Here is my review of the first Obscene Extreme Australia festival which was held over 2 nights in Australia’s grind capital, Melbourne. The fest was split over two venues, The Tote Hotel and The Bendigo Hotel, but thankfully they are on the same street with only 200 metres (and a pizza shop!) between. The lineup featured international bands Rotten Sound, Birdflesh, Sete Star Sept and Analholiker as well as tons of quality Aussie grind.

Friday
Around lunchtime my good mate Andy and I caught a 45 min flight from Canberra to Melbourne which was a nice change from the usual 7 hour drive. We hit the city and wandered around for a while looking for a pub to have a beer and some food. We eventually found one called Lounge Bar and started our booze account with a couple of yummy Kung Foo rice lagers which seemed a bit flat but still went down smoothly. The pub was quite nice although I suspect it would be hipster central later in the night and I did make note of guy sitting near us drinking alone trying to look cool with his elaborately long twirly moustache. I just bet he was writing poetry! Anyway enough of my hipster hatetalk as there’ll be more than enough of that in my reporting from Williamsburg during my US trip this year. We moved downstairs to wait for our Sydney mate Ben and had fun watching people on the street including a no doubt chemically enhanced shirtless guy who was shadowboxing street poles, as well as a special looking guy running up and down the road manically photographing trams going past.

A few trams later and we were in Preston at our mates place where we were staying and into some more beer and yummy pizzas (mmm fake bacon). On the way there I was introduced to the rather strange art of yarn bombing which is putting knitting over street poles, bike racks and other items in the street. Oh what wacky fun you folks have in the big smoke! A quick train ride later and we were in Collingwood and strolling up to legendary venue the Tote for 2 of my favourite things in life – beer and grind!

This was my first time seeing Headless Death which is a death metal band featuring Zev and Christoph from the criminally underrated Roskopp. They play an old sounding death grind ala Impetigo or Terrorizer and I loved the raw raspy vocals and twisted riffs. They covered Hating Life by Grave which sounded great sped up.

It was during Headless Death that I first noticed some of the costumes that Obscene Extreme festivals are known for. Other than some great ones (including a bloke in arseless chaps), sadly ours were not up to the standards of the European maniacs at the main fest and instead a few times I thought I was at a juggalo concert (not a pleasant thought). One standout couple had tied tampons into their hair but hadn’t even gone to the logical next step of smearing some tomato sauce on them for added gross out factor. They were already pretty trashed at 4pm but they did have staying power as I noticed them several more times over the weekend and they weren’t lying in the gutter.

Up next were grinders Internal Rot who also feature lucky Christoph playing his second set in a row. Afterwards he looked like he was dying but he told me he had a bit of a spew and then felt fine 5 mins later. What a champion! IR were in fine form that night and probably the best I’ve seen them as I could hear Brad’s guitar really well for once. They are super energetic on stage (especially Max) which always helps a performance. Really great pure grind band and always a pleasure to see. I’m really looking forward to their upcoming album on Blastasfuk Records.

Birdflesh played next which seemed way too early but they also played a 2nd set later on at the Bendigo. I’ve seen them before a few times at MDF and they are still one of the most fun bands to watch live. I rarely listen to their albums because they are so much better live. Any band that has songs about cats and goes from playing a song called Anal Misery to one called The Flying Penis rules for me. As can be seen in the pics they wore amusing outfits and everytime I looked at the bassist he reminded me of the evil wizard Toth-Amon in Conan The Destroyer. Even though they are Swedish I had always assumed that drummer Addes amusing accent was an affectation however I’m pretty sure I heard him talking in the bar and it was the same. They are a killer outfit though with sharp and short thrashy grind songs and hilarious banter between songs. As expected the sunken moshpit area at the Tote was way too small for a decent pit and at one point some unlucky woman’s head collided with my shin which I suspect was worse for her than me. The last note that I typed into my phone perfectly sums them up, “too much fun”.

I was eager to see Filth as they hadn’t played in 18 years and the one split 7” of theirs I own was pretty decent (although I can see where the poor-mans-Blood-Duster-ripoff tag came from). The singer was the only original and he showed up in a splendid pimp outfit and 2 other bands members had balaclavas on which is always welcome. Unfortunately they sounded AWFUL! The guitar was just a low rumble and everything just sounded boomy and undecipherable. Maybe they were going for that sound but it was quite a disappointment for me. The highlight was a song dedicated to Jeff Hanneman’s spider bite. Well actually the dedication itself was the highlight as the song sounded like a dull roar.

Due to Filth sounding like arse I wandered down to the Bendigo to check out The Kill and managed to catch the last song of Carcass cover band Flatus who sounded pretty killer. It made me even keener to see Carcass at MDF in May although I suspect they will further ignore my favourite album Symphonies of Sickness in favour of new songs. I also checked out the merch stands which had OEF bands and also the wonderful Blastasfuk Records distro set up. I didn’t buy anything as I planned on waiting until later in the night so I didn’t have to lug around records.

The beers were kicking in nicely when The Kill came on and their intense assault led to one of the more violent moshes of the weekend. The guitar sound was a bit quiet at first but was quickly fixed which allowed those amazing razor sharp riffs to shine. They mostly played newer songs but did crank out Walking Dead and the cover of The Kill which was great. I do wish they still played a few older songs like Axe Attack, Fuck Emo and my favourite Tracksuit Pants Are Thrash but the new songs like Another Weirdo In The Mosh and Fucking Doyle are certainly very welcome. I saw the first blow up toys of the festival during their set and thought back to the party brigade antics of MDF but alas nothing similar eventuated.

