Tonight was Perth’s turn to witness those crazy Tasmanian’s Pycroptic on the tail end of a massive grueling Australian tour, here’s how it went down.
The venue was Badlands, a fairly expansive venue by comparison with other Perth night spots and to be honest there weren’t that many punters to begin with and it is never an easy task to open a gig, however relative unknown Grindcore band Blüddypŏp strolled out on stage dressed in some sort of costume. To paint a mental picture if anyone is familiar with Melbourne band Blood Duster then imagine all their antics, piss taking and larrikin ways and beef it up considerably. Prime example exclaimed the lead singer, ‘This one is about Bill Cosby, this is called “Fat Albert” – a quirky opener good for a laugh.
Next up, Xenobiotic take to the stage and of note with this band is that they have recently signed to major independant record label Unique Leader Record and I have been saying for a while now that these guys are destined for big things and I was right! In terms of the live show it was not a disappointment aside from a drum pedal breakage mid-set but apart from that minor incident it was a great set taking in tracks from this year’s killer album “Prometheus”. Lead vocalist TJ was bounding around the stage with so much energy it was contagious and the now rapidly building crowd were having just as much fun, the breakdowns and guitar tone were on point with the crowd now sufficiently gob smacked.
It was time for home town hero’s Sanzu to step up to the plate and of note, it was Drummer Ben Stanley’s last show with the band. Now a slight criticism, something about Sanzu’s sound fell flat tonight. Maybe it was just me taking in tracks from the astounding album “Heavy Over Home” and earlier material, I can’t say exactly what was off. It was enjoyable by all means but it lacked that usual “X” factor” tonight that the band are well known for.
Now onto the main event – Psycroptic. The level of musicianship in this band would be difficult to top on any night and tonight’s performance was no exception, opening with a brutish “We Were The Keepers” and personal favorite “Carriers Of The Plague”. The band as a collective did not miss a beat and lead vocalist Jason Peppiatt was giving it everything humanly possible to destroy the now heaving crowd, he had them eating out of his hand and the atmosphere was electric.
This was one hell of a set, bearing in mind that the band have been around since 1999 and the album “(ob) servant” just celebrated its 10th birthday. Look I could go on for days, however the bottom line is they don’t have any signs of slowing down and like a great bottle of red wine they seem to improve with age. Well done guys, you are a major credit to the Australian extreme metal scene and as for the punters in attendance I’m sure there will be a few sore necks from endless head banging. What a night!
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Tammie Molotov – Molotov Enterprises & Photography
Psycroptic
Blüddypŏp, Xenobiotic, Sanzu
