I may not go to concerts as often as I used to, but man, the past month or two have been amazing for a thrash metal fan like me!

First The Big Four finally decided to patch things up (somewhat) and go on tour together across Europe. Luckily for thrash fans across the world, they also decided to broadcast the shows across the entire globe in movie theaters! While it was a really strange concert experience sitting in a theater seat watching the heaviest bands in the world do their thing, it was still a lot of fun. And at our local theater they turned the sound up so loud my ears were ringing for a long time after, just like a proper metal show. Too bad I didn't bring ear plugs, I didn't think I'd need them!

Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer, and Metallica all sharing the same stage? Amazing! They all played sets filled with older songs, which was fitting for the situation of old school thrash bands playing together, and even ended up bringing almost everyone from all bands on stage together at the same time for a cover of Diamond Head's Am I Evil? near the end of Metallica's set.

Then just a couple weeks ago, we got treated to Death Angel and Soilwork at the Opera House! The Death Angel boys always put on such an amazing show, they definitely didn't disappoint with some amazing energy on stage. Last time they came to town Dennis Pepa didn't make it across the border for whatever reason, so they actually ended up playing as a foursome without a bassist. This time, sadly, both Dennis and Andy Galeon had decided to leave the band, so seeing them play with two new band members was a little strange, but both Will Carroll and Sammy Diosdado did an admirable job considering the shoes they were asked to fill.

I actually managed to get a quick picture of me and front man Mark, which was of course the cherry on top for me.

Then last Thursday we were at the Amphitheater for Canadian Carnage, which featured Testament, Megadeth and Slayer for another night filled with glorious thrash metal.

The show (and tour) had been postponed several times due to the back surgery Tom Araya had to undergo, which sadly also ended up forcing a venue change. The Amphitheater is possibly the worst venue to see any kind of concert at. It's an open air venue with some crazy crazy echoes bouncing around, and security is the most anal in the world there. Lucky me, I get to go back in September for Alice in Chains and Mastodon.

The sound during Testament's set was terrible, we could barely make out the guitar sounds, except during solos when the guitars got boosted a bit, so I had to make due with the songs playing in my head to fill up the spectrum. Their set however, was awesome as always, incorporating classics like Into The Pit and Practice What You Preach with material from the newer releases, like DNR, and The Formation of Damnation.

Megadeth played the entire Rust in Peace album cover to cover, which is never a bad thing. I think they've been doing that for the entire tour since last year. Dave Mustaine is just as terrible a front man as he always was, and his voice is hilarious at best, but the music is amazing, so good times.

Slayer actually performed most (if not all) of their classic South of Heaven album, which was amazing to see. I'm not the biggest Slayer fan in the world, but I've seen them often enough that I was very pleasantly surprised that they didn't only play all the staples and mixed it up a bit with lesser played songs.

All over, awesome times to be a thrash fan!!