In Concert: The Ultimate Revenge Part Two Along with such other monstrous events as World War Three and Chicago's "Metalfests" in '87 and '88, the filming of The Ultimate Revenge Part Two ranks as quite a major festival in its own right. The pair of buses provided by Combat Records arrived at the Trocadero in Philadelphia (the location for the event) in the latter part of the afternoon on Sunday, October 23, and proceeded to unload its cargo of beer-logged writers, photographers, and record company personnel, including myself. Outside the club sat a large truck which was more like a television studio on wheels with masses of thick cable slithering into the doors of the venue. A clowd of anxious (yet not nearly as insane as the crew in the opening segment of the first Ultimate Revenge video) locals awaited entry into the club where they would soon see Forbidden, Faith Or Fear, Death, Dark Angel, and Raven explode in a thrashing fury. Inside, the impressive Trocadero resembled a miniature Radio City Music Hall with its balcony, detailed structure, domed ceiling, and canopy over the stage. A total of six very large, very expensive cameras were scattered throughout, including a moveable one at stage left which hovered above the bands at various heights. First to hit the stage was Forbidden, the Bay Area's newest thrash Gods (look for my piece on the band elsewhere in this issue). And, as I hoped and expected, the band proceeded to put on a highly impressive show, which actually ended up being the finest of the night. I attribute this to mainly one factor: Forbidden was the only band of the night to combine stage presence with great, well-played music. Playing songe off their stunning debut album Evil, such as "Chalice of Blood", "Over The Edge," and "Through Eyes Of Glass," the band thrashed with intense energy and churned out their music with flawless precision. Even drummer Paul Bostaph contributed greatly to their awesome performance with some creative, hard-driving drumming and an endless supply of serious head- shakin'. As their short but very sweet 30 minute set came to a close, I was thoroughly impressed and deeply satisfied. After the show I had another opportunity to speak with Forbidden's bassist Matt Comacho, who had this to say about the event. "This was a really big thrill for us. We really didn't know what to expect because our album isn't out yet (it is now -ed.), but we took advantage of the opportunity and I was actually surprised by the reaction we got. This was our first show outside of the Bay Area and it was really exciting for us." Following a surprisingly short break, Philadelphia locals Faith Or Fear were up next. Overall I wasn't too impressed with their performance - for the exact opposite reasons why I loved Forbidden. To put it bluntly, Faith Or Fear's Exodus-ish music lacked intensity and spark, and they had literally no stage presence. While the audience exploded into a slamming frenzy (the fight between two girls was pretty entertaining) upon their appearance, the band played with little enthusiasm, especially considering that they were being filmed. Regardless of the fact that I was unfamiliar with their material, I felt that Faith Or Fear played like a band that's just not hungry. When I spoke to one of the members of Faith Or Fear (I can't even remember his name, much less their songs!), he commented on their performance and the event overall. "Instead of starting at point Zero, this is really going to give us a head start. I thought our set went over really well. As long as we come out and do our best and the crowd doesn't hate us, then I'm happy. I think we hung right in there with all the other bands." Taking the middle slot was the Florida masters of death metal, Death, who were my favorite band on the bill. Basically I found two things wrong with their set: 1) their stage presence, and 2) their choice of songs. The former problem was the main reason why Death was beaten out by Forbidden as the highlight of the night. This was my sixth time seeing Death live, and each time including this one, I noticed an overall lack of charisma on stage. I figured that being on camera would give them some incentive, but no such luck. Each member rarely stepped away from his designated section of the stage, and only guitarist Rick Rozz provided a bit of thrashing action. The rhythm section is especially dull in a live situation. Drummer Bill Andrews plays only with his hands and no arm or upper body movement which causes him to tap the kit lightly, and bassist Terry Butler stands hunched over while thrashing quite lethargicly. On a more positive note, Death played perfectly. Their music was extremely brutal yet not the least bit noisy and vocalist Chuck Schuldiner sang with the same power and conviction as on Death's two brilliant records, Scream Bloody Gore and Leprosy. While I would've rather heard more from the first record like "Regurgitated Guts" or "Torn To Pieces" instead of less exciting cuts off the latest album like "Forgotten Past," and "Choke On It," and while they need some work on stage performance, I felt that from a musical standpoint, Death was nothing short of awesome. "Our set went over really well - everybody loved it. We always have gripes about our shows, but I think we did good and I feel pretty positive about our show," said Chuck at the end of the night. It's been a while since I last saw Dark Angel, and I was anxious to see them with new vocalist Ron Rinehart. But unfortunately I was less than satisfied with their performance and actually rather disappointed. As you all know, Dark Angel is an extreamely fast thrash band, and on vinyl they can keep it relatively under control, and I personally think thry're a great band. But in a live situation, they play even faster and this makes them sound like an utter wall of ripping noise. Imagine "The Burning Of Sodom" at twice the speed! Luckily, the band members were active enough to take my mind off the blur coming from the amps. For his first time in front of an East Coast crowd and especially since this was such an important gig, I was especially pleased with the performance of Mr. Rinehart. He's got a great voice and a very ballsy stage attitude (which was clearly evident when he wrung his sweat-soaked shirt onto the face of some blond chick), and he really knew how to interact with and work up a crowd. But the definite highlight of their set was towards the end when a young girl in skimpy attire ran out from backstage and did a beautiful flip off the stage and landed on her feet near the back of the crowd! Her score? A perfect 10! When questioned about the show, Dark Angel's drummer Gene Hoglan replied: "We had a few problems tonight like the sound, but I thought the energy really came through. It was our first show in a while so it was a little rough, but I wauld say that we're pretty happy overall." The saddest part of the show was the fact that Raven headlined. Regardless of the fact that I've never been nor will I ever be a Raven fan, I felt that they had no place on this bill or on this video (and I'm obviously not alone on this considering that 3/4 of the people left after Dark Angel!). As one would expect, they had the best sound quality of the night, but their performance was simply pitiful. Obviously they think that running and jumping around like maniacs compensates for their lack of natural presence and musical flair, but to me it just came across as an insincere act. Chuck from Death had similar feelings: "They're fine for what they do, but I don't think Raven fit on this bill at all. It's like putting tobasco sauce on a peanut butter sandwich." Raven vocalist John Gallagher had this to say about the show: "A million things went wrong, but then again a million things went right, so I think we'll get some interesting video footage out of it. We may be a bit more melodic, but as far as the energy goes I think we fit right in." Overall it was a most enjoyable event and I personally had a great time. And except for stranding my friend and I in Philadelphia after the show, I wish to thank Combat for the invitation and their hospitality.