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Live Reviews : Psycroptic, Goatwhore, Aversions Crown, Earth Rot, Colossvs @ The Hifi, Melbourne 13/03/2015

By on March 17, 2015

I was really worried this gig was going to be an AJ-rant-worthy level of unattended gig, with Colossvs jetting through a tight set of blackened, deathened black death metal (whatever you want to call it) to a depressingly, but not surprisingly, small crowd. Fueled by their recent shows at Hammersonic Festival, they tried their best to engage a crowd literally one hundredth the size, and seemed to impress the few that were there early enough to see them. I can’t figure out if the unchanging red stage lights were deliberate (given Earth Rot had pretty much the same lighting set up) but the melting candles were a good touch. Watching a band steel themselves for an underwhelming crowd, and fucking nail it as hard as they can, was a nice change to watching an interstate headliner throw in the towel and fuck up in front of a room of adoring, and paying, fans. I’m looking right the fuck at you IDYLLS. Beams.

It’s worth giving a shout out to whoever was doing sound this early in the night. Both Colossvs and Earth Rot had a crisp, loud and fantastic mix, something I’m really grateful for. I understand headliners want their set to be the best of the night, but if they’re relying on the sound and the light show, instead of, I dunno, putting on an engaging performance, then they’re fossils and should stop playing live. So thanks to everyone who had a part in making sure all the bands got a good mix. And a hearty “get fucked” to whoever decided that the lights should stay largely the same, unchanging red through both Colossvs’ and Earth Rot’s shows. It really bothered me, and I know it probably shouldn’t. But it did. At least hit the strobe button once in a while.

I’d never seen Earth Rot before, but was excited after a friend of mine in the crowd described them as “blackened grunge.” Though my excitement quickly gave way to a desire to throat punch the cunt when I realised Earth Rot could also be just as adequately be described as “black metal.” They were good, I guess. Fine. Serviceable. I can’t say if they were great or not because I don’t really like the style of music they play. I certainly didn’t hate anything they did, I just wasn’t swept away by it. A bunch of people much more into this genre assured me that they are definitely doing it well, which is great. I like seeing Australian fans getting excited about Australian bands

Although to make a confession, I didn’t see enough of Aversions Crown to form an opinion. I’ve never been overly excited by what they do, and the bar was doing a better job of grabbing my attention. They doing well for themselves, and so probably don’t give a fuck about my opinion, and rightly so. No one should. But this is a review of my evening, and it’s instructive to say I found playing the game “Guess Who The Aversions Crown Fans Are” (Answer: it was all the 18 to 22 year olds that bothered to dress nicely and do their hair) more fun than the watching the band themselves. It’s great they’re doing good things for our international reputation, but I’ll probably continue to sit them out.

goatwhore2

Goatwhore have been one of my “semi-favourite” bands for a while; a band that I thoroughly enjoy when I chuck on, but can happily go months not thinking about their existence. They were on point live, yet again proving that a band can only last decades if they’re impressively and obviously good at what they do. I have, however, never been so conflicted about a vocalist in my life. The dude has an amazing set of vocal chords, but he also has a penchant for continuously air guitaring, verging on the embarrassing. He literally never missed a chance to play his mic cord like it was a Soulfly guitar, and after the 9th or so spin I started to feel vaguely upset and worried about him. I had no idea how affected I was by it but look at me, I can’t even talk about how tight they were, how good the sound was, how well the crowd responded. It was a defining part of their set and I’m sorry I can’t move beyond it.

Psycroptic should be given massive credit for giving so many good bands, across a few different heavy genres, a nice big stage in front of a good few hundred people to perform on. They should also be recognised as being able to blow the rest of the bands out of the water without needing to break a sweat (though they did, profusely, on account of their frenetic live show). I’d (somehow) never managed to see Psycroptic live before, but good golly are they a great live band. I’m starting to learn more and more that headline bands are at the top of the bill for a reason. Way back in my youth, in the days of walkmen and Iowa, I was sure a band’s success had more to do with trends or market forces, but in reality, you simply know a headliner when you see one. They can’t be put anywhere else on the bill.

Psycroptic are a headliner. They are so in sync with each other, and so engaging to watch, that the show I saw can only be described with those painfully trite expressions like “next level” or “ungodly.” I’m probably one of 9 metalheads in Australia that hasn’t experienced Psycroptic before, but if you get a chance to see this show, go see them again. It’s a solid line up (with Disentomb joining the tour a little later), to the point that I’ll probably be going to the two secret gigs coming up this weekend, the 21st and 22nd of March, at the Bendigo hotel.

About

Mitch is a 26 year old vegan, socialist, atheist, utilitarian, reductionist metalhead, stand up comedian and philosophy major that hates labels. When he isn't being politely ignored at dinner parties he's being politely ignored on comedy nights around the country.