PHOTOGRAPHED FOR VANDALA MAGAZINE
Weekday thrash gigs are always promising. If it's not the wicked bang-over the morning after, it's the hoarse voice that will remind you of what a great time you had the night before. This was definitely the case for Edmonton on Friday morning, as California's thrash experts Warbringer, brought total war to the Starlite Room on Thursday night as they rolled through Edmonton on their 2016 North American tour, accompanied by Sweden's Enforcer, fellow Canadian's Cauldron (with Striker's Dan Cleary filling in on lead vocals), and Exmortus of California, who all pleased the likes of their Edmonton audiences.
Firing up the night with Exmortus leading the charge, the Californian's delivered a set jam packed with crushing riffs and shreddy solos to a full floor. Moving on to Toronto's very own, Cauldron, playing a brief eight song set with Dan Cleary lending his powerful vocals to the band for the evening, due to their lead vocalist, Jason Decay, coming down with a nasty throat infection, rendering him unable to sing during the set. As Enforcer was about to hit the stage, the floor of the Starlite Room began to fill up, as people began to chant the band's name, eagerly awaiting for the four-some to dominate the room. As the Swedish thrash masters took to the stage, the audience erupted into a frenzy of headbanging hair, which could be seen flying in all directions; a pleasant sight for the musicians playing to a full room. By the time Warbringer hit the stage, the floor began to fill up even more, which resulted in a whirlwind of intense moshers and headbangers who began to thrash about with the adrenaline-packed set that the band had unleashed on their Starlite Room crowd, including fan favorite tracks such as: "Living in a Whirlwind", "Black Sun, Black Moon", "Combat Shock", and "TOTAL WAR", putting an aggressive edge on the evening, and creating the perfect storm for a weekday thrash show that will be talked about for months to come.
