With today’s standard practice of cramping as many bands of different genres onto one touring bill, it was extremely refreshing to see a line up with just kick ass Death Metal bands. And this fact was not just appreciated by yours truly, but also by the almost sold out crowd in the Marquis Theater.
But to be honest when I first arrived at the venue it didn’t look all that promising. Since the Colorado Rockies had a home game and the venue is literally 2 blocks from the ball park and it was a Friday, it took me a while to find parking. So by the time I finally got there, it was 45 minutes before doors, and only a handful of metal heads had congregated outside.
We had interviews scheduled with Charles Elliott of Abysmal Dawn and Erik Rutan of Hate Eternal and luckily we were able to conduct the later one since somebody dropped the ball. Hence there is absolutely no live footage of the show, so you have to trust my written words!
Abysmal Dawn was the first band to take the stage and given that it has been years since I saw them live I was really looking forward to checking them out again. A bit disappointed about how empty the venue was at that point I was positively surprised that by the time they were half way into their 30 minute set the room had filled up nicely. 
Charles Elliott (vocals, guitar) started the evening with “Programmed to Consume” from their 2008 same named album and didn’t look back from there on out. Mostly playing songs from their 2011 release Leveling the Plane of Existence the band made sure the audience got what they paid for.
Vital Remains was up next and they clearly need no introduction at all. Anybody that knows anything about Death Metal is familiar with this band in part because Glen Benton of Deicide used to be their front man. And coincidentally this was also the last time I saw them live at some bar in Denver a couple of years ago when Glen was still with them.
These days, Scott Willy is fronting the band and even though his vocals are not even near Benton’s he is doing a hell of a job and in my opinion is more engaging with the fans as well.
He looks pretty cool and somewhat old school with his spiked armbands, long uncontrolled hair and braided beard. But don’t be fooled, the man is a bundle of energy on stage. As usual Vital Remains started their set with “Where is your God now” follow by “Icons of Evil” and then they pretty much played songs we have heard about a million times which is no surprise since their last album came out in 2007.
So for those of you keeping track, the songs were “Savior to None”, “Hammer Down the Nails” “Dechristianize” and a couple more. It is always nice to watch Vital Remains play but they seriously need to up date their set list.Unfortunately the mosh pit in front of the stage was ever so present, I could not make it over to the side where Tony Lazaro was standing, but hey I am pretty sure they will be back in Denver soon enough.
We knocked out the interview with Erik Rutan before the show but couldn’t catch Charles Elliott until after Vital Remains was done playing. Therefore I totally missed Origin’s set in it’s entire except maybe the last 3 songs. Super bummed about this one, but hey business before pleasure I guess. One thing though that struck me was their new vocalist Jason Keyser; holy crap did he get the crowd going.
Not that I didn’t like James Lee fronting the band, but Jason is about 1000% more engaged into the music then James ever was. Well duh, I guess singing for Skinless leaves a mark on one’s stage presence. That man was all over the place and I was actually thinking he would jump down from the stage at any minute and mosh with the fans. The little bit I watched them play he was right at the edge of the stage and sticking the microphone into the audience so the fans could be literally part of the song. WOW! If this tour is coming anywhere near you, do yourself a favor and attend and if not, check Origin’s social media sites for their upcoming touring schedule. Their new album Entity was just released in June and I am pretty sure we will see them again very soon.
Since this was a co headlining tour with Origin and Hate Eternal switching it up every day, the Denver crowd had the pleasure of Hate Eternal being the last act of the night. In all honesty didn’t really matter since both bands played the same amount of time, roughly an hour each.
Unfortunately Erik had huge problems with his microphone that night and it took about 15 minutes or even longer to rectify the situation. But once his voice came over the speakers we all knew the wait was well worth it.
Since this was the first time for Hate Eternal to tour in North America since the May 2011 release of their newest album Phoenix Amongst the Ashes I assumed they would play more songs from that album.
And low and behold, the set was started with the intro “Rebirth” followed by “The Eternal Ruler”. Hate Eternal probably played about 5 or 6 more new songs with “Thorns of Acasia” being definitely my favorite.
“Bringer of Storms” and “Tombeau” from their 2008 Fury and Flames album made it onto the set list as well. “I, Monarch” from the 2005 same named album and “King of All Kings” off their 2002 release rounded up the musical journey over the years.
Erik Rutan (vocals, guitar) is definitely the man when it comes to playing guitar and singing at the same time. Only during his solo parts did he have the opportunity to whirlwind his hair and he made sure it counted. Jade Simonetto back behind his kit was ever so eager to hit the living shit out of his drums but I was utterly impressed by the newest member of the band.
J.J. Hrubovcak on his bass guitar doesn’t just fit musically perfect into the band but showman ship wise as well; holy shit the man has stage presence. Being a life long friend of Erik’s I guess he knew exactly what was expected and he is delivering flawlessly.
It’s just too bad that we have to wait to see Hate Eternal again for some time after this tour. Erik will be busy in his recording studio (Mana Recording) with bands such as Goatwhore and Cannibal Corpse up until the end of the year, but he told me that once he has an ounce of free time he WILL be back on the road with his band.
As usual, more pictures of each band can be viewed right HERE .
Here is the interview with Erik Rutan of Hate Eternal and also check out the rather interesting CHAT with Charles Elliott of Abysmal Dawn!