Mindwars in Nakano
American thrash metal band Mindwars’ return to Japan became a victory lap.
Mindwars at Bastardfest at Moonstep, Nakano, Tokyo, Japan on 29th March 2025
Guitarist and vocalist Mike Alvord made a name for himself as a member of Holy Terror in the 1980s. In 2013, he founded Mindwars with Italian drummer Roby Vitari (ex-Headcrasher). Since then, the band, which also features bassist Rick Zaccaro, has released five albums.
Mindwars plays music the way I like my thrash metal served: straightforward, no nonsense, fast and raw thrash metal. The live set was primarily focused on the band’s own music. They opened with the smashing song “The Awakening”. “Blacklisted” and “Black Death” followed. It was a fast and sweaty start to what would become a splendid gig. Other highlights from a tight set included “Stand Guard at the Gates of Your Mind”, “Beneath the Trees”, “Live to Die” and the instrumental “The Road to Madagascar”. The future looks bright for this fantastic thrash metal band as they recently signed a record deal with High Roller Records. In addition to the excellent Mindwars songs, the band paid its respects to the past by performing four Holy Terror songs – “Judas Reward”, “Do Unto Others”, “The Immoral Wasteland” and “Tomorrow’s End”. It was a terrific tip of the hat to Mike Alvord’s legacy.
I simply love this band. It is metal the way it is supposed to be, played by a bunch of talented yet humble musicians who understand that they are here to entertain. While they are friendly entertainers, many of the lyrics are of the social commentary type. In other words, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns. But Mike sang those lyrics with a big smile across his face. He clearly loved being in front of the band’s fans again, only a year and a half after their first visit. I spotted some Holy Terror patches and shirts in the audience. They were probably old-school fans who couldn’t believe their luck that a former Holy Terror member would come to Japan and perform the songs. But, Mindwars is not a Holy Terror tribute band. They have their own catalogue and have earned their own fans. The Holy Terror link is nice, but it does not define this band.
This gig was part of the splendid Bastardfest: The Nakano Birthday Massacre, a mini-festival organised by good eggs Bill Jokela and Joe Duggan (cheers lads for putting on a helluva night which was better than an early morning dodgy kebab in the shady parts of Leicester). In addition to the headline set by Mindwars, the evening also included great-fun sets by punky metal band Over the Hill, doomy stoner rockers Hebi Katana, classic heavy metal band Risingfall and death metal band Gotsu Totsu Kotsu. It was an eclectic mix of different kinds of metal music that worked well.
Mindwars performed Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades” as an encore. It was a fun and fitting end to a great evening in the name of metal. Let’s do this again!
https://www.facebook.com/mindwarsband
