Sepultura/Obituary/Agnostic Front/Claustrofobia | October 2, 2024 | Jannus Live, St. Petersburg, FL
Sepultura kicked Jannus’ ass last night “Celebrating Life Through Death” as the Brazilian heavy metal legends headlined a glorious night of brutally heavy metal. Four bands with a combined one hundred and fifty five years of heavy metal history and influence were on display for this tour. Sepultura outdid themselves with their supporting cast, and we metalheads in attendance were treated to a very healthy dose of glorious musical brutality. Formed in Tampa, death metal legends, Obituary, was in direct support with crossover thrash pioneers, Agnostic Front performing, and Brazil’s Claustrofobia opening the show.
With an early, doors open at 5:30 PM time on a weekday evening, four bands in store and that much metal history to celebrate, I knew I should arrive early. There was already a solid crowd on hand when I arrived just after the doors to the venue opened and the show started promptly at 6PM. I was glad I got there early to be able to see the show’s opening band Claustrofobia. Formed in 1993, this Brazilian death/thrash metal band is considered one of the pioneering influencers in the Brazilian underground metal scene. With seven studio albums and one EP, I thought their sound was menacing and gave me the impression of impending doom, with elements of many metal styles and tons of tempo changes. The band has a solid discography, this was my first time seeing them and I look forward to digging into their history and hearing what they put out in the future.
Agnostic Front was up next and they are a hardcore punk band from New York City. An important influence on the New York hardcore scene, the band was founded in 1980, and are considered a pioneer of the crossover thrash genre. I had heard of the band, but was not familiar with their music. The band had a very solid following in the crowd based on the t-shirts I saw adorned on my metal brethren throughout the evening. Lead guitarist Vinnie Stigma came out before the band started to greet those in the crowd and it was like he was best friends with everyone he was chatting with. Once their set started, the music was raw and aggressive combining the intensity and speed of punk rock with the aggression and heaviness of thrash metal. While their sound reminded me of Suicidal Tendencies, it was way heavier and my thought was, how had I NOT given this band a listen before! With twelve studio releases and five EPs of music to choose from, they played a healthy ten song set. Vinny came out into the center of the crowd like halfway through their set and actually had the mosh pit circling him as he was axe slinging away. Near the end of their set, in between songs, lead vocalist Roger Miret had us look around at the people in the crowd. Look left, he said, look right, and introduce yourself to the person next to you. THIS is your social media that we should all be focusing on. I know I left this show with more than one new friend. I look forward to seeing this band again!
Hometown death metal legends Obituary were next to take the stage. Formed in Tampa in 1984, Obituary is one of the formative acts in the birth of death metal and are one of the genre’s most successful bands of all time. In the late 1980s, the Tampa area was considered the ‘death metal capitol of the world’ and to this day, Obituary continues to inspire and influence. Their debut album, ‘Slowly We Rot’ (1989), helped define the death metal genre with its combination of guttural vocals, aggressive rhythms, and brutal riffs. There was a collective hometown cheer as the lights dimmed and it was time. I am sure necks were sore in St. Pete and beyond the day after this show because Obituary’s anthemic underlying head nodding groove is prevalent on every song. When I refer to music being glorious and brutally heavy, Obituary comes to my mind. Their clean, heavy, crunchy, raw sound mixed with the growls emitting from lead singer John Tardy, they are easily one of my favorite ‘heavier bands’. This was my third time seeing them live, and second this calendar year. This evening their precision was spot on, their set was beyond heavy and I can say with a sore neck that it was glorious and brutally heavy.
Sepultura (Portuguese for grave) is a Brazilian heavy metal band formed in 1984, and while technically no original members remain in the band, there is deep rooted history with two current members who are credited on all of the band’s releases since 1987, fourteen of the band’s fifteen studio releases. Playing an eighteen song set covering nine of their releases, it was a walk through the history of the band and the music many of us in attendance grew up on. Their songs have an explosive rhythmic intensity combined with power and aggression behind the delivery. The band’s song construction includes all elements including all out thrash assaults to slow, groove-laden hooks, creating a diverse rhythm. The imposing presence of lead vocalist Derrick Green on stage gives ways to smiles as he interacts with every member of the audience he can. It was my first time seeing them live and it was unreal the crowd interaction for the sing along when they played ‘Dead Embryonic Cells’. In addition to my sore neck, I for sure had already lost my voice by the time their closing song ‘Roots Bloody Roots’ ended and the band bid us fans farewell.
I am always curious about the crowd and age demographics at the Shows I Go To, and my only real surprise this evening was the older lady (I would say at least seventy), with the knee brace I saw heading into the mosh pit for Agnostic Front. It was an amazing night of live music. All of the bands sounded fantastic, props to the sound crew. There are only a few more shows left on this US tour, then the band heads over to Europe – see their tour dates here.
Claustrofobia photos.
Agnostic Front photos.
Obituary photos.
Sepultura photos.
Sepultura’s set list:
Refuse/Resist
Territory
Kairos
Attitude
Means to an End
Choke
Guardians of Earth
Breed Apart
Escape to the Void
Kaiowas
Dead Embryonic Cells
Agony of Defeat
Orgasmatron (Motörhead cover)
Troops of Doom
Inner Self
Arise
Ratamahatta
Roots Bloody Roots