Review and Photos by Fred Kuhlman
Promoter: 13th Floor Entertainment
Venue: Club Red
Date: Monday October 28th, 2019
Tour: North American Tour 2019
Warbringer and Enforcer are a force of nature. 54 days! Warbringer and Enforcer performed 54 straight days and in different cities. I remember that after working for 30 days straight, I was mentally and physically exhausted. I know that some will say that theater performers work every day, but you have to remember they are typically in the same city for multiple days or for the entire run. Even just traveling from Tucson to Phoenix takes 2 hours and then there is setup and teardown time and soundcheck. So, a typical 90-minute show really consists of over 3 hours of work. And Then many of these bands meet with the fans after the show to help spur album/cd and tee-shirt sales where they make their real money.
Tonight, was the end of the North American Tour. Warbringer is going back to LA and Enforcer is off to Europe and will start a new European tour at the end of November. You can see the 3 Arizona local bands at different venues here in the greater Phoenix area over the next few months. Check out their Facebook pages to find their next appearances.
Even with the small crowd at Club Red (it was a Monday night), the mosh pit was very active. Numerous people were circling, stomping and bumping into each other. At times even a few very brave women joined in. Like most mosh pit people, they were extremely nice that when someone fell, they helped them up immediately. Everyone at the show seemed to have a great time whether in the mosh pit or just head bumping and raising their fists to the music.
Warbringer
Co-headlining tonight’s concert and last up was Warbringer, a thrash metal band from Los Angeles. The current band consists of lead singer John Kevill, bass player Chase Bryant, drummer Carlos Cruz, guitarists Adam Carroll and Chase Becker. After Enforcer, Warbringer had to give an even better performance and boy did they give it. From the very start with “Remain Violent” they had the crowd going crazy.
The majority of the songs from tonight’s set were from their latest album, Woe to the Vanquished. They also mixed in songs from their other albums, a greatest hits tour.
John and the gang put on a fantastic show. Their playing was outstanding and John’s guttural voice was amazing. Add in Chase bassline and Carlos’s soul pounding drumming and the music took on a life of its own. Watching the crowd, I figured that there would be a lot of people with sore necks the next day.
You can get more information about Warbringer and check them out at the following sites:
https://www.warbringermusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Warbringermusic/
http://label.napalmrecords.com/
Photos © Fred Kuhlman 2019, All Rights Reserved
Warbringer Setlist: (Album)
Remain Violent (Woe to the Vanquished)
Shellfire (Woe to the Vanquished)
Descending Blade (Woe to the Vanquished)
Demonic Ecstasy (Worlds Torn Asunder)
Firepower Kills (Firepower Kills)
Prey for Death (Waking into Nightmares)
Hunter-Seeker (IV: Empires Collapse)
Living in a Whirlwind (Waking into Nightmares)
Combat Shock (War Without End)
Living Weapon (Worlds Torn Asunder)
Enforcer
Co-headlining tonight’s show was Enforcer, a heavy metal band from Stockholm, Sweden. The band is made up of lead singer and guitarist Olof Wikstrand, guitarist Jonathan Nordwall, drummer Jonas Wikstrand and bass player Tobias Lindkvist. However, for their North American tour with Warbringer only Olaf performed. Olaf was joined by Chase Becker on bass (guitarist for Warbringer), guitarist Johnny Nesta and drummer Brian Wilson.
This tour was in support of their newest album (their fifth studio album), Zenith release on April 26, 2019. Their set was a mixture of songs from the new album and favorites from their older albums. I enjoy thrash metal, but I love good solid heavy metal. Enforcer is one of those bands. They reminded me a lot of bands like Van Halen, Def Leppard or Scorpions but on adrenaline. They take classic heavy metal riffs and amp them up to “11”.
They started the show with “Destroyer” from their prior album, From Beyond. “Destroyer” sounds like it might have come straight out of the late 70s or early 80s metal scene. I also like that they mix stellar lyrics with smashing guitar riffs. They then did 2 songs from their new album Zenith, “Die for The Devil” and “Searching for You”. They ended their set with “Midnight Vice” from their Diamonds album.
For those fans in Europe and the United Kingdom, Enforcer will start touring again on November 28th. They will be with Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust and Skeletal Remains. To find more information about Enforcers and their upcoming European tour check out their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/enforcerofficial/
or their record label
https://www.nuclearblast.com/en/label/ .
Photos © Fred Kuhlman 2019, All Rights Reserved
Enforcer Setlist: (Album)
Destroyer (From Beyond)
Die For The Devil (Zenith)
Searching for You (Zenith)
Undying Evil (From Beyond)
From Beyond (From Beyond)
Death Rides This Night (Death by Fire)
Zenith of the Black Sun (Zenith)
Live for the Night (Diamonds)
Mesmerized By Fire (Death by Fire)
Scream of the Savage (Into the Night)
Take Me Out Of This Nightmare (Death by Fire)
Midnight Vice (Diamonds)
Varkan
Varkan is an Arizona band that combines power metal, thrash metal with catchy lyrics in a hard driving heavy metal performance. Earlier this year (2019) they released their debut album self-titled Varkan. Varkan is fronted by lead singer and guitarist Alec Damiano, guitarist Dominic Scarano, bass player Salvador Barragan and drummer Michael Rodriguez.
Alec is an amazing singer and can really play a mean guitar. Dominic is superb on guitar trading power driving riffs with Alec. Michael laid down a strong beat and drove the crowd in the mosh pit with his strong drumming. Last, be not least was bass player Salador. He was the clown of the night. He started the show dressed up in a heavily fringed bright red jacket, red cowboy hat and weird sunglasses. After the first song, he removed and costume and continued to provide the strong bassline for the music.
Of the three local bands, I enjoyed Varkan the most with their catchy lyrics and fist pumping jams. If you get a chance, come out to see them perform again with Death Angel and Exmortus and Club Red on Wednesday December 18th. I hope to see you all there and together we can have a hell-of-a great time.
For further information about Varkan, checkout their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/varkanofficial/ .
Photos © Fred Kuhlman 2019, All Rights Reserved
Varkan Setlist: (Album)
The Revenge of the Black Queen (Varkan)
Shadow Self (Varkan)
Rats from a Sinking Ship (Varkan)
Nocturnal Pollutions (Varkan)
Divided States (Varkan)
Filthy Human Race (Varkan)
EXILED
EXILED is a local Phoenix area Speed/Thrash Metal band. Their current line-up consists of lead singer John Cason, drummer Sage Johnson, bass player Rob Erwin and guitarist Johnny Frankenshred.
To get additional information about EXILED, check out their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/exiledmetal/ . Currently they do now show any upcoming events.
Photos © Fred Kuhlman 2019, All Rights Reserved
Stoneclaw
Stoneclaw is local Mesa Arizona black/thrash metal band. For tonight’s show, the band consisted of lead singer and guitarist Joel Hernandinho, bass player Jeremiah King, lead guitarist John Hernandez and drummer Omar Sandoval.
Additional information about Stoneclaw and be found on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StoneClawOfficial/ .
Photos © Fred Kuhlman 2019, All Rights Reserved
