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Live Reviews : Mayhem, Watain and Nocturnal Graves @ The Factory Theatre, Sydney 11/01/2014

By on January 12, 2014

A night that was much anticipated by metalheads across Sydney, I headed to The Factory Theatre to witness the brutal demeanor of two of the biggest names in the dark world of black metal .Entering the venue, I made my way through a sea of Bathory tees, leather vests and faces smeared with corpse paint. Needless to say, it was clear that this community of black metal fans were ready to witness chaos, courtesy of occult-metal legends Watain, supporting Norwegian veterans Mayhem on their 30th anniversary tour.

Mayhem/Watain Australian Tour 2014

Opening act, Melbourne band Nocturnal Graves, were in my opinion, absolutely stunning. This was my first time seeing them live and I was beyond impressed. Just a couple of songs into their set and there were heads banging all over the place. They powered into their set, without any prior warning and with a prolific sound, enough to shatter your eardrums, this four piece blackened thrash metal outfit, played several songs off their latest release ….from The Bloodline Of cain. Tracks like ‘Promethean War’ and Ascension through lucifers might’ exhibited the intense axe-slaying of ‘Decaylust’ and ‘Shrapnel’, riffs being played at merciless speeds, the insane pounding of L.Wilson’s frenzied drumming blowing minds and melting faces. “Dedicated to all that is an enemy of the weak” they rioted furiously into my favourite song of the night, “The Great Adversary”. Multi-talented vocalist Jarro a.k.a Nuclear Exterminator pretty much lived up to his name and obliterated the place with his aggressive and ferocious yells. He had such an immense energy, hitting the drums with his bass guitar, getting the now crowded room completely ballistic, fists pumping and metal horns raised in respect. Ending their set with “…from The Bloodline Of Cain”, Nocturnal Graves’ sound is a sweet balance between the speed of thrash metal and the technicalities of black metal. Definitely a band you should check out!

The Factory Theatre is quite a large, spacious venue and the place was already quite packed by the time Nocturnal Graves came on. Which is why it came as no surprise to me when it was time for the Swedish metal lords, you could hardly move an elbow. I was beyond excited to see them, given their reputation of unusual and ritualistic live ‘pyro’ performances. An amazing stage set up the lights dimmed down slowly before we were in an abyss of dark while the beautiful intro of ‘Night Vision’ filled the air and you could just about see the silhouette of the inverted crosses. One by one, the members of Watain appeared on stage,their intimidating corpse painted faces, and dark figures with an aura that conveys nothing but brutality. Frontman Erik Danielsson lit the crosses as a signature ritual, letting his hand linger over the flame casually as he did, something he maintained throughout the set. “We meet again Sydney, Australia” he growled before the deafening sounds of Watain’s music began. Playing several tracks off their latest release “ The Wild Hunt” such as ‘Sleepless evil’, ‘Outlaw’ and ‘De Profundis’, Erik then moved us back into time “when the world was young”, with the awesome ‘Devil’s Blood’. Listening to “ Holocaust Dawn” live, my favourite track off their new album, boasting Hakkan Jonsson’s drumming prowess, the beautiful transition of vicious riffage to a soft acoustic segment, Erik’s haunting chants, it just blew me away. Between every song on their set, there was always a massive and eerie build up that left crazed fans yelling the band’s name incessantly as heads were banging and bodies were moshing. Set Teitan and Alvaro Lillo, guitarists for live shows and Pelle Forsberg shredded their respective guitars, at incredible speeds and with intricate techniques. Muttering Satanic verses, his maddening expressions, Erik Danielsson commands the utmost respect as does the entire band. He emanates a blasphemic charm. As dramatic and anti-religious as they may seem, it was clear that with every lyric, every riff and every stage antic, it was done with passion. To people who really understand the underlying belief with which this band performs their music, it isn’t merely entertainment and theatrics. It reflects the faith of these ‘theistic Satanists’ in the unseen and ignored side, the truth of reality. Ending the set with an encore of the menacing ‘Sworn To The Dark’, this was more than just a ‘show’. Watain came, and they slayed. It’s not something that can be put perfectly into words, it’s something you just have to experience.

It wasn’t over yet. Another 20 minutes went by before the packed crowd were losing all sanity and yelling for the Norwegian titans to grace us with their presence. The room was consumed by darkness yet again with the catchy, rhythmic drums of ‘Silvester Anfang’ getting the crowd psyched out of their minds. Mayhem have a history of controversial and violent live performances but the crowds that turn up for their shows are crazier!

There was constant crowd-surfing and stage-diving action happening, one or two fans even being pushed off the stage by frontman Attila if they hung around for too long. Mayhem graced us much to the delight of fans, with several tracks from their very first full length album ‘De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas’like‘Pagan Fears’, ‘Buried In Time and Dust’ .‘Freezing Moon’ my Mayhem pick of the night had my jaws near my feet by the end of it as a watched ‘Hellhammer ‘go all apeshit on his kit, true to his name, hammering out blast beats effortlessly .The precision and speed with which he drummed was amazing.‘Ancient Skin’, ‘Illuminate Eliminate’ and ‘Symbols of Bloodswords’ were some of the other featured songs of the night from MayheM’s treasury.

To call Mayhem’s sound heavy is a tragic understatement. Blast beats, tempo picking up drastically with every song, heavily distorted guitars, raw and aggressive, all the elements of pure black metal. Necrobutcher showed no mercy on his guitar, and even enjoyed some light hearted banter with the fans up front. Attila Csihar is a madman,a friggin genius and definitely the most charismatic member of MayheM. Gripping a human skull, a noose threateningly adorning his neck, the Hungarian vocalist has a blessed voice. By far one of the most versatile that I’ve ever heard, he reached unimaginably high-pitch shrieks, deep-voiced chants in what sounded like Latin, gentle whispers that can leave you in a trance and his occasional evil hysterics in between tracks, I was fascinated to say the least. Known for his extreme dressing sense on stage, his attire for the night was relatively toned down, putting on a long cape towards the end. Something I noticed is that after almost every track, he did this little humble bow in gratitude for the adoration shown by the people of Sydney.

The night went by in a flash, and all three brands were simply fantastic. Nocturnal Graves were flawless and deserve all the support they can get. Watain and Mayhem? After watching them, I understood why they were considered two of the most legendary Scandinavian black metal bands out there. Literally showing the metaphorical finger to society, and conveying their ideologies through the goodness of black metal, it was rather hypnotic in a way. I left with the sound of Erik’s growls still echoing in my ears and grateful that I was a part of the chaos in Sydney that night. It was perfect.

www.facebook.com/mayhemofficial
www.templeofwatain.com
www.facebook.com/nocturnalgraves
www.soundworkstouring.com

About

Prarthana is a vegan, Indo-Aussie, heavy music addict, fluent in sarcasm and metal. Traveling is an obsession as she enjoys taking in the history of various countries and following her favorite bands. She's either eating, teaching grammar or learning an instrument, when not occupied with windmilling in the faces of other humans.