Suffocation lives at El Teatrito, Buenos Aires: an extreme dose of brutality and non-stop blast beats.
If we’re talking about the most extreme Metal bands, Suffocation always comes to mind.
The American Death Metal band pioneered the sound of the new wave of Death Metal at that moment called “Brutal Death Metal”, which is easy to distinguish from the classic sound of the genre.
They became one of the biggest and most notorious bands in this type of Metal. Their former guitar player, Terrance Hobbs, kept the music sound as aggressive as possible.
Now after 3 years, the current line-up (Rick on vocals, Charlie and Terrance on guitar, Eric on drums, and Derek on bass) arrived in Buenos Aires once again to hypnotize our ears with an extreme dose of brutality.
It’s Thursday, April 15th, we’re heading to Teatrito, just a few blocks away from the Buenos Aires “Congreso Nacional”.
Night’s a little cold, but we know that once we’re inside the venue, things will start to get hot. So our coats won’t stay for long.
There are 3 local bands for the supporting act. All of them have been playing for over a decade or two, are well-known faces in the local Metal scene and many of the people in the crowd are close friends to each one of them.
At 19.10, just ten minutes after the doors opened for the first fans, Exterminio hits the stage and gives us an amazing performance with an amazing set of lights that go along with their sick riffs and drum patterns.
At 19.50, it’s time for Buena Muerte, which plays songs from their first LP and the debut EP and is presenting us their new lineup.
Last but not least, Lesa Humanidad, at 20.30, really rocks and sounds better than ever. It is a very prolific show with a powerful sound and a performance without a single mistake.
It is 21.30 and the lights are finally out, the curtains start opening for us, and we are all screaming and chanting, the band goes downstairs from the back of the stage and smiles at us. Something big is coming. Eric takes the lead on drums and starts with “Seraphin Enslavement”, from the album that marks these returns to South America: “Hymns From the Apocrypha”, their latest recording. Jumping from newest to oldest, the next song on the setlist is “Thrones of Blood”, from the iconic album “Pierced From Within”.
The virtuosity among us is huge, every note played with such perfection… but the thing that really thrilled us all was the silences between riffs and breakdowns when the band suddenly stopped and everything was absolutely quiet for less than a second before heading into the next part of the song. An incredible display of synchronicity is the best way to describe how the show is going so far.
The next songs are “Jesus Wept” and “Dim Veil of Obscurity”, again jumping from classic to recent tracks. But the amazing thing is that, if you don’t know the year every song was released, you wouldn’t realize there are more than 30 years between them. Because the personality of the band didn’t change at all, Terrance Hobbs, as the main songwriter still puts that same vibe to his latest songs as he did in the beginning.
This same setlist structure keeps holding on with the next songs: “Hymns From the Apocrypha” (a song that gives name to their latest album) and “Pierced From Within”.
Something that I want to talk about is how easy is for Terrance to play and even solo while he moves. Even knowing how much focusing requires those songs.
And all the band manage to have an attitude in their performances. It’s badass to see Derek play his monster bass while he stands it on the stage and starts headbanging. Charlie is just as good a guitar player as Terrance, his solos are exquisite. Rick is the taller guy in the band and that helps if you’re the singer and frontman. His growls are the low type and sound very massive. And don’t forget about the amazing drummer Eric, maybe the one in the most difficult position, we all know about how technical and complex are Suffocation songs. But he makes it look so easy that you know why he was chosen to be placed behind the drum kit.
The next and last songs are “Funeral Inception”, “Liege of Inveracity” and “Infecting the Crypts”.
It all is coming to an end, but never without being cheered by the crowd and earning a dose of chanting. Well-deserved ones.
It was an hour and a bit of minutes of brutality. It may seem short, but me and some friends agree that the show was so mind-blowing and we all enjoyed it so much, that it doesn’t matter if it was just an hour, because it was the most extreme hour of live music I’ve ever experienced. And I mean it.
Review by Agustin Lopez
Produced by Icarus Music
Press Marcela Scorca