Following The Kill is not really advisable to most bands but Birdflesh managed superbly and were even more fun with a few additional beers in my system. They played pretty much the same set as a few hours earlier and once I realised this and that they probably wouldn’t play the song The Night Of The Ultimate Mosh I decided to go and check out The Day Everything Became Nothing. Believe me it’s not easy to walk out on seeing such a great band as Birdflesh but I felt the need for some gurgling goregrind.

When I arrived The Day Everything Became Nothing were already playing to a much smaller crowd than usual but immediately the gore receptors in my brain fired and I was smiling my head off in no time. They were so heavy and chunky and even though I missed my favourite song Cut, I was still loving every second of it. I don’t think any other Australian band causes such involuntary headbanging as they do. Thanks to top bird Kristie for the following photo as well as the pics of Super Fun Happy Slide, Fuck…I’m Dead, Rotten Sound and me sipping a beer.

The studded jackets came out when Nuclear Death Terror started but that’s about as far as my memory goes due to beer. I do recall that NDT sounded pretty bloody tough though and more dynamic than last time I saw them. The notes on my phone include the line “damn pints! used to schooners” which I think was a reference to drinking a little too quickly so I could change venues.

I wandered back down to the Bendigo to check out a bit of death metallers Odiusembowel who I’d never seen and were closing the night. I felt I owed them as once a member had given me a free cd of theirs just because I looked like I was a metalhead (probably not a hard assumption to make given I have long hair and am always wearing a metal shirt). It’s all rather hazy but my notes do say “blasty” but more tellingly “need to lean against wall die to beer” which is possibly not a typo. Sorry lads but I’m fairly certain I enjoyed it. The final note on my phone read “no pizza = sad me” as the pizza shop had shut by that stage. I’m glad I still had my priorities straight after that much beer.

Not sure about the next hour or so but I do recall our group grabbing 2 taxis from the Tote and scooting off to Preston where I made the potentially fatal mistake of having another beer. Thankfully it just resulted in a bit more of a hangover the next day and a few embarrassing photos of me molesting a stuffed Kermit the Frog toy.

Saturday
I managed about 7 hours sleep all up which was good but, as usual, I hadn’t drunk any water before bed and therefore had that horrible furry throat feeling for half the day. The hangover improved after a decent café breakfast at 2pm and we ended up playing some backyard cricket until Andy hit both balls over the neighbours fence. Our wonderful hosts supplied some very yummy dumplings and I restarted the booze campaign with a few local beers including a tasty chocolate porter from brewers Holgate. I promised a beer review and this was the standout beer of the weekend but tough shit as all I can remember is that it was damn tasty but didn’t taste like chocolate enough. Here is a photo of the beer I stole from another website (shhh).

We caught the train in which was full of Carlton football supporters and I made a sarcastic comment about wondering if they were playing and was quicky shushed by local mate Dave. Melbourne folks apparently take their footy very seriously and he probably feared I’d have my head punched in (thanks man).

Due to dinner/travelling I missed the first few bands which was a shame as I wanted to see the New Caledonian band Analkholic as I’d chatted with a few of the guys the day before and they were nice chaps and very eager to play. I had heard good things about Dark Horse and Michael Crafter too but oh well.

Super Fun Happy Slide were first up and they had their usual raw sound although initially the guitars were a bit too quiet/muddly for my liking. They raged though and I was pleased to see the tampon couple from the previous day up the front looking completely wasted again. One thing I love about SFHS is the vocal interplay (god that sounds wanky) between Nik and Brad and tonight they were spot on. They played a cover of the always awesome Napalm Death song Deceiver and also played the strangely effective Mayhem song Deathcrush which actually got the biggest mosh! Top notch set chaps.

King Parrot are a newish band who seem to have had a meteoric rise in the Australian scene but honestly they don’t do much for me. They play grindish deathish thrashish metal that is fast and furious and reminds me sometimes of Damaged (and not just because Skitz was drumming for them) but there just doesn’t seem much substance to the songs. However they do put on an energetic show and the singer makes great use of his wireless mic and is in the crowd nearly as much as on the stage. The crowd were loving it too but after a few songs I slinked off down to the Bendigo to try and catch Debacle however they were running early and I only managed to catch about 30 seconds of them. Damn I’m currently listening to the OEF compilation cd and the Debacle song rules!! Shit!

Sydney hardcore blokes Deathcage were on next and were a band I’d never heard but was quite impressed by. The drummer was in fine form and was the biggest standout and I wasn’t surprised to find he’d been in plenty of Sydney punk bands before. The crowd was a bit sparse but there was one keen bloke generating a one man mosh pit. They played a quality brand of hardcore with some good melodies although a few too many guitar solos for my liking. As seen below in the great photo by Nikki, I commenced wearing the wig I had found where we were staying and got some great looks and comments from people as it looked quite ridiculous. Little did I know of the journey that wig would undertake that evening!!

Japanese noise grind band Sete Star Sept were on next at the Tote and it was a packed house when I arrived. They had a better sound that the show a few days ago in Canberra but played pretty much the same set I think. Sadly I didn’t have much of a view which was a shame as the drummer is definitely worth watching as he’s very animated. They have the lovely Japanese contrast of being nice and polite offstage but very intense onstage. At the end of the set the singer dropped her bass and jumped into the crowd but unlike Canberra she didn’t just thump onto the floor (3 times intentionally!) but was caught by the crowd. The crowd chanted for an encore and they came back on stage and he just smashed a cymbal for a minute while I think she fiddled with her bass producing distortion. Best encore ever. After this my wig was requisitioned by Jay from Fuck…I’m Dead for their upcoming set which was very becoming on him.

