Music / Reviews
Review: Municipal Waste/GEL/Undeath, Marble Factory
Back in 2008, Richmond, Virginia, thrashers Municipal Waste were playing the tiny back room at The Croft. More recently, they graduated to bottom-of-the-bill slots at big metal shows at the Academy (Anthrax, Lamb of God). Now they’re finally headlining their own sold out Friday night three band show in the cavernous Marble Factory. It’s been a long slog to get here, but it couldn’t have happened to a more lovable bunch of degenerates.
First up are New York death metallers Undeath, who swiftly get an impressive chug going and whip up a huge circle pit.
is needed now More than ever
There are flashes of old-school metal in the mix, and even some tasty twin lead guitar, propelling those growled torture- and dismemberment-fixated lyrics.
GEL are an entirely different proposition, being a hardcore band from New Jersey. Anyone who’s familiar with the mid-’80s Bristol punk scene should feel right at home here, although, in keeping with the times, there’s rather more diversity on display.
The songs are short and sharp and all sound much the same, with minor variations in tempo. Sami Kaiser races back and forth at the front of the stage, barking her angry-yet-indecipherable lyrics, which are punctuated with the occasional yelp.
There’s probably a little too much metal in the mix to satisfy the genre’s stern purist gatekeepers, but that’s no impediment for this audience.
“Municipal Waste is gonna fuck you up!” goes the big chant. But they’re not supposed to fuck themselves up in this moment of glory. There’s a huge cheer as they arrive on stage. Tony Foresta lets out an enormous scream and . . . promptly drops to his knees and passes out. Guitarist Ryan Waste looks rather shocked and concerned, but Foresta quickly recovers. He apologises and says he’s used to passing out during shows, but not right at the start. For the rest of the set he looks a little unsteady but manages to keep it together.
But there’s no time to worry about that now because that ferocious thrasher Breathe Grease is up next and the whole audience erupts with joy. There’s something for everyone here, from The Thrashin’ of the Christ (“This one’s for all the Satan lovers”) to Beer Pressure (“This one’s for all the beer lovers”) and, of course, the evergreen Headbanger Face Rip (“This one’s about ripping your face off”).
So far, so familiar, but the Waste also take deep dive into their catalogue, going right back to Waste ‘Em All. “Some of this shit is 21 years old!” Much of this shit is also insanely fast and the audience struggles to keep up.
Yes, but can this music really translate to larger venues? That’s what they used to ask of Metallica. Municipal Waste don’t have anything even approaching a ballad, but take the whole thing in their stride. Ryan Waste and lead guitarist Nick Poulos make extensive use of their posing podiums, while bassist Phil Hall and drummer Dave Witte are locked in to ensure no drop in tempo.
The final straight brings another batch of punter-pleasers, including crowd surfer anthem Wave of Death (yes, those are the lyrics in full), Sadistic Magician, Crank the Heat, Unleash the Bastards and, inevitably, Born to Party.
By the end, it’s astonishing to find that they’ve played for barely an hour, such is the furious pace with which they’ve crammed in the best part of two dozen songs, leaving us exhausted, sweaty and bedraggled.
All pix by Mike Evans
Read more: Metal & Prog Picks: October 2023
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
