Arch Enemy

w/ Suffocation and Claim the Throne

Capitol, Perth – 1st November 2009

It was fairly obvious early on that the metal punters of Perth were amped for a night of diverse metal bands from three different continents, with a big line stemming from the front of the venue as well as inside at the bar. This was the first date of the Australian tour, brought by Soundworks Touring.

Being a member of Claim the Throne, I can’t really comment on our set too much, but we play a folk/battle metal style with a bit of melodic death/black. The setlist consisted mostly of tracks from our latest release Aletales, as well as debuting a new song. This was also the first show with new drummer Oscarius. The highlight was the stunning good looks of the band members and the fearless conquering of ale. (After watching these guys at the recent ATG5 in Adelaide, we will gladly vouch for their awesomeness and drunken banter on stage! – MO Staff)

With Frank’s between-song banter and constant machine gun shark-fin hand, it immediately felt like Suffocation were the crowd’s new best friends. Smashing out tracks from the latest Blood Oath album, as well as plentiful classics from their back catalogue, Suffocation demolished the stage and performed a flawless set of brutal and passionate death metal. The mosh pit was non-stop for the whole show, displaying the audience’s appreciation of the band and the brutal energy dispersed from the stage. The windmills, shredding solos, and the untouchable drumming ensured a 10/10 performance from a truly excellent death metal act.

After a drawn out wait between bands, possibly due to the destruction from Suffocation, Arch Enemy came storming on with energy and enthusiasm ready for a couple hours of Swedish melodic death. The thing that immediately stood out was the incredible sound and mix of the band, ensuring that not one note of stunning guitar solos of the Ammott’s were missed. Angela Gossow looked tiny standing next to the behemoth of a bass player, but her voice certainly did not. Her growl sounds a thousand times better than it does on CD, ensuring a top set from the Swedish legends. With a setlist comprising of songs from a variety of albums there was a lot of diversity between tracks, including a handful of early classics (which have coincidently been re-recorded with Angela on vocals in the latest release The Root of All Evil).

A top night indeed, would highly recommend those in other states to head along to the remainder of the Australian Tour dates.

Reviewed by Cabba