On Sunday, June 26th, 2022, American death metal fathers DEATH TO ALL, with supporting band GATECREEPER, hit Hype Park in Krakow as part of their big European Tour. The show was organized by Doomstar Bookings and Knockout Productions and was set to start at 20:00.
The show was sold out and was all about classic death metal. The first band, hailing from Arizona, was GATECREEPER. All the members were wearing long sleeved tees, skinny pants, and hightops – all with that ’80s metal vibe to them. The band was formed in 2013 and has two full-length albums, “Sonoran Depravation” and “Deserted,” with a fresh split, “An Unexpected Reality,” released in 2021. At its core, the band played mid-paced death metal with occasional speedy passages, the odd breakdown, and some hardcore influences. However, the night was about powerviolence! Powerviolence, as a genre, is built on short but energetic tracks and that’s what GATECREEPER gave us! Chase “Hellahammer” Mason’s vocals were harsh and gritty, although the frontman was perfectly chill on stage.
The headliner, DEATH TO ALL, was up next and the venue was fully packed, with the temperature reaching about +40. It was billed as a “tribute” to Chuck Schuldiner, who passed away more than 10 years ago. The band features former DEATH members Bobby Koelble, Gene Hoglan, and Steve DiGiorgio, as well as guitarist/singer of the US prog metal band CYNIC, Max Phelps, who took over the late Schuldiner‘s parts. They opened with “Infernal Death” and the crowd went berserk! Max Phelps may be the only one of the four musicians to never have been in DEATH, but he proved he’s more than capable of shredding away and his voice was belting out in a convincing manner. They played a more-than-an-hour-long set packed with old-school death metal. The cherry on the top was a 5-song encore at the end of the show, including the timeless classic “Pull the Plug.”
Overall the show was a blast! It was brutal, it was loud, and it was hot. Despite all that, the sound was crisp, the lights were high-quality. Props to the organizers for bringing these legends to Europe.
GATECREEPER
DEATH TO ALL
