First up were the Richmond Virginia based quintet of Municipal Waste. With their crossover thrash style they reminded me a lot of the eighties brothers of Nuclear Assault and M.O.D. although less raw and more sophisticated. Unfortunately I only could catch their last songs they were playing which sounded like a lot of fun. The crowd was still warming up, you could see they were waiting for the big boys to come.

Kreator, who have been in business since 1982, has been for years the leader of the European thrash metal. With their insane back catalog it’s always a surprise which songs will make it live. It became clear very fast that it would be a trip through all the stuff they did. From the newer Hate Uber Alles to Hordes of Chaos and their classics Flag Of Hate and Pleasure To Kill, they delivered a thrash set that was outstanding. A pity was that they didn’t play a song from Coma Of Souls, one of their best albums ever and the missing of other classics like Betrayer and Extreme Aggression. The sound was great, the audience liked it, so they did nothing wrong. The only thing I noticed was that Mille Petroza‘s voice was not optimal, tired or is it the marks that he carries from 40 years of screaming? Nevertheless, Kreator showed once more that they are still at the top of the European thrash metal.

Lamb of God, the fellow residents of opening act Municipal Waste, are a quite a bunch of tasty musicians. Their music isn’t for everybody with the hard screams of Randy and the complex rhythms of Mark Morton and Willie Adler. From moment one this was a different level of musicianship, crazy grooves, a very active Randy, at an age of 52 still jumping, running, screaming around the stage, impressive. From the opener Memento Mori to the oldies Ruin, and Now You Have Something To Die For, the crowd when crazy. Their music grabs you by the throat with their heavy thrash rhythms and take your body on a never seen ride with the groovy counterpart dynamics. The set was so good as we were treated with excellent versions of Laid To Rest, 512 and 11th Hour. Art Cruz, their new drummer is an incredible beast. I knew him from his work with Prong, but this is on another level, Animal from The Muppets is nothing compared to him. Of course the set ended with Redneck where the crowd could throw their last energy with an impressive moshpit.