November 4th is definitely a date for the memory books. Arch Enemy was on tour through North America with their brand new frontwoman, and they brought along German thrash kings Kreator, and California metallers Huntress to kick some ass while melting faces for each North American date.
Huntress was up first to start off the night. Though Union Hall is not a very big venue... The floor was quite full with eager fans and curious individuals who haven't seen this powerhouse band before. Starting off their set with 'Enter the Exosphere' - the intro to their most recent album 'Starbound Beast'. *Personally, this song gets me pumped right up, so I can only imagine how everyone else felt who was twice as excited as I was* As the band filed on stage, their witchy frontwoman, Jill Janus, came sulking out of the shadows, wearing a gorgeous hooded cape with spikes on the shoulders. As Jill flipped her hood back and hair out of her face, the crowd began to roar. Huntress immediately transitioned into 'Spell Eater' - The title track off of their first record 'Spell Eater' - and the room exploded! Accompanied by galloping guitars, and thundering drums, Jill's piercing vocals illuminated the room from start to finish. As a personal friend of the band, it was great to see these wonderful people in Canada again; kicking ass and taking names! I eagerly await the release of their 3rd album, and cannot wait until the next time they're in town.
After Huntress had the honor of warming up the crowd, Kreator was up next, and ready to tear Edmonton a new one. Now, I have been dying to see Kreator live ever since I was about 15 years old... So needless to say, I felt like a giddy teenager in the photo pit when each member of Kreator came on stage. Kicking their set off in style, opening with 'The Patriarch' - off of 2001's album 'Violent Revolution' - Union Hall went absolutely wild! With strobe lights firing off every 2 minutes, and smoke cannons blasting, I have never seen people mosh so hard in my years of metal-concerting. Midway through Kreator's set, when frontman Miland (Mille) Petrozza announced that the next song they were about to play was 'Enemy of God' - off of 2005's album (and my personal favorite album) 'Enemy Of God' - the crowd roared so loud, that I need to double check to make sure my earplugs hadn't fallen out. Finally, closing with their most popular song 'Pleasure To Kill' - from their 1986 album 'Pleasure To Kill'. People who came out to see this set were going full throttle for the entire hour of being in Kreator's presence. I, for one, believe Edmonton made a good impression on these thrash metal kings of Germany.
Now, onto Arch Enemy. One of my most favorite bands. They have been in metal news for the past few months, due to the recent switch up of frontwomen. Going from German metal queen Angela Gossow, to Canadian and former frontwoman of the band 'The Agonist', Alissa White-Gluz (aka: the Queen Beast). Despite the controversy between fans when it comes to comparing these two ladies, I personally think Alissa does a fine job of filling Angela's shoes. Though, at first, I'll admit that I was skeptical... But it took this most recent performance for me to see that even though Alissa doesn't have the same raw and gritty heaviness in her voice that Angela does, she's FULL of energy on stage; Interacting with her bandmates on stage, along with fans in the front row. Arch Enemy began their set with the intro off of their newest album 'War Eternal' (which has Miss.White-Gluz on lead vocals) then hopped right into 'Enemy Within' - from 2001's album 'Wages Of Sin'. I must say... I was curious as to how Alissa would sound performing 'Angela-songs' live... Though Alissa is a very talented woman, I feel that she sacrifices her incredible vocal range to try matching Angela's heaviness, and for that, unfortunately, her performance suffers. But! Arch Enemy is still incredibly fun to watch! Lead guitarist Michael Amott, was on point throughout this show. Nailing every solo, and totally melting faces during his time to shine. Closing out their set with 'Fields of Desolation' - from 1999 album 'Burning Bridges' - Arch Enemy kicked some serious ass on this visit to Edmonton.
Overall... It's hard to say that Alissa did a bad job. Because all in all, she went out there and gave it everything she had! Doing everything that a good frontwoman should do. So despite my personal views on all of that vocal stuff.... I still continue to show the utmost respect towards Alissa. Being a woman in the metal world is hard, there's no doubt about that, but no matter who it is, whether is Jill from Huntress, or Alissa from Arch Enemy, or even girls in local bands!... The ladies of metal will always have my support!
Want to see more photos from this show? Check them out here!
Huntress - Kreator - Arch Enemy
