A few days into December and the festive season is well under way. For fans of all things fast and heavy, an early Xmas present has arrived in Glasgow. Ivory Blacks is already busy with raging headbangers ready for a Yuletide mosh to some killer extreme metal courtesy of Municipal Waste, Enforcer, Toxic Holocaust and Skeletal Remains.
Rising death metallers Skeletal Remains get heads banging instantly. Their old-skool vibe and crushing no-nonsense sound whips the bustling Ivory Blacks crowd into a frenzy. The heavy and catchy riffing of tunes like ”Devouring Mortality” an”Beyond Cremation” get mosh pits raging throughout the set and even the evening’s first crowd surfer floating over the barrier mid-set. The set was a short one but Glasgow is certainly eager for more Skeletal Remains. With raging gigs like this one, the band are sure to carry the torch for death metal when the legends retire.
Next up is Swedish speedsters Enforcer. Bringing the brand of more melodic and anthemic NWOBHM-esque metal brings a fun but different flavour than their predecessors. Still there’s no less heads flailing with plenty of hooky riffs and singalong moments in killer cuts like “From Beyond” and “Take Me Out of This Nightmare”. The band are particularly energetic, making the most of the tiny stage, with frontman Olof Wikstrand working the crowd as though the band were playing an open-air festival. It’s fair to say Enforcer could be fellow torch-bearers for metal given their awesome take on classic metal sounds and fun performances.
Next to hit the stage is metalpunks Toxic Holocaust. From the first note of opener “Nuke the Cross” the crowd goes insane. Throughout raging bangers like “In the Name of Science”, “War is Hell” and “Wild Dogs”, the mosh pit expands to cover the whole front few rows of the Ivory Blacks floor. There’s also more and more crowd surfers through every scuzzy blast of punky thrash. The band are performing well maintaining the intense energy throughout the set. It’s honestly like watching a fuzzy live thrash VHS from the late 80s and is one of the most mental most pits I’ve ever seen in Glasgow. Toxic Holocaust well and truly annihilated their show.
Finally it’s time for the headliners. From the get-go the insanity continues with crossover thrash kings Municipal Waste. The huge mosh pit at covering the whole main floor of Ivory Blacks starts from the opening duo of “Unleash the Bastards” and “Mind Eraser” and doesn’t stop til the end. The band are on form, thrashing through every note with high energy and fun. There’s plenty of trademark banter from frontman Tony Foresta and guitarist Ryan Waste between songs in keeping with the band’s party vibe.
The set overall covers all the best bits of Municipal Waste’s 16-year back catalogue with classics like “Sadistic Magician”, “Wrong Answer” and “You’re Cut Off” keeping the heads banging. The madness continues in more modern ragers like “Breathe Grease” and mass crowdsurfer-spawning “Wave of Death”. Reaching the end of the show the intense energy shows no sign of letting up as Foresta bounds across the stage and more bodies sail above the crowd from all angles. The closing combination “Born to Party”, a fun but unexpected cover of Def Leppard’s “Switch 625” and “The Art of Partying” leave Glasgow truly thrashed. Municipal Waste never fail to fuck you up, and tonight has been no different.
For one of the final gigs of the year, it’s been undoubtedly awesome. All four bands have been performing on point, working the crowd, and all around keeping their respective brands of heavy fun. That’s what it’s all about – moshing and having fun to some killer tunes and Municipal Waste and co. are some of the best bands for it.
Municipal Waste: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | youtube
Toxic Holocaust: facebook | twitter | instagram | bandcamp