I had the tough decision next of Fuck…I’m Dead vs Rotten Sound but RS were playing a 2nd set later so FID won (plus I’d been told it was their last show for some time). I’m very glad I made this decision as they were devastating and played a great set of new and old tunes. Plenty of other people also stayed to watch them and there was tons of stage diving and stepping on of Xavier’s pedals. Jay was in fine form between songs and I’m pretty sure I even heard a reference to Damon’s mum. He wore the wig as well as some other garment that may have been a blow up doll once although the poor wig was later stuffed into his pants as a merkin. The defiled wig was later returned and I foolishly put it back on. Killer set and I hope they return to the stage soon.

There was a mass exodus of The Tote after FID finished with most of the crowd heading down for the mighty Captain Cleanoff who put on probably the highlight set of the weekend while poor Kromosom probably played to a pretty small crowd. Cleanoff were on fire tonight and had a perfect sound and really great crowd response. There is something about their brand of grind that is just heaven to my ears with the perfect mix of speed and catchy riffs. They also covered the Magnacite song Slave which was once a favourite of our radio show. This was the closest I ever got to seeing Magnacite live and I’m still kicking myself for never travelling to Melbourne back in the 90s to see them, Undinism and Warsore live. Cleanoff certainly did it justice although personally I wish they’d chosen a longer song like Humanity’s A Lie or Exist As Me. The Bendigo was sweaty and steamy when they finished and the masses piled out to hurry up the road to the Tote for Finns Rotten Sound.

I first saw Rotten Sound at MDF in 2007 where they were one of the tightest bands I’d ever seen and not much has changed as they were blistering. Honestly I mostly only listen to Murderworks as I think they perfected the formula there so half the songs were unknown to me but they still ruled. My memories are pretty hazy actually due to beer and I was still on a high from Captain Cleanoff but I certainly enjoyed their set. Afterwards vocalist Keijo had the honour of wearing the wig and I took the time to beg him to play the song Insane at MDF this year but he politely told me no chance and that they only play what they feel like. Booooo! Thanks to Nikki for the lovely photo of Keijo and the wig.

I’d heard that this was possibly the 2nd last Blood Duster show ever so there was no way I was going to miss it and I’m glad I didn’t as they kicked arse. Sadly I missed Canberra band The Reverend Jesse Custer but I had seen them a few days prior. For some odd reason they played with 2 drummers at the same time – current guy Dave Haley and previous long term bloke Matt Rizzo – which meant for a crowded stage and lots of craned necks from the crowd. They seemed to be taking turns and it wasn’t really that noticeable most of the time except for a solo by both in the middle of Threeohhsevenohh. Shenanigans aside Duster put on an awesome show and the crowd lapped it up. Being an old bastard I was hoping they might drag out an old Menstrual Soup demo song like Ted or another ancient classic like Derek. Sadly they didn’t but I was still stoked to hear Kill, Kill, Kill, Vulgar Taste, Raping The Elderly and Simultaneous Pleasure Pinch from the Fisting The Dead album as well as a few Yeest songs. The newish song The Band That Fame Forgot was great too and really made that killer Duster groove shine. The crowd was pretty wild and much fun was had yelling along to the lines “I want to fuck a corpse” and “rubbing my stiffy” although nothing is quite as great as screaming “we are the fist fuck family” at Cock And Ball Torture (small things..). I’ve been seeing Blood Duster live for 20 years and they have been some of the most fun times I’ve had and this was no difference. If this was my final Duster show then it was a ripper to go out on.

At that point the bands had finished so I decided to get some money out of the ATM and grab some merch. Alas the ATMs at both pubs were empty and I only had $15 on me so I bought NO MERCH!! Argh I felt dirty inside! We hung around for a while and then wandered over to the mighty Souvlaki King on Brunswick Street where a divine lamb souvlaki was vigorously consumed by my drunken self before we taxied home.

Thankfully I actually remembered to drink some water before bed so I didn’t feel too shabby the next day. Sadly I had booked my flight before discovering there was an OEF after party on Sunday afternoon so unfortunately I missed it. Dave was a true gentleman and drove Andy, Ben and I to the airport and off we flew back to Canberra where my darling Ann picked us up. Thanks a million to Dave, Irene, Chris and Ange for the marvellous hospitality and wig provision and for introducing me to my new beau Kermit The Frog. Also thanks to OEF mainman Curby and Jason Fuller for organising such a killer weekend! Cheers!!

As an added bonus here is a random picture I took of an alley while walking between the 2 venues which turned out pretty cool. Also below that is an awesome flyer for OEF designed by Aussie legend artist Glenno.

This site has been somewhat dormant of late mainly due to us being too lazy to resurrect the radio show however I’m going to ramp up it’s use in the lead up to my next trip to the US for the Maryland Death Fest. In the meantime here are some upcoming gigs which I’ll most likely be attending.

Tragedy
Portland hardcore band Tragedy are touring Australia (and South East Asia) for the first time and they are awesome live. I’ve seen them twice now and they don’t disappoint.

