#19 The Barwon Club 09.02.2014

Desecrator

Not a great turnout due to being a Sunday but Desecrator were really good as they usually are. Solid cheesy thrash and they put on a fun show.

Havok

This band was fun to watch, another kind of standard modern thrash band (though still plenty of old style present), they all seemed really happy to be able to play one last show in Australia. Live show was ok, maybe it was a little toned down due to tiredness/end of the tour/etc. Still good enough to buy a shirt (if they had my size!)

King Parrot

Ideally located in headliner position (kind of felt sorry for Havok at the shows where they had to play after King Parrot!). Always an amazing live show, music is decent but nothing special. Just such energy and humour from all members, in particular of course Matt the vocalist. Probably the first show I've ever seen him with a corded microphone, thankfully it was a long cord so he could get up to his usual in your face antics, even use it to lassoo others to get into it! A fight briefly broke out after an incredibly angry hardcore-looking late arriving dude got bumped by the circle pit. He pushed the bumper to the ground, then punched as he tried to get up. Thankfully I don't think anyone was too hurt. Stupid angry cunt, why the fuck would you be up the front for Kind Parrot if you don't like being knocked? I love watching a fight as much as the next guy, I just hate when it is at a gig - just helps emphasise the ignorant stereotype that live music is violent. Rant over.

Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/DESECRATORAUS http://www.desecrator.net/
https://www.facebook.com/HavokOfficial http://www.havokband.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kingparrotband http://kingparrot.bandcamp.com/

#17 The Tote Hotel & #18 The Bendigo Hotel 08.02.2014

Sailormouth

Just one girl with her acoustic guitar and voice. Really not my thing, but I appreciated the fact she was interacting with the crowd between songs.

Colostomy Baguette?

This was fun, only saw the first minute as I then got onstage for vocalnoise duties. Really impressed with how it went, just as good or even better than we rehearsed. Holy fuck was it hot! I think we left a few people speechless too, which is understandable since both other acts on the night were acoustic.

Plastic Knife

Another acoustic guitar/singer, this time male and this time with a signing translator - a nice way to mix things up. Again not really my thing but was still entertaining.

Whitehorse

A great way to finish the night - Whitehose really are a great live band, their sound is amazing, so full and meaty. Crushing noisy doom but enough punk elements to attract a lot of punks. And heavy as fuck to boot.

Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/sailormouthmusic http://sailormouthmusic.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/colostomybaguette http://colostomybaguette.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/getonthehorse http://whitehorsedestroys.bandcamp.com/

#16 Village Green Hotel 06.02.2014

Crimson Rawk

This band played some pretty straight forward rock, and quite a few covers. Guitars were acoustic however, which I am not much of a fan of.

The Deep End

Their real last show before touring Europe! Shame the turnout was so poor, but aside from a couple of jokes about it the band played like it was a full house anway. Fantastic energy, great dirty rock, lead guitarist and vocalist running about and playing/singing directly in front of most of the crowd individually.

Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/CrimsonRawkMusic http://www.youtube.com/TheCrimsonRawk
https://www.facebook.com/thedeependrock http://www.thedeependrock.com/music

#14 The Bendigo Hotel & #15 The Espy Gershwin Room 02.02.2014

Drifter

Had been wanting to see this band for a while and sadly only caught the last couple of songs due to it being an early gig and me being busy earlier. What I saw was pretty good, fuzzy garage stoner rock, and the band were full of energy.

Cryptic Abyss

This band were a kind of groove/thrash/death metal band. A little bit ordinary, just not my thing.

Decimatus

Had been curious to see this band for a long time. Pretty average thrash metal, not bad but there's a lot better competition within Melbourne.

Chronoltyh

This band was probably good but frankly I hate melodic death metal (bit of a contradiction in terms right?). But they had lots of energy and crowd interaction and have invested in making the stage their own.

Scar the Surface

Pretty damn professional sounding, but again it's melodic death metal. I would actually enjoy bits of songs and then the melodic bit takes over and I just lost all interest. Seemed to be a few traces of metalcore in there too (or maybe I'm just confusing genres I hate).

Armoured Earth

Should have gone home earlier. I stayed waiting to hear this band thinking it was that great old thrash band from Canberra - nope that's Armoured Angel. As they came on stage I was surprised how young they looked, though it's not uncommon for bands to continue with new members of course. Wasn't until the set was half over I realised that they hadn't changed their sound it was a totally different fucking band! They were at least a solid live band, but again that modern death/melodic death metal I dislike.


Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/MelbourneDrifter http://drifterband.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CrypticAbyss http://crypticabyss.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/DecimatusMetal http://www.reverbnation/decimatus
https://www.facebook.com/chronolythband http://www.chronolyth.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/scarthesurface http://www.reverbnation.com/scarthesurface
https://www.facebook.com/ArmouredEarth http://armouredearth.bandcamp.com/album/your-own-hell-ep-2

#13 The Espy Front Bar 01.02.2014

Hellhounds

Pretty decent bluesy rock, I can see why they have a residency at The Espy. Pretty tight.

Sudden State

These guys were pretty cool. Hard rock/metal, bits reminded me of some of Megadeth's better material. Vocalist was the only thing that didn't quite seem to fit - just didn't seem as ballsy as the music. The on stage beer bong was a novelty too.

Dead City Ruins

Definitely a high quality band, I can see why they were chosen to support Skid Row/Ugly Kid Joe. Fun to watch, good stage prescence. Vocals weren't particularly to my liking but not bad either.

The Deep End

Playing their "farewell" show before touring Europe, the band were fired up and proving they were ready to tour internationally. Fantastic energy all around, in particular from vocalist and lead guitarist. Both were wandering around different parts of the bar at some point, and ended up both jumping on top of the side bar at the espy that rarely seems to be in use. Great performance and really entertaining.


Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/Hellhounds.music http://reverbnation.com/hellhoundsmusic
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialSuddenState http://suddenstate.com/music
https://www.facebook.com/deadcityruins https://deadcityruinsofficial.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/thedeependrock http://www.thedeependrock.com/music

#12 Black Goat Warehouse 26.01.2014

Velvet Whip

Pretty cool noisy punk and had a great energy, perfectly suited to Black Goat.

Headless Death

Like a lot of bands, Black Goat really suits Headless Death. The "FUUUUCCCKKKKS" from Christoph came through a little more than normal, though he sounded brilliant as he usually does.

Infinite Void

This band had a kind of post-punk/goth-punk feel (I'm sure there's probably a better way to describe, it's just not something I'm familiar with). Interesting to watch, it's always a kind of cool atmposhere at this venue. Musically couldn't really get into it that much.

Nervous Trend

Another different type of music than I'm used to, also had a dark almost goth feel, on a definite punk backbone though. Again pretty decent live band but not my thing.


Check all the bands out here:
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/shqgfasg5dr44ys/VelvetWhipMaggot.mp3
http://headlessdeath.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/InfiniteVoid http://infinitevoid.bandcamp.com/
http://nervoustrend.bandcamp.com/
 

#11 The Tote Hotel 25.01.2014

Sewercide

Unfortunately only made it in time to see the last couple of songs. Great as always.

Split Teeth

I am sure I had seen Split Teeth before but I forgot how awesome they are. Very aggressive, the vocalist appeared like a kind of scrawny small guy while setting up, but as soon as he started his thing he turned into an evil aggressive madman! Great energy, pretty tight and very loud and abrasive.

Black Jesus

Always good but honestly they were nothing special. Not sure if it was them or maybe their novelty has just worn off. Still solid death metal and pretty tight though.

Rort

Once again a fantastic performance from Rort. As usual the hardcore kids start their shoving and arm-flailing, which ended up pushing a couple of very angry death metallers over the edge and started the closest thing I've seen to a fight in a long time at a gig. Didn't last too long and since the death metallers (I refer to them as this because I don't think I've ever seen them at a grindcore gig ever before and they seemed most interested in Black Jesus) were outnumbered by the crusties and grindfreaks it all ended fairly peacefully - basically one of the death metallers was knocked to the ground (yet not violently) and he seemed to calm down a little after that. Vocalist was not impressed and insisted it stops before they continued their set.

Captain Cleanoff

Another band that never disappoints! Flat-out grind done the way it should be, good energy levels from all band members and the crowd lapped it up. Great way to end the night.


Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/Sewercide http://sewercide.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SplitTeeth http://splitteeth.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/RORT/309153119121094 http://rort.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Captain-Cleanoff/104452571850 http://captaincleanoff.bandcamp.com/

#10 Dancing Dog 24.01.2014

The Fuck Outs

Vocalist was really animated and engaging. Good hardcore punk, a pretty decent live band.

Dixon Cider

Another reasonable hardcore punk band, the vocalist wasn't too great sounding but it was still fun to watch.

