HATE ETERNAL + PSYCROPTIC + VESPERS DESCENT + BLUDGEONER (Replacing VATICIDE)
The Marquee, Sydney - 10th Of June, 2005
Militia and I arrived a little late to the Marquee due to work obligations and a lack of an operating motorcar. Militia purchased a number of metal CDs from Utopia at discounted prices and I joined him around central station as we continued to walk all the way to the venue. This notable journey lasting around thirty minutes and extending over some four kilometers required refueling so we made a befitting stopover at the nearby McDonalds.
BLUDGEONER:
As a consequence of our late arrival we only caught the last two songs of the opening band Bludgeoner. They played excellent honest to goodness death metal in vain of Cannibal Corpse. Their sound mix was terrific and truly put us in the head-banging mood. We had missed this band at Reign in Metal back in December when we were either late or too drunk and yet again during the Exhumed tour when we had prior engagements. In soccer terminology this would be a hat trick of missed Bludgeoner gigs but then we aren`t playing soccer, although Militia likes to think that he can. Bludgeoner was a brilliant opening band for the night and a worthy replacement for Vaticide. Regretfully we did not hear more of their set list.
Bludgeoner set list:
Cerebral
Zombie
Blood Oath
Welcome
Liquid Skin
Munk Out
Stirring
Disturbed
VESPERS DESCENT:
Vespers Descent originating from Perth were up next and managed to score a few if not all the support slots on the Hate Eternal Oz tour. They played what I would consider to be generic In Flames influenced melodic death metal. Both Militia and I had moved to the front of the stage during this performance. At many times I felt like I was hearing riffs from various In Flames songs. Overall they were decent but truly lacked a more original sound. Those who are not as tired of melodic death metal as I am would have surely enjoyed the band. For Militia Cardinal Red and A Quantum Prayer stood out live. Vespers Descent is recommended to all of those who just cannot get enough of In Flames.
Vespers Descent set list:
Measures of Control
Cardinal Red
Plains Of Azure Light
Dissent
A Quantum Prayer
Severed
Beyond the Pale
All That Remains
PSYCROPTIC:
Hailing from Tazzy with a new singer Psychroptic had already built up a reputation as a solid technical melodic death metal band. They managed to pack in approximately eight songs among which two were new. Militia captured a video of one of the new songs that we now know is titled "Alpha Breed". This song is available for download in our media downloads section so you should definitely check it out.
The crowd support around us increased noticeably as the band performed. Their collaboration and timing was well executed and they sounded very professional. The guttural growling and occasionally screeching vocals of the new singer appear to fit the band quite well. Even though Psychroptic`s sound has no solos they put on an intense and pleasing performance with lots of tempo changes and melodic riffs that never get slow and keep the listeners interested All the bands unofficially had drum solos during the sound setup and theirs was great. Psychroptic was the support band we had the most interest in seeing and we were definitely not disappointed. We are looking forward to the new album which is anticipated for release in 2006 and seeing them again.
Psycroptic set list:
Sword of uncreation
Skin Coffin
Alpha Breed
Condemned by discontent
Colour of sleep
Epoch of the Gods
Carnival of Vulgarity
Scepter of the Ancients
DUMB ARSE OF THE NIGHT AWARD!
Whilst buying a couple of lemon, lime and bitters we were served by a very bright and equally experienced youngish bar person. He first offered me the drink in a whiskey glass. When I then informed him that it should be poured in a schooner glass he looked at me with confusion and disbelief but then fulfilled my request. After he poured one I then once again had to point out that I was after two of these. The bad rarely gets better and in this case it would be fair to compare the drinks he had mixed up to the putrid veggie burger from McDonalds. The lesson in all this is that you should only get drinks from the pretty bar ladies when drinking at the Marquee unless you`re after something surprising.
HATE ETERNAL:
At the stroke of midnight Hate Eternal unleashed their mammoth sludge of brutal and vehement death metal. The opening track was "I Monarch" and before we had blinked the Florida metalers had half the crowd stuck in a mosh pit with a new person crowd surfing every few moments. This was certainly an unforgettable way for them to start off their worldwide tour for their new album, "I, Monarch", released by Earache Records.
Recently the band had become a quartet with an edition of a second guitarist. However they performed as a trio in Australia due to a death in the family of the new guitarist Eric Hersemann. Never the less they certainly did not sound like they lacked another guitarist playing for over 90 minutes and covering some twenty songs. They were further persuaded into a double encore due to the crowds overwhelming enthusiasm and support. I am sure that this performance will stand out in the bands memory especially for Erik Rutan who also celebrated his birthday.
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It was a delight to see the two guitarists play the way that they did whilst moving and head banging as much as they did. The drumming was definitely out of this world and the only moments that the band felt like they had eased up a notch was during the guitar solos which were played with great tone and feel. Further adding to the madness was the second set of death vocals from the bass player Randy Piro who was wearing a Krisiun t-shirt and skillfully playing his five string bass. The explosive energy of the show can further be envisaged by some of the quotes from Erik such as "This stage is your stage let me see all of you up here", "Sydney is fucking nuts" and "If you fuckers aren`t tired yet, we`ll keep playing"
The singer from Psychroptic and Vespers Descent both took up Eric`s invite and used the stage to launch themselves multiple times onto the spirited crowd for some surfing. In short these guys sounded like they have been eating, breathing, dreaming and shitting death metal since they were 6 seconds old. Hate Eternal will be touring the US with Krisiun/Incantation and Into Eternity and will finish the year off in Europe with Behemoth. We wish them all the best and absolutely hope that they return to Australia VERY SOON.
Over 100 more photos in our HM gallery.
