Canadian tech death metal outfit Archspire ended their first ever Australian tour in Perth on Sunday night to a packed crowd, a sign that metal is alive and well is the wild west coast. With some equally killer support acts, this was a night purely for the extreme metal fans.
Tonight was the last stop on the Archspire Australian tour and man oh man, what a show! From the outset I could just tell that it was going to be a huge night by the already assembled punters in the beer garden, the mood was set and we were ready to party!
First to take to the stage was Perth savages Unravel to warm up the crowd and they didn’t disappoint, razor sharp guitars and and bludgeoning vocals were the order of the day. Very little banter, just straight ahead slaying. Taking tracks from last year’s mammoth LP “Eras of forfeit” this band get better with every show and you can really pick up on the grindcore and death metal elements, well done boys, you’re a credit to the Perth scene.
Next to take to the stage were Perth technical death master Grotesque and again yet another set of home town talent, taking tracks from last year’s brutal effort “Feedback Loop“. Coincidentally the album was released exactly one year to the day of tonight’s show and the band made the set look effortless and yet managed to knock most of the front row away in terms of sheer power. Personal favourite track was the title track with the ominous introduction and then all hell breaks loose! If you’ve not seen these guys live you’ve been living under a rock, you won’t be sorry I guarantee you!
Now to the main event – Archspire. Now before I go on any further I have to say that in my humble opinion you either love technical death metal or you hate it, there is no real middle ground and if the empty beer garden was anything to go by then it was a REAL love affair .Very little fanfare, just straight to the point and an absolute masterclass on how absolutely brillant a band can be. I’d go as far as to say it was one of the best live bands I’ve seen in the many years that I’ve been attending gigs as both a punter and fan.
Stand out tracks included “The Mimic Well”, “Involuntary Dopelgänger” and “Relentless Mutation” and special mention must go to drummer extraordinaire Spencer Prewett for his performance which was almost god like. If I was to say one thing that detracted from the set was that the vocals at a few points sounded a tad muddy, however this could be down to the vantage point that I had in the room but by the end of the night I could see nothing but absolute ecstasy on every punters face as we were all collectively king hit into the next stratosphere given what we had just witnessed. Many thanks to all the bands, I’m still on cloud nine!
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Tammie Molotov – Molotov Enterprises & Photography
