It was a match made in heaven for modern tech metal fans as American progressive band The Contortionist and UK metallers Sikth teamed up for an Australian tour this past week, a return for the headliners but a debut appearance down under for Sikth. Tonight was Perth’s turn to witness the final stop on the clairvoyant Australian tour here, is how it went down.
First to take to the stage was homegrown heavy weights Make Way For Man. Now anyone who has been reading my reviews for a while knows that I rate this band with a tall order to engage the early punters but they did this fairly easily and with very little fanfare, steam rolling through a solid set. Well done as per usual and with that, the next band were on in the form of Melbourne band Alithia. Now this was my first time seeing these guys and upon further investigation they state their sound as “astral spacecore” and that oddball tag seems to fit perfectly, I would have called it “dreamcore” strange, I get that but that’s how I heard it. One moment it was calm, the next moment chaotic and bouncing around on stage and loving every minute. Taking tracks from the debut album “To The Edge Of Time” truly a sight and sound to behold and certainly not to be missed, if you get the chance check them out and you’ll see what I mean.
Next up UK Prog metal giants Sikth are on stage and holy hell the party just kicked into overdrive, albeit slowly at first. These guys need no introduction with dizzying fret work, dual vocals that make your head spin and the list of superlatives goes on. Highlights for me included the spoken word piece “When Will The Forrest Speak?”, the brutal stomp of “Part Of The Friction” and last but by no means least long term fan favorite “Bland Street Bloom”. This was the bands first time playing on Australian shore and if the banter with the crowd and sheer technical brilliance was anything to go by let’s hope it’s not the last time. Definitely band of the night for me!
Now the main event The Contortionist took to the stage and I need to say that I did enjoy the set from these guys however, for me it felt somewhat flat and with the exception of a few people moving it felt stagnant and that was a shame. This maybe being the last stop on the tour had something to do with it but all this being said, set highlights included the tracks “Reimagined” and “Absolve”. All in all an enjoyable show and I’m positive that the fans took home some great memories and another large tick on the bands I must see bucket list.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Jessica Vaini at JV Photo Film
