WHITECHAPEL

w/ Psycroptic, Dyscord +2

The Corner Hotel – Melbourne, 13th January, 2009.

***See more photos by clicking here***

With zero knowledge of the headlining band, and haven never seen the rest of the line-up bar Psycroptic before, I headed along the Richmond’s The Corner Hotel on a ‘very pasty’ Tuesday night of hot hot Melbourne heat.

Luckily though for the respectable sized crowd, the venue air conditioning/fan system was up and running with reasonable efficiency… not that the crowd was doing anything movement wise in support of Perth band Dyscord, as they played their brand of estrogen infused Death metal. I quite enjoyed their set, or the latter half of which I saw, so much so that my wallet was $20 the poorer by the end of the night with a CD in my hand.

After a quick beer and chat, Psycroptic were up on stage for a short 30 minute set with most if not all songs coming from the band’s 2008 album titled ‘(Ob)Servant’. It was another stellar performance by the Tasmanian’s, as expected, although I was guilty of choosing the wrong spot against the barrier. Apart from the general headbanging, the consequence of my chosen spot was at least one litre of someone else’s perspiration covering my shoulder. Sure I could have moved, but its Psycroptic and I’m not missing out on witnessing close up the technical skill that is there for the visual taking!

The red curtains closed, and then the haircuts moved to the barrier.

I’ll give it to Whitechapel; they have a lot more fans than I’d given them, which of course shows why a touring company like Soundworks would have faith in bringing a band like this out to Australia for such an extensive tour. It was also very much apparent where the genre scene/band support lines were drawn, with tight fitting clothes and oversized ear holes at the front, and the Psycroptic fans at the bar.

Musically, without ever hearing the band before, Whitechapel were pretty much what I expected. That blend of technical death metal mixed with the stop start New Wave of ‘Insert Breakdown Here’ Metal. They did however have three, yes three guitarists in the band, which I found as a bit of a surprise for two reasons. One: with three of them on stage, their live sound is almost sure to be a bit messy, which with due credit wasn’t as bad as it could have been, however, two: Psycroptic pretty much had a bigger sound with just 1 guitarist!

I did however really enjoy the bass in Whitechapel. More specifically, the sometimes overused ‘effect’ that I will no doubt find hard to describe in word. Its was repeatedly set up but the guitarists, in that they palm mute for a second or two and what is left is an almost sonic boom, ripping a new aorta in every person in the venue – bar staff included.

And apart from a somewhat humorous rant about how Aussies love dropping the C-bomb (of the VicRoad variety), that is all I really have to tell you about the gig, as in very poor fashion, they finished their set after only 35 minute! I’d expect that, barring an unfortunate band break-up, the band will be back down to Australia soon with an even bigger tour, and plenty more fans in tow!

Review by Brendan Amos.
Photos by Scott Boelsen.