The mighty Goatwhore brought their trademarked, blackened thrash metal assault, to Orange County, California last week. Supporting EYEHATEGOD on their “30 Years of Take As Needed For Pain” tour, Goatwhore brought their ‘A’ game at the Observatory on this night for good reason. Two additional legendary California bands joined the tour for their Southern California dates, the Santa Cruz punk icons in BL’AST!; and Orange County’s own thrash heroes in Hirax. Kicking things off was the insane new Los Angeles hardcore/metal/reptilian-Christian core band, Cancer Christ.

These true punk believers rock out like their eternal souls depend on it. They baptize members of the crowd in blood while all but destroying their instruments with their hyper aggressive and oh so spazzy brand of metallic hardcore. There’s few things as entertaining as watching Cancer Christ share their love of Jesus’ big ol’ cock with their disciples.

CANCER CHRIST

The hardcore veterans in BL’AST! followed up Cancer Christ’s high energy evangelizing with a powerful sermon of their own, preaching from the gospels of Black Flag and Sabbath! There’s nothing like watching BL’AST! drummer Joey Castillo beat his kit to pieces while some of the gnarliest riffs imaginable rip through the venue’s speakers.

BL’AST!

Hirax powered through some technical difficulties early on in their set and delivered one of the most high-octane performances of the night. This being a hometown show, it makes sense that the energy levels in the crowd were off the chart during Hirax. Frontman Katon De Pena shrieked his lungs out to everyone inside The Observatory’s delight and even managed to jump off the venue’s massive PA. How this guy has been thrashing this hard since the 1980’s is beyond our comprehension!

HIRAX

Goatwhore took advantage of the large stage inside The Observatory’s main room and frontman Ben Falgoust immediately commandeered the audience’s attention like a Satanic symphony composer. The band is touring hard supporting their recent 2022 Metal Blade release, Angels Hung from the Arches of Heaven, so naturally they played a ton of new material while also delving deep into the Goatwhore catalog and sprinkling a few classic gems for long time fans as well. Pulverizing new tracks like “Born of Satan’s Flesh” and “Death From Above” fit perfectly alongside Goatwhore staples “Collapse in Eternal Worth” and “Apocalyptic Havoc.” The haunting melody from their new album’s title track literally cast a spell upon everyone inside, just as guitarist Sammy Duet’s backing shrieks on super throwback “Sky Inferno” brought a smile to old school fans faces. Goatwhore were firing on all cylinders, as they’ve done consistently for over two decades now. Be sure to catch these black metal road warriors next time they roll through your neck of the woods.

GOATWHORE

EYEHATEGOD closed out the night with a thunderous rendition of their 1993 sludge metal masterpiece, Take As Needed For Pain. Nothing like ending a long night of metal madness with Mike William’s tortured screams and some of the filthiest guitar riffs ever conceived.

EYEHATEGOD