All photos by Daniel Snyder, more below

Better than: Going completely deaf anywhere else.

Metal has a habit of cannibalizing its own classic sounds in times of inspirational drought, and it doesn't take much for a few well-meaning homages to spawn a whole revival trend. Classic death metal, thrash, and traditional metal have all seen, for better or worse, tremendous resurgences in recent years, and with the new contenders come swarms of elder statesmen who see a second chance at glory, flooding the market at both ends with mediocre re-hashes. But every now and then, something great resurfaces that makes it all worth it.

Summoning forth "Satan's Hammer." Pic by Daniel.

For those of us who endured the utter tease that was Destroyer 666's last-minute cancellation of their August 4th show at Club Europa, last night's make-up gig was a welcome and much-needed release of metallic fury. Everyone was clearly there to worship at the feet of the Aussie black-thrashers; the crowd was also refreshingly traditional, with wall-to-wall illegible black T-shirts, and vendors hawking merch from all manner of subterranean acts like Blood Freak and Clotted Symmetric Sexual Organ. Super metal.

Saint Vitus
Europa
Friday, October 16

The venue of choice for Saint Vitus' first New York appearance in many years was slightly galling. Europa is a strange club. Giant smoky mirrors make it feel like an elderly woman's living room, if that living room had a disco ball. The stage is is a small triangular thing shoved in a corner of the venue, and toward the middle of the room the sound tends to wash out. The only way to really hear what's going on is to be within ten feet of the musicians. Which at least, as it turned out, I was: stage right, on a raised platform, crammed between the merch tables and some weekenders. Despite these challenges, Saint Vitus took the stage with no fanfare and proceeded to blow everyone's head off with the openers "Living Backwards" and "I Bleed Black," from their aptly titled fifth album V.