Slayfest is always a big event when it rolls around every year, having become one of the premier metal events in WA for those that love their music on the heavier side. Despite a lack of international acts on last year’s and this year’s event, the show is still a major drawcard and a true testament to not only the quality of the band’s on offer in the Perth scene, but the fans willingness to show support to the local scene.
This year Slayfest was held in North Fremantle at the old Railway Hotel and the revamped Port Beach Garden Bar which was intially a surprise when announced, but a great surprise as we found out through out the day. For a number of years there has been a stigma surrounding the area and the venues within, particularly from the metal scene which there are various reasons for that but thanks to the willingness of promoters and venues taking that leap to help revitalise the area we have seen more rock and metal events coming back in recent times which is fantastic to see. Kudos to those involved in the new setup for the Railway and Port Beach venue, the atmosphere and vibe and easy access to everything is brilliant and really makes the place stand out. There was a real festival feel to Slayfest this year and one we hadn’t seen in what seems like such a long time, especially in WA where metal festivals have all but disappeared since Soundwave went bust 6 years ago.
Held across two stages – one indoor and one outdoor – with 21 bands, numerous bars spread out across the venue, food options, merchandise areas and Hornography’s Closet Karaoke nestled in the back area of the indoor section, it was a true smorgasbord of entertainment and fun and despite it being a hell of a long day, it was well worth the time.
Kicking off the day on the outdoor stage was Flesh Worship, with crowds slowly pouring in early by this time to prepare for the onslaught. The young up and comers have been gigging regularly in recent times and it showed today as the band showcased their thrashy punk infused death metal sound nicely to get the ball rolling. Cage The Hate are one of our favorites and kicked off the indoor stage, their foot stomping groove just right on point as always. The Harvest Trail followed outdoors and were brutally heavy, the drums in particular were sounding particularly tight. Laceration continued the death metal barrage inside and already parts of the crowds were building up a sweat while others were still pacing themselves for the rest of the day.
Bunbury veterans Death Dependant brought their old school thrash to the show and by now the crowds were starting to really fill out the place, the sun berating those willing to hit the pit area outside. Diamond Sky were fun as always, bringing some much needed melody to the show which had been mostly filled with the more extreme sides of metal thus far, Kimura busted out a solid set with some tasty breakdowns while Remission thrashed it out hard back inside in front of a sweaty moshpit. Things were starting to heat up on the indoor stage by this point as the room filled up even further just as the sun was slowly starting to set in.
9 Foot Super Solider are a real party band, a fun filled set that was erratic and unpredicatable just to break things up at Slayfest. Iniquitous Monolith however were far more serious and had a packed room that moved about violently during their brutal set. Crypt Crawler made some waves outside with precision, drawing a few extra punters closer while Smashed brought utter chaos and unfiltered death metal mixed with bizarre glimpses of reggae-like beats.
Things were hitting the peak of the night as the sun fell down to make way for All This Filth who clearly had a serious following given the number of ATF shirts floating around the place. Their set was explosive and got the crowd well and truly riled up. One man army Louis Rando brought The Furor indoors right after as he displayed a truly fantastic drum performance, with the backing tracks allowing him full control over not only his dazzling musicianship behind the kit but also on the vocals.
Back outside however, Plague returned from the dead to remind people the power of this band that had a fair amount of influence on the Perth metal scene back in the day. Cain Cressall commanded the stage as he always does, it was progressive death metal at it’s finest and one of the highlights of the day.
Another veteran of the scene, Psychonaut hit the indoor stage running and put on yet another fun set full of anthemic heavy metal riffs before Tempest Rising stole the thunder on the other stage in front of the biggest crowd yet. Solid as always, it’s difficult to fault their set and tonight was no different. Silent Knight brought the power back to the indoor stage and continued the fun factor as they do, producing yet another stellar performance.
We come to the tail end of the night and the longevity of the day starts to rear it’s ugly head amongst the crowd who have done their best to stick it out for the day. Infected were certainly one to hang around for and yet another veteran band from back in the day, their heavy use of distortion led way to a more death/doom oriented style which again gave us yet another side of what was on offer at Slayfest.
Grotesque brought some technical brutality to close out the indoor stage before making way for Claim The Throne to wrap things up for the night which ended up being one of the most fun sets to watch. Despite being 10 plus hours into this, the crowd still got right into it with crowd surfers, moshing and a general upbeat vibe thanks to the band’s more folk metal sound.
It was a fitting way to end what is one of the top shows in 2021 so far, a combination of a great turnout, fantastic setup and some quality bands made this year’s Slayfest one of the most enjoyable.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Shadow World Photography
Claim The Throne, Grotesque
Infected, Silent Knight
Tempest Rising, Psychonaut
Plague, The Furor, All This Filth
Smashed, Crypt Crawler
Iniquitous Monolith, 9FT Super Soldier, Remission, Kimura, Diamond Sky, Death Dependant, Laceration, The Harvest Trail, Cage The Hate, Flesh Worship
