Celebrating their 35th Anniversary in style, Xentrix are out on tour playing their debut album Shattered Existence in full. Spending the evening with one of the ‘big four’ of English thrash at Bradford’s Nightrain was just as I expected; a night of metal pleasure, volume and some A* headbanging. The special guests for the night, Damnation’s Hammer and local support Arkham Witch added more opportunities for headbanging, along with a hefty sprinkling of doom and darkness.
The night was opened by the established Arkham Witch who have recently returned from the Old Grave Fest in Romania. With their usual flair they ran through a set list of Lovecraft and doom; topped off with more than a hint of thrash. Opening with Skull Face, moving through Terminus Est, And What Man Knows Kadath, they were starting to really warm the audience up and once Azathoth began, not only did the headbanging increase but there was even a small pit starting up. The subsequent track Savage Sword was off their latest Demo recorded recently and See You Next Tuesday gave us a bit of the aggressive punk that I was yet to hear on this set list. They concluded the 30-minute set with a fan favourite, the thrash infused Death By Heavy Metal in which audience participation is a must!
I’ve seen Arkham Witch before and I think they are a great band, not only with their live performances, but also their studio output. However, I’m always still slightly amazed at how powerful Seb Overton is vocally and thankfully, the superb performances by Simon Iff? (vocals and guitar), Aldo ‘Dodo’ Doom (guitar) Helenbach (bass) and Emily Ningauble (drums) more than match Overton’s vocals while still allowing him his freedom.
If you want to find out more about Arkham Witch then do check out Facebook or you can find links to their music and merch here.
After a straightforward changeover, it was the turn of the special guests and with them immediately turning the volume ‘up to eleven’, it was easy to see why the dark and doom-laden Damnation’s Hammer are regular guests at Bloodstock.
What an opener Temple Of The Descending Gods was, and the dramatics continued when they moved into Sutter Cane. The pounding rhythm and bass lines, and the dark lyrics that are not for the faint-hearted continued into Do Not Disturb The Watchmaker. A brief respite came with the melodic opener of Outpost 31 which progressed into a rollercoaster ride of a track with some amazing bass and drum lines topped off with Tim Preston’s descriptive vocals. Ady Farnell on lead guitar came through with some seriously hard riffs that were well backed with Preston on rhythm guitar. New member Scott Knowles on bass and Gary Bevan on drums completed the high-powered line up.
The bluesy opener to The Silent Nebula gave us all chance to breathe again before we were all induced into some serious headbanging to Entrance To The Final Chamber. The final track of the 40-minute set, Hammers Of War was like everything that went before it, packing some serious punches.
It was the first time I had seen Damnation’s Hammer, but I will be keeping an eye out for them in the future, and I would say that their unleashed offering to the Gods of Heavy Metal was a more than acceptable sacrifice on this occasion. If you have not heard them, do check them out on Spotify and you can catch up with what they are up to on Facebook, Instagram and their official merch store.
And after the final set change and bar visit, it was time for the headliner of the night. Opening with No Compromise, Xentrix honestly sounded as fresh as they did when Shattered Existence was first released in 1989. Moving straight through Balance of Power and Crimes, the next track Back in the Real World seemed to push just that little bit further with its powerful drum line from Dennis Gasser. The strong vocals of Jay Walsh continued to shine through, and the guitars (Walsh and Kristian ‘Stan’ Havard) worked exceptionally well together, offering up some amazing riffs that were underpinned by bassist Chris Shires.
After Dark Enemy¸ I thought that Bad Blood was pretty much perfect from its doom-laden start to its finish and after that, we were sadly on the countdown to the end of Shattered Existence with Reasons for Destruction and Position of Security. The final track Heaven Cent ended the journey through Shattered Existence just as it had started – pure and unadulterated thrash.
It was now time for some additional material and although I was familiar with Shattered Existence, the rest of the set was new to me. However, Xentrix blew through the remaining tracks with the same ease they had shown for the first half of the set. Behind The Walls of Treachery moved into For Whose Advantage? which was clearly a favourite with the fans. After The Alter of Nothing, another fan favourite appeared – Bury the Pain. Quickly followed up with Black Embrace and then Everybody Loves You When You’re Dead – a track I particularly enjoyed the music and lyrics of. The 90-minute set ended with Questions, namesake of the 2020 album. Most of these additional tracks are from their latest albums and I did like the fact that although they will have embraced their own musical evolution over the decades, this newer music still remains true to its thrash roots.
I sometimes find there can be an uncertainty when you know you will be watching a band perform their early material, but in all honesty, Xentrix offered up a fantastic set complete with lyrics that still feel relevant today. Shattered Existence has certainly stood strong against the changing times and genres and even now, 35 years on, the band are still offering up that almost frenetic energy and edge that is rarely experienced with newcomers onto the scene, or indeed new material produced by longstanding thrash bands.
This tour has confirmed that even with the odd changes in line-up over the years, Xentrix are still a force to be reckoned with and that they can quite rightfully retain their thrash crown. Sadly the current tour is now coming to an end but you will be able to keep up to date with future gigs through Facebook and the web. You can also listen to their full back catalogue on Spotify.
Overall, this was a brilliant night of music, which felt that it had paid tribute to the NWOBHM at its finest. There were no avant-garde or proggy solos; it was just a group of excellent musicians doing what they do and love best in front of an appreciative audience wearing denim and leather with more patches than a smoking cessation clinic.
Special thanks to K2.