Rukus

Pretty basic punk here, nothing special. Wasn't too impressed but at least they were getting into it.

Bastard Squad

Great to see this lineup of the band again. Seemed to be a fair bit of troubles with guitars so first half of the set wasn't sounding too crash hot, vocalist wasn't happy and wasn't hiding it. Eventually all was sorted and ended up being a great set of hardcore punk rock, and they even had the previous drummer join in for 1 song.


Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-FUCK-OUTS/213007228862020 www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyI6QksxW0w 
https://www.facebook.com/dixoncidermusic http://www.dixoncider.com.au/songs/
https://www.facebook.com/rukus.punx https://myspace.com/rukuspunx
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bastard-Squad/179415981321 https://soundcloud.com/bastard-squad 

#9 Whole Lotta Love Bar 16.01.2014

Wehrmacht (Acoustic)

A world first - Wehrmacht had never played live before. Acoustic is totally not my thing and the heat was fucking intense and power outage meant no relief - but it was Wehrmacht, I couldn't not see this. Fucking great - obviously it's not the same but it was just fun. All the riffs were done right, just weird hearing it on acoustics. Kind of perfect it was such an intimate venue too - this wouldn't have worked anywhere near as well at larger venues, even The Bendigo. The band were just as excited as the audience.

Depression

My new favourite time seeing this band live. Only half the band (vocals, drums, bass) and extra distorition added to the bass to try and compensate, one of the best bass sounds ever. Short and sweet and just plain fun.

Wehrmacht

Short set plugged in, so fucking good in this tiny venue. Crowd interaction was great again and they made a big deal of the United Shoe Sister - to the point the vocalist took over drums so the drummer could get involved. An amazing experience.

#8 The Hi-Fi Bar 14.01.2014

Hobbs Angel of Death

Old Melbourne classics. Haven't seen them for years and enjoyed it again. I think they're much better on a smaller stage and the piss-poor turnout isn't helping. Peter has been doing this for years and it looks like he's still just as into it (though maybe not quite as active)

Primate

Again a good live performance. Not quite as good as the last one, again possibly due to the almost-empty venue.

Wehrmacht

Turnout may have been piss-poor but Wehrmacht didn't seem to care. Admittedly not as amazing as the previous show, still a great band, great song selection and as much crowd interaction as they could given the stage and barrier situation.

Grave

Technically played really well, pretty solid and tight performance. Just kinda boring to watch - it was almost like they were just rehearsing, little to no crowd interaction. If I was a huge fan of the band I probably would have enjoyed a little more.

Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/HobbsAngelOfDeathOfficial http://www.reverbnation.com/hobbsangelofdeath
https://www.facebook.com/Primategrind http://www.primategrind.com/audio/mp.html
https://www.facebook.com/WehrmachtOfficial http://wehrmacht.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.facebook.com/GraveOfficial http://www.reverbnation.com/grave

#7 The Bendigo Hotel 12.01.2014

Join The Amish

This band have a pretty good reputation, though I don't really get it. Credit where credit is due they are pretty damn tight, and energy on stage/floor is pretty good (particularly the vocalist and bass player) and some of the riffs are pretty catchy. Vocalist looks and sounds like he should be in a hardcore band. Obviously thrash/hardcore combinations often work though I don't think it does too well for them.

Sewercide

Best thrash band in Melbourne at the moment. Great riffs, great energy. Brilliant thrash metal with just enough death metal to make them stand out a little. This wasn't their best performance but it was still great.

Party Vibez

Another Melbourne thrash band high on my list. Always having fun, always engaging the audience. Again not their best show but still great to watch and full of fast catchy riffs and pretty good energy live.

Desecrator

Yet another Melbourne thrash band that I rate highly. Quite different from the last two, Desecrator play more cheesy straight-forward thrash. They always look like they are enjoying themselves which gets infectious. It's pretty clear tonight that they're excited to be on the amazing lineup

Depression

Legendary Melbourne punk band who recently united. Legendary maybe, but they don't do too much for me. This was a pretty cool set though, probably my favourite time seeing them to date, definitely tight and they all seemed to be getting right into it.

Primate

No doubt about it Kevin Sharp is a great frontman. This band is definitely fun, tight and just a pleasure to watch.

