Australian fans have had the opportunity to not only meet and mosh to the guitar shredding heroics of Dave Mustaine’s legendary Megadeth, they have also become well acquainted with the band live. Megadeth are heading to our shores for the third time in six years this October as part of Mustaine’s highly acclaimed Gigantour festival.
The news has been well received by Australia’s long suffering metal fans, starving not for a Megadeth concert, but for a touring metal festival, the likes of which hasn’t been seen in this country ever before. Some might say that the Guns n Roses/Skid Row open-air tour in 1993 and perhaps last year’s Motley Crue/Motorhead tour came close, however a two-band lineup (plus support) can hardly be considered a festival.
Megadeth have not only returned to their roots musically with the last two releases, but have also returned to the formula used that made the Clash of the Titans tour such a huge success in the early 90s. The package featured the thrash-metal likes of Slayer, Anthrax and Testament, among others, and was a dream for fans of aggressive metal.
Dave Mustaine has compiled an equally aggressive package this time around with Gigantour. The tour is now in its second year and Megadeth will be joined by Brazil’s and Max Cavalera’s tribal metal outfit Soulfly, Sweden’s melodic death metallers Arch Enemy, as well as Germany’s metalcore crew, Caliban. Further support bands are to be announced.
This is sure to get the heads of Australian metal fans banging, despite the fact that the Australian incarnation of the tour will not include the likes of Overkill, Opeth, Lamb of God or Into Eternity. They were all part of many European and American Gigantour shows prompting Revolver Magazine to refer to the package as “the mother of all shred festivals”. However, the packaging of Megadeth, Soulfly and Arch Enemy is more than most Australian metal fans could have wished for.
Megadeth last toured Australia in April of 2005, playing three sold out shows along the East coast in support of their latest opus The System Has Failed which reached #18 on the Billboard chart. The album was set to be the last from Megadeth, with Mustaine proclaiming that he would go on to become a solo artist [even though Megadeth is in essence Dave Mustaine plus three hired guns with no creative input].
However, as Mustaine assembled the first and successful Gigantour in 2005, it was clear that the band many simply refer to as Deth, was far from it, and the group will no doubt show the Australian metal fans once more how it’s done.
Soulfly frontman, Max Cavalera, is a man that needs no introduction. Having formed and fronted death-metal icons Sepultura throughout their glory years, Max, like Dave, has etched his name in the halls of metal immortality. His tribal and groove oriented Soulfly have since taken the spotlight away from Sepultura. With albums such as Primitive, 3 and the most recent Dark Ages under their belts, the band will no doubt provide the sounds for plenty of mosh stomping. A classic Seps track or two also isn’t out of the question!
Like the headlining Megadeth, Arch Enemy, fronted by blonde bombshell Angela Gossow also toured Australia in 2005. The melodic death-metal act, formed in 1996, has risen from obscurity over the past decade to become one of metal’s most popular and progressive bands today. Their latest album Doomsday Machine entered the Billboard 100, a rare feat for a death-metal band. The audience will be treated to a lesson in the uncompromising Gothenburg sound, adding to the claims that Sweden is the undisputed home of melodic death metal.
Up and comers Caliban round out the overseas acts on the bill. Having signed to Roadrunner Records in 2004, their latest opus The Undying Darkness has been received well by European metal fans as have their live performances on this years Darkness Over Europe tour. Having been likened to both Slayer and Killswitch Engage, Australian metal fans will now get the opportunity to see first hand what the young lads from Germany are all about.
The metal thrashing mad night will no doubt prove to be a headbanging symphony…of destruction.
Sat 21st Oct – Brisbane, Riverstage – Ticketmaster & Megadeth Fan ClubSun 22nd Oct – Sydney, The Hordern – Ticketek & Megadeth Fan ClubTue 24th Oct – Melbourne, Festival Hall – Ticketmaster & Megadeth Fan Club
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