DEVASTATION ON THE NATION TOUR 2022
The Devastation on the Nation tour came through Mesa AZ on Friday night. The line up included Veil of Pnath, Stormruler, Ghost Bath, Abigail Williams, Borknagar, and headliners Rotting Christ.
This was a stacked lineup of black metal, experimental, and pure face-melting music. Every band on this tour came out swinging. Ghost Bath was a band I’ve wanted to see for quite some time and they absolutely impressed so I was glad I was able to catch them. With so many bands on this line up you knew you were in for a late one, as Rotting Christ hit the stage a little before 10:50 and their set lasted a little under an hour. Rotting Christ opened their set with “666.” This was a solid choice and such an epic progression into the gnarly riff that you can’t help but bang your head to. As soon as they went into that riff it felt like I was hit by pure adrenaline and ready to go. They went directly into “P’unchaw Kachun” and the opening drum fill by Themis Tolis was even better live. Next was “Elthe Kyrie” off of Rituals (2016), another song that just absolutely slays with blast beats and disturbing samples. Rotting Christ wasn’t taking their foot off the breaks, slamming away doing their well-known low head banging stance. As they started “Apage Satana” they really pushed the crowd to match their energy on stage, demanding everyone start chanting with the opening of the song. Kostas Spades was crushing his fist on his chest and raising it in the air to get the crowd all chanting. Sakis Tolis was going back and forth from one side of the stage to the other, hanging his guitar over the crowd and having fun with the people recording . If you ever seen Sakis live you know his stage presence has no parallel. He’s always been a solid front man commanding the stage. His vocals are still at the top of the game with that signature Greek black metal sound. Up next was “Dies Irae” which is another favorite of mine and I had to stop taking photos of the show to head bang to this one. Kostis Foukarakis was an absolute man on guitar with that stance where his legs are spread and headbanging violently. It was impressive. Up next was “King of the Stellar War,” which is a slower banger and once again the crowd was chanting and raising their first to the down beat. For any old school Rotting Christ fan the next song was a total treat as they played “Figment” off They Might Contract.
This was an impressive set list ranging from newer to older and an all around great set. If you are a true fan of Rotting Christ you definitely walked out of the Nile pleased with what transpired. Make sure to check them out soon, as the tour ends in Los Angeles.
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