As heavy wet snow fell upon Buffalo last week, many feared for their lives. Most believed it was the combination of Lake Erie's warm waters and the unseasonably frigid, swirling winds that caused the storm.
Actually, it was Trivium's blizzard of unapologetic metal and guitar thrashing that left the city in shambles.
Amongst the cold and hazardous conditions, Trivium delivered an hour-plus set of unfiltered and uncensored metal to the willing masses at the Showplace Theater last Thursday.
Or as Trivium vocalist Matt Heafy said, "Us Florida boys are freezing our goddamn nads off."
As they tore through the first song of the night, "Entrance of the Conflagration," the fans went crazy. The mosh pit formed; everyone shoved their way closer to the stage and numerous "finger horns" were raised to the sky.
The set list remained loyal to the band's newest release, "The Crusade," which sounded a lot like Metallica before they sold themselves to Atlantic Records. Tracks such as "Detonation" and "Tread the Floods" had everyone singing along.
The pinnacle of "The Crusade" is "Anthem (We Are The Fire)," which scorched the night.
When the band blasted into "A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation," it was as if someone had pushed the crowd into overdrive. Unassuming fans were engulfed into the circle pit, which was the biggest it had been all night. They finished up their set with the hit "Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr," which was clearly the crowd favorite.
"They are the best metal band of the 2000s," said 22 year-old West Seneca native Dan Nelson.
Protest the Hero was a formidable opener. Their blend of punk and metal accentuated with schizophrenic guitar riffs was like a night on speed.
Unfortunately, there were various hecklers that shouted out "Go back to Toronto," among other rude comments.
Despite the senseless comments of a few crowd members, Protest the Hero put on an excellent show. Songs like "Divinity Within" and "Nautical" forced the crowd to bang their heads to some genuine Canadian rock.
Other opening duties were left to The Sword, an odd band to say the least; their sound was similar to Black Sabbath meeting Danzig, combined with a large amount of hallucinogens.
The Sword's music contained little singing and they spoke even less between songs. The longest utterance singer J.D. Cronise managed to compose was, "Thanks Buffalo, its good to be back."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
