Jeff Becerra is one of the most revered figures in the metal underground, not only because of the trials life has thrown at him but because Possessed helped write the blueprint for an entire genre. Primitive, demonic and gloriously unsophisticated, 1985's Seven Churches laid much of the groundwork for death metal. With forty years of hindsight, it sounds almost like an even more savage and less refined cousin of early Slayer, but its importance is every bit as great as Scream Bloody Gore.
The crowd packed in front of the Temple Stage has not gathered out of historical reverence, however. No one is here to attend a lecture. They have come to get brutalized, and with a setlist built largely around Seven Churches and Beyond the Gates, five songs from each, Possessed delivers exactly what they crave. The riffs remain primitive, the tempos violent and the atmosphere deliciously evil.
Yet no one appears happier than Becerra himself. Watching him grin between songs, one quickly realizes that nostalgia has very little to do with it. The material may be four decades old, but these songs still inspire chaos, still summon circle pits and still bring smiles to the face of the man who wrote them. For Jeff Becerra, and for the maniacs assembled before him, these are the glory days.
TesseracT @ Main Stage 2 (Photos, setlist)
Point Mort @ Warzone (Photo)
Queensrÿche @ Main Stage 1 (Photos, review, setlist)
Stoned Jesus @ Valley Stage (Photos, review, setlist)
Bloodywood @ Main Stage 2 (Photos, setlist)
Accept @ Main Stage 1 (Photos, review, setlist)
Sepultura @ Main Stage 2 (Photos, review, setlist)
Helloween @ Main Stage 1 (Photos, review, setlist)
Opeth @ Main Stage 2 (Photos, review, setlist)
Iron Maiden @ Main Stage 1 (Photos, review, setlist)
DAY FOUR
Scour @ Temple Stage (Photos, review, setlist)
Eyehategod @ Valley Stage (Photos, review)
Six Feet Under @ Altar Stage (Photos, review, setlist)
Corrosion Of Conformity @ Valley Stage (Photos, review)
Possessed @ Altar Stage (Photos, setlist)
Agnostic Front @ Warzone - (Photos, setlist)
Acid Bath @Valley Stage (Photos, review, setlist)
Marduk @ Altar Stage (Photos, setlist)
Napalm Death @ Altar Stage (Photos, review, setlist)
Down @ Valley Stage (Photos, review, setlist)