behind the kit, Dave McClain is a total machine, while guitarist Wiley Arnett is obviously enjoying the band’s rejuvenation as the band race through a set which incorporates as much of their back catalogue as they can cram into the setlist, from ‘One Nation’ and ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ to ‘Independent’, the Slayer-esque ‘Death Squad’ (well, it was written by Rind as a tribute to Araya and co.) to the inevitable closer of ‘Surf Nicaragua’, which brings this storming set to an appropriately rowdy and pleasurable conclusion. A majestic performance in every way. All hail the Reich!
- Watch our interview with Phil Rind HERE.
- Sacred Reich return to the Über Kingdom when they play Bloodstock 2020 over the weekend of 6-9 August.
- PHOTO CREDIT: All photos © The Dark Queen/Über Rock. You can view our full gallery of photographs HERE.
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