Wehrmacht

The legends. Never thought I was going to see them live. And here they were. I was kind of apprehensive about the new vocalist. Halfway through the first song I am at ease. Sure he's not the same as Tito, can't quite do the same things with his voice, but he was still really good. Very energetic too. It was great, the band interacted heaps with the crowd and all looked genuinely thrilled to there and the crowd ate it up. Plenty of stage dives, sing-alongs and good times by all, one of the best gigs I've been to.

Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/JoinTheAmish http://jointheamish.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Sewercide http://sewercide.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/partyvibez http://partyvibez.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/DESECRATORAUS  http://desecrator.net/music/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Depression-Hardcore-Punk/119305521416389
https://www.facebook.com/Primategrind http://www.primategrind.com/audio/mp.html
https://www.facebook.com/WehrmachtOfficial http://wehrmacht.bandcamp.com/releases

#6 The Hi-Fi Bar 10.01.2014

 

Nocturnal Graves

Only caught the last couple of songs in their set. Pretty solid death metal with a touch of black thrash. Would be good to see them on a smaller stage.

Watain

Heard of some really stupid antics of this band which meant I had no expectations. They were pretty decent though, as far as black metal goes. Reasonably tight and energetic, and the stage setup/corpse paint was hilarious as black metal usually is. Had to applaud their ending to the set - walked off stage, stage lights still on, bit of feedback, candles still burning, same/similar sample to what opened the show - really made everyone think they were gonna do an encore. 4 minutes later some stage crew comes out and puts out the candle. Terrific.

Mayhem

So utterly disappointing. Their last Australian tour was without doubt the single best black metal gig I had seen, yet this left a lot to be desired. Sound seemed really terrible, drums were very high in the mix and dominated the sound (and it had a shitty trigger sound), everything else was muddy and bleeding in to one another - it was often hard to tell what the songs were until you heard the words. Attila was still a good frontman, though seemed like he was more tired/lazy than last time.

Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/nocturnalgraves http://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com/album/from-the-bloodline-of-cain
https://www.facebook.com/watainofficial http://seasonofmistcatalogue.bandcamp.com/album/casus-luciferi
https://www.facebook.com/mayhemofficial 

#5 The Bendigo Hotel 09.01.2014

Trench Sisters

Fucking great grind band, though live is kinda weird in a way. The vocalist spends most of the time between songs talking shit about the band and members, particularly himself. Lots of in-jokes which appear to be much funnier for the band. From his tone of voice (not to mention what he is saying) you get the impression he can't be bothered being there and would rather be elsewhere. You might think this was because it is their last ever gig, though he seems like this every time I've seen them. Soon as the song starts though it's just awesome.

Debacle

This band never disappoints. Crusty hardcorepunkgrindystuff and pretty damn tight. Vocalist doesn't seem to be quite as animated as he used to, but still entertaining to watch. Drummer is great to watch too.

Rort

Pretty tight band and always fantastic to watch. Vocalist produces some truly evil and angry sounding vocals loaded with reverb, yet he's such a nice and timid person. The crowd for Rort always amuses me. Not their best sounding gig tonight but thoroughly enjoyable.

Teargas

Slightly disappointed - I like their 7" and it's got that kind of sound that makes you think "this band is going to be amazing live", thought it didn't seem to be true. Having said that definitely a good live band but seemed to be lacking something, just don't know what.

Forward

Great fun band. Music is pretty cool hardcore, and definitely have a bit of that famous Japanese live band energy (mainly the vocalist). All looked exhausted (I think they had just arrived in Australia that day) but were still going hard. Vocalist started off by saying "I am from Japan. I don't speak much English. So Fuck You" which was prety funny at the time. After he did that for around 5 song gaps in a row it wore thin. But fuck it who cares they were great live, vocalist was on the floor for 90% of the set, making sure everyone was involves (bumping into people who weren't looking, snatching phones of out the hands of those who were using them). Chugging a few drinks given to him later in the set just added to a bit of chaos, though end of the set looked absolutely fucked and possibly about to chuck. Fun band.

Check all the bands out here:
http://trenchsisters.blogspot.com.au/ http://trenchsisters.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/debacle.crust http://debacle.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/RORT/309153119121094 http://rort.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/thehammerneverstops http://teargas.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/FORWARD/316767819814 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B06_aS46JN8

#4 The Hi Fi Bar 05.01.2014

Bad Vision

Only caught the end of their set. Enjoyable garage/punk band.

White Walls

Once again very tight, much more fitting on the lineup than last time I saw them! Would maybe prefer if they put a little more energy/stage prescense but still enjoyed.

