It's not often that a band's song title becomes an entire genre. In metal, Venom and their tune "Black Metal" spring to mind and of course, Possessed and "Death Metal" off of their seminal record Seven Churches. The album is 40 years old this year, and Possessed is celebrating the milestone with a tour, playing the album in full and in sequence. Death metal has evolved and splintered into many different sub-sub-genres in the four decades since the release of Seven Churches, and the album now sounds rather primitive, closer in style to early Slayer than to modern purveyors of musical violence like Sanguisuggabog of Frozen Soul who have taken the genre to new heights of brutality and technicality. But it's precisely that almost prehistoric approach that gives the music its patina and allows it to endure as the monument that it is.
The Paris date marked the final night of this epic tour, which also featured a reunited Terrorizer performing their landmark album World Downfall. few acts could follow such an uncompromising blast of sonic fury but Possessed have the songs to back it up, and frontman Jeff Becerra's maniacal vocals and genial stage presence add a layer of authenticity to those iconic tracks. Claudeous Creamer (whom we last saw a year ago with Sadus) and Daniel Gonzalez are tasked with replicating those iconic riffs and solos and manage to inject some of their personality into the performance. On drums, Chris Aguirre brings a more contemporary sense of technical precision without diluting the raw spirit of the material, and alongside bassist Robert Cardenas forms a formidable rhythm section that is both punishing and unyielding.
It is inevitable that innovators, experimentalists and the avant garde get absorbed and recycled by the mainstream. It happens in every genre, in every artistic discipline. By today’s standards, the music of pioneers like Possessed no longer sounds as shocking, as violent or as frightening as it once did. Growled vocals now appear in top ten charting songs. Extreme metal turns up in films, video games and television advertising. Stripped of its initial shock value, the music stands on its own merits, the strength of the songs and the force of the performance. On that level, this Paris concert firmly cemented Possessed’s status as a foundational figure in heavy music, without whom today’s extreme scene would sound very different. A true classic.
