Killswitch Engage, ShadowsFall, Divine Heresy, FromAutumn to Ashes @ The Forum,Sydney (26/02/08)

Fri 29th Feb, 2008 in Gig Reviews

“I am sick to death of all this fucking watered-down shit, with some motherfucker whining about some girl who broke his heart” says Shadows Fall frontman Brian Fair, summing up the sentiments of the packed Forum perfectly. Tonight the new wave of American heavy metal would hit Sydneysiders hard and fast, proving that metal was still very much alive and kicking.

I arrived at the Forum just as From Autumn to Ashes (FATA) started their set, and joined the impressively long queue of black-clad punters at the door. Standing outside we quickly realized that mere brick walls could not imprison the brutal melody coming from inside, hastening our desire to get through the doors and drink it all in. I was instantly impressed by the amount of people that had already squeezed into the spaciously laid out room. Rows of arms hung over the many layers that comprise the Forum. Punters arrived early to ensure that they had the best spots to watch all the action on stage. FATA missed the Brisbane and Sydney Soundwave festivals, according to their myspace page, because of delayed flights and a friend’s recent death. Given the shenanigans at the Sydney leg of the festival and that FATA had an early start, I’m sure fans would have been trapped in the insanely large mob of festival goers at the entrance when they took to stage, perhaps more frustrating than a cancellation. Since the band’s conception in 2000, there has been many line-up changes but now it seems that they have found a static equilibrium with Francis Mark as the relatively new lead vocalist. Spewing out melodic hardcore from the album Holding a Wolf by the Ears, I’m sure a number of new fans were gained and those who were angered by the cancellation of their festival shows were again subdued.

As soon as FATA left the stage, the chanting for Divine Heresy started. Divine Heresy have definitely gathered a huge following in Australia recently, with many punters admitting that their main reason for attending that evening was to see them. Like some kind of Frankenstein project, the band has been sewn together by guitarist Dino Cazares with veteran members from Fear Factory, Vital Remains and Nile together with vocalist Tommy Vext forming a new super monster of a band. Songs like Save Yourself and Impossible got the pit moving with a frenzy of chaos. Tommy conducted the pandemonium to further mayhem by instructing the formation of circles and a wall of death. Tommy’s encouragement to fans to stick up for their music and never abandon their dreams left a feeling of drive and conviction in the room. After the show the band made their way to the bar shaking hands and signing anything punters wanted as promised earlier on stage. I’m sure I’m not alone in hoping that Divine Heresy make it to our shores again soon.

The crowd now throughly warmed up, waited restlessly for the highly accomplished Shadows Fall. With a Grammy nomination for an independently released track and a highly successful album, The War Within, the band are leaders in American heavy metal. Brian with astoundingly long dreads (down to his thighs), makes a formidable figure on stage when head banging. I was impressed by the precision of their live show and the humbleness of the band. It was evident that they had a passion for the music which comes through without a shred of pretentiousness. Playing a fiery set which the crowd greedily digested especially the track Thoughts Without Words from the album Art of Balance. A few newer songs from their most recent album Threads of Life were also played with conviction.

Finally Killswitch Engage (KsE) took to the stage flooding the floor with fans. By now the Forum was splitting it’s sides with fans lining the room from floor to ceiling and from stage to backdoor. The view of the cheering crowd from the stage plastered cheeky grins on the faces of the band members, as it should. Vocalist Howard Jones a dominating figure on stage due to his sheer size, was formally dressed in jeans and a collared shirt while guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz humorously took to stage in shorts, a cape and headband. The floor immediately became a pit of swirling activity, moshers bouncing off each other and crowd surfers diving from the stage. However, the rest of the crowd seemed a lot more subdued, perhaps slightly tired from the full-on line up or most likely from the shock of seeing KsE again so soon after Soundwave. Howard soon amended that by making sure everyone was moving and instructing pit goers to form another wall of death, thereafter playing to a room of bobbing heads and frenzied moshers. KsE have transcended the metal/hardcore genre to mainstream rock with My Curse (now even on Guitar hero III) which was evident by the mass of punters singing along to their hits. The band however, still remains completely faithful to their philosophy of “No shortcuts. No compromises. No BS” . The evening seemed to fly past and before I knew it I was leaving with a satisfactory ringing in my ears.