Black Metal Lords Septillion summoned a great congregation of Kings and Queens at Amplifier Bar last night to celebrate the launch of new merchandise and unleash some of Perth’s most devastating Black Metal bands currently on the local menu. Lured by event artwork of old and decrepit castle ruins, I couldn’t wait for the rare opportunity to bear witness upon some local Black Metal rites under the light of a Micro Full Moon.
The evening kicked off with a sense of anticipation as a variety of patrons wearing band shirts from Marduk to Iron Maiden streamed into the venue and made their way towards the bar and stage areas. The staff were very efficient as always and it wasn’t long before we were all happily sipping on our first beverage and catching up with old friends. Before long however, the first sound checks could be heard and whoever was testing out the smoke machine unknowingly set an atmosphere of fear and dread as we first entered the stage area. As the gloomy mist subsided, we were met with the awesome presence of Blackened Goth Metal Act, Dead Space.
Beginning their set with the song Nostalgia, the lighting opened perfectly and introduced an atmospheric array of clean guitars and the odd hi-hat to pin down time and space. Suddenly, the crowd was met with a blast of distortion and vocalist Chris sent the audience on a journey of mixed clean, thrashy and screechy narrations. As the post-rock hooky riffs evolved into distorted chords and atmospherics layered with blast beats, the dynamics of the vocals seemed to just soar over the mix, delivering a sort of fearful cold comfort as Vocalist Chris and Guitarist Oliver bounced off each other throughout the set. As their set progressed with “Glasshouse” and “I’ll buy the rope”, each band member’s energy animated the overall performance with synchronized wind-milling and stage antics. The tightness of this band is well worth checking out and each song feels like a roller coaster ride of atmospheric Black Metal mixed with Goth, Rock and Punk influences.
The crowd responded wildly during each track with applause and metal horn salutes followed by a few seconds of silence that filled the room shortly after each song. I had to question whether I was the only one who had to keep snapping out of a trance between songs. The band announced their final track “The Worms Must Feed” and I couldn’t help but relate as vocalist Chris explained their inspiration for the song – hate of money. Overall, the vocals were a huge standout for me and I loved the variations between the grim and haunting black metal groans which were followed by ear piercing screams of raw power and ferocity. An impressive performance to say the least and whilst it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, I will be definitely looking out for them at the next show.
Next on the bill was Solum, a Black/Death Metal band who did not hesitate to add their mark of doom to the event proceedings. Their first song “Evoking the Dead” commenced without warning and the audience was met with a battery of mind blowing groove, blast beat attacks and booming Death Metal vocals that could be easily compared with the likes of Deicide or Amon Amarth. The clarity of each instrument was outstanding and I couldn’t help but admire the world class sound that Amplifier Bar continues to produce. With Grand Masters like Ian behind the sound desk, it was almost refreshing to hear such a clear crisp sound for a typical Black Metal gig!
Anyway, after a bombardment of cheer and applause from the crowd, their next song “Tomb of Black Mist” kicked off with the same level of intensity and Guitarist Brad shredded his axe with mind numbing effect while Drummer Ciarian’s double kicks tore through the crowd with brute force. The drums were a real treat for the ears and the audience could not help but bang their heads to the distinct heavy crack of the snare drum throughout the mix. I loved how the crunchy bass tone gave off a real dirty thrashy vibe and I felt a few really low notes shudder throughout my entire body. I couldn’t help but salute with metal horns as vocalist Jackson broke into some awesome chant worthy clean vocals which were followed up with instrumental catchy riffs filled with frequently changing time signatures. The set ended frantically with “A friend of Servility” which began with orgasmic sounding leads and suddenly burst into dark angry riffs mixed with an almost jazzy groove. The punters were moshing hard at this point and the performance ended with a slow neck-grinding break down with dark decaying vocals, cymbal catches and plenty of old school shredding. The punters were clearly left wanting more and the sound of applause clearly echoed through the venue.
The time had now come to unleash the fury of Bunbury’s own Black Metal outfit Septillion and the punters flocked to the stage to see these Black Metal legends from Bunbury as they prepared to open fire on the masses. Dressed in war paint and shredded apocalyptic style clothing, the band didn’t waste any time to cut loose and the venue was filled with distorted thunder as they kicked off with an enormous roar. Guitarist/Vocalist Aiden led the charge, shredding some concise black metal riffs and dominating the stage with his inspiring presence. Mitch, on bass who has been with the band for some time now, made the most of his first stage appearance with Septillion and jumped around on stage while encouraging the crowd to mosh harder.
As their set progressed into a ferocious barrage of chuggy break downs, the head bangers up the very front happily bounced around and the beginnings of a mosh-pit finally began to emerge. Guitarist Aiden announced their next song “All Hail the King” and chaos erupted as the strobe lights matched the blistering double kicks and glorified the endless waves of punishing black metal riffs. Synchronized wind-milling between band members was a consistent theme throughout their set and the crowd roared with applause as we were led through a minefield of limitless punchy Black Metal goodness. Their next song “Falling skies” began with a chant worthy introduction and before long several mosh pits had broken out like fires in front of the stage area. The punters were well and truly in the zone when Septillion dropped their final song, the anti-establishment anthem “No Church of Mine” and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. As Guitarist Aiden rallied the crowd, the song kicked in like a machine gun with massive Behemoth inspired riffs followed by aggressive thrash attacks and epic mind scrambling blackened chants and breakdowns. The crowd roared and the set ended with great satisfaction amongst the punters.
Feeling like I’d been well fed from the silver plate of Satan himself, the time for my ears to be blessed in blackness had arrived. Armed to the teeth with chains, spikes and corpse paint, the award winning Black Metal machine Wardaemonic were a perfect headliner for the show and a must have addition to any local Black Metal gig. As the smoke rose into the atmosphere, the band began their assault with a well-known masterpiece “Echoes of Ageless Flames” and the entire venue was hurled into a maelstrom of chaos which felt like it lasted throughout the entire set. As the intensity of the drums pulverised the crowd’s dwindling sanity, the guitars and bass seemed to project an intense feeling of energy and the audience responded with metal horns, moshing and relentless neck-breaking head banging. As the brutality pressed forward, the clarity of each instrument was remarkable and it seemed like a million notes could be heard all at the same time.
Guitarist Lord Bane and Drummer Maelstrom kept the mix together with overpowering inhuman screams and by the time the band announced the song “Temple of Rats”, the music was so intense that head banging was no longer possible. Many punters began to dance in some sort of contorted fashion, reminding me of trees thrashing about in a storm. Suddenly, the riffs would violently change into something much more mosh worthy and as the venue filled with awesome punchy triplets, the crowd quickly locked arms and began head banging in time to the intricate, almost phenomenal rhythms. Kevin worked the lighting in perfect harmony to the intensity of the sound and the overall blackened atmosphere created a living breathing beast of Black Metal. Sadly, it felt like the night had only just begun when the band announced the last song of the night “Endless War” and the crowd made the most of it by jumping around like possessed demons, smashing into each other and going berserk while the unholy screams and intense black metal shredding simply enticed the crowd to go harder right until the song ended.
Many thanks to the bands, venue and most importantly the punters in making this event possible and I do hope we see another round of “Congregation of Kings” sometime in the near future. Keep the flame of Metal alive! Until then, see you at the next gig!
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Tammie Molotov – Molotov Enterprises & Photography
