KATAKLYSM (2019) Live Concert Review!

Posted on September 7, 2019 by Michael Juvinall in Concert Review, Heavy Metal // 0 Comments

Venue: The Forge – Joliet, Illinois
Date: September 4, 2019
Special guests: EXHORDER, KRISIUN, HATCHET
Reviewed by Michael Juvinall – Horror Patch
*All photos Copyright Michael L. Juvinall

Our neighbors to the north in Canada have exported some pretty incredible extreme metal bands from the past 40 years or so. Case in point, such acts like Voivod, Annihilator, Anvil, Sacrifice, Infernal Majesty, Exciter, Gorguts, The Agonist, Cryptopsy, and those are just the ones I can remember.

Which brings me to one of Canada’s major exports, death metal miscreants KATAKLYSM! They’ve been kicking it around the Great White North since 1991. With 13 albums under their belt and numerous music awards including a Juno, which is Canada’s equivalent of a Grammy Award for their 2015 album, Of Ghosts and Gods. That’s the reason they kicked off their first headlining tour of North America in Chicago (actually, Joliet, Illinois, which is a suburb) this past Wednesday, September 4th and brought along a killer crew of support from EXHORDER – KRISIUN – HATCHET. Horror Patch was on the scene to bring you the highs and lows of all the bands including pics and videos.

Going in reverse order because all you guys really care about is the headliner right? The mighty KATAKLYSM took the stage around quarter past 10 pm. The crowd was as large as it was going to be at this point. It was a decent crowd but not even close to being a packed house. They roared into “Outsider” off of their most recent 2018 Meditations offering. A good amount of tracks played were from this album, along with an array of favorites from their discography.

Highlights for me were the tracks “Fire”, “As I Slither”, “Narcissist”, and “Crippled and Broken”. They played with a good amount of energy and are incredible musicians. Sound quality was pretty good with not too much sounding out of place and not too much distortion. I was impressed with the musicality they showed and frontman Maurizio Iacono had good stage presence.

Although they sounded great and were impressive, I was very disappointed they only played for 55 minutes. Headlining bands should play longer than that and for me, didn’t give the crowd what they wanted. I had to take rating points off for this.

3 out of 5 Pentagrams!

Setlist:

Outsider
The Black Sheep
Fire
Thy Serpents Tongue
As I Slither
Narcissist
Guillotine
Prevail
Taking the World by Storm
10 Seconds From the End
The Ambassador of Pain
Crippled & Broken
At the Edge of the World

Click on each image to enlarge:

New Orleans based thrashers EXHORDER is the band that some people were more excited to see than the headlining band. This is because they have come back after a 27-year absence from the scene. Their return has created somewhat of a commotion in the industry after such a long hiatus. They have a new album coming out soon and there is a big buzz about them. I was interested to see them as well, mainly because I listened to them back in the 1980’s and I wanted to see how much their sound changed from their glory days (if it did).

Only two of the original members remain, the singer and lead guitarist. After nearly 30 years of time, the band does not sound quite the same, the lead singer definitely does not sound the same. Time has ravaging effects on one’s voice. It’s not to say this is a bad thing because they sound pretty darn good. The sharpness of their music is on point and they’re still damn heavy and tight.

EXHORDER played for 45 minutes, nearly as long as KATAKLYSM played for. It should have been a co-headlining gig. Regardless, it seemed to me they haven’t lost what it takes to make good metal and I look forward to at least a few more years of quality music from the band.

3.5 Pentagrams!

Setlist:

Homicide
Unforgiven
Legions of Death
My Time
(Cadence of) The Dirge
Death in Vain
Hallowed Sound (live debut)
Desecrator

Click on each image to enlarge:

KRISIUN is a Brazilian three-piece death metal outfit. I’ve seen these guys before and they don’t disappoint. I hate to compare but they remind me of early Sepultura. Maybe it’s a Brazilian thing.

They played for 35 minutes and I wish I could’ve seen more of them. The band has an edginess which works for them. Check them out if you can.

3.5 Pentagrams!

Setlist:

Kings of Killing
Combustion Inferno
Blood of Lions
Scourge of the Enthroned
Slaying Steel
Vengeance’s Revelation
Ominous

Click on each image to enlarge:

HATCHET opened up the show with a really lively and aggressive set. This thrash metal quartet is from the bay area of San Francisco and seem like a bunch of crazy kids. They’re heavy enough but I’m not a fan of their lead singer. He kind of grates on me with his singing style. They play straight-forward thrash that isn’t anything I haven’t heard before. They played for 30 minutes.