The Ascent @ Hydey Back Room16/1/09

Tue 20th Jan, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Were you there? Find yourself in Jeifer’s Gallery

After a 40+ degree day, with at least two other metal gigs happening at more glorified venues, you might think an unheralded band’s disc launch would maybe draw a few dozen punters. In this case, you’d have been wrong; a quick head count during peak activity showed crowd numbers had nudged past the century mark.

A fair slab of them were relatives and friends of Prana Fire , watching their debut gig. Impartial observers would say they played a tight set of mainly groove-based riff rock. It had the bar manager dancing over his paperwork at one point, which is proof enough. Prana Fire’s limits as a three-piece are evident though; everything relies on their confident blonde singer / guitarist. Although he probably likes it that way, it still starts to grate by the end of the set; you’re not left wanting more. Some backing vocals and animation from the bassist would reap major benefits. Keeping between-song banter to a relevant minimum would also help. Good first gig though.

Arturo Chaos were simply insane, dominating with manic energy, heroic poses, and major skills. Their mosh-mad posse of supporters lost one member to a forced ejection early on; the nimble kid in question had cheekily evaded security like a jackrabbit bouncing around a gamekeeper, but soon found himself pinned to the ground under the mighty paunch of a friendly yet effective bouncer. The action both on stage and off was riveting. Although Arturo Chaos were minus a bass player, their shred-heavy twin guitar attack took up enough sonic real estate to keep them sounding solid in his absence. The music had equal measures of beauty, speed and brutality. These guys are scarily young and talented, but still need something intangible that the next band had in spades.

Pyromesh have been gigging for almost a decade now, and though they’re no longer as thin as the prodigies they had to follow, their accessible crowd rapport and professionalism are welcome compensations. It can start with something as simple as knowing whose show it is (unlike openers Prana Fire whose frontman mistakenly referred to “our gig”) and giving props to your fellow bands, which is what they did, igniting a round of applause for each of them. Musically, Pyromesh is a known quantity. Most of Perth’s metal fans know what they do, which usually involves a hefty dose of double-kick drums, shouting and agile riffing. They did it well here, and could’ve taught Arturo Chaos a lesson or two, had the latter not absconded soon after packing up. Their throat artiste Ael Bennett is the consummate metal frontman. He operates with the mad ringcraft of pro wrestler on a rampage. He also communicates with the punters, rather than just his own dark side. Some vocalists isolate themselves even though they’re standing front and centre. They have the growl, the moves and the menace, but don’t look you in the eye or feel comfortable between songs. Bennett matches the intensity with an openness and ease.

From the instant their set began, The Ascent were playing it up and having a ball. Opening with On This Blade , they drew a crowd to front of stage that included some fresh-faced ladies, whose shiny dresses and heels didn’t stop them whirling their manes around in fine metal fashion. This spared them from noticing some early bassy feedback, but they also likely missed seeing Chris Hurrell and James Clarke trading solos on low-slung pointy black guitars. None of the timing issues present on their new EP appeared during the set, with drummer Travis on top of every beat. Bassist Less picked up some lead vocal duties in parts, giving singer / guitarist Hurrell more freedom to put on a show. This he did. All four of these guys (plus their former lead guitarist, guest-starring in From The Ashes ) had almost too much fun. “This is the best audience we’ve had in our short lives,” said Clarke. If all of them bought a copy of Where Are Your Heroes Now on their way out, then he was proved right.

Were you there? Find yourself in Jeifer’s Gallery