Here are the dates and the flyer (sorry I don’t know the non-Australian details)

Wednesay 13 March – Crowbar, Brisbane w/ Shackles, Last Chaos, Shortlife (tickets)
Thursday 14 March – The Annandale, Sydney w/ Deathcage, Unknown To God, Darkhorse (tickets)
Friday 15 March – The Reverence, Melbourne w/ Urns, Of Prey, Extinct / Exist (tickets)
Saturday 16 March – Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne w/ StraightJacketNation, Kromosom, Outright (tickets)
Sunday 17 March – The Rosemount Perth w/ Drowning Horse, Vanity, The Hunt (tickets at the door)
Wednesday 20 March – Jakarta/ Indonesia
Thursday 21 March – Bandung/ Indonesia
Friday 22 March – Singapore
Saturday 23 March – Kuala Lumpur/ Malaysia
Sunday 24 March – Kota Kinabalu/ Malaysia

Check out their new stuff here:

 

Grave
Swedish death metal legends Grave are returning to Australia in March and still rate as one of the heaviest bands to come out of Scandinavia. Below are the dates and the flyer for the Sydney show which I’ll be at (after I’ve seen Katatonia at another gig).

Friday 15 March – The Wall, Sydney w/ Innsmouth, Roadside Burial, Grim Demise (tickets)
Saturday 16 March – The Grandbah Bazzar, Hobart w/ Gape, Nosce Teipsum, Iciclan, Ending Atrophy (tickets at the door)
Sunday 17 March – Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne w/ Hobbs Angel Of Death, Inverloch (tickets)
Wednesday 20 March – The Squatters Arms, Adelaide w/ Tzun Tzu, In The Burial (tickets at the door)
Thursday 21 March – The Rocket Room, Perth w/ Malignant Monster, Inanimacy, DJ Cain’s Extreme Aggression (tickets at the door)

 

Black Conjuration festival
The 2nd installment of Adelaide’s Black Conjuration festival is on Saturday 23 March at Fowlers Live. Quite an amazing lineup with the following bands:

PORTAL – (horrific death metal – QLD)
INVERLOCH – (death/doom – VIC)
MOURNFUL CONGREGATION – (funeral doom pioneers – SA)
INNSMOUTH – (Lovecraftian ancient death – NSW)
ROTE MARE – (traditional doom – SA)
OATH OF DAMNATION – (black/death ex-Darklord – SA)
INTELLECT DEVOURER (death metal – SA)

Tickets are available here and here for under $30. Unfortunately Johnny Touch had to cancel their performance due to their bass player being injured in a car accident.

 

The Levitation Hex
The debut album of The Levitation Hex made it into my top 10 albums for 2012 (which you can check out here) and they are doing a mini tour so check them out. Featuring members of Alchemist, Alarum and Aeon Of Horus and recently signed to High Roller Records.

Friday 22 March – O’Maille’s Pub, Wodonga w/Orions Fire, The Delusion (free show)
Saturday 23 March – The Evelyn, Melbourne w/ The Amenta, Mortification, Okera (and more) (tickets)
Friday 5 April – Basement, Canberra w/ The Schoenberg Automation, Nobody Knew They Were Robots, Inhuman Remnants (tickets at the door)
Saturday 6 April – Venom Night Club (Agincourt Hotel) w/ The Schoenberg Automation, Nobody Knew They Were Robots, Point Below Zero (tickets at the door)

Here is a clip for their song Scratch A Life Find A Thief.

Black Breath
Black Breath are touring Australia and New Zealand April with special guests I Exist. Tickets at the door for all shows (yay I don’t have to find the links). I saw these guys at MDF a few years ago and they were totally killer and had a better Swedish death metal sound than Entombed who played the same day! Definitely check them out folks as they put on a great show. Thanks to Resist Records for putting on a Canberra show too!

Friday 5 April – Crowbar, Brisbane w/ I Exist, The Fevered
Saturday 6 April – Hermanns, Sydney w/ I Exist, Dark Horse
Sunday 7 April – The Basement, Canberra w/ I Exist, Hygiene
Wednesday 10 April – Enigma Bar, Adelaide w/ I Exist, Starvation
Thursday 11 April – Reverence, Melbourne w/ I Exist, Chaingun
Friday 12 April – Lucha Lounge, Auckland w/ Cold World, Shitripper, Moment Of Truth, Graves

Obsence Extreme Australia
Obsene Extreme started as a festival in the Czech Republic and this year they’ve expanded to do shows in Mexico, Indonesia and also lucky Australia! Here is the Facebook event page and here is the group page. The fest is to be held on Friday April 12 and Saturday April 13 at the Bendigo Hotel and The Tote which are thankfully only a few hundreds meters away from each other. Tickets are available from here and here. Headliners Rotten Sound (Finland) and Birdflesh (Sweden) will both play twice alongside the cream of crop of Australian grind including Blood Duster’s 2nd last gig ever and the resurrection of Filth for the first time in 18 years. The schedule is:

Friday 12 April – The Tote Hotel
20.00 – 20.25 HEADLESS DEATH
20.40 – 21.05 INTERNAL ROT
21.20 – 22.05 BIRDFLESH (SWE)
22.20 – 22.50 FILTH
23.10 – 23.40 INTENSE HAMMER RAGE
00.00 – 00.30 THE DAY EVERYTHING BECAME NOTHING
00.50 – 01.30 NUCLEAR DEATH TERROR

