[quote[
Show at The Compound (5/22/09)
Wow! What a night it's been. While each of our shows has been very enjoyable for different reasons, this one bears the distinction of being the first show that we have played that was organized largely by us. To be more specific, we picked the bands that WE wanted to play with. We wanted it to be a full blown night of metal and that is exactly what we managed to do.
Progressive thrash metallers Thread Of Sanity kicked the night off with a solid set of bone crushing metal not unlike some of the city's other death metal bands, but arguably more skilled and with more tasteful playing. Guitarists Daniel and Mike play off of eachother as a good duo and not simply as two guys playing the same parts. Both are quite good as lead players, but their rhythm parts also stand out with Mike often using his pinch harmonics to accent Daniel's rhythm picking. Ferris is a solid drummer from top to bottom who always seems to be right on his mark regardless of how many stops or time changes the other guys may throw at him. Jase is anything but your average bass player. The guy manages to work his way up and down the neck almost as if he were playing lead guitar and often while providing back-up vocals at the same time. And Adam projects the kind of energy that people expect from a frontman. Anyone who is interested in really heavy and aggressive riff rock should check these guys out. They certainly stand head and shoulders above most of the other bands in their genre.
After a brief break, Shrapnel emerged for their debut performance. Shrapnel has close ties to us with both of their guitarists being former members of Chalice which was fronted by our now current bassist, Steven Montoya. Coming across as being heavily influenced by 80's rock bands like Nitro and Ratt, these guys may prove to be the long needed fix that every 80's metal fan has been seeking for quite some time. Guitarists Rocky and Lance certainly have the chops to accomplish the sound that they are trying to achieve and Lance is clearly an experienced performer as he proved to be quite good at showboating for the crowd which drew many cheers. Performing his first show in years, Dustin Duerre (formerly of 2nd Skin and Obscene Jesters) is now manning the skins for Shrapnel. As a longtime friend, I was stoked to see Dustin play again and he sounded great. Far too good for someone who has rarely stepped behind the drum kit over the last 6 years. Opening with their interpretation of the Terminator theme and playing through originals like "Wormhole," "Blue Thunder," and "Warrior," they made a solid debut and I am sure that the best is yet to come. While they experienced some technical difficulties due to faulty surge protectors, they maintained a professional attitude and finished their set despite the glitches.
We took the stage shortly after 9pm to a crowd of about 50-60 people. It was a good turnout and we were glad to see some of our friends from Santa Fe in the crowd. Our set featured the addition of "Justice For One" as well as the debut of "A New Beginning." (Welcome back Fabian!!!) Both songs went over quite well and will definately be heard again at future shows.
Closing the show were local thrash metal veterans Ultimatum who also used the show to showcase some new material and proved to be very cool guys as well. Just as a crowd pleaser, they even decided to throw a cover of Metallica's "Creeping Death" into their setlist which sent several people in the audience into a frenzy. In the midst of all the excitement that the band was generating, I noticed that the band made 2 new fans in Steve and Steven as they are both huge fans of the Ride The Lightning album.
It was a memorable night for all of us due in large part to being in great company with the other bands, and once again, having a good crowd.
Thanks to Thread Of Sanity, Shrapnel, and Ultimatum for sharing the night with us. Thanks to Joe at The Compound for providing the venue, and thanks to all of you who attended.
--PABLO
SAVAGE WIZDOM SETLIST:
1) March To War
2) Grocious
3) Do Or Die
4) A New Beginning
5) Nosferatu[/quote]
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ULTIMATUM - TOO METAL FOR WIKIPEDIA!
Subject: Savage Wisdom 
Sat May 23, 2009 10:37 am
