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Review and photos by Mark Ambrose

Texas is famous for a lot of things and most importantly is heavy metal and thrash metal, with bands like Pantera, Down, & Rigor Mortis. Formed in 2006 under the name, Texas Metal Alliance, the band changed their name thee years later to Warbeast. Led by vocalist Bruce Corbit, Warbeast is also made up of guys from bands like Gammacide and Demonseed, thus granting them over two decades doling out crushing music. In April 2010 Bruce and the band put out their first album via Housecore Records, which is owned by ex-vocalist for Pantera, Phil Anselmo. Phil is also the lead singer for Texas based Down who is currently on tour with Warbeast.

Down and Warbeast kicked off their tour at Trees in Dallas last week and we were lucky enough to get in, just in time at that, to see this awesome lineup! After a little PR mixup and some quick email/texting, I was able to score a contact number for Bruce and get in touch with him nearly minutes before he headed up to the green room before the set. Upon entering the venue, and being searched like I was boarding an international flight, I was tasked with trying to make my way to the bar for a drink then down to the front of the stage. The crowds was very thick and Down hadn’t yet taken the stage, so you knew it was going to get worse. Having been at Trees before, I knew they would not have a reserved media pit but much to my surprise there was! After downing my beer, I made my way between the barriers to the front of the stage for the start of the show.

Warbeast started off their set with their single off their album, Krush, then proceeded to play the rest of songs from “Krush The Enemy” and ended their set with Birth of a Physco. During their performance, the band played extremely well and even Scott Shelby took his time in the limelight with a shredding guitar solo. These guys really now how to get down Texas style; reminds me of the days of Pantera when the place would just got nuts!

Adding more to the evening I got my first chance to see Phil Anselmo’s band, Down, perform. This was a total mind blowing experience for me as I has just seen ex-bassist, Rex Brown, play on that same stage months earlier with Kill Devil Hill. As expected, Phil and then gang blew the doors off Trees and had the place moving so hard the entire floor was nearly moshing. To top things off, Rex himself appeared out of the shadows of backstage to play a 20 minute encore with Down which included a tribute to Dimebag Darrell Abbott; a friend that will be never forgotten in the music community of Dallas. All in all. I had an awesome time and would definitely recommend you check out either band if you get the chance in your town.

We got the chance to do an email interview with the band but are still waiting to here back from them.  We will update the story and post the interview here once we receive it.

Upcoming Tour Dates:

• 9/26 – The Electric Factory – Philadelphia, PA
• 9/28 – Best Buy Theater – New York, NY
• 9/29 – Starland Ballroom – Sayreville, NJ
• 9/30 – The Fillmore – Silver Spring, MD
• 10/2 – Tremont Music Hall – Charlotte, NC