Death metal titans Cattle Decapitation returned to Perth on Saturday night along with Progressive death thrashers Revocation to end their Australian run. A hot night for metal was made even more scorching hot by both bands who went all out to make sure the tour ended with a bang.
Local Perth act Illyria kicked off the show in front of an already well attended room, a good sign for later on, their brand of post-black metal bringing a sort of go between from the 2 main acts to follow. Combing strong melodies with moments of mellowness in contrast to the ferocious blast beats and wall of guitar sounds, the young quartet held their own as the room filled to the brim awaiting the heaviness to come.
US progressive death/thrash (and just about every other sub-genre there is) metallers Revocation returned to Australia this past week as they continued to build their audience here since their first run back in 2014. Slowly but surely Perth fans have been warming up to them but some of us knows what’s up, me personally having been following the band since discovering their second album “Existence Is Futile” back in 2009.
It took a while for fans to get to business, holding back to take in what would to many be still fairly new but once frontman Dave Davidson riled the crowd up a few songs in and instigated some proper movement in the pit, things finally swung their way. The band focused on later material including the latest album “The Outer Ones” with only a minor throwback to the old with the title track of the previously mentioned album getting some time in the set, much to the delight of this long time fan who knew it would go down well with the heaving crowd packed near the stage. That massive breakdown halfway solidified the band for Perth and clearly won an impressed pack of people, some of who were in awe of the sheer agility and complex rhythms shown by the band. Welcome to Revocation!
Of course the main attraction tonight for many who came in droves to pack out the Amplifier Bar was Cattle Decapitation. Needing no introduction despite the band bringing their own to start their set, thus setting the mood early on, it was guns blazing once the chaos began with the death metal titans banging through a mix of old and new material. The latest album “Death Atlas” got it’s due time with several tracks making the set along with the now classics including “Forced Gender Reassignment” but it didn’t seem to matter a whole lot as the crowd pushed and shoved around the now infamous pole in the middle of the venue, some even climbing the damn thing just to get a view of the band slaying it on stage.
Frontman Travis Ryan mentions their previous Perth visit a couple of years ago as being their first time over the west coast and judging by the near sold out show, twice now, it’s safe to say they will be back. But the energy level here was maybe a step up from their last visit, the band firing on all cylinders as they pummeled the crowd left right and centre with extreme aggression and on-point musicality. A little over an hour later, ears ringing and necks sore, it was definitely a true metal night had by all.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Alvin Lee
Cattle Decapitation
Revocation
Illyria
