This review was originally published on www.blistering.com

The Barbie is a vamped up warehouse that regularly hosts most of the metal shows in the area. Since it was Purim, some people were dressed in costume but most wore the standard metal uniform of t-shirts like Iron Maiden and Sepultura, others of Israeli bands like Orphaned Land, Salem or Hangman.

There’s no real difference between Israeli metalheads and those anywhere else, other than the energy at shows is fucking intense in a way few crowds can match. And the crowd at this show consisting of Deface, Matricide and newly signed Roadrunner Records act Betzefer, was no exception.

Deface, the first band up, possessed a technically apt drummer, morbidly intricate guitars, death vocals and a basically hardcore type of Megadeth/Sepultura vibe with groove. Actually, they performed suitable covers of Sepultura’s ‘Roots’ and ‘Territory’ as well as their own material. It was a nice appetizer for Betzefer, but there was still one more act to go first:

Matricide. The singer emitted some decent screeches, playing death vocals ping-pong with the grunting guitarist. Their first song had a Slayerish sort of ‘Seasons In The Abyss’ tone with Oriental style guitar. The next, ‘Epitaph In Apathy’, had the crowd jumping in the general homeboy “Go, go, go” style and to be sure, their drummer was truly nothing to fuck with. His obviously Slayer influenced double bass fury and Pantera type of groove pulled everything together quite tightly. And they pulled off a cover of Slayer’s ‘War Ensemble’ – the place went nuts.

But that was nothing compared to the frenzy Betzefer elicited in the first few chords of their opening song, ‘Fucking Rock N’ Roll’.

Some basic information about Betzefer: They opened for Fear Factory in Belgium last summer and consequently signed to Roadrunner Records a month or so ago. They’re one of the most beloved acts of the thousands-strong Israeli metal underground. They’re actually not supposed to be giving any foreign press until Roadrunner starts promoting their June 6th Downlow European release. So guys, remember, you heard it here first: this band is about to tear up the world. And this show was proof of the pudding.

At first, the security guards were trying to keep the fans a few feet away from the stage but they soon scurried away when confronted with the frothing maelstrom of the mosh pit. Many fans knew the songs by heart and screamed along. Notice I say screamed- vocalist Avital Tamir isn’t exactly crooning here. His tortured shrieks and growls shredded the mic against the backdrop of Betzefer’s bluesy AC/DC, Panterish, Sepultural wrecking ball. One of the most memorable segments of the act is when Tamir, lights glowing green on his face, stood for some moments of silence with hand lucidly set to ear in “Shh, what’s that?” fashion before unleashing a piercing hellscreech in time with a sonic assault from the rest of the band. Guitarist Matan Cohen’s dreadlocks were flailing in the strobe lights like a scene out of a Predator sequel as he provided the guitar work lacing through the severe rhythm section of barefoot, barechested, bare almost everything Berman on drums and Glida (Ice Cream) Rotem Inbar on bass. Most of the material came from their 2003 New Hate EP – guess they’re waiting to share the goods till Downlow comes out. It was an amazing show that my neck is still feeling the effects.