16 Years of Brutality!

Year 2005. That was the first time my ears bled from the blast of metal music from the speakers on the stage of a small bar - my first Aural Massacre event. It was the first time I watched bands play live, and I was caught off guard to be honest. It was deafening...and I loved it! Women wearing all black; men - either having very long hair or none at all, booze and cigarettes, friends, and metal music. "These are my kind of people", I said to myself. It was perfect. From then on, I vowed to join every Aural Massacre event for the rest of my life.

_{Admission tickets. I used to collect Aural Massacre tickets, but I lost all of them 😔}

Fast-forward to 2021, after two years of caged wrath and chaos since the pandemic started, the 44th Aural Massacre happened! They called it The Aftermath - Post Apocalyptic Gathering. Very fitting for what's happening in the world right now, with 44 events in 16 years! That is something else. It's the only active music event production left in our city for the longest time. And it was all possible thanks to the mastermind - Jason Arenas.

And to honor those 16 years, I got inspired and tried to get all the event titles since 2005. I asked permission from Sir Jason to do a blog about it, and here we are! Coincidentally, he was thinking of releasing a shirt with all the event titles over the years for the 17th anniversary! How cool is that? I got to be part of it, somehow. After hours of research, I had to ask help from the people who supported those events since we couldn't find any posts about the older ones anymore - the ones from 2005 'till about 2014. Thank goodness for Facebook! I've posted about it on my personal Facebook account, and here's the almost complete list:

We're missing two titles (the 13th and the 35th). We couldn't seem to find it until now. At least, they'd only look for two more to complete the anniversary shirt for this year! I'd definitely score one.

Before the event started, I was exhilarated, as always with these kinds of events, but also because my partner's band was in the line up. They call themselves Steve. Even before we started dating, I've always been amazed by their performances. He is full of passion and anger that can always be felt in his lyrics, in his interpretation. He becomes a completely different person when he's on stage, and I take pleasure in watching his transformation every single time. He would also make it a point to talk to the audience and use the time he has to send a strong message of optimism, solidarity, and compassion. I couldn't help but be a fangirl in front of the stage!

Other than swooning over Steve's screams of Revolution (Rebolusyon video: https://www.facebook.com/rebo.arcega.9/videos/981907139029780), these metalheads wreak havoc on the stage too:

_{Manmeat
First time watching them perform. And they didn't disappoint. Photo credit}

_{Deleterious
A two-piece band with a kickass drummer! And that's an understatement.}

_{Powertools
The Gods. Need I say more?}

_{Merge For The Kill
A band "merged" by the pandemic with members from different venerable bands. Photo credit}

_{Nuclear Punishment
I am not even worthy to describe this band.}

_{The King Kong Battery
A speed metal band from Cavite. (Listen to Pitong Taon Sa Piling Ni Lito. Highly recommended.)}

_{Drastic Intent
Been in the scene since day one. They're still crushing stages until now!}

_{Defecator
Sir Jason's trash metal band. Unfortunately, they weren't able to play due to time constraints. Photo credit}

_{With old friends.}

_{With my ever beautiful bestfriend.}

_{And of course, with my ultimate crush 😁}

It was a great way to end the year - seeing old friends, meeting Facebook friends, and seeing everyone moshing and showing support to each band. For a moment, all the anxieties about the pandemic diminished and the fear of what Typhoon Rai would bring vanished. For a moment, it was like the world is back to normal. Even for a short moment.

_{*Pictures are all mine unless stated otherwise. Apologies for the quality. I don't really have the talent on taking pictures. 😅}