Death Angel Summer Europe Tour & VoiVod at Last!
- Bleeding Priest
- 22 hours ago
- 6 min read
Greetings from Europe! Death Angel’s out here celebrating the 10th anniversary of our 2016 record The Evil Divide. We’re about at the halfway point and I thought it was high time I checked in.
The tour kicked off in Poland with a show sharing the stage with Biohazard and NY Hardcore legends Cro-mags. There were two other hardcore bands on the bill (Sworn Enemy and Striking 13) which made Death Angel the odd band out on the bill but surprisingly (or not) we went over well and had a great gig.
From there we played Headbangers Open Air in Germany. This is a neat little festival. It’s a glorified backyard party really. It was my fourth time playing it. The first time was in 2006 (I believe) with Ulysses Siren. I played the following year with Warning SF and Death Angel played it about 10 years ago give or take.
I made a killing at one of the record vendors selling 13 Hectic/Bleeding Priest releases. The only band I caught that day was Bullet who are always fantastic live. If you’re not familiar with them you should really check them out. They remind me of very early Accept (pre Breaker).
Next we played Speedfest in Austria with Nervosa, Sacred Reich and Soulfly. I only caught a few minutes of The Reich being that they went on before us but I did watch most of Soulfly’s set. Soulfly isn’t really my kind of thing but they put on a hell of a show. Max Cavalera’s son Zyon has really blossomed into quite the drummer. And Max looked and sounded great.
We did another show with Biohazard in Budapest. It was a festival of sorts. Pro-pain played before us and Vio-lence played after us in the party tent. It’s kinda strange how this tour we started off playing with a bunch of NYHC bands but we held our own.
It was cool catching up with our Bay Area brethren in Vio-lence. It’s seems like we just can’t get away from them . They switched their set up and played some seldomly heard tunes like “Liquid Courage” and “Subterfuge”.
Next we played a HUGE festival in Romania called Rockstadt. During the day a bunch of us went to Bran Castle which is dubbed “Dracula’s Castle”. It was where Vlad The Impaler really lived but they definitely dressed it up with some Hollywood vampire fare. It was really neat actually and I’m stoked I made the trip.
Death Angel didn’t go on until 11:30 so we had plenty of time. We went on at the same time as Marylyn Manson but honestly you couldn’t tell. We played to a massive crowd and we went over very well.
Next was our final gig with Biohazard in Serbia. After seeing them a handful of times I was reminded why these guys have the clout they do. I was a casual fan in the early 90’s owning their first couple of albums but I haven’t listened to or thought about them in many years. Hearing those songs live kinda made me a fan all over again. They’re heavy as all hell and don’t fuck around. Very cool bunch of dudes as well.
Next was the night I had been looking forward to for weeks, our co-headliner with VoiVod in Bratislava. I’ve been in Death Angel for 17 years and it’s taken that long for us to play a gig with those crazy Canadians.
If you don’t know how much I love this band then you really don’t know me. VoiVod geek out time. Where do I start? How about my list of VoiVod records from least favorite to favorite. The list only includes full length studio releases.
Will's VoiVod Album List (least favorite to favorite)
15. VoiVod - The only album by them I can honestly say I don’t like. The first with Jason Newstead. They had the world’s attention and could’ve struck while the iron was hot but instead of taking full advantage of that opportunity they released a very flat sounding record. |  |
14. Katorz - The second with Newstead. Much better than the first but still not to the level of greatness they are known for BUT this album has a great Punk attitude to it and Rocks hard when it wants to. |  |
13. Infini - The last of the Jasonic trilogy and the last to feature Piggy. This album actually came out after his passing. It rips. The final track “Volcano” is maybe the best closing track on any VoiVod record. |  |
12. The Wake - Their first concept album since Phobos. It’s a dense listen and demands your full attention. Which is why maybe it’s low on the list. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fucking great and perhaps if I gave it some more listens without any distractions it would be higher. Definitely their most experimental release in years. |  |
11. Rrroooaaarrr - Basically, if this record had proper production it would be in my top 5 because this is VoiVod at their most hateful and BRUTAL! An aptly titled album for sure. |  |
10. War And Pain - The not so humble beginnings of a band that would turn the Metal world on its ear in a few short years. The young, aggressive Punk vibe on this record is undeniable. This is a fantastic start to a genre changing career. |  |
9. Synchro Anarchy - Their latest full length of original material. Incredible production and some of their most prog material to date. Just listen to “Holographic Thinking” and you’ll see. |  |
8. Target Earth - Chewy’s introduction to the band and boy did he make his presence known but at the same time honoring the legacy of Piggy. “Mechanical Mind” is a VoiVod fan’s wet dream covering all eras of the band in one song. This song alone makes Target Earth my favorite of the Chewy era. |  |
7. Negatron - The first with Eric Forrest on bass and vox, VoiVod kinda shocked the world with this one. After two more Rock related records and a major lineup change with losing Snake they came back HARD with a pure modern Thrash classic. |  |
6. Phobos - They followed up Negatron with the sequel to Dimension Hatross, Phobos. This record is the complete polar opposite of its predecessor in sound, songwriting and overall approach. An uber heavy, psychedelic bad trip to the max. I fucking love this album. |  |
5. The Outer Limits - Best production they’ve ever had hands down. This record ping pongs back and forth from superbly crafted straight up Hard Rockers to cosmic epics like the trio of songs “Lost Machine”, “Timewarp” and “Jack Luminous”. Snake’s best vocal performance to date. A masterpiece. |  |
4. Nothingface - VoiVod at the peak of their popularity and creative flow. They were dominating the world at this time and this album is a prime example why. For such a complex album it comes off as an incredibly easy listen. Not many bands can pull that off. |  |
3. Dimension Hatross - My first VoiVod record. I actually didn’t understand it at all when I first heard it. After seeing the mind blowing video for “Tribal Convictions” I rushed out and picked it up. It took about a week of repeated listens to grasp the brilliance of this band and album. Probably the most VoiVod sounding album in their discography if that makes any sense. |  |
2. Angel Rat - An absolute masterpiece of mellow psychedelic Rock. They completely shifted gears after the hyper progressive Nothingface and showed the world they could still sound like VoiVod without a barrage of double bass and discordant riffs. It may not be YOUR VoiVod but it’s VoiVod nonetheless and I absolutely LOVE IT! |  |
1. Killing Technology - I once told Gary Holt this is the greatest Thrash album of all time. His response was “VoiVod aren’t a Thrash band”. Perhaps, but it’s still the greatest Thrash album ever recorded, sorry….not sorry. |  |
Ok, now that I’ve got that out of the way their setlist was:
1. Rise
2. Obsolete Beings
3. Ravenous Medicine
4. The Unknown Knows
5. Tribal Convictions
6. The Prow
7. Ripping Headaches
8. Nanoman
9. Nuclear War
9. Fix My Heart
10. Astronomy Domine
11. VoiVod
They played at least one song off their first 9 albums and one from the Chewy era. Eric Forrest was handling vocal duties due to Snake having to leave the tour for a family emergency. Eric did a great job and it was rad to hear a couple of songs from his era.
Both bands got along smashingly to the point where Away did a quick sketch for me backstage…which will be framed when I get home. It was a dream come true sharing the stage with them. Actually it’s the second time for me sharing a bill with them. The first being in 1995 when Old Grandad opened for them on the Negatron tour.
That epic night was followed with a trio of headliners in Zagreb, Cervia and Zurich. These were three of the hottest gigs I’ve ever played in my life. They were great though. All packed and sweaty as they should be.
Now we’re enjoying two well earned days off in Germany. Talk to you soon.
–Bleeding Priest
