On this hot Tuesday, I rode to Leiden on my bike to see the thrash metal band Dark Angel. Not a band that has been doing a lot of touring lately, and most of their gigs has been on festivals. So quite interesting to see them in a club. I did expect it to sell out but it did not. Maybe it is the holiday season.

There was one support act brought in by the venue, named Inherited. Two are kids of members of the Dutch cult death metal act Polluted Inheritance So I guess that is where they got the band name from. Musically it’s quite different. More groove metal, and hardcore. Although they played quite alright and had a lot of enthusiasm on stage, not music I really like. They brought a bunch of their fans with them apparently who created a four-man moshpit and such.

The it was time for the American thrash metal band Dark Angel. They opened with the appropriate We Have Arrived. It is amazing to see Gene Hoglan at work behind the kit, all the short fills, rhythmic changes, accents, making it seem so easy. The first half of the set was a fow songs from Time does Not Heal and Leave Scars, along with the two new songs they recently released. The new songs sounded okay, but could not keep up with the classic material, even though at least one was written by the now deceased Jim Durkin. The rest of the set was Darkness Descends in its entirety. Musically top notch, lots of activity on stage. Gene’s wife does great in handling the second guitar. And the singer went into the pit a few times and even went up to the balcony at one point. Quite a good gig.