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Live Reviews : Killswitch Engage & Kill Devil Hill @ Eatons Hill, Brisabane 11/04/2014

By on April 12, 2014

Images: Amanda Brenchley
Words: Andrew Kapper

Seemingly days after doors have opened at Eaton’s Hill Tavern, Kill Devil Hill take to the stage in front of an already growing crowd. Sound wise, the four-piece are somewhat different to this evening’s headliners, with a Southern/sludgy metal sound akin to that of Down or middle-era Corrosion of Conformity. The band’s obvious trump card is bassist, and ex-Pantera (and aforementioned Down) member Rex Brown, who’s presence in the group is more than likely the reason why the band have been making roads in the metal scene. While guitarist Mark Zavon is a great talent, frankly Kill Devil Hill’s sound is pretty generic – nothing offensively bad, but it’s just something that has been done countless times before. Regardless of this, the quartet get a decent reaction from the growing audience, but the band’s smartest decision is pulling out a cover of Pantera’s “Mouth For A War” at the end of their set, causing a more than respectable sized pit – helped along by frontman Dewey Bragg’s Phil Anselmo-aping vocal style.

Killswitch Engage

Killswitch Engage

Waltzing on stage to Run-D.M.C.’s “It’s Like That”, Massachusetts metalcore heroes Killswitch Engage immediately start pulling out the big guns, with opening track “A Bid Farewell” garnering mass singsongs and big time movement in the pit. For a band almost 15 years into their career, the amount of energy that the entire quartet have on offer is hugely impressive, whether this is down to the reinvigorating return of original frontman Jesse Leach, or simply the passion that this band has for their live craft. Though Leach sung on arguably the band’s best release, 2002’s “Alive or Just Breathing”, a strong amount of tracks from the Howard Jones-era are on tonight’s setlist, taking key songs off “As Daylight Dies” and “The End of Heartache” – and wisely avoiding the band’s awful second self-titled release from ’09. With any Killswitch Engage live review, it’s basically impossible not to mention the onstage antics of guitarist/vocalist Adam Dutkiewicz. While the man is a studio wiz and a great musician, Dutkiewicz also fills the class clown role, whether he’s doing push-ups doing the breakdown of “Fixation on the Darkness”, or wearing underwear thrown on stage; he helps add a bit of humour to disperse his band’s serious, emotive musical material.

Kill Devil Hill

Kill Devil Hill

A handful of tracks from newest album “Disarm the Descent” slot in seamlessly with the five-piece’s older songs, and single “In Due Time” is already a certified Killswitch classic. Eaton’s Hill Tavern, while stuck in the middle of nowhere, is an impressive, plush mid-sized venue, and while the mix is good for both bands, it is overly loud – sure, it is a metal gig and all, but having the volume cranked too loud is actually more annoying than ‘rock’n’roll’. Regardless of this aural disruption, Killswitch Engage have put on an absolutely stellar performance tonight in Brisbane; they’ve pumped out massive track after massive track, and ended this evening’s show with the one-two punch of classics “The End of Heartache” and “My Curse”. The crowd is also just as strong a factor on tonight’s gig being a great success, with the energy level inside the building incendiary, thanks to constant sing alongs and moshpits – even a wheelchair confined punter gets crowd surfed to the front barrier. It takes a great band and an equally great audience to create a fantastic gig, and this evening both Killswitch Engage and their Brisbane fan base have been treated with that.