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Live Reviews : Beastwars; one of the best things New Zealand has ever produced

By on May 16, 2013

If you read our review of Blood Becomes Fire, the second full length from New Zealand’s Beastwars, and pay any attention to our Facebook account, you probably will have gathered that we were all pretty excited about them hitting Australia for the first time.

Despite being a Sunday evening there was a decent crowd built up at Melbourne’s Hifi Bar. And after Mammoth Mammoth and My Left Boot warmed the crowd up, Beastwars very quickly proved themselves a force to be reckoned with. Vocalist Matt Hyde stormed around the stage like a man possessed, spewing forth his larlgely-unintelligible, smooth growls while the rest of the band simply let the big riffs and grooves wash over the crowd.

They’re one of those bands that even during their loudest moments still have that chilled, lazy vibe that so many stoner and/or sludge bands fail at trying to force.

Complaints? None.

Fingers crossed that between the guys putting their debut album up for (temporary) free download as tour promo and their suitably beastly performances their profile has been severely boosted, because they sure as hell deserve it. Alongside Ulcerate, Black Sheep and Renaissance brews, Beastwars are one of the best things New Zealand have ever produced.

About

Mitch Booth is the owner, designer and grand overlord of Metal Obsession. In the few seconds of spare time he has outside of this site, he also hosts a metal radio show over on PBS 106.7fm in Melbourne (Australia) and organises shows under the name Untitled Touring. You should follow him on Twitter.