Friday 12 April – The Bendigo Hotel
20.00 – 20.25 JOIN THE AMISH
20.40 – 21.05 ABHORRENT
21.20 – 21.50 WOLFE
22.10 – 22.50 FLATUS
23.10 – 23.40 THE KILL
00.00 – 00.45 BIRDFLESH (SWE)
00.50 – 01.30 ODIUSEMBOWEL

Saturday 13 April – The Tote Hotel
16.00 – 16.40 METALSTORM
17.00 – 17.30 ANALKHOLIC (NC)
17.50 – 18.20 MICHAEL CRAFTER
18.40 – 19.05 SUPER FUN HAPPY SLIDE
19.20 – 20.00 KING PARROT
20.20 – 20.50 SETE STAR SEPT (JPN)
21.10 – 21.50 FUCK…I’M DEAD
22.10 – 22.40 KROMOSOM
23.00 – 23.50 ROTTEN SOUND (FIN)
00.10 – 01.00 BLOOD DUSTER

Saturday 13 April – The Bendigo Hotel
16.00 – 16.30 DARK HORSE
16.50 – 17.20 FESTERING DRIPPAGE
17.40 – 18.10 SPLIT TEETH
18.30 – 19.00 THE MUNG
19.20 – 19.50 DEBACLE
20.10 – 20.40 DEATHCAGE
21.00 – 21.50 ROTTEN SOUND (FIN)
22.10 – 22.50 CAPTAIN CLEANOFF
23.10 – 23.50 THE REVEREND JESSE CUSTER
00.10 – 01.00 EXTORTION

Sepe Star Sept
There are a few sideshows from Obscene Extreme including a tour from Japanese 2 piece noisegrind band Sepe Star Sept who are touring with Melbourne oddballs Umbilical Tentacle.

Wednesday 10 April – Black Wire, Sydney w/ Umbilical Tentacle, Thedowngoing (ALL AGES) (tickets at the door)
Thursday 11 April – The Pot Belly, Canberra w/ Umbilical Tentacle, The Reverend Jesse Custer, Throat Of Dirt, Sheob Ahmad (tickets at the door)
Friday 12 April – Broken House, Melbourne w/ SPASMOSLOP (tickets at the door)
Saturday 13 April – Obscene Extreme Australia festival – The Tote, Melbourne (tickets)
Sunday 14 April – Obscene Extreme Australia festival after party – ???, Melbourne (tickets at the door)

Rotten Sound
Finnish grinders Rotten Sound are also doing some sideshows around Obscene Extreme.

Tuesday 9 April – The Wall (Bald Faced Stag), Sydney w/ Ether Rag, Roadside Burial, The Holiday Project (tickets)
Thursday 11 April – Rising Sun, Auckland w/ Ulcerate
Friday 12 April – Bodega, Wellington w/ Ulcerate
Saturday 13 April – Obscene Extreme Australia festival – The Tote, Melbourne (tickets)
Sunday 14 April – Amplifier Bar, Perth w/ DFC, Nails of Imposition, Abhorrent (tickets)

Dying Fetus & Putrid Pile
Brutal death bands Dying Fetus and Putrid Pile are coming to pulverise Australia.

Friday 19 April – The Factory Theatre, Sydney w/ Festering Drippage (tickets)
Saturday 20 April – The Evelyn, Melbourne w/ Whoretopsy (tickets)
Sunday 21 April – Beetle Bar, Brisbane w/ Defamer (tickets)
Tueday 23 April – Amplifier Bar, Perth w/ Inanimacy (tickets)

After 3 weeks in the US going to gigs in New York and to Maryland Deathfest the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was go to a 3 day metal festival. However organiser Hushy didn’t take my wimpiness into consideration when he planned such an awesome line up of Aussie metal bands and Inquisition (twice!). So after a quite unproductive half day at work I hooned up the Hume Highway to Sydney in the ute and prepared myself for more booze and metal (it’s a hard life!).

Day 1

The first night of the festival was at the Bald Faced Stag pub in Leichhardt which I’ve been to plenty of times over the last few years and it’s a decent venue with a sometimes patchy sound. While waiting for the bus I got chatting with a couple of obvious metalheads who turned out were from Queensland and had been at MDF that year as well as prior versions that I’d attended. Small world! Once I got to the Stag I seemed to spend bloody ages catching up with friends as I swear I know more people at Sydney and Melbourne gigs than Canberra gigs these days. Some of my Melbourne mates had only just arrived back in Australia from the US and so they were very weary. I also had a friendly bloke recognise me from this website which was a strange but pretty cool feeling (cheers cobber!). After rubbing in how much fun I had in the US, my beer consumption commenced and I finally remembered to check out the bands!

Due to all my socialising I only caught the last 2 songs of Demonreich who I was unfamiliar with but they sounded like pretty decent thrashy black metal with a slight punk feel. I made sure I was present for Innsmouth though as I quite enjoy their slow death metal and they put on a killer set. They always have a kick arse sound that’s both fuzzy and heavy which goes perfectly with Beau’s raspy vocals and tonight was probably the best I’ve seen them play. As it was my first gig since MDF I half expected to see a guy in a chicken suit starting a circle mosh but instead there was just good old fashioned headbanging. I wish I could see these chaps live more often as they are great. Below is some footage of Innsmouth playing Aloof With Cloven Hooves shot by top bloke John which I pinched from YouTube.

