In this jaded internet world full of ringtones and illegal downloads for the attention deficient kids of today, releasing a spilt 12” record is clearly ambitious. To launch said record at The Arthouse, a stalwart of the Melbourne rock, metal and punk scene, is also ambitious. To share a bill with two of the louder, harder and angrier acts in Melbourne is again, ambitious. And for that alone, These Hands Could Separate The Sky and Arrows (Brisbane) should be respected. It would remain to be seen whether they could actually pull it all off.

Black Level Embassy do not mess around. They play hard. They play angry. They play with a passion rarely seen in a band these days. They have loyal and dedicated fans. They know the fans by name, because this is a community. This is Black level Embassy. Forget Rollins Band or Fugazi or Jesus Lizard. This is Black Level Embassy and they are tight. At times all three instruments come together as one, as a single point of searing light burning into your soul, before they emerge and disband in a thousand different directions, creating a type of chaos that at times seems to run completely over the edge of the world. Indeed this might be the edge of the world. A soaring cliff face jutting out into the black universe, jagged, treacherous, hard, but ultimately well worth the climb. Because when you get there you can smash beers with one of Melbourne’s best rock n roll bands – Black Level Embassy. Awesome.

The Nation Blue were advertised as making a special appearance for this show. They set up quick like, smashed out a few songs and left even quicker. The drummer was packing up before the feedback even stopped. No encore then lads?! It was short and loud and pretty damn good.

Arrows, playing oddly between Black Level Embassy and The Nation Blue, seemed just a little out of their depth. Not just because they followed Black Level Embassy’s defiant rock with sweet indie pop Paul Dempsey could fall asleep to, but maybe because they were simply not quite ready. Sure they had the right idea, and their songs were nice, if a little repetitive and formulaic. But they seemed like they hadn’t played together enough, or at least they hadn’t played in live venues enough. Or in front of a crowd for that matter. It was just a little frustrating, because I could see what they were trying to do, but it just didn’t quite work. I gave them my best chance but in the end I succumbed to my nicotine addiction and went outside.

These Hands Could Separate The Sky took the stage facing the largest crowd of the night. The anticipation seemed high, and for those who had come to watch them they surely didn’t disappoint. Of course there were the regular drunkards talking loudly toward the back of the room, but no such inane rudeness would stop the sweeping soundscapes of These Hands Could Separate The Sky. Despite the piano and violin being washed away in the mix, the band managed to evoke memories of Sigur Ros and Melbourne’s own International Karate during parts of their songs. Often beginning in a haze of haunting sounds and melodies, each song would build in tension before exploding in passionate and often quite heavy guitars. It didn’t always work, but when it did it was well worth it. These Hands Could Separate The Sky clearly have potential, and managed to wrap up an odd mash of disparate bands in a quite a pleasing manner.