Recommended Aussie Tunes:Psycroptic | The new single "A Fragile Existence" | Listen

Live Reviews : Thy Art Is Murder, Aversions Crown, Feed Her To The Sharks & Colossvs @ The Corner Hotel, Melbourne 16/10/2015

By on October 17, 2015

Sauntering on to the stage with little fanfare, Colossvs spent their entire set straddle between DYI hardcore and theatrical black metal. Having seen them on fucking heaps of tours lately I’m glad tonight they got the mix they’ve needed. Even as openers, the sound was huge and clear, which suited the evil riffs and candles-and-incense stage set up. Given that though, the lack of costumes and make up also fit with the “we’re here to play music, not perform a Year 10 satanic stage play” vibe they exude, which some other “blackened” bands could probably take note of.

thy art is murder - aus 2015

It can be hard as openers to really get yourself or the crowd into it sometimes, I get that, but when they launched into what was announced as a new song, the whole band fucking popped. They were excited to be playing, and not only did it sound better than every other song in their set, before and after, it looked better too. I wish they had that enthusiasm for the whole set, instead of just the “big” sections of certain other songs, because fuck me do I finally get this band; when they’re on fire, every single person in the venue took notice, even the kids with their mosh shorts doing stretches up the back (actually happened).

And speaking of, how’s me for being out of the loop; I thought firstwave metalcore was not only dead, but relatively forgotten. But nope! Feed Her To The Sharks burst on to the stage looking like road hardened professionals and kicked into a perfect 2004 era breakdown. And the crowd lost their fucking shit.

It was fairly impressive to witness; one minute I was doing a crazed Robin Williams “what year is it?!”, and the next, I was feeling like a dad trying to understand my daughter’s favorite popstar or an argument against racism. The instant they started, the crowd was theirs, however fickle they might have been between breakdowns. FHTTS do that “EDM-infused-metalcore” which always had me praying I’d see someone shuffling in the middle of the pit, but alas, tonight wasn’t the night either. These guys played a tight, slick and professional set of music I was never even really into anyway, but it seems plenty of kids still are. Which is odd because this was an 18+ gig, which means metalcore didn’t go anywhere, I did. Losers. They should listen to true metal like Venom or Black Sabbath or Cream.

Or a dentist drill, if the only other option was Aversions Crown. Their sound sucked. And I know it wasn’t the sound guy, because Colossvs and FHTTS had impeccable mixes (side note: Big ups to Thy Art for giving the openers good access to the mixing board. I’m sick to fucking death of bands bringing out draw card bands to the Corner Hotel, only to cut their Achilles when it comes to the mix. This was the best Corner mix I’ve heard, for both openers and headliners, since Thy Art brought out Cattle Decapitation. Except for Aversion’s Crown).  
I honestly don’t know what happened. Their kicks sounded like egg whisks hitting the side of a shed, and the guitars were paper thin. The vocals were thick as fuck and totally on point, but Christ, if you’re doing deathcore breakdowns with your high widdly background runs, surely you’ve got enough time to fiddle with the knobs on your amps. Maybe they had technical difficulties, maybe they pissed off the sound guy earlier in the tour. Don’t know. Didn’t matter either; even more people loved these guys than FHTTS. The pit was mental. Not my thing, but good on them for taking Australian metal overseas. The more that happens, the better.  
They also had my favorite line of a metalshow since King Parror: “Oi, fuckin’ Melbourne represent aye.” Straya, brings a tear to my eye.

Thy Art are Thy Art. You know what you’re getting, from the moment the curtains part to reveal the red-drenched stage, to their frank and funny refusal to do encores. At this stage, I honestly think they could play to a backing track and moon the crowd for an hour, and people would still reckon it a top 10 show of the year. Luckily for me, these guys are getting better and better at putting on a show.  
For my personal tastes, Thy Art had always been one of my favorite bands to hope for; sounding heavier on record than live, they were always this close to putting on a hell of a show, but instead they just stood around looking tough while their triggered kicks dominated the mix. Last night showed what a few international tours and a brand new album can do.

They still not Dillinger level of stupid on stage, but things are happening, and it makes all the difference. They fucking rocked it. CJ especially. Looking like a mix of Cousin It, Cthulhu, and those yip-yip-yip muppets with his hair coming out of his hood, he spent the night switching between ruthless frontman and genial funnyman, taking very seriously his commitment to have fun.

The sound was ridiculously good too; big boomy kicks, clear and crunchy guitars, and savage vocals. Not that I don’t think anyone from in front of the sound desk gave a fuck. The whole room looked like a disturbed ant colony from start to finish.

One of my favorite parts of the night was leaving the venue, and seeing kids completely jacked up; sweaty, excited and stoked to have just had that experience. It’s been so long since I’ve felt that way. I’m getting old and jaded, feeling cold inside and not minding the idea of not waking up. But these young ‘uns, god bless ‘em. These are the people that keep heavy music going, so I don’t have to. Cheers brats.

Don’t miss the remaining dates of Thy Art Is Murder’s national tour (w/ Aversions Crown, Feed Her To The Sharks & Colossvs). Tickets on sale now via the usual outlets and venues (links below).

Saturday 17 October – The Factory, Sydney (Lic/AA)
Tickets available from The Factory

Sunday 18 October – Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane (18+)
Tickets available from Oztix and the Woolly Mammoth

Tickets on sale Friday 3 July
*Feed Her To The Sharks not appearing in Perth

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.