After a quick trip down Parramatta Road for a yummy lamb pide I returned to watch Queenslanders Carbon who I probably hadn’t seen since Bloodlust in 2004! At first their speedy black metal was somewhat lost in the mix but as I stood there for a while it improved although I wasn’t sure if they changed a setting or whether my ears just got used to the shrieking din. Once I could make some of it out they sounded pretty awesome and impressed both radio cohost Mark and myself. Hurry up and produce an album blokes!!

StarGazer followed but suffered from probably the worst sound of the fest which really sucked as they need a decent sound to be fully appreciated. I was told their vocals had been turned down by the pub management due to a curfew. Sadly the guitar was about all that could be heard which is a real shame as I love Damon’s bass playing. I get the feeling that StarGazer is his and Denny’s outlet for really crazy music so to only be able to make out some was a bummer. They still played well and my imagination did some work recreating the songs in my head. I was also sad that they didn’t play Magikkian which is a favourite song of mine. I think the highlight for Mark was the fact the drummer had roto toms! A real shame as they are an awesome band.

Somehow this was my first time seeing Vomitor and their beautifully primitive and brutal metal definitely didn’t disappoint. The raw live sound suited them perfectly and they also had Illogium from Portal on 2nd guitar which added to the sound. The vocals on their albums have always had a ton of reverb but live it was even more over the top which worked great in the songs but when he was talking he could barely be understood. I couldn’t help but chuckle as he reminded me of the Ayatollah Of Rock And Rolla himself, The Lord Humungus which was not a bad thing at all. The crowd were a bit more active than earlier and there were some attempts at stage diving including the always bizarre dives between songs (ie. when the band aren’t actually playing). Great set and ever since I’ve discovered their 2 albums creeping into my playlists more regularly. Looking forward to their new album which should be out sometime this year. Here’s a pic I stole from Rani.

Headlining was the mighty Inquisition who came over from the US for a whirlwind 4 date Australian tour and damn they kicked a ton of arse!! I had officially seen them before at MDF 2011 as I detailed here however I was shitfaced at the time and barely remember a thing so this was my real first time seeing them. In keeping with tradition I had consumed quite a few drinks by now but I wasn’t too sloshed to remember it. They played plenty of newer songs which was fine by me as I love their Ominous Doctrines Of The Perpetual Mystical Macrososm album and they are one of the few long running bands that are actually getting better with time. Desolate Funeral Chant was a highlight with it’s menacing slow riff and those occasional strange desperate sounding wails that sound like Jello Biafra. Another highlight was the classic song Crush The Jewish Prophet with it’s great singalong chorus which the crowd really seemed to enjoy. I’m still amazed by the sound they can produce as just a two piece although whingy Mark later complained about all the missing bits. They were tight as a nun’s proverbial too. Really impressive live and I was stoked to finally see them properly.

The boozing and socialising continued after Inquisition and I remember having a discussion with a mate about whether ghosts of disabled people would retain the disability after death (ie. a ghost in a wheelchair?). Deep stuff folks! (or in reality pissed idiots talking shit). I also remember Mark trying to tell a joke which he acknowledged was bad and we kept interrupting to ask stupid questions about specifics and it took him 10 minutes to tell it but I’ll be buggered if I can remember the actual joke. We also had fun with a random guy from Perth who took mock offence at our dislike of the Vio-Lence singers voice and we managed to offend him again by listing other singers we hate. All good fun and I talked to him a few times over the weekend. After a couple of final rounds of Tooheys Old we stumbled outside and I got a cab quicksmart which was handy. I somehow resisted the urge to get dropped off at my usual dodgy pizza joint in the city and just got out at my hotel.

Day 2

Day 2 began with my somewhat standard state after a gig the night before – a hangover! I drank some water before going to bed but obviously not enough as I felt pretty bloody dusty. I arranged to meet mates Mark and Sean at Newtown for breakfast and caught the bus there. While wandering around I saw the strange sight of legendary Sadistik Exekution fan and Sydney metal identity Slasher racing around on his motorised scooter. After 2 coffees and a big breakfast I felt mostly human again and we strolled down King Street to Sydney Uni and made our way in to the Manning Bar which I much prefer as a venue to Bald Faced Stag as it’s bigger, has better sound and the sunken stage area allows better views for all. I quickly discovered that 2 of my friends had EXACTLY the same shirt as me on which was amusing (great minds…) but I only managed to get a pic with Bianca as Dave couldn’t be found at the time.

Mongrel’s Cross opening proceedings to a somewhat sparse crowd of rather weary looking people most likely with similar hangovers to mine. Not many beers were being consumed at 1.45pm except by the diehards. Immediately the sound was better than the previous night and in fact every band that day sounded great. Their deathy blacky thrashy style was really enjoyable and I am keen to check out their new album The Sins Of Aquarius. The floor area was empty for half their set but a few dedicated or newly won fans wandered down the front.

Traditional doommongers Rituals Of The Oak were on next and they sounded great even though I was slack and was only listening to them from the balcony outside. I really enjoy their albums but my new Vio-Lence loving mate from Perth was whinging up a storm about the vocals which I thought sounded great. They were a nice interlude before the intensity begun.

New Zealand death/black metal chaps Heresiarch were on next and they were a force to be reckoned with! Their sound was heavy and dense and quite unrelenting but the highlight for me were the vocals which were really deep and intense. The vocals reminded me of old early 90s death metal bands from the days before singers went “breee”. Their demo and follow up EP impressed me but live they sounded much more full on and forceful. A New Zealander that I talked to the previous night wasn’t much of a fan and called them Diocletian wannabes but I really enjoyed their set and thought that had their own style. Nice work blokes!

