Live Reviews : Oceano, Aversions Crown, Feed Her To The Sharks and Ire @ Bang Nightclub, Melbourne 05/10/2013

The sheer energy contained within the Royal Melbourne hotel during the sets of local heavy outfits; Ire, Feed Her to the Sharks, Aversions Crown, and US headliners Oceano all but threatened to break out of the venue throughout the evening. Within the dark confines of the venue, the blood red lighting made the surroundings resemble a torture chamber; fitting, considering the subject matter of each of the bands who crushed the ‘Bang!’ stage.Beginning with Ire, the Melbourne locals had little command over the small audience at the commencement of their set. However, by the end, their pounding drum lines and furious guitar work had a select few loyal audience members screaming into the face of vocalist Preston Brown, who lapped up the attention.In a confusing change of the lineup order which contradicted a significant number of set-times posted around the venue, and on social media, Feed Her to the Sharks took to the stage. Despite a few notable die hard fans of Aversions Crown who left disgruntled from the front of the stage, Feed Her to the Sharks managed to blow away all expectations with new tracks from their debut album Savage Seas such as ‘Buried Alive’, ‘Save Yourself’, alongside old favourites, ‘Dead by Dawn’ and ‘Extinction Resurrection’. Rob Davies’ clean vocals were the stand out of the band’s set; despite a minute number of out of key notes, his efforts were almost identical to his recorded parts on Savage Seas.

However, it was set closer ‘Fuck Melbourne’ that gave the crowd (some unknowingly during the lyrics “You’re just a scene kid dying for attention”) a chance to cheekily deprecate themselves and spit vitriol against the problems of the band’s hometown metal scene. However, if Feed Her to the Sharks are to be a permanent addition in such a scene, then this is certainly something to celebrate.As the crowd surged forward, growing heavily in numbers by the minute, Brisbane heavyweights Aversions Crown began their aural assault against their willing victims.

In showcasing their new material ‘Hollow Planet’ and ‘Overseer’, Aversions Crown made a distinctive effort to prove themselves as worthy of standing alongside highly talented contemporaries Thy Art is Murder. A significant number of the crowd threw themselves around, akin to wrecking balls, inside the limited sized mosh pit, with most not caring at all about flying kicks and punches being inflicted upon them. In fact, Aversions Crown reveled in the opportunity for their new material to be so warmly welcomed by a crowd on the opposite end of the country, and encouraged them to keep the energy high. Obvious technical problems plagued the band however, with their entire setup of foldback amps deciding to cut out, but the band continued on with a “fuck it, we’ll play anyway” attitude; if the band continues at this rate, they will most likely become contenders for the Australian deathcore throne in the near future.From the minute the Illinois quintet comprising Oceano stepped onto the stage for their first time performing in Melbourne, the band constricted the audience and forced them to submit to an experience akin to an enjoyable torture. Vocalist Adam Warren was, for the majority of the set, a terrifying orchestrator of the chaos beside him on stage and in the violent pit in front of him. After encouraging the audience to make sure that there were “some casualties” by the end of their set, the crowd obliged by throwing every available limb into the fray. Although spilt blood wasn’t visible, it would be completely understandable for it to have poured from the ears of the audience due to the raucous sounds emitting from the band’s respective amps. In no way was this a detriment however, as Oceano perfectly timed their brutal onslaught; the band managed to somehow turn their harsh sound into an exercise of veteran musicianship, with drummer Daniel Terchin emerged as the most commendable with an ability to rein in the band’s insanely fast time signatures. Despite having to cut their set short due to time restraints, Oceano managed to provide a first time experience for the crowd which will surely not soon be forgotten.

Images: David Gill (facebook.com/UrbanAnimalsPhotography)

Words: Jonty Simmons

https://www.facebook.com/OceanoMetal

https://www.facebook.com/AversionsCrown

https://www.facebook.com/feedhertothesharks

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