Since starting my new career path, I’ve essentially kissed my evenings, weekends, and anything resembling a concert calendar goodbye for the foreseeable future. So you could only imagine my shock when looking at my schedule for the month, I noticed I had the evening of Monday, April 6th off. No doubt about it, the stars were aligned and the metal gods were looking out for me, because there was no chance in hell I was going to miss what was hands down the rarest bill the Chicagoland area had seen in quite sometime. Being the third largest metropolis in America, it isn’t often we’re treated to bands who haven’t been around our parts in 14 years (Onslaught), let alone a band who’d never played here before (Warlord). Bands who fit both descriptions together on the same bill? Unthinkable, yet not impossible, as it happened the other night at the WC Social Club in West Chicago, roughly an hour outside of Chicago proper. Indeed, this was a Metal Monday one won’t soon forget. Here’s how it all went down…
Haunter
The evening began with a practically unannounced 30 minute opening set from the up and coming Haunter. Formed in 2022, this California based outfit has been opening the entire tour, their spooky brand of blackened metalpunk fitting right in on this old school bill. Similar to contemporaries Devil Master and Spiter, they play what is essentially Scooby Doo chase music on methamphetamine. There are flashes of classic blackened speed, largely reminiscent of early Bathory and the headlining Onslaught’s Power from Hell era, but what really sets Haunter apart from your typical first wave black metal worship act are those eerie, detuned, gothic flavored guitar lines, which add that punkish deathrock vibe. Considering I’ve been on a real Bauhaus kick as of late, and my goodness, look no further than the last album I reviewed, Haunter really set the evening off on the right foot, even if we couldn’t get so much as a, “Good evening, Chicago!”, out of them.
Warlord
I must admit that leading up to this show, I remained extremely skeptical of what to expect from the band currently touring under the Warlord moniker. There are even some on social media who have gone as far as accusing sole original member, drummer Mark Zonder (AKA Thunder Child), of musical grave robbery for playing the band’s music live following the passing of founding guitarist/songwriter William J Tsamis. Such accusations are quite extreme, especially coming from a demographic who has no problem catching any number of ’80s acts who grace the Hell’s Heroes lineup facing the same “last man standing” scenario. So to avoid falling into this trap of hypocrisy, I opted to give Warlord circa 2026 a fair shake, approaching their set with an open mind and open ears.
While there is obviously only one Tsamis and two Damien Kings (You’ll get it if you aren’t a poser), Thunder Child has assembled a hell of a cast to bring the music of Warlord to life. Guitarists Eric Juris and Diego Pires properly execute those iconic Tsamis twin guitar harmonies, earthshattering riffs, and Blackmore-esque solos. Yes, it takes two axe-slingers to properly play Tsamis’s parts live, and they nail it. Legendary keyboardist Jimmy Waldo of New England and Alcatrazz fame provides those otherworldly atmospheric soundscapes and arcane synth solos, because we all know Warlord are a band in which the keys are as important as the guitars. On vocals, frontman Giles Lavery captures the power and emotion of both Damiens, sounding right at home when singing those hymns of yesteryear.
Speaking of hymns of yesteryear, Warlord’s setlist left no stone unturned, celebrating practically the entirety of their brief, yet legendary 1981 through 1984 oeuvre. 1983’s masterpiece Deliver Us was played in full. Also thrown in were “Aliens” and “Lost in Lonely Days” off 1984’s And the Cannons of Destruction Have Begun…, “Mrs. Victoria” off Metal Massacre III (1983), and various demo era oddities. Gray-haired old schoolers in their denim patch-vests and faded leather jackets, the same ones who bought Deliver Us upon its release, were moved to tears come “Deliver Us” and “Child of the Damned”, the majority likely assuming they’d never hear these songs played live, let alone to such painstaking detail.
Yes, as Warlord closed out their remarkable hour plus set, it was hard not to get emotional. Not only was it the first time we’d all heard these songs live; it might be the only time we hear these songs live. If it is, I commend Thunder Child and company for creating a memory that will live forever in the head and heart of this here headbanger, and I know I’m speaking on behalf of hundreds of others who feel the exact same way. Sorry naysayers, but as the old song goes, “The hammer will fall on you!”
Onslaught
After a 20 minute changeover and an unexpected run-in with our good friend Survivor hitmaker Jim Peterik (Fun fact: The opening horns to The Ides of March’s “Vehicle” play out of nowhere whenever he walks into the room.), the sound of air raid sirens played over the P.A. It could only mean one thing. No, we weren’t being bombed by the Middle East, smartass; we were about to be bombed by English thrash juggernaut, Onslaught! As the band took to the stage after a 14 year absence from both the greater Chicagoland area and America as a whole, they erupted into their namesake anthem, “Onslaught (Power from Hell)”. The dedicated crowd responded appropriately, myself and about 15 other dedicated thrashers forming what could best be described as a human tornado. How else does one react to cuts off the mighty Power from Hell?
Look, I KNOW there’s some dumbass kiddos out there who think they’re tough as nails because they listen to whatever slamming, br00tal, IQ-lowering garbage that clogs up the death metal tag on Bandcamp. Sorry, but your favorite ear-gauge, pig-squeal band ain’t shit when put next to Power from Hell. 40+ years on, and this bestial slab of primitive Venom worship meets English hardcore grit is as lethal as ever, especially on the live stage. Ragers like “Thermonuclear Devastation”, “Steel Meets Steel”, and, you guessed it, “Death Metal”, remind us why the establishment of genres like black metal and death metal as we know it was not far off at all.
Following this demonic metalpunk outburst, it was onwards to celebrating the album many consider Onslaught’s magnum opus, The Force. Frontman Sy Keeler reminded us multiple times throughout the course of the night that it turns 40 next month, which again, one would never believe. While this album is certainly more mature than Power from Hell in terms of writing, musicianship, and overall delivery, the songs that make up this masterpiece are still fresh. “Let There Be Death” and “Demoniac” boast some of the finest riffing in thrash history, “Fight with the Beast” pushes the speedometer to overdrive, and if “Metal Forces” doesn’t get your heart pumping, well, you probably shouldn’t be reading this here webzine.
When I interviewed founding guitarist Nige Rockett ahead of this tour, he noted that Keeler sounded “better than ever”, having just rejoined last year for what is now his third stint fronting the band. It was a comment I initially took lightly. I had no doubt in my mind Keeler would do the Onslaught catalog justice, both old and new. But to sound “better than ever”? I don’t know, chief. Well, I was served a piping hot bowl of my own words, because Keeler can still shriek, snarl, and shout like it’s the glory days of ’86. Not only that, but he and the rest of the gang were having a blast onstage, getting off on the energy of a frenzied crowd on a Monday night.
A handful of bangers off their unsung 2007 reunion album, Killing Peace, represented the “new school” (ironic for a record that’s now nearly 20), before a smokin’ cover of Motörhead’s “Iron Fist” brought the evening to a looney, over the top close. You know all hell has broken loose when at almost 11 PM on a Wednesday, maniacs are thrashing, bashing, and stage diving to the filth-encrusted sounds of Lemmy and the gang. With not a security guard in sight, and the rest of the WC Social Club’s staff with a collective foot halfway out the door, we figured, why the hell not? Just as Warlord astonished, Onslaught did so in their own, merciless, brutal way, unleashing a set that was well worth the 14 year wait. Just don’t wait another 14 years before coming back!