As I arrived at the Masquerades in Atlanta, Georgia, I was 3 hours early for the show and proceeded to head backstage (since I had all the necessary "credentials" that a magazine editor must have in order to "hang with the stars") where I met up with all the members of the three bands. Piggy from Voivod and Dan from Pro-Pain were jamming together, in the sense that Piggy was playing guitar with no amps, and Dan was tapping his feet on the floor and using his hands and a table to simulate various drum parts. All the guys and Karen from Crisis were very friendly, and we enjoyed many interesting conversations, especially the 30-minute tirade about various groupies the bands encountered. Finally, at 21:00, the first band, Crisis, went onstage. Though the crowd was not very large, they were very appreciative, as was I, of Karen's obvious talents to be able to sing as well, hitting bloodcurdling screams that would have the lead singer from Drill running in fear. As they mentioned in the interview that was done by myself and the friends of mine from a radio station in Alabama, the lead and bass guitar work blended nicely with each other, oftentimes giving no hint as to which was what. After a 30-minute set, which left everyone quite pleased, the moment I had been waiting for had finally arrived. They did take their sweet time arriving; after a 25-minute wait, in which time I smelled strong essences of pot, they finally burst through the back stage door in a cloud of smoke. It's obvious what was going on back there! Though they only played a 40-minute set, ripping through newer tunes like "Project X", and "Negatron", they also played a few classics, like the ever popular "Voivod" and my most personal favorite, "Nuclear War", from their first album, _War and Pain_. They did "Astronomy Domine", and were joined by both guitarist and lead vocalist from Crisis to do a ripping version of "Nanoman" off their new album. Many heads were banging on the front row, and all in attendance were overly pleased at the sound, and no surprise that new Voivod member Eric Forrest sounds a LOT like the former singer from years back! Go pick up the new Voivod album 'cause it's an obvious return to the heavy days of _War and Pain_ and _RRROOOAAARRR_, but with the technical intricacy and trippy space themes found in _Killing Technology_, _Angel Rat_, and _Nothingface_. Finally, Pro-Pain hit the stage, and their set was thunderous! I rushed in as I heard the first few notes of "Shine" blast from offstage. The only band to have an active thrashing pit, they were quite vicious in their attack, as I knew they would be! (See Vibrations of Doom issue #13 for the interview.) I went into this full force, loving every minute of their ultra brutal hardcore riffs on old tracks like "Foul Taste of Freedom", and "Death on the Dance Floor". The new stuff was undeniably raw, and for those of you who don't have their newest release, _Contents Under Pressure_, MUST go grab this! They performed "Odd Man Out", "Against the Grain", and many others from this epic masterpiece, and from the intense moshing going around (and the fact that many were knocked down to the floor several times), it was obvious that many fans had been waiting for this night. In fact, this kind of material sounds so much heavier live than on disc. I want to thank all three bands involved for being friendly and letting me drink their beer, eat their food, and enjoy one of the best shows I've seen in quite awhile.

-- Steven G. Cannon Editor in Chief of Vibrations of Doom Magazine. Email address: ax487@freenet.uchsc.edu