GATECREEPER + 200 STAB WOUNDS + ENFORCED – ÄÄNIWALLI, HELSINKI – 15/11/2024

por Emil Gil Bretón · 22/11/2024

Dark Superstition

American metalheads GATECREEPER landed suddenly in the cold city of Helsinki to offer us one of those nights of death metal that we will never forget. An evening to remember, joined as opening acts by the American bands 200 STAB WOUNDS and ENFORCED. Without a doubt one of the best concerts of 2024. In the following lines we summarise everything that happened in such a great event that took place at the Ääniwalli concert venue:

ENFORCED

It only took thirty minutes for the quintet from Richmond, Virginia to destroy our eardrums with their destructive and fast crossover metal. ENFORCED did its thing in front a euphoric audience that from the first minute shook their heads as if there were no tomorrow.

Knox Coby‘s voice was brutal. The vocalist who wore a T-shirt from the New York crossover thrash band LEEWAY spit out powerful lyrics that dealt with religion, politics and hypocrisy. Meanwhile Will Wagstaff and Jimmy Frost crushed us with their violent metallic riffs and amazing guitar solos that left more than one with their mouths open. In addition to that, we cannot stop talking about the indescribable drum beats of Alex Bishop, who maintained that galloping rhythm that characterises thrash metal at all times.

ENFORCED delivered and presented a short but effective set of 7 songs that can be found on two of their studio albums: “Kill Grid” (2021) and “War Remains” (2023); and in their most recent EP: “A Leap Into the Dark” (2024). The same band has described their music as ‘pure crossover death’, the perfect marriage between extreme aggressiveness and constant speed. A mix between BOLT THROWER and AMEBIX. And for this reason it is the band that punks and metalheads love!

200 STAB WOUNDS

Then it was the turn of fellow Americans 200 STAB WOUNDS, a relatively new band since they came out in 2019 but with plenty of experience on stage. The group in its live version featured Steve Buhl on guitar and vocals, Raymond MacDonald on guitar, Ezra Cook on bass, and Owen Pooley on drums.

200 STAB WOUNDS gave us a death metal that draws on old school bands like AUTOPSY since at times the tempos became semi-slow and heavy in the purest death-doom style. But at the same time they executed crushing, rhythmic and technically complex riffs a la CANNIBAL CORPSE.

The quartet did an almost impossible task of playing 12 solid songs in just forty minutes, a brief set but with unparalleled quality. These themes are contained in the bloodthirsty studio albums “Slave to the Scalpel” (2021) and “Manual Manic Procedures” (2024), and in the putrid single “Masters of Morbidity” (2023).

200 STAB WOUNDS showed us that despite the many influences they have, they are a unique band that seeks to create modern death metal. On stage no other group comes close to them: grotesque lyrics, inhuman riffs, cacophonous guitar solos and drum work from another planet.

GATECREEPER

At fifteen minutes past ten, the third and last band of the night, GATECREEPER, performed. This quintet from Phoenix, Arizona came on stage with enormous hype as they were the most anticipated and cheered of the evening (the audience was really looking forward to see them). The quintet performed a set of songs contained in their three studio albums “Sonoran Depravation” (2016), “Deserted” (2019) and “Dark Superstition” (2024); and on their EP “An Unexpected Reality” (2021).

A crushing and devastating sound that served as a perfect soundtrack for many members of the audience to get on stage to do stage diving. As if it were a hardcore concert, people were jumping from the stage towards the audience to demonstrate the rapport they felt with GATECREEPER‘s music. Even several members of the opening bands ENFORCED and 200 STAB WOUNDS jumped into the void to be picked up by the strong arms and hands of the euphoric fans. GATECREEPER‘s live lineup featured Chase «Hellahammer» Mason (vocals), Alex Brown (bass), Matt Arrebollo (drums), Israel Garza (rhythm guitar) and Eric «The Darkest Cowboy» Wagner (lead guitar).

Hellahammer handled himself very well on the stage, his sunglasses gave him a cool but at the same time mysterious look. His guttural screams served to command the band’s attack without falling into monotony. The Darkest Cowboy and Garza kept the decibels at an infernal level with brutal riffs that made everyone in the room vibrate. Arrebollo behind the drums reminded us for a minute of Pete Sandoval of MORBID ANGEL, since his drum beats were so fast and forceful that we felt like Äaniwalli was falling apart. And finally, Brown with his four-string bass provided the necessary rhythmic base for the songs to reach that thick tone that makes them sound so raw and forceful.

We could say that it was a balanced set from GATECREEPER, in which greater priority was given to the interpretation of songs from their most recent production “Dark Superstition”. These new songs sounded pretty loud, for example the people favourite’s “The Black Curtain”, and the crushing ones “Oblivion” and “Caught in the Treats” (which specific sound remind us of bands like AT THE GATES). At the same time, there were also moments of total debauchery in the songs “Starved”, “Sick of Being Sober” and “Rusted Gold” (from their short mini-album EP “An Unexpected Reality”). Songs that reminded us of NAPALM DEATH and BRUTAL TRUTH for their cacophonous, incisive and unscrupulous death-grind. But they also dusted off key songs from their first two albums (“Craving Flesh”, “Flamethrower”, “From the Ashes” and “Ruthless”) that helped keep the audience’s adrenaline pumping. In conclusion, that Friday night we witnessed the best death metal and crossover thrash that has come out of the United States in recent years, a modern extreme metal that is not afraid of the influences of the past but that looks towards the future of the genre without repeating the formula.