The Alaska Airlines Theater of the Clouds at Portland’s Moda center hosted one of the heaviest shows to ever play the arena this past week when Amon Amarth brought their Metal Crushes All tour through town. In support, Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, and Dallas Texas’ Frozen Soul also performed.
Despite having formed just a half-dozen years ago, Frozen Soul’s stage presence is much like that of a band that’s many years more seasoned. From the opening riff of “Encased in Ice” to the final note of “Crypt of Ice”, the band had the crowd moving. At one point during the set, vocalist Chad Green even called for fans to drop and do push ups with many fans enthusiastically doing.
Obituary played a solid set with very little crowd interaction. Their entire seven song set was heads down, in-your-face metal. It was almost as if the tour told singer John Tardy to STFU so they can fit more songs into their set. When all was said and done and the circle-pit became still, Obituary squeezed seven songs into their set, leaving many fans clamoring for more.
Cannibal Corpse did not disappoint. They gave the masses so much more, and the energy in the room went through the roof. The circle pit took over the GA floor nearly from barricade to soundboard. Crowd surfers came over the rail in droves with security struggling at times to keep them from crashing into the floor. Bassist Alex Webster’s finger-style bass work was absolutely furious. Singer George Fisher toyed with the crowd by challenging them to a headbanging competiton. “You can try, but you’ll lose,” he declared. Honestly, I don’t think a single soul in that room kept up with him for even close to the whole song. By the time they played their ninth and final song (even though Fisher promised that “Stripped, Raped and Strangled” would be their final song), the crowd was spent. But one band remained.
In a dramatic shift from the darker themes played by the support bands, Amon Amarth brought viking energy by the boatload. In an absolutely huge stage production, Amon Amarth had the audience completely captivated. Aside from the incredible music, there were stage antics including sword fights, battles with the norse antihero Loki and other theatrics. From the rail to the rafters, Portlanders took to the floor for the Amon Amarth rowing pit during “Put Your Back Into the Oar.” Thematically, the stage had several different looks to fit the evolution of the songs through the set list. But the presentation, the spectacle, was nothing short of extraordinary.
This leg of the tour is just kicking off, so pick a city near you. Pick a city far away from you. Just pick a city and Put Your Back Into the Oar!