Denouncement Pyre are a bit of a blur but I did enjoy them and they nicely melded black and death metal together along with a very lively performance. Destruktor were as blasting as usual but I can’t help thinking back to the first time I saw them at a Bloodlust when they seemed a bit thrashier and so intense that it almost hurt. Part way through their set I took the opportunity to scoot off with my friend Katie for a bit of dinner as I had no desire to see any of Lord. Apparently a lot of people had similar thoughts and I think poor Lord played to a much diminished crowd.

We got back in time for Impetuous Ritual who continued the intensity (I know I’ve overused this word but it really was an extreme couple of hours!). Once they were on stage the vocalist started growling at the crowd for a minute before they launched into their chaotic assault on the senses. I know tons of people who love them but for me the songs are a bit lacking in variety and dynamics and they get a bit samey. Most of the crowd seemed to be in a daze while they played but the band made up for it by putting on a dark, crazed performance that finished with one guitarist ripping out his strings.

I got caught up chatting with mates and only listened to Astriaal who sounded pretty impressive from outside. Only later did I see pics like the one below of singer Arzarkhel wearing some evil robe outfit.

Assaulter had a nicely crisp, metallic sound and their speedy thrash was a welcome change from the 4 death/black bands I had seen previously. It was great to be able to watch them as I remember one gig at Newtown RSL where I stood in a stupidly long queue for drinks for the entire Assaulter set and could only listen. Drum slut extraordinaire Yonn provided the battery and did a great job. Exalt The Master was probably the highlight for me but the whole set was really enjoyable. Assaulter had shirts for sale with Choose Death written in huge letters however I thought they looked a bit too much like the Choose Life shirts that Wham wore so I didn’t buy one (plus I hate text in large font on shirts). I do love their image of a great white shark chasing the Christian fish symbol though.

Up next were one of the main bands I came to see – funeral doom gods Mournful Congregation – and they were incredible!! They only had a 40 minute set so only 3 songs were played which were Mother – Water, The Great Sea Wept from their The Monad Of Creation album, The Epitome Of Gods And Men Alike from their split with Worship and Suicide Choir from their The June Frost album. I was a bit surprised they didn’t play anything off the amazing new album The Book Of Kings but I guess it’s difficult to cover all releases in 40 minutes when your average song length is more than 10 minutes. In the live setting Mournful use 3 guitarists which gives them a massive sound and also helps maintain the heaviness while they solo which is pretty regularly. The soaring lead work is one of the main highlights for me as it adds to the overall gloominess to the music while also providing an uplifting feeling (that sounds a bit emo when I read it back but oh well). The crowd were understandably subdued for their set and a mate mentioned that their gigs would be made better if everyone was given a beanbag to sit on. I was loving it though and their performance was one of the few on the fest that really captured your entire attention and transported you to another plane. Make sure you check out Mournful Congregation on the upcoming tour with Chilean doom band Procession which you can obtain tickets to here. Here is some live footage I found which is part of the song The Epitome Of Gods And Men Alike.

Aussie thrash legends Hobbs Angel Of Death followed and certainly woke the crowd from their doom slumbers. Haha the first thing I wrote in my notes at the time was “looks like Cheech” (from Cheech And Chong) as Hobbs does have a passing resemblence to the stoner legend. So of course we stood around like idiots cracking “Dave’s not here, man” jokes for half the set. They were in fine form though and finally my favourite song Crucifixion got an airing which also stirred the pit into action for a while.

For the second night in a row Inquisition headlined and Saturday night they had an incredible live sound which added even more to their already amazing performance. I watched from one of the higher areas and had a perfect view of the drummer which led to much jaw dropping on my part as he was tight as buggery! They played a similar set although they mixed the order of songs up a bit. I was very pleased that he didn’t use the black metal voice while talking between songs as generally it comes across as hokey (unless it’s Proscriptor from Absu and then he’s illegible but infectious in his sincerity). Cosmic Invocation Rites was my highlight this night although it was another amazing set.

Unfortunately the Manning Bar is similar to the ANU bar here in Canberra and they basically shut up shop as soon as the bands end. This always pisses me off as it’s a metal gig for fucks sake and people ARE going to drink more! We were moved on by the bouncers rather rapidly so Chris and I decided to head over to the legendary Lansdowne Hotel for some more drinking. Seems half the crowd had the same idea as the pub rapidly changed from some normal people to dozens of hairy and deaf metalheads and the whole upstairs area was rapidly taken over. I had been trying to avoid the mixed drinks hangover from the night before by being girly and only drinking cider but the Lansdowne had run out of the nice James Squire stuff so I was stuck with crappy Bulmers which didn’t go down too smoothly. After a few hours of fun and booze Chris and I hit the wall about the same time and departed. He caught a taxi and I walked into the city meeting some random hipsters on the way who were friendly enough. That night I succumbed to the drunken need for hot food at 2.30am and to my delight discovered a Pie Face shop about 50m from the hotel so I purchased 2 sausage rolls and stumbled up to my room. I again remembered to drink some water but it was obviously not enough to avoid hangover number 2.

Day 3

Day 3 started with another big breakfast and caffeine injection in Newtown that breathed some life back into my tired, ageing body. As usual the Newtown oddities were out already including a guy with a top hat and modern looking penny farthing bike (which he wasn’t even riding). There were some rough and dodgy looking characters wandering around at 10.30 too although I suspect that if I had looked in the mirror I wouldn’t have looked too different.

