It may well be a Tuesday in north London, but ENFORCER play every gig as if it were Monster Of Rock 1985. From the opening roar of Destroyer to the closing anthem Midnight Vice, every note is delivered with absolute Spandex-clad conviction. Even the ballad Nostalgia is 1000% heavy metal. Last year WHIPLASH were unfocused and ramshackle supporting Razor. Back with a revamped line-up, they’re an entirely different proposition: tight and precise, yet also savage and feral. NYC’s nastiest blast through a set of, if not greatest hits, then greatest punches to face, including Last Man Alive and Power Thrashing Death. Having managed 40 years of uncompromising thrash, Schmier leads DESTRUCTION through a set heavy on early classics. Curse The Gods? Death Trap? Mad Butcher? Total Desaster? It’s everything the patch-jacketand-white-hi-tops crowd could ask for and more. There is an argument that the Teutonic 4 were every bit the equal of the US Big 4, one made forcibly tonight as the fearsome quartet level Highbury with a blistering set to match any of their transatlantic competition. They close with Thrash ’Til Death, which is exactly what they plan to do.
ALASTAIR RIDDELL