Municipal Waste throw a thrash-tastic party at The Shelter in Detroit along with bands Crowbar, Skeletal Remains, and Dead Heat.
Municipal Waste is the Jeff Spicole of thrash metal. They embody that one guy that loves to have a good time no matter what. The Shelter in Detroit is swarming with enthusiastic fans who don’t give a damn if it is a Monday night. Monday, Friday, Saturday, when you are jamming with Municipal Waste, it’s all the same. Let the thrashing begin.
Nardcore young bloods Dead Heat come out swinging for the fences. Sadly, the turnout early in the evening is low. However, some hardy slam dancers don’t miss this chance to skank it up.
Dead Heat used their time on stage to showcase tunes from their latest album World At War. These guys play with passion and aggression. The Suicidal Tendencies vibe is strong with focused rage accented by dive-bombing harmonics. Dead Heat kick ass. If you miss them, you lose.
Standard barriers of classic death metal, Skeletal Remains waste no time in unleashing hell. Celebrating ten years of playing pulverizing death metal, their music breaks over us in malevolent sonic waves.Dueling fog machines enveloped the stage in mists of mayhem as Chris Monroy and Mike De La O trade blistering solos on “Traumatic Existence” and “Tombs of Chaos.” Meanwhile, Pierce Williams and Brian Rush served up a merciless barrage of drums and bass.
The press toward the stage became more noticeable with many headbanging and clutching invincible oranges in metallic ecstasy. Skeletal Remains deliver a captivating death metal performance.
A hint of a smile crosses Crowbar’s Kirk Windstein’s face as he surveys the crowd roaring with approval and chanting “Crowbar!” as the band takes the stage. Their trademark NOLA brand of pummeling riffs riding a mountain of groove hits us like an avalanche.There is clearly a big contingent of fans on hand to witness this legendary band in action. Kirk and Matt Brunson pour on sledgehammer riffs that rain down like a series of body blows to the ribs. The mammoth rhythm of Tommy Buckley (drums) and Shane Wesley (bass) act as a catalyst for this aural bludgeoning.
Crowbar is, in fact, too heavy for words. Their performance is simply crushing. The moshers respond with waves of crashing bodies. Kirk thanks the fans for their thirty-two years of loyalty allowing the band to continue to create massive metal music.
You can smell the adrenaline in the air. Strangely, adrenaline smells a lot like body order and beer. The edges of the mosh pit sizzle as the lights drop and an intro with a few lines from the cult classic “Phantasm” plays. Shouts and eager faces greet Municipal Waste as they start up a groove before busting into “You’re Cut Off”.The pit explodes in a feeding frenzy. Beer and bodies fly to “The Thrashin of the Christ”, “Beer Pressure”, and “Terror Shark.” New-ish song “Gravedive” pays homage to those fans who stage dive to their demise. While the pit is frantic fun, you need to be on the sidelines to properly witness pandemonium.
Tony Foresta (vocals) alternatively waves and points to moshers during and in between verses and bouts of headbanging. Ryan Waste (guitar), Philip “Land Phil” Hall (bass), and Nick Poulos (guitar) headbang and move into and out of the crowd pinned against the stage by the pit. On the drum throne, beer god Dave Witte applies a thorough beating upon his kit.
Tony gave a shout-out to Detroit’s own hardcore thrashers S.N.A.F.U. and hardcore legends Negative Approach. In case you missed it, S.N.A.F.U’s latest album Exile//Banishment was recorded and produced by Philip “Landphil” Hall and his brother Josh at Blaze Of Torment Studios in Richmond, Virginia. A bit of trivia to share with your pals over beers.
Back in the pit, the action remains set at maximum intensity. Dead Heat’s frontman Chris Ramos joins other stage divers with a side flip from stage left. He’s followed by a succession of happy moshers including S.N.A.F.U guitarist/vocalist Scott Christopher. This is one hell of a party.
Tony dedicates “Substitute Creature” to late Municipal Waste’s late drummer, Brandon Ferrell. They wrap up their set with the teutonic twosome of “Slime and Punishment” and singalong favorite “Born To Party.”
After just a few seconds off stage and chants of “Municipal Waste is gonna! F**k You Up!,” Dave, Land Phil, and Ryan return with Ryan on bass and Phil on guitar. Ryan mentions that since Detroit is Rock City, why not some ZZ Top. Their cover of “Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers” is fitting given the party atmosphere. We have to say they do a damn fine version.
Municipal Waste cap off their encore with “The Art of Partying.” Municipal Waste has perfected the art of partying. They put together a diverse selection of extreme metal bands and then shared them with all their friends. Smelling of stale beer and sweat, we can’t wait to see Municipal Waste again.
MUNICIPAL WASTE
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CROWBAR
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SKELETAL REMAINS
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