It took me fifteen minutes after locating the venue to find a decent parking spot. Another fifteen minutes waiting in line, and then I was in. The venue was not especially large, but provided enough space to breathe and move around. The sound could have been better, but the lighting was surprisingly well coordinated. I entered the main stage area and walked up as close to the stage as I could just in time to see the beginning of Origin's set.

Origin: The sound was horrible; very little could be differentiated between one musician and another, save the bass pedals and vocals. And they were extremely loud, so much so that it was almost painful, and I will seriously be reconsidering my oath never to bring earplugs to a concert. But if nothing else, they were worth watching for the sake of the drummer. He was incredibly fast, ridiculously fast, and was all over the kit doing blasts, rolls, fills, and more. Origin played songs from both their albums. I could not get my camera to work, so did not get any photos of Origin, unfortunately. After their set, I went up to the merchandise booth and spoke with the vocalist briefly. I bought one of the band's demos, "A Coming into Existence."

Hate Eternal: I'd seen these guys once before, with God Dethroned and Cannibal Corpse back in early 2000. Back then, I'd had no idea who Erik Rutan was, so I didn't pay them much attention other than to remark that their drummer was fast as hell. This time around, I was a little more informed about the band. It was like seeing two members of Morbid Angel (since the bassist recently covered bass/vocal duties for Morbid Angel on their most recent tour). Once again, the sound left something to be desired, but at least individual notes on the guitar could be made out. And they weren't nearly as loud (though that may have been due to my collapsing ear drums). The drummer was not quite as technical as the drummer from Origin, but he was possibly faster, especially on the double bass. For the record, I can confirm that he rolls his feet side to side at the same time as moving them up and down. I still can't quite understand how that works, but I can vouch for the fact that it does. I managed to figure out why my camera wasn't taking pictures, and got several of Hate Eternal

Arch Enemy: This was THE band I was interested in seeing this night, and they were definitely not disappointing. The sound was the best and most clear all evening, but this might be due to the fact that Arch Enemy were the only band playing that was not brutal/technical/fast-as-hell death metal. But that's not to imply that they didn't rock the venue out. Angela was a great frontperson, moving about the stage, grabbing a mike stand and air guitaring with it, and squatting down to do rather sick headbangs. It was entertaining to see the occasional fan leap on stage and try to shake her hand, give her a hug, or otherwise touch her, only to have Angela move away from said fan with an almost desperate look on her face. Guitarists Michael and Christopher Amott were as tight live as they are on the album, and the rest of the band was very good as well. Most of the material played was off of "Wages of Sin;" at least 80% of the set, in fact. This wasn't necessarily disappointing, as that is the only Arch Enemy album I have, but I was hoping for "Beast of Man."

Nile: This was the third time I have seen Nile live, and have yet to be disappointed. They played a good variety of songs, from "Amongst the Catacombs" and "Black Seeds of Vengeance," as well as three or four new songs. The horns were in the air, and the bodies were thrashing in the mosh pit, and the music was loud as hell. All in all, it was a worthy set; Nile have certainly gotten tighter in the live setting over the years. The Nile drummer was ridiculously fast and technical; no offence to the Hate Eternal drummer and his unique method of double-bass, but the Nile drummer is just as fast, if not faster, and only moves his legs in one direction. Nile played for more than an hour, the longest of any of the bands, and ended with a prerecorded "Khetti Satha Shemsu." When they were done, the crowd was slow to disperse, hoping for an encore. But no encore was forthcoming, and with reluctant hearts everyone returned from whence they came, with shattered ears and metal in their hearts.