The doors to the concert opened at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26. Already the line stretched around the building and across the street, full of people young and old from all over Washington.
Slowly, the line moved as people entered El Corazon, in downtown Seattle. The venue was small and even before the first opening band stepped on stage the place was packed. At 8 p.m. the lights dimmed.
The first opening band was a relatively unknown metal band from Marysville called Kill Closet, consisting of two vocalists, a man and a woman. Their Facebook page describes them as “brutal and insanely fast with a touch of groove and melody.” The band was not on tour with the three following bands, but performed an excellent set.
After a short break when one of the four drum sets on stage was taken down, the next band came on stage. This was the first of three bands on the North American tour, “Halo of Blood.” Called TÝR, they are a band from Northern Europe whose music is based on Norwegian and Faroese folklore and “creates very true Viking metal,” according to their Facebook.
The third band to play and the second band on tour was Death Angel. Originally from the Bay Area and formed in the early 1980s, they describe themselves as having an “inventive style, and speedy, complex arrangements,” said their website.
By this time in the show, there was barely room to move. Death Angel was the first band of the evening to have more than one color lights and the show dazzled the audience. They played eight songs to a passionate crowd whose energy had grown substantially since the first band of the evening.
Not a person in the over packed venue was not sweating and the mosh pit had grown. Everyone was cheering, singing along and head banging along with the band. After they finished their set, the band left to even louder cheering than the previous band.
Finally, it was time for the headlining band, Children of Bodom. By now, there was only one drum set and it took up nearly half the stage. The drummer had his own fans to help keep him cool while he drummed insanely fast.
After a longer break, the band came on stage to deafening cheers. By this time, the place was so packed you could barely breathe, let alone move.
Hailing from Finland, their sound has a “trademark mixture of rough vocals, shredding riff attacks and catchy keys,” according to their website. Their lead guitarist and vocalist Alexi Laiho has been praised as the “best metal guitarist” by Guitar World magazine, which is no surprise considering his versatile skill, ranging from heavy metal to classical music like Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.”
Throughout their 14-song set, the band’s fingers flew across their instruments rhythmically and perfectly, not making a single mistake in their ridiculously fast tempo songs. The crowd was going crazy, the mosh pit had tripled in size since the start of the show, and people were trying to crowd surf—only to be ripped off the crowd by security. Devil’s horns and fists filled the air and the noise was deafening. The band was smiling like they could not be happier and by the end of the four hour show, so was everyone else.
Children of Bodom left the stage to cheering and the crowd chanting “Bodom, Bodom, Bodom.” They played one encore song, and finally, left the stage for good at midnight.
As the crowd left El Corazon, the consensus was that the show was “incredible,” “f***ing awesome,” “the best show in a long time,” and “metal as hell.”
If you are a fan of metal, it is highly recommended that you catch TÝR, Death Angel and especially Children of Bodom next time you have the chance. They know how to put on a show unlike any other metal band.
