Earlier this year (somehow multiple months back now) I managed to sneak in and shoot a couple of shows nearly back-to-back. I shared my sentiments around Castle Rat, Amon Amarth, and Dethklok some time ago, but the second show of that week was no less impressive and no less important both generally and to me personally. Yes, less than 48 hours after that first adventure in Boston I was back on the road heading to Worcester for Immolation, Rotting Christ, and Behemoth. And those that know me know how highly I consider some of those Behemoth albums. Getting a chance to photograph one of their shows had been on my list for a long, long time at this point, so here’s how it all went down…

As usual I’ll open this with just a few words about the venue – in this case the Palladium. What a love/hate relationship I have with it at this point. On the one hand, getting out to Worcester after a work day is an ambitious endeavor indeed. It’s a pain and the ass of a drive and the city isn’t exactly a lot to write home about. But on the other hand, I simply cannot count how many shows I’ve seen there that have continued to resonate year after year after year… decades now. May as well add another one to the list. I must say that the venue seems to be in great shape these days. From an acoustics standpoint, it sounded great. And just in terms of general flow, cleanliness, and management I really can’t complain. Are half the seats in the balcony still busted and/or missing? Maybe! But I can’t confirm. Although I doubt it given everything else. So that’s good stuff. How about the tunes though?

I walked into the venue about a song into the Immolation set. Not great. Not terrible given everything. But when pit time is limited to three songs it proved difficult to get the full experience that I wanted. That’s a bit unfortunate because this many years on – 40 now, incredibly – they sound undeniably fresh. Their New York death metal is polished, fiery, and still crammed with one pummeling riff after another. And yes, my opinions on Descent have only increased since this brief (too brief) set. A brilliant start to the evening once the travel dust had settled a bit.

From there, we had Rotting Christ. I still consider myself relatively new to what Sakis Tolis and this Greek extreme/black metal project have been doing for… uh, also about 40 years! But since discovering them via Rituals a decade ago, working both backward and forward through their discography has been one the better excursions I’ve taken in my time as a fan of heavier music. Somehow they seem to keep getting better. Never ones to shy away from pushing their sound, they still reliably deliver. Getting about a full hour from them this evening was such a treat. They provided a dynamic, expansive setlist that included “Elthe Kyrie”, my favorite from that aforementioned album, “Like Father, Like Son” from Pro Xristou, “Dies Irae” from The Heretics, while still managing to work backward from there. An impressive set in both structure and sound from these absolute legends. I’ve wondered over the years how their sound would translate live given some of their (tastefully) exaggerated melodic… epic… orchestral themes, and they absolutely delivered their product better than I could have ever hoped or expected. Filled with energy and power, it was something that pulsated through the venue start to finish. Awesome, awesome stuff.

Time for Behemoth. Those familiar with this run probably knew it as “The Godless IV” tour, but alas there was no Deicide on this night. Right. “The Godless III” then, apparently. Catching Deicide would have been cool, but hey I’m old and tired these days so jumping right to one of my favorite bands of all time wasn’t the worst thing. It had been a number of years (and a few albums I was at best lukewarm to) since I had last seen Behemoth performance, but man oh man was this set as good as anything I remember. First, visually they were spectacular. The theatrics were top tier. Their movement and energy on stage was impossible to deny. And the lighting was just… beautiful, perfectly bathing these four humans in sharp, stunning color. I also say all of this with a nod the, um, we’ll call it conservative lighting earlier in the night. Don’t get me wrong, the dim tones and shadows sure did add something to those first two sets. But Behemoth is a band as impressive visually almost as much as they are musically, so I was stoked that no shortcuts were taken here. But what can I say about their sound and set otherwise that isn’t totally predictable? Eh, fuck it. It was what it was. A dream, especially to me a 8-10 years ago. They sounded as good as ever ripping through a setlist that featured nearly everything, including a Bathory cover. My favorites from The Satanist made their appearances – yes, including the most expected but equally perfect encore ever – as well as Evangelion, Demigod, and more. As far back as their catalog stretches now, it brought me a ton of joy to be able to witness and photograph so many of those songs that got me into Behemoth way back when. It was exactly what I wanted.

To wrap up, quite simply this show was honor to take in and document. I can say with full confidence that they all sounded as good as I had ever experienced them before, and in many ways better. That isn’t just a statement rooted in nostalgia, either. Sure, that itch was definitely scratched. Don’t get me wrong. But if you get a chance to catch any of these legends on the road moving forward… do not hesitate.

And now, I’m off to the mountains. See you in two weeks.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb