LIVE REVIEW: Lamb of God, Municipal Waste, Kreator, Manchester Academy, 07/03/2023
Photo Credit: Abbi Draper-Scott (Wembley Arena, London on 21st March 2023)
It was a freezing Tuesday night in Manchester as over two thousand people waited eagerly for the return of the Virginian heavy metal titans, Lamb Of God. After three years of eagerly waiting for their rescheduled State Of The Unrest tour, the quintet are back and we’re in for an absolute treat. Joined by German thrashers, Kreator and with a little bit of Municipal Waste on the side, a trilogy of electric sets await us and we are more than ready.
Walking into the venue, you can immediately feel the energy of the crowd buzzing with excitement. Half the fans rushed towards the barrier as the other half, well they went more towards the middle… we wonder why.
You can feel the chaos brewing as the lights go dark. Screams and cheers rumbled through the venue as Municipal Waste took to the stage. The crowd roars as they kick off the night with Demoralizer, a hit from their recently released album Electrified Brain. Lead singer, Tony Foresta has the whole room in the palm of his hands with his monstrous, commanding vocals paired perfectly with the thundering riffs of guitarist, Ryan Waste. It didn’t take long for the mini pits to begin forming simultaneously across the floor, ultimately becoming one giant moshing ground. It was wild. Continuing the set with the likes of Breathe Grease, Mind Eraser and The Thrashin’ Of The Christ, Foresta had the crowd effortlessly chanting along as Waste and bassist, Phil Hall played seamlessly together, combing both pounding riffs and melodic structure, never missing a beat as drummer Dave Witte keeps perfect control that kept the music pounding throughout their entire set. The highlight of the night was experiencing the all-time fan favourite Wave Of Death. Municipal Waste brought the house down with the elements of death metal and blistering riffs. The ideal song for a mosh pit frenzy. All you could see were bodies flying around the room right up until the very second they left the stage. An incredible performance. 8/10
It’s not long before German metal legends, Kreator are beckoned to the stage with the speakers blasting Iron Maiden’s classic Run To The Hills. Chaos awaits as they dive straight into the opening track, Hate Über Alles. From then onwards, their high-energy, blistering hits gave us a true hardcore show. Frontman, Mille Petrozza was in full swing tonight with his voice snarling over the incredible shredding of guitars and the roars of the drums. Sami Yli-Sirniö, guitarist, showed pure precision and power, whilst drummer, Jürgen Reil kept thundering along, never missing a beat. Throwing in favourites such as Satan Is Real, no fan out there in this crowd tonight left disappointed. However, we think we can all agree that we would’ve loved to have seen a live performance of the band’s recently released single with the headliners, State Of Unrest. But with that said, the whole set was filled with crowd-surfers and headbangers and we can definitely say that if you happened to be in that mosh pit tonight, you definitely won’t have left unscathed. 8/10
Finally, the moment came for tonight’s headliners to take the stage. The anticipation could be cut with a knife as we all stood there, staring wide-eyed at the stage. After three years of waiting for this very moment (thanks to covid), the venue went dark. The intro to Memento Mori began booming around the room as lead singer, Randy Blythe graced us with his silhouette, hand high up in the air. The crowd erupts. Lamb Of God are back and they’re ready to blow the roof off. The pits soon form, expanding, wider than we’ve seen all night. This was going to be a show worth waiting for. Blythe is certainly a force to be reckoned with, intensely pacing the stage and filling the room with his guttural vocals. You can hear the passion in each and every song. Guitarists, Mark Morton and Willie Adler shred their way through the night whilst staying perfectly in sync through the likes of Ruin, Walk With Me In Hell, Ditch and many more. Art Cruz, drummer, performs powerfully yet beautifully. The speed at which he plays is truly mesmerising. With a setlist that ranged from new material to songs from over nearly two decades ago, everyone was well catered for. If you didn’t know it, you were going to love it anyway. Filled with dirty breakdowns and horns in the air, you can’t help but notice the band and the crowd feeding into each other’s energy; bounding off one another, loving every second. Finishing off the night with, Vigil, Laid To Rest and Redneck, we couldn’t have asked for a more excellent trilogy of songs. Each band member’s face lit up with joy and so did the crowd.
Tonight proved that Lamb Of God are one of the most formidable bands in metal to this date.
9/10
Written By: Sian Connolly
Photo Credit: Abbi Draper-Scott (Wembley Arena, London on 21st March 2023)
