Forces of Hostility 2022 Tour:  Suffocation, Atheist, Soreption and Contrarian Reign Supreme Death Metal in Pomona

June 6th, 2022

          Although Death Metal was the prevalent genre on this Forces of Hostility 2022 Tour, the different types of the genre performed between each band, made it especially a must-watch feature.  New York’s own Contrarian immediately put their stamp of Progressive Death Metal, upon the early show catchers.  With riveting bass playing from Jack Eaton, and the volume turned up, the spastic notes and whirling solos from Brian Mason, simultaneously provided this equalizer to the gorgeously made chaos from the music.  Even with the prominent bass playing we have in Extreme music, you often can see the abilities, but maybe not hear them as high as possible due to the vast amount of distortion and other musical bodies in the air.  It was quite refreshing, truthfully.  Alex Cohen’s off-beat, ‘jazzy’ cymbal combinations, were heard loudly through “In a Blink of an Eye”, and dazzled the crowd with his frantic yet smooth pace.   

             What was especially interesting about Contrarian, were the quick tempo transitions between drum fills, and collective riffs.  There wasn’t much blast beats, if any at all, yet the songs had speed on them.  Jakob Sin’s more Black Metal vocal range added an old-school flare to the set, and I’ll admit, it did become slightly bothersome hearing him wanting the crowd to cheer and scream, nearly every song.  The stern presence of Jim Tasikas, usually staying on his side of the stage, was met with his mid-paced riffing style, fusion-like counterpoints, alongside dystopian-sounding clean passages after various solo melodies.  Fans of lead guitar, Progressive Death Metal with Jazz Fusion tendencies, and a collective of bountiful teamwork on-stage, Contrarian will be just for you.  The promising surprise of the evening.  

1. In a Blink of an Eye

2. My Curse

3. Vaskania (The Evil Eye)

4. Whomsoever Worships the Whiteworm

5. Case Closed

6. The Mega Metropolis

7. Scarlet Babylon

            With the Glasshouse starting to fill in, Soreption had entered this tour with some hype and anticipation, as you don’t often see Technical Death Metal from Sweden.  Fredrik Söderberg’s engaged in a stoic stare, as “Children of the Automation” introduced Soreption’s set, with a slight headbang throughout the tightly-played quarter note sequence from Ian Waye.  With a various, detailed amount of palm-muted start/stop riffs, downpicked fury of catchy, ‘tech-y’ Death Metal music, the overall abilities from the band were glowing, and I could see why fans wanted to see this live.  I’d love to hear them with another guitar player, to hear the other side of the guitar, that firmly-played rhythm under the crisp soloing from Waye.  Fredrik’s middle growl and bark, was much like the 4th instrument, matching the overall faster pace of Soreption, as well as complimenting Tony Westermark’s annihilating double-bass moments, which by the way were matching every note from Waye.

            “Dod Jord”, from their upcoming new album this week, Jord, was the highlight for me, encapsuling outstanding lead guitar with whammy squeals performed quite beautifully.  I’d say overall, “Decapitated-esque” in Soreption’s overall play.  While it took me a bit to absorb their set overall, and I feel personally missing a guitar live hinders their underrated rhythm ability, Soreption gave forth a strong set, and the crowd tonight feeling it especially so.     

1. Children of the Automaton

2. The Anti-Present

3. The Artificial North

4. The Nether Realm’s Machinery

5. Breaking the Great Narcissist

6. Dod Jord

7. Deterioration of Minds

8. March of the Tyrants

            Seeing Atheist for the first time here, back in 2011 at the Scion Death Fest, it was a completely different lineup, and you could argue a different band, honestly.  The presence of mind, unbelievable energy and pace, of Atheist, continues to be demonstrated in their sensational live performances.  The unmistakable ‘Thrash-y’ intro to “An Incarnation’s Dream”, effortlessly woke up the mosh pit, and getting the rest of the audience to clap, and move along to the half-beat misdirection of both guitar harmonies from Chris Martin and Daniel Martinez.  To say that this lineup performs the songs at the same speed on record, would be incorrect, as the band entirely somehow turns it up to 12 on a maniacal scale, yet stops on a dime from each counterpoint, riff break, and transition.  It’s quite shocking, to be honest.  Keeping up the theme of performing later material, “Second to Sun” off their last studio record, Jupiter, made an appearance, showing off the heavier, 7-string elements of Atheist.