I returned to the Bald Faced Stag at about 1pm and got stuck into the caffeinated soft drinks. I had to drive back to Canberra that night so no boozing for me which after 2 days of ample drinking was a mercy actually. The place was pretty sparse that early and the people that were there looked about as fragile as I felt.

I wandered in to check out Vilifier who are a death/black metal band featuring Queensland and Northern Territory members. They sounded pretty impressive but to be honest they were a bit too intense for my weary hungover state (yes I am a wimp). I did like the skull being worn on the chest of the vocalist though.

Convent Guilt followed playing only their 2nd gig however three quarters of the band were previously in Shackles so they aren’t unfamiliar with playing live. They are a different beast to Shackles though and their early 80s speed metal sound was perfect for my hangover. I always managed to see Shackles with a real crap live sound so I was pleased that Convent Guilt had a clear and full sound. Their demo should be out quite soon so keep an eye out here for it. 

I’m not a fan of Chaotic Impurity so I skipped them instead opting to catch up with friends who had similar ideas. Johnny Touch were high on my must watch list of bands and they were certainly worth it with a kick arse set of speed metal/NWOBHM which included underpants being thrown at the band and outfits as amazing as the picture below!

I didn’t even notice his boots from the crowd or I would have been even more impressed at the time. They were pure heavy metal and had a great sense of humour with the vocalist having a great time with the good natured heckling. I only later realised that the singer was Pahl who was in Oni and Darklord where his vocals were VERY different. Here is some live footage I found.

As soon as Johnny Touch finished I scurried off down the road to my favourite pizza place which of course didn’t have any pizzas ready so I settled for a tasty lamb kebab instead and then made my way back to the Stag in the steadily increasing rain.

I was beginning to think I’d been transported back in time 30 years with 2 speed metal bands and then Hellbringer playing their Teutonic thrash style. But then I remembered I wasn’t fat and balding back in the early 80s! Hellbringer are from Canberra however I seem to see them in Sydney more than back home which is a shame as they do kick arse live. Sure the music is highly derivative but I’m not always looking for bands that constantly push the envelope and their brutal thrash went down a treat. The cover of Slayer’s Black Magic was bonza too and Luke pulled off the high scream beautifully. The big inverted crosses on stage were a bit hokey but overall they were excellent. Definitely looking forward to their Dominion Of Darkness album which should be out soonish on High Roller Records.

Up next were punk maniacs Kromoson who put on the most energetic set by far with singer Yeap jumping around on stage and on the crowd too. The last time I saw them was on the Toxic Lolocaust tour where they had an incredibly loud screeching guitar sound that was punishing (in a bad way). Chris reminded me of a band called Lebenden Toten who toured a few years ago who had a completely undecipherable wall of noise guitar sound but thankfully Kromoson didn’t resemble them this time and sounded great. Even though I know I shouldn’t, I continue to compare them to Pisschrist (who also featured singer Yeap) but this time I gained a greater appreciation for their own material (probably because I could decipher it for once). Kromosom generated the only proper mosh of the whole festival (other than some standard meathead moshing for Inquisition) and I think this was mostly due to their very active stage presence (although the fact they were playing hardcore didn’t hurt).

Johnny Touch may have had underpants thrown at the band but Backyard Mortuary had a contingent of fans waving signs at guitarist Stuart urging him to remove his pants. He is well known activist in the anti-pants movement and even graced the crowd with a brief view of his bare bottom. This was Backyard Mortuary’s final gig but it was more a fun event than a sad one with much heckling from the crowd and of course sign thrusting. At first I was directly in front of the PA and could only hear vocalist Chris which was a bit odd but I moved a bit more centrally and it sounded much better. I’d been listening to their killer new album Lure Of The Occult in the car that morning and it sounded killer live playing all their classics. They will be missed. RIP.

I didn’t catch too much of the last 2 bands. The Corps were pretty decent playing a metallic hardcore that was not metalcore with the vocals sounding like a 90s NYHC band. They seemed to go down great with the crowd although it was only 7pm so people were probably just warming up. Grenade were a shadow of their former great self and sounded completely different despite playing the same songs. Not much of a surprise considering 3 out for 4 members had been replaced. Gone was the raspy blacky/thrashy/deathy sound and in it’s place was a bog standard death/thrash sound with grunted vocals. The crappy live sound didn’t help but I could only last about 2 minutes before heading back into the main bar. I’ll stick with my old memories thanks. Backyard Mortuary should have headlined the Sunday in my opinion but it did help me as I could piss off back to Canberra earlier.

After a quick round of farewells I walked through the heavy rain to my car managing to avoid puddles until of course 2 feet from the car where I soaked one foot. D’oh. On the highly unexciting 3 hour trip back to Canberra I stopped at Pheasant’s Nest for a dodgy sausage roll and just happened to run into some of the blokes from Canberra band 4 Dead on their way back home from the Sydney Imax. Small bloody world! I also got a nice comment from the checkout chick about my Eyehategod shirt so either she didn’t read it properly or she’s a blasphemer! (or a stoner or a Charles Manson fan). Thankfully due to my caffiene/energy drink consumption and cds by Enemy Soil, Terrorizer, Magnacite and Repulsion I didn’t fall asleep on the drive and made it home before midnight.

Highlights for me were Inquisition, Vomitor, Heresiarch, Backyard Mortuary and of course Mournful Congregation. Cheers to Hushy and co. for putting on such an awesome show. I’ll be back next year!