Live Reviews : Absu, Portal & Denouncement Pyre @ The Factory Theatre, Sydney 22/03/2014

It was gig night once again as I made my way to The Factory Theatre for the second time in three days, this time it for a night of extreme metal, courtesy of Texan band Absu. I’m thinking I should just set base there, complete with a tent and a mini-bar. Extreme being the key word here, the line up was awesome, the bands all unconventional in their own ways and needless to say I was pretty friggin’ psyched!

Absu Australian Tour 2014

First up were the lads from the Blue Mountains, Innsmouth, incorporating the horror mastermind H.P.Lovecraft’s genius work into their style of pure death metal. As I walked in to a rather empty venue, things kicked off early as they started 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled time. Now might I just say, the first impression I got was that they’re quite a timid bunch, keeping interaction with the crowd to a minimum and moments in between songs being that of complete silence. But timid could not be farther from the truth when it comes to the music, as they band burgeoned into their first song of the night. What could be classified as more blackened death, this trio played an energetic set, Beau Dyer on vocals and guitar, skillfully pelting out a series of fast-paced chugging riffs, staying true to the genre of death metal while brother Neil Dyer was leading a drum-atic (excuse the pun) assault on his kit, balancing out untimely blast beats with the aggressive yet rhythmic bass lines of Todd Daly. There was a good amount of melody provided in their music which of course, appealed to me even more. Innsmouth played a flawless set in my opinion and at this point got the now half full Factory pumped up and ready to go for the rest of the night!

Another rapid soundcheck and it was time for Denouncement Pyre from Melbourne, to unleash the extremities of all things evil and metal on stage. An eerie angelic voice filled the air as members of the band, Clad in leather, studs, spikes, faces smeared with corpse paint appeared on stage looking all set to create havoc and take punters to the fiery depths of hell. Main man Decaylust who also plays guitar for Melbourne’s Nocturnal Graves, came on stage, significantly holding up what looked like a goblet carrying out what seemed to be a Satanic ritual of sorts. The man has the ability to send chills down your spine, with his deep, throttling vocals adding to the sheer chaotic eerie-ness of their music. The fast-paced drumming of Luke and frantic shredding of R on bass add to the maddening speed of this band’s sound and frankly live, makes for quite an intense listen. This band seemed like they were the disciples of Watain or Marduk, blaring out their stuff in full blackened death glory. Standout tracks for me were ‘The Deciever’ which has black metal written all over it from their latest release ‘Almighty Arcanum’ and ‘Under The Aegis of Damnation’ from their EP of the same name. Denouncement Pyre slayed ear drums early on in the night with their mercilessly heavy style and definitely deserved all the applause they got!

Portal were next and having heard these guys before and their reputation as a horror/experimental death metal band, I was excited to catch them live. In a sea of darkness, which was well maintained throughout , members of Portal appeared on stage in ski masks, without eye-holes might I add, and fronted by a man adorning a long, dark cloak, face shrouded by an intimidating veil. Vocalist, The Curator was a grim, mysterious individual, gripping the mic with his menacing long-nailed hands, which honestly looked like tiny snakes. One of the guitarists had a significantly tight noose around his neck, the rest of it hanging down the back, it amazed me how this lot casually played without even the slightest sight of their instruments. Already overwhelmed by the outrageously awesome attire that this Brisbane band had on, their sound was ten times more insane. With an absolutely devastating atmosphere, Portal’s music beats every conventional genre, with very abstract riffing, unorthodox song structures and instrumentation, but nonetheless a sound that relentlessly attacked your sense of hearing. Heavily down-tuned guitars and bass droning at slow tempos, the distortions showing no mercy on your ears, with the muffled yet thunderous beats of the drums that keep the pace of the music continuous. What intrigued me further about Portal was that there was no obvious start or finish when they played. The Curator’s mind-numbingly slurred, raspy yet powerful growls, if I could call them that, had a very muddy effect and echoed through the sinister mood of The Factory, were very scattered throughout their ‘songs’ but absolutely fascinating. Listening to them for a few minutes, you can slowly pick up on an underlying rhythm which is absent initially, their sound seeming rather cacophonic. That cacophony however, seemed to be their style, and I have to admit, it was not easy trying to differentiate between different tracks. Watching the crowd, many people were quite taken aback by this five-piece horror outfit from Brisbane, and it does take a while to get into the intensity of their music. More than horrific, this band are truly mesmerizing to watch and will have you captivated from start to finish. Throughout their set, Portal created an atmosphere of utter darkness, their haunting and ambient music, approaching things of the unknown and leaving you in a state of awe. Personally, I really dig them, even though their style is not easily accessible and more of an acquired taste, they are one of the best live acts you will ever see!