            Much like Archspire, for example, it’s an effort and joyfully exhausting watching Atheist, with the amount of music bouncing off one another, you don’t want to miss a single moment.  The man, founder, and supremely stunning creator of Atheist, Kelly Shaefer’s reputation certainly had the Glasshouse going bonkers, from his signature singing style, matching every nook and cranny of the music with his hands, as well as his exciting banter in-between songs.  You’d believe after 30+ years of singing, the quality would decrease, yet I felt no drop-off vocally, whatsoever.  Not alone in keeping that same energy, Yoav Ruiz-Feingold’s Tasmanian Devil-like movement on-stage, spinning in circles playing his bass so damn low to the ground, all while happily mean-mugging the crowd to keep the whirling pit going.  “Mother Man” was all Yoav and Anthony Medaglia, from that dazzling bass intro, to Medaglia’s astonishing Fusion beats and perfectly-timed fills, leading into that marvelous trip to 1989, “Piece of Time.”  This is now my 3rd time seeing this lineup of Atheist, and I tremendously hope it stays.  Their near 60-minute set went by like a warmup, and the longest set I’ve seen from them.  Another brilliant, spectacular performance from one of Death Metal’s greatest.    

1. An Incarnation’s Dream

2. On They Slay

3. Enthralled in Essence

4. Unholy War

5. Unquestionable Presence

6. Second to Sun

7. I Deny

8. The Formative Years

9. Brains

10. Mother Man

11. Piece of Time

            Quite possibly one of the only bands on Planet Earth that I could muster energy for after seeing Atheist, Suffocation would be just that necessary fix.  Leaning on a more ‘classic’ set, although the order that these songs were played in, magnified the brutality and sheer force from the Brutal Technical Death Metal legends.  The right-hook/body punch combination of “Liege of Inveracity” and “Effigy of the Forgotten” to literally start off, immediately had the fans in a feeding frenzy in the center of the Glasshouse.  From the pummeling downpicking, sentineling classic slam riffs, to the overall shocking amount of raw ability and talent from this 1991 record, the audience truly didn’t know what hit them, and many were already sweating bullets and huffing in grief.  The breaks in-between songs were quite short, with Eric Morotti introducing “Catatonia” with that memorable hard-hitting intro before the wave of desolate distortion, spread forth in sweet contamination.  Seeing him in Suffocation for several years now, I feel this time around the stunning power needed in their slower, grueling portions of the songs, were felt mightily.

            There’s been a number of changes for Suffocation over the years, of course the most important change, was the departure of Frank Mullen.  It’s still a process for all of us to learn, assess, and eventually move on from, as is with me, as well.  Seeing Ricky Myers only perform once with the band in 2014, although the power in his vocals were present, the stamina needed for a Suffocation set, was noticeably lacking.  This time around, it was night and day, in comparison.  The movement on-stage wasn’t whirling or flying across the stage, but the strength in his growls and lower gutturals were incredibly improved, as evident in “Entrails of You” and “Thrones of Blood”, moments in both tracks, having severely slower passages of intense riff-chugging.  He doesn’t attempt to be Frank, and I’m glad he’s now comfortable on-stage doing his rendition of the songs.  You could see Derek Boyer working with Myers on key blast-beats, smiling to one another, while Boyer’s bass stance literally touched the ground, and able to hear his tone louder than usual.  Even from his key moments in “Breeding the Spawn”, setting up that astounding counterpoint sequence (they are the greatest at this, rest assured), it was also heard furiously in the breakdown through “Jesus Wept”, one of Suffocation’s oldest tracks.      

            The glue that holds Suffocation tighter than most of the esteemed, established acts, Terrence Hobb’s frenetic dive-bomb solo bursts, stunning picking technique, and marvelously detailed songwriting, dating back to the very existence of the band, was the most wonderous moment of this star-studded evening.  To nail his solos parts in the end of “Pierced from Within” with such vigor and effortless ease, something that will not tire for me.   From Joe Haley, Patrick Loisel, Erik Rutan, Michael Hoggard, Trey Azagthoth, and Luc Lemay, to name a few of some of the greatest guitaring minds in Death Metal, Terrence deserves to be on the list with those names, the order you can have at it.  Charlie Errigo, often grinning at the crowd, comfortably on the right side of the stage, performing all of Doug Cerrito’s and Guy Marchais’s chaotic lead portions, noticeably in “Breeding the Spawn” and “Torn into Enthrallment”.  A strict curfew at the Glasshouse prevented an rousing encore, and some other shows throughout the tour have gotten a few different songs in rotation, so it was pleasant to see Suffocation changing up the set.

            A spectacular amount of gorgeous Death Metal music, ranging from Jazz-like elements, classic slam-riffing, to viciously played brutality.  A dynamite lineup for the most veteran, sophisticated, and the newcomer-casual.  This tour was for the ages.         

1. Liege of Inveracity

2.  Effigy of the Forgotten

3. Catatonia

4. Entrails of You

5. Torn into Enthrallment

6. Thrones of Blood

7. Jesus Wept

8. Pierced from Within

9. Clarity of Deprivation

10. Breeding the Spawn

11. Funeral Inception

12. Bind Torture Kill

13. Infecting the Crypts