Perth’s best mini metal festival, Rust In Perth (RIP), hit for the seventh year with a plentiful turnout much like previous years. A generous 16 band line up over two stages at The Civic Hotel showcasing various subgenres of Perth’s Metal acts plus South Australia’s Black Metal masters, Christ Dismembered. From 3.30pm-12.00am, this is one of Perth’s biggest local metal events put on by Executioner Promotions with sponsors Fuzz Factory, Soundworks Touring, Prime Cut Music, Metal-Roos and RTRFM’s Critical Mass helping to promote the local scene.
Opening the afternoon in The Den was Hatred For My Fellow Man (HFMFM) with their ferocious mix of Grind and Hardcore. More people than I expected showed up early, which was wonderful to see and as Enforce hit The Backroom with their Death laden Thrash. The buzz was steady and more punters flowed through the doors from catching up and chatting in the beer garden. Red, white and blue lights flashed and fog filled the stage as minor technical difficulties were sorted out. The unrelenting drums and spectacular shredding did not stop until Enforce left the stage.
No Mind entered The Den next and the small room filled comfortably with the vocalist off stage, energetic and angry. The Power-violence Grinders quickly erupted their set and emptied the stage in what must have been fifteen minutes. Disbanding as quickly as the band played, the crowd moved off to drink and some wandered back to The Backroom for Illyria. From soft, docile tunes to brutal blast beats, these Post Black Metallers set a different pace to what we had seen so far. A definite blend of metal to suit a variety of tastes, RIP did well to bring it all together, with some staying for just the genres or bands they liked and others hanging out and enjoying the whole day.
Party Thrash fuelled by beer and Aussie banter, Nine Foot Super Soldier brought the room to life with more people squeezing in to the cosy Den. Lively and amusing, they may not be the most talented band out of Perth, but they know how to party and get the room hyped. Exiting with crude humour both groans and laughter erupted, spilling out of the poster-clad room. The hype built up in The Den dissipated in The Backroom with Dirac Sea. Post-Doom Metal, heavy on the Drone, it was quite a change in mood from the Party Thrash we had just witnessed. Low energy, the only heavy fragment of this band is the respectable growling, the crowd waivered, electing to drink and socialise to keep the high energy levels up rather than the sedation offered in The Backroom.
Hardcore-Crust-Punkers Warcycle took over The Den for what must have been the briefest set of the night and were packing up and off stage before 6.45pm when their set was meant to be 6.30pm-7pm, thus I missed them between getting out of The Backroom and grabbing a quick bite of chips from the bar. I hate it when set times aren’t adhered to and you miss a band because of it. Making my back to The Backroom I waited for Depravity to begin and watched the people file in once more. Thrash and Groove melded Death Metal tore up the stage ferociously with long locks flying wildly and front man Jamie Kay amping up the once again enlarging flock. Headbangers lined the fallbacks at the front of the stage and a sea of nodding heads and drinks in hand flooded back, a collection of Metalheads enjoying their Saturday evening entertainment.
Half way through the event, Worlds Apart vocalist Brandon paced in front of the crowded stage in The Den like a caged lion, the anger shining in his eyes as he spat hatred into the mic. Although not a fan of Hardcore, I was impressed by their drummer, Creed and the crowd seemed to enjoy the set, the dim red and white lit room swarming with moshers. Silent Knight graced The Backroom as the only Power Metal band of Perth and the night. The chemistry of the guitarists on stage is phenomenal, with amusing interactions and an all-round fun vibe. By now the crowd dwindled a bit with several opting to socialise in the beer garden and between the two rooms. Many enjoyed food from the bar with delectable looking pizzas an obvious favourite.
Five piece Power-Crust band Territory pulled people back to The Den with black-clad fans spilling out of the packed room into the bar. Taking hold of The Backroom, Wardaemonic, fresh off their Hammersonic tour had the addition of Taiko drummers, adding a unique element to their Black Metal. The internationally touring local band had the crowd fascinated with the ninja looking black-clad drummers, a fair portion of mobiles recording and snapping away. The powerful beats driving the gatherings’ enthusiasm upwards.
Unravel brought their vicious style of Death Metal and Grindcore to The Den with the heavy as hell four piece being one of the few bands to fit all members on stage at once. Again, the crowd went off, fiercely moshing along to the Perth band that has been taking Australia by storm. Christ Dismembered, South Australia Black Metal maniacs brewed up a storm at The Backroom. Fog and lighting helped to create a dim, eerie disposition as the Eastern guests began atmospherically, their inverted crosses shining in darkness. Intensity grew and the brutality unleashed as the soundtrack to hell engulfed The Civic and the throng went wild. Seeing such support for a band from the other side of Australia was a pleasant change to previous gigs where they’ve played to nearly empty rooms. Maybe that is because Christ Dismembered has a better following, but the event was a huge success overall with a healthy turnout.
Headlining The Den, Statues had the room going mental with their energetic mix of Hardcore with Progressive melodies. The tiny stage could not support the six members, with two off stage it allowed for maximum interaction with the masses and they loved it. Ending the night with Tech Death giants Grotesque, the crowd was slow to enter, but soon enough the room filled to about half capacity as the ruthless chords called them back. The siren songs of slaughter if you take The Amenta frontman, Cain Cressal’s, comments on board. At the end of the gig I overheard him congratulating Grotesque guitarist and song-writer, Marc Hawkins on their brilliant performance, likening it to a cheese grater up in the ass in terms of brutality and suggested selling Grotesque Heal-Aid at their merchandise desk. Now if that isn’t a top review then I don’t know what is! Some of the fastest drums you’ll hear out of Perth, Trevor earns his name Mc Blasty Blast with killer Blast Beats galore. Animated frontman Ross MacRae puts on a show for the audience and Hawkins technicality and precision on his beautiful custom guitar (Hawkins Guitars) is unflawed.
A huge day of over eight hours of Metal from Grind, Crust and Hardcore to Death, Black and everything in between, RIP 2018 will be talked about in years to come as have all the Rust In Perths before. Supporting new, upcoming talents and well as showcasing some of the best Australia has to offer, RIP is a bill to catch or be on. If you missed out this year, don’t let it slip by next time. A fun-fest for Metalheads, RIP is a satisfying day to chill out with mates, good food, drink and music. If you missed out on merchandise find the bands on Facebook and support the local scene. I’m digging Christ Dismembers CD in the car at the moment and highly recommend it.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Tammie Molotov – Molotov Enterprises & Photography