And at last, it was time for the mighty Absu to take to the stage. I’ve been a fan of Absu’s music for a couple of years now, primarily because of their excessively technical style and lyrical themes, given my obsession for mythology. To really get into the music of Absu, you must read their lyrics! It’s fascinating! Musical genius, Sir Proscriptor McGovern was the first on stage for his soundcheck and just listening to him, even watching him drum is enough to get your adrenaline pumping at abnormal speeds. After another five minute wait, on came Ezuzu and Vis Crom, looking all set to tear the roof off the place, personifying the phrase “calm before the storm” , before blasting through the first two songs of the night. Proscriptor then declared “ We are Absu and for the next 63 minutes, we will present to you extreme Mythological Occult metal” he said half growled, half screeched.” And that’s exactly what they did. The set for the night was spectacular, covering material from the entire length of Absu’s discography. Special love was given to ‘Tara’ which was the first Absu album I listened to when I first came across the band playing songs like ‘Manannan’ and ‘Vorago Spell 182’ which, live, were astonishingly fast-paced and played at relentless speeds. There were also a few songs from their previous two releases, ‘Absu’ like ‘Night Fire Canonization’ and 13 Globes, and ‘Abzu’, such as ‘Earth Ripper’ and ‘Skrying in the Spirit Vision’. Ezuzu on bass who also shared in on vocal duties with Proscriptor complimented each other so perfectly. The vocal arrangements were so well-timed, the drummer’s vocals providing a more high-pitched tone while Ezuzu’s vocals being on the deeper and more throaty side while I was standing there in complete fan-girl admiration. Guitaring genius Vis Crom was a beast to watch as well, his eyeballs showing no signs of existence while he contributed rather casually with some absolutely vicious black metal chords, blasting the shit out of the place. I still can’t get over how crisp and perfect Absu’s sound was, you could hear every, riff and every beat all put together to create an incredible flow in the music.

Now I HAVE to get to this, drummer Proscriptor McGovern is a crazy person, and I mean that in the best way possible. His drumming style is like none that I’ve ever seen before, mastering the kit at undeniably inhuman speeds, odd time signatures that still exhibited an immense technicality and just his overall stamina throughout their set. The concentration on his face and the blistering speeds at which he drummed AND sang was not to be taken lightly. It’s not everyday that you witness a drummer taking on the responsibilities of vocals too and I don’t mean just a few growls and screams here and there. I loved how before almost every track he gave a two-line intro to the song that was coming up, making you feel even more involved with their music. The co-ordination between him and Ezuzu was mind-blowing and truly a sight to behold. They make the perfect combination of dry and raspy with high-pitched and clear, leaving you having to pick up your jaw right off the floor. Although I have to admit, I didn’t quite understand his glimmering, glam-rock headband that held his mic in place, it seemed a little too shiny for the likes of an extreme metal outfit.

For a three-man band, their sound is ferociously massive, aggressive and their energy contagious. Playing such extreme music for almost an hour and a half with hardly any breaks in between is no walk in the park, although the boys from Absu made it seem that way. As the crowd cheered on, Absu came back for a two song encore, more awesomeness from ‘Tara’. Proscriptor in all his eccentric glory, took the liberty to leave us with an evil hair-raising cackle, his way of bidding farewell. It was a fun, and straight-to-the-point set, no mucking around, just downright heavy music. Clearly as you can see, with evidence from my lengthy review that this is by far one of the best gigs I’ve been to, me leaving the venue a much bigger fan of Absu than I was. The bands were all at the top of their game, and although each one defying the concept of ‘genre’, it was a night of purely black metal goodness, and one that will stay fresh in my mind for a long time!

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