review by: Roberto Martinelli

What a bill this was for us Americans. I know that there are bills of such proportions as Nile and Cannibal Corpse and Marduk AND Dark Funeral AND Krisiun AND (I can't write it any bigger) more… such tales are mythical to us. Not that we should be all that envious, for as great a lineup as this latest tour fronted by Nile boasted, you just get damn exhausted after four hours of this! Chit chatting amongst the journalists/ staff/ friends and well-wishers in the backstage area, it seemed that not even the tour organizers could make it all the way through one night of this assembly of brutality. But what a show it was.

The Berzeker took the stage, with all their masks and get up. I enjoyed their set more than I had the two previous times I saw them, but this was partially because I had a nice, padded bench backstage to go sit down on when I got tired of watching them play their set, and that I was listening to them not directly in front of the sonic path of the speakers, but rather off to the side. Some shows at the Pound have had deplorable sound, and one way to combat that seems to stand behind the speakers. The Berzerker were tight and fast - their drum sound wasn't as ridiculous as I remembered it being before - but beyond these two characteristics, what else is there about this band?

Strapping Young Lad were next. It was a real treat to be able to watch Gene Hoglan (left), one of my biggest drumming heroes, from not more than 15 feet away. This largely Canadian group played very well, indeed. They had great stage presence and were impressive through and through. Meanwhile, some commotion was created backstage when members of Voivod (Piggy, Away and new member Jason Newsted, who came with his girlfriend and their very small dog) showed up to hang out and rub some elbows.

Strapping Young Lad vocalist Devin Townsend, above.

Dark Tranqullity (yep, the name's supposed to be spelled wrong, like the Montreal Maple Leafs) was the band that I was most excited about seeing. Their latest album, Damage Done, is just so great. I honestly believe it's their best ever, Gallery or no Gallery.

Three or four songs in Dark Tranquillity's set were from Damage Done, although they didn't play the title track, which disappointed some people. They also didn't play "Hours Spent in Exile," which is my personal favorite on the disk. But what they did play was wonderful. The sound was again great, and the material that wowed the crowd the most was from the new record. For once, the "tranquil" part of this bands name relatively applied compared to the deliveries of the other four groups.

Dark Tranquillity

The surprise of the evening was Napalm Death, which really stole the show from everyone else. So much energy, so much conviction, so much entertainment. At the heart of it all was the spectacle of watching frontman Barney Greenway do his thing. I had been told before that Greenway is a pretty unorthodox presence on stage, and that witnessing him is a major part of the whole Napalm package. And it is. If you've never seen this band or Greenway perform before, try to imagine if Monty Python had made a skit about a grindcore band, and John Cleese was the singer.

The godfathers of grind were truly amazing. Nile did their usual thing of impossible, athletically challenging metal that was spot on in every respect, but Napalm had something else.

So, Nile's performance was typical…in the words "astounding," "unbelievable" and "mind-boggling" can be held within the world of typicality. This US four-piece is like a machine, and being able to watch Tony Laureano totally destroy the surrounding area with his drum kit bashing was the single biggest treat of the evening. Laureano took a page out of Gene Hoglan's book (when Hoglan was touring with Death and incorporated a ship's propeller and the shell of a cannon round in his kit) by having a saw blade on a ride stand. Laureano placed this unusual percussive instrument next to his hi-hat and would use the saw as a sort of second ride cymbal for those seemingly impossible parts on Nile songs when there are the flurries of bright, metal percussion.

There seemed to be some tension on stage, notably between Laureano and J. Vesano, the bassist/ main vocalist. How much we need to read into this is, and how real this perception is in reality, is anyone's guess. Leaving the club happy, but exhausted and numb, I was happy to find in my car the Stars of the Lid CD I had brought with me for the ride home. When's the next public pummeling scheduled for?

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