LIVE REVIEW: Obituary - Perth, January 15th 2020

It was extreme metal night at Badlands Bar in Perth on a fairly warm Wednesday night which was heated up even further by the packed crowd who came in to witness one of death metal’s best. With a solid supporting lineup, this turned out to be a very strong start to 2020 for live music.

Anticipation for this show seemed to be quite high with ticket sales very strong for the near sold out event by the time doors opened and even early on as local veterans Vanadium B.C. who recently came out of retirement opened the show, numbers were strong which is always good to see. The Perth death metal act showed why their name still means something to the scene as they tore up the stage with their brand of old school metal that was the pinnacle of the 90’s Perth metal scene. To say that the crowd loved it is an understatement and a good reason to be back doing what they do best.

One of the highlights on the night was Singapore grindcore act Wormrot who followed right after. Supporting Obituary on this Australian run of shows, this 3 piece act is a force to be reckoned with. Combining technical prowess with buzzsaw riffs, gutteral vocals and a human drum machine done with absolute precision, the band practically stole the show tonight where they showed just how grindcore can be really good when done right. Taking the power of acts like Napalm Death and injecting a bit of their own flavour into the mix, Wormrot were simply stunning to watch as the horror like performance cut through intelligently and without apologies.

One interesting note was the use of a combo bass/guitar and while I’m not technically minded when it comes to instruments, I do hear the use of this technique is quite common in grind bands, particularly in Asia where 3 piece acts are the usual. Guitarist Rasyid was mindblowing to watch as he switched between the two distinct sounds brilliantly, almost single handedly being a show in and of itself. However kudos to drummer Vijesh for keeping up that kind of intensity for the entire set, the guy must have had an adrenaline shot before starting as he furiously bashed his way through song after song that had more tempo changes than a Dream Theater instrumental piece. Of course vocalist Arif provided the voice going from deep Monstrous growls stuff to howling screams and the occasional monotone switch ups.

If Obituary wanted a challenge to keep on their toes, they did it well by bringing Wormrot on this tour. They are just simply brilliant and so much fun to watch.

Vanadium B.C. - Perth 2020 | Photo Credit: Shadow World Photography

Wormrot - Perth 2020 | Photo Credit: Shadow World Photography

Obituary - Perth 2020 | Photo Credit: Shadow World Photography

It’s been 30 years since Obituary‘s “Cause Of Death” album was released and it’s an album that resonates deep among the extreme metal fans. Here tonight to perform the whole thing in full, the Florida veteran act are simply one of the best in the business and taking the stage tonight with barely so much as a quick hello before launching straight into it, the band were here to take care of business while having a much fun as possible.

Before going into the classic album, the band threw in a few other tracks including the now obligatory opener “Redneck Stomp” as well as a couple from their latest self-titled. They sounded great, the groove aspect was well noticed as everyone headbanged in unison and sonically they sounded pretty much on par with the record, with that extra live power bite. Vocalist John Tardy and his extended mane of hair swished around on stage, taking in the crowd who were well packed around the cave-like room which just seemed to fit a band like Obituary perfectly.

The Cause Of Death album is of course one of the main focus points tonight and hearing it live in 2020 clearly outruns the original recordings. A lot of that of course is simply down to technology and better equipment and the power of the live sound but the original release just doesn’t do justice to the sheer heaviness of Obituary. “Infected”, “Body Bag” and the title track were all highlights but every song was nailed brilliantly. It will be hard to go back to the original album again but seeing this live really does make you appreciate those songs so much more now.

Obituary didn’t leave it there though as they continued on with an encore of more classics including the original and still one of the best, “Slowly We Rot”. The rest of the country get to see this show through the week as Perth rest and take in what we saw but even though it’s still only January, already we can see this one being in our top shows for 2020.

PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Shadow World Photography

Obituary