Eternal Elysium

Pretty cool psychedelic doom. Tight and interesting to listen too, just lacked the ultra-high energy that I associate with Japanese bands.

The Shrine

Really cool fuzz-ridden punky rock. Great on stage energy, very tight and catchy songs. Another band I think would be even better on a smaller stage.

Earthless

Great psychedelic stoner rock. Band was incredibly tight, very funky and just good to watch and listen to. Having said that I was a little over it towards the end - no vocals meant my interest wasn't held too long. Good musicians though for sure.

Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/badvisionbeats http://badvision.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/whitexwallsx http://whitexwallsx.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eternal-Elysium-official/160089987381948 http://www.eternalelysium.com/
https://www.facebook.com/theshrinefuzz http://theshrine.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/earthlessrips

#2 The Public Bar & #3 The Brunswick Hotel 04.01.2014

Yachtburner

Kind of sludgy punk, not a favourite band by any stretch but definitely enjoyable. Vocals almost sound too intense/harsh/angry for the music, but it still kinda works. Pretty reasonable energy considering they were added last minute and were opening the night.

Watchtower

Great doom band, I'd wanted to see them since I first listened to them online. Live was good, they had a really full sound, vocalist kind of goes into an alter-ego while singing - so nice and innocent sounding while talking between songs. Crushingly heavy the way doom should be.

Von Stitch

Just straight up rocking goodness from out in the sticks. Good but not amazing musically, but just awesome as a live band, full of energy and not afraid to take the piss out of themselves. Thoroughly enjoyable Iron Maiden cover finished off the set nicely

Motherslug

Smokey stoner Doom. Very heavy, gets kinda spacey at times. Pretty tight unit, though between guitarists at this time so there was a changover mid-set, both seemed to be doing a good job though. Vocals aren't a typical doom style but it works. Drummer is always good but seemed to be even better tonight though I can't put my finger on what exactly was different.

180 Proof

A fairly ballsy rock band. Nothing too original or unique but definitely tight. All members were thoroughly enjoying themselves and it was infectious, you couldn't help but share their pleasure.

Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/yachtburner http://cancereyes.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/watchtoweroz http://watchtowerwatchtower.bandcamp.com/
Von Stitch (anyone know of any links?)
https://www.facebook.com/Motherslugband http://motherslug.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/180proof http://www.dirty-rock.com/audio.html

#1 The Tote Hotel 03.01.2014

Terrorstrike

A fairly new grind band and pretty damn decent. Excellent energy from vocalist and guitarist. Another of the seemingly increasing non-bass playing bands. These guys are often seen right up the front of nearly every frind/extreme gig in Melbourne, which is always good to see. Tonight's show was probably the best I'd seen them.

Pregnancy

Another relatively new band, they've played a few shows but right from day one they sound pretty tight, very thick low-end goregrind. Yet another awesome band that involves Christoph on drums, the dual vocals are both very pitch-shifted, Darcy's almoust sounding incredibly distorted, almost mechanical and Az's being more gutteral.

Internal Rot

The energy of Internal Rot is great, particularly from their vocalist Max. It seemed kind of weird to see them on The Tote main stage - seemed too big, but they pulled it off. Flat out grind done really well. Love the extra "FFUUUUUUUCCCCKKKK"s from Christoph (understandable as this was 2 bands in a row he is playing for)

White Walls

I love mixed bills, don't get me wrong. But White Walls was a really strange addition to the lineup, their main relation to grind is the band members attending many grind gigs! Actually a pretty cool band and quite tight, just felt weird after 3 amazing grind bands.

Agents of Abhorrence

IT has been far too long since I last saw Agents of Abhorrence. Like Internal Rot it was quite strange to see them on a stage this size, though they didn't seem too bothered. New album was great, though it had a far more polished sound compared to earlier releases, and almost a more modern sound, so I didn't enjoy it quite as much. Same with the live show, the new vocalist definitely has a good set of lungs, though he wasn't particualrly animated. This obviously isn't everything, and the rest of the band make up for it with their energy. I was wrapped to see their old vocalist take stage for the last part of their set though, reminded me how much I wished I'd seen them more when they were playing regularly.


Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/TerrorStrikeGrind http://terrorstrike.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pregnancygoregrind http://pregnancy.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/internalrotters http://internalrotters.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/whitexwallsx http://whitexwallsx.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Agents-of-Abhorrence/118171554904000 https://soundcloud.com/agents-of-abhorrence