The news that Jeff Becera would activate the name POSSESSED after all that years came as a blast to all the fans of the old-school Death_Thrash Metal scene. In fact, many consider this band from San Francisco as the godfathers of the Death Metal sound especially due the homonymous song that in the demo release (with the same title) in 1984. Personally, I haven't seen POSSESSED on-stage so this was a kind of one life opportunity for me.

I arrive at the Pearl Room right on the starting show time and actually I might have been the 30th person who went through the venue's door. Indeed, the attendance was surprisingly weak but the number of the supporting bands might have been an decent excuse.

WHORAID came on stage and tried to warm things up with their old-school Thrash Metal spiced up with some almost Black Metal vocals. The band seemed to be unaffected by the small number of metalheads and eventually did their best. Their honest efforts and the fast guitar riffs satisfied us and after 30 minutes the band gave its place to BAVMORDA. This band hails from Chicago and tries to blend Progressive and Thrash Metal with influences in the vein of FATES WARNING and some Power Metal finishing touches especially in the guitar riffs. Their on-stage presence was very good and actually they did establish a nice connection to the audience that had grown in number. Personally, I liked their music but I found difficult to digest the high pitched vocals that in some points seemed out of place. Among the songs that will be in their debut release, the band added one cover version on DEATH's Spirit Crusher (one of the best guitar riffs) that was warmly accepted.

Next, on stage was Chicago's HURTLOCKER and I can surely say that I was caught off guard. Their fast shredding Death Metal with great Gothenburg additions combined to the extra loud sound made my head and ears blow. The band's singer Chase Morgan invited the previous vocalist Grant Belcher who was in the first two albums. So, with two singers and loud as hell sound the band gave a sweaty performance that got the majority of the audience into some neck snapping headbanging. The groovy parts had distinct Metalcore influences but to my relief these are kept restricted. Without many pauses HURTLOCKER added some song from their upcoming album and stepped off the stage leaving everyone asking for an encore that never happened. The next band on the billing was the Mexico based Death Metal act THE CHASM.

My first encounter with the band was the review on their 2004 release The Spell of Retribution. Their old-school sound with the excellent guitar work had earned me from the very beginning so I was curious to watch them live. The band entered with a riff driven instrumental with a concrete solid drum sound that made every head bang from the beginning. The band had some die-hard fans among the audience (about 700 metalheads at that point) who formed the traditional mosh pit several times during their setlist. THE CHASM made an excellent appearance that night and convinced me that I had to look over their back catalogue to get to know them even better. The band added a new track from their upcoming album that had no vocals (I don't know whether it will turn to be an instrumental) and has like facing a bulldozer! The solid rhythm section with fast drum pedaling and the collection of shredding guitar riffs triggered a sonic explosion to our already tormented ears. What an excellent intro for POSSESSED that was!

After the end of THE CHASM's powerful performance three leather dressed guys with inverted crosses and pentagrams entered the stage to prepare it for POSSESSED. After 40 minutes the lights went out and to my surprise those three guys re-enter the stage and started playing prime Black Metal. Eventually, these guys comprised the Black Metal act SADISTIC INTENT that performed the following tracks:

01. Untimely End
02. Dark predictions
03. Ancient Black Earth
04. Funerals Obscure

During, Funerals Obscure Jeff entered the stage clearing all doubts that these gentlemen would help him to resurrect POSSESSED in front of our eyes. So, after the last musical notes from SADISTIC INTENT the lights went out and a small intro introduced us POSSESSED. Heretic was the first treat and everything went crazy! The old-school atmosphere moved from the stage to the audience that responded with intense headbanging and violent moshing. Jeff made an excellent connection with fans exchanging various metal gestures and some beers. Seance and Pentagram came next bringing all the memories from the old days. Jeff took some time to say thank you to the fans and stating that nothing can put me down. This particular statement made me realize the power in this man to overcome the tragic accident that got him on a wheel chair and return to the stages. This is what Metal is all about guys! Everyone had a great time with POSSESSED that night and I think that our response to their music might be enough to convince Jeff to top off this return in the Metal scene with a new album. SADISTIC INTENT did an excellent job playing the tracks with the closet feeling to the originals. To conclude this report I can say that the beers were plenty (but not enough), the prime Death Metal was loud, the mood was high and the setlist was ideal.

The last two tracks (of course) were the classics The Exorcist (with the trademark movie intro) and Death Metal during which all the fans became one!

POSSESSED setlist:

01. Heretic
02. Seance
03. Pentagram
04. Burning In Hell
05. Evil Warriors
06. Confessions
07.My Belief
08. Beyond The Gates
09. Tribulation
10. Holy Hell
11. The Exorcist
12. Death Metal

(photos by me)

WHORAID

BAVMORDA

HURTLOCKER

THE CHASM

POSSESSED